Brand building not only increases the voice and awareness of a brand, it also gives it an identity and value. It is an integral aspect of business development. 

The participatory and interactive character of steemit is providing a great chance to enhance its own brand awareness and equity. Coincidentally, growth has been defined as THE no. 1 target for the platform: the steemit roadmap 2017 which was published 10 days ago defined activities 'to drastically increase the number of weekly signups' as 'primary short-term goal'. 

The following article provides some ideas on how to build a brand around steemit and make it ready for the big party. 

Brand building 

A brand is the visual voice of a business. Brand building means generating awareness for that voice. 

Brand building enhances the brand´s equity using promotional strategies and advertising campaigns. It is a process of creating value to customers (here: users). It encompasses all things that the consumers (users) know, feel, and experience about the corresponding business in its entirety. 

The fact that steemit is an already introduced brand doesn´t actually make it easier. During the first months of its market penetration a lot of customers / users have already formed their opinion about the brand (and its values). 

But there is still a chance to belatedly build a brand around steemit. Even more knowing that we are still in beta...

Defining the drivers 

In the beginning it is important to know what the business does believe in, what is its purpose and who are its brand heroes. These things can help to establish an emotive brand positioning and furthermore start forming the identity and character for brand communications. 

Thinking about steemit THE key driver surely is the community. That includes: social activity, integrity, communication and interactive bonds. Furthermore, another important driver is the economical part, since steemit creates monetary value. That includes: financial interest, trading and economical competition. Finally, there is the anarchistic element. A lot of steemit users have joined the platform due to their anti-establishment ideology. That includes: politics, moral concepts and equal rights interests. 

Defining the character (brand values) 

Thanks to the above mentioned drivers we can establish the first emotional brand characteristics of steemit: 

1. communicative, involving, social 
2. economical, tradable, adding value 
3. decentralized, fair, equitable 

When building a brand it helps to think of it as a person. 

We are all individuals whose characters are made up of beliefs, values and purposes that define who we are and who we are able to connect with. Our personality determines how we behave in corresponding situations, how we express ourselves, what we laugh about and how we dress. Obviously, all these things happen intuitively and usually we don´t really consider what our own character is. But when we want to build a brand it is essential to have that understanding. 

If steemit was a person and we labelled it with the above mentioned brand values, then...  

Hi, I am steemit!
A communicative, social and open-minded person who adds tradable value to a decentralized world where
everybody has the same opportunities. 

Being different 

It is important to carve out an own distinctive identity. There is a big consumer trend towards independent establishments, so when building a new brand it could be a smart strategy to respond to that trend.  

The goal is attracting these users who are looking for something original and authentic, that aligns with how they feel about themselves and what is important to them in real life. 

steemit perfectly replies to that need by its DNA. Being an application built on blockchain technology the brand automatically differs from what we consider being normal (learned).  

Big brands are usually encumbered by large layers of bureaucracy and hierarchy, preventing them from being flexible and reacting to the quickly changing needs of the market they are moving in. Those layers of decision-makers can make life hard. 

steemit, being a new business with a flat hierarchy, has a high level of flexibility available. 

The excellence of brand credibility 

The old way of stamping a logo on everything won't really cut it.

Modern branding is fluid and engaging. It respects customers´ intelligence by not giving everything away up front. What really matters is generating some intrigue and allow customers/users to discover more about the brand for  themselves. 

This is the premium way to foster ambassadors who revel in telling other people what they have found out. 

An example to follow: 

MINI is undoubtedly one of the worldwide established brands with an excellent brand recognition value and brand credibility. 

I was working for MINI´s Marketing Department when I wrote my thesis about 13 years ago. After having visited a Motor Show during my university´s career, it was very clear to me that I wanted to work for that company some day. Their marketing is absolutely mind-blowing! 

More then a decade later I am still convinced that there is no other brand on earth which is doing marketing in a smarter way than they do. Their Corporate Identity manual is a bible. There are rules - do´s and dont´s - for every single written character, blur of color or drawn line. Their creative agencies must be one of the best paid agencies in the word. 

That´s how brand building works: all or nothing. Right from the start. 

There are millions of brands out there in our attention economy, bombarding consumers on a daily basis. It is absolutely key to understand how to properly brand a business in order to stand out among the noise and register in the mind of consumers. 

Having an effective brand can provide a business with a major competitive edge over competition. That´s why it is so important to do everything right from the very first breath. 

Brand building needs time - but its worth it 

Brands are psychology and science brought together as a promise mark. Products have life cycles and their brands outlive these products. Brands convey a uniform quality, credibility and experience. Brands are valuable. 

Brands are so valuable that many successful companies put the value of their brands on their balance sheets. 

Creating a new vibrant brand is a huge challenge which requires a sophisticated strategy. It is not just about a product and a name and a nicely shaped logo - it is about a lot more. But again: it´s worth it. 

The following quote by Henry Ford is a testament to the importance of building and maintaining a brand for a business. Having a great reputation for what one does is what keeps people coming back for more. 

If we wait too long to create or improve upon a brand, someone will beat us to the punch which makes it twice as difficult to come up with a new idea to stand out. 

Building a smart and credible brand around steemit will provide the platform with identity and value. It will enhance its own awareness (gain attention / new users) and equity (steem), opening doors for the long-desired user growth. Building a brand takes time and needs consistency. Modern branding is fluid and engaging, respecting the users´ intelligence, involving them and providing them with a nice product to discover. steemit has everything what is needed to build a successful brand around it. It just needs to be done... 

Thanks for your attention, I hope you enjoyed the read.
Marly - 

Picture sources:
Title (background): https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/
Timing perfect: http://www.quotehd.com/
Never too late quote: https://patelvips.files.wordpress.com/
Animated GIF: http://68.media.tumblr.com/
Flexibility quote: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/
Sherlock Holmes: http://static.comicvine.com/
MINI ad 1: http://files1.coloribus.com/
MINI ad 2: http://c0248141.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/
Brand building circles: http://www.webgerent.com/
Henry Ford quote: http://cdn2.hubspot.net/