Startup Brand Strategy Archives

Brand Strategy for Turbulent Times

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Tracy Lloyd

Business is in Flux

Brand strategy matters now more than ever. COVID-19 is a health crisis first, but also, an economic one. Many businesses that we work with are feeling uneasy about the current economic situation and the long-term effects of COVID-19 on business. Financial markets are no doubt showing extreme symptoms. There is an unignorable sense of shutdown and although the world has faced other economic crises before, this time is different. Business leaders, VC funders, investors, consumers, and employees are unsure how long this will last and to what extent they must shift strategies. Even economists are uncertain of how to quantify the true impact.

As the initial shock of this new world fades, brands are being forced to transform the way they do business overnight, continually adapting, thinking, and acting with empathy and purpose. These companies are facing more difficult choices. Below are some brands that have made significant shifts to how they operate to put their brand forward in more meaningful ways.

In early March, U-Haul provided free 30-day storage spaces for college students impacted by evacuations at university campuses amid school closures.
Top Auto Insurers, like AllState offered customers refunds for not driving during COVID-19 crisis. Since so many consumers can’t hit the road, insurance companies agreed that there was no reason to ask customers to pay normal rates.
Retail stores like Michaels, Ace Hardware, and Petco are offering curbside pickup services for a contactless way to purchase essential items.
Dyson shifted innovation focus to ventilators.
Local restaurants and chains have devoted profits to donate to healthcare providers experiencing a deficit in medical supplies and families in need.

So how can today’s brands start to adapt their offerings, reposition, shift and shift their communications, behavior, and marketing to maintain relevance and meaning in today’s turbulent world?

Brand Strategy Matters Now More than Ever

With much in flux and lots at stake, businesses need more customized brand solutions now more than ever. An external perspective can help businesses make sure their positioning, narrative, and go-to-market strategy are on track with shifting market trends and demands. Brand strategy has become more and more important to sustain a thriving, successful, and inspired business.

More Customized, More Tailored, More Agile

Business support needs to be more customized, tailored, and agile. Strategy has to move even faster in order to stay ahead and stand out. Positioning matters even more and brands need a strategy that is attuned to their specific needs, services, and current challenges.

Emotive Brand has listened to the needs of our clients and adapted our own client solutions in response. We have introduced a more agile approach to using strategy and design to solve business problems. More customized, easier to buy, lower commitment, and higher impact.

In Today’s World, Every Business Has Different Needs. We Help:

Leaders who need a new corporate narrative to maintain relevance
High-growth companies in need of an updated go-to-market strategy
Struggling companies needing to invest in a turnaround strategy
Corporate cultures that are off kilter because the company has grown too fast
Companies facing demands for top-line revenue growth quarter after quarter
Leadership teams having trouble formally articulating their brand purpose
Companies struggling to recruit fast enough and attract the top talent they need to innovate and grow
Websites that need an update to compete and convert
Brands that need to reposition to stay competitive in a crowding market
Brand identities that are falling flat and need a refresh

Whatever the issue, an external perspective will help you dive into matters and create customized and tailored solutions that overcome these challenges. A brand strategy that positions your business for success and helps your business thrive will weather the tides of 2020.

Learn more about our services that can help you transform your business and make your brand matter more.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency in Oakland, California.

Illustration created by Starline

Your Startup’s Growth Strategy Starts with Brand Strategy

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Carol Emert

You’re running a startup. When should you invest in brand strategy?

Put another way, when do you need to grow? When do you need to acquire new customers, build your culture and recruit the right people?

For a startup whose primary job is growth, brand strategy can be a critical tool. So the answer to the question about when you need brand strategy is: Not at the very beginning, but probably earlier than you think.

We recently branded a stealth-mode software startup whose CEO is a highly successful serial entrepreneur. He has worked with Emotive Brand several times. This time, he brought us in earlier than ever, because he has seen how brand strategy can power growth.

When his startup leaves stealth mode and launches into growth mode, as it is poised to do, it will be powered by the right customer insights, the right value proposition and the right messaging to succeed.

Too Early v. Too Late

That doesn’t mean you need brand strategy on Day One. Startups are right to get their products built and tested before worrying about anything else. If you don’t have a viable product, you have nothing to grow a brand or a company on. So early on, tunnel vision is good.

The next stage, the growth stage, is where brand strategy can have meaningful impact. Brand strategy can power your growth strategy by identifying who your best customers are and clarifying what you do better than anyone else to address the pain points they face every day.

Brand strategy defines your company’s unique brand experience, the voice with which you will speak to the marketplace and the messaging that will get you leads with the right people.

If your brand isn’t clear, your growth strategy will have a tough time defining both long-term goals and the short-term tactics for getting there.

Avoid Stalling Growth Before It Starts

We worked with a startup client a couple of years ago in exactly this position. The company had a great team and top-notch venture backing. It enjoyed a successful run with its initial friends-and-family customer set – but when the time came to implement its growth strategy, it hit a wall.

The company was trying to build its business with a tech-heavy product story rather than directly addressing the challenges it solved for its customers. Its venture firm sent the startup to us.

Three months after engaging Emotive Brand, the startup was ready to relaunch with a fresh story – and quickly started hitting its goals. The same startup has engaged us on a number of projects since, to keep its story relevant amid shifts in its competitive landscape.

As your startup prepares for growth mode, your team will be growing too. Brand strategy that clarifies who you are and what you believe can help internally as well as externally, helping you recruit the right people and build a strong internal culture.

Whether your startup is poised to grow internally, externally or both, brand strategy can make your growth strategy smarter, clearer and more successful.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy firm working with high-growth B2B companies.

Entrepreneurs — Why You Need This Advice for Your Next VC Pitch

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Tracy Lloyd

The Entrepreneur Pitch

Every day, in offices up and down Sand Hill Road, founders meet with venture capitalists to make their pitch. For entrepreneurs, these aren’t mere meetings. They are defining moments, perhaps life-changing ones.

Only the truly clueless would be unprepared for meetings of this magnitude. Rock-solid business plan? Check. Technology road map? Check. Go-to-market strategy? Market analyses? Financial projections?

Check. Check. Check.

And yet…despite all that exhaustive effort, many entrepreneurs are not truly ready for what might one of the most important meetings of their career. They aren’t prepared with an answer to the most basic question of all: Why?

What VCs are looking for

VCs have told us and told the world that the key question they want answered is not “What do you do?” but “Why are you doing this?”

The answer is never “because we think it’ll make money.” Of course the plan is designed to make money; that’s a given. No one writes a business plan without believing their idea can make money.

So the answer to the question “Why?” must be something else entirely. The best answers contain a belief. A conviction. A heartfelt desire to do something great, something meaningful, something compelling.

At the very least, the entrepreneur should want to make an impact — and believe doing so is not just possible, but inevitable.

Why?

The successful entrepreneur must be able to articulate this why along many dimensions: Why this product? Why now? Why does the market need this solution (even if — especially if — the market doesn’t yet recognize or understand the need)?

But most important, successful entrepreneurs will need to be able to explain why their product or solution or company matters. What difference will it make in the world? Why does this idea excite them? VCs are looking for something that aligns to a bigger idea — perhaps even a noble one.

So: Don’t forget to talk about “why this matters” in your pitch to VCs. Most entrepreneurs are rock-solid when it comes to articulating their value proposition, growth projections, technical capabilities, and market opportunities. But reserve a little part of your pitch deck to answer the question “Why?”

“Why” isn’t a tough question to answer. But it’s an extremely tough question to answer from your heart…to be convincing about what motivates you and why you’ll get up every day to make it a reality.

Call it “Why” or call it your it your first step in defining your brand. Either way, make sure its part of your pitch, it matters more than you think.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design consultancy that works with founders, startups, high-growth companies and VCs.

For further reading, you may enjoy

Does your brand make a promise?

Why is messaging so difficult for disruptive technologies?

Six reasons why your startup should invest in brand at the beginning

Differentiate Your Product With A “Why” vs. “What” Approach

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Tracy Lloyd

Are you looking for strategies to differentiate your product? There is one key shift you can make to change the way people think, feel, and talk about it.

It’s only natural for you and your team to focus on the “what” of your business. After all, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your product is in the app store, on the shelves, online, and on the minds of consumers.

You built the product. And you live your product every day. You know it inside out. You know exactly how it works. You know all the ways that your product is better than the others.

The only trouble is that no one else knows as much or cares as much about your product as you do.

Customers may use your product, but they don’t really live your product. They don’t know how it works inside and out, nor do they care to. In most cases, once your product meets their needs, they don’t give it much more thought.

So how can you differentiate your product?

What customers do think about, of course, is themselves. On the surface, they care about their standing in the world and what others think of them. Deep down, they think about what’s truly important to them and what makes them feel alive, specifically their sense of safety and security, their feelings of connectedness, and their need to grow as people.

A more empathetic approach to brand strategy

Most brands dance on the surface of people’s lives, playing only to their egos. But things are shifting and more and more brands are delving deeper into what people truly care about – and they’re finding success doing so. As such, those brands are forging more gratifying and enduring relationships based on meaning.

The key to this new approach is to focus on the positive outcomes that flow from your brand by answering theses questions:

– What happens as people use your product?

– What happens as a result of your policies with respect to workers and the environment?

One way to identify positive outcomes is to look at what you and your team are likely to think of as “key benefits” and to then ask:

– Why are these good?

– How do these help people feel more secure, connected, or able to grow as a person?

– How do these improve social conditions or the environment?

Ask more than once. Interrogate what you see as valuable until you reveal what others will find meaningful and why.

Use the truths that you discover to build a brand that matters. The closer and deeper the relationships you create, the more your brand will thrive. The meaning you embrace will be a beacon that attracts new customers, a glue that will bond people to your brand, and a North Star that your employees will be eager to follow.

If you really want to differentiate your product, move beyond the obvious and the known. Let your competitors lead with features and benefits. Rise above your industry’s standard way of expressing value. Focus not on what you make, but on what you make happen.

Tap into deeper meaning and thrive.

For additional reading, read our post on “Why You Need a Brand Strategy” and our white paper on transforming your brand.

Download White Paper

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco branding agency.

How do you differentiate your startup in a crowded category?

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Tracy Lloyd

Startups in crowded categories should lead with brand.

There are many wake-up calls for the founders of startups. One of the more difficult realizations comes fairly early into your journey; the day you wake up and discover that despite your unique, disruptive offering, you have plenty of company.

When you first started, when you made your investor pitch and got that angel round, you thought you were so far ahead, there was no category to contain you. But while you’ve been heads down, looking for funding, hiring people, grinding out product, and trying to get c Continue reading “How do you differentiate your startup in a crowded category?”

Why a Startup Should Invest in the Brand Quickly

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Tracy Lloyd

Why we believe founders need to rethink their investment in their startup brand

There’s the startup rush. That undeniable startup rush. That adrenaline flow that starts the moment you have an idea worth sharing. An idea that you’re willing to ask perfect strangers to fund. It’s a rush when someone says yes, and another rush when that first check shows up. The one that rents the homely first office and gets you going.

After that it gets harder.

The technology component of the idea might be easy for you. After all, it’s what you were trained to do. But for many startup founders, the hard part is figuring out the people part. It might come as a surprise that people do not always obey the laws of physics. That’s why brands were invented.

So how do you create a startup brand to wrap around your technological tour de force so actual humans can relate to it? Why should a supremely motivated, completely obsessed, workaholic driven, possibly undernourished startup CEO invest time, effort, and money to develop a brand with a purpose that has a deep, emotive core?

Investing in your brand can help in these 6 ways

Differentiate or die

You’re in a crowded ecosystem. You have 100+ competitors in your Lumascape. You need a more distinctive position than: “We’re disrupting X” or “We’re like, you know, the Uber of Y.” A meaningful positioning can help everyone understand why YOU matter and why they should care. Differentiation is key to survival as a startup, so you need to get this right.

Help them love you

In today’s hyper-competitive world, emotion is the secret sauce of many of the world’s most successful brands. It can help your brand become more appealing, differentiated, and loved once you recognize its power. Developing positioning and messaging that mixes both the rational and the emotional aspects of your brand will win both the hearts and minds of those people you are trying to capture.

Get everyone on the same page

Nothing slows down an enterprise more than a workforce that is working at cross-purposes, who is unmotivated, and who are unclear about what the strategy is. You need to align the leadership team and employees around one solid reason for being, a strong positioning, and consistent messaging built on a solid foundation of brand purpose and company values. When a company is truly aligned, and working toward the same purpose, it can truly achieve anything.

Exit on your terms

Every startup has an exit strategy. Aligning your brand strategy to your business strategy can really help you get there faster. Too many founders try to keep this under wraps when developing a brand strategy and the brand strategy is built to support the wrong strategy. Trust your agency to help you achieve your goals and objectives, share your exit strategy, and let them help you create the right brand strategy to help you get there.

Behavior drives results

Extraordinary things happen when an organization embraces a purposeful brand strategy. It drives new attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors across your team. It evolves your marketing, communications, and advertising. It inspires new product development. It makes your workplace more productive. It changes how people experience your brand. The last piece is behavior. It’s both difficult and simple: When companies adapt their behavior to live up to the brand promise, people notice. And that’s exactly the result you want.

Invest once

You don’t want to do it twice, so you want to do it right the first time. It’s true that many people, especially in software, are used to fixing errors on the fly. Software is relatively easy to repair. Reputation isn’t. Reputations are earned through consistent behavior over time. So it’s advisable to get your brand aligned early so it will stand the test of time.

At Emotive Brand, we usher newly created entities into the branded world for the first time. We straighten out brands that have fallen out of step with the pace of the industry. We reinvent brands that wake up one morning merged with another company’s brand.

Don’t wait too long to discover the true, authentic purpose of your startup brand, and define why it matters to the people that matter to your business. It will be well worth your time.

If you are interested in our agile marketing approach for high-growth companies, please visit some of our case studies and see how we’ve helped drive growth, developed strong messaging and positioning, and differentiated even the most crowded ecosystems.