Declan Rice
Over the course of my 30-year advertising career, I’ve worked with brands big and small to help them define their positioning, their “reason for being” and why someone should care — essentially, the brand story. One of the most important pillars to your brand story is understanding your brand values. Many established brands have gone through the rigor of defining this although they don’t always live up to it. But I have found that for startups, it’s a different story.
Many startup founders are more focused on their product than their brand. Many are tech founders or engineers who don’t really understand the importance of the brand values. And sometimes, it just falls by the wayside as there are other priorities in the business. I can relate. As an entrepreneur and co-founder of two brands (MASAMI, clean premium haircare and Isle de Nature, luxury bee-powered home fragrance), there are so many “hot” priorities vying for my attention daily that working on anything “non-urgent” at times just isn’t going to happen.