• Building a Strong Brand Strategy: The Key to Business Success

    Building a Strong Brand Strategy: The Key to Business Success

    A well-defined brand strategy is more than just a nice-to-have—it’s a fundamental element for everything your brand does. It communicates your brand’s mission, what makes it different, and why your buyers should care. We take brand strategy very seriously, using a research-heavy approach to uncover key insights and determine exactly what your customers are looking for or what is currently missing from the market to drive winning brand positioning strategies. Let’s dive into the seven critical components of a robust brand strategy and explore how each element contributes to your brand’s overall success.

     .1 Understanding Your Brand Identity

    The first step in building a brand strategy is determining who you are and want to be as a company. What purpose does your business serve? What are your values? These are the questions you need to determine to build the foundation of your brand strategy.

    Core Brand Purpose

    Your brand’s core purpose is its reason for existence beyond making a profit. It’s the driving force that inspires your team and resonates with your customers. By clearly defining this purpose and aligning it with your customers’ needs, you lay the foundation for a brand that truly matters. When your purpose speaks directly to what your audience cares about, it fosters a deep, emotional connection.

    Brand Values

    Your brand values are the guiding principles that define your brand’s character and decision-making. These values should reflect your brand’s personality and be evident in everything you do. Whether it’s integrity, innovation, or sustainability, your core values should resonate with your audience, building trust and loyalty over time.

    Brand Personality

    A distinct brand personality is crucial for creating a unique identity in the marketplace. This personality is the human side of your brand—how you “speak” and “behave” as an entity. By developing a brand character that your audience can relate to, you strengthen the bond between a customer and your brand. Having a distinct personality has become especially important in the digital age of artificial intelligence and automation.

    Brand Voice

    Your brand voice is how you communicate with your audience. It’s essential to establish a consistent tone and style that reflects your brand’s personality across all platforms. Whether your brand is formal and authoritative or casual and playful, maintaining consistency in your brand voice ensures that your communication always feels authentic and on-brand.

    2. Defining Your Target Audience

    Understanding who your audience is and what they are looking for is imperative to constructing a thoughtful brand strategy that will resonate with them. That is why leveraging insights provided directly from your key target audiences through surveys and real-time testing is key to determining if your messaging is the best fit.

    Deep Audience Understanding

    Understanding your target audience is a non-negotiable step in crafting an effective brand strategy. Conducting thorough qualitative and quantitative market research on your brand, competitive landscape, and buyer profiles allows you to get inside the minds of your customers. This deep understanding enables you to tailor your messaging and offerings to meet their specific needs, desires, and pain points.

    Building Empathy

    Empathy is key to creating emotional connections with your audience. By genuinely understanding your customers’ challenges and aspirations, you can position your brand as a trusted ally in their journey. This connection is what turns one-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers.

    Ensuring Relevance

    To stay relevant, your brand must evolve alongside your customers’ expectations. Tailoring your brand messaging and offerings to address current customer needs and emerging trends ensures that your brand remains top-of-mind in a crowded market.

    3. Crafting Your Brand Positioning

    When crafting your brand positioning, it is important to combine qualitative and quantitative research to uncover what differentiates your brand from what is already out there. It is important to conduct a thorough analysis of your competitors, determine where there is whitespace in the industry and craft meaningful, unique brand positioning and messaging strategies.

    Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

    Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what sets your brand apart from the competition. It’s the distinct value that only your brand offers. By clearly identifying and communicating your USP, you give customers a compelling reason to choose your brand over others.

    Value Proposition

    Your value proposition goes hand-in-hand with your USP. It clearly articulates the benefits your customers receive by choosing your brand. A strong value proposition shows how your brand solves problems or improves your customers’ lives, making your offering irresistible.

    Competitive Analysis

    Understanding your competitive landscape  is crucial for effective brand positioning. By analyzing your competitors, you can identify opportunities to differentiate your brand. This differentiation is what will make your brand stand out in a saturated market.

    4. Developing Effective Brand Messaging

    It can be tough to stand out in a crowded marketplace, and turning your brand positioning into a captivating story can be even tougher. The key is to develop creative messaging that addresses your strategic insights while also bringing your brand position to life.

    Clear and Consistent Messaging

    Consistency is key when it comes to brand messaging. Your key messages should align with your brand identity and be consistently communicated across all channels. This consistency helps reinforce your brand’s value in the minds of your customers.

    Compelling Storytelling

    Storytelling is a powerful tool for engaging your audience. By developing brand narratives that resonate with your audience’s experiences and emotions, you can create a deeper connection. Stories make your brand relatable and memorable.

    Visual Identity

    Your brand’s visual identity—logos, color schemes, typography, and imagery—plays a significant role in brand recognition. A strong visual identity  enhances your brand’s visibility and ensures that your brand is easily recognizable across all platforms.

    5. Delivering Exceptional Brand Experiences

    Once your brand’s story is brought to life, it is important to determine how and where you will share the message with your target audience and ensure it is consistent throughout every interaction your user has with your brand.

    Mapping the Customer Journey

    Understanding your customers’ interactions with your brand from start to finish is essential for delivering exceptional brand experiences. By mapping out how you wish for your customers to interact with your brand whether it be email, your social accounts, etc. and identifying key touchpoints, you can ensure that every interaction reflects your brand’s values and meets customer expectations.

    Ensuring Consistency

    Consistency in your brand experience is crucial for building trust and loyalty. From the first interaction to post-purchase support, every touchpoint should deliver a seamless and positive experience that reinforces your brand’s promises.

    Prioritizing Customer Satisfaction

    Customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of any brand strategy. By prioritizing customer feedback and continuously improving your offerings, you can build a loyal customer base that advocates for your brand.

    6. Measuring and Adapting Your Brand Strategy

    We believe the proof is in the data, so we constantly evaluate, re-evaluate and optimize to improve our KPIs and ensure our brand strategy is leading to better results.

    Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

    Tracking the right KPIs is vital for measuring the effectiveness of your brand strategy. Whether it’s brand awareness, customer engagement, or conversion rates, these metrics provide valuable insights into your brand’s performance.

    Market Analysis

    Staying updated on industry trends and emerging opportunities allows your brand to remain agile. Advanced market research tools allow brands to analyze millions of websites and assess brand sentiment, emerging industry trends, and more to inform data-driven content, media, and messaging strategies. Regular market analysis helps you identify areas for improvement and ensures that your brand evolves with changing market conditions.

    Brand Agility

    Continuously adapting your brand strategy to align with new challenges and opportunities ensures that your brand stays relevant and competitive.

    7. Additional Considerations for Brand Success

    Below are some other areas to consider when launching a new brand strategy. It is important to craft brand narratives that will drive future campaign concepts, ensure your internal team is up to speed and in support of your brand strategy, and that it filters down to all of your digital assets and campaigns.

    Brand Storytelling

    Leveraging storytelling to build relationships is a powerful way to humanize your brand. Engaging brand narratives can make your brand more relatable, helping you connect with your audience on a deeper level.

    Employee Advocacy

    Your employees are your brand’s most significant ambassadors. Empowering them to live and breathe your brand values fosters a strong internal culture and amplifies your brand message externally.

    Digital Strategy

    In the digital age, a robust online presence is non-negotiable. Effectively utilizing digital channels ensures that your brand reaches its target audience and remains top-of-mind in a competitive landscape.

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    A well-defined brand strategy is the cornerstone of business success. By understanding and integrating the various elements—from brand identity to customer experience—you create a cohesive and compelling brand that resonates with your audience. Implementing these strategies will elevate your brand, ensuring long-term success and growth.

    Interested in Brand Strategy Services? Matter’s strategy department specializes in ideating impactful campaigns based on data-driven insights. Learn more about our Brand Strategy services.

    Matter

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  • Matter Launches Comprehensive Media Training Offering

    Matter Launches Comprehensive Media Training Offering

    New offering expands Matter’s expertise in empowering executives to navigate the changing media landscape

    BOSTON, Aug. 20, 2024 – Matter Communications – a Brand Elevation Agency integrating PR, marketing and creative services – today announced the launch of its media training offering. Building on years of experience successfully equipping executive spokespeople with the skills and confidence needed to effectively communicate their messages, this comprehensive program addresses the complexities of today’s media environment and is applicable to any industry and media format.

    “The media landscape has undergone significant transformation in recent years,” said Anne Lines, General Manager of PR at Matter. “Our new media training offering is specifically designed for business leaders, spokespeople and industry experts, providing hands-on training with experienced media professionals. It offers practical, real-world experience to help participants not only prepare but excel in any media interaction, whether it’s a live interview, podcast, or crisis situation. In an era where media engagements can greatly impact a company’s reputation, we equip clients with the skills and confidence needed to succeed.”

    From virtual to multi-day in-person sessions, Matter can build a bespoke media training program to fit the needs of each client in any industry including B2B tech, healthcare and consumer. The media training offering provides:

    • Customized Training Sessions: Tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of each participant, whether they are seasoned professionals or new to media interactions.
    • Real-world Practice: Simulated interviews with former journalists to provide an authentic, hands-on experience.
    • Crisis Communication: Specialized training to handle tough questions and high-pressure situations with poise and confidence.
    • Message Development: Guidance on crafting clear, concise, and compelling messages that resonate with target audiences.
    • On-Camera Training: Techniques for appearing polished and professional on camera, including body language, voice modulation, and visual presentation.
    • Feedback and Improvement: Detailed feedback and constructive critique to continuously refine and improve media interaction skills.

    “Axis thought leaders have gained invaluable knowledge, experience, and counsel from the media training tools and resources provided by Matter,” said Chris Shanelaris, Public Relations Manager, Americas, at Axis Communications. “The customized, in-person media trainings and on-camera mock interviews that Matter has facilitated throughout our relationship have given Axis spokespeople the confidence and skills needed to proficiently engage with the media and articulate their expertise in a strategic, compelling manner on behalf of the company.”

    Led by a team of seasoned media professionals with decades of experience in journalism, public relations and corporate communications, the team’s diverse expertise ensures a well-rounded training experience that addresses all facets of media engagement.

    To learn more about Matter’s media training offering, please visit the Media Training page on Matter’s website.

    Companies looking to explore a potential partnership are encouraged to contact Matter  to receive a custom program quote.

    About Matter Communications

    Matter is a Brand Elevation Agency that integrates PR, marketing and creative services into campaigns that inspire action and build value. Founded in 2003, with offices spanning North America, Matter works with the world’s most innovative companies across healthcare, high-technology, consumer technology and consumer markets. For more information, visit https://www.matternow.com.

    Contact

    Matter

    Greg Amaral

    [email protected]

    www.matternow.com

    Matter

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  • Top 10 Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Best Practices to Elevate Your Marketing Strategy

    Top 10 Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Best Practices to Elevate Your Marketing Strategy

    In today’s digital landscape, the belief that marketing programs can always be refined is fundamental. Capturing, synthesizing and understanding all available data is crucial for identifying areas of improvement whether you are targeting consumers directly or influencing the C-suite buying committee. Marketing performance typically lags in three key areas: brand strategy, awareness and the marketing funnel.

    Why Every Marketing Program Needs Continuous Improvement

    No matter how advanced your marketing strategy is, there’s always room for improvement. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the key to analyzing the performance of your marketing tactics across the conversion funnel, helping you identify steps to boost the percentage of site visitors converting on landing pages or from one stage of the funnel to the next. By leveraging a set of tools and harnessing the vast campaign data they are already generating, marketers can significantly enhance their marketing programs’ performance.

    Before diving into your optimization efforts, it’s essential to conduct a thorough marketing strategy audit. This will help you pinpoint any gaps in your marketing programs and identify key areas for improvement. Once you’ve identified these areas, it’s time to start optimizing your marketing performance. Here are 10 conversion rate optimization best practices MatterMKTG prioritizes for clients:

    Brand Strategy: Setting the Foundation for Success

    1. Evaluate Your Competition

    To ensure your brand stands out, regularly assess your competition. Are you differentiating your message effectively? By identifying the core messaging of your competitors, you should see how you can make your messaging unique and stand out in a crowded marketplace. 

    2. Re-evaluate Your Audience

    Knowing your audience is key. Are you addressing their needs and concerns? If you aren’t speaking directly to your buyer’s most critical pain points, no mix of media and content will help improve conversions. Re-evaluate your messaging and buyer personas to ensure it resonates with what they care about. Once you are confident you know your audience and what your competition is doing, bring these insights together to develop new brand messaging that is meaningful (important to the audience) and unique (stands out from your competitors).

    3. Test Your Messaging

    Experiment with different messages to see what resonates best with your audience. This could involve split testing headlines, value propositions, or CTA buttons either on your website or through user testing tools. The audience must be intrigued by your messaging to want to learn more and be provided with enough information to know what you do and how you can help them.

    Brand Awareness: Maximizing Your Reach

    4. Media Mix Analysis

    Examine your media mix to spot weaknesses. Are you leveraging SEO, social media, PR and paid advertising effectively? Each channel plays a critical role in driving brand awareness. If you aren’t getting the impressions or website traffic you expect, you may need to rethink your media strategy.

    5. SEO Strategy

    Revisit your content and keyword strategy. Are you optimizing your product pages and campaign landing pages? Consider using SEO tools like SEMrush or Moz to identify opportunities for improvement.

    6. Paid Media Campaigns

    Many brands make the mistake of thinking their organic channels can drive new leads alone. Paid campaigns play a critical role in reaching the desired audiences directly and more frequently. Even a small paid media campaign can drive significant traffic to key landing pages. Invest strategically to boost visibility where it matters most.

    Marketing Funnel and Conversions: Driving Results

    7. Conduct a Closed-Won Audit

    Analyze your successful deals to identify which industries, job titles or media channels are driving the most business. Understanding the factors behind these wins can inform your CRO strategy. Go a step further and analyze what drives conversions in each step of your funnel. This process will uncover patterns, such as a certain piece of content that consistently converts with certain job titles or industries.

    8. Heat Mapping and Website Flow

    Utilize heat mapping tools to understand user behavior and how site visitors interact with your website. Heatmapping can reveal deeper user insights, like what information a visitor is spending time reading or which CTAs they click. This data can highlight areas for improvement helping you enhance user experience and improve conversions.

    9. A/B Testing Lower Funnel Offers

    Split testing is crucial for optimizing conversion points. Experiment with different offers and CTAs in the lower funnel, limiting your variables to one focus area at a time to see what drives higher conversion rates.

     10. Implementing CRO Best Practices

    Effective CRO requires a strategic approach, focusing on continuous testing and optimization efforts. By regularly evaluating your brand strategy, enhancing brand awareness, and fine-tuning your marketing funnel, you can achieve higher conversion rates and overall marketing success.

    Remember, every element of your marketing strategy can be optimized. By leveraging data, testing different approaches, and refining your tactics, you can elevate your brand and achieve better results. Start your CRO journey today and see the difference it can make for your website visitors and long-term growth.

    Wyatt Craig

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  • Marketing Jump Start Part II: Optimizing Your Digital Ecosystem

    Marketing Jump Start Part II: Optimizing Your Digital Ecosystem

    While the digital landscape has changed over the past few months, businesses are still looking to accomplish the same goals: generate leads/sales, drive awareness and/or engagement, and sustain or grow their leadership position. To do so, it’s imperative to focus holistically on optimizing your digital ecosystem. A consistent focus on the following programs will help your business continue to succeed: 

    • Optimize your website/landing pages. 
    • Consistently evaluate your paid, owned and earned media strategies. 
    • Nurture leads with effective email marketing/marketing automation strategies.

    When your digital ecosystem is a well-oiled machine, your marketing efforts will drive brand awareness and preference, as well as increased engagement and higher quality leads. 

    Step 1: Optimizing Your Website/Landing Pages 

    Your media programs, social media channels and email marketing campaigns may be in good working order, but if you’re website isn’t functional or on-brand, you simply won’t succeed. At the center of a healthy digital ecosystem is a well-crafted company website. Here’s what you should focus on to ensure your website is ready to support your digital efforts: 

    Branding and Messaging:

    • Make sure your branding and messaging make sense. What is your website about? Does the tone and manner of the content match your brand? Is the brand identity consistent throughout the website? Is the design visually appealing, clean and straight-forward? Your brand positioning should be clear and obvious on your home page and your content should be easy to scan.

    Navigation & UX:

    • Do you have goals to track performance? What is each page trying to achieve based on your UX strategy? 
    • Keep your site or landing page’s main navigation simple and intuitive. Don’t get too carried away with bloated “mega-menu” designs unless they are necessary. Prioritize “above the fold” content that intrigues users to scroll down and further engage with your site. 
    • Make sure to incorporate CTAs to show the next steps. You want to take the user down a path that helps them make an informed decision. Be sure to add a CTA enticing visitors to follow your social networks, and include follow and share icons in header and footer. 
    • Don’t set it and forget it. Continuously test your homepage and be sure it’s helping you reach your goals.

    Search Engine Optimization:

    • Every page of your website is a potential search engine entry point, so assign a primary keyword topic to each. Placing that keyword in areas of emphasis like the title tag, main heading and even the URL helps Google identify the main topic. 
    • Don’t skimp on copy, especially for your most important or competitive keywords. Google typically won’t rank pages with “thin” content (one or two sentences) very highly. Images and video can help boost your standing, too. 
    • Mobile friendliness and page speed have become big parts of search algorithms. No matter how great your content is, if your webpage loads slowly on mobile devices, chances are Google won’t serve it up to searchers. 

    Step 2: Evaluate Your Paid Media Strategies to Drive Traffic and General Leads 

    Consumer habits, business drivers and competitive landscapes have changed in this new business environment, so now is the time to reset or re-evaluate your existing digital programs to ensure you’re continuing to drive maximum effectiveness. Start by defining goals and budgets through one of these methods: 

    • Top down: What is my budget? At a reasonable cost per lead or cost per sale, what results am I likely to generate? 
    • Bottom up: What are my sales goals? At a reasonable cost per lead or cost per sale, what budget do I need to secure to reach these goals?
      • Next, identify your target segments and understand their media consumption habits and purchase influences. Detailed personas and journey mapping are the best practice tools for this job. 
      • Re-assess objectives, current results and KPI’s of all existing programs – The most effective way to evaluate your paid media campaigns are through the objectives set from launch. 
    • Consider or re-evaluate all valuable media vehicles – Aside from the traditional banner ads and search results, adjust to focus on high converting channels within your industry trends. 
    • Ensure you have relatable content that drives engagement – Providing viewers with valuable content in exchange for their information is a great way to drive traffic to your website and helps to generate more qualified leads. 
    • Utilize a dashboard that offers real-time results for consistent assessment – The most successful campaigns are the ones with eyes constantly on them. Evaluate, optimize and re-strategize based on the real-time results provided from dashboards. 
    • Consistently track and optimize until performance is steady – Digital campaigns need attention throughout each program. Weekly and sometimes daily changes are necessary to increase performance and stay on track to meet the established KPIs. Once a test channel is proven out, it can “graduate” to a proven place in your plan. 

    Step 3: Are You Nurturing Leads with Emailing Marketing or Marketing Automation? 

    Whether it’s Constant Contact, HubSpot, Pardot or another email marketing system, strategically tracking and segmenting your leads with a nurture strategy is a huge driver in building relationships with your prospects and moving leads down the funnel. Here are five steps to ensuring a successful start: 

    • Attract: Capture leads with a compelling and concise lead capture form that is personalized enough to sustain interest 
    • Personalize: Promote an offer or content that is attractive enough to motivate your customer segments. 
    • Engage: Create a workflow strategy for each segment that will nurture the relationship and drive prospects down the funnel. 
    • Create: Design and develop emails that are attractive and well-crafted, utilizing graphics and imagery where possible. 
    • Test: Once you’re up and running, continue to optimize your strategy! 

    Is your digital marketing ecosystem driving high quality leads? Fill out the form below and let’s talk about what optimizations you can make today.

    Jeff Tahnk

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  • Effective Media Relations Begins Before You Pitch

    Effective Media Relations Begins Before You Pitch

    Almost any brand can benefit from great PR, but not every brand is ready for media relations. Earned media is part of a much larger PR picture, and a solid, strategic foundation can make all the difference when it’s time to step into the public eye especially for early-stage companies. Here’s a few effective media relations strategies to deploy before the first pitch goes out the door:

    Messaging

    Each brand has its own fingerprint, its own differentiators – what makes them different. It’s about how your brand benefits customers in ways that set you apart from your competitors. Relevant, targeted messaging is at the core of successful PR, and developing consensus on brand messages not only arms you with critical storytelling tools, but also sheds light on audience targeting and positioning.

    Elements of a messaging program may include:

    •    Live messaging workshops
    •    Stakeholder interviews
    •    Competitive landscape analysis
    •    Audience positioning exercises
    •    “Elevator pitches”
    •    Brand messaging hierarchies

    It’s a soul-searching process that takes time, but it’s well worth it when the day arrives for you to tell your story to the media.

    Asset library

    High-pressure, high-impact, short-lead media can be a boon in an ideal situation, or unavoidable in a bad one. Preparing high-quality PR assets ahead of time can mitigate the last-minute scramble that comes with timely issues-response PR, and create consistency and ease with longer-lead stories.

    PR assets needed before media engagement may include:

    •    Press release templates
    •    Headshots
    •    Photo and video libraries
    •    Digital media kits
    •    Speaker/spokesperson bios

    Media training

    Every brand builds success by leveraging the strengths of their top players, but while they are vital to the organization, those individuals aren’t always savvy communicators.

    To round out deep technical insight and thought leadership with media savvy, a PR team would conduct comprehensive media training workshops. Media training that can include:

    •    Mock interviews
    •    Dos and Don’ts for interviews
    •    Examples of good and bad interviews
    •    Overview of the media landscape
    •    Talking point drills

    Media landscape

    The press release just isn’t what it used to be. In a crowded media landscape, today’s journalists expect thoughtful, relevant correspondence, and frequently ignore outreach that takes the “copy/paste” approach.

    To create the building blocks of an in-depth media database, a customized “Top 25” lineup of journalists for your organization will help you target appropriately when the time is right. This valuable research may include publication information, sample articles, biographical information, reference photos, contact information, and suggested brand messaging.

    Tackling these areas before pitching the media will be essential to your brand’s PR success and pave the way for increased brand awareness down the road.

    Emily Quirk

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  • Startup Guide: How to Write Vision and Mission Statements

    Startup Guide: How to Write Vision and Mission Statements

    Writing a Vision Statement: The Why

    “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online” – Amazon

    “Unleashing the power of innovation and collaboration to create cutting-edge security solutions that will empower you to bring your business into the modern era of interconnectivity.” – Sectigo

    “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles” – Telsa

    “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world.” – TED

    Statements like these provide inspiration and direction for employees and other stakeholders, acting as a brand’s guiding light. A vision statement explains why a company exists at a high-level and coincides with the founder’s vision for a better world. And it should motivate employees, inspiring them to embody the company’s vision in their work every day.

    Writing a Mission Statement: The How

    “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.” – Amazon

    “In an exploding digital universe with mounting security threats, Comodo CA is the only trusted partner with the industry expertise and innovative technology solutions to help customers seize the power of the digital age while avoiding its ever-evolving risks.”  – Sectigo

    “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” – Telsa

    “Spread ideas.” – TED

    Mission statements turn vision statements into action and should focus on the business’s more tactical aspects. TED’s vision of changing the world through the power of ideas is put into action at its events where big thinkers and idea-generators share their perspectives. A company’s mission should be operational, procedural, actionable, realistic, and coincides with the steps and hierarchy for success. And unlike a company’s vision, the “mission” has everything to do with doing – and mission statements have everything to do with what the company will do to make the world a better place.

    Both vision and mission statements guide everything from strategy, to procedural execution, to recruiting and hiring, to company culture as you scale. The statements should stem from your company’s elevator pitch, strategic plan and company values. Write these first, then use vision and mission statements to recap these materials so they can be understood by a wide audience.  

    Vision Is the Why. Mission Is the How. Now What Are You Waiting for?

    In working with clients on vision and mission statements, some of the most common questions we get are around length, rigidity of messaging and good examples:

    • On length: While many companies favor the one-liner approach, vision and mission statements can be as long as a couple paragraphs. 
    • On rigidity of messaging: A company’s vision and mission can and should evolve over time, as technologies and trends shape customer needs and preferences. The key is securing buy-in across the organization for any changes made, as vision and mission statements provide important templates for decision making.
    • On good examples: Google your favorite companies, both inside and outside your space. Look for inspiration, but don’t just copy their work. Your vision and mission should be blue ocean: uniquely yours to claim and conquer. Square, disruptor of all things payments, has one of our favorite vision statements: “Building the future of commerce.” Broad for growth and succinct for sharing.

    Want to see how Matter can help you craft vision and mission statements that will elevate your brand?

    Fill out the form below and let’s talk.

    Matter

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  • With Great Power: How Hard Questions Improve Brands & Products

    I recently read Motherboard’s article on the wave of destruction our increasingly networked lives could usher in. It got me thinking about responsibility – where it begins, where it ends, and which individuals and companies should endeavor to carry the most weight. No matter how novel our ‘smart’ devices may be, they are all contributors to an expanding web; how confident can users be that all of these brands, large or small, are keeping an eye on the big, scary picture?

    The truth is a lot of brands, regardless of industry, have never been tasked with answering brutally provoking questions. They’ve never been forced to examine their place in an ecosystem far grander, or farther in the future, than the daily routines of their ideal customers. And here’s why that’s a problem: refusing to imagine your brand’s potential pitfalls not only undermines your ability to respond to crises, it keeps you from thinking about how the brand should continuously adapt to our world’s relentless, hurried evolution. By burying your head in the sand, you are actively planning your obsolescence.

    And this, in the age of collaboration, when we the users want our brands to work together to fill in the gaps and do us the best possible good.

    You won’t just be doing your brand and your business a favor by regularly taking a hard look in the mirror. You’ll be demonstrating that you place your customers’ well-being above all else, which will earn you a level of lasting goodwill that literally can’t be bought. So before you launch your latest product update, settle on a new logo, finalize product features or even finish your business plan, make sure you and your colleagues have wondered OUT LOUD:

    1. How does our product fall short? How would we improve it, if we could?
    2. How might our product be corrupted? Who would corrupt it, and why?
    3. What happens if our product breaks or fails today? Next year? Five years from now?
    4. What do we do to protect our customers? What could we do if we had more resources?
    5. How do we express our mission in a way that makes sense? How do we build the relationships we need to get better?

    Feel like you could use some help? There’s people for that.

    Vanessa Boynton

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