Building a Brand That Lasts: Tino Chow on the Project Medtech Podcast
“If there's a job description for a brand, it is to simply build relationships. That is ultimately what a brand is for.”
From pre-commercialization to the scaling stage, a strategic brand is essential for every startup. Branding is a powerful tool for building relationships and driving business goals — not just creating something beautiful. This is the driving philosophy at Giant Shoulders, and recently our founder Tino Chow had a chance to share our branding insights on the Project Medtech podcast with Duane Mancini.
In our previous episode with Devon Campbell from Prodct, we explored how much brand an early-stage startup actually needs, and we highlighted the dos and don’ts of building your first brand. But there is so much more to the conversation. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to brand, we focus on what you need at any stage in the company’s life.
1) The Pre-Commercialization Phase
At this early stage of R&D and finding a product-market fit, you need to build an emotional connection and trust. People don’t make decisions with their logic, but with their gut. To cut through the noise, you need to discover your unwavering truth and captivate your audience with your personal story.
2) The Go-to-Market Phase
When it’s time to take your product to your market, your strategy needs to be very, very clear, because at some point you may need to pivot. This is the phase where you define your audience, pivot to meet them where they are, and validate assumptions about who you are. Pivots can be as small as a little language tweak or as large as finding a new audience or message.
3) The Scaling Phase
You’ve found your audience and your message, and your business has launched into the market. Now it’s time to scale — but this happens internally and externally. As you scale internally and grow your team, it’s essential to build a strong culture and align the entire organization around your unwavering truth. "The power of your brand at scale… is based on whether or not everyone in their organization can make on-brand decisions whether or not a leader is present."
At the end of the day, the ultimate goal of branding is to build relationships, not just drive transactions.
Check out the rest of the conversation on Episode 212 of the Project Medtech podcast. You can listen here or wherever you find your podcasts.