Branding for Startups: The Importance of Brand Building
Hamdon, Nuura (2021)
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202105209624
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202105209624
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this thesis is to examine and understand how a Finnish startup can benefit from brand building in the early phase and what are the most important factors to focus on when building a new brand. The main objective is to have a study, that startups can use in the early phase of their brand building.
The research consists of the theoretical framework which is divided into two chapters. The first chapter concentrates on startups in Finland and how a typical lifecycle of a startup develops. The second part of the theoretical framework consists of branding with an analysis of brand building in startups, following a deeper analysis by presenting and comparing brand building’s challenges within corporations and startups.
To meet the objective of the thesis, the main source for this research was qualitative data. The data was collected by having semi-structured interviews in order to receive in-depth responses and understand the startup’s brand building and brand activities. Seven startups took part in this research and the interviews were conducted in Spring 2021. The criterias that had to be fulfilled by the participants were that the startup was founded in Finland, the participant had to be part of the founding team or had joined in the early phase, and that the participant had to be in charge of branding or part of brand activities in the early phase.
The results of the research showed that three different factors should be focused on when building a brand as a startup. Being different from the competitors is a matter that should be taken advantage of. Startups should highlight the technological breakthroughs that they may have compared to outdated competitors. The second theme of brand building is creating trust with the customer. Because of being unknown in the market, a startup can use different ways, such as communication and the visual side of the brand to gain more trust. The third theme that arose from the research is creating emotional engagement by focusing on the personality of the brand. This can be done by having a humane approach in communication and showing the values of the brand.
The research consists of the theoretical framework which is divided into two chapters. The first chapter concentrates on startups in Finland and how a typical lifecycle of a startup develops. The second part of the theoretical framework consists of branding with an analysis of brand building in startups, following a deeper analysis by presenting and comparing brand building’s challenges within corporations and startups.
To meet the objective of the thesis, the main source for this research was qualitative data. The data was collected by having semi-structured interviews in order to receive in-depth responses and understand the startup’s brand building and brand activities. Seven startups took part in this research and the interviews were conducted in Spring 2021. The criterias that had to be fulfilled by the participants were that the startup was founded in Finland, the participant had to be part of the founding team or had joined in the early phase, and that the participant had to be in charge of branding or part of brand activities in the early phase.
The results of the research showed that three different factors should be focused on when building a brand as a startup. Being different from the competitors is a matter that should be taken advantage of. Startups should highlight the technological breakthroughs that they may have compared to outdated competitors. The second theme of brand building is creating trust with the customer. Because of being unknown in the market, a startup can use different ways, such as communication and the visual side of the brand to gain more trust. The third theme that arose from the research is creating emotional engagement by focusing on the personality of the brand. This can be done by having a humane approach in communication and showing the values of the brand.