Launching your own business is a big deal!

It takes a huge leap of faith to go from an idea that you’ve been dreaming up to actually launching a brand.

Amidst the thousands of priorities that you are juggling, taking the time to ensure you have built your brand in a way that is going to enable you to stand out from the crowd AND make a positive difference in the world is an invaluable investment in your brand’s future success.

When you build a brand that aims to transform the world for the better, you’ll…

• Disrupt and lead the industry to new possibilities (rendering competition obsolete!);
• Build meaningful connections with ideal clients who share your beliefs and won’t squabble over pricing;
• Attract passionate, purpose-driven partners and talent;
• Make the positive impact in the world that you created your brand for in the first place.

As you get ready to press go, let’s check in to ensure that you have the right fundamentals in place for your brand to take off.

Step 1: Find your brand purpose

Sure, you know why you created your brand. But are you able to articulate your brand’s purpose in a clear and compelling way?

Your brand purpose is your North Star. It will enable you to rally your ideal clients, stand out from your competitors and guide you in all your decisions and communication.

It is therefore the first crucial step to building your brand for positive impact.

Here’s the best trick to help you find your purpose: think about what frustrates you the most about your industry and how your brand can solve that.

Think BIG and BOLD: how are you challenging the status quo of your industry and leading it to new possibilities?

Follow this framework to help you with the articulation of your brand purpose:

In a world where … [insert your biggest frustration],

We exist to … [insert how your brand solves this],

So that … [insert the change this will lead to in the world] 

Once you have your statement, you can make it shorter and sexier. This snappy statement could even become your brand tagline!

  Patagonia’s purpose is to save our home planet. They share their mission loud & proud in their stores and across all communication.

Step 2: Identify your client niche

Once you have a clearly articulated brand purpose, you want to focus on identifying who your brand purpose will resonate with.  

It’s about finding the clients who believe the same as you and want to help make that impact in the world.

To find your ideal niche, start with your own community. Your friends, your family, the communities you are part of and love. 

The key here is going as niche as you possibly can! It is not just about demographics (age, gender, income, etc,.) but about values and beliefs. Get to know them as well as you know your best friend.

I know it’s counterintuitive to choose NOT to target certain potential clients, but just because your brand couldappeal to many different types of people doesn’t mean that you should target all of them. Find the smallest possible niche to start with and get to know them intimately. Ensure that you speak their language, find them where they are and treat them like your best friends, so that your brand becomes BELOVED.

Believe me, if you stay focused and nurture your niche in the right way, they will be the ones that help you to scale.

Lululemon's success stems from narrowing its target audience from active individuals interested in all sports to women who are interested in yoga & fitness. The brand has built a strong community by offering yoga classes and events.

Step 3: Establish a unique positioning

The next step is establishing a unique brand positioning so that you clearly stand out.

Look at all your competitors and how they talk about themselves and their benefits and then lay out how your brand is unique and different.

Your positioning will stem from your purpose but putting the accent on a few specific criteria that you want your brand to be known for is important to help you communicate about your brand.

Once you have identified these points of difference, get really clear on how they will come to life. Ideally, you will be able to showcase your brand’s unique traits across all aspects, from your product and packaging to your sourcing, communication and innovation.

And of course, ensure that whatever makes your brand unique is what your ideal client niche wants and loves!

Airbnb created a unique brand positioning in the hospitality industry by creating a community-driven platform for unique travel experiences. With Airbnb, it's not just a hotel stay, it's an adventure that enables you to live like a local.

Step 4: Bring your brand identity to life

Now is the time to get your creative juices flowing and bring your brand to life!

Your brand identity includes the brand name, logo, visual identity - such as colors and fonts – as well as your brand voice.

You may want to work with a designer for this; creating a mood board can be a good way to share your vision. Alternatively, there are many tools to help you create a basic design kit on your own, such as Canva. 

A few things to think about:

Brand name:

• Make sure it is easy to understand and pronounce globally;
• Check url availability;
• Ensure the brand name is not trademarked in the industry and countries you want to operate in.

Logo:

• This should be a visual mark that encompasses the idea of your brand in a creative way;
• Ensure you have a main version that can work on a white background but also another version that can work on a dark background;
• Make it ownable! Don’t just blend into the crowd like these ones:

Many brands have diluted their identities over the years. Don’t be one of them!

Colors:

• Choose one primary brand color that is used in your logo as well as one (or two) secondary color(s) that complement it. Colors are crucial and can become ownable to the brand.

 Tiffany’s iconic turquoise color makes its packaging recognizable without the brand name or logo.

Fonts:

• Choose one font for your titles and another for your body copy, ensuring they complement each other;
• Make sure they bring your brand identity to life!Fonts can convey a message in themselves.

Consistency is key. Once your visual assets are defined, make sure you use them consistently across all touchpoints!

Step 5: Craft your brand story 

The final step is to craft the brand story that you will tell across your website, your social channels and your communication.

Your brand story should bring your brand purpose to life but also connect with your ideal clients by showing them why it matters to them.

Follow these 4 steps to write your brand story:

1. Start with sharing your purpose: why you created your brand. If you have an active role as the founder, share your story as well (not your whole life story but the part that is relevant to the brand).
2. Share the problem you are looking to solve and show how your brand is uniquely positioned to solve it.
3. Show your clients the difference your brand will make in their lives but also how they can make a difference by engaging with your brand.
4. End with a call-to-action (sign up to mailing list, join a community, buy a product…).

 Check out Tony’s Chocolonely’s brand story here: https://tonyschocolonely.com/int/en/our-story/our-mission

 Make sure you are eliciting emotions in your storytelling. The best way to do this is to write with sensory language. Think of all five senses and how you can bring them to life.

Here are some examples:

Once your brand story is clear, you will need to work on a content strategy to ensure you show up consistently with your compelling brand message.

Choose one platform, one key message, one hero product and keep showing up. 

Be BRAVE in your actions and your communication. 

This is how you build a brand that is BIG, BOLD, BRAVE and BELOVED and starts a movement of positive change in the world.

The Recap

These 5 steps will give you the strong foundations you need to launch a successful brand and have a positive impact in the world:

1. Find and articulate your brand purpose: why does your brand exist?
2. Identify your ideal client niche: who will truly love what you have to offer?
3. Establish a unique positioning: what makes your brand unique and different?
4. Bring your brand identity to life with logo, fonts, colors and brand voice.
5. Craft your brand story to magnetize your ideal clients: how will you communicate with your clients?

And if you need any help building your brand for positive impact, you may want to consider my 5-week online program “Build Your Brand For Positive Impact” in which we will work through each of these steps to ensure your brand is set up to be  BIG, BOLD, BRAVE and BELOVED and create the impact it is made for!

Get on the waitlist to be the first to hear when the program is ready to launch: https://www.thebutterflymovements.com/start-up-signature-program