Brand Tuned - Sharp Branding: Recent Episodes
Shireen Smith
The Brand Tuned podcast explores the 'what and why of branding'. It's for founders, marketers, graphic designers, and lawyers in search of ideas to increase success, and avoid commoditisation through better positioning and distinctiveness. The show also addresses why the Ehrenberg Bass Institute’s findings on how brands grow involves intersecting brand creation with brand protection. Brand Tuned is hosted by Shireen Smith, author, marketer, IP lawyer, and business owner. Visit brandtuned.com/podcast for transcripts and show notes. To appear on the podcast submit your suggested topic explaining why you would be a suitable guest to info@brandtuned.com
IP is much less formal in Latin America's economy according to Alberto Ramirez Bonilla, founder of BR Latin America. Tune in to explore how trademark practices differ in the South American economic landscape and why that matters.
Among other things the episode discusses:
- How business design and naming unfold across Latin America
- Branding and intellectual property in Latin America
- Copyright protection for software and guidelines for naming conventions
- Branding and naming strategies for businesses
- Importance of understanding IP law for businesses
LinkedIn: Alvaro Ramirez Bonilla
Website: BR Latin America
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Joining us in this episode is an ex-Mckinsey consultant, Tom Gardner, a serial entrepreneur known for his analytical approach to branding. He draws on his experience of launching several brands across different industries, both B2B and B2C.
Tom shares his journey in branding, marked by a blend of scientific and practical approaches, emphasizing customer feedback and market testing from the very start.
In this episode, we’ll also discuss:
- Branding Experience With A Consultant
- Naming Process
- Involving Branding Agencies
- Business Funding
- Next Startup Business
- Filling The Gap In The Market
- What Brand Means
- Getting The Perspective Of The Market
- His Current Ventures
- Branding Philosophy And Strategies
LinkedIn: Tom Gardner
Book: From Manager To Executive (Coming in June)
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Joining us in this episode is James Brown, founding director of Mobiloo, the world's first mobile accessible toilet and changing place designed to cater to disabled people requiring extra equipment and space. Mobiloo has created a huge range of opportunities for tens of thousands of disabled people around the UK.
James shares his journey, highlighting his motivation to improve accessibility and inclusivity for disabled people, stemming from his own experiences as a visually impaired individual and a Paralympic athlete. His flight in becoming a social entrepreneur exemplifies the power of innovation driven by personal values and a deep understanding of the community's genuine needs.
In this episode, we also cover:
- From A Paralympic Athlete to Social Entrepreneur
- Making Your Brand Stand Out
- Solving A Genuine Need
- Branding Is Also Culture
- Choosing Your Brand Values
- Excellence In A Business
- The Power of Word of Mouth
Website: Mobiloo UKFacebook: Mobiloo UK
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In this episode of the Brand Tuned podcast, we welcome Paul Fernandez, CEO of The Growth Guys, to discuss the journey of starting and branding his growth marketing company during the pandemic. Paul shares insights from his past experiences, the challenges of defining and living up to a brand promise, and the importance of adapting branding strategies as a business evolves.
This episode shares an interesting point of view of branding through experiences including:
- An Agency That Delivers Results
- A Brand Is What Customers Tell You
- Developing The Visual Identity
- Creating A Team Culture
- The Perspective on Branding Over Time
How The Market Perceives Your Brand
Website:The Growth GuysLinkedIn: Paul Fernandez
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In this episode, Emmanuel Probst, a Global Lead, Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos and anadjunct professor teaching consumer market research at UCLA, shares with us how to create a transformative brand.
Emmanuel has 17 years of background in marketing and market research experience, such as at IP source. He is also the author of Brand Hacks, and Assemblage - The Art and Science of Brand Transformation, which releases this coming January 2023.
Among other things, we discuss:
- that brands can no longer just sell products. They must aim to be transformative for people and the world they live in.
- That brands are no longer in control of the narrative, so they must harness the power of the community and make a greater and more sustainable one.
- the importance of noticing what existing brands are offering the market. Then consider creating something new and unique to offer in the category.
- creating your market positioning.
- The trick is really to understand your audience and get a deep understanding of the market.
- three Dimensions of Brand Transformation
- What is Programmed Obsolescence?
- How to Create a Transformative Brand
- Understanding Trends in the Society
www.emmanuelprobst.com Twitter: @Emmanuelprobst Linkedin Emmanuel Probst Resources mentioned on the podcastBrand Hacks
Assemblage - The Art and Science of Brand Transformation
marketingweek.com
adage.com
adweek.com
mediapost.com
Challenger Project - Eat Big Fish
Financial Insights at Ipsos.com
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Having recently asked people what their top questions are about branding and IP (Intellectual Property), I decided to record my answers in this episode.
The questions answered in this episode include:
- What are the different ways I can protect my brand?
- Do I need international protection or is UK protection enough?
- How do I explain to graphic designers I work with the importance of checking they are not infringing on anyone's IP?
- How can you be sure that graphic designers you work with hand over the rights to all the assets they create? How can you be sure they have done this fully?
- What do you regard as the best branding campaign(s) of all time? And why?
- Do you think the Internet is actually effective for brand building?
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In this episode I discuss some thoughts following the recent podcast with Sean Adams, an internationally recognized graphic designer, and the chair of undergraduate and graduate graphic design at Art Center College of Design in California.
I found Sean's approach refreshingly client focused and empathetic. For example, Sean takes clients on the design journey and explains what he is doing and why.
This collaborative approach, and avoiding a big reveal at the end of the process, is more likely to result in an identity that the client finds acceptable.
I think if the designer can also talk about the IP dimension they would be the ideal adviser to clients. While the word ‘design’ is commonly associated with graphic designers, in truth it includes anyone who advises on business structure. They can help plan how a business should work in all respects, not just visually.
Given that visual identity needs to be permanent I’m often baffled that designers radically change the visual identity of established businesses just because the business’ strategy changes.
Surely tweaks to the identity is all that's needed, unless there is something radically transformed about the business. It’s vital to leave the identifying elements so you don’t disturb memory structures.
This episode tackles:
- Importance of taking clients on the design journey
- What makes a good logo?
- When is it the right time to radically change a visual identity?
- Drawbacks of changing your identity
- Measuring brand equity to make identity design decisions
www.seanadams.design Resources mentioned on the podcastThe Designer’s Dictionary of Color
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In this episode, Sean Adams, an internationally recognized graphic designer, and the chair of undergraduate and graduate graphic design at Art Center College of Design in California tells us to succeed with identities without really trying.
Sean Adams is the author of multiple best selling books, including The Designer’s Dictionary of Color.
Brand Identity is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It's a toolkit, an approach to solving problems, an equation. It's not a thing that you can just slap onto your business and hope for the best. You have to understand it and use it correctly in order to succeed with brand identities without really trying.
If you're just starting out, the process can seem overwhelming at first. Where do you even begin? What kind of logo is best for your business? How do you go about creating an identity that speaks to your customers and attracts new clients?
There’s no one right answer, but there are three kinds of identities that you need to understand to start with: word mark, monogram, and symbol. Your branding strategy may use one of these approaches, so it’s good to explore them all and know what they mean.
One of the trickiest aspects of branding is building equity over time. If you think about the Apple identity, it has that little bite out of it, which forces you to think a little bit, the more you think, the more it sticks in your head.
Design is an important part of branding. You can't just have a nice logo and expect people to buy your product. You have to make it appealing in other ways too, Branding isn't just about beauty and aesthetic, but it should be how we can make it unique.
We focus on certain colors because they've become emotionally loaded with meaning for us. How do we get those emotional meanings etched into our brand image?
This episode discusses:
- Three kinds of identities
- Building equity with symbols
- Choosing your branding fonts
- Visual attributes
- How to know you have a great designer/ designers sensibilities
- The cultural impact of color choices
- Semiotics
- Current challenges facing designers
www.seanadams.design Resources mentioned on the podcastThe Designer’s Dictionary of Color
How Design Makes Us Think
Debbie Millman books
Sean Adams' LinkedIn leaning course on branding
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Is being unique your ultimate goal in your business? How, exactly, do you stand out from your competitors and make sure that you remain a purple cow?
A crucial part of a business’ success is being distinctive and visibly different from its competitors. This is the main objective in creating business brand. Having a recognizable and distinctive name helps ensure you will be able to stand out from the crowd.
Distinctiveness is about the identifiers we use. These identifiers are how consumers recognise brands. They associate them with you. It’s your name, and brand elements you choose, such as your logo, any distinctive symbols, characters, shapes, sounds, colours etc.
When you’re creating your business' brand, understanding what competitors can and can't legitimately copy is key to creating a unique brand. Your focus should be as much on what to create as whether you can prevent copying of the elements you create..
That’s why creating slogans and taglines that are ownable is key to protecting our messaging strategy. We stand a greater chance of being associated with the message behind our strategy.
In today's fast-paced world, it is not enough to raise awareness of how we differ. We need to know and understand about intellectual property rights, and how this can help us achieve design choices that set us apart from competitors.
In this episode I touch on the laws governing the ownership of ideas and trademarks, as well as how to use them to protect your brand. I discuss:
- Two components for a business to stand out
- Difference between personal and business brands
- Intellectual Property
- Concept of distinctiveness
- Popeye the sailor
- How important trademark rights are in protecting business brands
- Famous personalities and their distinctiveness/uniqueness
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In this episode Robin Landa explains strategic creativity.
Robin Landa is a Distinguished Professor in the Michael Graves College at Kean University. She specializes in advertising ideas and art direction, creative thinking, graphic design and branding and has written bestselling books including Graphic Design Solutions, 6th ed., Build Your Own Brand, and Nimble: Thinking Creatively in the Digital Age.
What's the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase "brand identity"? A logo, color palette, and characters right? But that's only a small part of the story.
To have a successful brand identity be strategically creative. A brand identity is the representation of the brand and it is the strategic position in the marketplace. So, it has to be strategically creative in order to gel with the target audience.
Brand identity does more than just build an imaginary world, it creates a relationship between people who have heard you and made your name part of their lives. A logo mark is more than just a logo. It's the entry point for your brand and its identity. It's your name and the way you're perceived by customers, and it's the foundation for everything else you do. It's what sets you apart from other brands and allows you to stand out from the crowd. It has to be memorable, differentiating, imprinting on people, and most importantly, it needs to be easy to remember—and ideally, emotionally inspiring.
It's really hard to make a brand identity that is personal and unique when you're working with a company that has thousands of designers and their work is available for all to see. This is why we need to be careful that we don't just lift someone else's work and use it without permission. Brand identity must be unique and personable!
In this episode, we discuss:
- Brand Identity and how to make it memorable and distinctive
- Brand construct and manifesto
- Basic design principle you need to know
- The idea behind balance design and color associations
- Sonic branding
- How to identify talent in identity design
- Interllectual property law
- Identifies in brand design
There are many misconceptions when in comes to IP ownership.
In this podcast I outline why it's important to ensure you own what you create for your business. Owning what we do is about retaining control rather than giving away the value of our knowledge and skills.
Among other things, that involves understanding the role of names in business, and what is involved to legally own a name.
Failing to focus on ownership shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the interplay between branding and brand protection. The episode touches on:
- Why marketers and designers need training in intellectual property.
- What ownership of names involves.
- The 2-step process to securing ownership rights in a name.
- That ownability of brand elements involves making the right choices.
- The drawback of failing to focus on ownership
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In this episode, we discuss having one brand voice with Chris West, the founder of Verbal Identity. Chris is a specialist in helping brand leaders align their teams in one voice. He is also the author of Strong Language, the #1 best-selling book on Amazon in Language Communication.
We tackle the importance of having a great language and how this could create differentiation for brands. As we go through the podcast, we explore:
- The power of language
- Three levels of language
- Having one brand voice for early-stage businesses
- Visual attracts, verbals engage
- Aligning everyone in a company with a one brand voice
- How brand message resonates
Linkedin: Chris West Twitter: @VerbID Book: Strong Languageverbalidentity.com
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In this episode, I talk about brand strategy for start-ups.
Brand strategy is an overused term in the branding industry. I discuss what makes for a good brand strategist and how they can best support businesses.
Sometimes, design is what's needed. Other times it's support to understand which segment to target and how to discover buyers' wants and needs.
When working on brand strategy it is essential to be aware that there is a world of difference between the actions you need to take for a start-up to those you would take for an early-stage business to those you would take for an established brand. The work differs, not just because of the size or stage the business has reached but also due to the reason that the business is seeking your support with its brand strategy.
I discuss:
- The different brand strategies
-
Proof of concept
-
What makes for a good brand strategist
-
The different needs that start-ups and early-stage businesses have
-
Why choosing names and identifiers needs to be informed by intellectual property law.
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Austin Franke is the founder of Woo Punch, a brand design consultancy rooted in the science of how brands grow. Austin is also the man behind brandingbullshit.com, a newsletter that exposes common branding, marketing, and advertising myths, and co-hosts The BS Show with Stef Hamerlinck on YouTube.
In this episode of the podcast, Austin shares why the old notions of brand love are outdated. In keeping with the new format of the podcast, he delivers a 10-minute masterclass before being interviewed.
- A 10-minute masterclass about brand love
- The old notions of brand love that are outdated
- Why distinctiveness is not synonymous with differentiation
- The reality and the evidence-based insights into how brands grow
www.woopunch.combrandingbullshit.com
Books mentioned:Building Distinctive Brand AssetsHow Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't KnowSeducing the Subconscious: The Psychology of Emotional Influence in Advertising
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In this episode, Sean D'Souza of Psychotactics discusses how small businesses should approach differentiation when selling their products and services. Sean is the author of The Brain Audit, and is a copywriter, cartoonist, and speaker. He is also the host of the three month vacation podcast.
We discuss common challenges people have around differentiation, and how the biggest mistake people make is that they promote their company instead of talking about their products. We cover:
- How to position a product so it sticks to the consumers' minds
- Common challenges people have around how to differentiate
- Measuring results through benchmarks
- Reasons for the high failure rate of small businesses
Linkedin: Sean D'SouzaTwitter: @seandsouzaBook: The Brain Auditpsychotactics.comView the podcast transcript here
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In this episode I explore positioning with Ulli Applebaum. Ulli is an experienced award-winning brand strategist and founder of First The Trousers Then The Shoes and the author of the brand positioning workbook.
There are different philosophies about positioning and it depends on what category you are working in as to the research that's appropriate to do.
We might have one central brand position, and separate positions and messaging for products we supply. We touched on:
- Brand purpose
- Ideas on how you can do positioning
- Positioning — how to create your positioning
- How does positioning tie with differentiation
- Creating a category — should it be part of your positioning?
- Examples of well-known brands and their positioning
Linkedin: Ulli AppelbaumTwitter: @FirstTheTrouserBook: The Brand Positioning Workbookfirst-the-trousers.comView the podcast transcript here
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In this episode, we discuss positioning and differentiation with Johnny Molson a marketing consultant and strategist with Wizard of Ads who helps small businesses to build custom marketing strategies.
We consider the difference between niching, positioning, differentiation and distinctiveness, including the challenge of becoming known. Trying to become known for one thing rather than three things makes it more possible to be remembered in the marketplace.
The episode touches on:
- The need to test the market to decide how to position your brand.
- Difference between differentiation and positioning with examples
- How to get your desired perception into the consumer's mind
- Social media – is it worth doing in terms of building a brand?
View the podcast transcript here
Linkedin: Johnny MolsonTwitter: @disruptingadsBook: Campaign-O-Matic!wizardofads.org&molsonpartners.com
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Lee Salz is the Founder and CEO of Sales Architects where he helps clients develop processes to hire the right salespeople, effectively onboard them and align their sales activities with business objectives.
In this episode, we talk about differentiation, Lee shares his insights on two types of differentiation which are marketing differentiation and sales differentiation. He also shares why the word "unique" is one of the biggest causes of frustration in sales. This episode covers:
- Why is it important to differentiate
- What does a business need to do to differentiate itself and what examples
- Why the word "unique" is one of the biggest causes of frustration in sales
- Two types of differentiation — marketing differentiation and sales differentiation
- How to perceive meaningful value in what you're selling through an ideal client profile
- How some buyers don't see an objection to prices and value a product intrinsically
- How to work out who your target buyer is
Linkedin: Lee SalzTwitter: @SalesArchitectsFree tool: Target Client Profile TemplateBooks: Sell Different!&Sales Differentiationsalesarchitects.com
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Daniel Priestley runs business accelerators for entrepreneurs. In this episode, he discusses the Dent rebrand, Lifestyle v. Performance boutique, and the new edition of his book Oversubscribed
- How the entrepreneurial revolution shifts people to earn money through entrepreneurship and starting and growing their own businesses as the Industrial Revolution changed the way we live and work.
- Why visual identity has to work harmoniously with the rest of the brand identity and has to be simple and clean
- What happens when you nail your vision and its simple, the clear message becomes a turning point for your business
- How having a strong culture and vision allows you to attract the right kind of people when you’re recruiting talent.
- Why Daniel incentivises new hires to leave quickly if they discover his company isn’t a good fit for them
- What presidential elections can teach you about the evolution of marketing
- Daniel released a new edition of his book Oversubscribed: How to get people lining up to do business with you in February 2020
- The two main successful business variations are Lifestyle Boutique. 3 - 12 staff, profitable and lots of fun. The second is Performance business that employs 40 to 150 staff who are a talented team, it has recurring revenues, assets and a good niche in the marketplace.
- How businesses are valued by various methods including benchmarking, multiples of profit and based on their brand, market position and systems like Uber for instance.
Linkedin: Daniel PriestleyTwitter: @DanielPriestleyInstagram:@danielpriestleyBook: Oversubscribed: How To Get People Lining Up To Do Business With Youdent.global
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David Aaker hailed the “Father of Modern Branding,” and Vice-Chair at Prophet is a recognized authority on branding, He has developed several concepts including the Aaker brand vision model.
In this episode, we discuss all things brand related, in particular names. We covered:
- Why intellectual property is not included in the training of brand managers
- The importance of being clear on the definition of IP
- The different perspective that IP brings to naming
- Naming and whether descriptive names are a good choice
- The role of intellectual property in building barriers to entry against competitors
- Brand equity — three things it consists in
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: David AakerTwitter:@DavidAaker
davidaaker.com
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Rory Sutherland, Vice Chair at Ogilvy UK and author of the book Alchemy, the Surprising power of ideas that don’t make sense discusses brand, advertising, decision science and more.
In this episode, Rory points out why ambiguity in terms like brand and IP are problematic. The word brand is used to mean anything people want. It's even been used to defend advertising, that doesn't work, the episodes touched on many interesting points including:
- The misunderstanding of the value of brands
- The reasons why brands might change their name and logo
- Situational examples when brand names can't be protected
- Chesterton's Fence and how it relates to Tropicana's redesign
- The value in simple fame that defies logic explained by behavioural science
- The importance of understanding what the law means by IP in terms of branding
- How plagiarism is policed through professional shaming in the advertising industry
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: Rory SutherlandTwitter: @rorysutherlandBook: Transport for Humans
www.ogilvy.com
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In this episode of the BrandTuned Podcast Shireen interviews Susan Payton who helps business owners tell three stories - their personal story, their business story and their customer story.
- How a career writing and researching in TV and radio led to Susan's business which revolves around how businesses should use stories
- Susan has trained in Nashville with Donald Miller - the author of Story Brand and is a certified story brand guide
- Why your customer’s story is the most important story of all, the one to focus on
- Showcasing what your customer needs will show you care about their problems
- A good example of business storytelling in action is TOMS shoes who donate a pair of shoes for every pair they sell.
- Susan can be found at thebusinessofstories.com
LinkedIn:Susan PaytonView the podcast transcript here
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John Pryor is a management consultant and founder of Exalt IP and intellectual property firm.
In this episode, John shares his insights on trade secrets, including why it is so important to distinguish trade secrets from general know how in an organisation. Classifying an important recipe as a trade secrets gives you more powerful rights in the event of any breach of them.
He walks us through trade secrets policies and the importance of educating employees about intellectual property and trade secrets. This episode covers:
- Guiltless Gourmet's buy out talks with Frito Lay - an example of what not to do with your trade secrets
- Steps an organization needs to take internally to protect trade secrets
- How to classify trade secrets possibly using red, amber and green classification
- Threats to leakage and theft of trade secrets
- Examples of brands protecting their competitive advantage through trade secrets
- Why reputation is the single most important issue for brands to focus on
LinkedIn: John PryorInstagram:@the_ip_foundryFacebook:@TheIPFoundry
Website & blog: www.exaltip.com/blogView the podcast transcript here
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Christine Mackay is the founder of Salamandra.uk an animation agency, she helps her clients to communicate complex messages using animation.
In this episode, Christine shares that even if you just have a word mark, you could animate your logo, and make it come to life. And in that coming to life, you could actually convey some of what it is that you do. Animation is very malleable, and there are many ways to make use of it in branding or to explain aspects of the business. Movement attracts attention.
This episode covers:
- How Christine chose salamandra as a name from which 3-D Sal emerged.
- That salamanders mean 'cute, funny and smart' to Christine .
- The power of animation in making a brand more memorable
- How tone of voice was an important differentiator for her business.
- Companies often turn to animation to communicate complex messages.
- The difference between a video and animation.
- The single most important thing a company needs to focus on to build its brand.
LinkedIn: Christine Mackay
Twitter: @SalamandraUKInstagram: @salamandra.ukBook: Destination Animation
Website: www.salamandra.ukView the podcast transcript here
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Lawyers and many other professionals are increasingly challenged to identify their distinctive skills and talents, and the capabilities they possess that cannot be readily replaced by technology or alternative ways of working and access to cheaper options.
Richard and Daniel Susskind predict that professionals will be increasingly displaced in an internet society by AI and other technologies.
In an earlier book, The End of Lawyers, Richard Susskind had predicted that a new breed of hybrid lawyers will emerge, who are increasingly multi-disciplinary in order to succeed. Hybrid lawyers are quite different to the lawyers of today who already claim they are deeply steeped in neighbouring disciplines, as project managers, strategy, management consultants and more but who often lack the depth of expertise in those neighbouring disciplines.
This episode covers:
- How internet society will bring fundamental change in the way 'practical expertise' of specialists is made available
- What professionals need to do to move up the food chain to become trusted advisers
- Parallels to the legal industry for other professions.
- The essentials to be "superbly schooled and genuinely expert” in multiple disciplines.
- A call for lawyers and others to consider the prototype Brand Tuned Accreditation
View the podcast transcript here
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In this episode, I share my journey starting in business, how the business developed, grew, transitioned to virtual working and then reversed course to become what is now Azrights International Ltd.
With Bill Gates' quote in mind, that most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in 10, and using Paul Jarvis' book, A Company of One for inspiration, I'm thinking through my 10 year plan for the Azrights business and the Brand Tuned podcast.
This episode covers:
- The business journey of Azrigths
- The steep learning curve involved in learning how to design brands.
- When you create a brand and choose identifiers you create intellectual property
- How IP laws determine whether identifiers will be distinctive enough to own and cost effective enough to protect
- The difference between distinctiveness and differentiation
- How use of colour can create distinctiveness.
- Why a brand protection strategy needs to be an inherent aspect of brand strategy.
View the podcast transcript here
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This episode discusses the book Creating Passion Brands – how to build emotional brand connection with customers by Helen Edwards.
Essentially, it's key not to mistake being consumer focused with being consumer led. Some brands are asking for consumer approval for their every action even to the extent of asking consumers what their brand essence should be.
Being consumer-led in a brand’s strategic approach inevitably blurs the brand’s clearly defined brand image and makes it average. Listen in to find out more about
- How brand belief needs to infuse everything a brand does
- What to foster to build a strong brand
- What needs to remain true over time, and what can change as a brand develops.
- The importance of leading rather than following
- Why the values need to drive the brand's point of view, and conviction.
View the podcast transcript here
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Joe Glover is the founder of Marketing Meetup a place where people come together to learn about marketing and connect in a meaningful way. It’s not what he’s done, but how he’s done it that has led to the success of the Marketing Meetup.
There are plenty of places where marketers can learn, there are plenty of places where marketers can meet each other, but what Joe realised was that there was a need for a safe place where marketers could come together because they love marketing, they’re curious to learn more, and want to connect with open minded marketers in a way which feels kind, lovely, safe, and inclusive. It’s a counterblast to the corporate approach that feels like you’re being judged by your job title and the size of your budgets.
In this episode, Joe shares his experience in community building. The community grew quite organically as people resonated with how they chose to do things. There was never a big ambition behind it. The foundation was about humanity, coming together and listening. That’s the group that Joe wanted to see exist and attend. Then over time they began to suggest how people should engage with one another - to say hello, listen and be positively lovely.
This episode covers:
- How Marketing Meetup came into existence.
- Insights into building a community.
- How to reach out and better understand your audience.
- Forums you use as you build the community — Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack and Discord groups.
- Hubspot and Salesforce and other examples of successful strong community-based brands
LinkedIn:Joe Glover
Twitter: @josepheglover
Website: themarketingmeetup.com View the podcast transcript here
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Lucy McCarraher is an author, publisher, mentor and speaker. She has written 13 books and is co-founder of Rethink Press, which helps entrepreneurs to raise their authority, increase their client base and visibility through writing and publishing books.
In this episode, Lucy shares her experience in the recent rebrand of Rethink Press. We also discuss the importance of books, how to approach writing one given that a book is an iconic product. You don't want to undervalue or devalue the experience for readers by writing content that's too promotional. This episode covers:
- Their process of rebranding Rethink Press
- How the only formal branding action Rethink had taken before the rebrand was to secure the rights in their name.
- What to bear in mind when writing a book — value is the name of the game
- Key steps for a business to take to ensure it stays on brand as it develops and grows
- Lucy's insights from her recent rebranding experience on how to differentiate from competitors.
LinkedIn:Lucy McCarraher
Twitter: @LucyMcCarraher Instagram: @lucymccarraherBook: A Book of One’s Own
Website: www.lucymccarraher.com and rethinkpress.com View the podcast transcript here
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Karen is the leading expert in applied colour and design psychology helping businesses and design professionals to use colour and design to improve well-being, support mental health and create positive change in the world.
She is the author of the best selling book The Little Book of Colour - How to Use the Psychology of Colour to Transform Your Life. It's a revolutionary guide to boosting your wellbeing, putting you firmly in the driver's seat and on the road to changing the colours in your world to boost your mood, increase your motivation and change how you feel in an instant.
In this episode, Karen discusses colour psychology, how colour influences how we think, how we feel, and how we behave. She gives her perspective on how colour should be used in branding, and that it should align with the brand personality, and values to influence buyers. This episode covers:
- Association of brand values with colour
- Case examples on a brand that's misaligned with the colour
- How colour can be associated with a demographic or an age group
- How to create a brand from within and out
- Colour as emotion — how it makes people stop and think why they are in business
- Finding the right colour for a brand — a colour that best represents a brand & the best reflectional representation of that brand
- Karen’s point of view about McDonald's green brand colour
LinkedIn:Karen Haller
Twitter: @KarenHaller Instagram: @karen_haller_colour
Website: karenhaller.comandthelittlebookofcolour.com
Free ebook: The 10 Myths that Limit You using Colour EffectivelyView the podcast transcript here
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Lucy Werner, author of the books Hype Yourself and Brand Yourself, and founder of The Wern, a PR & design consultancy for startups has over 17-years of PR experience. She is focused on teaching early stage businesses how to do their own publicity without spending a fortune.
In this episode, Lucy shares valuable tips on how to develop a strategy for creating hype in line with your brand strategy to promote what you are doing so you make maximum impact. She also shares steps towards building a brand strategy based around your values. We discuss:
- Strategies for creating hype for your business
- Insights and ideas on how to pitch a story to publications you want to collaborate with
- How she helps clients create their personal brand — the process & strategy
- The importance of values, which shape everything as you build your brand
- Collaborating with like-minded business people to increase your impact
- The value of email marketing in business
LinkedIn:Lucy Werner
Twitter: @LucyWernerPRInstagram: @lucywernerpr
Website: www.thewern.comView the podcast transcript here
Valuable Resources:
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Nick Lehrain, designer and creative director of Oliver Grace creative studio is focused on digital products.
In this episode, Nick shares his views on brand and growth strategies, distinctive brand assets, the trend towards simplification of the unique identifying characteristics used for consumers to notice, recognize and recall a brand.
- What is Blanding
- Creating a distinctive brand — differentiation and distinctiveness to stand out
- His approach to designing the visual identity for a brand
- Examples of timeless logos from Logo Modernism book
- The brand codes you need to use consistently so you are recognizable
- The single most important issue to focus on and not lose sight of to build the brand
LinkedIn:Nick LehrainInstagram: @nicklehrain&@olivergrace.studio
Website:www.olivergrace.com.auArticle by Nick: How to create a digital-first lean brandSuggested book: Logo ModernismView the podcast transcript here
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Paige returns to the podcast to discuss how smaller businesses and start-ups can do research to see their business from the point of view of the customer, before segmenting the market.
Before founding Mavens and Moguls, a network of seasoned marketing professionals, she worked in organisations like Procter & Gamble, and Coca Cola, as well as for early stage businesses like Zipcar, Inc.com and Launch Media. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and Harvard featured her business as a case to teach MBA students how to start a successful business.
In this episode, Paige shares some strategies for better understanding the customer you want to serve, in terms of what motivates them to buy. We cover:
- Some online methods to understand the market
- Considering who might be your ideal client
- Ways to understand what the market wants
- Listening tour as a way of touching base with your audience
- How Paige helps her clients
- How to approach people so they don't fear being sold to when doing market research
- Different ways to segment your market — demographic data, psychographic data, behavioural data, geographic data and life stages
LinkedIn:Paige Arnof-Fennmavensandmoguls.comView the podcast transcript here Valuable Resources:
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Stephen Houraghan, founder of the Brand Master Academy, is a brand strategist who helps designers and brand builders to package up their creative thinking and specialise as brand strategists. He teaches graphic designers abd copywriters, who are executing within the brand on the tactical side, on how to focus more on the strategic side.
In this episode, Stephen discusses that everything starts with the audience, The brand exists in the mind of the audience, without which it has no reason to exist.
This episode covers:
- How the brand starts from within and then looks outwards.
- How to revisit a brand strategy especially for small businesses
- The strategic process of developing a brand identity
- How the branding industry has changed
- Importance of collaboration between the brand strategist and client in creating a brand
- Brand equity is the value of the brand
- The importance of audience in creating a brand
LinkedIn:Stephen Houraghan
Facebook: Stephen HouraghanInstagram: @brandmasteracademyYouTube: Brand Master Academy
Website:www. brandmasteracademy.comPro Strategy BlueprintView the podcast transcript here
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This is part two of episode #117 which was on niching.
It outlines what's involved to segment the market, and why it is essential to do before targeting.
Segmentation is challenging to do for small businesses that lack the time and resources of large organisations. Perhaps this explains why the topic isn’t much discussed in the small business sector despite being a cornerstone to marketing. This episode covers:
- How to segment the market by reference to customers' different wants and needs
- How I am researching and segmenting the branding industry
- Using qualitative research to decide the criteria by which to segment the market
- Following up qualitative research with desk research
- Interviewing potential target customers before finalising choice of target market
View the podcast transcript here
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This episode from the archives features Mark Ritson discussing brand strategy. Mark answers some of the burning questions I had around understanding the market and differentiation and positioning.
In this episode we covered:
- Rebranding Transferwise
- Brand purpose
- Market research and how it differs from brand strategy.
- Marketing strategy
- The intersection between business and brand strategy
- Relative differentiation
LinkedIn: Mark RitsonTwitter:@markritsonwww.marketingritson.comMini MBA in Brand Management by Mark Ritson View the podcast transcript here
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In this episode from the archives, Chandresh Pala discusses different business models and how to consider which one is right for you. The episode touches on:
- Choosing the right name
- How to create products and sell them
- What is a business model canvas?
- Insights on different business models
- What are the first stages of a business — exploration and learning
- A brand is more than a logo — it's your interaction, the team's interaction with the client, and how the customer uses and experiences the products.
- Why do people choose brands based on values, identity and purpose?
- What should be the mindset of someone launching a new business or product?
LinkedIn: Chandresh Pala
www.coheziadigital.comView the podcast transcript here Valuable Resources:
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In this episode, I talk about a foundational topic that isn’t well understood, niching. The accent in this episode is on expertise and how to ensure your core skills are in line with your interests and market opportunities.
Many entrepreneur courses advise people to niche and not to try to sell to everyone. However, there is often a lack of detail on how to go about choosing a niche. The upshot is that many entrepreneurs get it wrong. They either pick a niche at random, or one that’s too narrow, or they disregard the advice altogether, because it’s too difficult to implement.
The episode on niching touches on:
- The key success in niching — how to stand out and set yourself apart from others
- Useful insights on building his brand, and niching by Ronnie Fox, a successful lawyer.
- How experts with core skills can increase their earning potential and relevance
- Problems in the small business market
- How to distinguish yourself from competitors when you're a designer, marketer or brand strategist
- The fundamental disciplines to understand when creating a brand identity
View the podcast transcript here
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This interview of Shireen by Somi Arian was initially recorded for the Somi Arian podcast.
In this episode, we talk about the do’s and don’t of branding and trade marks. There are a host of useful tips on branding, trademark protection and how to develop brand equity.
This episode covers:
- Valuable tips on branding and trademark protection
- Brand equity and how trademarks contain the value of a brand.
- How to choose a name
- Domain names and email deliverability.
- Different types of name.
- Brand identifiers logo, symbol, and colours
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Somi ArianTwitter: @SomiArianInstagram: @somiarianWebsite:www.fempeak.aismartcookiemedia.com
Valuable Resources:
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James Church is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Robot Mascot, the UK leading pitch agency and the author of the bestselling book, Investable Entrepreneur.
In this episode, James shares how investors care primarily about the defensability of the product rather than the brand. The brand is going to contain the value of the business when it comes to the exit but it's regarded as something that can be changed through a rebrand if needs be. The patent like protection that names can offer is not something investors are alive to.
Robot Mascot started out as a generic branding agency. It was thanks to niching down and attracting an experienced investor that the business took off.
In brief this episode covers:
- The possibilities, such as licensing that a brand offers.
- Rebranding and the loss it can entail for a business.
- How the pitch agency focuses on creating critical funraising assets.
- Series A, seed funding and what investors are looking for
- The importance of understanding the problems of your audience, and what they want and need
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: James Church
Twitter: @robotmascot
IG: @robotmascot
Website: www.robotmascot.co.ukBook: Investable Entrepreneur
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Rory Sutherland, Vice Chair at Ogilvy UK and author of the book Alchemy, the Surprising power of ideas that don’t make sense discusses brand, advertising, decision science and more.
In this episode, Rory points out why ambiguity in terms like brand and IP are problematic. The word brand is used to mean anything people want. It's even been used to defend advertising, that doesn't work, The episodes touched on many interesting points including:
- The misunderstanding of the value of brands
- The reasons why brands might change their name and logo
- Situational examples when brand names can't be protected
- Chesterton's Fence and how it relates to Tropicana's redesign
- The value in simple fame that defies logic explained by behavioural science
- The importance of understanding what the law means by IP in terms of branding
- How plagiarism is policed through professional shaming in the advertising industry
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: Rory SutherlandTwitter: @rorysutherlandBook: Transport for Humans
www.ogilvy.com
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Paige Arnof-Fenn is the founder and CEO of Mavens and Moguls, which is a marketing or branding firm located in the USA. She graduated from Stanford University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Her experience spans corporate branding at Proctor & Gamble, start up branding for various companies that were subsequently sold, and entrepreneurial branding working for clients of Mavens and Moguls. These range from early-stage, startup, pre-revenue, to venture-backed, and all the way to fortune 500 companies. One of her clients that we discuss was Virgin.
In this episode, we cover:
- The different branding needs clients tend to have based on their size
- How to do market research and segmentation for small pre-revenue companies
- Effectiveness comes from not having too many messages in your storytelling
- Naming, identity creation, and tying it all together in a brand blueprint
- How working at Proctor & Gamble and Coca Cola have multidisciplinary teams that include lawyers
- The most important area to focus on for a brand to succeed
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Paige Arnof-Fennmavensandmoguls.com
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In this episode, I talk about the challenges that colour involves as a brand identifier.
The bar to registration of colour as a trademark is high so that confusion can arise between competitors. If you have legal rights over a brand identifier you can maintain its uniqueness for your brand and reduce the scope for customer confusion.
The episode on colour as a brand Identifier touches on:
- What to consider when it comes to trademarks and colour.
- How to be distinctive using colour as a brand identifier.
- The challenge of preserving uniqueness in the absence of legal rights
- How litigation is sometimes an option to deter competitors from using your colour
- Brands that have achieved colour trademark registrations
View the podcast transcript here
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Derrick Daye is the man behind the Brand Strategy Insider Blog, he serves as the Managing Partner of the Blake Project. He has extensive and varied experience working in advertising agencies such as Satchi & Satchi.
In this episode, Derrick and I discuss the choice of identifiers such as colours and symbols and the extent to which IP needs to be taken into account when building brand assets. We also discuss the concept of distinctiveness.
In brief this episode covers:
- The extent to which distinctiveness matters
- How larger agencies collaborate with IP lawyers
- What is Blanding?
- Oversimplification - does it overlook the imperative to be different?
- The importance of knowing what you don't know as a branding professional
- Ownership underpins IP licensing. and should also underpin identity creation
- The imperative for design companies to explain IP's role to their clients
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: Derrick DayeTwitter: @DerrickDayeBlog: brandingstrategyinsider.comtheblakeproject.com Valuable Resources:
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David Aaker hailed the “Father of Modern Branding,” and Vice-Chair at Prophet is a recognized authority on branding, He has developed several concepts including the Aaker brand vision model.
In this episode, we discuss all things brand related, in particular names. We covered:
- Why intellectual property is not included in the training of brand managers
- The importance of being clear on the definition of IP
- The different perspective that IP brings to naming
- Naming and whether descriptive names are a good choice
- The role of intellectual property in building barriers to entry against competitors
- Brand equity — three things it consists in
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: David AakerTwitter:@DavidAaker
davidaaker.com
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In this episode, I talk about what I mean by brands. To use trademarks strategically, you need to first understand the role they play in branding to then know why and how to be strategic with them.
A brand is a name that people associate with a set of perceptions. It distinguishes one product or service from another. Brands are important to us because they provide us with the familiarity we crave as humans.
In brief the episode covers:
- Visual Identity
- Why brand can easily be a business's most valuable asset?
- Brand Identifiers are non-name signifiers that build mental association to your brand
- Trademarks are the most important and potentially valuable IP asset to own
- A branding lawyer can help you understand the brand protection aspect of a name
- Registering a trademark to protect your distinctiveness
- How to avoid trademark legal disputes and litigation
View the podcast transcript here
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Rob Meyerson is the principal and founder of Heirloom, an independent brand strategy and identity firm. His specialities include brand strategy and positioning, naming and messaging, brand architecture, qualitative research, and organizational change.
In this episode, we discussed why IP is not included in branding projects and covered:
- The lack of job training for brand consultants and the culture of learning by doing that prevails
- Checking company and product names
- Building distinctive brand assets, versus the simplicity in design approach that prevails
- What to consider when naming — what makes some names stronger than other names
- Whether the legal dimension is a limiting factor that constrains the creative process
- Positioning — does that impact your name choice?
- IP’s role in managing competition
- The negative reputation of lawyers
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: Rob Meyerson
Twitter: @RobMeyerson
Instagram: @howbrandsarebuiltBook: Brand Naming
robmeyerson.comhowbrandsarebuilt.comwww.heirloomagency.com
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In this episode, Alison Jones, director of Practical Inspiration Publishing, the publisher of Brand Tuned, interviews Shireen Smith. As host of the successful podcast, The Extraordinary Business Book Club Alison is an experienced interviewer and draws out some interesting information.
Alison asks questions about the process of writing Brand Tuned, what I found out along the way and the reason I chose to write the book. I also share my hopes and what I want to achieve as I release the book. This episode covers:
- My insights on providing holistic advice around branding — understanding the market needs
- What I want to achieve for Brand Tuned as I release it to the world
- The number of brand identifiers you should have to stand out
- IP is about managing competition
- The important issue with the brand name and considering the brand protection aspects
- How proper branding can impact everything that you do in your business
- The extent to which it's appropriate to change a brand's identifiers
- The journey of writing Brand Tuned: Why I chose to write the book
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: Alison Jones Twitter: @bookstothesky Instagram: @pip_talking alisonjones.com
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Stephen Willard is a graphic designer and former art director who moved into employee benefits communications and now runs his own company EMBLAZE a workplace engagement company that specialises in delivering high energy experiences to employees.
In this episode, we discuss how IP tends to be regarded as a luxury, rather than as something essential, and how Stephen has picked up his knowledge of the subject during his career. We cover:
- Brand identifiers and the creative process
- The rationale of changing brand identifiers
- What the brand is — how a brand can be recognized
- Stephen's experience in designing a logo — the elements to take into account
- Why use of symbols is rare when it's an effective way of being remembered
- The extent to which law is a constraint on creativity
- Designing for a regulated industry
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Stephen-willardTwitter:sjwbrandingInstagram: @stephen.j.willardwww.emblaze.today stephen@emblaze.today
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Stef Hamerlinck is a brand strategist and designer living in Belgium, and host of the podcast, Let's Talk Branding. He runs his own branding studio.
In this episode, we discuss what a brand is and how distinctiveness is fundamentally about making a brand stand out. Stef also shares his views on how many brand codes a business should have and gives examples for smaller and big brands to look at. We discuss:
- Brand strategy
- What brand and branding mean to Stef
- Differentiation and distinctiveness
- How the context in which a brand is used impacts the brand codes to create
- The 'vibe' of brands that their visual language evokes
- The reason for rebranding or choosing a new name
- Protecting your distinctive brand assets through intellectual property
- How Stef decides whether to create a symbol in his branding work
- Brands Stef admires: Kellogs and Ritchie Lemonade
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Stef HamerlinckTwitter: @stefhamerlinck Instagram: @letstalkbranding Website:www.stefhamerlinck.comOther links:
Course on brand strategy research: brandstrategyresearch.comBlog: letstalkbranding.com Valuable Resources:
Register to attend the Brand Tuned book launch on 28 September 2021
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Somi Arian is a tech philosopher, award-winning filmmaker, author, entrepreneur, and a LinkedIn top voice in the UK. She has a background in philosophy of science and technology. She describes her role in society as a transition architect, as humans merge with technology, and society enters a new phase of human evolution.
In this episode, we talk about Somi’s background growing up in Iran, moving to the UK, her filmmaking career and business, and her latest initiative to raise women's socioeconomic status through the Fempeak platform.
We discuss:
- Somi's entrepreneurship journey
- The fast growth of the Fempeak platform
- Somi's achievement in being a top voice on LinkedIn in the UK 3 years running.
- The importance of choosing the right social media platform and doubling down on it.
- Creating quality content by understanding your audience
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Somi ArianTwitter: @SomiArianInstagram: @somiarianWebsite:www.fempeak.aismartcookiemedia.com Book Somi recommended: Let it Go - Dame Stephanie Shirley
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Ian Paget, also known as Logo Geek, is a UK based graphic designer located in Manchester, who specialises in logo and brand identity design. He is the founder of Logo Geek, a professional logo design service, design blog, podcast and community.
In this episode, I asked Ian about his design process and how he goes about creating logos and other visual assets. He shares his insights on how to ensure a logo can represent a brand.
Among other things the episode covers:
- How to approach the design of symbols
- Meeting clients expectations around what visual creations can do for them.
- Ian’s approach in a naming project for a client.
- The common reasons why clients decide to improve their logos, and visual identity
- How a visual such as a logo represents what someone wants to be about
- Protecting assets such as logos through securing intellectual property
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Ian PagetTwitter: @ianpagetWebsite: logogeek.uk
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Thomas Kolster is the founder of the Goodvertising Agency, one of the pioneers in shaping brands.
In this episode, we discuss his book The Hero Trap, and how companies should be clear about their role when carving a niche in the marketplace and understanding how they can be better than anybody else. He shares his insights on mass marketing, how it affects today’s generation of young people and the key issues brands need to do to claim a role in people’s lives.
In brief this episode covers:
- What are transformative brands?
- What a brand is today and what it is going forward
- The connection of social purpose with brands
- The meaningful role of brands in people’s lives
- Communicating a brand's purpose
- The approach to differentiating your business and communicating who you are
- Understanding how brands can turn people into the heroes of their own lives
- Moving a brand from a very transactional relationship to a more transformational relationship
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn:Thomas KolsterTwitter: @thomaskolsterWebsite:thomaskolster.comBooks:Goodvertising: Creative Advertising That CaresandThe Hero TrapMentioned brands on this episode: Kind Snacksand District Vision, Red Bull and **Who Gives a Crap.
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In this episode, Shireen interviews a series of business owners to produce a Vox Pop about what they did when they first started out to create their brands. How did they deal with the IP side of things?
In brief this episode covers:
- Brand Naming
- Brand journey
- What does brand mean?
- Insights on choosing the right help when turning ideas into a brand
- Protecting the brand name through intellectual property
- How to attract the right clients and decide the type of clients to target
- Accessing the right help in turning ideas into a business and brand
- How does intellectual property interplay with the branding work they’re doing for their clients
Vox pop guests:
- David Horne
- The owner of Add Then Multiply a consulting business that advises entrepreneurs on how to scale up using their face methodology
- Paul Griffiths
- An energetic, forward-thinking business leader who is focused on helping people develop and achieve their potential. The owner of Aspire Active Education Group Ltd.
- Gareth Bain
- Founder of Got Legs Digitala growth marketing agency helping small & medium-sized businesses in the UK to acquire engaged customers and grow.
- Pam Tironi
- The managing director and CEO of The Pizza Room and The Coffee Room.
- Gerri McMahon
- The founder of The Academy of Light & Soul Discovery Coaching, Gerri is a world class coach who has worked with thousands of people worldwide.
- Jan Mikulin
- The founder of INSIDEout, a training and development company, focussed on fostering collaborative cultures in the creative and professional services industries.
View the podcast transcript here
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We’re celebrating a new milestone as we reach our 100th episode. Now that we’re at the 100th episode rather than looking back on past episodes as is often done on podcasts, we instead want to look forward to the future. That’s why we are releasing several podcasts today:
- A vox pop episode about intellectual property
- An episode with Somi Arian of Fempeak whose purpose is to raise the socio-economic status of women.
- Thomas Kostler on creating a meaningful brand
- Ian Paget of the logogeek podcast on a conversation around logo design process
This episode covers:
- The story behind the Brand Tuned podcast
- Insights on the Oatly v Glebe Farm Foods case
- Why considering the IP dimension is important when creating a brand
- How to plug the gap in the IP training of marketers and designers
View the podcast transcript here
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Register to attend the Brand Tuned book launch on 28 September 2021
Brand Tuned Acceleratorwww.brandtuned.com
Joe Gregory is the co-founder of Rethink Press, a partner publishing company that helps business authors to write and publish their books. He has a background in advertising as a graphic designer and sales copywriter.
In this episode, we discuss the many ways intellectual property is relevant for entrepreneurs, designers and marketers. We also talk about how IP should be a fundamental aspect of any designer or marketer's training so they know what they don't know and can point their clients in the right direction to secure rights in their property assets.
In brief this episode covers:
- The definition of property rights
- What is spin selling methodology?
- The process of choosing a name for a book
- The problems with intellectual property as being inherently complex
- The problems of entrepreneurs when it comes to intellectual property
- Copyright as being universally relevant for every business especially for publishing
- How IP should be a fundamental aspect of any designer or marketer in training
- The most important thing that business owners need to focus on — the name
View the podcast transcript here
LinkedIn: Joe Gregory
Facebook: Joe Gregory
Website: rethinkpress.combook-builder.com
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In this episode, I talk about distinctiveness and differentiation, which is the subject of some debate in the branding industry. I also cover the important connection between brand value and IP.
The role of identifiers is to uniquely identify your brand. This is the essential purpose of branding and distinctiveness is all about being recognized as the source or origin of your products and services. The way to create a distinctive brand that stands out in an enduring way is to focus on distinctiveness.
In brief the episode covers:
- Distinctiveness v Differentiation
- How to make your brand stand out in an enduring way
- Brand codes
- Brand identifiers
- Choosing identifiers with legal protection
- What are the different types of brand identifiers apart from the brand name?
- The connection between brand value and IP
- A basic understanding of what is intellectual property
- Most valuable brand identifiers to protect
- Trademarks — how the law protects names, slogans, symbols, taglines, sounds, and other brand elements
- Illustration on how IP impacts brand value
- The fundamental role of intellectual property in branding
Valuable Resources:
Register to attend the Brand Tuned book launch on 28 September 2021
Brand Tuned Accelerator www.brandtuned.com
Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster are the founders of Root + River an intrinsic strategic branding practice, who share their perspective on branding, and how the brand starts from within the founder. That is the starting point for communicating the brand story.
They discuss their approach to understanding customers and the ideal audience. In the episode we cover:
- Building customer relationship
- Understanding your customers — how to know your ideal audience
- How to communicate your brand story
- A brand’s association in people’s minds
- Measuring brand awareness — is it important?
- The story behind their brand Root + River
LinkedIn -Emily Soccorsy& Justin FosterTwitter -@emilyatlarge&@fosterthinkingInstagram -@rootandriver&@fosterthinkingBook - Rooting Up: Essays on Modern Branding
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Margie Agin is the founder of Centerboard Marketing and author of the book Brand Breakthrough. In this episode, she shares her insights on developing the messaging and positioning for a company, how she does market research and more. We also discuss why brand projects can fail.
Among other things we discuss the origin story of a company - how that story can be powerful in explaining why the brand was created. It humanises a company. In this episode we cover:
- Mergers and the process of merging two different businesses into one brand
- Market research
- Why some brand projects fail
- Standing out from competitors
- Messaging and positioning — how to make your positioning stick
- What can you learn from an origin story a company
LinkedIn -Margie AginTwitter -@mpaginBook - Brand Breakthroughcenterboard-marketing.com
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Chet Morjaria, founder of Realign Global, and author of the excellent book Work Worth Doing shares his unique insights about values, which are essential to consider whether as an employee or business owner.
This episode is a deep dive on values including how our values are formed through our experiences. It covers:
- Defining values
- Business values
- How to articulate your values
- Principles of narrowing down values
- Building a business with values and meaning
- How Chet helps his clients to work out their values
- The lessons Chet learned during his time in business
- The type of values someone's sense of boundaries reveals.
LinkedIn - Chet MorjariaInstagram -@chetmorjariaTo get a signed copy of his book:abookworthreading.club/get-it
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Kevin Urrutia, a serial entrepreneur and the owner of Voy Media, an NYC based digital marketing agency shares his approach for setting up a new business based on his experience of setting up several businesses. He also covers how he finds the right team members to work for him and the importance of training for marketers.
This episode includes essential insights on how to use your vision as a founder to inspire your team. It covers:
- The approach to take to competitors in your niche
- How to create a brand
- How to build your brand to become known
- Entrepreneurial lessons
- Finding the right team member for your organization
- The importance of inspiring your team
- How a background in computer science helps in marketing.
- Deciding your positioning.
LinkedIn - Kevin Urrutia
Twitter - @danest
voymedia.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
John Vuong, owner of Local SEO Search Inc shares his insights on local search, and how SEO helps businesses to grow. He outlines the pillars in creating a well-oiled SEO strategy for a website to start ranking for the service offerings it wants to dominate in.
John also shares his insights on people’s buying behaviour to help better position your SEO efforts when people are ready to convert, the difference between paid ads and SEO and the right search engine platforms to invest in. In this episode we cover:
- Local SEO
- The power SEO for a business
- Knowing your ideal customer
- Starting points for businesses
- John's SEO service.
- Touchpoints when purchasing a product or service
- The number of keywords you can target for your website
- Google or Bing — What search engine to invest in to build your ranking
LinkedIn - John Vuong Twitter - @JohnVuongCANwww.localseosearch.caAccess the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Chris Kneeland is the CEO of the Cult Collective. He helps brand leaders embrace proven marketing principles that he discovered about becoming cult brands. He shares examples of successful cult brands and why they achieved cult status, and touches on some more recent and controversial points of cult brands.
In this episode we look at:
- What is a cult brand?
- Steps in creating a cult brand
- Controversial points of a cult brand
- Can any type of business become a cult brand?
- How does being cult-like as a brand help a business succeed
- Difference between cult brands and purpose-driven brands
- How to turn your brand into a cult brand
- Is your business fit to aspire to be a cult brand
- Points about being a good product
- Setting up a business with a brand purpose — How to get customers to care about your brand
LinkedIn - Chris KneelandFIX: The Bookwww.cultideas.comwww.cultgathering.comAccess the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, I focus on naming hierarchy. Should you adopt a branded house approach or go with a house of brands?
This episode is essential if you want to have a deeper understanding before choosing names for your business so you understand the risks and opportunities inherent in the different options.
I also discuss when is it appropriate to use a new brand name and the right brand architecture if you want to target different audiences when you're creating a new product subcategory or a different proposition.
In brief the episode covers:
- What is naming hierarchy?
- Understanding endorsed & sub brands
- Your brand name — the primary way buyers will remember you
- Essential issues to consider when naming your brand
- When is it appropriate to use a new brand name?
- Difference between branded house and house of brands with different examples
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Brad VanAuken of BrandForward, Inc. shares insights on how to rebrand, thinking through the mission, vision, values and positioning choosing the brand identity - namely the brand name, logo, colours and the like.
This episode covers rebranding as Brad shares his process for transforming an organization, its products or services into a strong brand, imbuing it with an identity that gives the business human qualities. In this episode we cover:
- Growing the brand
- Brand identity and brand positioning
- Branding — uniqueness or differentiation
- Understanding the clarity of a brand’s mission
- How designers can inject emotions into a brand
- Importance of color in branding
- Icons — whether to check them before they're created
- Components of brand identity — non-visual
- How to communicate or brief designers when it comes to branding
- The single most important issue to focus on for a business to succeed
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Rand Fishkin, co-founder and CEO of SparkToro has dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing.
This episode is essential for anyone wanting to create a successful business online as Rand shares insights on what constitutes a good name for an online business and how SEO and other methods help to successfully market your business online.
We discuss differentiation in a crowded space and using your creativity to find new ways to do the same thing or do things better and identify gaps. We cover:
- Keyword-rich names
- In-depth insights on SEO
- Helpful SEO keyword research tools
- Rand’s business journey — how he started
- What SparkToro does and how it can help you
- What constitutes a good name for an online business
- How to brand and differentiate your online business
- Rand’s interest in blogging and social media
- Social media — is it worthwhile for small businesses to spend time on?
LinkedIn - Rand FishkinTwitter - @randfishsparktoro.com
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Derrick Daye, of the Brand Strategy Insider shares among other insights, how founders and startups should create their brand so they end up with more than a logo.
He shares what is the emotional connection for brands, the steps you need to take when you want to inject emotional connection into a brand, a brand’s social purpose and why brand essence is the heart and soul of your brand.
This episode is essential for anyone wanting to develop their brand as Derrick share’s valuable insights around this topic on building a brand from the inside out.
Derrick shares how brands are stepping up to fill the role of fixing the world where your purpose has become a conversation about your future and whether or not your business is going to earn a place in that future. In this episode we cover:
- Business strategy & brand strategy
- The problem of a small business when it comes to branding
- Creative without strategy is art
- Tips for how to understand customers needs
- Understanding the need for human-centric brands
- Injecting emotion into a brand
- Building your brand with values
- Does your brand need a social purpose?
- Brand essence — the heart and soul of your brand
- Getting the maximum value when approaching a strategist
- Marketing defined by Jack Trout
- The key questions to ask to successfully position your brand
LinkedIn - Derrick DayeTwitter - @DerrickDayewww.theblakeproject.comwww.brandingstrategyinsider.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, I talk about differentiation, why and how I differentiate myself from others providing similar skills, and how you can copy my approach to develop a unique angle.
I stand out because I have developed expertise that is more unique by stepping outside the confines of my discipline. By combining a narrow expertise in intellectual property law, with marketing and branding. I’ve set myself apart from other IP lawyers, and branding experts, and offer a unique perspective on branding as a result.
I share insights into why formal training is worthwhile, because we need both experience and formal qualifications. The episode includes information on how to learn new skills, drawing from Elon Musk's approach to learning about rocket science and disciplines he has no formal training in.
I discuss brand management, what it is, why it is necessary, and my goal to help SMEs to better understand what to focus on when building their brand so they can grow into an enduring brand.
In brief the episode covers:
- Why I believe experience alone is not enough.
- How Elon Musk learns complex subjects.
- Why it’s a problem that there are so many unqualified people in marketing
- What brand management actually means and why it matters in practice.
- How formal training helps fast track learning.
- Why small businesses effectively act as if a brand is a logo and designs.
- The problems small businesses face when it comes to building desired associations to their brand.
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Giles Edwards the founder of Gasp, an award-winning, marketing, strategy & communications agency, discusses how to effectively carry out research and how the value of research is vital.
He shares the holy trinity of segmentations as part of the brand strategy, his perspective on branding terminologies and insights on brand distinctiveness.
This episode is essential for anyone wanting to better understand their market through research as Giles share’s valuable insights around this topic and a platform you can use to conduct research.
Giles talks about the value of building an effective strategy to help your brand and business grow. In this episode we cover:
- Understanding client needs
- Market research — breaking down segmentation
- How to conduct research with valuable insights
- The value of research to your business
- Understanding branding & brand strategy
- The holy trinity of segmentation
- Terminologies on branding
- Brand naming — distinctiveness
- Protecting your brand’s distinctive assets
ISOLATED Talks® - Creatively Supporting Mental Health
www.isolatedtalks.com
Don't Be Brave, Be Right - Giles Edwards and Ryan Wallman (a recent/popular talk that Ryan Wallman, Dr Draper, and I gave for The Marketing Meetup)
Call To Action
audioboom.com/channels/4977426gasp.agency/media/call-to-action
Gasp (inc Gasp Books & our 2 x #1 Amazon Best Sellers)
gasp.agencyDelusions of Brandeur
Copywriting is – a glimpse into the dark and inky heart of a copywriter
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Daniel Greenberg, a South African attorney and UK solicitor with over 14 years of experience in the field of domain name management and Intellectual Property discusses trademarking, keyword rich names and their relevance, and why he believes that the .com is still the king when it comes to gTLDs and choosing the right domain name.
Daniel shared the importance of getting your branding rights from the outset of your business and why choosing a distinctive name is the key to distinguishing yourself from potential competitors.
In this episode we cover:
- Domains — why generic domain names are still sought after
- Adding .com to your brand name
- Why .com is still the king in gTLDs
- Importance of setting up your branding right at the start of your business
- Choosing the right domain name
- Things you should know about domain website checkers
- Situational examples of using gTLDs for certain types of businesses and locations
Twitter - @DJ_Greenberg
LinkedIn - Daniel Greenberglexsynergy.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, JP Castlin, formerly CEO at Rouser, an international strategic consultancy firm in Stockholm, discusses the hierarchy of strategies, the ways to approach brand and business strategy and the concept that he formulated called strategy hierarchy.
He breaks down the terms on complexity, positioning, differentiation, what you need to consider when formulating your brand strategy — the questions that you should be asking and how you can properly communicate your brand strategy when branding or rebranding.
This episode is essential for anyone wanting a better understanding of business and brand strategy to apply in developing a brand.
JP talks about understanding the hierarchies of strategies that are relevant to a business and how you can take this into account. In this episode we cover:
- The two kinds of approach to a business strategy
- What is strategy hierarchy?
- The meaning of complexity within the three systems
- How to help businesses to the next level if you are a strategist
- Positioning and what is perceptive positioning
- Separating positioning and differentiation
- Communicating brand strategy when branding or rebranding
- What do you need to consider when setting up a brand strategy.
You can find JP Castlin on the following social media link & his website.
Twitter - @JPCastlinjpcastlin.com
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Phil Barden, author of the book Decoded - the science behind why we buy, discusses brand strategy, goals, people’s buying behaviour and how best to work with designers to create visual designs to reflect your brand.
Phil bridged the gap that he identified in traditional research techniques by turning to decision science for insights into people’s buying decision. This episode is invaluable if you're looking to better understand your customers and apply your findings to developing your brand strategy.
Phil talks about goals as a way to better understand people’s behaviour and explains the science behind it. In this episode we cover:
- Characteristics of any purchase decision
- People’s buying behaviour, what are the systems that apply when people make a purchase
- Situational examples of people’s buying behaviour
- How you can properly brief designers about the goals of your brand to deliver the right output
- What are the sources of goals and it’s three primary drivers?
- Understanding goals that represent your strategy
- How to use your gut reaction to know whether a design is right for your brand
- Setting up brand strategy and how to consider goals into account
You can find Phil Barden on the following social media links & his book website.
Twitter - @philbarden
LinkedIn - Phil Bardendecoded-book.comAccess the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
This episode primarily focuses on the U element of the TUNED framework, namely the importance of understanding your market depending on the context. Bryony Thomas shares insights on how the approach to marketing changes if you have an exit in mind. Find out how you might develop an appropriate plan based on the information she shares.
Bryony explains the strategies you can implement when preparing to exit your business or if you are planning for a 5 to 10-year business exit. In this episode we cover:
- Difference between marketing for organic sales results and marketing for increasing a sales price when exiting a business
- How to prepare and tactics you can apply when you are planning an exit strategy for your business
- Duration and process of a business exit with situational examples
- Why a marketing system should be an asset of a business when planning to exit
- What is a key part of an exit strategy
- What is Watertight Marketing methodology?
- Bryony's personal definition of marketing and sales-generating marketing
Take Bryony's Watertight Marketing Test to see if your marketing underpins healthy sales flow. You can find her on the following social media links & their website.
Twitter - @bryonythomasInstagram - @bryonywatertightmkgLinkedIn - Watertight Marketingwatertightmarketing.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, John Williams discusses Product/Market Fit covering the U element of my TUNED framework, namely understanding your market.
He explains the importance of starting any new idea by getting the product market fit right. This is a phrase from the tech startup world whereby you have an idea of a thing which you think people are going to like.
Before you create it and put it out into the world you have some sales conversations, so you can listen carefully and learn to what customers want. Do they sound and look excited by the idea of your product or service or package? The insights you glean from talking to potential customers means you avoid creating it, putting it out to the world with great excitement and fanfare, only to discover people don't really care.
At the beginning go and talk to at least 10 people who you think are in your target market, and approach them with a particular statement or particular positioning around it
Ask what one thing you'd need included in this product to make it really a great choice for you? And then just ask people to reply to you personally, I've seen people who are CEOs of, of decent sized startups do this every so often. And they'll read every single response and reply to every single one.
What you want to do is ask questions about them. So you're trying to work out things like the pain they have right now, what is the frustration they have in this area you're helping with that making them look for solutions.
The more people you can get, the better I think go for an absolute minimum of 10. People are shocked how much they learn in the first contact of like five minutes with an actual customer
Unless you've got something on your website, which is an offer people want to buy, there's no point having a million people come to your website, because they'll just bounce off it and go away and never come back.
John's book website is fworkletsplay.com and his main website is theideaslab.org.
Here is a link to join his FREE Facebook group Fk Work Let's Play - create a business you love with John Williams**.
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Mark Ritson answers some of the burning questions I had around understanding the market and differentiation and positioning, specifically the U and the E elements of my TUNED framework.
I asked him about business strategy positioning and brand strategy, what he thinks of Byron Sharps views on differentiation and distinctiveness, whether it is possible to own a particular attribute and how brand strategy is dealt with in the household name brands Mark consults with. I also wanted to know Mark's views on brand purpose.
In this episode Mark and I discuss:
- Rebranding
- Brand purpose
- Market research
- Marketing strategy
- Business and brand strategy
- The business model for an idea
- Standing out with your purpose
- Mark’s views on Transferwise’s rebranding to Wise
- The difference between brand and marketing strategy
LinkedIn - Mark RitsonTwitter -@markritsonwww.marketingritson.com
Mini MBA in Brand Management by Mark Ritson
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Chandresh Pala is the founder of Cohezia Venture Studio, which specializes in creating innovative, scalable ventures based on digital technologies. He shares insights on business models, developing a business and the importance of the brand name, among other things.
In brief the episode covers:
- Choosing the right name
- Brand identity explained by Chandresh
- How to create products and sell them
- What is a business model canvas?
- The first stage of a business — exploration and learning
- A brand is more than a logo — it's your interaction, the team's interaction with the client, and how the customer uses & feel the products
- The future is about brands — people will choose brands that are aligned with their values, their identity and their purpose
- What should be the mindset of anyone starting a business or a new product?
www.coheziadigital.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, I want to cross the chasm that exists between the worlds of branding and brand protection to explain IP in the context of brand creation, having seen the problems that arise when the interplay between brand and intellectual property is misunderstood.
I share my insights on how IP is intrinsic to business, and it’s not just a legal subject to be left to lawyers and how not to assume that a designer or marketer knows all the key information about IP.
In brief the episode covers:
- Building your personal brand
- Understanding the legal aspects of naming
- Assessing risks before applying to register a trademark
- The IP mistake you should avoid in order to succeed in your business
- IP is intrinsic to business — not just a legal subject to be left to the lawyers
- Understanding the law in what you create — what the law has to say about rights and how to secure your ownership
- Trade mark — what you need to secure before building or creating a logos around your brand name
- My upcoming book that aims to give a holistic view of how to bring the worlds of brand creation and brand protection together so you can get the best outcome from branding
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Ross Kimbarovsky, the founder and CEO of crowdspring explains the frustrations when hiring designers that led him to create a platform that makes the exercise a lot easier.
Ross shares the challenges for businesses whenever they think about marketplaces. He started his career as a lawyer and he shares how his business journey led to his current business. In this episode we cover:
- The two audiences of a marketplace
- What brand Ross particularly admires
- The common pains when hiring a designer
- To what degree is intellectual property important
- Brand naming - understanding your target market
- Understanding minimum viable product and minimum sellable product
- The challenges for businesses whenever they think about marketplaces
- How he started his business Crowdspring and his branding experience building it
LinkedIn -Ross Kimbarovskywww.crowdspring.com
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, Catherine Lang Cline the president and one of the co-creators of Portfolio Creative shares what you need to consider before working with a designer, writing your company brief with your values, mission and understanding what you are trying to deliver.
This episode is essential for anyone wanting to work with designers as Catherine offers valuable tips on how to best work with a designer for developing a brand.
Catherine emphasizes the importance, at the beginning, of finding a designer that specializes or has the taste level that you have for what your end product is going to be. This avoids any disappointment. In this episode we discuss:
- What is blanding?
- Building your brand guide
- How to best work with a designer
- Catherine’s career and business background
- Ways to commit to smaller projects with designers without spending too much
- Understanding your brand’s purpose before looking for a designer
- Writing a company brief — values, mission and what you’re trying to deliver
LinkedIn - Catherine Lang-Clinewww.portfoliocreative.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Brant Cooper is the best selling author of the Lean Entrepreneur which is a New York Times bestseller. In this episode he explains the skills every entrepreneur needs to have, and how these skills are important to achieving success.
Brant shares insights from the startup world, how to create personas for your market research and how you can validate your research. In this episode we discuss:
- Brant’s business and brand journey
- Entrepreneurial skills — why are they important?
- What are the struggles of large companies
- Understanding personas and market research
- What is a success indicator for a startup business?
- What you need to know when developing or launching new products
- How you can start discovering or validating the value that you want to bring to a market
Brant's Twitter - @brantcooperLinkedIn - Brant CooperEmail - brant@brantcooper.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, I talk about copyright, how copyright is a wide-ranging subject that all businesses need to be aware of and how it's the most universally relevant IP right.
This episode is essential for anyone wanting to have a deeper understanding of copyright and learn how you can protect the intangibles of your business.
In brief the episode covers:
- In-depth insights on copyright
- How can you protect your names and slogans?
- Copyright protects original expression but not ideas themselves
- Copyright covers written materials, computer programs, music, paintings, art and so many other things such as logos and packaging websites
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
Monika Jansen is the head kick-ass copywriter and strategist at her boutique marketing agency, Jansen Communications. She explains how small and midsize companies can create relevant content, get it in front of their target markets, and reach their business goals.
Monika also shares her insights on how to better understand your ideal buyer and how having quality content can help and grow your brand.
In brief the episode covers:
- How to know who is your ideal client?
- Her experience in creating her brand
- Monika’s process of helping her clients
- Understanding the pains of your ideal client
- How to better understand your ideal buyer?
- Creating quality content to help and grow your brand
- Promoting your content online - choosing the platforms
LinkedIn -Monika JansenJansencomm.com
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
In this episode, I share my insights on what makes an outstanding brand and when looking for the purpose behind a business you need to find one that’s capable of inspiring the team and customers too.
I also address the problem that I notice in that some web developers, designers, and marketers who help small businesses with their identity work have little understanding of IP and how to address it. Nor do they work with lawyers.
In brief the episode covers:
- Protecting your brand elements
- Finding the purpose behind your business
- Common problems with brand identities
- Differentiation and descriptive elements
- Intellectual property as part and parcel of a business
- Formulating a strategy to stand out from your competitors
- Addressing the problems I noticed with web developers, designers and marketers who help small businesses with identity work
- Incorporating Intellectual Property when creating a brand, choosing a name, developing a logo or promotion campaigns
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
CEO and Mama bird of the award-winning creative and digital content agency, Little Bird Marketing explains strategies that you need to implement as a business owner and as an owner of a marketing agency.
She said:
- What I do right now is I manage a team of digital content and visual experts. And we create systems for predictable lead generation for companies
- Right now I own and operate four different companies
- I got started really helping people do some of that scrappy bootstrapping stuff with what was new, let's really look at, at his social media, and let's look at some guerrilla, marketing campaigns, let's put some dots together, that other people haven't done, let's not just mimic our competitor. I think that environment, where everybody was telling me I couldn't do it was interesting, it was an interesting challenge for me
- The main IP that we created is a system called soar. And it is a content marketing system that is specifically designed to bring you inbound lead gen. And it is the so AR is an acronym, gotta have one of those. Yeah. But it is strategic, organized, accountable, and repeatable. And this is what I find is so big about advertising, marketing content, whatever you want to call it, I don't care what you do so much as you have to have a system
- I work from clients all the way from 2 million to 50 million. And you'd be surprised who in the middle there does not have a strategy. And some of them have actually done persona work. But honestly, the reality is, it's in the drawer or, or nobody knows where it is
- Let's just say your average company there who's like, Hey, we're finally going to hire one person who's in charge of marketing. Well, that person in marketing many times comes to them and says, What do you want me to do? I'm happy to do it. They're very excited. They love marketing, and they want to do something, but they don't come to the table with the strategy with the system, and know how to actually direct the company so they can execute, but they're not quite sure what they're executing. We have a blend, that's, that's painting and all the one side, we have a blend of people, but when you hire one person, you're getting one skill, when you outsource that for the exact same price, you would pay one person and you get the strategy, you get, the whole, everything from us of, award winning designers, we have, social media experts
- For the majority of content out there, it's evergreen, we know what we're going to be putting out six or eight months from now. And those things are already scheduled. They're already hashtag, they're already researched, they already have keywords involved. And we know where the call to action is, we know how we're trying to bring the ideal client through the buyers journey
- We need to understand where they are before we can set some goals and have an actual recalibration of what they're doing. And so we don't come in and say, you know, we'll do this and it'll bring this many leads, if you don't, I feel like that kind of stuff is, you know, just, first of all, a diamond doesn't on the internet. And also it really doesn't understand the nuance of business
- I don't want to work forever. I do some other consulting, I teach people how to be cut. And I teach, like wholesale teams, how to become influencers on LinkedIn, and Twitter. And that's something that I can take and consult.
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
Brand Tuned's Newsletter
What is the important first step to protecting your idea for an app? What do you need to do before turning to investors for funding? What are some of the factors that will determine your success? Today’s episode highlights all these and more.
Topics discussed:
- How copyright works to protect an app
- The limitations of copyright protection
- The importance of first protecting your idea before turning to investors for funding
- How to deal with investors and raise investment
- Factors that affect your chances of success
Key Takeaways:
- The default rules of copyright mean that the creator of the app will be the owner of the copyright in it rather than the person who pays for the development work.
- A good development agreement should clearly specify what is to be developed, the phases of the development, the payment plan, and how to resolve any disputes that may arise.
- Copyright protects the expression of an idea and not the idea itself. This means that if someone sees your app and decides they can do better than you, they can also develop the same idea.
Action Steps:
- Before you select the right app developer, make sure that they will be happy to give you a copyright of the end product. Reflect this agreement in writing and also have a good development agreement in place.
- Don’t agree to terms that only give you copyright when the project is concluded and you’ve paid for it.
- Be mindful about the limitations of copyright protection.
- Whatever you do, don’t make the fundamental mistake of asking an investor to sign a nondisclosure agreement or confidentiality agreement to hear about your app idea. You need to have taken all the necessary steps to protect your idea before you turn to investors.
- Focus on developing key qualities such as abilities to lead a team, which is essential for success in business. Reinvent yourself or find the right team to work with.
Shireen said:
“When you have an idea for a new app, bear in mind that innovation alone is no guarantee of success. You need to do thorough research, set your marketing strategy, and really consider how best to develop the app to meet a market need so you can really get going fast with it.”
“Obtaining financing isn’t necessarily about the technical feasibility or the originality of the idea itself. Sometimes it can be more about you as a person and whether you’re aware of the qualities and skill sets needed to convince the right people to support you.”
Thank you for listening!
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Brand Tuned's Newsletter
She is all about that joy in marketing, business, and life. She is a sought after expert in the world of content marketing and strategy, Shannon is known globally as the creator of the Content Personality™ Wheel.
She explained:
- So I am a marketing strategist. But not any old marketing strategist. I chose a long time ago to brand myself as the joyful marketing strategist.
- I've been doing that for about seven years prior to that I was a New York City public school teacher. And I was teaching in inner-city Harlem, eighth grade. So they kept me on my toes taught me how to tell good stories
- I just kept building on my strengths, which are teaching training, inspiring and like breaking down marketing into simple concepts that people get. And that's pretty much what I did in the classroom all day long.
- That is where I started, I hired a coach, I hired a virtual assistant, I hired a website designer to do my branding, before I had any clients. And to this day, I know that mindset is what has helped me have this business that I have now
- I have interior designers, in my programs, I have health coaches, I have business coaches, I have spiritual coaches, I have executive coaches and career coaches, and I have consultants that consult people on colour theory and it like you name it, what attracted them was the message of, if it ain't joyful, we do in that shit. And I think it speaks to just wit if you would think about your journey, like as, as a business owner, and in the online space, as we heard for years, and you've probably been doing this a lot longer than I have
- I actually realized about 20 months ago, I was an introvert, operating as an extrovert. And I could not figure out why I kept crashing, it was a cycle of lots of excitement, like push energy, if you will, not pushing you out of alignment, but just lots of people, lots of excitement, I did lots of events, you know, when we could hold events, I did these things, and then I and it would be great.
- I have a lot of people who come to me because last year I actually started talking about the transition from extrovert to introvert. And there are so many ways introverts can stay in their joy can stay in their power and market their business without crashing and you don't have to be visible, right?
- I built my business one to one initially, then I kept out, I continue to cap out, it doesn't matter how much I charge, they just pay one on one.
- In the confident Expert program, the outcome is we're gonna work on their messaging, which is always the basis of marketing, right? So we help them with their messaging, we help them find marketing that's joyful for them. And that's through the content personality quiz.
Content Personality™ Wheel
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What’s the best way to protect an idea? How do you make sure that your app idea is secure when you’re trying to find the right developer to create it? In this episode, we talk about all the ways you can protect your idea in the early stages of development.
Topics discussed:
- What you can do to protect your idea during the initial stage of development.
- Things to remember when choosing the right developer.
- The importance of having an agreement with the developers that protects you.
- Ways you can protect your app after it’s developed.
Key Takeaways:
- Confidentiality is the only way to protect a mere idea. It’s easy to get excited about a new idea and want to share it with others. Keep the idea for your app confidential when discussing it with people and developers.
- When interviewing a number of developers to find the best one to work on your project, you should have a different idea to discuss with them so you won’t be hampered with needing a non-disclosure agreement to protect your main idea.
- It’s up to you to make sure that the agreement with the developer protects you. If there is no agreement between you and the developer then the law automatically gives the developer the copyright in the app because they created it.
Action Steps:
- Develop the habit of being selective about who you reveal your ideas to. Do not discuss your idea with developers right away.
- Do thorough research on the developers you’re interviewing and make sure you read through their terms of business and legal agreements. Key things to look out for include: Their past experience, client references and testimonials, and how they charge.
- Make sure that you secure copyright from the developer in writing before you commit to engaging in their services. Otherwise, you will not own the copyright in the app.
Shireen said:
“Confidentiality is the only way to protect a mere idea at this stage. If you have an idea for an app, chances are the first thing you’ll want to do is to find someone to develop it for you. I’d advise against discussing the idea with any developers though.”
“Every idea will involve different intellectual property considerations. Some will highlight design protection, you know others may involve a patent protection and yet others will involve copyright. All concepts provide an opportunity to develop a brand.”
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Ruth King, known as the profitability Master, explains how she helps companies become and remain profitable.
In this episode she explains:
- My background is actually engineering and finance. And when I was in MBA school, I found that I really had a knack for numbers. And that's where helping the small businesses become profitable and build wealth actually came from
- My rule has become even if you're profitable, no more than 80% or no more than 20% of your customers in one industry, or not have any single customer to have more than 20% of your revenues.
- Essentially, we look at their p&l on their balance sheet, and we figure out where they want to go. And number one, we have to make sure that they are profitable and that they're generating enough profits that they are comfortable with at the present time.
- If your employees are not productive, and your customers are not profitable, you don't need them.
- You measure it by what's called net profit per hour and overhead costs per hour. Net profit per hour is for every billable or every revenue producing hour of your that your employees produce their products, how much profit actually drops to the bottom line.
- So if you start tracking time, and you start tracking what they're doing, amazingly, things happen to increase profitability, it just that what everybody's watching
- I do individual consulting, which is the one to one, and then the one to many can be done in many different ways. I've got many videos up which talk about different parts.
- I write to turn on the light bulb and people so that they get it? My goal in life is that people understand how to get and stay profitable and understand their p&l and balance sheets.
- I'm known now as the profitability master. There are many of my clients are known for different things, some are known for taking care of exceptional service in the mind of the customer. And your brand has to somebody thinks of you, they have to think
Ruth has a website, Profitability Revolution with hundreds of videos which anyone who buys one of her books, such as the Courage to be Profitable would automatically get access to.
profitabilityrevolution.com Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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How do you protect your original app idea from being copied by others? And what are the key considerations you need to know when it comes to developing a successful product? We talk about all this and more in today’s episode.
Topics discussed:
- Why it’s important to protect your app idea from being copied.
- What it takes to transform an idea into a successful app or product.
- The legal protections you can use to protect your intellectual property.
- The importance of researching the different legal tools to protect your app idea.
Key Takeaways:
- Any idea for an app, no matter how groundbreaking it may seem, only has the potential to be a successful product. You’ll need to address various issues along its development before you can transform it into your vision. In the end, the success of your app depends on whether your idea is well received.
- There is the real problem of how to protect your idea so that you benefit from it. Unless you know how to develop an app yourself, you’ll need to hire the right person or company to develop it for you. This requires using the right agreement to plan the project and protect your interest.
- Protecting your intellectual property needs to be covered in your plans first and foremost. You need to know how to use the law to support you if you’re to achieve your aims. Ignoring the law can lead to discovering unintended consequences that can prove fatal to your entire project later on.
Action Steps:
- Critically assess your idea. Spend time doing really thorough research on your product and check it’s market viability.
- Before you take any steps to implement an idea, take the time to understand the legal protections you can use to protect it.
- Learn the five principle rights covered under intellectual property, namely: copyright, patents, trademarks, designs, and confidential information.
Shireen said:
“Quite aside from the very real practical problem of finding somebody who understands your vision and can deliver an app that reflects what’s in your head, there is a real problem of how to protect the idea so that you benefit from it.”
“If you don’t take the right actions very early on when you’re creating something if you’re not careful how you implement your ideas, then you may actually lose the opportunity to own a valuable intellectual property right.”
Thank you for listening!
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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The jewel in the crown of the Pheiff Group, Inc., a million-dollar coach, business strategist, committed advocate for transforming the human spirit through the power of creativity shares insights into how to transform your life and business
Connie Pheiff Explains:
- I have four former corporate executives. I've had this business 13 Actually, I was thinking about a time almost 14 years. I had no I mean, there was no original intention of becoming an entrepreneur and having my own business. But you know, I always say I was groomed for corporate. And I made my way to the CEO position.
- I have a voice as a professional speaker. So I started the agency because I have a very strong background in business, and much, much better than being a speaker
- Being in corporate is so much different than having your own business. I thought, you know, this was my ego. And I thought, well, people know me, I was CEO and I'm going to set up shop and people are just going to call me. Well, it didn't happen that way. People weren't calling. And so the biggest challenge for me was learning the right technology platform, learning the best way to connect with my true audience and getting very clear on the audience that I was going to be working with and helping That was a challenge
- the leader owns that culture of the organization. So how do they bring it in throughout and really help their people truly, do what they do best
- The true definition of a leader is really finding, you know, where your people are, where they excel, what their needs are, and then when you understand that, and, you know, execute on it
- This showcase hit phenomenal numbers because it is very different. Where we bring the speakers into a professional theatre, to showcase them, and we stream it out live around the globe to event planners, so we want to get them in front of and we crashed the system, we had over 800,000 people trying to register in a very short time, and it totally took them our system
- It's all about your personal brand. And our signature line are one of our brands is you are the brand
- Everything you talk about is branding, and the individual brand
- Everything that I've done over the last almost 14 years, I've put it into a video course. And some other experts, too, that I work with, they're in there as well
- So the process is when they first come to us, it's typically by referral. Or perhaps somebody that I might reach out to or my podcast, so I do have a sizable podcast myself, and congratulations to you called the Connie five-show
- So we have very high standards. So in our timeline, you have to respond to that within two days. And then once you respond to that, the team and I get together, look at it, within three days time, we get back to whether you're going to come on or not. And typically, by the time you get the application, I've already had a discovery call with you. And I already have a sense of whether or not you know, we want to be working with you
- Once the coaching and mentoring are done, then we could say, they've graduated, and now they're on the label. And then once they're on the label, we also have some strategic partnerships with other groups out there, such as E speakers, they're an international database for speakers and entertainers. So our folks get listed on there
CRAZY ONES™
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Topics Discussed in this Episode:
- Why it’s not enough to simply register a trade mark
- Why it’s important to take great care of trade marks
- Why failing to address IP can result in lost opportunities
- What to do when you discover gaps in your trade mark protection
Key Takeaways:
- It is surprisingly easy to overlook the importance of IP in the early stages of the creative process. Some people believe that tasks like choosing a business name for a new product or service do not involve legal considerations, that they can pick any name, do a check on Google, and if nothing untoward is found, proceed to use the name.
- It’s actually trade marks that govern ownership rights in names, so it’s essential to search the trade mark registers. A Google search is not enough. Not everything you need to know about a name shows up on Google. People risk losing everything overnight when they use names that don’t take account of registered trade marks of others.
- Online searching has its place but it’s no substitute for information focused on transforming ideas into reality. While there’s a wealth of information on the web, a crucial issue when it comes to intellectual property advice online is that much of what you find is generic, sometimes outdated, inaccurate, conflicting, and may vary depending on where you’re based.
Action Steps:
- If you’re an inventor, writer, coach, marketer, creative or entrepreneur, you need to know how to identify the various IP rights you’ll be creating as you turn ideas into reality. Some basic tools at your fingertips will help you take initial steps to protect IP like doing due diligence.
- When you have new ideas to implement, you’ll need to know the right actions to take, the right processes to use to protect IP that’s being created.
- If you discover gaps in your trade mark protection, find out how to address them with the help of education and DIY. And consult a lawyer if you have remaining questions.
Shireen said:
“The internet has revolutionised the way we look for information, entertainment, and even relationships… So it’s increasingly common for businesses to look for legal advice online, too.”
“If you don’t know what you don’t know, how can you search for it or know whether you’ve found out everything you need to know? ...You need to learn to do things properly if you’re going to do your own trademark registration.”
Thank you for listening!
If you have any questions, connect with me on your preferred social media platform. I’d love to help! And if you’ve learned from this series of podcasts, do consider leaving a review.
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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In this episode, Croz Crossley, who is the mindset technician and is known for helping people with their mindset for the last 25 years, explains how to improve your mindset in life and business.
He shares his experiences on how he started and failed his business, helping his clients change their mindsets and how you can change your mindset in different situations and learn to adapt. In this episode we cover:
- How to change and improve your mindset
- He shares his experiences on his business journey how he managed to turn it around
- How having a powerful mindset can change the ability to set a goal, where you want to be and forget the past
- Brain clarity to set opportunities
- The science to success — having a clear mental image of where you're going
- Figuring out what you want and being able to be happy & contented
- What is The Mindset Technician?
You can find Croz Crossley on the following social media links.
Facebook -@themindsettechnicianLinkedIn - Croz Crossley
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In this episode, I cover insights on what you need to understand when setting out on a new venture. What are the risks and opportunities you need to look into? Otherwise, you could be gambling with the future of your ventures.
Since for many people, an idea is their key to economic success, being able to protect its resulting output as intellectual property is crucial if the business is to succeed and grow in value. In this episode I cover:
- The risks and opportunities to look at when starting on a new venture
- Why intangibles such a brand name, logo and packaging play a significant role in today’s digital economy
- Understanding the value of Intellectual Property
- Considering Intellectual Property at the early start of your venture or project
- Patents — what involves in securing an invention
- Trademarks & IP - understanding what is essential when turning an idea into something concrete in the real world
- How to set up your business for success
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In this episode, I uncover what's important in branding and strategy. I share the importance of SMEs, giving light on how small brands are not given that much attention and we should stop assuming that all customers are big, sophisticated brands and treat them appropriately to the stage that they've reached in business.
I talk about how every brand, category, and customer has its unique attributes, strengths, weaknesses, competitive set, and distribution challenges. I share my insights on what you need to focus on to ensure that buyers know who you are and how to buy from you when you’re a small brand. In this episode I cover:
- Branding & Intellectual Property
- What's important in branding and strategy
- The five stages of development for small and growing brands
- My insights on ideas around brands, branding and marketing
- Marketing brands at the maturity stage
- Consistency of branding signals
- Finding a coherent blueprint for small brands and how to take account of intellectual property
- Intellectual Property — a core discipline that everyone in business and branding should learn
- Intellectual Property — why it needs to be borne in mind during brand creation
A brand is more than a snazzy logo – but what else is there to consider when building a brand? Do you really need a brand for business success? And what has intellectual property got to do with anything? My latest book to be released in September 2021Brand Tuned: The new rules of branding, strategy and intellectual property.
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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In this episode, I cover topics on what you need to know when it comes to choosing the best brand assets to create, and which to prioritise creating and protecting. I also share what you need to know when you know when securing a colour as a trademark.
Why would you want to trademark a colour given that colour is difficult to trademark, and is part and parcel of every visual identity, even those that opt for black and white? It is rare to hear of someone having to rebrand because they’re using someone else’s colours after all. In this episode I cover:
- The important objective of branding
- The purpose of trade mark
- Securing a trade mark for a colour
- What triggers mental associations to the brand?
- Enforcing your rights in logos
- Examples of non-conventional trade marks
- Colour & visual identities — a great communicator of a brand’s values and messaging
- What anchor’s association in your customers’ minds about your brand name — logo, brand colours, shapes and other visual elements
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In this episode, Julie Barber, the author of ‘Investor Ready: The guide for startups on getting investors to say Yes’ and the CEO of Spark! Consulting shares how you have to create brands within the organization, her experience and process of helping businesses grow and her definition and explanation of brand.
Julie talks about how they help startups and scale-ups who need to prepare for raising investment so that they are confident and credible in front of investors. We cover topics on:
- Creating brands within the organization
- Spark Consulting’s brand journey
- What is pre-seed, seed and series?
- How to prepare your business for investors
- Investment strategy
- Brand as an important element in creating documents to take to investors
- Why brand is an important part of building a consistent and powerful picture of a single operating company
LinkedIn - Julie (Crussell) BarberJuliebarber.co.ukSpark-consulting.co.uk
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In this episode, I cover how you can protect a trade mark internationally. Trade marks are your “badge of origin”, and serve to identify your products and services. Without trade marks, it would be impossible to find the products and services we like and to avoid those we don’t.
Trade marks are tools enabling consumers to identify products and services they have enjoyed and want to buy again. It gives you rights in the country or territory where you register. In this episode I cover:
- Trademarks protect the reputation and goodwill of a brand
- What are the most commonly registered marks?
- Any sign unique to your business may be registered as a trademark
- Trademarks are territorial — you need to register in each country you intend to trade
- Situational examples of securing trade mark rights per territory
- How to register a trade mark
Links to my books:
- Legally Branded
- Intellectual Property Revolution
- Brand Tuned: The new rules of branding, strategy and intellectual property
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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In this episode, Mary Kelly, who is the author/co-author/editor of 15 books on business, leadership, productivity, and personal finance and has spent 25 years in the Navy and now she improves corporate profit growth explains her journey from being in the Navy to starting her own business and she gives some valuable tips on how to establish and differentiate your business. We cover topics on:
- How she turned speaking, consulting and advising into a business
- She answers the questions on how she accelerated speaking right from the beginning and how she gets paid for speaking
- How to start a business and knowing your target market
- Understanding your target customers
- Product differentiation
- How to stay on top of your client’s minds
- Productivity tips to narrow your focus, make it easier to get things done and take the right action that's going to build your business
LinkedIn -Mary KellyTwitter -@marykellyspeaksProductiveleaders.com
Resources:
The 5-Minute Business Plan by Mary Kelly Free Stuff from Mary Kelly
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Have you successfully captured your intellectual property? Why is failing to do so a costly problem? Let’s look in more detail at the disastrous consequences of failing to capture your IP.
Topics Discussed in this Episode:
- Why it’s not enough to simply register a trade mark
- Why it’s important to take great care of trade marks
- Why failing to address IP can result in lost opportunities
- What to do when you discover gaps in your trade mark protection
Key Takeaways:
- It is surprisingly easy to overlook the importance of IP in the early stages of the creative process. Some people believe that tasks like choosing a business name for a new product or service do not involve legal considerations, that they can pick any name, do a check on Google, and if nothing untoward is found, proceed to use the name.
- It’s actually trade marks that govern ownership rights in names, so it’s essential to search the trade mark registers. A Google search is not enough. Not everything you need to know about a name shows up on Google. People risk losing everything overnight when they use names that don’t take account of registered trade marks of others.
- Online searching has its place but it’s no substitute for information focused on transforming ideas into reality. While there’s a wealth of information on the web, a crucial issue when it comes to intellectual property advice online is that much of what you find is generic, sometimes outdated, inaccurate, conflicting, and may vary depending on where you’re based.
Action Steps:
- If you’re an inventor, writer, coach, marketer, creative or entrepreneur, you need to know how to identify the various IP rights you’ll be creating as you turn ideas into reality. Some basic tools at your fingertips will help you take initial steps to protect IP like doing due diligence.
- When you have new ideas to implement, you’ll need to know the right actions to take, the right processes to use to protect IP that’s being created.
- If you discover gaps in your trade mark protection, find out how to address them with the help of education and DIY. And consult a lawyer if you have remaining questions.
Shireen said:
“The internet has revolutionised the way we look for information, entertainment, and even relationships… So it’s increasingly common for businesses to look for legal advice online, too.”
“If you don’t know what you don’t know, how can you search for it or know whether you’ve found out everything you need to know? ...You need to learn to do things properly if you’re going to do your own trademark registration.”
Thank you for listening!
If you have any questions, connect with me on your preferred social media platform. I’d love to help. And if you’ve learned from this series of podcasts, do consider leaving a review.
Links to my books:
- Legally Branded
- Intellectual Property Revolution
- Brand Tuned: The new rules of branding, strategy and intellectual property
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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Dominic Wells, the founder of Onfolio helps his clients to invest in websites buying and building content websites, he explains the hardest part about a content website is getting it to rank highly in Google in the first place and how he manages to do it.
He also discusses podcasting how it’s a growing media, finding a niche is super important and the ability to execute and create content that people would want to read and getting it in front of people. We discuss:
- How Dominic started and launched his business
- What is a content website?
- Buying quality content websites
- The price range of content websites
- How you can turn blogging into something profitable
- Podcasting & video — a growing medium for content
- Why having a niche is super important
- His experience creating his brand
- Turning an active investment into a passive investment with selling websites
LinkedIn - Dom WellsTwitter - @TeamOnFolioonfolio.co
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In this episode, I talk about how intellectual property comprises copyright, trademark, design, patent, and confidentiality it means that the actions necessary to turn an idea into reality will differ depending on the type of IP that idea would generate once it’s implemented.
I share how everything begins with an idea, every idea invariably results in an intangible manifestation of it once it’s brought into the real world. In this episode I cover:
- Leveraging IP and its value
- Turning an idea into IP – namely a trade mark
- The significance of intellectual property in today’s digital world
- Personal experiences in handling intellectual property matters
- The overall objective of building a brand, product or business
- How you can approach intellectual property
- Addressing intellectual property by doing an IP audit & take corrective action
- Intellectual property – being proactive at the early stages of any project
Links to my books:
- Legally Branded
- Intellectual Property Revolution
- Brand Tuned: The new rules of branding, strategy and intellectual property
Access the 7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Branding or Rebranding eBook when you subscribe to TUNED NEWS.
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Alex Bodini is an e-commerce entrepreneur running 5 businesses including the UK’s #1 social media agency, Spin Brands. He explains how he helps business scale using digital marketing and how to achieve engagement on your social media.
He shares their business and brand journey, how they evolved their business, their mission and the values that created their identity. In this episode we cover:
- Alex’s views on branding
- What is ambassador marketing?
- Spin Brand’s business and brand journey
- His background and how he started his five businesses
- How they work with clients and the challenges they had
- The power of social media platforms to put yourself on the map
- Achieving scale in terms of digital footprint
- Social media management and measuring of engagement
- Three things they help client’s with — organic social management, paid social media and ambassador marketing/influencer marketing
LinkedIn -Alex Bodiniwww.spinbrands.co.uk
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My aim in this episode is to answer 3 essential questions about what copyright is by giving you:
- Examples of copyright
- Reasons why you might want to have copyright
- Some ideas for how to avoid some common copyright problems
Copyright is very wide-ranging in scope. Some examples of what it protects include:
- Photographs
- Maps
- Drawings
- Typefaces, music and videos
- Works of art and performances
- Software
- Books
- Content on websites
- Videos
- Logos
It is important to note that copyright is a property right and think of copyright as you might think of a plot of land, even though the example of copyright are intangible, they are nevertheless considered assets.
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In this episode, Simon Banks, a video strategist with 30 years of experience in the media & video industries and the author of 'How to Get Video Right' - The essential guide to video strategy explains how he helps business owners to get video right and create effective video content to increase sales to grow their business.
He shares that people associate brand with the visual identity, video brand guidelines, how he started his career and the challenges he had in setting up his business. We discuss:
- The journey of his career and business
- Challenges that he had at the start of his business
- Helping business grow with video
- Video brand guidelines
- How to make a video effective by having a plan or strategy
- Video as the most effective way of communicating
- Simon’s experience of creating his brand and how did he develop it
- Tips for businesses that are trying to get video right
- What you need to keep in mind when creating video content
LinkedIn - Simon BanksTwitter - @tallboytweets Facebook -Tallboy Video Productionwww.tallboy.co.uk
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In this episode, I share the fundamentals to understand if you are serious about your business. IP is business, it’s not just laws you can leave to the lawyers which is such a misconception. I share my insights on securing a trade mark, the importance of developing IP skills and the knowledge that you need in your business.
Once you let the world know your ideas; such as by publishing them, then the law will protect the way you have expressed your idea. This is so important to understand as a limitation of IP rights because it will help you to protect your business. In this episode I cover:
- Securing a trade mark
- Copyright protection
- Deep understanding of intellectual property
- Protecting you’re business against copycats
- How Google built itself as one of the largest brands thanks to intellectual property
- Developing IP skills and knowledge that you need in your business
- Developing your commercial awareness — understanding IP and its limitations
- Intellectual property — avoiding the need to sue or the risk of being sued
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In this episode, Alison Edgar known as the Entrepreneur's Godmother, who is a successful international speaker and the author of the best selling book Secrets of Successful Sale, explains that sales is actually about listening and really understanding what your client needs, not what your client wants.
She shares the methodology around behaviours and one of the important thing in sales is to treat people how they want to be treated and this is the key to understanding people’s behaviour.
Alison discusses why sales for her doesn’t come from a script and it comes from a genuine interest in the customer. In this episode we discuss:
- The story of her name Entrepreneurs Godmother
- Her approach with mentoring and coaching
- What brand she particular admires
- The methodology around behaviours when it comes to sales
- What are the limiting beliefs in sales and how you can overcome it
- The importance of why your brand should stand out especially in the marketing space
- Understanding the correct sales process and asking the right questions to give you the right strength and confidence
- Dyslexia - as being the biggest challenge Alison faced at the start of her career and business and how she overcame it
Alison’s book -Secrets of Successful Salesalisonedgar.comentrepreneursgodmother.com
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In this episode, I discuss why keeping ideas secret is fundamental to protecting them. When you have a new idea, you’ll need to carefully weigh up who you disclose it to and how. I also share why confidentiality is one of the core three IP rights, and it’s a very important way in which ideas, systems, processes, and databases are protected.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- How to protect ideas against theft by competitors and others
- The importance of confidentiality
- How the patent system works
- The rationale behind IP
- When to use a non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
- The case of Microsoft’s Tablet PC versus Apple’s iPad
- How to maintain your competitive advantage
- The use of confidentiality to keep methodologies and recipes a secret
Key Takeaways:
- Keeping ideas secret is fundamental to protecting them
- Confidentiality is one of the core three IP rights
- Every great innovation began simply as an idea in someone’s head
- Why the patent system will only grant a patent on innovations that are not in the public domain
- The trade-off that the state gives us for revealing our ideas is a monopoly right
- Copyright does not protect the underlying ideas but it only protects the way you express them.
- Copying of ideas may pose a serious threat to your business
- Why the state is constantly doing a balancing act
- Protecting your ideas against competitors and others
- How an idea is implemented determines how well it’s received in the market
- What’re the huge commercial advantages to being first to market
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In this episode, Chala Dincoy, the CEO and founder of The Repositioning Expert and the host of her own podcast 'Polish My Pitch' shares the journey of how she created the brand for her business and the three ways you can differentiate your brand.
She also shares coaching tips and the formula to the perfect elevator pitch — how it should be based around your super niche. In this episode we cover:
- Enhancing your coaching skills
- The formula to a perfect elevator pitch
- The brand Chala particularly admires
- How to tell if a business has a good niche or not
- Creating a brand for your business — three ways to really differentiate yourself
- How she help’s people solve positioning challenges and grow their sales
- The biggest mistake that's paralyzing small businesses right now
- How she started her business and the challenges she faced
- How she pivoted her business online once the pandemic started
Repositioner.com
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In this episode, I discuss intellectual property rights, which cover intangibles. IP is a huge body of law, consisting of individual series of rights known as patents, trademarks, copyright, designs, and confidentiality and each of these is a vast area of law.
I discuss that every time you create something new or set up a new project it's important to consider confidentiality, trademarks and copyright. I also share my insights on why IP is the nuts and bolts of your business.
In brief the episode covers:
- Raising awareness of IP
- The problem with IP at the moment
- IP is the nuts and bolts of your business
- Patents protect the way things work and how they function
- The protection involved when you're creating a name
- What you need to do wherever you are located in the world will be the same in order to protect your position
- Three rights that come into their own — confidentiality, trademarks, and copyright
- Trademarks protect your names, your logo and your distinctive branding
- Your website, music, images, content, any software you have are protected by copyright
- The idea behind trademarks is that terms that other traders need to use should be kept free
- Naming is very important to suspend your beliefs about what makes for a good name
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Paul Mitchell is an authority on franchising, he is a seasoned entrepreneur, franchisor, and fellow author of the book, Franchising Freedom. He explains all about franchising and what you need to know before getting started, what to expect from it and also speaks about what brand and branding is for him.
In this episode Paul shares, the biggest challenge for most would be franchisors, on how to get started and recommends engaging with consultants.
In brief the episode covers:
- Valuable insights about franchise
- The biggest challenge in franchising
- What you should consider when franchising
- Paul’s insights on how he started his business
- The good practices and proper procedure in franchising
- The framework of the modern-day franchising
LinkedIn -Paul Mitchellwww.accentia-franchise.co.uk
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Some of the problems stem from the fact that a name needs to do some of the heavy lifting in order to market the business, and yet if it veers too much towards a description of the services, it can’t function as a trade mark, which means everyone else can also use the name. So effectively, people in that position are throwing their marketing spend down the drain, as it benefits their competitors as much as themselves.
- When we first meet someone, that person’s handshake, their demeanour, clothes, and the way they speak all create an initial opinion about them
- There are ways in which we all tend to feel different, even alienated from the world around us
- A brand that attains cult status has a protective shield to stave off adversity that could seriously damage a lesser brand
- The first impression includes the designs, but design is not the only factor that matters
- The Name Is The Most Important Decision You Make
- A name does indeed carry certain connotations, and is far from being just a randomly arranged set of letters
- A lot of the big well-known companies have put a lot of thought into their names- Google based its name on a mathematical term, whilst Amazon chose its name due to its association with the South American river
- Nowadays there is widespread awareness of the importance of being authentic
- A brand is about delivering on a specific promise- it is something a business is known for
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Janis Carmena, the Ecommerce Queen Bee, talks about what started out as her Amazon Side hustle and how she grew her online business.
- She would buy the same things as other people would, and they would compete together on Amazon
- She started building brands and got two six-figure brands going now one is a whole line of reusable straws
- The big thing with Amazon is you have to differentiate
- She suggests you to check the competition's reviews, that's how to make your product much better than your competitors because the client already tells you in a review, so read them all
- There's actually quite a lot of competition on Amazon from third-party sellers
- She is trademarked in Canada, and then she did what's called Brand Registry down in with Amazon
- "I was reading about Amazon and its approach. They prefer wordmarks. For that reason that it actually gives you a monopoly over the words, a logo mark, you can register anything as a logo"
- She has a bootcamp and guarantees you at the end of boot camp, you'll have your own Amazon store up and running, at least have the store so then you can figure out how you want to start selling on Amazon
- When it comes to brands she admires, she really likes Tesla, their marketing and how they have situated themselves in the marketplace
Free Bootcamp
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Setting up an online business is relatively straightforward and cheap to do. You can have a basic website up and running for very little cost. That’s why it’s ideal to focus your money and energy on testing the market and properly thinking through your proposition
- The more thoughtfully you implement your ideas when starting your online business, the fewer actions you’ll need to undo or redo later
- Being mindful of where you are right now will help you to reach your end goal faster and more effectively because you can more properly plan how you will get there
- Online businesses can be set up very inexpensively, so it’s easier to test your concepts first, and it’s extremely important to do so
- The first decision is whether to form a company and trade with limited liability or whether to operate as a sole trader
- One of the earliest considerations for any business will be its trading (brand) name
- To come up with a brand proposition that’s compelling and unique involves working out your purpose, positioning, brand personality, values and more
- Unless you’re getting a low-cost website with little functionality do take legal advice before engaging a web designer or developer
- Avoid doing things in the wrong order and your path to success will be much swifter
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In this episode, I discuss what should be included in your brand book, not just brand guidelines, once you’ve been through a branding exercise. There’s useful information in there too about how to position yourself to be more distinctive in your market.
- Many businesses I come across or who I interview on the podcast have, like me, just had designs created for them in the name of branding
- A comprehensive branding exercise should provide you with a strategy that is a central, unifying idea around which all behaviour, actions and communications of your company can be aligned
- Business success is much more about how effective you are in running your business than it is about your visual designs
- While I am still writing my brand book, I have learnt a huge amount from the exercise, which will inform the new book I will be releasing in 2021
- The strategic direction is hardly ever articulated verbally in a brand book by designers. Instead, you tend to get brand guidelines, which are essentially a style guide
- Having clarity around your positioning is key
- A comprehensive brand book would drill down into the language you would use, words you would or would not say even
- Your mission is all about what your company aims to do
- Strategy is something you use long term to inform your decisions
- My experience with brand guidelines is that is not always comprehensive enough in scope to guide others in all the different situations when the brand needs to be used in a consistent way
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To better understand how to think about your branding, start by considering the associations you have when you come across successful household name brands such as Disney, Ikea or Apple.
- When we buy Apple products, we expect to get something well designed, intuitive and easy to use
- Every brand has its own distinct ‘identity’ and ‘promise’
- A brand is ultimately about substance rather than surface visual imagery
- Brand Value: The Brand is a Valuable Asset
- The name is a very important component of your brand identity and should be chosen with trade mark law in mind
- The question of brand management is an important one because it is often absent for small businesses
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Purpose, why the standard business advice nowadays is to have one, the considerations when you do have a purpose, what to do to identify one for your business, I detail how I found my purpose in case it helps you in identifying yours.
- The new digital environment has changed the forces that drive business
- If you’re in an industry which intrinsically has a social impact so that you can do what you do in a more sustainable way you can readily demonstrate purpose
- It is a bad idea to build in a purpose if it just isn’t there because it’s not going to be enough to just state your purpose
- This emphasis on purpose has something to do with the millennial generation
- Study after study urges companies to be purpose-driven
- Simon Sinek picked up on this theme of purpose in his best-selling book Start with Why which sets out to demonstrate that a purpose-driven team achieves so much more
- A purpose that your team members can get behind needs to be a high-level aspirational reason for existing and acting in your business
- Purpose-driven organisations stay core to their mission by always keeping the “why” in mind
- I have personally found it quite an elusive exercise to identify my purpose
- Ted’s purpose is to spread ideas. They look for ways to make this purpose come to life
- Only 15% of employees have an emotional connection to the company they work for
- Research exists to show that consumers value brands that support charitable causes
- If you can’t identify a purpose yet, then my suggestion is to just use mission and purpose as interchangeable terms
- Personally, I have been interested to try to identify my purpose, what fulfils me, out of sheer curiosity
- As Steve Jobs put it, doing work you love is important
- The 17 sustainable development goals to transform the world
- I kept revisiting my brand strategy, and recently when I was thinking about my purpose again, I had a flash of inspiration
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Growing a brand involves a lot of self-education. I doubt it is enough that the entrepreneurs to just hand over to a creative agency, get their brand designed and to just continue to grow the brand. You need to really understand how to use the brand to grow, so reading widely is recommended.
- Many entrepreneurs I know talk about their coaches unlocking the path to progress for them, but so far I’ve never really done more than dabble in hiring coaches, even for fitness
- In this new world of online digital assets, we need to develop the skills to get maximum benefits from them
- In terms of ways to access knowledge, as a self-professed bookaholic, I own more books and kindle books than I will ever get a chance to read in my lifetime
- My subscription to Audible has enabled me to consume numerous books as I go about my daily activities – such as when I’m walking or cooking
- The beauty of this is that I can now try out an infinite number of books as I am out and about moving from one place to another or when I’m in the kitchen
- Taking action is then essential
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Jeff J. Hunter builds personal brands for accomplished CEOs and founders, who are ready to leverage their business achievements to become influencers in their category. He explains his processes and what are the best marketing and branding trends at the moment.
- He has always been in IT, and got really good at one particular skill, which is virtual teams, he used to manage and build virtual teams.
- In 2014, when he actually built out a team of his own dedicated hired them, internally, even though they're all virtually, they were all people that are dedicated to him.
- By 2016 he had grown from basically a company of one to two people, to over 20 contractors, that work dedicated to him, and now he has 87 people that are all 100% remote
- Jeff looks for people that are tenured, and age isn't really the big factor for his business
- He has two businesses, the marketing and branding agency, and 70% of his revenue comes from his second VA staffer business
- He made a switch from being a cost for people to being a revenue driver doing marketing
- His business has finally got to a point to where it runs itself. He doesn't do the hiring, he doesn't do the firing, he doesn't do the training. The only responsibility that he has in his business is a call at nine o'clock in the morning, that goes about one hour with his project management team.
- It's about having a deep emotional connection to your audience. It's about being relevant and omnipresent in your industry
- His favorite way to do marketing right now, which is totally under leveraged by most people is actually podcasting
savagemarketer.com
vastaffer.com
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Over the last few years, I have really enjoyed creating content to share my thoughts about brands and IP because that is how I refine my thinking and develop new ideas
Although it is sound advice to double down your efforts to one or two platforms, I do believe it is more important to be everywhere first. I guess I prefer to build an omnipresent brand
- Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice is to engage more with others’ content if you want engagement with your content
- Is there any point to my providing education and information for the world to freely take and use?’
- I know this is a long-term game, and deep down I am confident the lack of massive engagement does not really matter, that I continue
- Likes and comments aren’t the right metrics to focus on for anyone
- Continuous improvement is something to strive for in every facet of the business, if not in life
- Better to keep a presence on them all and then home in on improving your presence on your one or two platforms of choice in due course
- There are a lot of silent listeners out there
- You need clarity to build your brand, and brand strategy is something I very much help my clients with using our Brand Tuned offering
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Kitty Newman of TrapezMedia runs a social media agency which she set up herself, so we hear about her business journey with that and her suggestions for how people can manage their social media.
- She has been in digital marketing for the last 12 years and started working in online marketing after a previous job in a call centre
- She set up her own business four years ago
- As an agency, they work on any ad on any platform, but when they look at a new client, they will definitely look at what's right for them
- "I love hearing about the kinds of ways to put things across and the way to get people talking to you about their business"
- As mandated service they will post every other day someone on Instagram or LinkedIn or Facebook, Twitter will do twice a day, tweets twice a day
- During the first month, Kitty says they go through and audit all the channels, look at what works, run some reports and look at what your customers are engaging with
- She suggests trying to get your content written up ahead of time.
- You need to consider strategy within your social media as she says
- As she mentioned, you need to consider your tone of voice, your messaging, your call to actions, your creative your brand
- Learn what she thinks are content pillars
- She suggests if you're not having the desired effect, then let's look at what's what's going on for that
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When it comes to licensing a business format, whereby you grant a third party the right to replicate your business, the important point is that franchising traditionally involves a number of formalities and costs that you can avoid when you choose the licensing route
- One way to scale their business is to issue a licence to a third party to deliver a related product under their brand name
- Grant a licence to someone to sell your product under their own brand name
- Luxury brands are highly sought after for licensing, as their brand brings a cachet to the product to which they lend their name
- Pierre Cardin is a classic example of this, by engaging in indiscriminate licensing, it devalued its brand and lost much of its cachet
- One of the key issues is how ownership, control and use of the brand can be spread between different businesses
- Why the Distinction Between Franchising and Licensing Matters
- It’s not possible to escape the regulators’ attention by passing off a franchise as a licence because the law looks at the essence of an arrangement rather than its name
- Business owners in the UK can, therefore, be misled into believing that franchising is their only option
- Franchising gives you the potential for national and international expansion, rapid growth with lower capital outlay.
- My suggestion, if it would work for your business model, is to give yourself time to evaluate whether franchising is the right option by testing the waters with licensing first
- Licensing is a type of legal agreement for exploiting IP that is highly flexible
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Tommy Balaam founded his business Captain fantastic, a children's entertainment franchise operation which is voted UK is number one children's entertainment company.
- He set up Captain Fantastic because, at the time, there was a lot of people doing kids parties were, older dads weren't trained actors
- He gradually built up and then he got 40 entertainers that worked for him
- First children's company that did a toddler group online
- Started doing our online parties, and used zoom for parties
- Doing parties in America, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa every, - UK business was global
- "I want to be unique, be my own, and then you can grow it"
- The big goal is really to get on, you know, children's TV
- Now to make money as a performer, it's literally just business skills for actors
- Brand changed over the last 10 years
- Each time you do a franchise, you got to really know who your client is
Here's a link to preorder his new book: "PAIN IN THE ARTS": How to earn money as a performer" by Tommy Balaam
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There is widespread confusion about an aspect of franchising and licensing which is caused by the difference between the laws in the USA and the UK. So, I will be clearing up the confusion that I see in many articles online.
- Franchising is a way to scale a business once the business model is successful and proven
- A franchise agreement will usually give the franchisor the ability to control how the business is run
- The franchisor is expected to provide support to its franchisees in the form of marketing, access to trusted suppliers, systems, and other resources and skills
- Franchising a business involves finding franchisees with the necessary skills and experience to operate branches of the same business
- Licensing is essentially how you exploit intellectual property
- Franchising is a type of licensing arrangement
- The details of the terms and conditions in a licensing agreement will vary considerably depending on the business transaction you’re aiming to achieve
- Before you embark on licensing it’s essential to ensure you have the necessary intellectual property rights in place
- Another example of how licensing can be used involves giving access to your methodology for doing something
- Using the wrong terminology, such as giving an exclusive licence to someone can destroy the owner’s rights to exploit its intellectual property
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Alex Hamilton, CEO and founder of radiant law. He took his knowledge as a lawyer specializing in outsourcing technology and commercial contracts to create a groundbreaking innovative new law type business that he built up from the ground up. He speaks about his journey of founding a law company and how the business developed and sustainable.
- There were five of us who started the business, and most of us had been partners previously, so we had lots of contacts
- About three years in we had a rebranding exercise and came up with a current logo and look and feel which we've pretty much stuck with ever since
- I massively underestimated how hard it would be to put a new kind of business model in place in the law, to build up the business
- We have refined the values over the year, but it's more a question of simplifying them rather than changing them
- Start with the customer's needs, and that is absolutely fundamental to our thinking and we do keep coming back to that
- We distribute responsibility across the firm and you can have quite a lot of responsibility as a junior lawyer
- We do like kind of global market data contracts or content licensing agreements or service agreements and so on
- It is very different, I think from a traditional law firm which emphasizes, I would say autonomy of partners, in terms of they can operate anyway they like, obviously, they, in turn, require the junior lawyers working for them to work in very particular ways
- What we found most successful is feeding data back to the individual team members so they can always see how they're doing
- a lot of companies were sceptical about buying remote legal services, and have accepted it now in view of the lockdown
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People assume branding is about getting pretty design work done, whereas the visual identity is the last thing to work on not the first. You just need some inexpensive designs initially while you test the market, and focus on designing the actual business itself rather than its visual appearance.
- Studies have shown that living a life of purpose leads to better health and overall happiness
- Working Out My Purpose
- Those Who Always Knew Their Purpose Are Rare
- Background Behind My Career Choice of Law
- Intellectual Property and Business Are Intertwined
- People simply need to adopt recommended processes and then induct their team to follow them when implementing new ideas
- One problem is that people assume branding is about getting pretty design work done
- Another problem is that people don’t realise how vital it is to register their rights once they undergo branding
- Businesses tend to change radically in the early years
- Education and a commitment to working on the business is what branding should involve in the early days
- Trademarks and IP, Business and Branding
- Providing a multidisciplinary approach when branding a business is the key to ensuring that businesses undergoing branding increase their chances of success
- Whether you’re looking for employment or are starting a new venture it’s vital to ask yourself some searching questions
- Aspirations change over time
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An effective brand strategy should provide a central, unifying idea around which all behaviour, actions and communications of the business can be aligned. It should work across products and services and will be effective over time. The best strategies are so powerful that they deflect the competition.
- Think about what deep beliefs you cherish above all else
- Think about what is your overarching ethos or the values by which you want to approach everything you do in your business?
- People apparently buy why you sell the product you sell
- It’s about the solution, the difference you will make in people’s lives
- It’s not about how you differ from your competitors. It’s about the difference you make to people’s lives that should be your focus
- Talk about that difference and value you bring, the outcome people can expect when they choose your business
- Your values form the basis of your Mission and Vision statement
- Often there is no urgent need to change your brand designs if you already have a visual identity
- The brand strategy is essentially about creating a growth platform for your business
- As part of your brand strategy consider what your brand personality will be
- Making our communications effective in the face of an overload of information out there in a noisy world takes some thought
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We’re all in distress mode, and as such are more likely to pay attention to the brands that engage with us in the right way. The right way is to avoid being perceived to be a crisis profiteer. Instead lead with the emotional journeys of your customer, with your purpose and the power of your personal brand.
- The best brands are responding in a human way, with compassion and empathy
- It’s easier to be seen during a recession than during a boom when there is a lot of noise
- We tend to tune out most messages in order to cope in a noisy world
- We are having to adapt to the changes
- Providing support to help people get through this crisis, answering their questions whether on webinars or posted within the groups, or in other ways
- Now is a great time for seizing that opportunity because the world has shifted and people are having to change their normal behaviour
- Remember you have a window of opportunity right now to earn the trust of customers
- We are out of our normal routines, so we are listening rather than in auto pilot mode ignoring most messages
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Whatever your circumstances, setting your brand strategy can be really useful whether you’re branding a new business or rebranding an existing one. Start by considering what your overarching ambition and vision is for your business. Thinking through your brand strategy over a period of time helps in clarifying your vision, mission and values.
- Aligning your personal and business goals gives you the right mindset to achieve your ultimate objectives
- I believe there’s huge value in testing your ideas for a new business concept first before spending money on getting a visual identity, trade marking, and the like
- Think about your brand strategy gradually, make notes, and keep updating your thinking
- To stand out a brand needs to be legally distinctive, not just visually noticeable
- In the 21st century it’s necessary to use IP to brand your business effectively
- The name plays a fundamental role because many actions by competitors that you might want to stave off involve the brand name or brand designs
- What associations do you have when you think of brands like Ikea or Apple?
- What brand promise do you want people to associate with your business?
- “Brand” is why we expect one thing when we come across a SWATCH and another when we hear the ROLEX name
- Brand strategy also involves thinking about how to create a customer experience, branding, and communication messages to support the impression you want to convey
- What quality or outcome do you want to deliver consistently and reliably
- You should have a clear vision of the business you’re building so you can design your business to support how you want it to be known
- The aim is to create a brand that comes to mind when consumers are looking to buy the product or service you offer
- Work out WHY you do what you do
- Nike’s purpose is to bring inspiration to every athlete in the world
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Asking yourself the question ‘what business am I really in’ is well worth doing periodically – the answer might just help you to discover hidden opportunities or an angle for business development that you otherwise wouldn’t have considered.
- Somewhere along the line cinemas began to look at their business in a different way
- The classic example that is given when people are talking about this topic of what business are you really in is the railroads
- The businesses that best understand the customer and create solutions that the customer wants to buy are the ones that ultimately win
- Kodak is a cautionary tale that illustrates why it’s imperative to stay relevant to customers
- I see a potentially worrying parallel for many law businesses such as my own intellectual property law firm
- Clients need to get a brand, create an identity, and protect their intellectual property
- Customers face real problems attaining a brand that’s legally protected and makes them more money because they often don’t know who to turn to achieve that goal
- The intellectual property dimension falls by the wayside because its relevance isn’t that obvious to clients or to the agencies they use
- Once the brand is created, businesses are unsure how to promote themselves
- Clients need to promote their business to get customers and build their brand online
- Smaller businesses lack the insights into brand management so don’t get the best from their branding spend
- It makes complete sense for us to offer products and services related to intellectual property to support clients to get a helicopter view of their business, build effective brands, and have a more joined up approach to marketing
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Branding has become a bigger thing than its origin as a visual designation of origin of cattle. Today branding lives in a different world. The pendulum has swung so far that everything is said to be branding, even marketing and advertising are said to be branding. A better way to think about it is that branding is who you are—and marketing is how you build awareness.
- If you’re a business owner wanting to know how to increase your success you need to understand what “brand”, and branding really mean and involve so you can take the right steps to develop your business.
- We all have a name, a way of dressing, talking, and walking and subjects we are known for or topics we discuss. We have our own individual beliefs and opinions, and a certain personality.
- As you become more known, you will evoke a certain response in others. The business will get a reputation, and its brand will develop.
- One difference between a person’s brand and a business’ brand is that people tend to have an existing personality and style
- Design is about how your business will work, not just how it will look.
- The business’ identity is quite separate from your own personal brand even if you are a sole trader running your business singlehandedly.
- Once you have worked out how you want to be known as a business you can get some designs to help support the overall impression and feelings you want your brand to evoke and convey
- A common misconception people have is that you have to be a big household name to be a brand.
- As founder of your organisation, you need to think about your vision for the business is
- Branding is the activity of creating the visual identity for your brand.
- Branding is as much about how you design your business as it is about your visual designs.
- The visual identity would be the final aspect of the brand to put in place after you’ve thought through your brand strategy.
- Branding gives your business an identity beyond its product or service. It gives consumers something to relate to and connect with
- Marketing is more about bringing a product or service to market
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There is quite a lot of confusion generally with intellectual property terms like copyright, trademarks, and patents. You need to have some understanding of these terms as they are a type of “property” that it’s possible to own, just like land. They impact every business nowadays in the digital economy.
- It pays to be mindful of the longer term implications of your early actions when implementing new ideas.
- Copyright is essential to understand if you want to create assets that will grow in value as your business becomes more established. It crops up in many different ways.
- There is quite a lot of confusion generally with intellectual property terms like copyright, trademarks, and patents.
- The types of copyright works which are potentially relevant to individuals and businesses alike include:
- books, brochures and written content
- music
- films and videos
- photographs, drawings, and illustrations
- logos and packaging
- computer programs, and games.
- Copyright only comes into being when a work is fixed in some sort of tangible forms, such as when it’s written down
- There is no copyright infringement involved as long as the recipe they write isn’t a word for word copy of your recipe with just one or two minor changes say.
- When it is not clear cut an experienced copyright lawyer may be able to advise you, but ultimately if it’s really borderline whether there is copyright infringement or not, this is ultimately a question of fact.
- Ultimately we all stand on the shoulders of giants and there is no completely original thought. So, if you’ve developed your ideas drawing from a combination of sources then it’s more likely than not that it would be your own IP.
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Levent satisfied his burning desire to run his own business in 1995, joining his wife in her translation business, running the business from their dining room while bringing up a young family.
- Levent’s background was in print, starting as an apprentice, he moved to production management and then to digital production. He was about to be made a director when he resigned to run his own business.
- Running a team of translators, he and his wife focused on quality assurance, ensuring the tone of voice was correct for the customers' purpose.
- They rebranded in 2013, but this wasn’t without its problems as the original name Levent chose and fell in love with couldn’t be trademarked, so they had to come up with a different name and settled on TTC We Translate.
- They used the rebranding to emphasise their core values and how they are different to other translation companies
- Their core values are - social responsibility, care for the environment, put people first, invest in people and they aim to align their core values with those companies they work with
- Another aspect of their work is offering advice on cultural differences in different countries to help companies avoid making cultural errors
- Levent particularly admires Amazon because of their customer service and their vision.
- You can find Levent at ttcwetranslate.com
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Building your business’ Intellectual Capital is the way to increase the value of a business because it’s the intangible assets that account for most of the value of corporates nowadays – as much as 70-80%. It’s important to note that intellectual property is PROPERTY and therefore needs careful handling.
- Focusing on turnover is not necessarily the way to increase the multiple your business might achieve on exit
- EBITDA – with its focus on increasing revenues is not always the yardstick by which a business will be valued
- If there is a strategic fit, and a little competition from another potential buyer in the wings, a buyer may well be willing to pay a significant premium
- Whatever stage your business is at – and particularly if you are at a growth stage or thinking about exit – focus on adding value to your business, you can’t look at IP soon enough
- Examples of Sales Instagram, Whatsapp and technology companies Skyscanner
Intellectual capital includes
- Human – that is the people element
- Customer – all buyers of your products and services
- Structural
- Social
The human element comprises knowledge assets as described in the book Wealth of Knowledge by Thomas A Stewart. Strong customer capital is the value and strength of relationships that a business builds with its customers, and which is reflected in their loyalty to the business and/or its products and services. It’s a measure of the company’s brand. Douglas Atkin in the Culting of Brands maintains that the aim of a really successful business is to create a cult following among its customers.
- Structural Capital - consists of the organisation’s infrastructure, processes and databases that enable its human capital to function. It’s the tools on which the organisation is built. They support the organisation to add value to customers. It includes the capabilities, routines, methods, procedures and methodologies embedded in the organisation.
- Social Capital -refers to what makes social groups function effectively, such as the relationships between the various players, a shared sense of identity, norms and values. It’s a complex subject so a single definition of it is difficult. Social media is a component of this.
The objective when creating a valuable business is to focus on these different forms of capital and replace yourself so that it’s not about you anymore. Focusing on your systems and processes rather than purely on increasing sales and other revenue-generating activities enables you to increase the value of your business.
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In practice selling a business usually involves preparing for a sale at least 2 years in advance. It’s about identifying potential buyers, creating competition between them, making the business the best it can be in terms of EBITDA, and being ready for the sale so that nothing holds you up when a buyer for the business is available.
- Vague idea that they will grow their business and sell it one day
- Exit is generally an end that isn’t well understood
- Realise that for every success there will be many businesses that don’t make it to the other side.
- EBITDA is the traditional method of valuing a business used by accountants, namely earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation.
- Value certain parts of the business – such as stock, fixed assets
- In practice, exiting a business comes down to focusing on increasing revenues so that you have recurring income (preferably on contract). Other value drivers include IP, technology or media doing the work (to produce predictable and high margin revenues).
- Synergies within businesses can result in a valuation that is far higher than the company turnover or traditional methods of valuation might suggest
- We are living at a time when any company, even your small business, could learn from these examples, and be savvy about how to increase its value
- As the web and technology become more important in our lives, it means intellectual property is inevitably critical to businesses aiming to succeed in some way using technology.
- Daniel Priestley believes that one problem business owners have is that they don’t believe their business would operate without them.
- If you decide that you want to work till you drop then perhaps your exit planning should involve identifying a few competitors your executors could approach when the time comes
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In this episode, I discuss continuous improvement as a philosophy for life and business. I share my insights on why it’s important when tackling something new to not let imposter syndrome or the wish to be perfect get in your way.
In brief the episode covers:
- Podcasting is the next marketing frontier
- The way to overcome imposter syndrome
- Understand the value of getting a podcast up and running
- 3 specific benefits that listeners will get from each episode moving forward
- Things to learn and get right if you want to have a successful podcast
- It’s possible with podcasting to make changes to your podcast and refine and improve it over time
- Getting a bank of podcasts in place before you launch your podcast means you can get started less stressfully
- You don’t need to be an established content creator to become a successful podcaster
- A podcast is an excellent way to build an audience from scratch and position yourself as an authority in your industry
Brand Tuned belongs to azrights.com- info@azrights.com
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Jeremy Miller is the President of Sticky Branding, which is a brand building agency that helps businesses to have sticky brands. He is also the author of the book Brand New Name. He has:
- a proven step by step process to create an unforgettable brand name.
- enables entrepreneurs and marketers to name something after setting their strategy - ie what it is that the brand is or what the product or service will be, and how the name needs to perform. Establish some guidelines for success.
- it’s essential to generate a lot of potential names because we are experiencing a naming drought, so the hard part of naming is not coming up with a great idea. The hard part is finding an available name.
- Names like Kodak or Acura that are invented words provide an abstract term or an empty vessel. And so the benefit of that is you can breathe life into it in any way you want.
- Brand New Name is designed to be a naming sprint. Bring together a group of employees or individuals that are involved in the whole cycle.
- Instagramer Kail Letkemann is a startup individual and doesn't have any employees at this point. So he assembled a group of individuals that were friends, colleagues, other followers on Instagram and he put a sprinting team together. And there were eight of them that participated in the process. They were volunteers who loved participating.
- You need to work with legal in some way. You're not able to do it on your own. So, engage a trademark lawyer early in the process,
- if you know right up front that you're going to need, if you're building say, a Google or a tech products that's going to be used in multiple jurisdictions or even a financial services product that might be used in multiple jurisdictions, knowing that is going to be the most important and complicated wrinkle of the whole project because now you've increased the complexity of finding an available name exponentially. That might determine the type of name you choose.
- Global does not come up all that often, the majority of companies are focused on specific markets.
- One of Jeremy’s favourite brands is Twitter. It's a suggestive evocative name of what the platform is like and it inform their entire identity and ethos from the beginning.
If you have questions on this episode or any other of the past episodes and would like Shireen Smith to answer them on the podcast please send a voice message to info@azrights.com
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Stephen Robertson graduated with a law degree before qualifying as a chartered accountant with Deloitte. During his thirty years in corporate finance, he has worked in banking, angel investment and the PLC sector. He founded Metis Partners in 2003 to support businesses to maximise the value of their IP assets.
- He believes in the importance of setting the foundations in place early for both a personal brand and corporate brand and not to ignore developing a solid product brand for your products so you can spin them off in the future if you choose.
- Helps clients identify IP assets beyond traditional registrable assets such as software, trade secrets, data and analytics.
- Strong IP has value when selling a business and when properly valued can increase the amount a seller can expect to receive.
- Shows clients how IP can increase the value of a business when selling: for example through strong customer relationships built over time, software licences and trade secrets in the form of unique processes.
- Helps clients understand that IP can only go onto their balance sheet at market value by separating it out of the business. Also he outlines the value in using a holding company to shield the IP assets of the business.
- Guides clients to develop an IP strategy that is a set of objectives that protects their IP and allows their business to become more successful.
- You can email Shireen at: info@azrights.com with any questions for Stephen
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In this episode, Shireen Smith discusses the importance of brand protection in marketing. Surprisingly, less than a third of agencies register their names as a trademark. This suggests many designers and others who offer branding services have little appreciation of the relationship between brand creation and brand protection.
The ramifications of not registering a trademark are many:
- You have no recourse if you have not used the name in business. So once you choose a name, register it for your brand.
- Registering a company name or domain name won’t give you any protection and you don’t own the rights to the brand name unless you register a trademark
- Securing your name as a word trademark is the priority and you can then register a logo, tagline, music and packaging or other elements of your brand later
- Trademark registration gives you power. If a big business wants to use the same name, they’ll often offer money to buy your trademark if you have legal title.
- The trademark registry in the US will not allow registration if there is any conflict with an existing trademark
- Laws in the UK and EU are not as stringent
- It’s advisable to use a trademark professional in the first instance as it is easy to get it wrong
- It costs ten times as much to deal with a complication as it does to register your name in the first place
- China is a case in point if you manufacturer in China secure local trademark protection to avoid your brand being hijacked
- Trademark is just one way in which you protect your brand. Another is copyright which is hugely relevant and will be covered in depth in the future.
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Chrissie Lightfoot is a prominent international legal figure, entrepreneur, author and CEO of Robot Lawyer LISA. She has written two books including - The Naked Lawyer and Tomorrow’s Naked Lawyer.
- Started in business before training as a lawyer in her mid-30s and used her own personal brand to bring in clients for the solicitor’s practice where she did her training.
- After the launch of her first book, The Naked Lawyer in late 2010, she was asked to speak at a number of legal events around the world.
- Has worked with many solicitors and barristers at different stages of their careers to help them with their personal branding
- Has worked remotely with lawyers worldwide, mentoring them to niche themselves and dovetail their personal brand with their company's strategy.
- Uses the brand triage - strong personal brand, strong product brand and strong company brand to increase reach and depth of reach
- Developed Robot Lawyer LISA in 2017 to help automate legal agreements online
- Chrissie admires Oprah Winfrey for the way she uses her brand to bring about positive change as well as David Beckham for his use of his personal brand.
- Get The Naked Lawyer and Tomorrow’s Naked Lawyer.
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Theo Williams is a creative whose superpower is to provoke new ways of thinking so retailers and brands can better realise their goals. He has held many influential designs and creative roles for the likes of Habitat, John Lewis Home and others.
- After studying industrial design at Manchester University, he went to Milan in 1991 and stayed for 15 years
- Has designed packaging for Armani. products for Alessi, cardio fitness equipment for Technogym all the way up to designing brands for John Lewis
- He uses the five principles that are built into a product when designing the brand of the company selling the product
- Currently, his typical project for a client is large and encompasses product design, packaging design and brand design including logo, name and messaging
- He particularly admires Whole Foods and Apple for their consistent coordination and sticking to their fundamental principles.
- Theo can be contacted through theowilliams.com
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Hannah Power is a personal branding specialist who focuses on supporting purpose driven entrepreneurs and experts to become powerful online leaders.
- Has been immersed in the world of personal branding since she was six when her parents set up the first online business network.
- Two sides to her business: one side is about coaching and training and the other is an agency where they offer done for you services.
- Her agency does content creation and content sharing on social media and content collation platforms like YouTube
- Hannah is the author of the book - The Power of You, which helps inspire anybody to build their personal brand.
- Hannah's methodology comprises the seven core components of powerful personal branding. Her Scorecard helps you assess your personal brand to understand how well developed it is www.hannahpower.co.uk
- Brands Hannah admires are:
- Gabby Bernstein
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- Dr Joe Dispenza
- Simon Sinek
- Jeff Bezos
- Steve Jobs
- Bill Gates
- Accenture
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Shireen discusses How Not to Brand Your Business in the 21st century and talks about the lack of awareness of IP, Brand names, the silo approach and the importance of combining creatives and lawyers when creating a new brand or revisiting an existing brand.
- Society has been transformed by Coronavirus with many businesses having to operate exclusively online.
- The lack of awareness of IP and the intangibles it protects can cause serious problems for businesses
- Three core IP rights you have to consider:
- Copyright
- Trademarks
- Confidentiality
- How not to make the same mistakes Tesco did with Clubcard because they didn’t combine brand creation and brand protection
- Why branding agencies should bring in the right expertise upfront if they are offering a naming service
- Why an interdisciplinary approach allows for an effective creative process and protecting your IP for your online business
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Chris Radford author of the book Attractive Marketing is a former marketing director of Pepsi and managing director at Head Sports. His business, Differentiate (www.differentiate.co) supports business leaders to create better marketing and sales strategies.
- His methodology, called The Attractive Thinking Approach is based on these five steps:
- Pinpoint - Understanding customer problems
- Position - Solving them better than your competitors
- Perfect - Creating Products customers love
- Promote - Making sure customers can buy them
- Pitch - Making it happen
- He believes that people only buy emotionally from people they like but that they also want a product that leaves them feeling in control of a situation
- Two simple tools he recommends to understand your customers better than your competitors is a customer interview and to survey the market using a research company that provide customer panels of representative groups.
- Chris particularly admires Riverford the organic veg box company and their way of communicating with their customers.
- The best way to contact Chris is at chrisradford.net or by email at chris@chrisradford.net
- His book Attractive Thinking
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Shireen introduces series 2 of the podcast explaining there will be a weekly release of a podcast episode, which will be a mix of solo and interview episodes. In this episode, Shireen discusses how businesses are adapting to coronavirus and the prospect of a recession.
For the next year, we can expect more uncertainty in business. Some businesses are pivoting to an online solution, while others are rethinking their offerings. It's important to consider IP strategically if you are rethinking your brand is Shireen's message in this episode
- In addition to the podcast, Shireen is hosting a series of complimentary webinars to support the business community and take them through her TUNED framework
- TUNED stands for:
- Think IP First
- Understand the ideal customer
- Name it right
- Establish your brand identity
- Drive your brand strategy
- In the future, there will be solo episodes discussing topics like naming and guests who support businesses to identify new names, or who can discuss values, purpose, IP value and so on.
- Building a powerful brand is relevant to everyone from a startup to a growing business looking to attract more clients
- IP should be part of a business and brand strategy as well as part of the creative process
- You can register for the next webinar on 10 June 2020 at the Brand Tuned registration page and see a recording of the first webinar www.brandtuned.com/webinar-brand-tuned
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Stephen Fenton supports his clients to work out what they want customers to think, feel and do as a result of their brand. Winning client business was the hardest part of running his own business when he started out.
- Stephen owns and runs Zeke Creative specialising in branding in the home and interior sector.
- His agency specialises in high-end home and interior clients from small businesses to multi-billion dollar organisations
- He focuses on brand creation, brand development and brand review, refresh and maintenance
- As a result of the pandemic has been involved in helping a client develop a virtual showroom using 3d 360-degree images to allow a virtual tour.
- His agency has a number of clients who he does tactical, ongoing work who have been with him for 10+ years
- The brands he most admires are Bulthaup who are high-end kitchen designers and Perrin and Rowe brassware and tap manufacturers.
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Will Critchlow, who has recently sold Distilled, the international SEO consultancy that he co-founded discusses how he developed the brand in response to the needs of the business as it grew. They looked at what the whole organisation stood for, and what was their meaning in the marketplace as it helped them recruit the right people.
- Post the sale of Distilled, Will retains Search Pilot, a SaaS product the business had developed.
- Helping his father in his electronics business influenced Will's entrepreneurial leanings as he saw the time and freedom setting up his own business gave his father.
- Brand came late in their journey. Reputation came first, then looking at what the organisation stood for later.
- Used their company values to hire and promote members of the team they developed a checklist to evaluate candidates against their core values.
- Built a training platform Distilled U both as an internal resource and as a digital asset with a subscription service
- The most admired brand is Wistia run by some good friends of his. Loves the way they have infused their personalities and a sense of fun into their business
- Click the link to Wistia
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Ronnie Fox a UK lawyer, discusses how choosing his niche carefully helped him to build his personal brand during his long and successful career. Here’s a link to his law firm - www.foxlawyers.com
- Became partner of a top twenty law firm two years post qualification
- In March 1989 set up his own firm with colleagues and ended up specialising in employment work
- Developed an interest in the psychological aspect of employment work which led to moving into partnership work
- Formed the Association of Partnership Practitioners in 1998
- The Association of Partnership Practitioners contributed to the development of the Limited Liabilities Partnership Act in 2000
- Edited and wrote the preface for a book on Retirement and Planning for Retirement.
- The link to his book
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Stephen Willard discusses his unique employee-focused approach to all things brand related, and how he goes about supporting his clients to identify new names.
- To build highly democratic brands where employees feel a part of the process – something that appeals to Millenials.
- Their approach to branding is bottom-up rather than top-down, ensuring employee inclusiveness across the organisation
- He discusses his approach to developing new product names in the tech industry, financial services and insurance
- His strong belief in empowering employees and rousing their emotions is his defining approach
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Laura Janes of Uniquity Strategic specialises in marketing and branding in the financial services industry. In this episode, she discusses her process for branding companies that have had some traction and are focusing on actions to take them to the next stage of their growth.With a background in financial services marketing at Lloyds and AXA wealth before setting up Uniquity to help SMEs in the financial sector with strategy, marketing and branding. Her mission is to build better financial services brands that matter.
- As well as large corporate clients Laura specialises in companies with a turnover of £1 million +
- Her speciality is financial services companies including wealth and financial planning businesses, mortgage companies and insurance companies
- She starts her process with an in-depth workshop, looking at how they have achieved their success to date
- Laura uses the three-word game to help clients identify their positioning and having stories that represent each of the words.
- Laura’s favourite brand in the financial services industry is Monzo because of their visual identity and their overall customer experience is so good.
- Laura can be found at uniquity.co
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David B. Horne on his methodology for scaling businesses, the impact of Covid-19 on business valuations, raising finance, and on his own plans. We also discuss how he developed his own brand.
- His acronym FACE stands for: Fund, Acquire, Consolidate, Exit
- One of the businesses he worked with achieved a growth of 25 x in just three years
- Covid-19 and lockdown will affect business valuations, but investors are still looking to invest once the pandemic is over
- Rebranding two companies can bring them together and unify them
- IP and brand are key in the value of a business
- Here is a link to David’s Book Add then Multiply
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James discusses what’s involved to brand an early-stage business, and what work they themselves should ideally first do before seeking help with branding and communications.
- The work that a company needs to do prior to working with James includes:
- Proof of concept through research
- Market size
- Competition analysis
- Price points
- James’ agency then adds different ways to communicate with their customers, employees, partners and joint venture partners and the company vision.
- Why the world doesn’t need more start-ups, it needs more great businesses
- The three phases James takes his clients through when he is consulting with them:
- Vision and Mission
- Visual design
- Execution
- Why you have to focus on core beliefs as a startup to move forward and stand out
- The importance of being able to clearly articulate your values
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In this episode of the BrandTuned Podcast Shireen interviews Susan Payton who helps business owners tell three stories - their personal story, their business story and their customer story.
- How a career writing and researching in TV and radio led to Susan's business which revolves around how businesses should use stories
- Susan has trained in Nashville with Donald Miller - the author of Story Brand and is a certified story brand guide
- Why your customer’s story is the most important story of all, the one to focus on
- Showcasing what your customer needs will show you care about their problems
- A good example of business storytelling in action is TOMS shoes who donate a pair of shoes for every pair they sell.
- Susan can be found at thebusinessofstories.com
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Daniel Priestley runs business accelerators for entrepreneurs. In this episode, he discusses the Dent rebrand, Lifestyle v. Performance boutique, and the new edition of his book Oversubscribed
- How the entrepreneurial revolution shifts people to earn money through entrepreneurship and starting and growing their own businesses as the Industrial Revolution changed the way we live and work.
- Why visual identity has to work harmoniously with the rest of the brand identity and has to be simple and clean
- What happens when you nail your vision and its simple, the clear message becomes a turning point for your business
- How having a strong culture and vision allows you to attract the right kind of people when you’re recruiting talent.
- Why Daniel incentivises new hires to leave quickly if they discover his company isn’t a good fit for them
- What presidential elections can teach you about the evolution of marketing
- Daniel released a new edition of his book Oversubscribed: How to get people lining up to do business with you in February 2020
- The two main successful business variations are Lifestyle Boutique. 3 - 12 staff, profitable and lots of fun. The second is Performance business that employs 40 to 150 staff who are a talented team, it has recurring revenues, assets and a good niche in the marketplace.
- How businesses are valued by various methods including benchmarking, multiples of profit and based on their brand, market position and systems like Uber for instance.
- Daniel's book Oversubscribed: How To Get People Lining Up To Do Business With You and his website dent.global.
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In this episode, Shireen discusses why branding has to become interdisciplinary for the good of the organisations rebranding.
- How legal and creative teams working together gives a better outcome
- The current situation for most organisations is the silo approach
- Why organisations need to identify their purpose, what change they want to make in the world.
- Brand Tuned has been launched to change the existing conversation around branding and allow founders to get a holistic approach to branding and IP.
- The BrandTuned podcast is to showcase the journeys people have had with their brand.
- Our purpose is to bring professional guidance and inspiration to every brand in the world so they can build on strong foundations and succeed in their aims and ventures.
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