P O S I T I O N I N G

V O I C E

S T R A T E G Y

V A L U E

I D E N T I T Y

E X P E R I E N C E

P E R S O N A L I T YM I S S I O N

A MEMORABLE STARTUP BRAND

ENTREPRENEUR’S GUIDE

TO BUILDING

by Iryna Nezhynska

H O W T O G E T I N T O P E O P L E ’ S

M I N D S

The goal of writing this guide was simple:

to get more startups to focus on brand building

instead of launching "just another product".

Why? Most early-stage businesses are over-focused

on creating product features and finding investors, and

often forget that it is all about getting into people’s minds.

In the era of product overload,

your success depends on how people will perceive you

and what emotions will turn them into your customers.

This guide will help you to create

products that people will love.

Ready?

Let the story begin!

Once upon a time

there was a young entrepreneur who decided

to turn a brilliant idea into a real product

and start her own company.

`

She worked very hard

and finally came up with a business plan

and a minimum viable product concept.

Weeks passed

the young entepreneur found a dream team

and an angel investor

REC

At last, the Big Day came.

Launch!

A shiny new product, unlike anything else out there,

is on the market and available for purchase.

But why don’t people buy it?

Do they notice it at all?

You know that your idea serves the market’s needs.

You talked to the target audience.

You tailored your product to them.

So what went wrong?

The answer is that you missed just one thing:

“Whatever brilliant product

you create, customers will not automatically love it”

The answer is that you missed just one thing:

“Whatever brilliant product

you create, customers will not automatically love it”

B e c a u s e o f t h e

p r o d u c t n o i s e

i n o u r m i n d s .

If you want to delight customers

so that

more people buy more things for more years at a higher price,

you need to build not just a product,

but a brand.

Brand is... ... a product.

(Marty Neumeier, “Zag”)

Brand is... ... a person’s gut feeling about a product or company.

Brand is... ... a space your company

occupies in someone’s mind.

In other words,

It is the reputation of your company.

If a good reputation is so important,

why do startups skip the branding

when creating the product?

1) time; 2) money.

Because

branding campaigns take

1) time; 2) money.

While

startups are short on

There is a solution for you:

Minimum Viable Product

creating a

Minimum Viable Product

MVB is... ... the brand with a defined strategy and emotional message

and with only the necessary visual assets, which allows

you to fully express your vision and engage early adopters.

Define your strategy.

Choose the right name.

Uncover your brand personality.

Create a list of touchpoints.

Design brand assets. repeat as your company grows

S T E P S O F

C R E A T I N G M V B

1

2

3

4

5

D E F I N E Y O U R S T R A T E G Y

Who are you?

1. Who are you?

2. What do you do, and why?

3. What is your promise?

4. What is your ONLY-statement?

5. What is your story?

6. What is your future?

7. Who are your competitors?

8. Who loves/may love you, and why?

Q U E S T I O N S T O D E F I N E

Y O U R S T R A T E G Y

WHAT is your category?

HOW are you different?

WHO are your customers?

WHERE are they located?

WHY are you important to them?

WHEN do they need you?

WHAT: The ONLY

HOW: that

WHO: for

WHERE: mostly in

WHY: because they

WHEN: in the era of .

O N E S E N T E N C E

S T R A T E G Y

(Marty Neumeier, “Zag”)

Our brand is the ONLY that .

Unlike , our helps

who want to by and .

E L E V A T O R P I T C H

(“Value Proposition Design”, Strategyzer)

C H O O S I N G T H E R I G H T N A M E

What’s in a name?

1. Create a different name than those of your competitors.

2. Make it brief (4 syllables or less).

3. Skip generic patterns - create new words instead.

4. Try to create a story (or fairytale) around the name.

5. Test-test-test on people (corridor testing):

- is it easy for foreigners to spell?

- is it easy to repeat after the first time?

- do people have any associations?

6. Check if the domain name is available. If so, buy it today!

U N C O V E R I N G T H E B R A N D P E R S O N A L I T Y

How do you look and feel?

Important:

a designer should always guide you through this stage.

Are you

expressing

yourself?

Are you

modifying

your customers?

We are... /

We want to be seen as...

People buy our product because,

they are... / they want to be...

At first,

decide:

Then, describe your brand’s personality.

or

modern

young

casual

loud

playful

classic

mature

elegant

quiet

serious

...

S L I D E R S T O D E S C R I B E

B R A N D ’ S P E R S O N A L I T Y

(and so on)

Sometimes it is easier to describe your brand as a person:

“What if my brand was a person?” / “Who do my customers want to become?”

C R E A T I N G A L I S T O F B R A N D T O U C H P O I N T S

How can they experience you?

`

Tagline

BRAND MARK

Symbol

Wordmark

Color

Image/Photo

Pattern

Material VISUALIDENTITY

Typeface

Layout

TYPOGRAPHY

Editorial style

Interior

Business papers

Digital media

Marketing materials

Advertising

Presentations

Signage

Vehicle identification

Packaging

Uniforms

Exhibits

Established companies have

complex brand identity systems.

1) cost a lot; 2) take time; 3) are risky

(you may not need

some elements)

For startups,

big branding campaigns are resource-wasting, because they

For startups,

the best practice is to grow step-by-step:

Core assetsIdentity 1.0

Identity 2.0

(name, logo, tagline, mood, voice, color palette)

(key touchpoints)

(complete as you grow)

Touchpoint is... ... every interaction point between a customer and the brand.

These interactions influence the customer’s perception

of your brand at the each stage of the customer’s journey -

Awareness, Engagement, Purchase, Using and Sharing.

Aware

Engage

Buy

Use

Share

(a person discovers that you exist and who are you)

(he/she starts to believe in your values and realises that you are the best among others)

(convinced customer purchases your product/service, online or offline)

(from the moment when customer unpacks

the product and later)

(delighted customer starts telling people around

about his/her experience with your brand)

C U S T O M E R ’ S J O U R N E Y

the positive reference attracts new customers

customer comes back to buy again

Example:

T O U C H P O I N T S F O R T H E M O B I L E A P P S T A R T U P

Core assets:logo,tagline,colors,typography.

Digital assets:the app itself, landing page,confirmation mail,social media,product presentation,meadia kit.

Printed assets:business cards, letterhead,envelope.

Example:

T O U C H P O I N T S F O R T H E I T S T A R T U P ( D E V I C E S )

Core assets:logo,tagline,colors,typography.

Digital assets:website,confirmation mail,social media,product presentation,media kit.

Printed assets:business cards, packaging, user manual, invoice,envelope.

Example:

T O U C H P O I N T S F O R T H E E - C O M M E R C E O R R E T A I L S T A R T U P

Core assets:logo, tagline,colors,typography, photography style.

Digital assets:online store,confirmation mail,social media,product presentation,media kit.

Printed assets:business cards, invoice, packaging, product labels, staff badges.+ environment for the offline store.

Once you have all touchpoints listed,

take your time and have a rest.

The only thing needed from you

is your constructive feedback in time.

A designer takes your strategy notes,

brand workshop results and

the list of touchpoints...

Because

it is time for design.

and makes your product

stand out from competitors.

Later,

after launching successfully and after

testing your Minimum Viable Brand in real life,

you will grow and add new touchpoints.

Identity 2.0

Conclusion

Feel free to print templates from this guide

and take them to the meeting with your designer.

If you want to make the best use of this guide,

and build a brand that will hook people,

remember three important rules:

Successful brand identity

is never created in-house

if you don’t have a designer

in your team.

Similar case:

When your tooth hurts, you go to the dentist.

Self-treatment doesn’t help here.

Rule:

Know who does what.

And respect these roles.

Together with your team you define

the strategy and create a name.

While designer takes care about

the visual side of your business.

Rule:

Designer

Your startup

team

Strategy and naming

Visual design

Branddf personality

and list of

touchpoints

But there is a part of process,

where collaboration is key.

Brand is not a logo.

Design visual identity in a way,

that if you delete your logo,

people will still recognise you.

As you will recognise brands

on the following slides.

Without logo and appropriate content.

Rule:

This brand’s identitywas build on the black and green colors and

dark overlays on the big background images.

Now, when people got addicted to this product and fall in love with its style,

the founders decided to rebrand, going more dynamic and free in the identity.

WELL-KNOWN IN 250 CITIES,

this brand position themselves as reliable, modern and elegant.

They use electric blue and black colors, tech font and detailed graphics to make their customers feel the same.

THIS BRAND

has been using their yellow frame as a main visual element for 105 years already.

Finally,

Vibrant colors, a curvy sans-serif typeface, friendly icons and smiling faces and emojis everywhere.

People, who use their product, explain this brand as “fun and playful”.

These brands got into customers’ minds

and settle there for long.

Because from the early beginning

they have been following

a different way of thinking:

We don’t build products.

We create perceptions and turn them

into relationships.

I hope that you will also follow this mindset.

And from the deep of my heart

I wish your startup to find the way

to the customers’ minds. And stay there forever.

After publishing this guide

I started working on the

Startup Branding Toolkit

that will equip you and your designer

for the challenge of creating minimum viable brand.

(Only

down-to-earth

practicalities)

Once the Startup Branding Toolkit is online,

I will notify you, so you can start using

its materials immediately. Just drop me a line on:

iryna.nezhynska@gmail.com

to be the first to know about its launch.

(And of course, I’m happy to hear your feedback on this guide.

It will help to make upcoming toolkit more useful.)

I’m a visual designer based in Warsaw. I create brand identities

for digital products helping new companies express who they are.

It is my daily job and my passion. It is the air I breathe.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons attribution, noncommercial, share alike licence.

behance.net/eirena

dribbble.com/eirena

iryna.nezhynska@gmail.com