HUMBLEBRAG

With the reopening of more & more businesses, people are being bombarded by the various marketing messages. How can you break through the noise? Consider a strategic partnership. It could provide your brand with unique ways of reaching (new) audiences. Look for a partner brand with similar traits.

Bored at home and with savings in the bank, amateur day traders have piled money into the stock market over the past year, which is at record levels. Some traders back companies based on future performance expectations and others prefer companies that represent a fundamentally sound investment.

Some modern companies have huge valuations, not because of their ownership of physical assets (product range, factories, logistics etc.), but because of more intangible assets like a software or a design patent. Whether right or wrong, many day traders will buy stocks in a company because they value another type of intangible asset; its brand. FT editor, Robert Armstrong referred to this on the David McWilliams podcast this week.

A strong brand will make your small business attractive to investors, employees and customers. You may sell the same product as your competitor but it is often your brand that will make you the stand out.

Does your small business support a local charity? Or perhaps you were a regular giver but stopped because you were being criticised by some for doing so. Psychologists reveal that giving can often attract mistrust and even anger among the public.

The psychologists illustrate how quirks of human psychology can prompt a form of moral hypocrisy. Humans find it difficult to accept that something can be both good for a business/brand and for the cause at the same time. As a result, we often choose companies that deliver no benefit whatsoever to good causes instead.

From a brand perspective, whether your small business decides to support good causes or not, just make sure it's authentic and your reasons for doing so are genuine.