Podcast Ep 211: Waterford and Cork branding agency TOTEM founder Colin Byrne on how the business plans to scale after winning global acclaim for its work.
Founder Colin Byrne spoke to the ThinkBusiness Podcast about the business of branding and creating a scaling, internationally-focused business.
His business TOTEM works with Irish and international clients across a range of industries such as life sciences, technology, pharmaceutical, fintech, education, tourism and engineering and aviation.
“Your brand is the meaning that your customers give to your product or service and how you distil that down into a word”
In April at the Transform Awards Europe – one of the most prestigious awards events for brand communications – TOTEM took home bronze for Best Naming Strategy (Rename) and highly commended for Best Brand Development Project to Reflect a Change of Mission, Values, or Positioning (Business), both for its exceptional work with international client, Aton.
Formerly known as Hybrigenics, Aton the leading bioscience company based in Strasbourg, France underwent a transformative rebranding process led by TOTEM, which included a new name, positioning and tagline, brand structure and identity, website, and narrative.
The work undertaken by TOTEM reinvigorated Aton and helped re-position it as a partner to leading life science enterprises, paving the way for future growth in the pharmaceutical sector, as it sets its sight on the US market.
Decoding the business of branding
“Ultimately, branding is around creating customer loyalty”
Listen to the Podcast on:
Byrne said that TOTEM specialises in helping ambitious leaders propel their companies to the next level through transformative branding strategies.
The key, he explained, is building meaningful relationships and identifying what sets its clients apart from competitors.
Interestingly, he started the business in the garage of his home in Dungarvan and it now employs more than 20 people between Cork and Waterford.
“I worked in Dublin for 12 years in graphic design, working across various business sectors. I decided to move home to Waterford because I had a young family and I decided the time was right to do it.”
Within six years the business had evolved into a studio in Dungarvan and he had eight employees.
“Around that time we decided we wanted to move towards the more strategic side of design which is around branding. And we nailed our colours to the mast then and we’ve been focused on this ever since.”
Early in his career Byrne said the idea of working remotely or anywhere outside of a city like Dublin or Cork was out of the question but as technologies like broadband became more commonplace and accessible, the effort involved in building a regional business became easier.
Byrne’s efforts to scale the business have been accelerated by the recent award wins. “The awards are really around excellence in rebranding and brand strategy and attract the most revered global agencies. The judging panels are from companies like Lego, Unilever and Vodafone. For us the analogy would be like playing in the Champion’s League at that level. So it was just amazing for us in terms of peer recognition and confidence for the team, but also for our clients without whom we wouldn’t have been there at all.”
In terms of his approach to branding, Byrne paraphrases Amazon boss Jeff Bezos: “Your brand is what your customers say about you when you’re not in the room.
“Your brand is the meaning that your customers give to your product or service and how you distil that down into a word. It’s the business’s reputation. So it’s all around understanding that and aligning company goals with customer goals. Because ultimately, branding is around creating customer loyalty. There has to be alignment with where the costs are, where the company is going and the type of customer they are trying to attract.
“You need to think about what your brand says about your business and if this is what your customer uses to decide to choose you over the competition. So it is really, really important to be able to understand that, no matter how big the business is. It’s to be able to focus on the ideal customer and that brings you into position, which is around what the business is known for and how it is recalled in your customer’s mind. Ultimately it’s about helping a business to be able to stand out and sell more.
“We take a very customer-centric approach to that: understanding your ideal customer, what need or problem do they have and that your business is best-position to solve or serve that need or problem.”
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
-
Listen to the ThinkBusiness Podcast for business insights and inspiration. All episodes are here. You can also listen to the Podcast on:
-
Spotify
-
SoundCloud
-
Apple
