The best time to start building your brand was when you launched. The second best is now!

This article first appeared in Business Leader

Ian Bates, Founder and Creative Partner at Firehaus, discusses the importance of building your business brand, and if you haven’t done so already, why you should start building it now.

I really hope this article is useless to you in the very near future. But it just might be vital right now. Because there’s an inescapable truth that innovative scale-ups, spin-outs and startups would do well to heed.

Paul Jones, Senior Investment Manager with the British Business Bank summed it up to me rather nicely: “After 5-10 minutes of listening to entrepreneurs seeking funds, nine times out of ten I find myself trying to play back what it is that they actually do.”

 It’s not rocket science to understand why, even if your innovation is indeed rocket science. You spend so much time focusing on your product, features, sales and resources that adding something as fluffy as a brand to the list feels like a step too far.

But it’s one I’d encourage you to take. Because building a brand is far from fluff.

Building a brand helps innovative organisations blast away barriers that prevent them from realising their competitive advantage and achieving impact.

By building a brand you’re effectively creating a story. One that puts your innovation in the real world, with a clearly articulated Purpose, Mission and Vision that brings people into the narrative and shows them where they fit – customers, employees, investors and partners.

One of the nation’s leading academic institutions (with awards and accreditations as long as a VC’s CV) discovered this for themselves, and told us: “The research came back with we don’t know who you are.” (Imagine!) They went on to say “it shocked academic teams expecting you’re the best”.

You see, in many ways, they were the best. But they hadn’t given anyone a memorable story to hang their brilliant product and features on, one the audience could picture themselves in – in the real world.

For scale-ups, spinouts and start-ups, starting to build a strong brand is critical. They’re often working in new and emerging markets, and they need to convince customers and investors of their unique value proposition. A strong brand can help to establish them as thought leaders and disruptors in their sector, which can lead to increased funding, revenues, and market share.

A strong brand is crucial

As Steve Edwards, Head of Bristol Grid said: “A great brand eliminates confusion. It’s far easier to get everyone aboard if we’ve created shared understanding about our initiative.” I couldn’t agree more.

• The brand sets an organisation apart from its competitors (Brand Position).

• It helps it to stand out, not only in its market but in the mind of its customers (Brand Idea).

• And it can create a strong culture that’s consistently delivered through its people and communications (Brand Behaviour).

• Ultimately, this tangible personality builds trust with staff, customers and investors – and a competitive advantage.

Start building a brand at launch

The market has changed significantly in recent years, and organisations that started building their brand are now reaping the benefits. They’ve had time to establish themselves in the market and build a loyal customer base. They’ve also had time to refine their messaging, branding, and marketing strategies based on customer feedback and market trends.

For example, Allbirds, the sustainable shoe company, started in 2016 and has since become a beloved brand known for its comfortable and eco-friendly shoes – and a great tone of voice too. Peloton also started in 2016 and invested very early in brand advertising (not all of it great) and has since become a household name with a loyal following.

And leading plant-based nutrition scale-up Vivo Life launched in 2014 and is now moving into new markets and audiences. They’ve wisely sought independent expertise to support this endeavour, in the words of Director Josh Bolding “to challenge our own thinking … blazing a trail for new ways for our story to emerge.”

Like these innovators, it’s never too early to start thinking about your brand as opposed to purely ‘the business’. So, in theory, when you’re preparing to scale/startup/spin out, you’d be doing that as a brand. Of course, the time, money and skillsets required aren’t always there, but much of what I’ve recommended above doesn’t have to cost mega-bucks. Just finding the right partner.

It’s not too late to start now

So, fear not! You’re not doomed if you’re a little late to the party. You can start now!

The market is always changing, and there’s always an opportunity to establish a strong brand. One that has a clear sense that its time has come – not part of the past. It’s important to be aware of the changing market, competitors, and audience and create a brand that resonates with them. Being outward-focused rather than inward. Perhaps the biggest challenge for innovators who are justifiably proud of their product or service.

The great thing is that there’s only one you. It may not look or sound like it right now, but that’s the point of building a brand – you create a distinct identity – one YOU.

A few more top tips to inspire you now:

“We thought we could do it ourselves … as it turned out the results made us realise we needed help.”

• Value the outsider perspective. In the words of David C Baker, “it’s ‘difficult to read the label from inside the jar.”

“Recognise the importance of brand from the start. Be prepared to overcome approved supplier bureaucracy to get specialists that you can trust.”

• If your scale-up, spin-out or startup matters to you then don’t be tempted to ‘make do’ with existing or roster suppliers. It might work, in which case great! But as a specialist yourself, you probably already appreciate the value of other specialists.

“Other universities’ innovation and enterprise initiatives were gaining far more attention and funding, yet we can deliver better.”

• Get out there and tell your audience a compelling story. There are no awards for being the best-kept secret in town.

“We need to bring people together behind one vision.”

• Having a clearly articulated Purpose, Mission and Vision will work wonders for employee engagement and efficiency. As Talent Acquisition specialist Rowan Hardy said: “Having a strong employer brand is critical. Candidates want to know your purpose and values are aligned with theirs.”

The sooner you work on your brand, the better. Maybe you can’t turn back the clock, but you can grab the bull by the horns and kick off now.

The idea is not to come by this article again and still be in the same situation you are in now.

Start building your brand and your competitive advantage!

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