Limitless
Limitless Public Relations

Why a strong brand is crucial if you’re thinking of selling your business

Posted on by Michael Gregory

The joys about working in the public relations industry are that we often get involved with interesting projects and people. One of the projects we enjoy most is when a client is looking to sell their business.

It’s a bit like turkeys voting for Christmas. Once we know the client has reached an agreement to sell their business, we’ll undoubtedly lose them. However, we love these projects.

The work we do helps our clients increase the value of their business. A business with a strong brand, an excellent reputation and a high media profile will undoubtedly attract more buyers than a company that, while it is very good at what it does, has a low brand profile.  

Like most things, there is a flip side to this. There are very savvy investors looking for a great business with relatively low brand profile. They acquire it and then start building the brand to achieve a higher valuation when they come to sell. And nine times out of ten, they’ll succeed. The simplest way to put it, is polishing the business and making it shiny for sale.

Strong brands always have perceived value. Think of mega-brands such as Virgin, Nike, Rolls Royce or Tesla. These businesses are worth a lot of money not just because of their products but the brand and how it has been executed. However, many organisations are now realising it’s not just the preserve of those companies to have valuable brands. Smaller businesses are just as reliant on their brand, in fact, more so as they’ll want to attract new customers.

Investing in the brand from the outset is vital if you want to grow a sustainable and attractive business. If your business has a strong brand its more likely to help increase the price paid for a business.

We aren’t saying that having a decent brand is going to be the answer to generating an excellent company valuation; a strong brand comes into being if it has a brand purpose which feeds the culture of the business and is focussed on delivering a great product or service. It’s why major companies spend millions on developing their brands and building positive brand experiences.

When selling a business, there’ll always be several factors to take into consideration that will influence the value. Generally, a company is worth anywhere between one to potentially five times net profit. Fundamentally, it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

There are various of schools of thoughts on how to value a business, but it can be argued that a recognisable and valued brand will help to drive a value up. Why? Because it shows investors that they’ll be taking over a business already primed for success.

So, if you’re a business owner that’s thinking about building your brand, drop us a line to see if we can help you achieve an increase in your company’s brand value.  

For informal chat, email Michael Gregory.

Why you should create a powerful brand purpose

Posted on by Claire Stephenson

The days of telling your audiences your organisation, product or service is the best thing since sliced bread are well and truly over. In fact, that concept probably ended when Apple famously launched its ‘Think Different’ campaign in 1997. You’ll still find that campaign message on some Apple products demonstrating its power.

As consumers, we’re continually bombarded with brand messages and not all of them well thought out. Plus, we’re much savvier about who we want to engage with. We’re just not that easily won over anymore.

We want to know what a brand stands for and if it resonates with our individual values and needs. It’s vital when looking to engage with your audiences, your brand messages are authentic and born from a profound purpose.   

Brands communicating their purpose are arguably more successful in engaging with their audiences, and it’s not just the preserve of big brands. Organisations realising that defining a purpose helps cultivate a point of difference. A brand purpose has to be genuine though because consumers can see through the hasty box ticked brand message.

It’s not new thinking. If you want to know more about this, then read of Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, which he wrote 11 years ago. In it, he says people are more likely to buy into a product, service, cause or movement when they understand the ‘why’ behind it.

It’s a powerful concept, but it doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve defined your ‘why’ , it’ll need to play a central function in shaping brand messages and what you want to be known for.  

At Limitless, we’re big on this. Before devising a brand communications strategy, we help clients define their purpose pinpointing what they want to be known for. Based on research and audience profiling, we design and deliver strategies that help clients achieve their communication objectives.  

The key is to focus on marketing tactics after you’ve defined your purpose and what you want people to know. Campaigns that have a purpose are more meaningful and have greater impact in building brand value.

 Think about it. What’s your purpose? What do you want to be known for? If you’d like to know more, contact Michael Gregory to see how we can help your organisation.