Branding that works for your PE or M&A firm.

Your brand is more than a logo on a piece of letterhead. Your brand is everything your company stands for, what kind of work you do, and how people see you. It’s your biggest asset or, if not cared for, your biggest disadvantage.

Every day we work with private equity firms and investment banks who have a brand image they are looking to change. Whether they realize it or not, by asking for help with their website, they are often also asking us to revamp their brand image.

Recently, branding has come up more than ever. So, we thought we’d put together a quick guide on what branding encompasses and how we can give your company the branding help it needs.

What is branding?

We’ve established that a brand is more than just the tangible pieces of collateral you hold, but what else does it incorporate?

On a basic level your branding personifies your company. What values does it aspire to? What is your mission? Who are your people? How do you want to be seen by the world?

Defining your brand.

In order to best define your brand, you need to gather as much information as possible. At MVP we do this by starting with the people who know your private equity company best, business owners and management teams, intermediaries, trusted advisors and bankers.

We ask them a series of questions designed to learn why they wanted to work with you. These questions draw out the value they see in your firm.

Another way we might help you gain insights about your business is to do an analysis of your competitors. What defines them? How are you different?

Discovering why the people who work with you think you’re unique, as well as processing what you see as your advantages over the competition, helps you decide what kind of brand image is true to your company.

Your positioning.

All this research leads to business architecture statements. These statements allow you to give words to not only who your competitors and business partners think you are, but who you think you are. They include statements like “We are…, Our mission is…, Our value proposition is…”

These statements are mostly for internal use, but they are also the basis for the statements you will use in outward facing communications.

Once you agree on your business positioning, turn your attention to brand positioning. This is the part of your branding that will be seen by the public. It includes things like your vision, promise, and tagline. It is the verbal expression of your brand.

The right assets.

With these positioning pieces in place, you can turn your attention to how you want to visually display your brand. Your logo, collateral, and website all need to be influenced by the language you choose.

At MVP we research your private equity company or investment banking firm carefully to help you craft the perfect positioning before we work on the visual elements. We believe that each image, logo, or icon is part of your brand story. Our team develops assets to create a logo and style guide that truly reflect your team.

What now?

Now you know some of the basics of branding, but don’t stop there. Click below to learn more about marketing your private equity firm with our website redesign checklist.