Startups compete not only with innovation but also with clarity. A strong brand strategy helps startup founders define what their company stands for, build trust with investors, and attract early adopters. Every successful tech brand start with one thing: strategy before design. Whether you’re launching your startup or scaling into new markets, your brand strategy defines how you grow, connect, and stay relevant.
Download our Brand Strategy Guide to get step-by-step instructions for an impactful brand strategy.
Here comes the theory:
This is WHAT brand strategy is all about
Before going into detail, let's explore what brand strategy is all about – and some common misbelieves about it. There are a lot of definitions of “brand strategy” out there; in our opinion, the following one quite fits our understanding of it:
Brand strategy is part of a business plan that outlines how the company will build rapport and favorability within the market. The goal of a brand strategy is to become memorable in the eyes of the consumer so that they decide to patronize your business over the competition. (Source: Hubspot)
One essential factor that we would add to this definition, however, is the longevity of a brand strategy, as it relates to the long-term goals of a company. Therefore, brand (development) strategy affects all aspects of a business in the long run – regardless of whether you are pre-seed or series B.
It's not only about the look of your brand, but also about consumers' needs, emotions and of course your competitors. Its goal is to present your business authentically and consistently, covering aspects like vision, mission, values; the look and feel of your brand; and the way your brand communicates to the audience and vice-versa.
Hence, your brand strategy is fundamental for your brand and your success. It should be the first thing that you nail down, even before thinking about visual elements like your logo or colors. Once you got our brand strategy set, the more creative part including logo, colors, and web design comes in.
Short and sweet: although a trendy logo is nice to look at, it won't take your brand to the next level.
This is WHY you need a solid brand strategy
A defined positioning and message reduce marketing waste, improve customer acquisition, and signal maturity to potential partners.
Based on your brand strategy you can build up other factors related to your business: from strategic designs to communicating your expertise, your brand values, and your brand message on all relevant touchpoints. Following a step-by-step process with a mature concept in mind will help you not only create an engaging visual identity and marketing strategy but also enter the next growth phase, and attract prospects or even investors.
This is WHO will take part in the brand strategy process
Defining a brand strategy on your own is not just laborious, but also quite ineffective. It needs different points of view in order to integrate all relevant aspects and goals of your business. For this purpose, the five most important roles to develop a strong, coherent brand strategy that covers all of the essential elements are the following:
- CEO: This person is not only the ultimate decision maker but also the one that aligns brand strategy to business objectives. They recognize important issues and make sure that there is no gap between brand and business.
- VP of Product: For the branding process you also have to keep in mind your product and service, and that's when your Product Manager comes in. They will give you insight into product, service, and the development process – expertise you will definitely need to rely on for some elements of your brand strategy.
- Marketing and Sales Manager: There is no marketing without branding and there is no branding without marketing. The Marketing and Sales Manager will oversee the content creation, coordinate teams and resources, and give you valuable insights into the target audience and market.
- HR Manager: Practice what you preach: They will cultivate a business culture reflecting the values that you try to communicate as part of your brand strategy. In terms of efficient recruiting and employer branding, the alignment between brand strategy and HR is crucial, as employees should act in line with the corporate culture.
- Creative Lead: In order to communicate your brand strategy on all relevant brand touchpoints, you need a shepherd, a person responsible for overseeing and enforcing the brand guidelines you established. They will strive to preserve the brand identity, internal as well as external.
- Branding experts: Whether internal or external, brand strategy and design experts bring in a different viewpoint. They combine market research with strategic expertise and know how to create your brand personality, influence your brand perception, and differentiate from competitors. Ultimately, they turn know-how into action points and theory into design.
We are completely aware of the fact that the positions in a company are not rigid; so don’t worry too much about assigning roles and tasks. For early-stage startups, roles often overlap. Founders wear multiple hats, and external partners such as a startup branding agency can fill strategic gaps. A good branding agency helps translate business goals into a scalable brand system: covering brand positioning, visual identity, and messaging architecture.
This is WHEN you should upgrade your brand strategy
Better today than tomorrow: now might be the right time to take your strategy and your brand to the next level. Generally speaking, there are four phases when businesses reach out to us:
You are launching: If you’re starting out, you’ve never had a better opportunity to get your brand strategy right. This is the moment when you're fully motivated to launch the best brand ever, so make use of your energy and convert it into a powerful strategy for your startup.
You want to enter the next growth phase: If your branding is already in place and you are longing to enter the next growth phase, an optimized brand strategy will smooth the way for your goal. Also, stakeholders and investors will be more than happy to see your business making progress.
You are doing your yearly business check: If you are convinced that your brand strategy from five years ago still works, you should give it a second thought. In the review process, you should keep in mind not only external circumstances such as users, market development, etc. but also internal factors. When you’re going for a customer-first approach for instance, critically ask yourself if your customer support still makes users happy; if not, it might be helpful to adjust a few elements of your brand strategy.
You launch a new product or expand your offering: The marketing software Vidext, for instance, updated its brand strategy before launching a new product. For the Spanish startup, we conducted a positioning exercise including brand territory, brand challenge, messaging framework, and brand archetype.
This is HOW to create a sophisticated brand strategy
You have to be creative, but what really matters in the long run is that the message means something. (...) You have to convey what the company is really all about. (...) (Source: Phil Knight, Nike CEO, founder, and chairman via HBR)
Nike’s CEO knows his stuff. If you want to stand out from the crowd, build an engaging brand, and attract prospects, you have to define your brand strategy in detail, keeping in mind your long-term goals, values, beliefs, visuals, and the way of putting across your message. Your brand as well as your brand message should be relevant to the audience and create impact. It includes:
- Brand purpose and vision
- Brand personality and perception
- Audience and market position
- Messaging framework and verbal identity
- Visual identity direction
The first step towards a strong brand strategy is our Brand Strategy Guide:
Download our Brand Strategy Guide here to get step-by-step instructions for an impactful brand strategy.
