Brand It, Pitch It, Nail It, Scale It
Kelly Mackenzie, Creative Director and Founder of White Bear Studio, with guest Zain Ali Centuro Global, hosted a masterclass on branding and pitching for investment and scale.
Our marketing lead, Audrey Madden, shares some of the key takeaways from the session…
80% of entrepreneurs fail in their first two years and 95% of VC funded businesses fail, period. Scary, right? This Masterclass For Future Unicorns aimed to help founders and brand managers reduce that risk and scale their business.
Key Takeaways:
1. Building your brand story and tone of voice.
2. Building a brand for future growth and investment.
3. Top tips for creating a pitch deck that will land investment.
4. Scaling your business.
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Steve Forbes,
Editor In Chief of Forbes Magazine
Getting the Strategy and the ‘Why’ right
Brand Story
‘Our brains are wired to understand and retain stories’. Jennifer Aaker, Marketing Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business
White Bear led the audience through a number of interactive exercises to determine their purpose, mission, and vision. These form the foundation for a differentiated brand story and a compelling proposition where founders and entrepreneurs are able to sell their idea, their business, and their USP in one succinct phrase. Some great propositions were highlighted, notable: Hinge’s: ‘The Dating App designed to be deleted’ and Square’s: ‘Start Selling Today’.
Brand Values
Kelly took the room through a fun exercise to determine our brand values. Attendees imagined their brands hosting a party as Kelly picked out key phrases that were shouted out.
When you have your brand values finalised, they should underline everything you do. From who you hire, who you work with, and of course who you seek investment from.
Investing in strong brands doubles returns over S&P average.
Getting the Strategy and the ‘Why’ right
Tone of Voice
Once your brand values are outlined, you’ll need to figure out a way to communicate them. Set up Tone of Voice guidelines and stick to them across all areas of communication, inside and out; consistency is key!
Some key questions you can ask yourself:
1. If my brand was a genre of music, what would it be?
2. If my brand was at a party, what would it wear? Who would it speak to? How would it sit or stand? What would it drink?
3. If my brand was a TV show or Movie what would it be?
The thinking you do around the above questions helps you understand where your tone of voice will set on various continuums from Formal to Casual, Respectful to Irreverent, Matter of Fact to Enthusiastic, amongst others.
You can find out more about creating the right tone of voice on our blog here.
Once the strategy’s right, what do you need to do to build a brand?
Be Ownable
Great brands own something distinct in their sector. The ownability could be a colour, a typeface, or an aesthetic. Think Cadbury’s purple, Lego’s typeface, or the Tube logo.
Be Memorable
Stories have been sticking in people’s minds since caveman times. There’s a lot of noise out there now, so be memorable. If your brand story, proposition and visual identity is memorable, your company will be memorable too.
Be Scalable
Your brand name and identity needs to bear in mind both your current and future strategy, and be flexible enough to allow for scale, growth and diversification.
Zain Ali shared his top tips for a successful pitch deck.
Bad Pitches:
1.The content is bad, off-base or not well-thought-out.
2. Slides or visuals are poorly executed or confusing.
3. The founder is unprepared or lacks basic presentation skills.
Good Pitches:
1. The content is clear and to the point.
2. From the first slide, an investor will understand what you are selling and why.
3. The whole presentation avoids copy heavy sections and is highly visual.
For every £100 spent on design, companies can expect a £225 return on investment
TL;DR: To successfully build and scale, it’s important to invest in being able to tell your brand story in a succinct and compelling way. People resonate with stories.
Brand building is a fundamental building block of starting your business. Without a strong brand, you have nothing to market. Think about being ownable, memorable, and scalable.
Investments in a brand are not only fundamentally important but financially proven.
When pitching, be clear and concise in your slides. From the first slide, an investor should be able to understand what you are selling and why. Oh, and don’t bore them with copy heavy slides either; communicate visually.
To find out more about how to successfully grow your business, drop us a line here.