How to create a brand legacy as an eCommerce startup

By Ayo Disu, Co-founder of Octillion

 

Why is Legacy important?

Doing great work is more than just for today, it is for posterity and the planet. Legacy is an important value for us at Octillion as we want to be measured by the positive impact we have on the sectors we transform long after we are gone.

Ayo Disu

This includes our people’s legacy – from how we enabled freedom for the teams that are the lifeblood of our brands, and our fellow commerce founders, to how we meet our sustainability goals and deliver on our promises that impact people in our ecosystem. Finally, it’s also about honouring the legacy of those who helped us to get here.

Lega cy is not frequently discussed in start-up land as brands jump from one product trend to another and the hottest start-up changes by the month, but you only need to look at some great consumer brands/ tech brands, from Gillette to Apple, and you’ll notice they all have something in common: a legacy.

Gillette legacy is every decade or so, launches a new incremental product improvement – slightly better, slightly more expensive, slightly more profitable and it migrates the consumer from the previous model to the new model and forges ahead, and Apple’s legacy is its ability to constantly innovate and combine functionality with sleek design; their legacy is what stands the test of time in a rapidly changing business climate.

At a time when a plethora of brands are seeking media attention and investment, these brands are still fixed in popular culture. Brand legacies aren’t accidental but intentional; they’re formed at business inception and come from having a clear focus of what the mission is and most importantly what it’s not.

In short, legacy turns a business into a brand. So, how do you build brand legacy when you’ve just started out?

 

It takes time, but be intentional

Intentionality helps you understand the importance and purpose of your bigger vision and directs your mind and actions to help you achieve it. An intentional focus gives you greater clarity around what you want and takes the guesswork out of where to invest your time and focus.

It’s impossible to accurately predict where your brand will be in three to five years, but you can do a few things that will make your brand legacy intentional.

Firstly, you need to ask yourself what are we building and what are we optimising for? Growth, profitability? Secondly, find what makes your product different from the competition. Is it the affordability, the quality, or that you’re bringing something completely novel to the market? Whatever it is, make this central to your brand messaging and advertise the benefit. Consider your website, newsletters, and social media – all these channels should incorporate this clear brand message so there is consistency across channels and people know what your brand represents.

This message isn’t just for consumers. Make sure your employees and stakeholders know what this message is and incorporate it into your brand values. Your team should live and breathe this messaging, so it’s evident in operations.

 

Build a community

Successful brands tend to invest in things that may not necessarily lead to more sales – but can strengthen their brands in the long run. Creating communities is one-way brands are building their brand equity. Creating a legacy truly begins from the creation of a community.

Too often brands ostracise their community building activities within the marketing and advertising verticals. This is a very in-authentic way of building community and often does not yield very much.

A community-based brand builds loyalty not by driving sales transactions but by helping the members of the collective. Most people are usually interested in the social opportunities that come from being affiliated with a brand rather than the actual brand itself.

Your brand community will help you expand upon and solidify your brand identity. In a brand’s early phases, defining your brand and increasing brand awareness serve as core initiatives. Properly building a brand community takes serious effort, but it will be rewarding for both you and your customer base in the long term.

 

Implement sustainable measures from the start

Sustainability has always been a macro-trend but has become a bit of a buzzword as of late. Truthfully, businesses need to carefully consider the environmental impact of their operations if they’re serious about building a brand legacy.

It’s never been more important for brands to implement sustainable operations, as consumers will carefully consider your brand’ environmental impact before investing in a product. It is also the right thing to do.

Taking steps towards becoming carbon neutral or carbon zero are essential, if you’re in doubt, you can enlist the help of a sustainability consultant who’ll be able to advise on how to reduce your company’s carbon footprint.

Don’t be tempted to greenwash. It’s better to start small and slow to actively show you’re working towards a more sustainable business and admit that it’s a working progress rather than claiming your company is sustainable. Stakeholders can see right through these claims, and it won’t bode well for your reputation and legacy!

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