BRAND BUZZ W RITTE N B Y D AV I D S CH U E MAN N
BOOTSTRAPPING YOUR BRAND
WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE FOR LAUNCH With so many moving parts leading up to launching a new brand, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by next steps, logistics, and costs.
T
he road to launching a new brand is like riding a train: When everything is on track and running smoothly, your destination greets you with seamless speed and agility. When the train goes off the track or gets delayed, your journey can turn into a long and laborious trek, and in the worst cases result in absolute catastrophe.
BOOTSTRAPPING TIPS: THREE KEY BRANDING ELEMENTS
1
LOGO & PACKAGING
If your brand is the moving train, its packaging is the ticket. The logo and package are the first entry point into your world for the consumer. The way a package looks not only invites consumers to try your product, but it also reinforces its quality during consumption and assists with recall when your consumer wants to repurchase. Alcoholic beverage experts can act as a conductor and take a holistic approach to your launch while also getting granular; strategically realizing your vision while ensuring your precious time and money is never wasted on work you don’t like, and always adhering to regulatory standards.
W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M
2
WEBSITE
Eventually, you’ll want a fully built-out website that illustrates your brand’s story as well as your various offerings while allowing for quick purchases. But when you’re bootstrapping your launch, you at least need a landing page with contact information and a field for email list signups. While you can work with branding experts to develop your initial landing page, you can easily create your own using WordPress, SquareSpace, Wix, and other DIY platforms. I recommend WordPress — it is a free, opensource content management system that can easily allow your website to grow as your needs increase, though it will take a bit more website development knowledge to build on than would be required with a platform like SquareSpace.
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