Entrepreneurs and small business owners typically don’t believe they can learn anything useful from the biggest and most successful companies in the world. After all, brand building at-scale is typically very different than brand building in the startup and small business world.
Nevertheless, smart entrepreneurs and small business owners pay careful attention to important market forces and trends that shape some of the world’s best brands. These entrepreneurs and small business owners know that despite the many differences between large and small companies, important insights that can help shape their marketing strategies.
BrandZ publishes an annual most valuable global brands report. The 2016 Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands report offers important branding lessons for startups and small business.
Google is listed as the most valuable global brand, with Apple, Microsoft, AT&T and Facebook rounding out the top five. It’s remarkable that all of the top five brands are technology companies. In fact, the only non-technology company in the top 10 is McDonald’s (at number 9).
In this video I outline 7 key takeaways from the BrandZ 2016 report (and the important lessons for small businesses and startups) including:
1. Disrupt yourself before you become disrupted.
2. Integrate your marketing efforts.
3. Have a clear and consistent brand purpose.
4. User experience is a key differentiator.
Watch the video for more detail on these four important takeaways plus three more.
