Would you like to be seated on a sideline bench waiting for the coach to call you?  Or are you better off tuning your mind and body to strike the big goal when the coach turns to you? Brave the below given questions and ask yourself how powerful is your start-up brand? 1. Do you agree with Donald Trump: “If you don’t manage your brand, then somebody else will, and that somebody else will likely be your competitor.”?... 

In B2C perception is the reality. Truth comes a distant second because a purchase decision is largely emotional.  Consumers decide on a purchase as quickly as they bat their eye lids. B2B branding is not about persuading consumers into making irrational purchase decisions. In consumer markets, branding is manifested in glitzy packaging, dramatic commercials, and soothing imageries. But in business markets, branding... 

B2B Brand building is about building mindshare among the business buyers and other stakeholders. It builds value at every touch point. Here are the five key pillars on which a strong B2B brand is built:   1. Focus: The brand can’t be everything to everyone. Narrow the target groups, value propositions and solution offerings. This requires tremendous energy and discipline to introspect and accept.   2. Differ and... 

Is branding science or art or both? Why some brands fail? I believe that the two principal elements behind the success of a brand are creativity and relevance. Unfortunately, there are no manuals or rules for how you combine them to win. More importantly, win consistently. Creativity is the force that produces fresh and compelling ideas that entice and sell repeatedly. Relevance comes from the knowledge of the rational... 

Let’s take an example of a B2B telecom company that wants to brand and market its solutions. Its strength lies in flexible architecture and reliable infrastructure. The company hires a generalist, read it as an advertising agency, and briefs them about its values, vision, competition, solutions and a bagful of industry terminologies like ‘multi-level redundancy’, ‘intelligent real-time call routing’, etc. It... 

We need to dwell deep into the minds of business buyers to understand the intricacies of corporate decision making process. Let us imagine that we are in a court of law and two advocates representing emotional and rational clients argue the case… Emotional Advocate: Companies don’t buy from companies. People buy from people.   Rational Advocate: Purchase decision depends on a matrix of tangible features and price.     Emotional... 

Re-Branding from old target audience to new audience? Re-Branding from existing audience to inclusive audience? The recommended way to re-brand is to phase your image make-over so that you gradually inch towards your desired audience. Re-Branding is not just for the big guys. It applies to even small and mid-sized enterprises. Consider this: if your desired audience is explicitly different from your current one, you... 

One great place to build your business is at events where your targets participate. During breaks, I know that I just have 5-odd minutes to attract, listen, interact and create touchpoints. I am amazed at the number of people wanting to know why I founded a company during a recession than the services DJargon offers. To be politically correct… during a slowdown. I reason with them that it is only now that one can have... 

When the big, ugly garden scissors are on your marketing budgets where do you run for cover? I’d say stay put. Do an objective assessment of your brand. Prioritize your marketing and branding building activities. Get street-smart as well locker-smart. More often than not, brand building depends more on focusing on being relevant and compelling to your target customers; and less on how many green wads you are left with...