Branding Archives | Page 8 of 16 | Bristol Creative Industries

In part 1 of this series, we looked at the power of brand storytelling in the wealth management sector. In this second part, we’ll explore the first of the audience segments that winning brands need to address as an integral part of their story: women with wealth.

This has been a challenging audience for the male-dominated wealth management industry to address. But it is an increasingly important segment for wealth managers to address, both in their marketing, and as part of their business model. Here’s why:

This wealth is being generated by more women in leadership roles, female entrepreneurs and female-led businesses. There is also a growing proportion of intergenerational wealth being passed to women, and the statistics show that many of them inherit between the age of 25-35. (source: BCG Global Wealth)

Across the board, Boston Consulting Group found that younger generations of women are taking control of their financial interests.

However, only two out of five women say they are confident making financial decisions, despite evidence showing that when women are deciding on investments, they often spend more time researching and gathering information than men.

Despite this growing opportunity, according to Ernst and Young, 73% of UK women feel their adviser misunderstands their goals or cannot empathise with their lifestyle. Consequently, the research found that 62% of women are willing to consider switching to another adviser compared with 42% of men.

“…70% of widows sacked their adviser after their husband’s death…”

The most profound of these statistics comes from Boston Consulting Group who found that 70% of widows sacked their adviser after their husband’s death.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that these women might prefer a female advisor, but that’s not necessarily the case.

Whilst wealth management is still a largely male-dominated sector (although this is changing slowly), according to a survey by Canada’s Strategy Marketing consultancy, only 7% actually wanted a female adviser. Across the board, research studies show that women want advice that demonstrates an understanding of their approach and attitude to investing, as it is distinctly different to men.

There’s been a lot of research published over the last ten years about what women want from a wealth management service. So it’s surprising to see how slow the industry has been in adopting its findings. Especially considering that the audience makes up 43% of the addressable market. Even more so, when you consider how relatively simple it is to understand and address their needs.

Fundamentally women, unlike men, are not interested in investment performance for its own sake. UBS reports that women are more interested in what the money is for, rather than how it is invested. For them, it’s not a competitive pursuit in which data shows how much you’re winning or losing. Investing, for the majority of women, is about achieving their own personal goals.

The specifics of these goals will change at different points throughout their life.

An overwhelming majority of women want their investments to benefit people, society and the planet. The Center for Talent Innovation (now Coqual) report that 88% of women want to invest in organisations that promote social wellbeing.

Along with these specific goals and aims, women’s mindsets are an important consideration. This means building trust is essential when advertising to women. The WealthyHer report found that:

“…88% of women want to invest in organisations that promote social wellbeing…”

So how are wealth management brands reflecting these facts in their brand story? For us, there are two leaders.

First, let’s look at UBS. They have applied a goal-orientated approach to their brand story, using the ‘questions’ narrative we discussed in Part 1 of this blog series across the customer journey. The photography gives a sense that they are talking to both men and women. The goals and questions raised feel like they apply naturally to anyone. It never feels forced, contrived or patronising.

Having made their brand story broad and inclusive, they also create a specific journey for women. This includes advice services, online content, resources and communities aimed specifically at them.

ABRDN is the second leader, in our opinion. Whilst UBS is subtle and understated in its application, ABRDN is incredibly direct and concise. First, with sustainable investment as its headline message, it taps into the zeitgeist, particularly for women, as the research shows.

But then, look at the body copy. The core points from the research are all addressed. Again, this never feels contrived, forced or patronising. The brand has achieved an egalitarian position, equally appealing to men and women, young and old.

However, with increasing competition in the market, we expect to see more brands adopt a more inclusive narrative in their brand stories. The big test will, of course, be whether the service they offer lives up to their brand promise. Walking the talk will definitely be more challenging than creating the story.

“…we expect to see more brands adopt a more inclusive narrative in their brand stories…”

While we can’t necessarily help you practice what you preach consistently, we can certainly help you market to women. Our team of experts can advise you on inclusive storytelling, advertising campaigns and so much more. Get in touch by emailing [email protected]

And don’t miss the next blog in our Wealth Management series, all about marketing to millennials.

Flourish Lead Developer, Hussein Alhammad, is a founding member of the Email Markup Consortium (EMC). The EMC is a community-led group working to improve the user experience, accessibility, performance, consistency, and reliability of email markup. They have recently published an insightful report on the state of accessibility in HTML emails based on their analysis of over 35,000 emails.

More than 99% of the analysed emails had accessibility issues. This means most businesses are sending emails that are made difficult for a percentage of their audience to consume. Whether you are trying to increase conversion or simply communicate better with your customers, sending accessible HTML emails to your audience can make a huge difference.

Accessibility in email makes your products and services available to customers who are blind, colour blind, dyslexic or need to use assistive technologies or alternative input device – potentially a large proportion of your customer base.

Automated testing is immensely helpful, but more attention is required to truly produce accessible HTML emails. Accessibility work should be a core part of all stages – not only implemented during development, after everything has been decided already.

For example, design has a major impact on the accessibility of your email. Designers should consider colour choices and typography, as well as the dark mode friendly images.

There are also best practices to apply when writing copy for your emails, such as avoiding ‘click here’ calls to action, optimising SEO for email, and making the most of personalisation and creative subject lines.

Your unique audience could be more diverse than you think. Therefore, translation software can be considered an assistive technology. And when it comes to email, many email clients including Gmail and Outlook have a built-in translation feature. Ensuring any text that is critical to delivering your message is not embedded in an image is crucial here. Translation software is not going to translate embedded text for the user. You could make key information inaccessible by embedding it in an image.

Do you need help with improving your email accessibility, deliverability or generally your CRM practices when it comes to communicating with your audience? The Flourish team are here to help. Working alongside our in-house experts like Hussein, we can help you optimise, elevate and transform your use of email to deliver the best customer experience. Get in touch to discuss your challenges and to request a free email review.

The National Governance Association (NGA) has announced the appointment of Bristol based Mentor Digital as its digital agency partner for a series of upcoming high profile digital projects. Following a highly competitive and extensive procurement process, led by technical procurement experts Hart Square, Mentor Digital was chosen as the winning bidder to deliver a new website, CMS solution, and CRM integration for NGA. Alongside the UX and website build project, Mentor Digital has also been selected by NGA in a separate tender process to deliver a full rebrand of the organisation including a new logo, style guide, and branding guidelines document. These projects will help NGA to deliver their ambitious digital strategy and will develop a solid foundation both creatively and technically for NGA & Mentor Digital to build upon in partnership over the coming years.

The National Governance Association (NGA) is the membership organisation for governors, trustees and clerks of state schools in England. Mentor Digital will design and develop a new CMS and website to support NGA’s 75,000 members. The project will include brand new information architecture and website design, along with new UX and user journeys to provide an excellent experience for members as they are onboarded, renew their memberships, and take advantage of the many excellent services that NGA provides.

Mentor Digital’s MD Holland Risley said “We are absolutely delighted to have been chosen by NGA for this project. The whole team has been great to work with during the procurement process, and we are really excited to be adding such a prestigious membership organisation to our client portfolio!”

NGA provides members with CPD and training opportunities along with an extensive e-learning offering through their highly popular Learning Link subscriptions. During the tender process NGA was impressed by Mentor Digital’s award-winning e-learning work for the National Composite’s centre. Integrating e-learning platforms is a large and exciting part of this project, and Mentor Digital presented a strong ability to deliver solutions to NGA’s challenging requirements.

As with all major membership organisations NGA has a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system that needs to be seamlessly integrated with the new website. Mentor Digital’s team is highly experienced at integrating 3^rd party CRM systems with front end websites and have many high-profile case studies of doing very similar projects with major membership organisations, including Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), Equity (the artists union), and Research in Practice.

To develop a website of this scale requires an in-depth process of stakeholder engagement, user research, design, and prototyping. Mentor Digital will lead an extensive series of discovery workshops with NGA and their members before producing fully mobile responsive prototypes as part of the project process to allow for the new website to be fully user tested using mobile devices and desktops. Mentor’s UX testing team carries out mobile device guerrilla testing with specialist cameras for mobile devices and desktop UX testing, with their eye tracking suite, to ensure that all interfaces and journeys are intuitive and clear when used by real world users.

The websites will be developed using the excellent open-source Umbraco CMS platform, which provides highly secure, enterprise level, content management experiences with no ongoing licenses. Mentor Digital is an Umbraco Gold Partner and has implemented Umbraco CMS for many NHS Trusts and CCGs along with a wide range of B2B and B2C clients.

If your organisation is looking for a digital agency to work on a new or existing project, please get in touch with Mentor Digital, they would love to hear about your plans and how they can help you achieve them. You can fill out a contact form here or drop them an email to [email protected].

This is the first of a four-part series on marketing in the wealth management sector. In later instalments we’ll be looking at approaches to target women with wealth, millennials and summarising some key marketing trends to remain relevant. In this first episode we look at brand building in a changing, increasingly competitive market.

Wealth management marketing is a challenging specialism. There’s a reason so many firms have traditionally kept a low profile, growing organically through word-of-mouth, targeted sponsorships or by acquiring their competitors. By definition, wealth management services are aimed at people who have so much money that they need help managing it. That’s not necessarily something you want to shout about. It’s something you talk about discreetly.

But, as the market becomes more competitive, and the mass-affluent segment grows, some wealth management firms are turning to advertising to grow their brand and stand out from the crowd – with varying degrees of success.

To have any lasting commercial impact, brands need a good story, told consistently over time. In this article we look at the creative storytelling of four recent wealth management brand campaigns and how they’ve impacted on each firm’s share of brand search.

But before we start, it’s worth briefly exploring what makes a good brand story, and how long it takes to take effect on a commercial level.

A well-crafted brand narrative creates a strong emotional link between what the brand stands for (why it exists) and the motivations and values of its customers.

While the brand is one of the characters in the story, the customer is always the main character, and the story structure is easy to follow and remember.

Les Binet and Peter Field’s The Long and Short of It is widely regarded as the industry benchmark for brand effectiveness. Their findings conclude that emotional brand building typically takes a minimum of six months to show any commercial results, and lasting results accumulate over the course of two to three years, delivering nearly twice the effect of rational direct marketing by year three.

‍“…emotional brand building typically takes a minimum of six months to show any commercial results…’

Now that we’ve established the importance of brand storytelling, the emotional impression we’re looking to make and the anticipated time frame, let’s look at some examples of wealth management campaigns.

In the first of our four examples, UBS has told the most consistent story, investing in it over time since its launch in 2015 to the present day.

The narrative is deceptively simple and classic in structure, and the central character is the client. As with all good stories, there’s a conflict expressed through the key headline question, which is escalated with further questions. The story peaks with the campaign line “For some of life’s questions, you’re not alone” and resolves with a strong call to action.

The use of rhetorical questions elevates the brand narrative from the standard argument that wealth managers know how to doit better than you, to a much more subtle, sophisticated idea that you’re an intelligent investor with questions which UBS can help you find the answers to.

Using questions to highlight pain points also creates an extremely flexible campaign, enabling the narrative to consistently connect with a diverse set of life circumstances from selling a business, to retirement, sustainable investing and intergenerational wealth transfer.

The campaign has been globally executed, targeting sophisticated investors at the higher end of the market, across digital and print channels including LinkedIn, Bloomberg, FT, The Economist, Monocle and Forbes.

The brand launch campaign for ABRDN targets the mass-affluent market and cleverly side-steps any negative perceptions of greed and personal wealth by elevating the story’s theme to ‘investment as a force for good’. Everything about it, from the story and tone of voice to the choice of people depicted, shifts the focus from services aimed at the affluent elite to wealth that benefits everyone.

The story memorably highlights the positive effects your investments can have on society, peaking with the line ‘when your investments do good things, so can you’. This completes the story arc, showing how your investments can both benefit society and your own life. The final line “we are millions of people with billions of pounds, and together we are changing our future” connects the brand with the audience with an inclusive, positive payoff.

Still running today, the integrated campaign launched in November 2021 across TV, out of home, radio, press, digital advertising, social and PR. Thanks to its really clear, well-conceived story, the campaign has made a strong impact in a relatively short space of time.

Brewin Dolphin launched a national TV campaign in mid-2021, which was clearly aimed at a mass-affluent market who were new to the concept of wealth management. It ran until the announcement of its sale to RBC in March 2022.

The advert’s message is to trust Brewin Dolphin with your investments rather than relying on your gut instinct – which can, of course, be risky. It’s a generic wealth management message with no real emotional connection.

The ad starts with some cute, attention-grabbing animals depicting the different types of investor: “the market-dip jumper, the finance-phobic plan dodger, and the follow-the-hype type.” An attempt, perhaps, at persuading the audience to think twice about their habits.

But it could be argued that rather than creating an emotional connection, this opening narrative alienates the audience by implying that their decision making isn’t especially good. At best, the segue from the opening animals into a dolphin for the end conclusion might enhance awareness of the Brewin Dolphin name – and in the absence of a compelling brand story, the creative team might have had little else to work with.

Schroders Personal Wealth launched a six-week ad campaign across print and tube adverts in November 2019, with the aim of challenging public perception about financial advice. They launched the campaign based on their own research, which found that 21% of consumers would rather visit the dentist than speak to a financial adviser. The objective was to make financial planning more accessible and appealing to people in the UK.

Similar to Brewin Dolphin, the core message was that trusting your own instincts can lead to questionable conclusions, whereas Schroders can help you make the right investment decisions.

The lead headline poses a maths question. The body copy then goes on to say that most people (and by implication, you) get the answer wrong. Schroders can help you ‘understand your own mind’ and ends with an invitation to take an investIQ test.

I don’t know for certain, but I’m pretty sure that a large percentage of the UK population would also prefer to visit a dentist than solve a maths question and take an IQ test. So, for me at least, it fails to reach the aim of making financial planning more accessible. There’s a good chance it makes it even less accessible, in fact.

Our critique of the four brand stories above has been subjective. On face value, Brewin Dolphin and Schroders appear to have struggled to create a compelling narrative that creates a memorable, emotional connection with the audience. They fail to subvert the common position that wealth managers are ‘experts you trust your wealth with’. Both campaigns were relatively short lived across a small number of channels, which, based on the research by Binet and Field, would suggest that any impact on brand salience would be limited.

“…a well-crafted brand narrative creates a strong emotional link between what the brand stands for (why it exists) and the motivations and values of its customers…”

UBS and ABRDN, on the other hand, appear to have elevated the brand promise through classic storytelling principles, promoted consistently thanks to a committed investment in a balanced portfolio of channels.

The Google Trends chart above provides us with objective data to base these judgements on, showing the relative volumes of UK brand searches for the four firms over a two-year period.

UBS (the yellow line) shows a consistently higher share of brand search over Brewin Dolphin (red) and Schroders (green), reflecting the effectiveness of the campaign with a steady investment overtime. ABRDN (blue) shows a swift incline in brand searches which they’ve sustained since the brand’s launch. In comparison, the red and green lines of Brewin Dolphin and Schroders show no discernible impact, which indicates that the creative story didn’t resonate at the time and the investment was short lived. The peak in Brewin’s volumes match the time when the sale to RBC was announced, so this is almost certainly a PR spike rather than a brand response.

While it’s still relatively early days for wealth management brand advertising, the trend certainly won’t decline as the market gets more competitive. It’s clear from these early movers that successful entrants will need to develop their own compelling brand narratives and invest in them consistently to see any significant commercial returns. It’s not a game for dabblers, as winning will require significant commitment. But the returns are potentially substantial. It will be interesting to see which of the other firms in the market grasp the nettle and seriously enter the fray.

Stay tuned for the next article on women with wealth – the second part of our wealth management marketing series.

If you’d like to explore your brand story or create a compelling campaign, get in touch with our marketing team by emailing [email protected]

How should an organisation launch a new or revamped brand? Brand launches should reflect the character and personality of the brand. They are often informed by the client and their desire and appetite for a more ritualised and expansive introduction. Two revamped brand identities we have been working on for several months will be launched in the next few weeks. Due to their shape and personal involved their launch will be subtly different. Both appropriate and both reflecting the type of organisation and personal involved.

A new brand identity is a huge opportunity to explain the new trajectory the organisation is heading, reinforce what is stands for, believes in and articulate what is important to it. Often the perception of focus for a brand launch is external. Just as important is is the internal brand launch. After all, these are the people who will represent and espouse and the brand. They are the ones who need to be totally clear what the brand stands for in order for them to live it well.

The external brand launch often will involve both digital and traditional media. If my involve PR consultants, media relations and sometimes sophisticated multimedia events coordination. Brand launch is a unique opportunity for organisations to manage their brand messaging in a controlled way before it begins swirling around in very wide circles.

In some cases clients are keen to have less razzamatazz– or soft launches – for a number or reasons. Budget is a big one. A full rebranding exercise can be expensive, not necessarily in brand consultants’ fees but in the cost of producing literature, signage, vehicle graphics, websites etc. – all in one hit. Regularly we have worked in a way that phases out the old system. . This is when existing stocks, containing the old identity are run down. New items with the new identity are created once the old ones have been used saving waste.This way a rebranding exercises can sometimes be achieved using existing budgets without the neccisity for a single one off investment.

If you would like to discuss how Ice House Design can help you with launching your brand please get in touch.

JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, were commissioned by Cheltenham-based global coffee brand SOHO Coffee Co. to produce a range of brand-level photography.

“Whilst not our primary service, we’ve always supported clients with photographic commissions given the similarity in the disciplines. In fact most of our film crew started their lives as photographers” said Russell Jones, Co-Founder and Director.

“SOHO Coffee Co. are a new client but their values resonated with our own; SOHO actually stands for Simple, Original, Honest, Organic”.

The photography is part of a brand and menu overhaul, utilising bold colours and real people, with large-scale OOH and digital advertising in mind.

“It’s always a pleasure working with talented specialists. Both were fantastic and Jo made syringing egg yolks onto sausage sandwiches look easy” said Joffie Burt, Head of Production.

They work exclusively in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, all the while telling authentic stories long before it was cool for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, Battersea, The Royal Mint, IDLES and Randstad.

A creative brief is a short document that sums up a project’s mission, goals, challenges, demographics, messaging, and other key details. Typically produced by the person heading up the project, a creative brief outlines the problems to solve and offers the tools they might need, without prescribing a solution.

Why do you need a creative brief?

To start – you need a plan! A solid creative brief ensures everyone is on the same page before the project has begun and acts as a guiding north star throughout. Simultaneously allowing a project to stay on track, whilst underpinning the creative concept and strategic thinking.

A creative brief helps align everyone on the task at hand. Even the best creative minds in the world can’t solve a problem they don’t understand. More than just an arbitrary document, it is a tool that allows for clear and thorough communication from the very beginning of the design process. It prevents potential last-minute project changes, misunderstandings, and conflicting objectives along the way.

Marjorie Newnham, Project Manager at Fiasco Design, adds: “With larger projects that involve multiple stakeholders and various rounds of creative, it’s especially important to agree on the deliverables up front, so there’s no potential for confusion later down the line.” Establishing parameters and crucially – building trust, at the beginning will help ensure a smoother project journey.

Who is a creative brief for?

It’s quite likely that the people who will use the brief are an external creative agency who may not be familiar with language that is specific to your industry. So it should be accessible to a designer or web developer, for example, and avoid lots of acronyms or jargon. However, worth adding that this doesn’t mean a creative brief needs to be dry! It’s meant to incite enthusiasm and possibilities.

Hayley Yates, Account Director at Fiasco Design, adds: “It’s valuable for us to know if a client’s been through a similar creative process before, or if this is their first time. It allows us to tailor our approach based on their level of understanding of the process, as the acronyms and jargon exist in our industry too!”

What should a creative brief include?

Whilst not an exhaustive list, including these key bits of information will help a creative agency to understand and work towards your project.

Although it might seem like a lot of information to convey in a relatively limited amount of space, a good creative brief stays focused and to the point. Pages and pages of additional information should be unnecessary. The more you are able to distill your thinking into clear and concise points, the clearer it will be to the creative agency you’re partnering with. The brief process in itself, might in fact help to refine exactly what you’re hoping to achieve.

Working at the intersection of brand and digital, we take our partners with us at every step of the creative journey. Our open and inclusive ethos helps us to create joined up work that sparks change. Looking to start a creative project? We’d love to hear from you: hello@fiasco.design.

The names Kardashian, Musk, Rogan and Winfrey are now just as well known as the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Coca Cola and Nike.

Whether you love them or hate them, their fame, notoriety and adoration are unquestionable. The Kardashians boast hundreds of millions of social media followers, Joe Rogan is the world’s most listened to podcaster and Oprah Winfrey is the very definition of the word mogul.

Individuals now hold just as much value, as leading brands… and this is all achieved through the power of personal branding.

Origins of personal branding

On this, there is much debate as to who conceived the idea of personal branding. Many claim it to be Tom Peters in a 1997 article The Brand Called You. However, history shows us that the ideals around personal branding existed long before the two words were coined together.

It was once written about Henry VIII that what he sought was not gold or gems but virtue, glory, immortality and Alexander the Great conquered nations and brought along with him his own scribe to publicise his ‘great deeds.’

It is often thought that ideals around personal branding are a modern phenomenon, turbo-charged by the ideals of social media. This is not true. You need only look to the history books to see how the ideals of personal branding have been interwoven with historical leaders.

What is personal branding?

Personal branding is the practice of building an identity for oneself, based on a number of elements such as knowledge, background, experience and values. Once established, this identity is then strategically projected to the outside world.

This is very much like brand-building for a business, it’s something that takes time, dedication, know-how and lots of time and patience.

Personal branding in action can range from overt to covert. We see it in day-to-day life more than we think. Magazine covers, newspaper articles and social media streams are filled with personal branding activities, and these are some of the most overt examples of it in action.

But the more subtle elements of personal branding can fly under the radar, being noticed only in a more subliminal manner.

Why is personal branding important?

Simply put, strong brands help you attract more customers, it helps with longevity and helps to tell your story, and build authenticity and trust. This is a strategic process with many benefits for both the individual and any brand or business they may be affiliated with.

Consider the personal brand of Steve Jobs. At the peak of his powers and the resurgence of Apple as a brand powerhouse. Brand Jobs and brand Apple were intertwined and interchangeable. Apple’s success could not have happened without Jobs.

Building a personal brand is a strategic process with an array of benefits for you and your business. A strong personal brand increases your authority and trust, shapes the way you’re perceived, boosts your competitive advantage and can provide great credibility and trust.

Building a personal brand

Creating a personal brand takes time, effort, and dedication. Having a distinct and well-thought-out personal branding strategy is key.

Every strong personal brand is routed in a unifying identity. This is built around the core drivers, motivators, interests, and beliefs of the individual. This is the keystone of building an authentic brand

Example: David Attenborough is perhaps the shining example of a personal brand in action. A man who has used his passion and his knowledge to tremendous educational effect, endearing himself to a global audience in the process.

2. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR

Once you have the who, think about that what… namely ‘what’ do you want to be known for.

Example: Margaret Thatcher wanted to be seen as a leader, so the image of the Iron Lady was created. A change in physical appearance and numerous photo opportunities reinforced this. The famous Tank driving image was one of the most powerful in setting the tone for The Iron Lady.

3. DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE

Trying to appeal to the masses straight from the get-go does nothing more than dilute your brand.

Instead, try focussing on defining a specific niche that’s well-aligned with your ethos and what you want to achieve. You can build your audience over time, but don’t make the mistake of trying to go too large too soon.

Example: Joe Rogan didn’t become the world’s biggest podcaster overnight. He started in the world of mixed martial arts and stand-up comedy, building a fanbase over years before branching out to podcasting.

4. SHARE YOUR STORY

People want to connect with people, and sharing your personal story and your professional success is one of the best ways of endearing yourself with a consumer base. If you don’t want to mix your personal and professional life, then talk about your business journey instead.

Example: Gary Vaynerchuck famously ‘holds up five’ in his photographs. This is a link to his personal story. As a child, he longed for a New York Jets jersey, but his parents couldn’t afford one. So his mother knitted him a jersey, with his name and the number five on the back.

5. GIVE BACK

Corporate responsibility and empathy are important traits in personal branding.

Now, as consumers shift focus away from praising multi-millionaires and billionaires for their achievements. Gen Z and millennial consumers are particularly concerned with brands and individuals who are mission-focused and have ESG on their agenda. This is why it’s important to cultivate an ethical and trustworthy image that sets you and your business apart.

Example: Bill Gates is perhaps one of the most high-profile examples of celebrities giving back. To date, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given more than $50 billion dollars to causes throughout the world.

6. BUILD AN ENGAGING WEBSITE

An important aspect of building a strong brand is owning your domain and building a strong personal website. Creating a site under your own domain name gives people an opportunity to get to know you, associate more with your brand and in time and if applicable take up services you may offer.

Example: simonsinek.com is a great example of using an online presence to boost personal and company brand. Sinek’s site is not only an extension of his own brand, but an effective vessel for his numerous coaching, classes, and written materials.

7. CREATE ENGAGING CONTENT

Creating and promoting content online is a great way to build and maintain your brand, as well as engage in various touchpoints which link to your brand and audience.

You may choose to write articles or guest posts, contribute to online publications or start your own blog. But it must be noted that content needs to be maintained, as stale old content will reflect negatively on your brand.

Example: Martha Stewart’s personal brand has had its ups and downs, but the fact that it remains strong and trusted is a testament to her own brand. Marthastewart.com is a great example of using content that’s reflective of an individual brand. The site is diverse and varied but all content featured is what we’ve come to expect from the perennial homemaker.

8. PUBLIC SPEAKING

Speaking engagements are fantastic opportunities to amplify your personal brand, and in some cases, your personal brand can be hinged around public speaking opportunities.

It’s important to tailor the talk to your brand, speaking at an irrelevant event that brings nothing to your brand value is of no worth. Research the opportunities that are right for you and right for you and your brand.

Example: Tim Robbins is perhaps the ultimate example of public speaking in action. His brand has been leveraged entirely around public speaking centrepieces. Robbins himself is an example of changing brand identity with the times, discarding the flash and brash of the 90s in favour of a more subdued and contemporary brand style.

9. LEVERAGE PUBLIC RELATIONS

If you want to build a personal brand to complement your business, PR is a powerful tool. PR and personal branding go hand in hand, PR experts and agencies can utilise an array of tools and skills to promote a public image. And they can also prove vital in crisis management scenarios. PR can also be a strategic tool in advising and developing the strategic elements of brand strategy.

Example: Like them or loath them, there’s no denying that the Kardashians have played a masterstroke in aligning public relations and personal brand. At every step, they have utilised and capitalised on media moments to advance their brand value… and their bottom line

Personal brand

A lot of business owners disregard personal branding as nothing more than a vanity project, designed to game the metrics favoured by social media channels. But this is an underestimation of the power of a personal brand.

Strong brands can help businesses grow, build and retain audiences and in-time increase the bottom line.

Martha Stewart’s personal brand allowed her to navigate difficult waters and even a prison sentence and come out the other end in a strong and healthy position. Gary Vee’s rags to riches story has been utilised to build his brand and increase his own wealth and Bill Gates has taken every advantage of his charitable givings to generate positive brand publicity.

GYDA is thrilled to announce its repositioning as a Mastermind-centred business. The relaunch which happened in June 2022, sees GYDA increase its focus from being a business consultancy who helped agency leaders through traditional consultancy methods, to one that focuses on peer-to-peer Mastermind groups for agencies leaders all over the world.

The relaunch was the culmination of a six month project initiated by the managing partners Robert Craven and Janusz Stabik.

‘Our experience of running Mastermind programs spans back over seven years and includes the renowned Google Elevator program. It made sense to pivot the business to focus on the tools that work for agency leaders. We continue to support our clients with additional 1-2-1 coaching and growth centered consulting.’

The project included an in-depth strategy phase where GYDA collaborated with their growth experts and agency clients. Followed by a rebrand project with TinyBrand.

‘We were so excited to work with Jemma at Tiny Brand again. Helping us to solidify and refine our brand strategy, they went on to create a new visual identity and collateral for GYDA. We are over the moon with the results. Our beautiful new brand fits perfectly with our audience and confirms GYDA’s position as market leader for mastermind programs.’

The Enterprise Sessions is a new content series led by Prof. Michele Barbour Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor: Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Bristol.

The series has been created to inspire entrepreneurs and help them to realise impact from their ideas. Michele interviews founders, researchers and academics from different disciplines and career stages who’ve been part of the University’s Enterprise ecosystem. Each episode is a treasure trove of information covering a range of topics from funding, licensing and IP, consultancy, contract research and business incubation.

Guests include Konstantina Psoma, Professor Wuge Briscoe, Professor Roberta Guerrina and Dr Tom Carter.

Bristol now tops the list of UK universities for the return on investment achieved by spinouts and is ranked in the top 3 for equity investment.

Prof. Michele Barbour said: “The University of Bristol has an impressive track record of enterprise and innovation and we’re keen to share that knowledge within our community as well as with a wider audience. The Enterprise Sessions is a new content series that brings to life the personal stories of spinout Founders and how our enterprise ecosystem has them.

Firehaus took our idea and created a branded content series, introducing the broadcast-style interview approach, as well as the name and look and feel. The approach has allowed me to develop rich conversations with our interviewees and showcase their experience of our ecosystem which will be of huge benefit for anyone involved in research, innovation and enterprise.”

Nick Barthram, Strategy Partner at Firehaus said: “Firehaus has worked with a range of organisations in the Research, Innovation and Enterprise space, including UKRI, Made Smarter Innovation and The University of Bristol. Consequently, we’ve developed a clear understanding and methodology to ignite opportunities at the intersection of academia and industry”.