Presented at Austin Startup Week 2015

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BUILDING A KICK-ASS
BRAND THAT WINS

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AGENDA
Branding basics
Brand value pyramid methodology
Creating emotional bonds
Brand swagger
Putting it all together: The Anti-Elevator Pitch

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What is a brand?

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The collective
emotional response to
your product or service

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Expectations

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Memories

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Stories

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A relationship

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Differentiation that’s
meaningful to
customers, partners,
vendors, employees

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An intangible asset

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A financial asset

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HOW DOES A BRAND GET INCLUDED IN THAT LIST?
Profits
Demand
Bonds

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WHY BRANDING?
Avoid fatal conceit
Your product is NOT your message
There are other people and products that do
EXACTLY what you do

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Start thinking of
your business
as a brand

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Start thinking of
your brand as an
experience

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Functional Benefits and Attributes
Emotional Benefits
Self-expressive
benefits,
beliefs and values
addressed
Hardest to deliver
Hardest to imitate
Most differentiating and defining
Longest shelf-life
Key element of emotional brand
BRAND VALUE PYRAMID

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Today’s options packages are
tomorrow’s standard equipment
We can’t control the brand image –
only the identity

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BUILDING EMOTIONAL BONDS
• Traditional consumer branding: rooted in theory of
rational choices and cognitive and sequential in
nature
• Modern branding: brand become part of a person’s
self-concept
• It’s not enough to connect emotionally; you must
deliver on your brand promise

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BRAND SWAGGER QUESTIONS
What does it say about a person that
they hire/use your brand?
What is the singular benefit customers get from you
they can’t get from anyone else?
How do you make your customer a hero in his/her
own story?

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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
• Your brand story – brand narrative …
the “anti-elevator pitch”
• Elevator pitch: a one-way delivery system for
getting your core message across
• The brand narrative: an offer of something
compelling to start a conversation

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BRAND NARRATIVE
• You are NOT your website
• It’s about why you do what you do – not what you
do
• It’s an opportunity to invite others to engage and
collaborate in your success
• Persuade, don’t educate
• Connect with empathy
• Raise eyebrows!

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BRAND NARRATIVES THAT CONNECT
• One-word: Google = search, Mastercard = priceless
• Question: “What if I told you that you’d never have to search
for an email again?”
• Subject line: “Fifteen minutes could save you 15 percent on
your car insurance”
• Story form: “One day, when _________ is successful, every
__________ will be able to ___________.”

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WHEN BRAND?
• When you’ve established a product – market fit
• When customers begin to experience your
brand
• When you’re raising money
• Focus on the things that matter

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SOL
MARKETING
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10 ACTIONS FOR BUILDING AND
SUSTAINING BRANDS
• Innovate and delight
• Be meaningfully different
• Stand for a purpose
• Walk the talk
• Build and maintain trust
• Renew and improve the
brand experience
• Rely on consumer insights
• Think holistically
• Get noticed
• Keep changing

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LET’S START
SOMETHING
512.445.4807
info@solmarketing.com
4807 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Building 2, Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78759