Building  a  kick-­‐ass  brand  that  wins    February  2013  

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BRANDING  

   

Why  is  branding  the  most  oKen  overlooked  pracNce  for  startups?  

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WHY  BRANDING  FOR  STARTUPS?    

Things  change  quickly      

Success  comes  at  breakneck  speed      

Products  change,  teams  change  –  brand  DNA  remains  intact  

 Investors  invest  with  their  hearts  and  minds  

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WHAT  IS  A  BRAND?  

Brand  makes  the  turbulence  of  startup  business  manageable      OrganizaNonal  behavior  –  not  copywriNng      Sum-­‐total  of  all  experiences  with  a  brand      A  promise  made  –  a  promise  fulfilled        

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360  DEGREE                        BRANDING  

The  brand  is  a  relaNonship  that  is  strengthened  or  weakened  with  every  audience  touchpoint  

We’re  not  in  the  xxxxxxx  business;  we’re  in  the  relaNonship  business.      

360  degree  branding  covers  all  all  communicaNon  channels  

Reinforcing  those  relaNonships  requires  agreement  on  brand  direcNon  and  solid,  consistent  communicaNon  

BRANDING  PHILOSOPHY  

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Func%onal  Benefits  and  A1ributes    

Emo%onal  Benefits    

Self-­‐expressive  benefits,    

beliefs  and  values  addressed    

Hardest  to  deliver  Hardest  to  imitate  

Most  differenNaNng  and  defining  Longest  shelf-­‐life    

Key  element  of  emoNonal  brand  

•  What  the  product/company  DOES    and  offers  •  What  the  product/company  enables  customers  to  do    •  Easiest  to  deliver  •  Easiest  to  imitate  •  “Ante”  to  get  into  the  category    •  “Speeds  and  feeds”  •  Features  and  characterisNcs    •  Product,  placement,  price,  promoNon  •  Customers  expectaNons  for  a  product  in  the  category  

•  What  use  of  the  product  or  relaNonship    with  company  makes  customers  FEEL    

•  Harder  to  deliver    •  Not  as  easy  to  imitate  as  funcNonal  benefits    •  Can  command  premium  pricing  

When  a  brand  succeeds  in  gefng  to  its  pinnacle,  it  creates  value  for  customers  that  NO  other  brand  can.        If  you  saw  someone  using  our  brand,  what  would  you  know  about  him/her?  

DEFINING  CORE  BRAND  DNA  BRAND  PYRAMID  

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Today’s  opNons  packages  are  tomorrow’s  standard  equipment    

   

We  can’t  control  the  brand  image  –  only  the  idenNty  

 

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Value  ProposiNon  DefiniNon  and  ValidaNon  

Sustainable  Brand  PosiNon  

ideal  customer  

product  space  

needs    desires  

mindshare  

aftudes  behaviors  

values  addressed  with  your  

differenNators  

Customer  Knowledge  Marketplace  Knowledge  

BRAND  POSITIONING  

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ü  Research-­‐informed  process    ü  Define  core  Brand  DNA  ü  Carve  out  the  unique  selling  and  value  proposiNons  

PROCESS  

PROCESS  

Expression  

DELIVERABLES  

Brand  posiNoning  architecture  

Brand  narraNve  

Brand    blueprint  

Discovery  

Consensus  building  

DefiniNon  

DELIVERABLES  

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