Is Your Start-Up Built on a Faulty Foundation?

If You Don’t Have a Brand Strategy, the Answer is Yes.

Your company began with a brilliant idea — an idea that has the potential to disrupt an entire industry. The product was created, tested, and tested again and is now ready to launch. You have a logo and a website, but do you have a brand? 

A strategic brand breathes life into an idea and makes it easy for others to understand its potential. A strategic brand can show an idea and make it stand out from the rest. A strategic brand helps an ideal customer learn how this great idea makes their lives easier.

By working with a brand strategist, you will identify what makes your product different from all the other options on the market and, even more importantly, why your ideal customers, investors, and co-workers should care.

Three Ways your Brand Strategy Powers your Growth.

Your brand strategy breathes life into your idea; it allows your ideal customer to connect with your vision and see its full potential. A brand strategy will help your start-up:

• Define the vision. By working with a brand strategist,  you will clarify your purpose and develop a unique value proposition. Understanding your intention and the value you bring to the market makes it easier to define your vision for the future. Instead of brainstorming a list of things you think you need to do, the brand strategy process will bring to light the most valuable tasks to your organization. That allows you to develop SMART goals to work towards the same outcome. With a solid strategy in place, you get a realistic look at the resources you will need to execute your plan.  
• Convey the brand experience. The brand strategy process helps you know exactly who your audiences are, the goals they have, the challenges they face, where you can reach them, and how you can help them. This information allows you to develop a compelling message based on your unique value proposition that speaks directly to each audience segment. It lets your audiences know how your idea can help them achieve their goals. A brand strategy also enables you to establish a single voice and strong point of view that carries through both your internal and external communications. 
• Attract investors, customers, and employees. Investing in a brand strategy is an investment in your reputation — and your reputation is your most valuable asset. If you can’t demonstrate that you are trustworthy, attracting investors, customers, and employees will be almost impossible. Developing and faithfully implementing your brand strategy is the most effective way to demonstrate your trustworthiness and build your reputation.  

It is vital that your brand be established on a solid foundation, especially when you launch your start-up. If a launch goes poorly, you will have wasted a lot of time, energy, and effort. You might be able to go back to the drawing board and start again, but many great ideas are never realized because of a failed launch.

If you are launching a start-up later this year, or if your company’s growth has stalled because you aren’t clear about your customers, messaging, and positioning, we should talk. As a brand strategist and designer with expertise in visual communications, I help start-ups transition from stealth mode to growth mode. To see if we’re a good fit, schedule a 30-minute consultation.