Tips for creating an investment brand

Tips for creating a investment brand

Delivering a successful investment brand for a complex region such as the Thames Gateway is always going to be challenging. For others embarking on a similar exercise, we’ve extracted some key learnings from the project.

Identify the right audience

A region like the Thames Gateway involves multiple stakeholders with responsibility for engaging different business audiences at many different levels – from micro initiatives at a local level, to a wider international audience. It’s critical to establish where the focus lies in order to target the proposition effectively. The needs of small local businesses with more knowledge of the location will be very different from a distant international investor. Focussing on the right audience level and sharpening the message accordingly will lead to a much more effective proposition.

Keep all stakeholders on board

Keeping stakeholders and partners involved in the process of developing the investment brand is critical for its success. Involving the right people through workshops and updates along the way not only gathers feedback ‘from the field’, but ensures everyone has fully bought into the brand. By the time it is ready for launch, partners should be ready to act as advocates and use the brand as a vital tool for their marketing communications.

Establish a real sense of place

The challenge for a regeneration region undergoing development is the need to attract inward investment to something that doesn’t fully exist yet. To attract interest, communicating the personality of the location is critical, and it’s important to capitalise on what already exists. Places of interest, successful businesses and transport infrastructure for example, can all add the reality factor to what can otherwise seem like a hollow and distant promise for the future. Supporting the story with great real photography rather than glossy CGI graphics in communication materials helps with this.

If you would like to find out more about our expertise in creating brands for locations, please call Bridget Ruffell on 0207 013 4650, or get in touch via our contact page.