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Branding Services

Brand strategy 101 for Start-up Founders

When the term ‘amazon’ comes up, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Online shopping, right? You definitely didn’t think of Amazon rainforests.

Similarly, when a term like ‘apple’ pops, rather than thinking of the fruit we remember the tech giant Apple. And when you search online, you are Google-ing. This is the power of good branding. All consuming their user’s mind. But these brands are famous not just because of their products or services, but because they have mastered the art of branding themselves to their user.

And if you have decided to join the legion of start-ups shaking up the market, you will have to achieve such a level of memorable and, perhaps even disruptive, branding.

Flora Fountain, currently one of the best branding agencies in ahmedabad, was also a start-up back in the year 2016. Through our experience, we understand that building a new business from scratch is tough. But still exciting!

So here we are, with a simple brand strategy for you to not be “just another start-up”!

Research & find your niche

The first thing as a start-up you need to know is – who is your audience and what moves them. Finding answers to simple questions can help you get clarity on what you need to do next. Questions like:

  • Who is my target audience?
  • What do they like or dislike?
  • Where are they?
  • How old are they?
  • How likely are they to seek a service or product like mine?
  • How would they come across a product or service like mine?
  • Who are my competitors?

And so on.

If you think you need help in finding the answers to the above questions, you can also hire the brand strategy services from agencies that hold expertise in these segments and find answers to these questions through user and market research. Such services include interviews, surveys, focus groups and workshops which help find answers to such questions.

As one of the best branding agencies in Ahmedabad, Flora Fountain also conducted a similar branding workshop for a manufacturing company. With the help of innovative questions and exercises, we assisted them in finding their niche.

Research & find your niche

Identity creation

According to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman, 95% of all the thinking that prompts our behaviour (including consumer decisions) is subconscious. That means your target audience will be driven by subconscious factors that they associate with the brand. How the brand makes them feel, whether or not it aligns with their values and lifestyle, how they think associating with this brand will be perceived in their peer group and so on.

Identity creation-1

A great example of an older brand that has worked on an impactful identity creation touching on all these points creating a loyal following is Royal Enfield.

Identity creation-2

“Naam me sab rakha hai!”

When the renowned playwright William Shakespeare said “what’s in a name”, he was definitely not referring to the world of business! Because when it comes to identity creation for a company, NAME actually matters!

As an entrepreneur, your company name is the first thing that comes out of your mouth while introducing your work. That name helps you to stand out from the crowd and promote your values.

As branding experts who have advised and named a number of companies, we’ve seen how creativity and research can help brands build an image in the market. One such example is one of our clients who was into the retail of health and kitchen products like alkaline water purifiers. They were named Shri Laxmi Enterprise. While selling a healthy forward-thinking product they needed to connect and wow their audience, so we came up with the brand name, Sante Life. Sante meaning a cheer to good health in French worked perfectly with the word life to both be simple, memorable and yet connected to the products they were selling.

Still not convinced? Believe us, choosing the wrong name proved to be bad for many brands!

Connect with a memorable message

You need to get your audience hooked. Sometimes the best way to do this is by telling them your story. Think about the origin of your company, where did the germ of this idea originate, what prompted you to create the products you are offering? Dig deep and find your motivation and values.

You can convey this message with the help of logos, colours, taglines, a distinctive voice in all the mediums you use to communicate with your user.

When it comes to logos, make sure that you perform due diligence to avoid any trademark violations or copyright infringements. Create a new one but keep some points in mind.

Of course, you can hire a branding agency like Flora Fountain which offers logo design and brand strategy services in Ahmedabad to many well-known brands in the region. Brands such as CarzSpa – the car detailing studio, Vajra jewels, Mulberry looms, Goodwooder, Mistrywood and so on.

CONNECT WITH A MEMORABLE MESSAGE

Similarly, it is said that colour improves brand recognition by up to 80%, hence choose your colour wisely. Make sure to be consistent with the colour on all platforms for it to work for your brand.

Define your voice which you want to use to connect with your audience. For instance, if you want to come off as a casual and lively brand, use a quirky and playful voice while talking to your customers. If you want to talk to teenagers, choose a hip and more friendly tone that not only communicates with them but also upholds the company’s voice. Just remember to establish a persona for your company, for the people to relate to you.

Website to make the customer sit up and take notice!

Last year in January there were more than 4.66 billion active internet users all across the world. Hence, when all of your audience is online, your web presence is a must. Your website can help you do that.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that the colours, fonts, typography, and images used on the website should be of the same family. The tone on your website should reflect what you want to convey to your audience. But before that, you must have a domain name, an address where users will be able to access your website.

Social media

Look where most of your audience is and which platform they use the most. And then create profiles on it. Considering the large number of people who use social media (approx. 4.62 billion people) in current times, a fraction of your audience must be on it too. You can easily reach and stay in touch with your potential customers too!

Social media platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, Quora, give you an opportunity to connect with your potential clients in real-time via comments, reactions, and chats. Study your audience and leverage their social media preferences. Show your clients that you are indeed a real deal.

As one of the top digital marketing agencies in Ahmedabad, we also started social media for a start-up called Zoobiz helping them gain a reliable and steady audiences through social media promotions.

PRO TIP: Consistency is the key! Always remember to be consistent in the efforts you make for your brand.

It’s true that the complexity of the branding process sounds like a lot! But it doesn’t have to be, with Flora Fountain’s Brand Strategy Services in Ahmedabad. Let’s bring your vision to life over a cup of coffee! Call 09558079502 or email us at hello@flora.ffteam.in to start a conversation.

Categories
Branding Services

Lift up your brand spirits with humour

An entrepreneur, an advertiser and a comedian walk into a bar….

Yes, they made a knock off your pants funny campaign together, got featured on Social Samosa, generated a whole lot of ‘shares’ and ‘saves’ on Instagram and branded their message right into their TG’s minds!

You get the drift.

So why and how are some of the best branding agencies in India and Ahmedabad, yours truly at Flora Fountain included, using humour to create memorability and differentiation for a brand? Read on to know it all…

Why humour works in selling?

People love to laugh. It’s something that almost everyone has in common. That’s why using humor is a popular advertising technique. The key, of course, is doing something that a majority of people will find funny. Laughter is always good for people. It can reduce pain and stress as well as lower blood pressure. Getting people to laugh also makes them more inclined to think positively about a business and buy its products.

And guess everyone knows, that the best ice breaker in the world is jokes (after food of course). And some of the most commonly heard conversation starters are, “have you seen/heard that ad where…”. That’s how humour creates a recall for brands, making it stand out and get its message shared among more people.

Popular brands that have used humour to spice up their marketing game

Let’s take a look at how some of the brands became household names with their wit and humour in delivering the message and marketing their products.

Old Spice

The popular men’s deodorant and hygiene products brand is known to go meta with their campaigns, making fun of the whole idea of advertising in itself. It usually features a very well built, handsome man, doing something completely out of context in their commercials, like riding a horse on a beach while mouthing the catchphrase addressing women, “Ladies, your man can smell just like me”. Here, take a look at one of their television commercials that aired sometime back.

Prime Video

Amazon’s video streaming service Prime Video in India has decided go all out and tickle the funny bone to promote the movies and shows on their platform. One look at their India Instagram page and you’ll find out posts peppered with humorous memes and jokes all involving some scene or dialogue from one of the movies in their catalogue, and a pop culture reference. One of their longest running advertising and marketing gags is wishing its followers “Good Morning” through funny memes. Here check out a few:

Prime Video

Prime Video-2

Netflix

Everyone hates spoilers. And everyone hates that one Netflix subscriber in the group who watches every movie, every TV show right when they release and give out spoilers to everyone. Netflix gave out fake spoilers of its highly popular shows through huge outdoor billboards as a part of their smart and funny campaign asking people to stay at home during the pandemic, to stay safe from the coronavirus and spoilers.

Eleven 11 Restro Cafe (@eleven11restrocafe)

This Ahmedabad-based restaurant cum cafe is not only known for its lip smacking food and Instagram-worthy ambience and interiors, but their quirky social media presence too.
The brand knows that their audience on the internet is a young, hip crowd that loves their memes and are fluent in pop-culture references.

Eleven 11 Restro Cafe

And to match their vibe and draw them to their outlets, Eleven 11 regularly indulges in fun banters and shares witty takes on their social media pages.

Falguni Gruh Udhyog, Vastrapur (@falgunivastrapur)

This Ahmedabad-based snacks and packaged food brand is synonymous with being a Pakku Amdavadi, i.e. loud, funny and a total film buff. Falguni Vastrapur is a legacy brand, with loyalties of their customers spanning 30 years.

But they promote their products through trending memes and jokes shared on their Instagram pages. Here’s a sneak peek on what they usually talk about online.

Falguni Gruh Udhyog, Vastrapur

The idea behind this is that the brand is pretty confident that the elders of the house (mothers, grandmothers, etc) will always visit the store to purchase their snacks. But the brand wishes to attract the cafe-hopping, new-gen audience by speaking to them in their lingo, while promoting their traditional and fusion Gujarati snacks.

Customers appreciate and remember a funny take

Sprout Social conducted a detailed survey of consumers in relation to brand personality. The report found that three in four consumers appreciated humor from brands. Humor helps a consumer remember and engage with your brand and that they appreciate good humor from companies

Good humour, a cheeky take on oneself also showcases honesty. Which is something every customer seeks from a brand. This honesty helps in building the trust between the consumer and the brand. And when there is trust and honesty in such a relationship, customers tend to engage more with the brand and further refer it to their friends and family too.

Can humour fail in marketing too?

But not every brand has the chops to be cheeky. Failing at humor in the marketing world is sure to attract attention, but not the kind that your brand wants. What builds a powerful connection also has a downside. Humor tends to be highly subjective. What’s funny to one may offend another. That can spread like wildfire and damage your brand. Humor can also water down your message. Make sure your team is on the same page and consistent with who you want your brand to be.

88% consumers dislike it when brands mock their fans
71% of consumers find brands engaging in politics on social annoying

Dos and Don’ts when it comes to using humor in marketing.

  • Test your jokes on others before posting

What’s funny for one, might just be a plain ‘fact’ for another. Check if the ‘hilarious’ joke you thought up for your brand actually makes any sense or not, by cracking it with your peers, maybe the designers, the copywriters, and even the interns.

  • Avoid controversial topics

What’s worse for a brand is a joke offending people than a joke not landing. People may let go of an ‘unfunny’ post, tweet or a blog, but a joke that mocks their beliefs, ideologies or anything sensitive has a high chance of backfiring.

  • Be sure the timing is right

Oh, and what’s worst, is a badly timed joke. Never make jokes or post something funny when there is a scenario that is serious and sensitive, like a national mourning, war, natural calamities, etc.

  • Select the right channel

Some jokes are specifically crafted for particular platforms. For instance, the “Like, Comment, Share” jokes are meant only for Instagram. Posting them on Pinterest or Twitter will never work.

You know what, some of the funniest jokes come out when you hanging out with the right people. How about you drop by our office for a cup of strong coffee and stronger punchlines for your next brand promotion? Drop us a hello on hello@florafountain.in