Why should you care about your MVB just as much as about your MVP?
By: Joanna Chilicka
Tags: Technology, MVP, Startup, Branding, Innovation

Why should you care about your MVB just as much as about your MVP? Joanna Chilicka Follow Mar 19 · 6 min read

While navigating a complex reality of a tech startup, you may tend to lose focus on who is your solution actually for — and those are humans, who are making decisions and judgments based on their emotions. It is therefore crucial, for any startup, to define its key brand’s attributes through which the target users will be perceiving your product and the whole company in general. You may want to do that before they will make their own opinion about you.

That can be challenging though, as the tech startup scene is very active and that requires new products to pursue new ideas with agility and speed to be first or to use their opportunity to be better than the others as quickly as possible. This is how, a while ago, the concept of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) became popular. Little those startups know, the same can be done with branding by making a Minimum Viable Brand (MVB). MVB helps startups to ensure that the product hypotheses are based on market insights and strategic thinking and that branding fits into a speedy development of the product.

WHY DO MVB?

A quick and agile process that fits into and does not stop your product development process

that fits into and does not stop your product development process Better connection with your audiences and their understanding of your vision as well as easier comprehension of the product’s functionalities

with your audiences and their understanding of your vision as well as easier comprehension of the product’s functionalities Maintaining marketing materials consistency and as a result, looking more put together and professional — both users and investors will look at your product differently when it will look good and communicate to the point!

and as a result, looking more put together and professional — both users and investors will look at your product differently when it will look good and communicate to the point! Instead of joining the gimmicks and price battles for clients’ attention, you will gain human attributes to your brand which develops emotions bringing you user’s loyalty in the long run. Standing out from the crowd , or at least having enough clarity in messaging that users can appreciate the ease of communication. It’s important especially for products that have hundreds of competitors.

which develops emotions bringing you in the long run. , or at least having enough clarity in messaging that users can appreciate the ease of communication. It’s important especially for products that have hundreds of competitors. Great ROI , because with your brand being already distinct you can spend less on raising awareness than your competitors who did not figure out their branding yet.

, because with your brand being already distinct you can than your competitors who did not figure out their branding yet. Second chance from the users — when being authentic, branding can help you to convince the users to forgive you small mistakes or bugs while you keep improving your product. Best yet, even if you have to pivot, your audience will know you and your quality that you stand for.

The thing is, that especially in the case of seed-stage startups, you don’t necessarily need the full branding package. Such activity requires sufficient funds which at that point many of you don’t have yet. Focusing then on what takes the least effort and money but also is enough to convey the brand’s value to communicate with the users properly is enough.

When creating MVB we need to think of the core elements of a brand:

Those basic elements should be commonly understood within an organization before launching a new product to clearly articulate the brand’s and product’s values to the masses and create cohesive narration throughout all the communication actions. A startup with a strong brand will have a long-term advantage with organic growth over the competitors who do not. In most cases, startups focus on their products first then find scalable markets for them. But the trick is in finding out what is the right amount of brand work at the stage the company is at. An MVB creates the right balance between agility & speed and structure & flexibility.

WHAT WE STAND FOR — Ask yourself why are you doing this?

This is your brand’s essence — a condensed heart and soul of the brand and the fundamental nature of it or a certain quality. It’s usually described in 2 or 3 words and is presented across the product. In the current times, it’s crucial to be transparent about what the company/product is standing for as the consumers have become very much aware of anything that even has a hint of insecurity. The essence is the constant reminder — for external and internal communication — of why are you doing this in the first place.

WHAT WE BELIEVE IN — Identify the product’s values

Usually, those are the values founders had started the company with their vision of how things should work and serve others. Those are very important to identify for the internal teams to relate to easily. When they do so, they naturally become the company’s advocates and care more about its success in general. After all, you do want your team to love your vision and their job, don’t you? :)

WHAT PEOPLE WANT — Ensure that you speak to the user’s needs

Realizing what people want and what they will be willing to engage with will be crucial for your company to serve them the right solutions they will be willing to buy. This step is all about understanding your target audience and imagining what their representation (persona) looks like, feels like, struggles with, and how they find solutions. Having all that information can potentially make you realize things you have not yet discovered or make you want to adjust the product in a way that serves people better and therefore — makes the product more successful.

WHAT WE OFFER — Have a comprehensive look into what your product offers

This may look like an obvious one but when you take a deeper dive into user understanding you may come to certain realizations f.ex. That some of the features serve well to one target and not to another etc. Also, taking a good look at the experience people are having when they are interacting with your product would be very rewarding. It may eventually help you to understand the user experience that your product currently has and whether there is a need for certain adjustments to enhance it.

WHAT DISTINGUISHES US — When people think about your product — what pops up?

Those are your key differentiators. What makes you stand out among the competitors? How is your product better? How does your product serve your target audience better? This step can also help companies that are not much different than their competitors but with the power of branding you can speak to people’s needs and emotions so well they will still win the majority of the market.

WHAT WE SAY/SHOW — Turn all that exploration into a visual representation

This last step is probably what everybody is most acquainted with when they are thinking about branding. That is because it’s about all the visual output created from the information gathered from the previous steps. That is a logo, visual identity as well as the way you communicate with your audiences (your voice — spoken and written).

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The brand you create should become your compass. Everyone internally should have a sense of what is “on brand” and what is not to be able to execute their part correctly — especially the marketing team and founders need to pay attention to have communication, partnerships, and decisions to be consistent with the brand.

After all this effort is done it is still hard to quantify the value of the brand and that’s something we need to be aware of. You sure can measure your brand awareness by spending money on making surveys but a better way is to just observe the market. You will start to see positive product reviews and comments of people loving your brand. While your product grows and develops your brand should too so that the users are provided with a great technology that communicates in a truly humanistic and approachable way.

Tech product’s layers — core values, technology, and design on top.

At Onteractive, we believe that the success of a tech startup does not come from technology alone. We collaborate with our clients to clarify the founder’s core vision and translate it into designs that communicate well with their audiences.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss possible cooperation!

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Autor: Joanna C.