Atlantic Canada may seem an unlikely place to establish a marketing and PR agency with a focus on startups, but entrepreneurship is growing fast in this region and Allan Gates, partner at Bonfire Communications, sees an opportunity.
Saint John-based Gates said many entrepreneurs fail to grasp the importance of early-stage marketing.
“Startups are usually launched by people with a technology background and their focus is on building their product and finding funding,” he said.
“Marketing is generally an afterthought. That creates a branding gap that can have serious consequences for East Coast startups.”
Gates quotes Israeli venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg, who said that many Israeli technology companies fail to reach their potential because they overlook the importance of initial messaging, branding and positioning.
“We have a similar problem here on the East Coast,” Gates said. “Too often we Maritimers settle for bland, but bland is forgettable, and forgettable is a bad thing for a startup.”
Gates said that branding for startups doesn’t require elaborate and costly marketing programs.
“But every startup does need to be crystal clear about who they are and the problem they solve. They need a story. And they need to focus on delivering that story at every opportunity across every platform.”
“Every platform” naturally includes social media, which offers East Coast entrepreneurs the opportunity to compete with companies in Silicon Valley, Gates said.
Bonfire’s ideas on startup marketing are available free of charge in their e-book, Minimum Viable Marketing: A Playbook for Startups.
“Minimum Viable Marketing is a pragmatic approach to startup marketing and recognizes the limits of entrepreneurs’ time and funding,” Gates said.
“Every startup is different, but for most there are five essential components to Minimum Viable Marketing, some strategic and some tactical. These include: positioning and messaging; branding; pitching; social media and the company website.”
Gates said he and his partner, creative director Lise Hansen, run Bonfire as a lean startup. They work with a network of regional creative partners who provide services such as market research, video production and web and app development.
Gates and Hansen themselves met in the startup world, as both worked with New Brunswick social media monitoring company Radian6, before it was bought by Salesforce of San Francisco in 2011.
The partners established Bonfire in January 2013. Growth has allowed them to hire two new staff. They have also been nominated for an emerging business award by the Saint John Chamber of Commerce.
“Startups are already a decent chunk of our business,” Gates said. “We’d love it if the community grows robust enough to allow us to focus solely on startups.”
Gates decided to focus on marketing for startups after working with tech PR firm, Shift Communications, in Boston in the early 2000s.
Before starting Bonfire, which is named for the notion that the best stories emerge when the sun goes down and the fire is lit, he ran REDGATE Communications in Saint John. He has also worked for the Halifax agencies Colour and Extreme Group.
Originally from northern New Brunswick, Gates said he enjoys the enthusiasm of startups and their ability to get things done.
“Startups are decisive and nimble. If we present a brand concept to a startup the decision makers are usually in the room. There are not a lot of committees involved,” he added, with a chuckle.
Disclaimer: Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support startup companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies and individuals are featured in this column, nor do they review columns before they are published.
