Branding Madness Invades Kansas City

It’s not the Battle of the Bands and it’s not the March Madness Battle of the Hoops. Much more important than that. It’s KCSourceLink’s sixth annual Battle of the Brands.

Battle of the Brands, a bracket-style competition between Kansas City’s homegrown brands, kicked off on March 6. The competition got underway with 120 companies, and online voting that ended on Feb. 23 narrowed the field to 64. These 64 companies will vie for online votes until one brand is crowned the 2017 champion of Kansas City entrepreneurship.

KCSourceLink hosts the annual battle to promote and celebrate Kansas City entrepreneurship and to shine the spotlight on businesses that contribute to our city’s character and economy.

“The hope is that voters and fans can come to appreciate the diversity that each of these companies brings to the Kansas City economy,” said Sarah Mote, marketing director for KCSourceLink. “

The contest features four quadrants reflecting the types of entrepreneurship that defines Kansas City.

The Second Stage quadrant features established business with 10-99 employees that generate upwards of $750,000 in revenue.

The Microenterprise quadrant consists of lifestyle businesses, typically sole proprietorships and companies with fewer than five employees.

Brick-and-mortar businesses that create the character of Kansas City—such as retailers and restaurants—make up the Main Street quadrant.

Rounding out the quadrants is the group of INNOVATION-Led companies that are typically high-impact, high-growth companies driven by technology or innovative service.

Companies in each quadrant will play elimination rounds according to the following schedule:

 Round 1: 64 to the Floor, March 6-9

Round 2: Sturdy 32, March 13-16

Round 3: Scrappy 16, March 20-21

Round 4: Epic 8, March 23-24

Round 5: Fightin’ 4, March 28-29

Champion Announced: TBD

Polls open at 8 a.m. on the first day of each round and close at 11:59 p.m. on the final day. One vote per IP address per round is allowed. For Battle of the Brands voting, visit www.kcsourcelink.com/kc-battle.

The full 64-company roster, including website and social media networks, is posted at these links: microenterprise, Main Street, innovation-led and second stage.