Brand Building Essentials

Most companies fail at brand strategy. They treat it like an art project. Your brand is not marketing fluff. It's a precise economic engine that blends expression with rigor, emotion with facts. And it's your biggest lever for profit. Master this system and you influence market perception and unlock value. Here's the Playbook for building a great brand: - Define The Economics: Widen the gap between what customer think your product is worth and what it costs you to produce it. This is the financial imperative. - Differentiate With Purpose: Claim the market whitespace. This is what your brand *is* and what your competitors are *not*. - Forge The Foundation: Build identity, prove benefits, sharpen positioning. This is the 'why' behind your company that must be relevant for your key consumers (and your to employees!). - Execute With Precision: Own your digital space and deliver tangible assets. This is how you sustain your brand and produce the reasons for people to believe in your brand. - Embrace Evolution: Deploy an intentional brand architecture, drive smart growth, and revitalize when necessary. Anchor in Analytics: The analyst is the objective guardian, fueling every step with data. Brand strategy is not art alone. It's disciplined science. Blend them to earn more profit. Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling #Brand #BrandStrategy

How do you drive growth? Here are 9, evidence-based ways (most) brands grow 👇 from a book I've now read 3x because it's so compelling. Romaniuk and Sharp are marketing professors and Directors at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute. In How Brands Grow Part 2, they synthesize decades of research into fundamentals of buying behavior and brand performance that we can use to drive growth and improve marketing productivity. My favorite, often counterintuitive takeaways: 1. Focus on market penetration, not customer loyalty. The “double jeopardy law” states that brands with less share also have less loyalty. And the way to increase loyalty is actually to increase share. 2. Position within a larger category. This widens the potential market. For example, one meat-free protein company shifted from positioning as a vegetarian substitute (relevant to ~7% of the market) to a healthy eating brand (relevant to ~70%) and drove considerable growth. 3. Compete against the top brands. The “duplication of purchase law” states that brands share customers in line with other brands’ penetration. So, to grow, you'll likely take customers from the biggest brands, and they from you. Worry less about the smaller players. 4. Build links between your brand and the most common category entry points (CEPs). A CEP is a way that a customer mentally enters the buying process. If you’re hungry, a CEP may be that you want a snack, and Snickers may come to mind thanks to their “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign connecting them with that common CEP. 5. Use distinctive brand assets consistently. If your brand doesn’t stand out, attract attention, and look like ONLY you, your marketing could cue people to think about others. The best assets have high fame and uniqueness, like the GEICO gecko. 6. Reach as many category buyers as possible. “It doesn’t matter how many irrelevant people you reach, what matters is the cost of how many relevant buyers you reach.” The broader your reach, the less response rate, but often the greater absolute gain (a 1% impact on 10K people is bigger than a 5% impact on 1K). 7. Reach category buyers consistently but not excessively. Not everyone is in-market all the time, and most buy infrequently (especially in B2B), so market steadily. Plus, the first exposure within a period has the greatest sales effect, and spaced exposures cumulate in more lasting impact. 8. Maximize physical availability. This means distributing where buyers buy, being prominent in those channels, and having a product portfolio that satisfies the largest buying contexts. 9. Overcome the real barriers to acquisition: obscurity, forgetfulness and distraction. Most people don’t buy because they don’t know you, forget about you, or are distracted from doing so—not because they think poorly of you or consciously choose someone else. While there are some exceptions, the evidence suggests the exceptions prove the rules. #yourweeklymap #marketing #howbrandsgrow

A Masterclass in Marketing: Domino's Unexpected Ingredient for Success Forget pepperoni and cheese—Domino's secret ingredient is actually customer-centric innovation. 🍕🚀 There was a period when Domino's became the subject of every pizza joke. Their pies were dubbed "cardboard with ketchup," and their stores were about as exciting as a beige wall. Their sales were drastically declining, and they were facing defeat in the pizza competition. Then, they did something radical. They owned their flaws. In 2009, Domino's launched the "Oh Yes We Did" campaign, admitting their pizza needed a serious upgrade. But they didn't stop there. They knew that in the age of instant gratification, taste alone wasn't enough. Domino's transformed into a tech-driven experience company. They pioneered the Pizza Tracker in 2008, letting customers follow their order from dough to doorstep. They embraced mobile ordering, voice commands, and even drone delivery. Today, you can order Domino's from your car, your smartwatch, or even Slack! 🤯 This digital transformation wasn't just a gimmick; it was a strategic response to customer needs. They focused on speed, convenience, and personalization, creating a seamless and engaging experience. The result? Domino's now rakes in $14 billion annually and opens over 3 stores a day. They went from pizza zero to pizza hero by understanding that the real competition isn't just about the product; it's about the entire customer journey. Marketing Lessons We Can All Learn: 1. Embrace Customer Feedback: Don't be afraid to acknowledge your weaknesses and use feedback to fuel improvement. 2. Innovate Relentlessly: Find ways to enhance the customer experience through technology and creative solutions. 3. Focus on Convenience: Make it easy for customers to interact with your brand and purchase your products. 4. Personalize the Journey: Tailor the experience to individual customer preferences and needs. Domino's proves that even in a seemingly simple industry like pizza, customer-centric innovation can be the key to dominating the market. What can your business learn from their dough-licious success story? 🤔 #marketing #innovation #customerexperience #digitaltransformation #dominos #pizza Follow me for more insights on how businesses can leverage technology and customer-centricity to thrive!

The way I think about it: brand is your reputation. 
 Brand is not your logo. Not your website colors. Not the font that agency carefully selected. "Doing brand marketing" is not billboards. 
 "Doing brand marketing" does not mean just doing a bunch of stuff you can't measure. 
 Brand is about building your reputation. 
 And when you have a good one: 
 • Products sell faster • Partners want to work with you • Top candidates reach out first 
 I think "investing in brand” means actively shaping how people perceive and talk about you when you're not in the room. Here's how you can build brand: 
 1) Thought Leadership and Content 
 • Consistent, high-quality content: Articles, LinkedIn posts, podcasts, and videos that educate, challenge, and provide real insights. 
 • Founder-driven storytelling: People trust people, not faceless brands. Get your CEO and execs creating content that shares vision, expertise, and conviction. 
 • Deep, original research: Publish unique reports, data insights, or case studies that establish you as a category leader. 
 2) Customer Experience & Advocacy 
 • Deliver on promises: The best brand strategy is a great product and great support. Nothing destroys brand faster than failing customers. 
 • Turn customers into advocates: Case studies, testimonials, referrals. Make it easy (and rewarding) for customers to talk about you. 
 • Build community: Real engagement happens in communities, not just social media. Create a space where your customers connect, share, and get value. Or here on social, that can be community too. Doesn't have to be a walled community. 
 3) Brand Awareness & PR 
 • Earned media: Get written about in industry publications. Appear on podcasts. Get featured in newsletters. Or focus on social if (like most industries today) that is where the discussions are happening. 
 • Strategic partnerships: Partner with known, trusted brands and influencers to borrow their credibility. 
 • Memorable experiences: Events, webinars, and live activations that make an impression beyond just digital content. 
 *** 
 Take this definition and then think about what does it really mean when you say "We're investing in our brand this year" ?? 
 It doesn't mean just go do a bunch of marketing you can't measure...

Brand is one of the last business moats. Brand = Reputation. The market’s critical-mass gut-feeling about a company. What creates reputation? Everything that's perceived & judged by others over time. “When you create a brand, you’re not creating one brand—you’re creating many. Each customer or audience member has a different brand of you. That’s OK as long as you have it corralled mostly where you want it." —Marty Neumeier Building brand is a function of these components in harmony: Culture: Underpins everything Product: The core element Environments: Places people learn about the product & purchase Communications: Marketing & content This leads to: First impression conversion: Is this brand so interesting that I MUST try their product once? Perceived value: Is this more or less valuable to me than direct alternatives? Audience affinity: Do I want to associate with this brand publicly? Duration of recall: Did this brand make a mental impression on me that will last long-term? In a global market inundated w/ marketing, where product becomes commoditized—companies must answer: "why should I care or trust you?” “Getting people to pay more for the same old sh*t is not a rational thing. It’s emotional. The key to pricing power is to get people to feel strongly about your brand, to disengage the rational & make people want the thing at any price” —Les Binet —— Why Brand Matters: 95:5 heuristic: Only 5% of potential buyers who see your content are in-market to buy now. That means 95% of buyers you reach are out-of-market & won’t buy for months or years. More efficient funnel: Building the brand in the consumer's mind increases the probability that they will choose you when they are in-market, rather than spending more time in the consideration phase & potentially buying from a competitor. Creates revenue resilience: Aim for 50-70% of new customer acquisition to be generated organically—rely less on promotions & direct-response advertising to hit revenue goals. More efficient GTM: A larger “owned” audience leads to a stronger ability to lean into innovation & product diversification. Gross margin expansion: As brand builds, price sensitivity wanes, allowing for new products at higher price points & margins. Better partnerships: Ability to reach adjacent audiences more efficiently. —— 2024 Principles: No mediocre products. Pre-internet, brands could wrap mediocre products in glamorous “look & feels.” Today, mediocrity is rapidly outed. No mediocre content. Build this as a core competency—make stuff that's truly entertaining instead of sales-focused. Leadership as an angle. Dr. Squatch, MUD\WTR, NUDE PROJECT & Stan leverage their founders in content, humanizing the brand. —— Brand KPI's: -Repurchase rate YoY -% of Revenue on Discount Decreasing YoY -% Revenue from Organic Sources -Contribution Margin Lift YoY -Branded Search Lift QoQ -% Traffic from Organic Sources -Content Engagement Metrics -Reduced Price Elasticity

Investing in brand marketing is often one of the fastest ways to boost performance of your existing marketing motions.  I’ve implemented this approach successfully multiple times in my career. Brand marketing helps you create an emotional connection with your customers that fosters trust - and that trust makes them more likely to choose you over competitors, even in a crowded market.  You yourself can probably think of many brands that do this well and impacts how you purchase. The key to understanding brand marketing ROI lies in its role as a multiplier for your marketing mix, rather than viewing brand marketing in isolation. So how can brand marketing be additive to your current investments?  Here’s a step-by-step approach.. ❇ Leverage a control/test approach:  Before introducing a new brand campaign, measure your current performance marketing efforts over a consistent time frame.  You can apply a test market vs. control market if you want to start small with the brand investment. ❇ Brand campaign launch:  Introduce a brand campaign highlighting your brand's story, emotional benefits, and unique selling propositions to the customer. It should be designed to resonate with your target audience's aspirations and pain points, leveraging channels that allow for deeper storytelling engagement. ❇ Integrated Marketing Phase: While the brand campaign is running, continue your existing marketing efforts, but include messaging and creative that echoes the brand campaign's themes. This creates a cohesive customer experience across the customer journey. ❇ Measurement and Analysis: Measure the same metrics as in the baseline period or in your test/control markets. Look for changes in website traffic, conversion rates, customer acquisition cost, and sales numbers. Ask the sales team for any qualitative insights they may have.  And, if possible - assess brand health metrics such as brand awareness and brand preference for both you and your competitors. ❇ Comparative Analysis: Compare the pre- and post-campaign performance. An effective brand campaign will yield an increase in direct marketing performance, giving those channels a lower customer acquisition cost, higher conversion rates, and increased overall sales. The uplift in these metrics is a tangible indicator of the brand campaign's additive effect on your marketing investments. This approach to brand marketing highlights that a strong brand acts as a lever and can be the decisive factor that tilts customer preference in your favor, proving that brand investment is not just a cost center but a strategic asset that drives measurable ROI.

Domino's cracked the code on something most brands are too scared to try. They stopped pretending to be perfect. Back in 2009, Domino's did something insane: they admitted their pizza sucked. On national TV. Real customer complaints. Brutal honesty. "We know our pizza tastes like cardboard." Then they rebuilt everything. But here's what actually saved them: It wasn't just the new recipe. It was the transparency they built around the experience: - Real-time order tracking (revolutionary at the time) - Easy complaint channels via text - Quick refunds when things went wrong - Public acknowledgment of mistakes The insight: They didn't try to out-pizza Pizza Hut or beat Papa John's on taste. They earned trust by being the most honest and responsive. The marketing lesson everyone misses: Customers don't expect perfection. They expect authenticity and quick fixes when things go sideways. Domino's turned customer complaints into competitive advantage. Your takeaway: Stop hiding behind perfect brand messaging. Be real about your flaws. Respond fast to problems. Fix things where people can see it. Transparency isn't a risk - it's your differentiator. What's one way your brand could be more honest with customers?

How Domino's Cooked Up 2100%+ Stock Growth & What Your Brand Can Learn 🍕💡 Remember when Domino's was just a pizza place? They faced near-bankruptcy and a reputation for, well, less-than-gourmet pies. Fast forward, and Domino's isn't just a global brand; it's a tech innovator whose stock saw a remarkable 2,100% return between 2009 and a few years ago, outperforming many tech darlings. This transformation, fueled by a relentless focus on technology, saw their market cap jump significantly and digital sales soar to over 70% of total sales by 2020. So, what's their secret sauce beyond the cheese and pepperoni? Domino's bet big on technology to revolutionize the customer experience. They understood that in a competitive market, how you sell can be just as important, if not more so, than what you sell. Here’s a slice of their strategy: * 🎯 Customer-Obsessed Innovation: Domino's focused on making ordering as seamless and convenient as possible. Think user-friendly mobile apps (with over 90% of sales happening online in some periods), real-time pizza trackers, and even ordering via smart devices and social media. They asked: "What if a customer could order a pizza while waiting at a stoplight?" and then built the tech to make it happen. * 📊 Data-Driven Decisions: Every digital order provided valuable customer insights. Domino's used this data to personalize promotions, optimize menus, and improve delivery efficiency, leading to increased sales and a dramatic shift in public perception. * 🌐 Embracing an "AnyWare" Mentality: Their "AnyWare" initiative allowed customers to order from virtually any digital device, showcasing their commitment to accessibility and convenience. * 💻 Investing in Tech Talent: Remarkably, about half of Domino's headquarters workforce was dedicated to software development, big data analytics, and experimentation. They essentially became a tech company that happens to sell pizza. * 🚀 Willingness to Experiment: From drone and autonomous vehicle deliveries to AI-powered ordering, Domino's hasn't shied away from testing new technologies to stay ahead. The results? * 📈 A monumental surge in digital sales, with over 70% of sales coming from digital channels by 2020, and in the U.S., over 85% of retail sales in 2024 were via digital channels. * 💰 Significant stock price growth, with returns that outpaced even tech giants like Google for extended periods. * ❤️ Improved customer loyalty and brand perception, with a 14% increase in sales after revamping their recipe based on data analytics. The Takeaway for Your Brand: Domino's story is a powerful reminder that: * 💡 Tech transformation isn't just for tech companies. * 🗺️ Focus on the customer journey. * 🔍 Embrace data. * 🧪 Don't be afraid to experiment and innovate. #TechTransformation #DigitalInnovation #CustomerExperience #BrandStrategy #DominosPizza #BusinessGrowth #RevenueGrowth #StockMarket #Inspiration

Want to scale your company? Then you need to start building your brand. Great businesses are not just built on Meta ads and paid spend. How I learned that you can’t get big if you don’t do both... A strong brand acts as a moat. It provides a different kind of lasting value that performance ads don’t. Even if it doesn’t result in immediate ROI.   In a recent Chewonthis DTC podcast with Tom Montgomery and Preston 🩳 Rutherford of Chubbies Shorts, they shared 5 insights that helped them craft a brand that sold for 9-figures → 1 - Strong Identity and Clear Differentiation Chubbies created a bold, playful brand that stood out from traditional men’s fashion. Find your white space. Identify what makes you unique in a crowded market.  Lean into and double down on it - even if it’s unconventional. 2 - Relatability Tom and Preston made it CLEAR that their goal was to communicate like real people - not a corporation. So brands: Use the language your customers use. Whether it’s humorous, casual, or empathetic. Remember - people buy from people. 3 - User-Generated Content (UGC)  UGC was a HUGE driver for community-building and marketing for Chubbies. Not enough brands embrace their fans and nurture their VIPs. To do this - Offer rewards or shoutouts for customers who share content featuring your products. Share customer stories, testimonials, and pics on your site and social media so they feel seen. 4 - Create a Community, Not Just Customers Chubbies built a loyal, engaged community around their brand’s core values on groups, forums and social.  Brands can take advantage of different social platforms to: - Run polls  - Ask for feedback - Let them vote on new product designs. 5. Consistency Brands are built on the foundation of 1 thing: consistency. Every touchpoint Chubbies has reinforces their playful, bold identity. What you need to start doing: - Develop strict brand guidelines that ensure consistency across all channels (social media, website, packaging, and even customer service).  - Walk through the buyer’s journey and make sure every step aligns with your brand’s promise and personality. BONUS - Evolve Lastly - what’s just as important as building your brand initially, is evolving with it as it grows. The goal should be to adapt your strategies over time - WHILE staying true to your core identity. What would you add to this list?