When building a brand, you can’t be overly referential

I most often see this happen through a brand’s social account. I get it. It’s easy to join in on the latest popular meme that’s going around and slap copy related to your brand/products. The problem with this is it builds poor brand-building habits. Your customers will not be able to recall your brand/product because… Continue reading When building a brand, you can’t be overly referential

An Underutilized and Underappreciated Brand Strategy: The Talking Head Video

Why don’t more entrepreneurs showcase their expertise? Why don’t more of them directly engage with customers and communicate? I’m not referring to an email from the founder, a podcast, or an on-air interview; I’m talking about the old-fashioned yet effective strategy—the talking head video. Why Talking Head Videos Perform So Well: Humans love looking at… Continue reading An Underutilized and Underappreciated Brand Strategy: The Talking Head Video

Brand building in a digital world requires a multiplane camera

I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a post by History Photographed. I think it’s a perfect analogy for brand building in a 2D world. AKA, most DTC brands.  For context, view the post here > As you can see, the multiplane camera zoom effect is more compelling. Now, ask yourself, how many layers… Continue reading Brand building in a digital world requires a multiplane camera

Building a brand that endures starts with a hard question: How do you want your customers to position your brand in their minds?

Said another way, who are you? What do you want to say? What is your unique point of view? Many brands struggle with these questions. I get it; they are challenging. We can barely answer these questions for ourselves. What makes us think we can get together with a team and answer them? Understanding your… Continue reading Building a brand that endures starts with a hard question: How do you want your customers to position your brand in their minds?

Brand Building is World-Building: A Blueprint for Constructing a Unique Identity

The concept of brand building transcends marketing—it’s an act of world-building. Crafting a distinctive identity involves meticulous planning and execution.  Clearly Define Your Vision It is critical to define your vision. What is it that sets your brand apart from the rest? What story do you want to tell, and how is it different from… Continue reading Brand Building is World-Building: A Blueprint for Constructing a Unique Identity

What’s the key to increasing the perceived value of your brand? Location, location, location.

“Location, location, location” is no longer a real-estate term. It’s now also a brand term. Leverage hard-to-get-to and traditionally expensive/beautiful destinations to increase the perceived value of your brand. So, how fast can you have your bags packed for Milan? An A+ location is the cost-effective supporting character of your brand and has the best… Continue reading What’s the key to increasing the perceived value of your brand? Location, location, location.

Don’t be cute

A follow-up post to Your baby is ugly As a startup, your natural tendency will be to complicate what you are selling. Through copy on your website, emails, paid ads, everywhere. I’ve fallen into this trap many times. Your head is in the right place, you want to build a brand and establish a key differentiator… Continue reading Don’t be cute

Speed vs. Velocity: The never-ending struggle of the early-stage startup

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently, the idea of speed vs. velocity. Understanding the difference is essential, especially for you early-stage startups out there. Here is a quick blurb from britannica.com on speed vs. velocity: “Speed is the time rate at which an object is moving along a path, while velocity is the rate and… Continue reading Speed vs. Velocity: The never-ending struggle of the early-stage startup