Manufacturing Branding — 3L-Initiatives

Entrepreneurial Manufacturing Branding

When bringing the innovative product or service to commercial reality an entrepreneur must also breathe life into a business through processes, practices, imagery and communicate with all the ventures stakeholders. Elements of these activities will contribute to building culture, behaviours, designs and internal communications, all of which will be a reflection of the entrepreneur (consciously or unconsciously), and collectively define corporate identity. The entrepreneur needs to be aware that while this identity is forming, communication with external stakeholders, including investors, potential employees and ultimately customers, is creating a corporate image. The linking and aligning of identity (internal view or aspiration) and image (external view or perception) coalesce as the corporate brand.

Entrepreneurial activity, either passively or proactively will create a corporate brand which may be an asset or a liability on the business balance sheet. To ensure the brand is an asset, the building of the corporate brand should commence even before the establishment of a company.

For ventures starting-up in the contradictory environmental industries, (those providing both benefit and risk to the community and environment; such as waste to energy and hazardous waste disposal) corporate branding at inception can assist in creating a positive image for key stakeholders: the community, investors, regulators and employees.

However, the environment in which an entrepreneur begins to turn idea and dream into functional business is one lacking in resources (human and capital), processes, structure and history. Despite these restrictions the awareness of a corporate brand’s role in the success of an entrepreneurial venture is vital so that appropriate effort and resources can be applied. Given the need to commence branding a venture at its inception, entrepreneurs must use unconventional means to create a corporate brand and not attempt to recreate the branding building approach of large corporates. In this regard the founding entrepreneur must recognise their own influence on the corporate brand. A corporate brand will, through actions decisions and communications be imbued with characteristics and relationships defined by the entrepreneur.