Approach
Building a brand is building alignment between who you are, who you say you are, and who people think you are.
Customers need to see and hear a consistent message that coincides with what you truly offer. That is the path to awareness, and then on to purchase.
Often it is said that the customer owns the brand. It’s their interpretation of what you offer. However, you are still fully in control of what that interpretation should be. Customer perception is the reality, therefore brand building requires not just a marketing message, but a consistent mission across Product, Sales, Executive Leadership, Customer Success, Human Resources, and so on.
So how do we get to that magical place of consistency, where who you are, who you say you are, and who people think you are, is all one and the same?
Know yourself. Know your market. Know your story.
Much of brand building happens in parallel, while iterating, and in constant adaptation. However there is always benefit to a little bit of process. And for any brand project, we’ll start with deep discovery and build from there.
Know yourself.
Let’s start with who you are as a company, why you do what you do, your mission, values, purpose, product capabilities, team abilities, and the reasons people can believe in what you do. This work creates the foundations from which we can build your branding and message. You’ll have a far more successful go-to-market when you have this articulated, and have alignment throughout your organization.
Know your market.
Nailing the brand/market fit requires concise audience definition, understanding of their needs and pain points, and how your product will solve for these needs. A thorough market assessment and competitive analysis will ensure you’re sufficiently differentiated from competition.
Know your story.
The core of what everyone wants to know is what problem are you solving, and how are you solving it. A relevant and consistent story will come through everything we build from the foundation, including the brand narrative, brand identity (visual and voice), product experience, and marketing messaging.
Doing the deep work of discovery, analysis, and narrating can be a game changer in more efficiently and effectively growing your business.
“The best way to predict the future is to design it.”
— Buckminster Fuller
Architecting Your Path Forward
Brand & Portfolio Architecture
Developing a comprehensive brand and portfolio strategy establishes clear roles for each brand, defines the relationships across brands, and balances unification and diversification objectives.
Building an architecture for this strategy is one of the most impactful and enduring initiatives you can undertake to align your organization in the direction of growth. As you build this architecture, several critical factors must be considered, with these three being paramount:
Growth Strategy
What are the growth strategies for product and for the company? Will it grow through innovation? Acquisition? Market expansion? How will the brand support each other?
Target Audience
As you organize your brands and businesses, you’ll ask where are target audiences the same, and where are they different? Who has the relationship with this audience?
Brand Equity
As you launch new products or brands, or acquire others, who has the equity? What are the equity drivers in this category?
“Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.”
— John Doerr
Developing Your Visual Story
From Brand to Brand Identity
While your brand exists in people's perceptions, your brand identity is the visual and verbal expression that brings it to life.
An effective brand identity is memorable and instantly recognizable—serving as the key that unlocks the associations you've carefully built.
How do we design brand identities that immediately trigger the right associations? By building from a strong foundation:
A singular, focused strategy
Messaging that speaks directly to your customers
Elements deeply tied to your company's mission and values
My portfolio includes transformative work with major brands:
Chevron: We developed design elements featuring central focal points, vibrant colors, and human language—all reinforcing energy as the core of everything they do.
Salesforce: Our design celebrated customer relationships and innovation, reflecting their commitment to both technology and human connection.
It’s crucial to remember when designing brands that they are not meant to just look pleasing. They must effectively represent the company or product. Effective brand identity draws from every corner of your business—from the culture to product delivery to customer needs and everything in between.
Design credits: Chevron brand identity designed by Lippincott. Salesforce brand identity designed by in-house design teams.
“A brand is a living entity, and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures.”
- Michael Eisner
Ready to Work with an Expert?
Work with me to transform your brand, and your business, for growth.