While most people are familiar with Minimum Viable Product (MVP) - building just enough to get an initial offering out there and validated with real users - we’ve recently been refining our process for a Minimum Viable Brand (MVB) to complement that MVP.
At PSV, we’ve found that having even a basic brand architecture and identity system in place from the very start is critical to a successful product journey. An MVB aligns everyone around your purpose, personality and core brand pillars. It prevents startups from looking like disjointed science projects when they launch.
Our MVB process has a few key phases:
Brand Foundations
Before we even start exploring a brand’s identity, we work to articulate the new venture's mission, vision, values, audience, and value proposition. We highly recommend starting with an exercise template like this one from Miro. These foundational elements act as a guardrail for all future brand decisions and help to keep us on course as our brand’s north star.
We also conduct a thorough brand landscape analysis to understand the competitive set and identify white space for differentiation. PSV’s default position on brand landscape is that we’re happy being the outlier. We want our brands to be memorable and inspiring, not just more of the same.
Naming
Naming is…tough. There’s usually a name that we’ve sort of kicked around from the start that we’re not sure if we want to hold on to or not. So, for the sake of due diligence, we run a naming sprint to land on 3-5 final name candidates that fit the desired brand attributes and market positioning. Names get vetted for URL availability, linguistic checks, and trademark screening.
There have been a few instances where, after doing the naming exercise, we stuck with the original name. But it feels better to know that we chose the right name for the right reasons.
Brand Archetype
A critical part of distilling a brand's personality is choosing its core archetype - the governing metaphor that the brand seeks to represent. Common archetypes are the Hero, Outlaw, Sage, Explorer, Caregiver, etc. Focus Lab does a stellar deep-dive on the different archetypes with examples across tech brands.
In this exercise, we map out 3-5 archetypal territories that align with the brand foundations and see which one fits the best story for the new venture's brand. This archetype informs design decisions as well as the overall brand and product narrative.
Brand Voice & Messaging
With our brand archetypes in hand, we define the brand's tone, personality and core messaging platform that informs copy, content and communications. This acts as a guiding tool for both our team and anyone external representing the brand to ensure consistency. As we’re building out marketing and product, we continually return to this guidelines to stay on track.
Visual Identity
Once a brand’s name, archetypes, voice and messaging come together, it’s time for our team to explore how we can represent that vision…visually. We start working through visual identity starting with logo concepts and style exploration. This is a fairly open-minded process where anything can happen - so long as it fits within the confines of the brand definition we’ve done up to this point. With the freedom to explore and innovate, this is often where the magic happens.
We iterate through multiple routes to land on a flexible but coherent visual system that can extend across digital, physical outputs. And the end result? An MVB identity system covering the logo, color palette, typography, graphic elements, photography style, and any future visions for the brand.
Launching & Building
With the MVB system in place, our work is really just beginning. But, we know that we’re starting off on the right foot with an aligned vision and a pressure-tested brand. We can later launch knowing the brand’s identity is cohesive, defensible and built for scale. It’s also essential during this process to document everything in brand guidelines, so we can reference them as we expand.
Of course, the brand will keep evolving as the business grows and we gather user feedback. But an MVB is exactly what the term says it is - a Minimum Viable Brand. Just enough to provide that critical first imprint and lay the foundation for an enduring brand presence. It's the minimum viable way to make a maximum viable impression. See how our latest MVB turned out by checking out Quin!
