Brand Strategy Workbook

Seven exercises, each with a worked example, that end in a one-page strategy you can hand to a designer, a writer or your AI.

Buy the workbook $37

If it doesn’t help, email us and we’ll refund you.

Three pages from the Brand Strategy Workbook

Your strategy is probably in your head, not on paper.

It comes out on good sales calls and goes missing when someone else writes or designs for you. This workbook gets it onto one page in seven exercises, each with two worked answers beside yours, from Greco Gum, the mastic gum company we run, and from Cultmethod itself.

How to use it

01

Talk to three customers first Page 3 has the script. Their words beat your memory.

02

Do it on paper, or with AI Write in the boxes, or paste the prompt on page 4 into ChatGPT or Claude.

03

Write what’s true now Not what you hope. “Dentists in Ohio” beats “healthcare professionals.”

Two sittings of 45 minutes, plus three short customer calls.

What you get

  1. Two worked examples on every exercise.

    Greco Gum, a product business, and Cultmethod, a service business, answer each exercise beside yours, so you see a finished answer before you write your own.

  2. Your strategy on one page.

    Customer, alternatives, difference, beliefs, values, look and voice, in seven lines you can hand to a designer, a writer or a new hire.

  3. Two prompts for your AI.

    One interviews you and writes your strategy. The other makes Claude or ChatGPT draft from it, so first drafts start from your customer and your voice.

Here’s one of the seven exercises.

Two worked answers sit beside yours on every exercise. This one turns values into choices.

Your values, as trade-offs

“Quality” and “integrity” are the minimum, not values. A real value costs you something, so write each one as a choice between two good things.

We choose blank over blank.

Where it costs us: blank

Test itIf a value has never cost you a sale, a hire or an easy option, it’s decoration.

Buy the workbook $37

Look inside

A few pages as you’ll get them. Open any of them to read it full size.

What it covers

  1. 03 Talk to three customers first A call script and five questions, so you work from their words.
  2. 04 Do it on paper, or with AI A prompt that interviews you and writes your strategy.
  3. 05 Your customer One real customer, not a demographic.
  4. 06 Your alternatives What they’d do instead, including nothing.
  5. 07 Your difference True, matters, and not true of anyone else.
  6. 08 What you believe What your industry won’t say out loud.
  7. 09 Your values Written as trade-offs that cost you something.
  8. 10 Your look Six scales and three references for a designer.
  9. 11 Your voice What you are, what you’re not, and banned words.
  10. 12 Your strategy on one page Seven lines you can hand to anyone.
  11. 13 Put it to work Where to use it, and the brief for your AI.

Is it for you?

Get it if
You can explain the business well in person, but nothing written down says it. You’re about to brief a designer, a copywriter or an AI tool, and you want them all working from the same page.
Skip it if
You want the design done too. The workbook gets the strategy down; the identity and the site are still to make.

Who made this

Jon Persson

Jon Persson Founder, Cultmethod

Jon has spent ten years building brands for founders, more than 100 of them start to finish, and co-owns Greco Gum.

More about Jon
“Jon was really, really masterful in pulling out of me the inputs he needed to put together a cohesive brand.”
Jonathan Schwartz Founder, House Hack Los Angeles, on working with Jon
A tin of Greco Gum on a table with raw mastic resin Greco Gum Case study The mastic gum company Jon has co-owned since its 2021 launch, now with more than 70,000 customers. Read the case study

Questions

We’ve been in business for years. Is this for startups?
No. It’s easier with a few years of customers behind you, because most of the answers are already in your sales calls and reviews. The workbook gets them onto one page.
Whose examples are these?
Ours. Greco Gum is the mastic gum company we run, and Cultmethod is this studio. One sells a product and the other a service, so one of them will be close to your business.
Can I do it with AI instead?
Yes. Page 4 has a prompt that interviews you one question at a time, pushes back on vague answers and writes your one-page strategy. Page 13 has the brief that makes Claude or ChatGPT write from it.
Is it a pitch for your Brand Sprint?
The last page describes the Brand Sprint, for anyone who’d rather we did the work. Everything before it stands on its own.
What format is it?
A PDF. Print it and work on paper, or write on it in any PDF app.
How do I get it?
You check out on Kit, the email platform we use, and Kit emails you the download link as soon as you pay.
What if it doesn’t help?
Email us at jon@cultmethod.com and we’ll refund you.
Can I share it with my team?
Yes, with anyone in your business. Please don’t pass it on outside the business or resell it.
The cover of the Brand Strategy Workbook

Get the Brand Strategy Workbook

  • Seven exercises, each with two worked examples
  • A script for three short customer interviews
  • Your strategy on one page
  • Two prompts for Claude or ChatGPT
  • When to revisit it, and how to check new work against it

One-time payment

$37

Buy the workbook

If it doesn’t help, email us and we’ll refund you.

Or get all four for $75 as The DIY Brand Kit.

More resources

All resources
Brand Audit Checklist $25 Thirty tests that show whether your brand sells as well as you do, with a score out of 60 and a fix plan. Persuasive Messaging $65 Build the message your marketing repeats, then six pieces of copy that come out of it. Pre-Hire Checklist Free Eight questions to ask before you hire a brand agency or freelancer, and how to read the answers.