founder institute 2011
DESCRIPTION
My slides from this year's Founder Institute.TRANSCRIPT
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Brand Strategy 101!(startup edition) !
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WHAT I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT A view from 50,000 feet!
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WHAT I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT (I can actually talk about whatever you like so feel free to interrupt)
01 A BIT ABOUT ME
02 A BIT OF THEORY
03 A BIT OF ACTION
03 BUTCHERING MY BRAND
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A BIT ABOUT ME
The Beach!
1997-1998
The Music Business!
1999
Madison Ave.!
2000-2005
Innovation Shop!
2005-2008
Branding Agency!
2009
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STUFF I DID ALONG THE WAY
CLIENTS AT MY STARTUP
CLIENTS FROM MY PAST LIFE
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AN OBVIOUS DISCLAIMER
I’m not a naming and branding person.!
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ANOTHER DISCLAIMER
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Let’s play a game.!
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LET’S PLAY A GAME
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LET’S PLAY A GAME
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LET’S PLAY A GAME
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LET’S PLAY A GAME
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LET’S PLAY A GAME
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SO WHAT’S A BRAND?
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Alex’s oversimplified history of commerce!
(brace yourself)!
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THE BEGINNING
I have tools. I need tools.
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF CHOICE
I have tools too.
$$ $$
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF THE EMPOWERED CUSTOMER
I have tools too.
So?
$$ $$
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF COMPETITION
I mean… My tools are be#er.
$$ $$
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF CONSUMER APATHY
They look the same to me
$$ $$
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF COMMODITIZATION
Well my tools are cheaper
$ $$
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF PRICE WARS
My tools are even cheaper
$ $
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF PRICE WARS
My tools are even cheaper
$ $
Deal.
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF THE BRAND
My tools are for people who know how to use tools.
$$$$ $ $
Image credit: tin7_creations
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THE DAWN OF THE BRAND
Ooh. I want to be one of those
people.
My tools are for people who know how to use tools.
$$$$
Image credit: tin7_creations
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There’s a lot of misperception out there by people who say…!
…not really.
WHAT’S A BRAND?
A logo!
A user interface!
An ad!
A tag line!
A color!
A name!
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There’s a lot of misperception out there by people who say…!
A logo!
A user interface!
An ad!
A tag line!
A color!
A name!
…not really.
WHAT’S A BRAND?
These are the ways brands both express and build themselves.
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Those are just expressions of a brand
“A brand is the consumer’s idea of a product”
- David Ogilvy
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Wise words from an ad guy…!WHAT’S A BRAND?
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Those are just expressions of a brand
“(Brands) create the third, intangible step in the adding of value. Take water and sugar: they are commodities. Process them into Cola Drinks, and you have products. Market and promote them into Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola and you have brands.”
- The Economist: The Year of the Brand
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Wise words from the Economist…!WHAT’S A BRAND?
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Those are just expressions of a brand
“A brand is a living entity, it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures”
Michael Eisner (Disney CEO)
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Wise words from the guys who bring you Mickey…!WHAT’S A BRAND?
*This is my favorite definition!
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Product Ads
Partners Design
Name Events
People
Brand Idea
Space
PR
Pricing
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The glue that hold each of these “gestures” together!GREAT BRANDS HAVE A CENTRAL GUIDING IDEA
User Interface
Logo
Font Users
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Brand Idea:!Tools for the
mind that advance humankind
In the simplest terms…!THAT IDEA GOVERNS EACH GESTURE
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Brand Idea: Tools for the
mind that advance humankind
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In the simplest terms…!MEANWHILE, EACH GESTURE DEFINES THE BRAND
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Everything communicates.!
SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND
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What does this font choice say about Apple?
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Think different.
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What does this style of photography say about Apple?
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What does this style of photography say about Apple? What do the materials they use to build their stores say about them?
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What do the people who work there communicate about the brand?
Photo credit: flickr.com/DaveMN
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Why does my startup need a brand?!
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Distance elasticity !
The distance people are willing to drive to a…
Good will elasticity !
“I couldn’t get home to see my family over the holidays, but JetBlue’s a good airline. They did what they could.” -JetBlue Passenger
“I couldn’t get home for the holidays. I know the weather was bad, but Delta are bastards. I hate them.” -‐JetBlue Passenger
Passenger quotes during the same snowstorm
Price elasticity!
$35 USD
$135 USD
Jeans are jeans?
People will part with more for a brand. !BECAUSE BRANDS CREATE ELASTICITY
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Brands are business tools.!
SOMETHING MANY BRANDING PEOPLE FORGET
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So how do I build a great brand?!
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What’s your business up against?!
START BY ASKING YOURSELF THIS QUESTION
I’m a new player and people might not trust
me.!
I’m creating something entirely new and need people to understand what I do.!
What I do will change people’s lives but it’s tough to understand at
first.!
What we’re selling isn’t for everybody – we need to make sure the people who try us first are the right people.!
There are other businesses out there like us and we need people to know
that we’re different.!
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Where is a brand most likely to help?!
THEN ASK YOURSELF THIS…
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LAY DOWN YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM
Startups are in a position to build their brand from the inside out.!
Start with the people who are founding the business, their vision for how they plan to change the
world and what they’re most passionate about.!
If you’re only in it to make money you’re going to suck at this part.!
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HOW WE DID AN OKAY(ISH) JOB OF IT AT PROPELLERFISH
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LOOK HARD AT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SELL
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LOOK HARD AT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SELL
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LOOK HARD AT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SELL
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LOOK HARD AT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SELL
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THEN LAY DOWN YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM
Our belief system would look something like…!
1. We bring freshness of thought to organizations that feel stale!
2. We bring energy that helps accelerate thinking and ideas from workshop to store shelf!
3. We bring a level of polish and precision that can only be delivered by doing one project at a time.!
4. We bring a rigor that’s missing from most other agencies!
5. We operate on the belief that the best creativity is commercial creativity.!
6. We believe in only working with clients who are comfortable collaborating with us as partners.!
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WHAT BUSINESS ARE YOU IN?
We’re technically in the innovation business but we like to think of it as though… !
We are an opportunity development business.!
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DEFINE YOUR MISSION
We are in the business of helping the world unleash its potential.!
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SAY IT WITH MORE THAN WORDS
Credit: Maria Horn (www.mariahorn.com)
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1. What are you setting out to build?
2. What’s your mission
3. Who are you targeting?
4. What’s their key painpoint?
5. How do you address it?
6. What do you stand for?
Start by asking yourself these questions !NOW YOU TRY…
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HOMEWORK
1. Create a brief for your business using the questions on the previous page (this will help you describe
your brand to other people)!
2. Rewrite that brief without words using pictures, fonts, sounds, materials, etc. (this will help you
brief designers)!
3. Generate a list of words that encapsulate that brief in its entirety - at least 100. (this will be a helpful
start point for your naming process)!
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DISCUSSION
Let’s talk.!
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KEEP IN TOUCH.
Let’s talk more.!
@alex__marquez!
(_x2)!