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What does it take to build a great brand? Is it only the product? Experts believe a brand is much more than its product or a recognisable name/logo. A brand is your consumer’s perception of your business when they engage with you. It is also your story that resonates with your target audience. Branding basically lays the foundation for customer retention and certainly determines whether a consumer will come back to you for repeating a purchase.

Bhavik Vasa, Founder, Getvantage; Gaurav Zatakia, Founder and CEO, Flo Mattress; Yash Gangwal, Founder, Urban Monkey; and Mohit Bhatia, Founder, Malaki joined YS’s Manasi Phadnis to deep-dive into what it takes to build a brand that drives people to your organisation, influences audience perception, and differentiates you from the competition.

Creating a brand identity

Gaurav of Flo Mattress kickstarted the session by talking about how delivering happiness to your customer at each interaction point is a crucial factor determining the success of a brand. “Our approach at Flo Mattress is that we spend a lot of time understanding our target audience. From analysing pain points to developing solutions and communicating those solutions to our target audience and finally being able to deliver on our promises is what helps us build a great brand,” he says.

Highlighting the importance of creating a brand identity, Yash of Urban Monkey says, “A lot of the times, brands are super focussed on the product and not the community/people associated with the brand. In that case, each time a new product is launched, you keep looking for new customers whereas if there is an existing loyal community, you launch new products just for them.”

Urban Monkey focusses on brand positioning more than just selling the product.

“There is a reason, our products are not available on any of the marketplaces. When we sell a product, we want to be able to tell the story and the thought process behind the making of that product, and that is what makes us different,” adds Yash.

Reiterating similar sentiments, Mohit explains how Malaki’s initial focus was to dominate the small niche market in the premium beverages sector and build a community around the same.

The art of storytelling

In today’s competitive day and age, it is crucial for brands to build a differentiating factor to stand out from the clutter. According to Bhavik, one of the most important differentiating factors is trust. “The way brands engage with their customers leads to building a trustworthy relationship and then plays a key role in a brand’s success,” he says.

Emphasising on the importance of storytelling to create a brand identity, Gaurav says, “Your story is unique to your brand and your journey, and the way you tell that story certainly helps you stand out from the crowd.”

“As your brand grows, the story of your brand will also change. This is an evolving process and the goal is to keep on improving the consumer experience,” adds Yash.

Democratising access to capital

Homegrown D2C brands from even the remotest corners of the country have managed to create a dent in the ecosystem. “Technology has empowered people to start a business, irrespective of their locations or the resources they have. All they need is a little bit of support in terms of capital, marketing or logistics,” says Bhavik of GetVantage.

“At GetVantage we have built a founder’s friendly platform providing entrepreneurs across the country a complete suite of finance, growth, and support solutions. The aim is to give founders the tools they need to start their business, access the capital they need to supercharge growth and be a long-term growth partner in their journey,” he adds.

Watch the full conversation here…