Brand Strategy as Painted Picture
The best brands fluidly manifest an imagined space of belonging to the consumers of their products and services. My favorite brands blend the utilitarian with the aspirational, packaging a differentiated product along with a dream to amplify it. But beyond inspiring the imagination of consumers, exceptional branding leads companies from the inside — catalyzing a sense of direction, inspiring innovation, and holistically, a vision for the future. Branding is so much more than surface-level treatment of graphics and messaging; it’s a North Star that communicates to consumers the physical and imaginary value of products and services while also embodying a mandate of innovation and evolution for the organizations providing them. Branding is a design tool as much as it is a medium of communication. The best brands recognize this and lean into it hard.
🚲 I like to ride bikes. Cycling lifestyle brands like Rapha and Pas Normal Studios make the cycling dream manifest through content spanning adventure, professional racing, social and environmental activism, and performance-oriented tech. They sell entrée into global communities of likeminded members. A favorite of mine, Pegoretti, is an elevated example of condensed cycling Cool. It doesn’t need a good website. Neither does Rene Herse… though it would help. Stridlands is an up-and-comer leaning heavily on nostalgia — and I think subtly genius in its sensitivity to changing sentiment and the socio-environmental sensibilities of our times… Also, just really rad bikes. These brands and their products blend seamlessly.
🍷 Christian Tschida — a brand that I think goes under the radar in terms of its brilliance — makes exceptional wine, elevated by beautiful artwork and a differentiated vibe. Or is it the other way around? It’s both (Check out Action Bronson — another amazing brand in himself- wax poetic on it). ☕ George Howell — the best coffee experience in Boston by a long shot — leans heavy into storytelling and personal connection in its messaging, amplifying, and perhaps legitimizing, the distinction of its product.
🧗🏾 Arc’teryx leverages its performance-oriented urban techwear sub-brand Veilance to amplify the aspirational quality of its product line. It also uses Veilance to drive innovation and design direction throughout the rest of Arc’teryx’s product line. 🚗 Volvo’s relationship with Polestar, a design-forward, now pure-EV, sub-brand of the auto manufacturer, bleeds into consumers’ conceptions of the Volvo as well.
Too often, I see companies relying on internal resources to build their brands and the communication tools to disseminate them. External relationships with brand designers and strategists have the ability to create sounding boards for introspection in terms of brand direction that is hard to produce internally. Counterintuitively, this is especially true at design-oriented companies, which have a tendency to go down their own rabbit holes, often unable to distinguish intent from communication.
More organizations should go all-in on brand strategy, take measured risks, and be bold. There are so many game-changing products and organizations ready to make their mark on the world that are held back by poor branding and an inability to announce their presence.
🍣 A favorite dining experience of mine. Good brand strategy plants a garden, designs a menu, creates a guest list, cooks the meal, and cleans the kitchen.
