How to Sell Brand and Brand Strategy

What follows is an actual conversation, that happened as an exchange of words (yes, some people still use words) via email between Sean Masters and Marc Gutman . It was first prompted by Sean and as a result, ignited a fire in Marc. Perhaps this is such a “hot” issue between us, as? brand professionals, because it’s a real problem – selling brand and brand strategy is akin to running into a brick wall most of the time. We have the same problem we coach our clients on: We are awesome. We work hard to solve business problems. We add tremendous value. Why can’t anyone else see that? Translation: Why is our offering not flying off the shelves? What follows is an exploration of that topic. We have discussed this topic informally several times but it was Sean who finally took action whilst sitting on a train heading towards London. Mind racing, Sean laid out his thoughts in what we’ll call an “essay”. He sent it to Marc for his “thoughts”. Marc promptly responded adding his perspective, and so the exchange began.

We’re curious and keen to hear your thoughts on this topic too.?

Let's get on with it…

INT. TRAIN TO LONDON, UK - DAY

It’s overcast, Sean has a furrowed brow and a look of internal reflection on his face. Trying to block out the annoying family across the aisle, he locks in his earbuds, opens his laptop and types.?

Dear branding friends.?

There’s been a question that has arisen several times over the last few months in our community, which – as far as I am aware – has not been directly answered, so I wanted to take some time to address it here.??

The question:?

How do you sell Brand? (and why is Brand so hard to sell?)

This is a good question(s), and I think the reason why it is not commonly addressed is that there’s no absolute answer. But I will try to frame an answer of sorts, as I see it, to help you take a step closer to winning more of the work you want.?

First things first, the word ‘brand’ – what does it mean? The answer to that depends on who you are and what you know.?

If I said ‘Beachball’, I suspect almost anyone would have a common image in their head of what it looks like, what you can do with it, and what its limitations are. ‘Brand’ (or ‘Branding’) simply does not enjoy the same universal awareness. It can mean different things to different people, and the gulf between is vast.?

To some, like me, it’s an essential part of any business. Often a catalyst for driving revenue growth – the glue that holds everything together, and simultaneously acts as a magnet for attracting and retaining customers.?

To others, it has a bit-part role in marketing or is just a facet of how a business presents itself (e.g. name, logo, website, etc).?

It’s this discrepancy between what different groups understand that sits at the heart of answering the question.?

If I were promoting a cleaning service, I would have to be clear on what I am cleaning, so I can find the right audience – cars, driveways, houses, pools, shoes, bins, buildings, etc. Without the categorisation, I would just confuse people. Selling ‘Brand’ or ‘Branding’ has the same hallmarks because it’s often not categorised or clear what need or pain it is there to solve.?

And this raises another question for me. Is the word ‘Brand’ or ‘Branding’ a red herring??

If the goal of Branding (and of a Brand) is to get more people to buy more products at a higher price for longer, then in its basic form, Brand (and the action of Branding) is a good strategy, well executed – or in other words, the combination of research, design thinking, planning, and activation over a sustained period, requiring collaboration, focus and a range of skill sets. That’s how I see it. You may see things differently, and that’s ok. But I guarantee you, a leader of a successful business barely registers it among the myriad of other business-critical needs.?

I believe, to many business Owner/Managers, Directors, Principles, C-suite members, etc (and I’ve met quite a few in my time), this ‘Brand’ thing we waffle on about is a nice-to-have when things are going well and sustained growth is on the agenda. Then, if the conditions are right, they will engage in a conversation about how to capture more market share or attract a better class of customers. Rarely, in my experience, does anyone ask in isolation “How do we improve our brand?”.?

I can already hear the arguments being formed – “Brand is an essential part of a business”; “There is no customer loyalty without Brand”; “Brand acts as a divining rod for customers and employees” and so on. This is all true, but the thing is it’s not what I or you say it is, it’s what THEY say it is ... or rather what THEY don’t say.?

?

What I will say is this. You should consider thinking less about selling Brand or Branding and think more about the type of language you use. Language matters.?

Take, for example, the type of humanistic language that we as a Branding community use. Words like Meaning, Purpose, Belief, Alignment, Attraction, Understanding, Confidence, etc. We also use aspects of psychology, neuroscience and behavioural economics to apply structure to our thinking and application. We actively think about our clients’ customers and employees, imagining and validating what they will think, feel and do, to help solve business problems.?

So, if that’s the case, we must be in the business of people, right?

Now, compare this to how a typical business leader sees the world. Some will think in similar ways, for sure. However, in my 25+ years of working for and with leaders of businesses (large and small), they tend to lean towards the factual and grounded language of numbers. If the numbers don’t add up people lose their jobs, suppliers don’t get paid, customers suffer, and businesses fail. Numbers are absolute, predictable, emotionless and critical to every single business, charity, non-profit, or NGO on the planet. In any business, numbers permeate every nook and cranny – department budgets, leads, sales, salaries, bonuses, recruitment, management, market penetration, analysis and data – every business decision involves numbers at some level.?

Therefore, business leaders must be in the business of numbers, right?

Just look at the career origins of those who hold senior positions . There’s a common thread:

– Operations?

– Finance?

– Sales?

All of which are business-focused roles. Yes, even sales.?

Very few leaders come from a people-oriented background (e.g. management, marketing, HR, etc.).

What I’m getting at here is that it's like someone fluent in Martian trying to sell a vague concept to someone else who only converses in ones and zeros. In short, we must learn a different language – the universal language of business.??

If you can adapt your language to talk about people and the role they play in business success, and how you as a professional can positively influence their behaviour to directly stimulate those all-important numbers, then you can change the odds of success in your favour.?

Above all else, you must get good at identifying which business problems you want to help solve. For example:?

Is it a leads or sales problem??

(often a commoditised market and little differentiation)

Or a leadership friction problem??

(often an understanding deficit and lack of alignment)

Or a productivity and team clarity problem?

(often a weak culture and lack of employee buy-in)

Or a mismatched customer’s view of the business problem??

(often inconsistency of presentation and messaging)

Or a competitor problem??

(often a me-too offering with little distinction between them)

Or a reaching the next level of growth problem??

(often overcomplication and lack of a clear roadmap)

Or the launch of a new market or a product problem??

(often blinkered or limited PoV to opportunities and threats)

And so on…

Each of these problems involves numbers of some kind, which business leaders are focused on. They also involve people, specifically the persuasion of people (customers, employees, or peers) to buy into a vision, plan, concept, alternative narrative or offer of some kind, which is what you and I are focused on and eager to solve.?

I'm sure you and I can agree that we are not here to knock out any old thing, like logos and websites and marketing plans and copy and social content and, and, and… People are our business, and sharp, effective communication that inspires action and alters long-term habits is what we are here to do. It's what gets our juices going. And there’s a real skill and value in being able to stand in other people’s shoes and see the world from different viewpoints. To cover all the angles on a problem; to imagine what is not yet there, and help others bond over a vivid shared vision; to simplify and build a clear plan for overcoming the problem, so others understand, get behind it and execute with confidence.?

So, how do you sell Brand??

1. By NOT talking about Brand or Branding (there's a very good chance the business leaders you are talking to simply don’t care).?
2. By connecting what you do to the ambitions and challenges business leaders face.?
3. By using language they recognise and are comfortable with (important numbers are a good starting point).
4. And, by selling the unique way you think about their world and how you can influence sustained positive change within it.

I hope this has helped.?

The stream of consciousness above is simply how my experiences to date have shaped my thinking on this subject. I believe a well-executed Brand is a powerful tool for any business (or non-profit) to wield. How we translate that into something meaningful for business leaders to invest in is where it's at.

INT - WILDSTORY STUDIO - SUPERIOR, CO, US - MUCH LATER THAT DAY

Marc sits at his desk, eyes narrowing, as he reads Sean’s thoughts on selling Brand. He immediately discards what he was scheduled to do for the day and types furiously.?

1. I agree that the word "brand" sucks. My quasi-buddy Mark Pollard (note: I call him “quasi-buddy” because I am very sensitive about name-dropping or calling someone with notoriety my “friend”. However, we do trade emails from time to time and we have shared more than one drink in NYC one on one together, so I think that qualifies as a friend.)? has come up with a term for words like this:? monogamous words (and conversely non-monogamous words). Brand (like Story and Storytelling) is not a monogamous word. Beach Ball pretty much is (as an example). That we don't have a shared definition that at least is close is a problem. I’ve run into this often with my other passion: Story and Storytelling. It means different things to different people and is so hard to quantify that everyone refers to themselves as a storyteller these days. You know what they say, if everyone’s a storyteller then no one’s a storyteller.
2. We used to depend on designers for logos and design because it was hard. It took a lot of precision and skill - so even mediocre designers had a place in this world if they knew typography, how to use grids, etc. Since the advent of the Mac and Jobs' passion for typography that need has been eroding. PPT and Keynote have snap to grids. AI of course is also around. Technical skill is becoming less needed - whereas designers and copywriters used to make a good living out of brand because businesses NEEDED these skills today it is less true.? The evolution of the Adobe suite has made it possible to get unlimited design from overseas, $5 designs from Fivrr, etc. Also brand, marketing, and advertising used to be as specialized as the law or medicine. Now? Every single person in the workforce needs some of these skills on some sort of basic level. And, as involved humans in today’s world, we're using these skills ourselves on a daily basis on social, our kids are producing banger content in school for presos, individual content creators are competing with the old entertainment, advertising, and studio elite. It's no longer special.?
3. We like to say that a good strategy without a good design is useless and vice versa. But you know what? None of this sh*t matters if their product and service isn't good. And many times it needs to be great not just good. We can "create" positions for brands but that only works for a short time if the product or service isn't great.?
4. Blain Enns and David C. Baker - sort of the default positioning experts in the creative space both take the POV that BRAND is not a position or a discipline. If you work with them they will push HARD that you're in marketing and brand is not a thing. I've resisted that position forever saying “but… wha… blah blah…brand is different. It’s special. It’s the most important thing to a business…” but you know what? I think they are right. The dream of the CBO isn't coming to fruition. Sure in some huge orgs they may have this but the seats in a business remain tried and true: CEO, Sales, Finance, Marketing, HR, Ops, Legal… Brand is not a seat for most businesses.? And if there’s no seat then there’s no owner. And if there’s no owner, it ain’t happening. (See EOS )
5. Regardless of whether or not it is right or wrong - brand is a project. Businesses go through the exercise as a foundational piece so they can market, sell, recruit, and lead. There is very little maintenance in most companies on this topic. And if there is it's on a 3-5 yr cadence. F*ck, this is what most authoritative books on the topic say - if you get the brand right you should not be changing it all the time. We know that the opposite is true. A business shouldn’t be constantly changing it’s strategy but in order to stay relevant, just like humans, as the world evolves there must be constant check in’s, tweaks, and realignment of the brand to the internal and external world around it.
6. The market for brand is just so much smaller than all other marketing services or even ongoing creative marketing services. We need to intersect a business when they need us and that is very specific: new to world business, a business that has found success and now needs to make a push to the next level and is feeling the pain of confusion / lack of clarity.. and on and on. But it's an "event" in a business life cycle. Marketing is a constant need. It's oxygen to feed the sales fire. It never ends. Brand is a rock or goal that is committed to, executed, and then implemented. And I like to joke (but it’s no joke) that my clients tolerate my strategy work so they can get a logo and a hat when we’re done. Well, most business do strategy because what they really need and want is marketing that leads to sales. No marketing that leads to sales? No business.?
7. ?Here’s a hot take that will get me in trouble. Most small businesses don't NEED brand work. If they are smart they are instinctively doing the work anyway by starting a business - choosing a market, a customer, a position, solving a problem, etc. Their main goal is to get into FUCKING BUSINESS AND MAKE MONEY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I swear and use all caps to illustrate this is how they feel. This is all hands on deck. 80-100hr work weeks. They don't need logos, alignment, etc.? They need to stop the hemorrhaging of cash that flies out every second they don't have customers/business and prove that there even is a business. Even a cleaning service.? And on that note do you give a f*ck what logo your cleaning service has? No.? Logos don't matter. Heard Seth Godin wax on about something similar. And he asks - think of what you consider a great logo. Close your eyes. Got it? Yeah.? It's most likely the logo of a great company. Sh*t, do we really even know what a "great logo" is?? One could argue that the WWII swastika is an amazing logo or mark. It's memorable, represents power, fear, etc. But no one thinks about that (btw a great book is a text book called "Branding Terror" about how terrorists are amazing branders. Its fucked up and fascinating). NOTE: Don’t flame me for using the swastika example. I mention it to be ridiculous, crazy, and make a point.
8. I feel like I could go on and get fired up on this topic forever so great work. :) My summary of this topic? How do we sell brand?? Stop selling brand. STOP. Stop talking about Brand and Brand Strategy as these holy grails that we as brand pros get but the rest of the world doesn't understand. We're falling into a myth or fallacy that the sh*t we do and the sh*t we love is so undeniably valuable. It's valuable… but more so than sales, marketing, product, finance, ops? I don't think so.? We need to be talking about it and selling it like any other marketing product - and talk about outcomes (and some benefits) and not the features.? No one gives a sh*t about purpose or values to begin with. No one cares that you're saving the elephants if the foam you use in your competitive trainers isn't f*cking cushy and awesome and the upper hugs your foot with no blisters. No one cares that your core values are "do the right thing" if the data you're selling sucks or if when I come home from a long day and run my finger on the window sill it's covered in dust and grime. When I think about some of the best "brands" I've seen lately they've used design to stand out or interrupt your thought pattern as to what is normal in the category, think a hot pink moving company with a more feminine vibe… yeah that got my attention (that's marketing), and then their product is about unmet needs - is that branding? Or is it product design? - i.e. no hidden fees, movers wearing pink hoodies, etc. But was this because of branding or because an entrepreneur went to fix the problem with traditional moving companies - dirty, scary movers show up to your house, all sorts of add on fees, etc. ?
9. Do a lot of businesses NEED brand? Sure. Does EVERY business NEED brand. No. Or let me rephrase that a bit - not every business needs our brand help. Many business apply the branding principles we hold dear naturally. We've gone out of our way to identify, breakdown, and hold these principles dear - but a lot of it occurs naturally within a business. Some of it is common sense. And some business people are just naturally predisposed to think this way.
10. Speaking as an entrepreneur and one who starts businesses (not a brander, marketer, or service provider) we need to be more focussed on solving real problems and delivering value. The fantasy of entrepreneurship has grown over the years where everyone wants to start a business simply to start a business (and gain all the perceived advantages of being a business owner - which we know is also a myth) . My thesis. Stop trying to create positions for sh*tty businesses and focus on helping businesses add real value to the world. Or just go back to selling logos (there's nothing wrong with that) and stop selling brand and trying to get paid for your flawed thinking.

INT. BRAND CLEAR OFFICE, UK - FOLLOWING DAY

Still overcast outside. With a hot cup of coffee in hand, Sean clicks on Marc’s email response and reads, eyebrows arching ever higher. When finished, pausing momentarily with a pensive look etched on his face, he replies.

Soooooo, I hit a nerve then??

Let’s jump on a call.

—------------------------

So why do YOU think selling brand and brand strategy is so hard? How do you sell brand and brand strategy? Are we on to something or have we missed the mark entirely?

Following this exchange, we had several lively conversations on the topic, and have additional thoughts to add. We’re talking about doing a follow-up that will address how to actually sell our brand strategy and brand services – we’re not quitting on our businesses or passion. We just think it needs a change in approach and thinking.

Maybe we’ll even host a livestream - let us know if that’s of interest.

Now, stop reading this and go out there and sell some brand strategy and brand services!