While at the Tech Leadership Conference this week, I attended Maggie Harmon's breakout session on "Walking the Talk: Aligning your Internal and External Business Focus". An interesting question came up during the Q&A, which was essentially:
How can a new startup handle the issue with branding, given how quickly their identity can change day-to-day?
It's certainly not an easy challenge, but it's an important one. Every single interaction you have around your startup is building your brand from day one, whether you're thinking about it or not. While you won't (and shouldn't) have all your marketing materials developed at the beginning, you need to be thinking about who you are and what you do from the very beginning.
Yes, brands are defined by visual things such as colours and typefaces, but also by intangibles and right now, that's what you need to think about. At this stage your brand consists of a few things including your reputation, for both yourself personally and the startup itself, because at this point they are one and the same thing; your business culture, which can include your values, how you work and with whom; your brand personality - is your business fun? serious? intelligent? compelling?; and so on.
Here are a few things to think about as you move forward:
- Who are your customers? What are they interested in and passionate about? Every single point of communication needs to focus on engaging with them, building a relationship and trust, and getting them excited about what you're doing. You do that by being excited about what they do. Whether you're selling something yet or not, you still have customers - for example VCs, angels, potential employees or clients and more. Make sure you know who they are and that you're speaking their language.
- What do you do? Another basic tenet of branding is how you stand out from the competition. Perhaps you have a mobile app - what do you offer that is different from others? Look at your idea or product and consider the specific benefit you offer to potential customers. Once you've determined what sets you apart, write it down in clear language and make sure you use it consistently in all your communications.
- Think about your vision and mission. Your vision is where you want to go; your mission is how you will get there on a day-to-day basis. They don't need to be beautifully worded at this point but they're something to think about. You can use them as a guiding point for everything you do and should be a touchstone for your values and the reason you're doing this startup in the first place.
- Consistent messaging, where it exists. Do you send emails? Have a blog? Make sure that you, and everyone you work with, adheres to some sort of code so that the style and tone is cohesive. At this point you can start applying simple tactics such as making sure everyone has a consistent email signature that matches. Little things matter and help you look more professional.
Why does this matter, anyway - we're just a startup?
How you behave and your beliefs will shape the employees who join you, the investors who come to you, your media coverage, and of course overall perception of your company.
It will make you stand out from the rest, give you a competitive advantage and really, help you survive. Beyond that, I believe it's a critical piece of your business planning. If you start defining your brand early, it will inform everything you do and help pull it together. The reality is that your brand is more than your (future) logo. It's how your startup is perceived in other's minds, so start now to shape those perceptions!
What do you think - how are you branding your startups?