Don’t Just Build a Business – Build a Brand

Don’t Just Build a Business – Build a Brand:

This masterclass will help you to create value for your customers, but most importantly, for your business.

According to a 2022 PWC report, a strong brand is vital for SMEs who want to build resilience and accelerate their growth. For example, in professional service SMEs with the strong brands in their sector are typically 2-3 times more profitable than competitors with the weak brands

You don’t need to be a brand strategist to build your own brand. Building a brand is actually a straightforward process. Employing identical techniques employed by some of the world’s leading brands, this workshop will show you how to build your own brand, increase your competitive advantage and reduce you customer acquisition costs. Strong brand equity will also help you attract and retain top talent, because people don’t only love brands, they also love working for them.

Strong brand equity vital for SMEs to accelerate growth

Session Content

This masterclass will help you to:

• Understand all the steps involved in building your own brand equity to create a successful brand;
• Identify your purpose and customer value proposition, and understand the role they can play in achieving a competitive advantage for your business;
• Articulate your company strategy and develop compelling messages that will resonate with your target market;
• Develop a plan for engaging others within your business in the process of building your brand.

Structure

• Introduction
• Why build your own brand?
• What is Brand Identity?
• Section One: The Foundations – Your Culture and Values
• The difference between your Mission, Vision and Purpose
• Group exercise: The Strategic Value of Your Purpose
• Section 2: Your Customer Value Proposition
• What is a Customer Value Proposition and why is it important?
• Why do your customers think about you? Using the Elements of Value Pyramid
• Section 3: Defining your Brand Identity
• Introducing the Brand Identity Prism and how to use it.
• Group Activity on Your Brand Personality
• Conclusion:
• Evaluation and Measurement
• Learning Summary

Who is it for?

The masterclass is aimed at directors/senior management from Small to Medium sized businesses (SME’s) who want to grow their business by attracting new customers and clients, improve the effectiveness of their marketing activity, build deeper relationships with existing customers, or who are looking to launch new products and services.

Benefits to the Business

After attending this masterclass, you will be able to:

• Create stronger marketing messages
• Identify the most effective marketing tactics
• Design targeted advertising and communications
• Attract (and convert) quality leads
• Differentiate your brand from your competitors
• Build deeper customer affinity
• Identify niche market opportunities

Who is leading it?

This masterclass is delivered by Professor Steve McKevitt.

Steve is an Oxford University author and professor of brand communication at Leeds Business School. He is also the co-owner and Director of Strategy at Relative®.

About Prof. Steve McKevitt PhD FCIM

Steve completed his PhD at the University of Sheffield in 2017 and has written several books and numerous articles about the issues facing consumers, companies, and society in our marketing-dominated age. He is Visiting Professor of Brand Communication at Leeds Business School and a Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Steve also works as a brand strategist with over 20 years’ experience as a business owner and consultant. He works throughout the USA and EMEA, providing strategic business advice that helps to deliver growth and operational change.

His current clients include: Coca-Cola, Danone, Brown Forman (Jack Daniels), Ford (Hydrogen brand), and Schweppes.

Eligibility:

This masterclass is open to Small and Medium sized Enterprises based in South Yorkshire who pay business rates to either Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham or Sheffield . For the definition of a Small and Medium sized Enterprise please use this link: SMEs

We are pleased to be able to provide this masterclass through The Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant Project, a £9.3m project which is delivered across South Yorkshire and is supported and part funded by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and has attracted £5.2m of investment through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.