Corporate Brand Building in Start-Ups through Equity-Based Crowdfunding: A Case Study of Virtuous Spirits

Abstract: This study investigates if and how equity-based crowdfunding can benefit a start-up’s corporate brand building process. Building the corporate brand can play a significant role for the company’s establishment in the market. Although equity-based crowdfunding has grown exponentially in the Nordics, it has not been covered enough in corporate brand building literature. The scope of this research was to shed light on the yet relatively undiscovered area of equity-based crowdfunding as a corporate brand building tool. A case study approach was chosen in order to produce in-depth information about a start-up’s corporate brand building process. Accordingly, ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with the start-up Virtuous Spirits’ creators, investors, non-investors and the intermediary of the equity-based crowdfunding campaigns were conducted. The results suggest that through equity-based crowdfunding, the start-up can find the right brand ambassadors leading to positive word-of-mouth and feedback which is crucial for its corporate brand building. This is possible due to the pre-targeted audience provided by the intermediary. The importance of the intermediary is further highlighted through its positive effect on the start-up’s credibility. The study therefore concludes in the proposition to use equity-based crowdfunding as a channel of corporate communication, aligning the corporate image with the corporate identity in order to build the start-up’s corporate brand.