Early Stage BrandingThe key to attracting partners, investors and licensees for USDA & NIFA CATP companies

Farida Fotouhi Farida@reality2.com

© Copyright 2009 Reality2 LLC

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This isyour time

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rgy

Water

Foo

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Fix the economy, fix health care, plus:

The environment: preservation, remediation

Health: people, livestock, & produce

Reduce Ag dependence on cheap oil (quotes Michael Pollen)

Sustainable Ag: environmental impact, productivity

Food and water supply: safety, availability

Reform of food system

Alternative energy: a national security issue

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Your world is bigger than you think

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Food science, nutrition, food safety

Crops, aquaculture, horticulture, pest control

Alternative energy & materials: biomass, wind

Forestry, timber

Health : people & livestock

“New Ag” & cleantech : sustainability.

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The “new Ag” is the place to be today.

But, to reap the rewards you need to: Build a brand Align yourself with the big picture vision Define the roadblock you remove Educate Demonstrate a good business case Show a clear benefit for each audience Keep it simple

Your brand = the sum of experiences at every point of contact.

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You have a brand whether you know it or not. Take control and make it work for you.

“What X stands for”

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A brand is both facts and feelings.

What you stand for

–Left brain: logical

–Right brain: emotional

The “takeaway”

Market savvy?

Credible?

Cutting edge?

Am I in love?

Pain relieved?

Why is it better?

$ Potential?

Market traction?

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The Reality-Based branding and positioning triangle.

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Your customer.

The customer POV: what’s important to each segment?

–Greatest pain = greatest opportunity

Drivers & barriers. What’s changed or changing

Why choose you over status quo...or competitor

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Your competition.

What do they say they do?

What do they really do?

Who knows this?

Be sure your communications set you apart (Signal-to-noise ratio)

For game-changing technologies, toughest competitor is “the old way”

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Position your brand where your strengths are most relevant. Your window of opportunity.

Anchor your brand at the intersection of:

Customer need or pain

Gap in competitive offering and message

–Roadblocks your technology removes

The value you deliver

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Define and express your brand personality consistently, everywhere.

Helpful?

Friendly?

Compassionate?

Businesslike?

Solution-focused?

Technologically cutting-edge?

Align yourself with the big picture vision and be specific about the roadblock you remove.

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ALIGN WITH BIG PICTURE

SPECIFIC ROADBLOCK YOU REMOVE

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NEW WAY

OLD WAY

EDUCATE (SIMPLE, CLEAR)

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“Roadblocks” in search of solutions from the new Ag – a few examples.

Food safety: better threat detection

Biofuels that take too much fossil fuel, land, or food crops to produce

New feedstocks: economics of conversion

Waste products (ways to process, transform, recycle)

Energy storage and distribution; intermittency of wind & solar

Paradigm shifters: educate! Own the solution as thought leader.Change perceptions and behavior.

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EDUCATE: CHANGE PERCEPTIONS

BE A THOUGHT LEADER

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OWN THE SOLUTION AS THOUGHT LEADER

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Make a good business case.Sustainability alone isn’t sustainable.

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Businesses buy sustainability when it also fixes pain, adds value and impacts the bottom line.

1) Sustainability

2) Affordability

3) Quality

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THE BUSINESS CASE

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

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THE BUSINESS CASE + GREEN BENEFIT OLD WAY - NEW WAY: QUALITY

OLD WAY - NEW WAY: SAVINGSOWNERSHIP OF SOLUTION (IP)

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A value proposition for each target audience (within unified brand)

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Example: The “Early Stage” target audience includes partners, licensors, investors.

Early adopter high-profile customer/partner for co-development and credibility

Strategic partners: contractual relationship with big company

Licensors: all or part of your IP. Fund operations without giving away the store

Acquisition by big company

Investment capital

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Early Stage Branding™: the key components.

A branding strategy

A clear market-focused value proposition

Professional startup package (not home-made)

Name/logo

Website

Brochure

Presentation

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How about social media? Rule of thumb for B2B: Blog and LinkedIn.

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Be where your target audience is networking and conversing. First step: search your topic.

Use the social network’s “search” function and Google Reader:

Blogs: who is blogging in your field?

Linked-in: prospects? Competitors? Individual and by company.

Twitter: generally not as applicable for B2B

Facebook: intersection of personal and professional. Do your contacts have pages?

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Tips for your Blog.

Research: Google Reader, Google’s blog section, & Bloglines

Setup: Blogger template easier than Wordpress

Name it after topic not your company, but link to your website

What to post: opinions, how-to’s, industry issues, problems solved, interview somebody. No obvious promo. Casual and playful are OK

Post at least once a week

Link to LinkedIn profile

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Tips for LinkedIn.

At Early Stage: create individual not corporate profile

Import your contact list into LinkedIn

Update your status - engage your network - goes to email

Look for shared contacts, ask for introductions

Recommend people and ask them to recommend you

Join groups or create your own

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Courtesy of Robin Frank

Keep it simple.

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You’ve developed a technological breakthrough.

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Commercialization, branding and selling involve an entirely different skill set.

Ours is better!

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Can you explain your product to a six-year-old?

The challenge for technology companies

Simplify

Educate

Benefits

Whatis it you guys

again?do

Sowhat?

Your positioning statement can also be your elevator pitch.

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The first sentence: define product, customer, and pain/need.

We have a / we are a (category of product; name your space)

for (type of customer; target segment)

who (pain dissatisfaction: is dissatisfied with)

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The second sentence: define benefit and uniqueness.

Our product (main benefit)

unlike (old or competitive way and disadvantage)

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Third sentence: quick hook or summary for this audience.

Here, your summary depends on the audience. General end user? Investor? Prospective licensor or partner?

Workshop: position this product!

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The Wheel.

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October 28, 2008

Early Stage Branding The key to attracting partners, investors and licensees for USDA & NIFA CATP companies.

Farida Fotouhi Farida@reality2.com