Brand Masterclass

Last Wednesday the 20th of April marked a historic day for me and The Listening Tree. We conducted our first Brand Masterclass for 12 visionary CEOs and Business Owners. I introduced this new service to enable small companies and start-up to create the right foundation for their brand. Business owners of smaller companies often tell me that branding is the last thing on their minds when trying to juggle HR, delivery, payroll and new business development. But for me this is the ideal time to brand.



This is when your strategy will dictate the type of people you should have on your bus and the kind of services you offer and if those services are relevant. But I must concede that small business do struggle to survive on a daily basis and branding is often perceived as a luxury. So with this in mind, I developed the Masterclass as an affordable yet effective way to enable them to develop their brand strategy.

They came from diverse industries from media to trading to car detailing to radio. They wanted to have a closer look at their brand and were very courageous in their ability to really look at themselves i.e. their strengths, their failings, their dreams and their hopes for their brands.

The atmosphere was highly supportive. As we showed them successful case studies and took them step by step through developing a coherent brand strategy, participants felt free to share their outputs as well as give meaningful and relevant critique. This proved invaluable as now CEOs were able to get feedback from their peers. And so the room became a powerhouse of collective expertise and knowledge both from a business as well as a brand perspective.

Midway through the day, one CEO had a profound realisation that he did not have a brand but a product. Others discovered the missing link needed to complete their brand strategy and thus their offering. Some struggled to find a differentiating factor that would make them stand out from their competitors but later had a eureka moment when applying the "So What" challenge.

I found the whole experience rather amazing as I was blown away by the amount of sharing and giving that went on. CEO giving valuable suggestions and input into helping another CEO with their strategy. This is learning at its best and I would like to thank the participants for their trust and openness.