The
process

In my words, here’s why.

In simplest terms, a brand is a feeling. It’s an emotion ignited, an action compelled.

It’s a living entity that, just like you and me, has a unique DNA code. This code prescribes how to exist, to live, to be, informing everything about the brand’s internal essence and external expression — from big and intangible fundamentals, like purpose and personality, to more granular and tangible preferences, like colors and words.

Strategy’s role is to uncover and articulate a brand’s DNA code, to create the bespoke blueprint from which the brand can be brought to life and experienced through all visual, verbal and experiential touchpoints.

Strategy matters because it is a brand’s why. Why the brand exists. Why it provides the world with X (offering), and why we should care about X. Why, perhaps, the brand believes X can change the world.

Strategy sets the how and why, the guidelines and guardrails, for visual and verbal expression.

No doubt, beautiful design and eloquent wordsmithing can be incredibly effective. But they are merely “whats” without strategy directing how and why — how colors and shapes and space must harmonize into a signature mark; why a brand should speak in the voice and tone it does.

Strategy supercharges every single touchpoint with meaning and emotion, cohesion and consistency. Cohesive and consistent brands are equitable, and equitable brands are powerful.

Strategy is the nucleus of the brands we’re most loyal to, the brands whose names are forever cemented as case studies in books, the brands that inspire us, the brands that span our kids’ and parents’ and grandparents’ lifetimes.

Strategy consolidates a brand’s past and present with its vision for the future, and builds its trajectory forward. Strategy crafts a brand’s narrative, and infuses it with a heart and soul.

Strategy is a brand’s story, and it can be a gateway to success. And while neither success nor survival is a guarantee, the chances are far greater when a brand is rooted in strategy.