Are you interested in branding or rebranding your 5G startup but don’t know where to begin?
MARTIN ZARIAN
November 4, 2020
5 mins read
Branding can be a daunting task when creating a startup, especially for tech startups. Ideally, you’d like to grow steadily and sustainably but let’s face it, things don’t always go as planned.
But don’t fret! Whether you’re branding or rebranding, here are some simple steps you can take to ensure your brand grows together with your product:
Start from brand strategy, always!
Nail your brand positioning
Ensure your brand and design is scalable
Know the Why and Purpose behind your brand
Play up the brand’s uniqueness, different or weird is good!
How your brand fell behind in the first place?
As a branding and tech company ourselves, we get it…you’re a tech company first and foremost. You’re product-driven with a clear focus on creating something that will help millions of people around the world. That’s a lot to handle! Unfortunately, your business can’t grow without the help of branding, telling people who you are, what you’re about and why they should care.
The problem is most startups fail to start the branding journey from the very beginning. It is only after they begin speaking with investors and pitching their company’s goals do they realize it’s all a mess.
On the other hand, startups that were branded from the beginning, oftentimes, didn’t have a proper brand strategy in place. So as their agile products grew, the brand values, positioning, and goals were left in the dust.
A lack of branding not only hurts the company and its credibility but the product itself. Regardless of where you are in your brand journey, it’s never too late to get on the right track. After all, 5G will power the 4th industrial revolution so get your company ready!
1. Brand strategy (every brand that wants to go places needs it)
No matter how desperate you are to get to the fun, pixel-pushing stage of the brand design, JUST STOP!
To create a brand that truly reflects your company’s values and goals, you have to first make sure there is crystal clear direction across the board to reach those goals. The brand strategy will allow you to create a clear plan of action to get you from where you are to where you want to be; not only for your brand but also your business.
On top of that, the brand strategy will allow you to switch from the trial and error mindset, to 100% confident in your brand’s Return on Investment (ROI). If branding is done correctly the strategy will fuel the investment rather than become another company expense.
2. Brand Positioning
Defining your brand’s position within the market is, of course, part of the strategy. But it’s worth expanding on as it’s very important. Brand positioning is directly connected to customer loyalty and their willingness to purchase or interact with the brand.
In other words, it can be referred to as the extent to which a brand is perceived as unique and credible, thereby gaining a competitive advantage. In layman terms, your positioning is the impression that your brand, product or service holds in your ideal customer’s mind.
This is particularly vital in today’s market as we are constantly bombarded by brands and ads.
Did you know that the average consumer can only recall the top 3 brands of a specific sector?
Brand test: How many electric car companies can you recall? How many energy drink companies? How many graphic cards companies?
See! The top 3 are the ones that manage to hold a steady position in your brain, all the others lose the game.
3. Make it a Scalable System
Just as your 5g startup quickly evolves, your brand should be equally dynamic; always ready for change and expansion in a fast-paced market.
With tech startups, it’s especially important to note, scalability within the industry doesn’t apply only to the logo size across multiple devices. Instead, Scalability in branding is the ability of a brand identity to evolve rapidly and consistently to changes around it. This can be a new acquisition, product or service.
By using a strong dynamic design system a brand becomes identifiable as it maintains consistency across all elements including CSS styles, sub-brands, style and tone. Making your brand the forerunner of the products, ensures the products will never get ahead of your brand again.
Another one that falls under the strategy, but worthy of a stand-alone mention. Most startups or fast-moving digital companies struggle to answer one simple question — WHY?
All companies are able to answer the WHAT question; what is my company doing, but very few can answer the why. This results in a weak company culture because the why’ gives your company their purpose, or cause, it is the driving force behind the company culture, without it results in team misalignment.
If you need help with your WHY check Simon Sinek’s video “Start with why”.
However, by knowing your target audience allows you to align your brand with them. If you can understand your user’s needs you indirectly learn their pain points. Knowing what they’re missing tells you why or the purpose for your company. You can then position yourself within that missed opportunity in the market.
If you are considering rebranding, the Purpose or Why needs to be one of the pillars of the project
5. Showcase Your Uniqueness
Knowing your why or brand purpose also helps you understand how you are unique. What do you do differently, what makes you stand out, do you have a niche target and how do you represent this visually? It sounds cliche’, but it’s extremely relevant in the current state of the world.
We see about 5000 brands a day, each one with their own logo, slogan and messaging. Because of this continuous bombardment we need to make sure that the logo, aka the identification vector of your company, is indeed unique. Pretty much like a country flag, your logo needs to be extremely simple but unique to your business.
The branding or the activation of your brand will also have to be and feel unique. It’s extremely important for brand recognition and brand identity that you stand out against your direct competitors, leaving a good first impression, and resonate with your ideal client.
Brand uniqueness test: If you remove your logo and any mention of your company name from your website, does it still feel yours and yours only? If not back to step 1.
Conclusion
Although branding is typically a collaborative process, regardless of branding for the first time or rebranding, following these steps will give you a headstart on your brand journey.
Just remember, have a plan and know your goals, understand the market and why you do what you do, make sure it’s as scalable as your product and resonates well with your ideal client!
Need inspiration? Feel free to take a quick peek at some of our case studies . Or, reach out to us for some personal help…. Good luck and happy branding!
