“World-leading businesses think about what the brand stands for, what it stands against and where it should go next.” So says Interbrand introducing its 2023 survey of best global brands.
Wondering what a brand is worth? The Interbrand report rates the top 100 brands for 2023 and estimates their value. For example, the brands of the two best known tech companies, Apple and Microsoft, are valued at $482 billion and $278 billion USD respectively. In 2013, just a decade ago, Apple was ranked 22 and Microsoft 35, and their value was considerably less. Brands not only have worth beyond current company revenues, but it’s worth often changes in response to events inside and outside the company.
This article points out how smart companies are utilizing a simple but robust brand strategy to build customer enthusiasm. Call it the 1 + 3 method.
To start, how do brands establish value?
How do brands build value beyond the company’s current and recent revenues? Interbrand describes the essential requirements of brand value this way:
“We know that in an age of abundant choice and speed of innovation, customers’ expectations are moving faster than businesses.
“While incremental change is still essential, it’s no longer sufficient. It takes bold moves to leap ahead of customers and competitors. We call these moves iconic moves.”
What does it take to build an “iconic” brand? Interbrand points out that the fastest risers significantly outperformed other brands on a few key factors:
- Direction: Interbrand starts with the importance of setting clear direction: who you are, whom you serve and support, how your company creates value for its customers, talent, and partners, and what makes your company distinctive.
- Communication. Make sure everyone in the organization has a deep understanding of the purpose, key values, and strategic direction of the business, and are working together, in unison, towards the same ambition
- Agility: Speed matters. Move fast. Bring on new products and services that increase the connection and satisfaction of customers and, as Interbrand points out, pivot where needed to address changing customer needs
- Participation: Bring people on the “brand journey” with you and make them part of the movement to create an engaging brand experience and reputation.
The 1 + 3 rule is your brand mantra
Brand building is storytelling, and the tools of the trade are words, visual media, interactions, connections, and experiences.
For example, as Supportwave (formerly Nerdapp.com) enters the US market from early success in the UK and EU, it’s taken several actions to build brand recognition. Taking a workshop approach, the team recognized that its brand combined technical excellence, local presence, and on demand support to its growing SMB and Enterprise clients.
At the core of their brand building campaign is a fundamental ambition: “We are specialists in optimizing IT operations, connecting companies with talented on-demand IT professionals and solving their problems expertly and cost efficiently.” That ambition is reinforced through a trio of reinforcing storylines that extend the brand, and make it “real” by sharing client testimonials and endorsements:
- We make your business smarter and more agile by scaling your operations at reduced cost. “Supportwave has become a valued team member, increasing our capability at an affordable cost.” (CTO)
- With Supportwave’s support, the lights don’t go out. “Supportwave greatly improved the efficiency of our IT support, thanks to their prompt and effective response delivered by dependable IT Specialists. (CEO)
- We help small businesses become big businesses. “As a growing corporation, it is important for us to have a reliable partner like Supportwave to service our multiple locations”. (IT Director)
Supportwave also builds brand through reviews by Trustpilot and other review sites that have given the company top ratings along with comments like “Easy booking and great tech experience” or “They did what laptop manufacturers claim couldn’t be done.” These testimonials are right in line with the 1+3 approach.
Supportwave’s 1 + 3 brand strategy has been converted by their marketing team into a disciplined program of well-placed articles and updates, podcast participation, webinars, in person presentations by the Supportwave team to key audiences, and a revamped website. These efforts, and on-ground growth of the sales and communications team, have significantly lifted name recognition and client interest. And, together with an attractive work and pay package for technical talent, Supportwave’s brand building efforts are proving immensely helpful in recruiting.
Is your brand telling the world about your company’s “job to be done”?
The 1 + 3 brand building strategy is based in part on the work of Harvard professor Clay Christensen and his concept of “jobs to be done”. As the Christensen Institute points out, “People don’t simply buy products or services, they ‘hire’ them to make progress in specific circumstances … Understanding the ‘job’ for which customers hire a product or service helps innovators more accurately develop products that align with what customers are already trying to accomplish.”
Here’s how Interbrand describes it:
“It’s increasingly difficult to fit the Top Ten into categories (what do Apple and Google do?), but things become much clearer when taking the perspective of customer jobs to be done (what aspects of consumers lives they address). Apple helps us Connect, Do, Belong, Play, Pay and – more recently – Thrive. Rumor has it that soon it may help us Move, too. Google helps us get many jobs done, like Learn, Connect, Move – and even Dwell. Nike – not a FAANG – helps us Thrive and Express ourselves.”
“Ultimately, these organisations are building businesses around their brand (in contrast to the traditional approach of building brand around a product) – and it’s setting them apart from the rest of the pack.”
Is brand building a 24/7 priority for your leadership?
Gigged.ai is another good example of how a company can bring creativity and urgency to their brand efforts. Early on, this startup bought time in a huge billboard in downtown London, creating a sensation that helped raise early seed funding. CEO Rich Wilson and CTO Craig Short are tireless in bringing their story to the market, actively participating in conferences, even appearing in Shark Tank, and contributing insight through their active and imaginative blogsphere (including articles by this writer). But what Gigged.ai does best is continuously improving their customer experience through pioneering work in private talent clouds, applying AI to their marketplace in areas like project scoping and budgeting (saving clients and talent significant time), and expanding their community of top talent.
Are you building brand now for the economic recovery to come?
A prior article reminded freelance entrepreneurs that, as BP Chair Helge Lund once said, “The future has not been canceled.” While near term pressures may reduce marketing budgets, it needn’t reduce brand building creativity. As Crunchbase notes, “Venture capitalists have amassed substantial ‘dry powder’ just waiting to be invested. As the economic climate stabilizes, VCs will seek out promising startups to fuel growth and innovation.”
A few VCs like Big Sky Capital are actively investing now, and finding exciting startups like Cerebra.kz and CrediLinq.ai. More investors will return over the next several months and deploy their “dry powder.” And, as confidence in the global economy picks up, startups in the freelance space that demonstrate low-risk and high growth potential, in part by building outsized brand recognition are likely to attract interest and investment.
Viva la revolution!
Read the full article here