A CEO Talks about Why Branding Matters (If You Want To Grow)

A brand is a considerable investment for any company, and one question every CEO wonders is why branding matters.

This is the story of a brilliant company based in Australia. A company known for its ability to use technology to simplify the complex.

When owner, Mikel Lindsaar, saw what small to medium-size companies had available to solve their eCommerce and sales options, he dove in full tilt.

He took an in-depth look at what small to medium businesses needed today.

And with his history of building technologies that simplify the complex and accelerate what can (and should) operate faster, StoreConnect was born in October 2018.

This is Why Branding Matters

A key strategic decision was building this on the solid foundation of Salesforce, recognized globally as the world's #1 CRM.

Mikel and his team went ahead to create the most affordable, integrated, scalable, and easy-to-use CRM + eCommerce solution for small to medium businesses that provided:

• an always up-to-date and fully featured eCommerce solution,
• an integrated CMS so users can create a really powerful website rapidly and easily.
• a stock management solution to track stock levels with unlimited stock locations
• full multi-zone tax and shipping and click and collect support included
• subscription management and membership options
• B2B and B2C commerce in the one solution
• custom pricing allocations allocated to different customers

All working together. Seamlessly.

With zero wasted time. No double work. And the simplest migration available with no loss of data (and no loss of sleep).

The result? StoreConnect. The only easy-to-use and easy-to-scale option of its kind for a Salesforce-based CRM + eCommerce solution.

Different is Better Than Better

But how do you tell the world you're something?brand new?and not merely "another alternative" on the market?

Build a brand that focuses on simplicity using clean typography, a stunning new brand identity, and a disruptor that cuts through with a powerful differentiator:?Time. Well spent.?instantly distinguishing it from all the other time-consuming (and time-wasting) options on the market.

The new identity is now across all touchpoints, including sales materials, instructional videos, and the Website for user experience. (which we're working hard at too).

This is why branding matters. Saying one is better is everyone's knee-jerk response. Working out how to say it so it arrives, is the challenge.

Below you see the previous brand and the new rebrand:

Here are several examples of the brand in its various forms for use throughout the company:

Here is the new brand in motion:

And here is a side-by-side comparison of the previous sales literature (left) and the same literature with the new brand (right):

And this campaign shows life without StoreConnect vs life with StoreConnect with our More/Less campaign:

Why Branding Matters: Confessions of a Smart CEO

What was it like to go through the process?

"Doing a branding exercise is quite a cycle of action!

"It's not something your marketing team can just bang out in a couple of hours. Nor is it something you can delegate. Branding MUST come from the SOURCE of the product. It's more than just marketing; it's communicating a product philosophy that then drives all aspects of your business.

"Trying to communicate the essence of what makes StoreConnect unique was a challenge because as I grew the company, I had all these ideas of what makes us unique. But the thing I missed was, 'What does the customer care about that makes us unique?' and more importantly, 'How can I communicate that in a few words to our customers?'

"Saying something that makes a customer pause and say, "What do you mean?" is what is essential.

"This is where David came in, giving me the necessary exterior perspective to flesh out our true story.

"Working with David and his team allowed me to distill the product of StoreConnect down to its essence. And that essence was, in a word, awesome. Granted, I already knew that. But it was figuring out HOW to get that communicated, so it didn't blend in. That's where David and his team excel."

How did this impact your role as the CEO?

"As the Founder and CEO of our company, growing and expanding it is dear to my heart. Like a child. You want it to grow, be successful, thrive. It's an extension of WHO you are.

"I knew the power of our product to help businesses help people and companies around the world?get things done.

"Our product is revolutionary. And as a CEO, my biggest frustration was finding that north star in terms of branding to hitch our marketing to. Our marketing always felt like birdshot from a shotgun. We'd shoot material out there, hoping something would hit.

"But these days, customers have thick, steel armor on, and our shotgun marketing would never penetrate and hit home.

"By finding out that what we do is actually?save time for our customers?by providing the world's first eCommerce solution?focused on reducing the time required to keep an eCommerce store alive.?

"We were able to change that shotgun birdshot into a solid steel rail gun slug, and fire precisely targeted messages that bust through the competitive marketing noise our customers were enduring. Now they can instantly grasp why they need and should use our product.

"As a CEO, this rebrand has made my life so much easier from many aspects.

"I can look at any marketing or internal or support copy now that our team has written or designed and INSTANTLY be able to go?'Approved, that's on-brand'?or?'Disapproved, that's off-brand,'?and I can just tell them?'Go reread the branding manual.'?A few hours later, I then get an approvable piece of work.

"I can also give direction to our product team when developing new features of "How will this save the customer time?" and "Can we do more automatically, so the customer only has to do it once?".?

"Using the brand philosophy to focus and drive product development was probably the most unexpected benefit.

"Finally, having this driving north star on the brand helps build a sense of pride in our team that they are building something truly DIFFERENT.

"These benefits alone have already paid for the investment of doing the branding exercise, and we haven't even really started on our marketing campaigns. I can't wait!"

What story was not being told previously with the prior brand?

"Our previous brand was trying to sell features of the platform.?

"Problem was, every eCommerce solution was also promoting these same features. Our customers kept saying, 'We want a solution that can do XYZ, can you do that?' to which we would say 'Yes' and they would say, 'So can your competitor.'

"It was draining, deflating, and?BORING.

"Why? Because there was?no?DIFFERENTIATION.

"Of course, some customers?would?see the difference and would buy our product, but it was the exception, not the rule.

"Our new brand bypassed the features. After all, almost every product in our space has the same features but instead focused on our one core differentiation (and our customer's most significant pain point) that no one else had. A focus on Time.

"That was our differentiation: Time.

"It's about time.?Time well spent.

"StoreConnect?is?Time. Well Spent.

"This message hit the nail on the head. Hard.?

"When I mention it in sales calls, I always get peaked interest and nodding heads. It is instantly understandable as a desirable feature in our industry, and it's amazing how well this works."

"And it's a hook that can start many conversations. Just on the weekend, I had someone ask, 'What do you do for a living?' and I replied, 'We make an eCommerce solution that focuses on not wasting your time.' and instantly, I had someone immediately interested in this conversation.

"Getting your brand clearly defined is an incredible business alignment tool. I can't recommend David and his team highly enough.

"Just differentiate."

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In Case You Don't Know Me:

I've been branding companies throughout the US and around the world for over 40 years, have received over 320 international awards on design and branding, and am honored to have the rare distinction of being presented the?Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship medallion.?

My work's been featured in?ADWEEK, Fast Company, Forbes, INC, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, the New York Times, and numerous blogs and podcasts around the world.

In addition to being a branding and rebranding rebel and keynote speaker, I am the bestselling author of my #1 Amazon book,?“BRAND INTERVENTION, 33 Steps to Transform the Brand You Have Into the Brand You Need” with the Foreword written by Shark Tank star and CEO of FUBU Daymond John.