Prioritizing Visual Branding To Build Stronger Brands — Brian Pia
Intro:
Brian Pia has been working with entrepreneurs and business leaders for close to three decades. His journey has been somewhat unconventional, but has been absolutely amazing! At the age of 18 he started his first business. He worked in corporate America for many years where he had the opportunity to work with some very talented people. However, he always found himself coming back to his entrepreneurial roots. In his newest venture, Think Tank Partners, he works with start-up and early stage companies to build brand strategies that strengthen their market position and accelerate growth.
Hi Brian, let’s start with one of our common interests. I know we went to the same photography school here in Austin, Austin School of Photography. So can you tell me about your interest in the medium?
I’ve always loved photography. From the time I saw my first black & white photo as a child, I was captivated by the medium. For me, the primary draw was really the ability to capture the emotion and energy of a moment. There is something amazing about being able to pull the viewer into a scene that only the photographer has experienced. I think this attraction is what continues to drive my motivation to photograph action sports and movement in general.
I had a similar experience. Early on I was fascinated with how a photographer could make a real-life scene even more beautiful or intriguing. In our work together, you’ve told me that you now work to consult people on visual branding. What does that look like? And how does your knowledge of photography help with that?
My business focuses on guiding my clients on a journey that aligns their brand with their targeted consumer segments. Visual communication is a key aspect when we start to develop associations between the consumer and the brand.
Brands are all about emotion and connection; the feeling that the brand is an extension of the consumer’s very existence.
Brands are all about emotion and connection; the feeling that the brand is an extension of the consumer’s very existence. Communicating emotion and building associations relies almost exclusively on visual cues.
My knowledge of photography has drastically increased the tools I have available to build those visual stories. Through my knowledge of photography, I am able to build a visual communication channel that has purpose. The result is a better alignment of the intended message and the visual cues that convey the emotion and energy of the brand.
Yes! I say all the time that 55% of communication is visual and that’s why it’s so important to focus on the visuals when you’re branding your business. I would also add that communicating emotion and building association also relies on story. When you can communicate in similes and metaphors AND imagery, then you’ll be so much more effective than stating a bunch of boring facts and statistics.
That’s a great point. When you think about why someone chooses one brand over another the decision often comes down to relatability. Storytelling and images that evoke emotion are the quickest way to foster that human connection. I’ve always tried to adopt this approach, afterall, people remember stories, not facts and figures. It’s built into our DNA. It’s what drives human curiosity.
Storytelling and images that evoke emotion are the quickest way to foster that human connection.
Relating to that, I can imagine that in what you do, you can sense when someone is not highly visually literate, because they don’t see the value of images. What do you do in those cases? How do you approach those conversations?
That’s a great question. Visual literacy is definitely a challenge when I speak to entrepreneurs and business leaders. There is a bit of a contradiction in thinking when it comes to conversation about the visual aspect of a brand. On one hand, the visual representation of the company in the form of a logo or other graphic design elements is often seen as a paramount to establishing credibility, so it is considered a normal part of building a company.
However, when the conversation shifts to developing image assets where the personality of the brand will connect to consumers, the conversation can become a bit cumbersome as the perception is those images are more of a “nice to have” than a “must have.”
I’m still in the process of defining my approach with this issue. I have found that showing them a “before and after” tends to work to start the conversation. For instance, if the company that I’m speaking with has a website or social media presence, I will look at those channels to gain a better understanding of their appetite for imagery.
If I can I will recreate some of their images using the same style as the originals but I will also shoot a series of photos that set different tones for their product. It’s not perfect, but it does demonstrate how purposeful imagery can change the associations to the brand.
I think that’s an interesting approach. It sounds like you shift people’s perception of imagery by showing them images. I’m also hoping to shift people’s opinion of visual literacy by having more conversations with photographers like you. I hope that together we can move the needle a bit.
Yeah, the shift in perception is key. It seems to work in the short term. My hope is that those conversations act as an educational tool where we can begin to drive home the distinction between a “snapshot” and a “photograph.” Unfortunately, most of the imagery I see in the market falls into the former category. We have a steep climb ahead of us but it’s one that’s well worth the effort.
My hope is that those conversations act as an educational tool where we can begin to drive home the distinction between a “snapshot” and a “photograph.”
You’ve had an impressive number of businesses where you’ve thought of an original idea, built the business, then eventually sold it for a profit. Your current business, Think Tank Partners, is your 6th business. How do you think of new business ideas that will be successful? Is there a process that you go through?
I think it’s important to say that not all of my ventures have ended in success. My previous venture closed due to circumstances that we had absolutely no control over. It was a hard pill to swallow, however as an entrepreneur it’s important to be able to pivot your strategy when market conditions change your circumstances. I openly share this as a reminder that even when you do everything right, success is never guaranteed.
As an entrepreneur, it’s important to be able to pivot your strategy when market conditions change your circumstances.
However, you’re correct; Think Tank Partners is my 6th start-up. I have been fortunate to work for, and work with, some very well respected companies over the course of my career. I have found that even the most well-known brands in the market struggle with addressing the needs of the end-user consumer.
All of my businesses were created to address a specific set of pain points that were relevant to how companies engaged their consumer base. The timing of those businesses coincided with shifts in technology, business strategies, and consumer sentiment. Actually, when I think back on the path of my entrepreneurial career I would say that even though each venture was distinctly separated, there was definitely a feeling of evolution and transition, as if the newest business evolved from the one before.
My process for evaluating opportunities is actually pretty simple. It really comes down to answering a few key questions such as:
- “Is my understanding of the business pain point aligned with my target audience’s perception of the issues they face?”
- “Can I effectively solve the problem at hand?”
- “Can I do it in a way where the value I deliver exceeds the cost of the service I provide?”
Once those questions are answered I have a relatively good idea of whether it makes sense to move forward and bring the venture to market. Of course there are numerous other considerations but those three tend to be my “go-to” litmus test.
When we see other people who have been in business for themselves for a while, it’s easy to think that it’s always been like that for them and that it’s been easy. Thank you so much for the reminder that you haven’t always been successful, even if it is a hard pill to swallow. Before I went into business for myself, a friend who is older than my parents told me that starting his own business was the best thing he ever did. But he went bankrupt twice starting other businesses before he started what he does now. He was 50-years-old when he started his current business. That conversation keeps me going when I think things are tough.
There are so many great stories like your friend’s. Some of the greatest success stories come on the heels of what we would characterize as “failure.” I think the key to longevity is how we manage those challenges and setbacks. It really comes down to being realistic about the capabilities, motivations, and expectations for the business.
Some of the greatest success stories come on the heels of what we would characterize as “failure.”
Yes, I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to chat in-depth with business founders who failed a few times before they were successful. Do you want to talk about what you do now at Think Tank Partners? And could you tell us what inspired the name?
Think Tank Partners’ primary focus is on building brand strategies for start-up and early-stage companies. We work directly with entrepreneurs and business leadership to help them define their brands and position them for the best possible outcomes given their capabilities and vision.
Since our work is focused on developing brand strategy for the client, we place a heavy emphasis on understanding and defining the targeted consumer segments for the client’s business. Messaging and visual communications play a significant role in establishing the path forward, however we look far deeper than that. We really dig deep under the hood, if you will.
Our discovery examines business and technical capabilities to be sure that the company can actually achieve what they promise their consumers. When gaps exist, which they often do, we work alongside our clients to help them implement, measure, and monitor their business to assure their goals will remain attainable.
The name Think Tank Partners represents how our company serves our target market. Our mission is to guide our client’s by leveraging our expertise in the market in a collaborative fashion. We don’t tell our clients what to do, instead we create a safe environment where we are able to work together to share ideas, provide advice, build solutions to develop meaningful and relevant branding strategies. Our partner-centric approach is intended to foster the feeling that we are an extension of our client’s team.
We don’t tell our clients what to do, instead we create a safe environment where we are able to work together to share ideas.
In my own experience as a branding strategist, I think working in collaboration with your clients is extremely important. I often tell people that marketing and branding strategies are not an if-then formula. They are “what may work.” And this is because there are so many moving pieces in the strategies we use.
That’s a great point. It’s so important for entrepreneurs to understand that the market has a life of its own. The most successful companies that I have worked with over the course of my career have all had one thing in common; they are committed to a partnership that is dynamic where we work together to constantly evolve their branding and marketing strategies. In fact, when I work with clients I’m adamant about developing a continuous improvement program to support their branding strategy. This approach allows us to proactively monitor, measure, and adjust our market approach.
You specifically work with ambitious entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses, and you often use strategies that are not typical. How do you go about identifying a marketing and branding strategy that will be successful for your clients? Are there any strategies that you use for thinking outside of the box?
One of the things that I love the most about the work I have been doing over the past two decades is that there are no two problems that are alike. You can take two companies of similar size in the same industry, even in the same city, and find that the challenges they are facing are distinctly different from one another.
A lot of times clients will say to me “we want to be like Apple” or “Amazon is amazing, how do we do what they do?” or “Our competition does it this way, we want to do the same thing they’re doing, show us how.” I think that there is a general misconception that business strategy is transferable, especially when companies compete in the same industry.
I think that there is a general misconception that business strategy is transferable, especially when companies compete in the same industry.
When I work with a company there is no silver bullet to make their strategy successful. It really comes down to fundamentals and discipline. The conversations around business fundamentals really makes my clients examine who they are and what their business is capable of.
We look at business structure to determine the correct strategic approach. We examine the motivations and capabilities of the company’s leadership. Just because you’re a great software designer doesn’t mean you will be a successful owner of a software company. My obligation to my client is to make them uncomfortable so we walk away with a strategy that is grounded in reality.
While fundamentals are important, discipline tends to be the greatest determinant of success. I think it’s important to make a distinction about discipline. I’m not referring to going to bed at X time and waking up at Y. When I talk about discipline I’m referring to the ability to hold true to the strategy and avoid the temptation of chasing sales at the expense of the brand. It’s about being committed to the strategy we have developed and holding true to the implied contract that the brand has established with the consumer to engage with the company.
In terms of thinking out of the box, my approach is to put myself in the consumer’s shoes. As consumers we spend a significant amount of time making comparisons between companies. If we have a great experience with Amazon, we remember how easy it was when we dealt with a local coffee shop. Over a short period of time that great experience actually gets converted into an expectation. So when we go into the coffee shop our expectation is that the payment process, for example, should be effortless.
When I start my work with a client I become that consumer. I start the process by comparing everything about their company to every other touch point the consumer would experience. Industry, company size, tenure in the market, etc. doesn’t matter — it comes down to how effective my client is in meeting the needs of the consumer.
I like how you say that you focus on the fundamentals. In my own work, I find that if I can identify the values of the founders of the business, I recommend that those values are filtered through every part of the business structure. This way they will be able to connect with their ideal clients more easily.
Branding is all about connection. As consumers we tend to align ourselves with companies that represent or align with our core values. When a leader has the ability to convey his/her values throughout the organization the results are invaluable.
The interesting thing about the adoption of founder values into the organization is that those companies tend to be more tightly integrated and are more willing to focus on the business fundamentals when business growth is challenged. It’s as if everyone is one the same mission so the temptation to veer off course is far less than other companies who may be fragmented and more reactive in the face of market adversity.
The interesting thing about the adoption of founder values into the organization is that those companies tend to be more tightly integrated and are more willing to focus on the business fundamentals when business growth is challenged.
If you were talking to a creative entrepreneur who was struggling to grow their business, is there any strategy or tactic that you would recommend?
I think the best advice I could give is to be honest and objective about your motivations and capabilities. It’s important to establish why you want to own your own business. I used the example of the software designer who wants to start a software company. What’s your motivation? Are you financially motivated? Maybe you know a guy who started a similar company and retired at 35? Perhaps you’re terrified to speak to strangers or you’re terrible at delegating. This self-inventory is vital. As entrepreneurs we sacrifice a lot so it’s always important to know why you’re doing the things you do.
As entrepreneurs we sacrifice a lot so it’s always important to know why you’re doing the things you do.
When I first went into business for myself, someone who I met while networking recommended that I take an objective personality test. This led to me learning my Meyers-Briggs personality. From there I was able to structure a business that played up my strengths and downplayed my weaknesses. That has been so helpful! So I agree with you that it’s important to evaluate your motivations when you start your own business.
Yea, it’s a big challenge to look at ourselves objectively. Using tools that can be leveraged to help peel back the layers and let us see ourselves in a different light is highly encouraged. Knowing ourselves and what drives us certainly won’t guarantee our success but it will definitely allow us to move toward our goals with more intent and purpose.
I completely agree with you there. I’ve actually found that a few of my clients said they trusted me more quickly because they saw that I blogged for INFJ Woman. One said she figured that we’re such a rare type that we must have a lot we could connect on.
Well, is there anything else that I should have asked you about? What else do you want to share with us?
I’d like to leave your readers with one additional thought regarding branding and the role visual communications plays in its success. Consumer behaviors and consumer expectations are rapidly changing. There is a general expectation that information will continue to be consumed in smaller chunks. Given this shift, the visual connection between the brand and the consumer is more important than ever before. The most successful companies, regardless of the vertical, view the imagery that represents their brand and establishes the connection to their consumer as strategic assets that require long-term investment. This is particularly important for small and mid-sized businesses that wish to establish their brand within their market.
The most successful companies, regardless of the vertical, view the imagery that represents their brand and establishes the connection to their consumer as strategic assets that require long-term investment.
Okay, so if others want to connect with you online, how can they do that?
Website: www.thinkbrandATX.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkbrandATX/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkbrandATX/
Email: brian.pia [ at ] thinkbrandATX [ dot ] com
Thank you so much Brian for collaborating with me on this post. I really enjoyed the process!
Originally published at https://backstoryfirst.com on July 8, 2020.
