The Power of Brand in the Context of Seeking Project Finance
The work we do, as a B2B agency, is supposed to support the goal of building substantial business relationships that foster growth for all partners and stakeholders. While we, as the ‘ad industry’ speak ‘brand’ a lot, we don’t always have our clients immediately on our page. Why?
Because they experience, see, and thus believe that the primary bottom-line shifters for their businesses are seeded while enjoying a drink with a view after hours at a sector conference or on the golf course between sessions at a business forum.
Just like the set dressers backstage on Broadway are as integral to the play’s world-building as the celebrated actors reciting their lines, so too is the ‘brand’ a crucial contributor to the perception-building that opens those doors to that conference, which gets you invited to that golf game in the first place.
In my previous piece on branding, I explored the role of a ‘brand’ in navigating the exceptionally relationship-based world of global minerals and mining. The conceptual ‘brand’ in the context of business networking goes some way to creating recognition, establishing credibility, and guiding the fostering of meaningful connections.
But ultimately, the goal of all that networking is to make critical partnerships to mobilise those several moving parts and unlock massive impact on the ground. This then brings us to the role of the brand in unlocking business and project finance.
Reputation and Credibility
As it is when networking, a ‘brand’ precedes you and establishes your reputation long before you get to a proposed business meeting. Particularly within large industrial businesses, your name tells the story of who you’ve been in business with, what you’ve achieved, and how you’ve behaved – all critical information for a partner from whom you hope to raise money!
Even more so, when you consider that despite our belief that business is rationally governed, there is a substantial portion of business decisions that are at least partially informed by ‘gut’. That ‘gut’ is informed by emotion and experience, so the brand helps to guide these emotions and shape these experiences (and thus the beliefs people carry about your business).
Also, from a more rational point of view, the brand can give you credibility – or instead, it can plant, water, and grow any credibility you already have. Financiers and investors are more likely to be willing to back a project with a reputable brand behind it because they perceive fewer risks associated with their investment.
Attracting Strategic Partnerships
Your brand is a summarised story of your (collective) experience, ambitions, abilities, and beliefs. It’s then translated creatively to communicate all those points experientially across every touchpoint within and without a business.
We understand that even business decision-makers are emotional creatures, regardless of their self-belief, who receive information from their senses and use it to inform their decisions. The point of all this is to assist in shaping their beliefs about your business.
Ultimately, the brands with a strong reputation find it easier to attract their desired partnerships within the various types of organisations – both public and private – which unlock additional resources, greater expertise, and most significantly, more funding opportunities.
Access to Capital
Finance is a confidence game. Every business decision-maker knows that. Whoever is financing your business wants to know – and rest easy believing – that their money is in good hands and will result in growth. But nobody has a crystal ball, and so 90% of the job is to inspire that belief – through stats, reports, and analysis, but equally through legacy, experience, values, and behaviours. A brand is a shorthand for all of that, and it sends that message in ways that are received consciously and unconsciously to build financial confidence.
Trustworthy brands often have an easier time getting access to capital due to their perceived stability and lower risk profile. This can translate into more favourable financing terms that obviously can significantly impact the success of a project in development.
In the context of accessing and negotiating finance for large industrial projects, the boost that branding can bring extends far beyond being a marketing nice-to-have that shows up on your business cards and presentations; it is a potent tool for navigating the complex, tricky landscape of finance.
By consolidating and communicating reputations, attracting partnerships, and aiding in access to capital – a strong brand becomes not just a symbol of substantive seriousness, but also a catalyst for business impact and sustainable growth.
Written by Lisa Cohn, Senior B2B Strategist at Demographica.
