What the Most Memorable Startups All Have in Common
It is not what they offer but something they do that is not about themselves.
There is a fundamental shift in how brands are built because of what technology has enabled, which is essentially how information flows and how humans interact. Traditionally, branding was about a company telling a story to the audience. Actually, many were not actually telling a story but sending out bits and pieces of information about their offering. Those few telling a proper story stood out.
In today’s world, while that still needs to be done, it is also about how the company catalyzes what the audience feels and then in turn talks about the brand, not only back to the brand through different behaviors, but also through what they tell each other.
Essentially, now branding has become all about the stories the companies tell the potential customers, what the customers tell the brand which has to be factored in, and what the potential customers tell each other.
One thing that has not changed is that there is no shift in how humans feel and react, and most of the time it is not rational but emotional. What really needs to be understood is the context of the humans we target, based on a multitude of factors from demographics to macro influences. How do we tap into the story that the human tells themselves?
Keeping in mind humans are emotional, and with the understanding that what we offer is a viable product or service, it is no more enough to have a great offering, outline the features and the benefits and then expect business to happen. It is beyond these that success lies, in the territory that moves from the logical to the emotional.
There is a common misconception that the same rules of emotion in brands do not apply to B2B businesses. The means to go about it differ, but the same rules apply. All of us, who have retained customers after major issues with our offering, based on relationships that we spent the time and effort to build, will understand the importance of emotions in B2B scenarios.
To do all of these, while we already know we must be at the right place at the right time, tell effective stories, tap into the right networks, be seen in the right places, repeatedly for subconscious recall, etc., a critical development that is relatively new has to be factored in, which is the lessening attention span in the always connected and information overloaded world. Hence, doing the right thing is not enough anymore. It is doing the right thing, differently that is now becoming tables stakes.
Business is done in the short term while brands are built in the mid to long term, which in time, amplifies the business in the future for actions taken today.
For effective brand building, what is a also must is to step out of our areas of expertise and take a holistic view of what we do, ask the WHYs till they cannot be answered anymore, try our best to let go of our biases, keenly observe humans, notice patterns, etc. All these come before anything that is remotely categorized, like branding, marketing, or productization because it starts with really understanding humans and all that is their environment and how they interact with each other.
In order to not jump into solutioning based on what each of us understand from our experiences, there has to be a deliberate effort to forget all our expertise and get back to the basics. Be open to learn, let go of all our expertise for a moment, and open up! It’s fine to not know!
No fancy market research studies, etc., to start with. Go out and get a sense, the pulse, by literally walking around where our customers are, seeing their day unfold, the reactions on their faces, and so many other data points that no formal effort can ever capture. And tis is an exercise that cannot be done with an employee mindset. It has to be done with the founder’s mentality.
If I were to largely outline how I would go about it, factoring in that this is a generic outline, I would take the following approach:
1. The Initial Approach
1.1 Understanding the Current Landscape. We must understand the AS IS and review all data points that exist. Insights are often hidden in between the lines and in fresh perspectives.
Study AS-IS: Analyze client data, market trends, and existing marketing efforts.
Stakeholder Insights: Understand past successes and failures.
1.2 Customer Definition and Segmentation. Where are the customers? Are they where we think they are, or somewhere else? How can they be categorized into segments for effective engagement?
Identify Target Groups: Clearly define customer personas.
Heat Mapping: Determine high-potential segments and tailored messaging needs.
1.3 Messaging Strategy. Brands often talk about what they want to say about themselves, what their features and benefits are, but what really needs to be done is understand the customer, make them the protagonist of the narrative, and tell them what they want to hear.
Customer-Centric Messaging: Focus on what customers want to hear rather than brand-centric messages.
Singularity in Communication: Deliver specific messages to specific audiences.
Aspirational Identity: Establish clear ‘FROM ___ TO ___’ narratives to create emotional connections. Our brand needs to take the customer where they aspire to be.
1.4 Brand Storytelling. The brand story is not what we tell but what we make customers feel, and what we make them feel is effectively delivered in a proven and tested storytelling format.
Create Engaging Narratives: This is a large topic on its own, but essentially, what we do is use a classical storytelling format.
Problem identification
Villain definition
Address three levels of conflict (External, Internal, Psychological)
Introduce our brand as the guide
Present a clear plan
Define success and failure outcomes
Resonation Techniques: Use relatable symbols and contexts to resonate with the target audience.
1.5 Building Trust and Meaning. As cliched as it sounds, a brand is all about doing the right things for the right reasons. Revenue is an outcome of that, not the other way round. The narrative of the brand can beautifully create deep and meaningful relationships that over time creates a flywheel effect of a business that grows almost by itself.
Trust as a Shortcut: Consistency and transparency in messaging.
Meaning Creation: Demonstrate how our brand adds value and purpose to customers.
Brand Charisma: Cultivate a unique brand aura that creates loyalty and preference.
1.6 Continuous Improvement. Observe, correct course, try out new approaches, iterate. The idea is to never become static.
Market Research: Ongoing trend analysis and customer feedback. I cannot stress enough that for startups, this is the founding team on the ground, getting their hands dirty, talking to potentials and customers.
Agile Approach: Implement a super agile, self-correcting strategy for continuous optimization.
2. Steps to Get There
2.1 Market and Customer Research
Behavior Analysis: Study customer behaviors, cultural, social, and demographic factors.
Psychological Triggers: Identifying and using what’s behind customer decisions, not what we see in front of us.
Identifying triggers and decision-making shortcuts
Leveraging principles like authority, social proof, and reciprocation
Applying familiarity and association techniques
2.2 Community and Brand Building
Community Creation: Without a community, in today’s connected world, there is no brand. And hence, the importance of some form of community creation.
Founder branding can go a very long way in building communities. This has to be genuine.
Community building initialization
Participate in industry events and online platforms
Develop influencer partnerships and User-Generated Content (UGC)
Foster supplier-client relationships in B2B
Brand Presence:
Revamp online presence with a singular, focused website per logical brand unit
Storytelling-driven content across all platforms. It is always from the perspective of the ‘HERO’- the potential client
Strategic offline visibility in key events and hubs, ‘watering holes’, publications, etc.
2.3 Marketing and Sales Integration
Physical Sales Strategy: Human connections do not have replacements, so for most brands physical touchpoints are important. There can be exceptions.
Founding team needs to do sales
Hire experienced sales managers with industry connections
Equip sales teams with digital tools and content, always to be in sync with each other
Online Funnel Development:
Design effective, audience-specific sales funnels
Implement targeted campaigns with clear calls-to-action
2.4 Channel Strategy
Channel Identification: This is how or through whom we reach our potential customers.
Determine offline and online touchpoints
Establish consistency across channels for brand recall
Content Strategy:
Plan narratives and campaign themes (e.g., seasonal events, major industry happenings)
Execute SEO strategies and social media outreach
2.5 Measurement and Optimization
KPIs and Metrics:
Set up measurement points, ideally based on a Lean Startup approach, where we take small measurable bets, fail and switch, or succeed and amplify
Track engagement, conversions, and brand recall
Continuous Tweaking:
Regular updates based on data and feedback
Super agile methodology for rapid iterations
2.6 Collaboration
Cross-Functional Alignment: There is no ‘I’ here. Either all succeed or all fail. All teams need to work together and own the intended final outcome.
Promote a unified approach where sales, marketing, and operations work cohesively
Establish common success metrics to prevent departmental silos
Collaboration Initiatives:
Partner with complementary brands
Engage in joint events and co-branded campaigns
2.7 Community Development
Building Our World: Community is at the heart of a brand. The essence of such communities are classical, but they look and feel very different these days.
From day one, build the community, with genuineness. The number of founders who think otherwise, for different reasons, is staggering, but there is no shortcut here
This is after figuring out what exactly the community is for our brand. Usually, this takes experiments and pivots, which actually indicate future value creation
It is worth noting that all the above is much before we talk about anything tactical, operational, the tools to use, the type of marketing methodology needed, etc. All that comes later. I have seen the tendency, when I have these discussions, to jump into solutioning mode, with comments like ‘branding is all about retention marketing.’ In some context, in some world, but to think that is the solution before undergoing the process, in context, as outlined above is a common fallacy. Let’s assume we do not have the answers, shall we?! And is it a lot of work? You bet it is! But this is work founders and stakeholders have to do, period!