This document discusses branding strategies for hardware companies. It outlines that branding involves creating a differentiated name and image to establish presence and attract customers. Great hardware brands are crafted with design in mind and differentiate themselves while creating strong, positive emotional connections. The checklist recommends starting with research, picking the right name, developing a distinctive visual identity, and applying branding consistently. Hardware branding specifically starts with design and understanding customers to create products that are photograph-friendly and pleasant to use. Naming should be easy to remember and identities should appeal to customers' senses. Software upgrades can help tell the brand story over time to increase customer promotion and satisfaction.

1. BUILDING YOUR
HARDWARE BRAND
Rob Coneybeer
Shasta Ventures
@robconeybeer

2. BRANDING
Branding is a marketing strategy that involves creating a
differentiated name and image in order to establish a
presence in the consumer's mind and attract and keep
customers.

3. CHARACTERISTICS
OF GREAT BRANDS
Great brands are crafted hand-in-hand with design.
Great brands differentiate.
Great brands make word-of-mouth easier.
Great brands create a strong positive emotional connection with
customers.

4. BRANDING CHECKLIST
1. Start with deep research.
Understand your customer and perform your own primary research.
Research competitive products (or alternatives) and how they brand
themselves.

5. BRANDING CHECKLIST
2. Pick the right name. Avoid being descriptive.
3. Develop a distinctive visual brand in the product.
4. Create a great logo. Place it everywhere.
5. Develop a tagline.
6. Design templates and brand standards for your marketing
materials.

6. BRANDING CHECKLIST
7. Write down the brand attributes & key messages.
8. Share the brand attributes with the entire team. Get team buy-in,
and then enforce consistency.
9. Get legal protection for both your trademark, visual branding, and
any distinctive phrases you use to describe your product.
10.Apply your branding to everything: product, packaging, web
presence, and marketing materials.

7. WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT
BRANDING HARDWARE?

10. HARDWARE BRANDING
STARTS WITH DESIGN
Visual, tactile, and aural identities are integral to building great
hardware brands.

16. DESIGN STARTS WITH
CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING

17. DESIGN SUCCESS CAN BE
MEASURED
“How likely is it that you would
recommend [brand] to a friend or
colleague?”

18. DESIGN FOR NPS

19. HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS
HELP YOU
1. Pick the right name.
2. Create emotionally appealing visual, tactile & aural identities.

20. NAMING
Naming is for your customers. Naming is not for you.
Make the brand name “easy” for your customers.
Use a name that is easy to pronounce, easy to spell, easy to
remember.

21. NAMING

22. NAMING

23. VISUAL, TACTILE, & AURAL
IDENTITIES
Design the product with photography & social media in mind.
Aim for iconic, memorable, photograph-friendly, & pleasantly
tactile design.
Think about pleasing the customers senses.

24. VISUAL, TACTILE, & AURAL
IDENTITIES

25. VISUAL, TACTILE, & AURAL
IDENTITIES

26. FORM FACTOR

27. WORD OF MOUTH
The most effective & lowest cost form of customer acquisition is
“word of mouth.”
Your brand and design should make it easy for your users to promote
your product.
Social media is effectively user-generated advertising.

28. WORD OF MOUTH

29. WORD OF MOUTH

30. WORD OF MOUTH

31. WORD OF MOUTH

32. SOFTWARE CAN HELP BUILD
A HARDWARE BRAND STORY
Don’t incorporate all of the features at once.
Use Internet connectivity to upgrade your product’s functionality over
time.
Aim to increase your Net Promoter Score over time, with high value
(usually free) software enhancements.

35. THE HARDWARE
BRANDING FORMULA
Design your
product for
maximum NPS
Continuous & free
software upgrades+
=
+
Help your customers
help you
(naming & identities)

36. FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s all about building a strong positive emotional attachment to your
customer.
Simple. Consistent. Authentic.

37. @robconeybeer
shastaventures.com
280.vc