Colloquia

Summary

This thesis presents a framework that integrates customer involvement and entrepreneurial identity as foundational elements in the brand creation process for start-ups. To the author’s knowledge, it is the first cohesive model that connects these concepts within the entrepreneurial process. An extensive literature review highlights the critical role of branding in early-stage ventures and identifies a gap in existing research: the lack of integrated approaches that use both customer input and founder identity as foundational elements for brand development.

Drawing from entrepreneurship, branding, and design literature, the framework proposes involving customers with branding in the early stages. This early engagement serves a dual purpose: validating the market opportunity simultaneously with shaping the brand positioning. By combining product and brand development through joint consumer input sessions, start-ups can minimize resource use and increase efficiency, addressing common challenges like time and budget constraints. The framework helps start-ups enter the market with a validated opportunity, a brand that resonates with customers and a product that aligns with both.

The framework was tested through a case study involving the start-up of an entrepreneur named Paul, resulting in the creation of the Revost brand and the design of the Lock and Load bicycle rack. While this application was limited to a single case, the results suggest that the approach is scalable and could benefit a broader range of start-ups.

By placing both the entrepreneur and the customer at the centre of the branding process, this thesis demonstrates that branding can be more than a post-launch marketing exercise, it can be a strategic driver of venture creation itself.