With locality and globalism becoming ever more inseparable entities, putting down roots in the local community from which your brand has been built could give you a huge advantage within the marketplace. Naturally this could be more difficult if your brand happens to have little to do with the community.7

But then you see brands like the Yorkshire based PlusNet using Yorkshire to their advantage, despite being a telecommunications company. You don’t have to have a specific product like a beer or tea bag to emphasise the locality of your brand. Of course nowadays, you can put down roots anywhere, so long as you have a laptop and a stable internet connection.

Other brands like Bacardi, Yorkshire Tea, Mercedes-Benz and Guinness take pride in where they were produced. Even a huge brand like Starbucks retains a huge affinity with Seattle where the company was started.

While becoming the next Starbucks may seem a way off for the time being, it can do you no harm to take some notes and pointers from some of the most profitable brands on the planet, ensuring your own growth can accelerate to new levels.

1. Partner up

It transpires that partnering with local brands is key for the big global players in their continued success. That’s where you can step in to seize that opportunity with both hands, building a fruitful and profitable relationship over the longer term. You have no reason not to aim high in this modern environment.

2. Delegate to accelerate

In business, there’s often a danger of having too many fingers in too many pies, which can inevitably lead to difficulties later on down the line. Humans can only do so much on their own, particularly if they have strengths in certain areas over others. That’s where Clear Start – an OOH advertising solution tailored to start-ups – can come in and assist you wherever you may happen to need it most.

3. Look to the local sports teams

As well as partnering with businesses, you might also consider partnering with one of the local sports teams. Of course, this should be done with care if you happen to be based in a city like Sheffield or Manchester where the football teams are obviously divided, but if you choose your battleground wisely, then you could find yourself reaching a great deal more customers just through being associated with one of the local sides.

4. Get creative

Is the town or city in which you are based renowned for anything in particular? In which case, milk that for all it’s worth! Even if people can’t directly relate, the point is that they’ll sit up and take notice. If it’s something distinct, it will definitely turn some heads from further afield, especially on the global marketplace.

5. Stay humble

Though we can of course learn a few things from the huge multinationals, it’s vital that you are able to stay humble throughout the process of building. After all, the ‘local’ aspect of your brand is what will turn more customers onto your product or service. It may be easy to alter one’s mindset based on any success, but you can have that success without letting it change your entire brand identity.