take a walk on the dark side: branding & positioning 4 startups & sith lords
DESCRIPTION
slides from my talk @ SeedCamp Week (London, Sept 2012)TRANSCRIPT
Branding & Positioning 4 Startups & Sith Lords
WARNING:
WARNING!!! this deck is guaranteed to offend, provide tragically incorrect advice,
and perhaps get you arrested.
Fucking Deal with it.
[This Talk] • WTF is a BRAND?!? • Be Different, Take Risk!!! • Stand 4 SOMEthing. (or u stand 4 NOthing.) • Tap Into Humanity: Fear, SEX, Power, etc. • Be a Hero, or a Villain. (just don’t fucking BORE me.) • Pictures, Text, Music: they all say 1000 words. • When It Works, Double Down. • Be Yourself… Only More So
KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
[Dave McClure]
2001-2012: • Startup Investor: 500 Startups, Founders Fund • Tech Marketing: PayPal, Simply Hired, Mint.com • Advisor, Investor: 300+ Startups • Conferences: Warm Gun, Lean Startup, SMASH • Stanford Lecturer: Facebook, Startup Metrics
80’s & 90’s: • Entrepreneur: Founder/CEO Aslan Computing (acq.) • Developer: Windows Apps / SQL DB Admin • User Groups: E-Commerce, Internet, Client-Server • Engineer: Johns Hopkins ‘88, BS Eng / Applied Math
GEEK, CODER,
ENTREPRENEUR
Blogger, Marketing, Angel/VC Investor
500 STARTUPS Seed Fund & Accelerator (375+ companies, 20+ countries, 15 staff, 180 mentors)
• Design • Data • Distribution
[Interesting Shit]
Read Geoffrey Miller. Sex + Evolution + Consumer Mktg = Awesome Sauce.
More Great Shit. Psychology + Comics
[Start(up) + Heart]
NEGATIVE Emotion Examples Fear, Anger, Sadness, Pain, Pathetic, Pariah
POSITIVE Emotion Examples Humor, Sex, Power,
Daredevils, Babies & Kittens
DO! Marketing & BRANDing (it’s not Evil… most of the time ;)
• Tell a Story, Build a Storytelling Culture • Identify by a Color, Animal, Number,
Word, or other SINGULAR element • Create Unique Position in Mind of the
Market, relative to [Visible] Competition • Embrace & Adopt Negative or Shameful
Positioning when Necessary • Know When to Get Back to Product
What is BRAND? • Brand (def): a name, term, design, symbol that
identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.
• Branding began as way to tell one person's cattle from another by a hot iron stamp.
• Branding is usually full of PAIN.
Q: Who FEELS Your Brand? • Customers • Partners • Investors • Employees • Press
Be Different Take Risk.
Be Different. • Take Risk Early. U Have Nothing 2 Lose. • Playing it Safe = Death. • Pissing People Off is OK. (in fact, #WINNING) • U Can’t Build Brand around INDIFFERENCE. • “Niche 2 WIN” (see blog post) • Love *or* Hate are Ok. Both are Good Signal.
Stand 4 SOMEthing. (or stand 4 NO-thing)
CHANGE.
POWER. SEX.
PEACE.
Stand 4 SOMEthing, or Stand 4 NOthing.
• Be Iconic. • Single word or emotion. • Don’t be afraid 2b Hated. • Don’t be afraid 2b Shamed. • Aim for the Moon. [Land on the Roof]
Tap Into Humanity Fear, Sex, Power
Tap Into Humanity • Fear: What u run from • Sex: Who we love, lust 4 • Power: Ability 2 Control Ur World • Family: Find Ur Tribe. • Anger: Fight 4 Ur Right [2 Party]
Be a Hero Be a Villain
Be a Hero… or Villain • Who do u LOVE, Admire, Want 2 B? • Who do u HATE, Despise, [secretly] jealous? • Whatever u are Drawn 2 • Just Don’t Be BORING. • Again: Indifference = Death.
Say 1000 words. [or just 1 Finger]
Say 1000 words. • 1 awesome picture. • 3 powerful words, or a few sentences. • 30 sec meaningful music or video. • Less is more.
note: these slides are not less.
If/When It Works Double Down.
When It Works, Double Down. • If someone loves u, it’s working. • If someone hates u, it’s working. • Once u get signal, try iteration, repetition. • Once u get repetition, try variation. • Good artists COPY; great artists STEAL
(from themSELVES!)
Be Your SELF. (But Be Ur SUPER Self)
Always Be Your [SUPER] Self • Start from the Heart. • Be Yourself. Be Authentic. Be Comfortable. • But: the MOST AWESOME, PASSIONATE u. • Find a feeling or emotion u can sustain • [sometimes even weakness can be ok]