Startups often have an idea, then search for an audience. That audience in turn tells the startup what they actually use that idea (product/app/service) for and the startup adjusts its offering to the new audience, and the new usage of its offering. Happens all the time. I preach to startups to be very clear about their audience from the get go. Only if you truly understand a few target ‘personas’ can you focus on them and connect with them emotionally, and emotion is what branding, and often selling, is all about. Once you connect, you tell the audience what they will love, not vice versa.

Written by

Fabian Geyrhalter

Author of the bestsellers 'How to Launch a Brand' and 'Bigger Than This – How to turn any venture into an admired brand,' a columnist for Inc. and Forbes and Founder of FINIEN, a consultancy specialized in creating strategic, verbal and visual brand clarity. For 12 years Fabian has been running the highly successful branding agency Geyrhalter & Co, working for clients such as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goodwill, Brandman University, W Hotels, CO-OP Financial Services, USC, Evolution Juice, The City of Los Angeles and John Varvatos.