Is Bad Branding Costing You Money?
More than likely, it's a hard YES! 💸💸
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Ciao Amici,
I’m coming back from delivering a keynote at an off-shoot event for NY Tech Week where I went into detail about why I feel most start-ups have a branding problem.
Driving down the NJ Turnpike yesterday got me thinking how this might not be a start-up problem, but a larger business problem.
Bad branding…
It’s an epidemic. It’s normalized. It’s accepted.
But more importantly, it’s bad for business and your bottom line.
So what’s a time/resource/cash-strapped organization to do?
🧹 Sweeping it under the rug and hoping it’ll solve itself won’t fix it.
🧚 Finding a fairy to grant you a wish won’t magically make your branding better.
🤡 Using a service like 99 Designs, Fiver, or your nephew who knows social media (what does that even mean these days?) isn’t going to solve your problems. In fact, it could make it worse.
What you need is an expert.
An expert to deliver guidance and a clear-cut strategic plan that is equally impactful as it is implementable. All without spending every last Bitcoin you may or may not have.
Hi, I’m probably the guide you’ve been looking for.
So where would I start as your trusted brand guide? Here’s a two-pronged approach to better understand what’s happening under the hood.
Understand the problem.
Most organizations I encounter come to me with a specific problem. Usually, it’s something like “our logo looks old and outdated” or “I don’t understand why we aren’t getting leads through our website.”
Upon using the Socratic method (you know, asking thoughtful questions and not assuming), we uncover the actual problems that need to be solved.
Example:
Perceived problem: “Steven, our social media isn’t performing and our email open rate sucks. Help us”.
Actual problem: You have no idea who your customer is, you have too many competing messages amongst multiple different platforms, and your emails are poorly designed. This is a foundational branding problem at its core.
Once we have the problem narrowed down (sort of), we can move on and look at the steps it’ll take to rectify those problems and turn the brand around.
To do so, we need to go a few steps deeper.
Perform some research.
I’m a fan of using the 4Cs framework to uncover insights.
From macro to micro, the 4Cs framework is looking deep into culture, category/competitors, consumer, and company. Want more on this? Read This Article I had Published in Branders Magazine.
This will give me the upper hand in crafting a strategy and messaging framework that are relevant and matter to your audience.
Remember, MATTERING is the new MARKETING.
That’s it for now. Off to play with the kiddo and pup in the backyard.
To your unstoppable success,
-Steven ✌️🍕
P.S. Today’s newsletter is brought to you by ⚡️MOVETIC⚡️, an award-winning progressive brand consultancy building resilient brands through strategy, content, and web. Contact them HERE.
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