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Early Stage BrandingThe key to attracting partners, investors and licensees for USDA & NIFA CATP companies
Farida Fotouhi [email protected]
© Copyright 2009 Reality2 LLC
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This isyour time
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3 Ene
rgy
Water
Foo
d
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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 [email protected]