Here Are New Ways of Branding For Your Startup to Jump-start the New Decade
As a new decade dawns, it is imperative for startups to understand the new ways of branding so that they can make persuasive and attractive brands that are able to distinguish itself from the competition, as well as being able to resonate with their core audiences on a deeper and more meaningful level. Emerging technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality as well as the increasing dominance of social media in our daily lives have greatly altered how companies and startups engage with their customers and users. Here are some tips to get your startup acquainted with the new ways of branding so that it can grow and connect with audiences on a deeper and more personal level.
More and more, the present generation of millennials and Gen Z audiences are looking for brands whose core values and beliefs align with their own. It is no longer just about the quality or performance of a product or service that your startup offers. Indeed, the intangible aspects of your startup brand, such as the values that it espouses, its mission statement and its stance on social issues, plays a very important part in connecting with audiences in a social media-dominant world. Even as social media is drastically altering the way brands and consumers communicate and engage with one another, audiences are increasingly drawn towards brands that are more relatable and personable. That is, your startup should cultivate a brand that walks the talk of its mission statement, besides projecting a personable image that audiences can easily identify with and relate to. A startup won’t have much success if its core and social values are fundamentally different from those of its intended target audience.
Conventional branding used to be dominated by static imagery and text. However, in a social media world popularized by five second video clips and looping video images, modern audiences have gradually shifted their attention away from static imagery to animations such as GIFs. Still, the oversaturation of GIFs on social media and elsewhere has created so much background noise that it has become difficult to engage with audience members in a meaningful way. Nevertheless, enterprising and innovative startups and companies have come up with ingenious ways by including well-crafted animations and movement into their digital and social media space that are designed to elicit a response from their audiences. For instance, companies have learned to strategically place calming and pleasant animations throughout the user interface of their digital and online space to make the user experience for their audiences a more rewarding and memorable one.
Traditional branding and advertising are also increasingly giving way to new and innovative ways of brand engagement that capitalizes on the latest development in technology to reach out to and engage with audiences in entirely new and novel ways. Emerging technology such as virtual reality and augmented reality have been employed by businesses and organizations to engage with their customers and audiences in new and meaningful ways that just two decades ago would not have been deemed possible. This trend also fits in well with the current gen Z and millennial generation that are quite inquisitive and open to exploring new experiences. For example, augmented reality tech has been used by corporations to enable their customers to test and interact with virtual copies of their products in new and immersive ways, which presents opportunities for them to allow their audiences to access and engage with their content and brand in a more personal and relatable manner.
In a fast-paced and evolving world where emerging technology and social media are becoming ever more intertwined with our daily lives, nimble startups can capitalize on the many opportunities that they afford in order to fortify their brand and strengthen their relationships with their audiences and customers. As a new decade approaches, your startup branding has much to gain by leveraging on these emerging trends.
