Branding Workshop: Working Out Your Own Brand Core

What does it take to convince others of yourself and your relevance? That question was at the heart of yesterday's branding workshop. Branding is often confused with marketing, yet it's really about the essence of a brand: Who am I? What value do I offer my target audience? What values do I stand for? This is the groundwork that comes before the logo, the colour scheme, and everything else.

Branding is foundational work that draws out a company's core brand. And that core shifts as the company and its audiences evolve. As an HTI, we can offer orientation, make clear why the topic matters, and provide tools that let teams engage with it in a structured way.

The group was especially taken with the hero's journey as a storytelling tool. We encounter it everywhere, and it drives purchasing decisions by conveying a sense of achievement, self-efficacy, and belonging. In the workshop, it sparked plenty of conversation and encouraged an open exchange of personal experiences.

The real work now lies in shaping and implementing it: What does this mean for the next social media post? How do these insights feed into your own website? One thing became clear: to be continued.

Our thanks go to all the participating start-ups for their open and engaged involvement.