Techbranding
The ultimate guide to building a brand in tech
Foreword You may have heard that you need great branding in order to build a successful business. But when you start to think about it, you’re not entirely sure what it means. And most of all you don’t know what it means for you. Branding can be overwhelming. Branding seems to have vague borders. Recognize this situation?
CONTENT Foreword 1. Definitions 2. Benefits of Branding 3. Toolkit 4. Worksheets 5. 5 most common mistakes in tech branding 6. Epilogue 7. Case studies 8. Testimonials
Succes with branding is actually all about creating clarity by making conscious choices. This e-book is designed to create clarity around the topic of branding and specifically for people with the ambition to build or improve their tech brand. In this guide you will find the definitions of terms like brand, branding and marketing. That creates a starting point for everyone to move forward with the tools. Each tools has it’s own unique character and benefits. Utilizing at least 3 or 4 tools before you start building your brand gives you a strategic edge. Without a strategic framework your decision process around branding will merely be at the hands of taste and random opinions. That is not helping to create brand value. So it’s great that you’ve started to understand what tangible steps you can take towards creating your brand on a more future-proof foundation. Let’s dive in! Dennis
Definitions
Why this e-book? WHO IS THIS FOR? Anyone who wants to understand branding in a digestible format for their tech business.
What is a logo?
A LOGO should identify the business in a simple way that is distinctive and memorable. It does not literally show what the business does. For example; A computer brand logo doesn’t show a computer.
WHY WAS THIS GUIDE PUT TOGETHER? To educate people on the power of branding & give them the tools to start building their own brand.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
What is an identity?
An identity or brand identity captures the brand visually. The IDENTITY of a comapny is made up of many visual & sensual assets like: •
A Logo: the symbol of the entire identity & brand
Branding essentials
•
Stationery: letterhead + business card + envelopes, etc.
•
Branding essentials
•
Marketing Collateral: flyers, books, websites, video’s etc.
•
The benefits of branding
•
Other Sensual Communication: audio, smell, touch, etc
•
What makes a good brand
•
Products & Packaging
•
How to build your brand
•
11 tools to strategically develop your brand
To simplify things: everything that you could want to stick your logo on is part of your brand
•
8 worksheets
What is a brand? You could describe a BRAND as an organization, product or service with a personality that is shaped by the perceptions of the audience. Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon and subsequently the world’s richest man, said it best:
„A brand is literally what people say about your business when you’re not in the room”. — Jeff Bezos - Amazon
What is branding? So in order to build a brand we need to get intentional en hyperfocussed about influencing people’s gutfeelings. It is challenging because it’s ‘influencing’ at best, not dictating. Those days have long gone. Just building a reputation takes doing things with consistency, wouldn’t you agree? Building your brand is about being credible as the personality your brand aspires to be.
Basically everything they *think* and *feel* when your brand comes to mind. So you could say that your brand or brand image equals your reputation. And this is exactly why branding matters so much.
In other words; the journey to create and maintain that reputation is called branding.
What is a good brand? A good brand has a clear focus, knows their target audience, has a defined mission, knows their competition and USP’s, can identify their key values, tell their story and have a brand identity reflective of these goals, and does all of this consistently. Sounds like a lot right. You will find that getting these things right has a lot to do with making clear choices. The clearer the choices the easier they are to remember and maintain.
Although ideas and definitions of branding can differ, there is one thing nobody can deny and that is the power of branding. Here are 8 powerful reasons to start working on your branding now. 1. Makes a brand stand out from its competitors. Repeatedly. 2. Keep customers coming back for more like bees. 3. A consistent brand is memorable & more effective. People buy what they know and understand. 4. Every branded element helps build brand equity, like laying bricks, one by one. 5. Establishes a company as a serious professional business. Also, branding adds hierarchy and clarity. Again, people buy what they understand. 6. When a business has great branding, people will always notice. And when that resonates with talent, they will want to work there. 7. Emotionally connect with customers creating loyalty for life 8. A solid brand knows its values and this evokes confidence
Would you recognize your target audience if you’d meet them? If so, how?
Benefits of Branding
Everyone’s idea of branding is different, but there is one thing they can not deny and that is the power of branding. Here is 8 powerful reasons to start working on your branding now.
1. CUSTOMER RECOGNITION Makes a brand stand out from its competitors
2. CUSTOMER ROYALTY Keep customers coming back for more
3. CONSISTENCY A consistent brand is memorable & more effective
4. BRAND EQUITY Every branded element helps build brand equity
5. INCREASES CREDIBILITY Establishes a company as a serious professional business
6. ATTRACTS TALENT When a business has great branding, people will always notice
7. ALLOWS SHARED VALUES Emotionally connect with customers creating loyalty for life
8. GIVES CONFIDENCE A solid brand knows its values and this evokes confidence
How to build your brand
“A great brand is like an orchestra, pure magic when everything comes together.” — Dennis Roelofsen
The starting point While many people start their brand journey thinking of a name and creating a logo, the best way to start is by sitting down with a pen and some blank sheets of paper. “Thinking before doing”, the old adage applies. It’s OK to have a name and some ideas for logo and the brand identity. Just don’t fall in love with it just yet. Your thinking should be strategic and complete. The next chapter is the toolkit for strategic brand building. Each tool has it’s own specific value. We advice to execute at least 4 tools from the toolkit before working your brand strategy, brand identity, marketing. If we had to pick only 2 tools from the toolkit for any brand, then it would be ‘The 6 BrandQuestions’ and ‘Business Model Canvas’. Work on the tools with a team of 3 to 8 persons with different backgrounds and knowledge for high quality output.
1. Define your brand strategy A strong, well defined brand will make growing your company much easier. But what makes a strong brand? Typically, what makes a brand great isn’t just one amazing thing — it’s a combination of several. See it like an orchestra, it’s magical when everything comes together. This is where most people get it wrong and because of this, you need a brand strategy. And your brand strategy has to be aligned with your business objectives (and your answers to The 6 Brand Questions), your target client, your ambition and unique selling points. To put this in perspective, consider Tesla. While they’re definitely not a small startup, they perfectly exemplify a strong brand. Why? Because they’re known for their innovative products, unique designs, customer experience and inspiring CEO. Tesla’s brand is more than just a logo. Agree? So, define your why (and 5 other brand questions in the next chapter) and the rest will start to flow.
2. Develop your brand identity For a strong brand, you’re going to need a: Logo – a symbol representing your business Tag line – a short & sweet motto Visual Identity – a consistent color palette, fonts, design style, and overall concept Tone-of-Voice – The brand’s voice, vocabulary and tone. Once you have these set up, you can start building the rest of your brand’s collateral. eg. Your website, social media graphics, packaging, stationery, videos etc Tone-of-voice might be more abstract for many people. Here is a great example by Mailchimp.
3. Implement, market and improve your brand Essentially you have conceived your brand now. (Branding) However, a brand gets developed through consistently interacting with your audience over time. Brick by brick. (Marketing) No brand is set in stone. Overtime, you may want to update it or do a complete re-branding. Your clients, new emerging technology and the ever evolving economy will dictate when you may need to consider rebranding.
CONTENT of Toolkit
TechBranding
Topic
Category
Worksheet
- Business Model Canvas
Strategize
Yes
- OKR
Strategize
Yes
- Competition Landscape
Strategize
No
- The 6 Brand Questions
Strategize
Yes
- Buyer Persona
Strategize
Yes
- Friends of the Brand
Conceptualize
No
- Archetypes
Conceptualize
Yes
- Tone of Voice Sliders
Conceptualize
Yes
- CRADAC
Review
Yes
- Design Challenge
Conceptualize
No
- Kill Your Company
Strategize
Yes
- After Action Review
Review
Yes
Bonus Tools
Toolkit
Strategize
Business Model Canvas Description:
Gain:
The business model canvas is a great tool to help you understand a business model in a straightforward, structured way. Using this canvas will lead to insights about the customers you serve, what value propositions are offered through what channels, and how your company makes money. You will gain clarity and understanding of your own business model canvas and the relationships between the segments, especially when this tool is used by co-founders and various stakeholders to create a common understanding. The Business Model Canvas was created by Alexander Osterwalder, of Strategyzer.
Categorie: Strategize Time: 1,5 - 2 hours Groupsize: 3 - 8 personen Level: Intermediate Materials: Worksheet (printed on large piece of paper) StickyNotes Markers Alarm clock
Stappenplan
1. 2.
Appoint a facilitator who does not participate in the exercise but only facilitates. High level mapping (approx 40min) Set the alarm clock and do 9 rapidfire rounds of 4 minutes each where each person answers these questions individually. Start by mapping out the business on a high level: only the most important, vital aspects of the business model. 1. Customer segments List the top three segments. Look for the segments that provide the most revenue. 2. Value proposition What are your products and services? What is the job you get done for your customer? 3. Revenue streams List your top three revenue streams. If you do things for free, add them here too. 4. Channels How do you communicate with your customer? How do you deliver the value proposition? 5. Customer relationships How does this show up and how do you maintain the relationship? 6. Key activities What do you do every day to run your business model? 7. Key resources The people, knowledge, means, and money you need to run your business. 8. Key partners List the partners that you can’t do business without (not suppliers). 9. Cost structure List your top costs by looking at activities and resources.
Tip! Don’t mix ideas for a future state with what is going on right now, and don’t mix different departments. For startups we advice to focus on the intended state. If you work for a large organization you might find varying value propositions and business models. In that case ask the different departments to map out their own business models. You can compare them afterwards.
3. 4.
Select and prioritize (approx 20min) Get everything on the board, take a step back. Have a short break perhaps. Did you miss anything? Forget something? Then select only the most essential and relevant content for each section of the Business Model Canvas. Keep the other answers on the side until the end. Connect the building blocks (approx 20min) Link up the building blocks: every value proposition needs a customer segment and a revenue stream! Discuss connection and alignment of section with the others. For example your Value Proposition should align with Key Partners, and Channels should be in aligment with Customer Relationships.
5.
Review (timer 20min) Take a step back check if every customer segment is linked to a value proposition and a revenue stream. Make sure everything on the left side of the canvas is needed to support the right side of the canvas. Everything else can go. Rank your business model’s performance (0:bad, 10:excellent) for each of the following questions: • How much does switching costs prevent your customers from churning? • How scalable is your business model? • Does your business model produce recurring revenues? • Do you earn before you spend? • How much of the work can be done by others? • Does your business model provide built-in protection from competition? • On what cost structure is your business model based?
Tip! If you have multiple customer segments it is best to pick a colour for each segment in the post-it notes you use. That way you easily see if for each segment there is a value proposition and a revenue stream.
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Strategize
OKR Description:
Objectives and key results (OKR) is a popular goal-setting methodology driven by outcomes. In companies, OKRs are often used to guide outcome-based success. Using outcomes instead of tasks as a driver, OKRs encourage accountability in every step of achieving success through metric indicators. Using this tool is relevant to precede the brand work in case the company has not yet identified clear goals and outcomes in areas like product, sales and marketing.
Gain:
The purpose of OKRs are to connect company, team, and personal goals to measurable results while having all team members and leaders work together in one, unified direction in alignment with the company’s core values.
Categorie: Strategize Time: 1,5 - 2 hours Groupsize: 3 - 8 personen Level: Intermediate Materials: Worksheet Pen Alarm clock
How are Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) created? Objectives are outcomes that reflect current business priorities. They are: • Time-based (Due date) • Non-numeric (Qualitative) • Aspirational (Saying this with confidence sounds hard) • Answers: “What am I working towards without focusing on the tasks that get me there?” • Empowers and promotes collaboration and cross-functionality • Has a clear subject, object, and journey that the subject goes through Every objective has corresponding key results that are: • Numerically measured • Utilize a threshold or delta to measure change (from x to y) • They are the end result of a series of tasks, but not the tasks themselves • There’s a baseline measurement to move away from or towards • Answers: “How do I know if I have achieved my outcome?” Each key result has supporting projects, which have their own to-do tasks but are kept separate from OKRs. Great OKRs have a clear subject, object, and journey that subject aims towards.
Here’s an example of an OKR that follows this model: Objective: Customers consistently find our SaaS platform useful • KR1: 80% of new customers continue their subscription after 2 months. • KR2: 50% of new users return within 2 weeks. • KR3: Churn rate is < 2% this quarter. This objective sounds difficult to achieve. This means it’s challenging and aspirational, but can also have multiple projects spanning multiple quarters so it’s something that can be worked on continuously. Multiple departments can adopt this OKR creating various key results that fit their projects. 2. Translate the company OKR into OKR’s at department level.
1. 2. 3.
1 year overall OKR (timer 30minutes) Start by creating a high level company-wide OKR for your achievements 1 year from now. Of course this is best defined by the company’s leadership. After 30 minutes take 5 minutes to present and explain. 4 quarters overall OKR’s (timer 30minutes) Then follow up by creating the company-wide OKR’s for each quarter leading up to your 1 year OKR. After 30 minutes take 5 minutes to present and explain. specific OKR’s (timer 30minutes) Lastly each department will create it’s own 1 year OKR and 4 quarterly OKR’s in aligment with the company’s overall OKR’s. After 30 minutes take 5 minutes to present and explain.
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Conceptualize
Competitielandschap Description:
Gain:
What does your brand look like compared to your competitors? What are they doing and where are you relative to that? And is your brand in a good position to compete?
This exercise will help you to define your position relative to your rivals and analyse opportunities.
Stappenplan
1.
2.
Categorie: Bedenken Time: 45 minuten Groupsize: 3 - 8 personen Level: Average Materials: Brownpaper Sticky notes Scotch Tape Markers
3.
Define (10 minutes) Draw a horizontal and a vertical axis on a large piece of paper. Give each axis a meaningful value for your market. Is there a big difference in services? Then choose ‘specialist versus full service’ as values on one axis. Lots of dynamic differences in the types of companies? Perhaps you want to have ‘classic versus modern approach’ on the other axis. Take 10minutes to define what values each axis should get.
Names (15 minutes) Let the group name your competitors one by one and plot these names on the board with sticky notes in correlation to the values of each axis. Where is each competitor relative to eachother? This way you create a map of your competitor. Lastly, position your own brand between your competitors. (with the state of your brand today) When listing competitors, remember this; in general there is 3 potential ways to compete. One is to solve the same problem. Second is when you have a similar solution, third is when you are targetting the same audience. Analyse (15 minutes) Analyse with the group where you see holes and potentially directions to update and improve your brand. Is it crowded in a certain area? Then look at how to differentiate your brand. Choose a new place on the board and discuss what consequences this might have for your brand and your marketing.
Strategize
The 6 Brand Questions Description:
Gain:
This model was designed to really lay the foundation of a brand before sending it into the world. Most of us know the Why-How-What sequence, or the Golden Circle by Simon Sinek. The 6 Brand Questions takes things a few steps further into the creation of a valuable and credible brand. Wanneer organisaties zichzelf willen verbeteren is het nodig dat teams hun functioneren continu evalueren en leren van hun successen en fouten. Het delen van de resultaten van een After Action Review kan ook andere teams helpen door te leren van succesvolle strategieĂŤn en het vermijden van valkuilen.
Categorie: Strategize Time: 1 - 1,5 hours Groupsize: 3 - 8 persons
Stappenplan
1. 2. 3. 4.
Note (5 minutes) Use the note & vote tactic here. If everyone starts yelling answers youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll end up with the loudest voices in your brand identity. So, let everyone write their own answers to the first question for 5 minutes. The order of questions and some instructions are on the next page. Vote (5 minutes) The facilitator takes in answers (from question 1 only) one by one and places them around the question on the board or brown paper. Then you will take out the overlapping answers and group similar answers. After this you can let everyone vote the best answer(s). Vote first, then discuss. Next question (2 x 5 minutes per question) Move on to the next question in the same note & vote fashion. Until all six questions have been answered and decided. Summarize (5 minutes) The facilitator summarizes the answers to all questions and you will search for alignment between each question/answer. For example: does your personality match your why? Does what makes you different relate to what you value the most?
Level: Average Materials: Brownpaper Worksheet Sticky notes Markers Timer
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Strategize
Buyer Persona Description:
Gain:
A buyer persona is a fictional person who represents your ideal customer. The idea behind this is that targeting your ideal customer is easier if you feel and understand him and/or her. Strictly demographic descriptions no longer cut the cake.
Stappenplan
1. 2.
The notion that your ideal customer is a real person makes marketing and targeting easier. With this exercise you put your ideal customer in the bulls eye with the result of capturing some people in the same sphere. The real benefit is that you have a deeper understanding of the pains and gains of this person.
Categorie: Strategize Time: 1 hour Groupsize: 3 - 8 persons Level: Average Materials: Worksheets (print 6 times) Sticky notes Pen & paper
3.
Explain (10 minutes) The facilitator explains exercise and the worksheet example. Print the worksheets and put them on a wall. Research (20 minutes) Divide into 2 or 3 teams (of 2 to 3 people) and do a little research on your audience. Make sure your teams all have some one who knows about your product/service and your audience. Researching your audience further will help you create a realistic persona, and possibly find interesting details about your customers you didn’t know before. To get started, look at your current customer base. Who are your best customers and repeat purchasers? Are there any similarities between them? By finding commonalities among your best customers, you can create a persona that’ll help you attract more great customers. If you don’t have customers yet, you could look into the customers of your closest competitors. Answer questions like: - What challenges do they have? - What kind of service / product would make their lives better? - What questions do they have about your service / product? - How would they interact with your service / product? - What customer feedback did we get until now? - What customer data did we get until now? Next question (2 x 5 minutes per question) Move on to the next question in the same note & vote fashion. Until all six questions have been answered and decided.
3.
Connect the Dots (10 minutes) Now that you’ve done some high level research it’s time to narrow down your results by connecting the dots. Weed through your research to determine the most important details that’ll affect how you communicate with your audience. For example, if a majority of people share the same challenge, this will be an important detail to include in your persona.
5.
Present & Vote (15 minutes) Each team takes 5 minutes to present their buyer persona followed by a vote of the best 2 persona’s. Discuss if you need two or more persona’s. In case there is no clear winners, then let the product owner or decider (usually the CEO) makes the choice. Another great gain from this exercise is the realization that these buyer persona’s need more research to support your decision.
Here is some of the information you should determine in this step: 1. Demographics (age, occupation, etc.) 2. Behaviors (skill level, interest in your product offering, how they use your product or service, what they read and watch, etc.) 3. Challenges and interests 4. Technology, social media and channels they frequent.
4.
Create Persona’s (15 - 30 minutes) Now that you’ve narrowed down the most common details about your customers, you should organize those details into separate personas. To do this, identify people in your audience with the same challenges and goals and group them into their own category. These different categories will represent different personas. For example, if you’re a online fitness app, you may have clients who want to increase muscle and gain weight and others who want to lose weight. Since they have very different goals, you should create two separate personas for these clients. The best buyer persona’s are hyper realistic and recognizable. Therefore give them names a personal live and make an effort to follow to worksheet example. Depending on the intended number of persona’s (most companies need 2 to 5 persona’s) and the number of teams, the facilitator decided if each team creates 1 or 2 persona’s. This defines if the timers gets set for 15 or 30 minutes.
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Conceptualize
Friends of The Brand Description:
Gain:
You are and become the average of the 5 people your spend the most time with. Ever heard somebody say that? The idea here is to imagine your brand or company as real person from flesh and blood. Imagine is has a personality and it has the capability to have friendships. Who would be your friends (what other brands)? Some people go one step further and even define what activity these friends would be doing together? You will have meaningful discussing on the personality of your brand and it’s position in the world (group of friends).
Stappenplan
1.
2. 3.
Categorie: Conceptualize Time: 30 minutes Groupsize: 3 - 8 personen Level: Easy Materials: Brownpaper Sticky notes Markers
4.
Note (7 minutes) Draw a big circle on brownpaper and write your brandname in the middle. Give each group member a deck of sticky notes and ask everyone to come up with 5 friends of the brand individually. If you feel your brand is innovative at the core, then Tesla might become your friend. If you feel your brand is innovative but you also seriousness an solidity then you might choose Audi over Tesla. That type of considerations are to be made by each group member. Gather (5 minutes) Quickly add all sticky notes to the circle and group any overlapping or conflicting input. Allow every group member to briefly defend their choices in one sentence. Vote (7 minutes) Give each group member a sticky note and ask each group member to write down the five Friends of the Brand he/she would like to upvote. End with adding a vote for each time that ‘friend’ was selected by the group members. Review (10 minutes) Discuss the top five and see if this has enough diversification or if there is overlap. Try to decide on the top five Friends of the Brand together. If this doesn’t bring five clear winners, then let the product owner or decider (usually the CEO) make the choice.
Conceptualize
Archetypes Description:
Gain:
What kind of identity fits your brand? What kinds of personality is it? Research through this exercise whether your brand is an Explorer, Everyman or a Ruler.
A clear choice of your Archetype can give direction to your brand personality. This template helps to make that conscious choice.
Stappenplan
1. 2. 3.
Categorie: Conceptualize Time: 45 minutes Groupsize: 3 - 8 personen
4.
Print the archetypes and put them on a wall. Each print stands for a certain archetype with certain characteristics. The Explorer is the Indiana Jones of charactersl standing for freedom and exploration of what is important to him or her. A clear choice helps to craft and strenghten your messages. Explain (10 minutes) The facilitator explains the aim of this exercise and explains each Archetype and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s characteristics and examples making everyone understands. Vote (5 minutes) Give each group member a sticky note and ask everyone to review the Archetypes on the wall individually. Each group member selects 1 or 2 Archetypes that he/she thinks matches the (aspired) brand. End with adding a vote for each time that Archetype was selected by the group members. Review (10 minutes) Discuss each Archetype in random order and let people who voted for this one explain why they did. Then do a second voting round, also individually. If this doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bring a clear winner, then let the product owner or decider (usually the CEO) make the choice.
Level: Easy Materials: Worksheet Paper Sticky notes
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Conceptualize
Tone of Voice Sliders Description:
Gain:
Where is your brand’s personality on the scale? See this exercise as cooking your favorite dish, a little less pepper and a little more salt? All good, but why?
Stappenplan
1.
In this exercise, you’ll position your company’s “sliders” between pairs of brand extremes: There are good reasons to be on the left or right of any of these lines, and it’s even okay if some of your sliders end up in the middle. But it’s helpful to be strongly opinionated on at least one or two ranges.
2.
You and the team members will have meaningful discussing about the brand personality and the tone of voice. Which should have the same sliders. It is great to discuss now and great to come back to once your brand is creating brand expressions like logo, copywriting, social media posts etc. By that time you have the sliders to guide you.
3.
Start (5 minutes) Print the worksheet for each group member. Each line is slider between two opposites where you will position a dot. Is your brand more of a friend or an authority? Let everyone position the dots individually in 5 minutes or less. Review (5 minutes) Let the facilitator create bigger set of sliders on a whiteboard or on brownpaper. The facilitator will publicly position everyone’s dots on the shares sliders. Discuss together in 5 minutes or less.
Decide (10 minutes) The product owner or decider will decide on the final position of one dot on each slider. Summarize what these choices mean to your brand. And what they mean for how you talk to your audience.
Categorie: Conceptualize Time: 30 minuten Groupsize: 3 - 8 personen Level: Low Materials: Brownpaper, Worksheets (1 per group member) Markers Timer
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Review
CRADAC Description:
This method functions as a filter or the lens through which we review brand strategies and visual (or verbal) deliverables. CRADAC stands for Clarity, Relevance, Attention, Distinction, Appeal and Consistency. This method works best after defining The 6 Brand Questions, that way youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have a bench mark for each of the segments.
Gain:
This method was designed by Yura to review brand expressions (anything visual or verbal related to brands). When you review your new brand identity proposals you now have a framework to make informed decisions over opinions.
Stappenplan
1. 2. 3.
Categorie: Review Time: 10 - 60 minutes Groupsize: 1 - 8 persons Level: Average
Score (10 minutes) Print the worksheet and put it on a wall. Each letter stands for a certain quality you want you brand to have. Give each group member a sticky note and ask everyone to review the brand expression individually. Review and score the deliverable in an isolated way on the quality at hand on a scale from 1 to 5. Let them do this for each of the 6 qualities first. Gather (5 minutes) Quickly add all the scores to the CRADAC worksheet on the wall. You can add total scores per letter / quality OR calculate the average scores. Whatever works best for you. Review (10 minutes) Discuss each brand expression and how you potentially could fix any short comings. The complexity of the brand expression informs what you put on the timer. Range from 5 minutes for single items to 45 minutes if you for example have to review multiple proposals for your new brand identity. Pro tip! The steps above assume you are reviewing one brand expression, but you could use CRADAC to compare different proposals as well. Of that is the case then perform step 1 and 2 for each proposal separately and adjust step 3 to comparing scores for each proposal. If there is no clear winning proposal, then you should discuss improvements per proposal and use it as direction for your feedback towards the creators of the brand expression.
Materials: Worksheet Pen
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Support Questions: (These work after youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked with The 6 Brand Questions) Clarity Does our brand come out with clarity? Are the message and the intended action clear? Relevance How relevant is this brand expression to my target audience? Is that relevance showing? Attention Does this work have the capacity to draw attention? Does this draw attention in the right way? Distinction Is this brand expression distinctive from what my target audience already knows from competitors? Is it just different and refreshing enough from my other brand expressions so it will grab their attention? Appeal Putting yourself in their shoes, would this work appeal to them? And why? Consistency Is this work consistent with The 6 Brand Questions? Is it consistent with other brand expressions?
Conceptualize
Design Challenge Description:
Gain:
Stappenplan As a facilitator, your role is to guide participants so that questions aren’t too broad or too narrow. You want to unearth a wide range of ideas with unique, specific solutions.
The Design Challenge describes the problem you will solve through the project. Work on this exercise when your project or company does not yet have a clear direction in the form of products, services or value proposition. This exercise encourages brainstorming and a change of perspective.
A great Design Challenge makes a clear statement on the boundaries and the aim of the project. This gives a better focus on the solutions you will create. Does this solution solve the Design Challenge?
For example, “How might we redesign the gaming industry?” is too broad, and “How might we create the perfect console made to prevent musculo-skeletal injuries among gamers?” could (potentially) be too specific. “How might we redesign ergonomics in gaming?” is a more appropriately-scoped question.
1. 2.
Categorie: Conceptualize Time: 30 minuten Groupsize: 3 - 8 persons Level: Average Materials: Brownpaper Sticky notes Markers
3.
Start (5 minutes) Divide into 2 or 3 teams (of 2 to 3 people). Each team will create 1 design challenge. Drafts (10 minutes) Every team makes a first draft of a design challenge within the framework of a How Might We….? question (HMW). A good How-Might-We stems from an important insight or problem and describes the core of a challenge. Teams are encouraged to create multiple versions. Vote (10minutes) Let every team hang up it’s best HMW, read out loud once and let everyone vote in silence. (without discussing). Let every team present it’s HMW and then vote again. Discuss the votes.
4. 5.
Final (20minutes) Let every team create new and improved HMWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s using the feedback and the insight from the previous sessions. Teams are encouraged to borrow from eachother. Repeat the presenting and voting until there is 2 or 3 clear winners that articulates a challenge the group wants to sink their teeth in. Generate Solutions (20minutes) Once youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve picked two to three HMW questions of an appropriate scope, begin brainstorming solutions with Post-it notes. Ask for one idea or solution per Post-it, and encourage quantity over quality. Have the group generate as many ideas as possible during this time in 10 minutes. Once the allotted time has passed, review all of the ideas on a wall and trim them down to the best ones. Then define the next steps on how you would like to move forward with research, definition and execution of those ideas beyond the workshop.
Strategize
Kill Your Company Description:
Gain:
Just as only adaptable species survive in nature, only those companies are successful that are capable of continuous change. Those willing to change should also be willing to face their own vulnerabilities first. And that is exactly what this exercise does.
Cannibalize your own business before others do it. This exercise will give you a clear idea on your weaknesses.
Stappenplan
1. 2. 3.
Categorie: Strategize Time: 45 minuten Groupsize: 3 - 8 persons
4.
Note (3 x 7 minutes) Draw a horizontal and a vertical axis on a large piece of paper and put it on a wall. Give each group member a deck of sticky notes and ask everyone to come up with hypothetical answers to the first 3 questions from the worksheet. Let them do this rapidfire; quantity of quality. No idea is too crazy or farfetched. Take 7 minutes per question. Gather (10 minutes) Quickly add all sticky notes to the wall and group any overlapping or correlated input. Allow every group member to briefly explain their answers in one sentence. Vote (7 minutes) Give each group member a sticky note and ask each group member to write down the five scenario’s from the overall answers he/she would like to upvote. Which 5 scenario’s are most urgent and/or important to counter? End with adding a vote for each time that ‘scenario’ was selected by the group members. Brainstorm (25 minutes) Discuss each scenario and brainstorm with the group what strategies could be deployed when this scenario takes place. Take 5 minutes for each scenario and let one person take notes.
Level: Average Materials: Brownpaper ticky notes Markers
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Support Questions: (just to give you some direction when you’re stuck) There is three domains of competition: One is to solve the same PROBLEM. Second is when you have a similar SOLUTION, third is when you are targetting the same AUDIENCE. So you vulnerabilities need to be found there too. • • •
Who are the dominant players in your particular sector? What could they do take away your competitive edge? Which the dominant players from another sector could come into yours?
• • • • • • • • •
• •
What could competitors do cheaper, better or faster than you can? Who are the new entrants in your market? Who might be the new entrants in your market? Who has a bigger audience, funding or brand than you have? Who can execute on your roadmap faster than you can? Which products or services could replace ours? What subtitutes could replace your products/services? How easy it is for customers to switch to these substitutes? What business model traditions do these substitute products stem from (e.g. high-speed trains versus airplanes, mobile phones versus cameras, Skype versus long-distance telephone companies)? Which stakeholders might influence your business model? How influential are shareholders? Workers? The government?Lobbyists? Who are the key players in your industry value chain? To what extent does your business model depend on other players? Are peripheral players emerging? Which are most profitable?
• • •
What are the crucial issues affecting the customer landscape? Which shifts are underway? Where is the market heading?
• • • •
Strategize
After Action Review Description:
The After Action Review was invented by the army and is a structured approach to evaluate the work of a group and to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.
Gain:
When organizations want to improve themselves it is important that team evaluate their performances continuously. Sharing the results of an After Action Review can also help other teams to learn from successful strategies and to avoid certain pitfalls. We use the After Action Review to evaluate branding workshops and marketing campaigns.
Categorie: Strategize Time: 1 h
Stappenplan
1. 2.
Appoint a facilitator who does not participate in the exercise but only facilitates and a secretary to process the answers and results (5 minutes). Start by writing the name of the project to be evaluated at the top of a whiteboard or a large piece of brownpaper.
The facilitator writes down the questions below and goes through them with the rest of the group: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
3.
What goal did you want to achieve? Which tasks did you perform to go after this goal? Which stakeholders were involved? What went well? What could have been better? What would you advise others bases on these insights?
At the end of an After Action Review the secretary makes digital notes of the answers and shares this with the rest of the organization. A short follow-up with the most relevant points is great to share within the company to grow as a whole.
Groupsize: 3 - 8 person Level: Average Materials: Brownpaper, Tape Markers
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Worksheets
Business Model Canvas
Download
OKR
Download
The 6 Brand Questions
Download
Buyer Persona
Download
Archetypes
Download
Tone of Voice Sliders
Download
CRADAC
Download
Kill Your Company
Download
After Action Review
Download
6 Common mistakes
6 Common mistakes in tech branding 1. Too techy for the users 2. Using sing fuzzy & Vague Terms 3. Not showing people 4. Not being human 5. Focus on features and advantages over value 6. Unalligned storytelling & UX
6 Common mistakes
6 Things you can do to improve your brand without spending a dime more:
Epilogue
1. Start with writing / not design
2. Make branding a team effort
3. Work pressure cooker-style
4. Agree brand foundation before marketing / advertising
The core beliefs and universal truths that are shared…which, in turn, affect how a brand,its founders, directors and employees behave. The core beliefs and universal truths that are shared…which, in turn, affect how a brand, its founders, directors and employees behave. The core beliefs and universal truths that are shared…which, in turn, affect how a brand, its founders, directors and employees behave. The core beliefs and universal truths that are shared…which, in turn, affect how a brand, its founders, directors and employees behave. The core beliefs and universal truths that are shared…which, in turn, affect how a brand, its founders, directors and employees behave. The core beliefs and universal truths that are shared…which, in turn.
5. Revisit cradac-method over and over again
6. Keep your goals in mind while creating brand expressions
MyBit
Case studies
Before
After
MyBit
Case studies
Colengo
Before
After
Colengo
Manetu
Case studies
Before
After
Manetu
“Yura Agency acted as our internal marketing department during a very intense launch program. They quickly executed on our short-term business objectives while never losing sight that Manetu is building a brand for the long-term." — David Harris
Testimonials
Co-Founder Manetu Inc.
“Dennis was diligent in getting to know our company and in gaining a clear understanding of the company’s needs. For our re-branding Yura organized a creative, energetic and professional weekend to come up with the OKR to achieve our goals. Thank you Yura, for giving us the foundation to build on!”
“We have worked with Yura on various projects, and they have never let us nor our clients down. What is most appealing however, is their intelligent approach and thirst to get under the skin of the client”
”Yura developed the key messaging, the graphical appearance and webdesign for our STO. In a very short time period, Yura produced exactly what we were after. They went the extra mile and worked with us as true partners.”
— Clara Florey
”What convinced us to work with Yura was their ability to understand our purpose and subsequent brand we wanted to achieve. Yura has realised our brand vision and excelled beyond expectations. I’d highly recommend their services." — Luca Loscalzo
Owner DisPRuptive
Co-Founder Block3
International Business Growth Advisor
“After years of focusing solely on the functionality and usability of our SAAS product, my business partner and I needed inspiration and guidance in defining the identity of the company and strategy for the future. Together with Dennis and Yura we rediscovered ourselves and our brand, defined the goals and devised our sales strategy.”
— Leon Marcelissen Founder Colengo
— Steyn van Hövell Serial Entrepreneur and Investor
“Yura has helped us with redefining our value proposition, our brand narrative, corporate identity and pay-off. We love the creativity and results! Looking forward to continue working on the website and our decks.” — Kees Martijn Segaar Co-Founder Salesmentor
— Marco Quacken
“Yura guided us through the territories of an STO resulting in new and valuable insights. Due to their professionalism they are clearly a joy to work with.” — Paul van Katwijk Serial Entrepreneur / Owner Origin Holding
May the force be with you! If not, ask me anything. Really anything SCHEDULE A CALL
Dennis Roelofsen Founder +31 (0) 6 46721110
info@yura.agency +31 (0) 20 244 0000 Oudeschans 85-1 1011 KW Amsterdam The Netherlands