Brand Communication Management of Startups in Portugal

In this article we summarise the lines that structure a research project on the challenges of communication management for startups in Portugal. The exploratory study was based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies and sought to analyse how crucial it is for startups to invest in branding and activate their brands through a planned communication strategy. It is universally acknowledged that the brand represents the most valuable intangible asset for the organisation [1–3], currently having all the potential of technology to discover patterns of behaviour and communicate, but without ever compromising the humanisation of the brand, despite the fascination with the digital lifestyle [4]. In 2014, a brand management methodology emerged for agile companies, Lean Branding [5], which teaches 21st century entrepreneurs the “way to create, communicate and sell a brand, constantly measuring its performance” [5]. This methodology cannot be neglected by startups. The big challenge is precisely the intersection of this entrepreneurial area, which is in the process of being affirmed, with branding, since the literature review showed that this is a subject that has been little explored. Understanding how Portuguese entrepreneurs deal with the challenges of brand communication in such a competitive ecosystem, even with more modest budgets, and bringing more knowledge about branding applied to startups, are the main contributions of this study.