Brand audit & competitor intelligence
So, where do we begin?
Ideally, here.
Before we reach out to the market, we start by assessing your current materials and messaging, from fundraising documentation, to websites and social media. In order to set that in its proper context, we can also assess the key messaging and current positioning of your key competitors.
Perception Analysis & Audience Research
It matters what people think of your business. While some stakeholders are more than happy to share their views, relying on anecdotal feedback can be dangerous; convenient opinions can drown out more reliable and significant insights; selection bias and personal agendas can cloud the truth.
Our studies are client-specific and get right to the heart of the matter:
What do investors see as your greatest strengths?
Why aren’t certain LPs investing with you?
Are there any concerns around succession and key person risk?
Which adjacent strategy launches would your current investors support?
How do you stack up against the competition?
Once the analysis is delivered, we look to build on the learnings going forward. Otherwise, it is hard to understand how to improve.
Of course, understanding how you are perceived is vital, but you also need to understand what motivates and excites your key stakeholder groups. Audience research can extend beyond your own firm into the market and draw insights from changing priorities and focus amongst investors, intermediaries, advisers and management across portfolio companies. Understanding changes to the environment in which you are operating gives you a huge advantage over your competitors.
Investor Journey
Bringing a new investor on board takes time and commitment—from them as much as from you.
We strongly believe it is a good idea for you to understand what it is like for an investor to go through your investment process. With evidence based reasoning and direct input from your wins and losses, we can help model the critical path and identify obstacles and bottlenecks along the way. Identifying specifically how to add momentum and reduce friction leads to a quicker, more successful fundraising process.
“Taking an ‘outside in’ approach to develop our understanding of our clients’ views, feelings, needs and expectations led to an invaluable road-map for our messaging platform and communications strategy. The team’s professionalism and skill made the project engaging and interesting for all stakeholders, highlighting a common purpose and deeper understanding of the whole offer. This project was considered the ‘best piece of marketing of the year’ by our new Global Head of Marketing.”