Why brand strategy is important
How people see your brand sets what you can charge and who chooses you. What a brand strategy decides, what it should include, and who needs one.
Strategy 11 min read
Articles
Brand strategy, positioning, identity and marketing, written for founders whose business has outgrown their brand.
Start here
Three articles, in order: why a brand needs a strategy, why you can’t see your own, and what it costs to get one made.
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The glass jar
Why founders struggle to brand their own business: from inside, you can’t see it the way customers do. And why a clear brand makes other decisions simpler.
Rebranding 2 min read
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Branding package pricing (2026): how much branding costs + real examples
Branding costs $2,000 to $90,000 for most small and mid-sized businesses. What each price range buys, what drives the cost, and how much to spend.
Rebranding 9 min read
Strategy
What a brand is, why it needs a strategy, and what to do at your stage.
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What is a brand? The triune nature of brands
What is a brand? Three things at once: the idea behind it, the identity that expresses it, and the image people hold of it. Why all three need to line up.
9 min read
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Brand vs. logo vs. identity: a definitive guide
Your brand is your reputation, your identity is the system that shapes it, and your logo is one mark in that system. Why the logo comes after strategy.
16 min read
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Why brand strategy is important
How people see your brand sets what you can charge and who chooses you. What a brand strategy decides, what it should include, and who needs one.
11 min read
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Startup branding phases: the 3-step brand maturation ladder (real-world guide)
The three brands a startup needs as it grows: a minimum-viable brand to test demand, an 80/20 brand once something sells, and a full system when you scale.
11 min read
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Personal brand vs. business brand (and the secret third option): when to choose each
Build a personal brand to win trust fast, a business brand to sell products or exit, or a founder-led brand to get both. Pros, cons and examples of each.
10 min read
Positioning
Who you’re for, how you frame the choice, and how to stand apart from bigger competitors.
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A different approach to defining your ideal customer
If you can’t define your ideal customer, ask who your customers want to become instead of who you want to serve. How that question narrows your audience.
4 min read
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Frame first, then position: using framing in your marketing
Framing is choosing what buyers compare you to. Why to set it before you work on positioning, and how DiGiorno pitched frozen pizza against delivery.
4 min read
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Embrace and pivot
How a smaller company takes on a market leader: acknowledge its biggest strength, then recast it as a weakness, as Apple did with its “Get a Mac” ads.
4 min read
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How “marketing best practices” hurt companies
Copying marketing “best practices” means using tactics you haven’t tested and looking like every competitor. Why that hurts, and when to follow them.
6 min read
Identity
Names, logos and design: what each one does, how to choose, and what changing them risks.
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Types of logos & which to choose (no-BS guide)
Wordmarks, lettermarks, pictorial and abstract symbols, combination marks: what each type of logo does well, and which one is right for your brand.
14 min read
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The business value of design (for startups & small businesses)
Design adds value to a small business in two ways: more revenue (trust, perceived value, conversion) and lower costs (design systems, repeatable process).
11 min read
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The halo effect in marketing
A single strong signal, like good design or a hero product, lifts how people judge the rest of a brand. How to use the halo effect, and when it backfires.
9 min read
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How to choose a good brand name for your business
A good business name is easy to say and spell, means the right thing, and can be trademarked. Here’s how to find one, step by step.
21 min read
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9 risks when changing your brand name
The nine real risks of renaming a business, from staff pushback and lost search traffic to trademark trouble, and how to reduce each one.
10 min read
Marketing
What to say, how often to say it, and how many options to put in front of customers.
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David Ogilvy’s 7 principles of marketing
David Ogilvy’s seven principles: give the facts, be truthful, be helpful, have a Big Idea, don’t be boring, know your customer, stay true to your brand.
10 min read
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“Confessions of an Advertising Man” — summary and review
A chapter-by-chapter summary of David Ogilvy’s 1963 advertising book, whether it’s still worth reading, and five things he gets wrong, mostly about design.
13 min read
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Repetition in marketing: How often to repeat yourself (without annoying people)
How often to repeat your marketing message (more than feels comfortable), when to repeat the exact phrase, and how to tell when the creative is tired.
6 min read
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How many options should you offer customers?
Fewer than you think: nearly 30% of shoppers who stopped at 6 jams bought one, against 3% at 24. What the research shows, and how to trim your range.
17 min read
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7 ways to reduce customer choice overload
Seven ways to guide online shoppers to a decision instead of showing them everything, from product pages and navigation to quizzes and comparison pages.
15 min read
Rebranding
What branding costs, who to hire, and how to get a new brand through your team and out to customers.
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The glass jar
Why founders struggle to brand their own business: from inside, you can’t see it the way customers do. And why a clear brand makes other decisions simpler.
2 min read
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Branding package pricing (2026): how much branding costs + real examples
Branding costs $2,000 to $90,000 for most small and mid-sized businesses. What each price range buys, what drives the cost, and how much to spend.
9 min read
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Is consulting a sham profession?
Do consultants lose anything when their advice fails? Small ones do: they live on referrals and reputation, and every client means turning another away.
8 min read
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The dangers of design by committee in branding
Why branding decided by a group with equal say comes out bland and slow, and how to avoid it: one decision-maker, a clear process, feedback at set points.
5 min read
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Why people resist rebrands (and how to win them over)
Why customers resist a rebrand, even one that improves things, and how to prepare them before launch: say why you’re changing and what it means for them.
2 min read
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