When thinking about a ‘start-up’, ‘starting’ is rarely a clear line in the sand that you cross — it is a continual journey that, at times, can feel like travelling in a fog without knowing how far you have to go, or even if you are pointing in the right direction (let alone the hidden beasts that may live in the mists, waiting.)

That's quite enough of the mock Stephen King vibes for now. What does this all mean when trying to communicate through such uncertain terrain? If there is one common truth amongst the start-ups and young businesses we have been fortunate to work with over the years, it’s this:

As your audience grows, your message must be able to adapt.

Not the most inspiring ‘one-liner’ perhaps, yet proves to be true, time and time again. It may feel like it goes against the grain when we think about brand consistency, however bear with me. There are a number of factors that back this up:

Varied Opportunities:
Opportunities for different stages of investment, collaboration with partners, market commercialisation, recruitment and access to new territories are just some of the emerging ‘audiences’ a growing business has to communicate with, and your brand must be relevant to each at the right time, for the right reasons.

Individual Motivations:
After all, what an investor needs to hear within a 20-minute pitch may be different to the kind of details a long-term technology partner might want to know. Similarly, what resonates with a potential new recruit will be a different shade to that of an early adopter client.

Cohesive yet Adaptive:
The need to pivot the messaging to a new audience or stakeholder is frequent but, as a whole, has to be part of one cohesive and consistent value proposition. The key is having enough agility to adapt and prioritise a message or approach that will speak to each given audience you have to engage with.

Sometimes you need the nutcracker, other times only the sledgehammer will do.

As part of any brand strategy we work on, we seek to clarify (among other things) who the main stakeholders are — what motivates them, what they value, where they can be found and why they would care in the first place. This lets us understand what must be seen, heard and understood to best tell a relevant story that reflects the desires of these audiences.

This provides the blueprint vital for future brand and marketing development. From this understanding, the components for brand communication begin to be formed, including but not limited to:

Key Brand Characteristics
Words and Semantics
Tone of Voice
Messaging ‘buckets’
… and so on…

…before moving onto the visual brand stage, which is a whole other thing.

Always happy to talk over how you could frame your story 'dear reader' (as Stephen King would say), so please drop into our Studio and start-up the conversation about your start-up or growing business - there might be a good coffee in it for you.

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