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Startup Brand Strategy


Rebranding in 2024? Move fast to go slow.

Rebranding in 2024? Move fast to go slow.

As 2023 winds down, odds are you’ve already set your goals for 2024 and are taking these last couple of weeks to tie up loose ends and get ready to take a running leap into Q1. But before you turn out the lights on the year, we have one piece of advice: if a rebrand is something you’re considering before the end of Q2, the time to start is now. “Starting now” doesn’t mean kicking off the project. But it does mean you need to socialize the endeavor with your leadership team, clarify the goals, secure budget, identify internal teams and resources, define the brief or create an RFP, find the...
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How to Launch a New Brand Category

How to Launch a New Brand Category

Launching A New Brand Category The decision to join an existing category, or to launch a new brand category is not an easy decision. Evaluating your product maturity, the product roadmap, and overall market maturity is critical. Once the decision is made, the strategy shifts to creating the right budget and plan to launch the new brand category. Building momentum is paramount to both the category’s success, and by proxy, your own brand’s position as the category leader. As we’ve previously discussed, timing is critical for launch. You need to consider factors of competition, messaging,...
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Laser-Focused Branding and the Sales Learning Curve

Laser-Focused Branding and the Sales Learning Curve

Not For the Masses Every company wants to climb the Sales Learning Curve — a model for establishing and ramping up a sales force and increasing sales yield — faster. But few focus on branding as a way to accomplish that. In fact, a laser-focused brand is a critical driver of your sales reps’ ramp-up and revenue growth. It sounds risky to create a brand and launch a product based on the needs of a very defined group. But it might just be a better approach to branding and marketing. The Laser-Focused Branding of PubMatic Take the company, PubMatic. Before contacting Emotive Brand, PubMatic had...
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Is an Agile Strategy the Right Approach for Brand Strategy?

Is an Agile Strategy the Right Approach for Brand Strategy?

Dynamic Times Require Agile Strategy We have seen a a large rise of requests for our proprietary agile strategy methodology for brand strategy. More than ever, sudden market changes, disruptive business models, rapid-paced technology, and ever-evolving competition demand agility. As customers change, new competition enters and new categories emerge, so businesses must be able to flex and adapt with the times. Without Agility, Less Impact Agility is becoming more and more of an expectation. And being agile doesn’t mean being hasty or impulsive. In fact, it’s the opposite. Agile strategy...
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Your Startup’s Growth Strategy Starts with Brand Strategy

Your Startup’s Growth Strategy Starts with Brand Strategy

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...
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Why a Startup Should Invest in the Brand Quickly

Why a Startup Should Invest in the Brand Quickly

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...
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The Value of a Sales-Led Brand Strategy For High-Growth Companies

The Value of a Sales-Led Brand Strategy For High-Growth Companies

A Sales Perspective Tracy Lloyd, founding partner and Chief Strategy Officer of Emotive Brand, shares how her sales background informs her work today, and offers insights on the true value of bringing sales to the strategy table. Tell us about your sales background. I have an interesting background that has led me to the agency world, and on to brand strategy. Initially, I got my start in non-profit fundraising and development. A start-up CEO bought an expensive table from me to attend a gala event I was hosting. Throughout the sales process of getting that deal done, he said to me that I...
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Startup Brands Should Follow This Strategy to Authentically Differentiate

Startup Brands Should Follow This Strategy to Authentically Differentiate

Startup brands stop leading with features and benefits! If only more startup brands understood the value of brand strategy and how it could lead them away from leading with features and benefits vs. why the brand matters. Convincing minds by capturing hearts: the new brand-building approach. What comes first? The rational decision to take the next step on the path to purchase, or the emotional trigger that gets them started on that path? Aren’t we humans cool? We pride ourselves on our cognitive skills, our ability to weigh pros and cons, and our decision-making power. After all, these...
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Fast Forward: Our New Offering for High-Growth Companies

Fast Forward: Our New Offering for High-Growth Companies

Developing Fast Forward, an agile marketing, branding, and business offering was the right thing for our team to develop for startups, to address the issues startups are facing right now. We have created Fast Forward designed for our high-growth clients that need to make strategic shifts to quickly address product, industry, competitive, alignment, and other issues. Fast Forward is an agile workshop approach that very quickly develops a strategically aligned and nuanced understanding of your business and brand’s current situation. We bring the most important issues to light — business...
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Is Your Brand Ready for 2016?

Is Your Brand Ready for 2016?

The New Year is the perfect time to reflect and renew your brand’s focus. It’s not about resolutions. It’s about looking back on this past year of business and checking the alignment of your brand and business strategy. What things should you focus on in order to ready your brand for 2016? We want to offer some purpose-led inspiration and advice on preparing your brand for success in the New Year. Here are three focus points to consider before you take the year by storm: 1. Make Meaningful Measurements Take a moment to consider what you’re measuring and why. Ask yourself, do existing...
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