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| Kicking off the session. |
Lufthansa has, for the last three years, sponsored a start-up focused show called “Runway to Success”, on business channel ET Now. The program is a kind of start-up version of “Survivor” with a bunch of start-ups applying for prizes (and attention) and rising through levels. This year, in an attempt to elevate the level of the participation the show Lufthansa, in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs, organized a series of mentorship camps across 6 Indian cities. My partner at Midas Touch, Radha Giri, and I were invited to join the panel of mentors and help the participating start-ups understand the value of and the approach to branding. The event was a great success with close to 140 start-ups registering for an intense half day exercise.
The presentation we used, “The case for start-ups and entrepreneurs to embrace social media”, is at the link below but let me take this opportunity to talk through the essence of what we presented.
Clearly, there is value in establishing the start-up’s brand. As Alina Wheeler had said, “Brand is the promise, the big idea, the expectations that reside in each customer’s mind about a product, services or company. Branding is about making an emotional connection.” Given the resource constraints and the focus of most start-ups, a convincing case can be made for them to focus their brand-building efforts on the digital and social space. Start-ups can effectively leverage social media to:
Ø Let the world know about them – who they are, what they represent and how they are different
Ø Connect with their target audience
Ø Let it be known that they are active and open for business
Ø Let their content play at the same level as the content from their more established competitors
Ø Get traffic to their web properties and also, provide support to offline sales or campaign activities
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| Full House. |
Having established the value of adopting the digital world it is important to understand what should guide the initiative. It is important to not do too little while being conscious of not spending too much. It is also important to remember to give the initiative the time it needs to take root and to be “genuine” in the content you share. Borrowing from Sean Gardner, “Social media is not just an activity, it is an investment of valuable time and resources. Surround yourself with people who not just support you and stay with you, but inform your thinking about ways to WOW your online presence.”
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| Radha Giri talking Personal Branding |
Start-ups considering social media have their own concerns, some of them coming down to a mismatch of expectations on what can or cannot be achieved. While start-ups can expect a sharply increased awareness of their brand and more “warm” connections when they do connect with their target customers it would not be appropriate for them to expect their social media efforts to become a lead generation engine or to be a substitute for sales efforts!
The other critical branding pillar for start-ups is the personal brand of the founder -among the biggest assets of the start-up. Like Jason Hartman said, “Your personal brand is a promise to your clients.. a promise of quality, consistency, competency and reliability.” Creating an appropriate personal brand for the founder, just like creating an appropriate brand for the start-up comes down to creating well-thought out content addressed to the target customers and then promoting it on the social channels those target customers are likely to frequent.
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| The Mentors. |
Bernard Kelvin Clive had said, “In a competitive crowded world market, it's the well positioned brands that Stands Out!” In today’s social age, it is also clear that brand-building is no longer an activity for the big boys. The upstart start-ups can build just as powerful brands and reap the benefits.
SlideShare Link to Full Presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/MidasTouchConsultants/the-case-for-startups-entrepreneurs-to-embrace-social-media
