First off, a note of appreciation for all the work put into this post and the enthusiasm exhibited in the comments. A strong sense of passion for the Balancer brand and the success of the ecosystem at large is something we all clearly share, and it’s encouraging to see.
Balancer has grown rapidly over time, which in and of itself presents a number of challenges for an expanding team. The teams involved in these efforts have helped to grow Balancer into what it is today, and it is precisely because of this effort that we stand on a foundation to improve upon. A huge thank you.
“The key is to fail, learn, and improve quickly. If you’re constantly learning and improving, your evolutionary process will be ascending. I believe that evolving is life’s greatest accomplishment and its greatest reward. " ― Ray Dalio
The Beethoven X Team
Over the past 3 months, the Beethoven X team has engaged in a service provider role that has primarily focused on the technical development for the Balancer ecosystem. Over this time, we have also engaged in marketing efforts with Orb. In this context, the goal was to start to provide support in a couple of key areas:
- Developer Landing Page
- Content and Education
- Social Media Presence
In light of the current structures in place at Orb Co. our strategy was to come in with respect for the efforts being made internally and to begin to provide support and guidance to the areas we feel that we have strong expertise.
As most are aware, the pressures to execute and provide meaningful change in the domain of marketing have reached a critical mass. In this regard, the points shared by Mui in the opening post stand as a great starting framework for this evolution. We agree with many of the statements made and would like to share our thoughts / conceptual work on the development of the Balancer brand.
Although change may be necessary, it is still something we feel needs to be treated with care and respect. Moving quickly has its advantages, especially in an environment such as Crypto, but more important is moving with skill.
The long-term success of the brand is our highest aspiration and this maxim has guided much of the groundwork we have made regarding furthering marketing efforts.
Marketing Synergy
Over the past 2 months, we have worked closely with Balancer’s lead designer, built rapport with major contributors within the ecosystem, and spent time with thought leaders in the space. The major objective here was to become intimately connected to the teams that are driving Balancer’s development, as well as become intimately aligned with the core values driving Balancer’s product vision.
As a friendly fork that has a proven track record, we are also uniquely positioned in the sense that there are very few teams that have as in-depth an understanding of the underlying technology driving Balancer innovation as we do.
We have lived and breathed Balancer for the past 18 months and believe we are capable of taking the Balancer brand to unexplored heights.
Marketing Strategy
The focus of our marketing efforts has been centred around producing high-quality educational content on the underlying technology, as well as cultivating an ethos of care and compassion for our community. Combining a strong visual aesthetic with an approachable brand identity has allowed our content, voice and style to flourish.
Beyond education, content is also an invaluable tool when it comes to building, maintaining and developing an engaged community. Community is key for longevity and a diverse set of content forms is one of the best ways to build this relationship. Our strategy leverages a framework that entangles synergy between users and content.
The user journey and the content journey are intimately entangled. With the right strategy in place, synergy between these pathways creates a positive growth flywheel that amplifies the marketing efforts across the ecosystem.
The Content Journey (Bottom Up): It is our responsibility to provide quality content for our users in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. This core content creates the backbone for the rest of our communication strategy - it trickles into every aspect of our brand marketing and sets the tone for our ecosystem.
User journey (Top Down): A brand needs to provide more than just a product and education - it needs to provide channels that allow users to engage and grow. From social media platforms, live events, and ambassador programs, the aim is to have “satellite” content that grabs user attention and initiates them into the user journey. As satellite content, Twitter is the number one column to share and market existing material.
Community: In between these pathways lies the community. The community is the heart and soul of the brand and is our most treasured resource. Satellite content pulls individuals into the community and fosters engagement. Long-form content creates competency and builds cohesive communities.
Synergy: The content funnel aims to create synergy between all of the working components - a growth flywheel that extends to all parts of the ecosystem. Content is designed to be repurposed and readily available for users to share. Furthermore, the community is encouraged to become brand ambassadors, feeding back into the cycle of curation and awareness.
Key Takeaways
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Education is a prerequisite for the expansion of any endeavour. Education fuels innovation, innovation fuels adoption, and adoption fuels growth. As Balancer expands in its product vision, the demographics to which its products cater also change. Innovation can continue on its trajectory but without skillfully communicating what Balancer is, how it works, and who it is for, the growth of Balancer’s community and larger market adoption will always stagnate.
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The community lies at the core of Web 3. It has become more and more apparent that DeFi is not just about catering to the financial needs of a particular demographic. We are evolving as a species and the decentralized revolution speaks to the hearts of many who aspire for more. Deeper connections, fulfilment, progression, evolution, and belonging, to name just a few, are all hugely important factors to take into consideration when developing a brand for the future.
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Vision and purpose trump hype. While followers, retweets and likes are effective, we believe embodying a core product vision is the number one priority. As part of the Balancer ecosystem, we have been incredibly fortunate to work alongside all of the contributors here and share a collaborative vision for a better future in Defi. Excited by this premise, our overarching marketing strategy aims to inspire the collective web3 community to become as passionate about the Balancer ecosystem as we all are.
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The visual aesthetic and brand voice are essential components that make every notable brand stand out. Alignment around these two crucial factors allows the brand to cement itself as recognizable and professional. Ensuring Balancer embodies a professional visual image with a relevant and knowledgeable voice is a core focus of our strategy. This defines what Balancer is, who the brand appeals to and where the ecosystem is heading.
Proof of Concept
At its core, the Balancer brand has a massive amount of potential in terms of visual expression. We have worked closely with Pon to begin to explore the potential direction for brand development, we have conducted 10 interviews with core Balancer contributors to align around product visions and core technological innovations, created over 10 mood boards for visual and brand exploration, built a landing page flow, developed an evolving content and visual strategy; and built a framework to establish a succinct brand voice and identity.
Mood boards
We strongly agree with Mui’s post that an alignment around visual identity and graphics allow the brand to cement itself as both uniquely recognizable as well as professional; this is a critical aspect of Balancer’s growth. To date, we have explored and mapped out 10 different potential profiles that could Balancer could encapsulate.
These concepts range from Taoism, quantum mechanics, and modular and composable infographics to elemental, mycelial, and cyberpunk-inspired revolutions. The scope for design is endless but at the core, we want to embody a brand that is future-oriented, highly relevant, and based on authenticity.
Our goal has been to include contributors throughout this process and ensure the soul of Balancer is embodied in the final product. We have so far worked closely with Pon and would love to open the contribution and input to Balancer Maxis as well as core contributors.
Voice and style
Building from a foundation of insightful content and a unique aesthetic, the final piece of the puzzle is the voice that Balancer presents itself with. As a thought leader in the industry, the goal for the Balancer voice is to showcase competency but above all relevancy through social media outlets in a knowledgeable, playful, engaging manner.
Curating content that speaks from a DeFi native point of view is key. Engaging with current Defi narratives to accentuate the major benefits that Balancer unlocks, as well as building excitement around current innovation will be the major focus for social media. The specific voice that Balancer would embody comes down to more than just knowledge and relevancy, to explore the potential options we constructed a Balancer profile flow task that pulls key visions, concepts, design visuals, characterisation and then finally sample campaigns.
Content strategy
Our strategy for Twitter has been to take a more conservative approach to visuals/design. We want to operate from a humble space and slowly integrate our style over time. Just as Balancer is a baselayer for AMM and technical innovation, we believe Balancer as a brand is a baselayer for creative innovation. We should first cement a standard of relevant and engaging content with sleek design visuals, iterations would then slowly unfold that build off of this base layer. Building an aligned, professional, and relevant foundation first is key, but we have also explored potential storylines and characterizations that Balancer could grow into. Below is one example of this flow.
Current Examples
Outlined below are some examples of the content and the visual baselayer we have started building. A cadence of informative content with sleek visuals should be evident before exploring how visual identity can grow further. Again, the importance of starting small, developing consistency and expanding over time is key.
https://twitter.com/Balancer/status/1651269967118225408?s=20
https://twitter.com/Balancer/status/1651820160729358336?s=20
https://medium.com/balancer-protocol/inside-balancer-contracts-a-composable-symphony-1-229f6e90224
Closing remarks
There is a rich history to the Balancer ecosystem we have all come to cherish. It is a project that has evolved through many iterations and in many respects done so way ahead of its time. Balancer champions innovation in a decentralized world and has achieved its current state of success through the cumulative efforts of many talented, hard-working individuals. It has been a team effort.
It is this sentiment that speaks the loudest. Success is a collaborative effort and building a foundation of support, care, and passion is hugely important for the long-term success of a brand.
How we choose to present ourselves moving forward should be a representation of our collective. It should pay homage to the roots of its foundation as well as encapture the inspiration for a brighter future.
We look forward to collaborating with everyone as we step into the next phase of Balancer’s evolution. It has been a pleasure to contribute thus far and we have no doubt that if we work together, we can bring to fruition the dreams we all share for Balancer’s growth and more.
It is up to you to define your own piece in this shared network, and to realize that such personally meaningful work is done best in a relationship.”-Kernel
With love,
Vee, Jedi and Naly