Increasing accessibility for tech businesses through branding
The brief
Project Aim:
The Brand Lab was a series of workshops providing accessible, impactful branding for innovative businesses in technical fields. While other branding solutions exist, few focus on making complex technical concepts visually accessible. Our approach went beyond standard branding advice by teaching businesses how to use design to make their ideas approachable for wider audiences. This design-thinking approach empowers founders to engage customers more effectively and increases their growth potential.
This project was funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It’s part of a wider partnership with Innovation at Leeds, Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Objectives:
We provided the following for participants:
Up to 6 hours of learning in our interactive workshops.
Personalised brand consultancy with a design expert.
A bespoke brand action plan with recommendations for success.
Access to our exclusive showcase event and network.
Our learnings
When engaging with Leeds-based businesses through the Innovation@Leeds programme, we also saw trends around:
Purpose-driven businesses with an emphasis on well-being and mental health. For example, one of our programme participants was creating an app to help get young people off their phones, while another was working on content to teach young people financial literacy.
Many businesses are pursuing app development, which is incredibly capital-intensive. Something like branding - which is important to the success of their business - becomes an afterthought relative to product development; however, participants know that strong branding is important to attract investors, collaborators and customers.
Procurement challenges were a consistent obstacle for businesses who wanted to sell to schools that often have quite rigid procurement processes.
Brand awareness was also a common challenge among all of our participants; they all had good ideas, products and services, but they aren’t necessarily well-known by their key audiences.
Enterprises already trading seem to have a greater appreciation and mature understanding of the importance of a strong brand. This is based on the feedback we received and their level of engagement in our 1:1 consultations.
Prospective entrepreneurs may need a different, slightly tailored level of support through these topics than enterprises to help guide their thinking and understanding at a more developmental stage.
Inclusive support
While The Brand Lab was open to all Leeds-based tech businesses, the primary beneficiaries were diverse, minoritised, and female founders in Leeds’s innovation sectors, particularly in Greentech, Healthtech, and similar fields. These founders often face barriers to visibility and investment due to challenges in communicating complex ideas. As a female-founded studio, we can offer an approachable source of support.
Leeds is seeing a rise in tech-driven businesses and investment in these sectors. By providing support to underrepresented founders, The Brand Lab ensured that diverse businesses thrive in Leeds’s growing innovation ecosystem.
The impact
The programme finale
The programme culminated in this celebratory Showcase for tech entrepreneurs in Leeds. It provided a platform for the entrepreneurs who participated in the programme, allowing them to take the stage.
Participants heard from our panel of industry experts, networked and heard pitches from entrepreneurs in the exciting Leeds tech ecosystem.
