Branding for startups & scaleups

Make your brand work as hard as you do

We help ambitious founders build brands that raise valuation, win customers, and attract talent and investors.

Branding Glossary out now – your branding guide. Get it today!

Before you scale, stand for something

The names we admire—Airbnb, Oatly, Stripe, Figma—share one thing in common: they built brands people believe in. Not just logos or taglines, but systems of timeless principles they can stand behind—no matter where the market goes. Because while a good product might turn heads, it’s a powerful brand that builds trust, earns loyalty, and creates lasting value. It’s what investors notice, what talent is drawn to, and what customers remember.

Not off-the-shelf. Branding, built precisely for you.

Our stage-specific branding packs are designed to grow with your business.


Minimum viable brand

EARLY-STAGE CLARITY

For founders who know they need more than a pitch deck to earn trust. We help you define your voice, sharpen your message, and create just enough brand to look credible—without overbuilding. Why it matters: Clarity now means faster scaling and fewer costly pivots later.

What's included
FOUNDATIONAL BRAND STRATEGY 


A lean, strategic brand setup for early-stage startups. We help you define your positioning, key differentiators, audience, brand purpose, and core messaging.

ESSENTIAL BRAND STORY BLOCK

We craft the core story behind your brand—what you stand for, why it matters, and how to say it in a way people remember. This is the foundation for pitches, decks, websites, and everything that follows.


VISUAL IDENTITY STARTER KIT

The essentials to get your brand off the ground-logo, typography, color palette.

SIMPLE BRAND GUIDELINE PDF

A streamlined brand manual to keep everyone—founders, freelancers, and partners—on the same page. Includes logo use, colors, fonts, tone of voice, and key messaging.

Add ons
NAMING

Starting fresh or ready for a rebrand? We guide you through a strategic, creative process to land a name that’s memorable, meaningful, and built to grow with you. One that stands out—and sticks.

NAIMG AUDIT

Already have a name but not sure it’s doing the job? We’ll evaluate it for clarity, distinctiveness, and fit—then give you honest feedback, strategic insights, and clear next steps so you know what to do next.


WEBSITE STARTER

A single-page Webflow site that covers the essentials—your core product or service, brand story, and key messaging. Tech-savvy? No problem—we can also deliver a Figma design system ready for your team to develop.


PITCH DECK REVIEW + BRAND ALIGNMENT

We fine-tune your deck to make sure it’s not just informative—but magnetic. Sharp messaging, and brand consistency that earns attention, builds trust, and opens the right doors.


BRAND-READY ELEVATOR PITCH COACHING

A 1-hour brand integration session to sharpen your pitch and make it unforgettable. We help you align your messaging with your brand voice—so you sound clear, confident, and stand out in every room.

Breakthrough branding

POST-SERIES-A SHARPENING

You’ve got traction, a team, and big decisions ahead. Now your brand needs to catch up. We align it with where you’re going—so it’s trusted, consistent, and built to scale. Why it matters: DIY branding and mixed messages cost real deals at this stage. Don’t risk it.

What's included
DEEP-DIVE BRANDING WORKSHOP

A strategic session to clarify where your brand stands—and where it should go. Includes a brand audit, and category narrative refinement. The goal: uncover a positioning you can own and scale with. This workshop is the kickoff to building your brand strategy—the foundation for everything that follows.


COMPREHENSIVE BRAND STRATEGY

This is the deep work that makes your brand clear, confident, and hard to ignore. Through analysis and motive mapping we help you define:

What truly sets you apart

your positioning + key differentiators

What’s signal vs. noise in your space

competitive analysis

what you stand for

brand philosophy

what builds trust

your positioning + key differentiators

Resulting in a powerful brand identity based on the Motiva Branding Perimeter Model®.

SCALABLE VERBAL IDENTITY

Words that work—everywhere. We build a flexible messaging system so your brand sounds sharp and consistent across product, marketing, CX, and internal comms. Incl. a tagline, brand language, story and tailored messaging for your key audiences: customers, talent, and investors.


SCALABLE VISUAL IDENTITY SYSTEM

From aesthetic exploration to flexible brand design system, our design process goes from moodboards to development of logo, colours, typography, brand motif, imagery and various secondary graphic elements that keep your brand consistent across decks, socials, product, and beyond. Built to evolve as you scale, not break as you grow.

EMPLOYER BRANDING

Build a brand people want to work for. We scan your company culture, define what sets you apart as an employer, and turn it into a clear, authentic communication toolkit. Includes messaging for your hiring page, internal comms, and culture storytelling—so you attract the right talent.


INTERNAL BRAND HANDBOOK

A practical, easy-to-use guide that aligns your team, speeds up onboarding, and keeps your message consistent for investors, partners, and new hires.

FULL COMMS TOOLKIT

We build a custom set of social media templates, a word + hashtag bank, and ready-to-use web copy blocks. It’s your plug-and-play system for faster content, stronger messaging, and a brand voice that actually sticks.


BRAND GUARDIANSHIP

Quarterly Brand Advisory for founders and leadership teams. We act as your executive-level sparring partner—keeping your brand sharp, consistent, and aligned as you scale. Strategic check-ins, honest feedback, and ongoing guidance to make sure your brand grows with intent.

ad ons
FULL-SCALE WEBSITE

A conversion-focused website built in Webflow—clear and strategic content and design. Tech-savvy? No problem—we can also deliver a Figma design system ready for your team to develop.

BRAND TOUCHPOINTS

We make sure your brand shows up consistently—where it matters most. Includes sales collateral and launch campaigns to product naming, packaging, and digital assets.

If you’re in between, or carving your own path—We’ll tailor a branding pack that meets you where you are and gets you where you want to go.

BOOK A CALL

Oatly didn’t play dairy’s game—they reframed it. Not just another plant milk, but the healthier oat-powered alternative. That’s how you own a category.

If a brand isn’t built to reduce confusion and increase conviction, it’s just noise.

Iva R. Svec

Creative Director & Partner at Motiva

Airbnb didn’t sell lodging. They sold belonging. In a world hungry for connection, that made all the difference. ‘Belong Anywhere’ wasn’t just a tagline—it was clarity of purpose.

Branding Glossary

Curious to learn more about hospitality and upmarket branding? Our branding glossary is the essential insider’s guide: It unpacks the complex art and science of brand building in this industry.

Cover of a Branding Glossary curated specifically for decision-makers in startup brands.

Get in touch

CLIENTS & NEW BUSINESS

Ready to transform your brand?

office@motivabranding.io
JOBS

Interested in workingwith us?

For more information see our jobs page

Motiva Branding