Common Mistakes that New Generation Startups Are Making

Given the plethora of startups, especially in the education and tech sector, no wonder India ranks 3rd in case of the startup ecosystem in the context of the global economy. Many startups are driven by the young demographics of India. However, 90-95% of the startups fail miserably. In this article, let’s discuss some common mistakes that new generation startups make while creating a brand.

(If you want to know more, please read Branding for Dummies by Barbara Findlay Schenck and Bill Chiaravalle.)

1. Not starting with the right positioning

The mistake: Weak identities reveal themselves on first sight. They appear in the form of names that limit the scope and success of the brands they represent. Or they’re displayed as logos that, at-a-glance, convey that they were created on shoestring budgets by organizations with little chance of competing with big, established businesses.

The remedy: Invest the time and money required to develop a strong name and logo when you first establish your brand. Remember these points:

In most cases, your name will live as long as your business does, so choose, register, and protect a name that you can grow with over years and decades.

Your logo will become the immediately identifiable face of your brand, so make it a strong, simple, unique design that reproduces well in all forms of communication and scales up and down in size to look good on anything from business cards to giant signs

2. Not having the legal patents and trademarks in place

The mistake: Brand owners get complacent. They think that ironclad protective measures aren’t necessary to protect their brands from infringement or misuse, so they fail to obtain or defend trademarks, lock up domain names, write brand usage guidelines, or enforce their own brand usage rules when they’re broken. Before long, brand names are in jeopardy, brand consistency is at risk, and brand value plummets.

The remedy: Protect your brand in three important ways:

File your name with appropriate government offices, and obtain brand trademarks if your sphere of business crosses state or national boundaries Establish, adopt, and enforce usage guidelines so that those within or outside your organization don’t tamper with your brand identity. Enforce your rules by following up on every brand usage infraction, without fail.

3. Thinking of a temporary solution

The mistake: When business is down, when consumer interest ebbs, or when competition surges, the idea of branding pops up as some miracle cure for transforming product perceptions and jump-starting success. In the heat of the moment, otherwise cool-headed professionals begin to believe that a new logo — and maybe even a new name, a new tagline, or a new marketing message — will serve as a remedy for all that ails the bottom line..

The remedy: Before you create or alter the face of your brand, be sure you’re creating an accurate reflection of what’s at the base of your brand. The part of your brand that rises into public view — your name, logo, and marketing materials — must mirror the mission, vision, values, culture, leadership, and management that lies at the heart and soul of your organization. Otherwise, a credibility crisis looms large.

4. Not having a USP in place

The mistake: If you can’t tell customers what you do best, they have no reason to choose your offering. If you don’t give them a clear reason to choose your product, they opt for a different, more distinct solution. And if they think that all available offerings deliver the same value and quality, they simply buy whatever’s available at the lowest price.

The remedy: Find a distinguishing characteristic that causes your offering to excel over available alternatives, and build your brand around that point of difference. To differentiate your brand. Determine unique aspects of your offering that address genuine market interests or needs. Develop a brand identity and brand message to achieve awareness of the unique values consumers receive only when they work with your business or buy your product. Reinforce your point of difference every time consumers come into contact with your name, your product, your staff, or your brand experience.

5. Forgetting the Rule of One

The mistake: Businesses that barely have the budgets and marketing staff required to build one brand try to build two or three or more. In doing so, they dilute the expertise and funding they can devote to any one and build brand strength for none.

The remedy: Unless you’re sure that you have the marketing budget and expertise required to build and support multiple brands, stick to the Rule of One: Build one brand for your business rather than a business full of many brands. Apply the Rule of One by following this advice: Build a single brand that can preside over all your offerings. Introduce each new product or service as an offering under your one and-only brand. This strategy allows each new product to capitalize upon the credibility of your brand while boosting the strength of your brand through the success of each new offering

 Some new trends you should look into when you consider branding:

1. Find out where there attention is.

Smartphones, the center of attention: You always carry your mobile phone, and it’s always on—even when you’re asleep—God forbid you miss something. In fact, a recent poll found that most users couldn’t stay away from their phones for more than six minutes, and check it about150 times a day. The mobile phone is probably the most personal piece of technology you own, storing your photos and messages and calendar reminders, and it is on everyone’s checklist when leaving the home or office.

Image Source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-global-digital-overview

2. Tiktok for branding

In a world where consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of ads, the raw, unedited videos on TikTok can be a great way to showcase people using your brand in their everyday lives. TikTok videos can also be a great place to showcase business behind the scenes or in-the-moment content - for example: Human Resources can make trainings more interactive by going live on TikTok to conduct their sessions Landing pages can have you popping on to drive traffic to lead magnets With such a young demographic, TikTok can be great for higher education marketers and students within colleges and universities. There’s already a lot of content to be found on campus - sports, BTS, dance marathons, these all do well. 

Image Source: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics

3. LinkedIn adverts

 LinkedIn ads can help your business reach a powerful professional audience. Not only are LinkedIn members influential, they also have two times the buying power of the average web crowd. A recent revamp of LinkedIn’s advertising platform, Campaign Manager, has added a few new tools to the LinkedIn marketer toolbox. In addition to sharper targeting options, the platform made the switch to objective-based advertising. That means advertisers can now run campaigns around clearly defined goals, such as brand awareness, lead generation, or engagement.

Image Source: https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/blog/linkedin-news/2019/introducing-_a-brief-history-of-advertising-on-linkedin--infogra

4. Instagram influencers

 Now an almost $2 billion industry, Instagram influencer marketing has taken the social media world by storm. In recent years, Instagram users the globe over have begun making a living from paid posts and collaborative marketing campaigns. The app offers the perfect space for brand ambassadorship, with influential users authentically recommending products and services to their loyal audience. With the influencer space estimated to grow to a $5-10 billion industry by 2020, it’s clearly a marketing force that isn’t going anywhere.

Disclaimer: I do not own all of the content. References have been used from Branding For Dummies and TedX Talks. Images have also been used from other sources.