1/6/22
Written by
Martin Sully
Welcome to episode one of the podcast! It's super exciting and slightly terrifying to be starting this podcast. Because I wanted to make sure the tone of voice and my personality came through clearly. I'm aiming for fun, energetic, and knowledgeable, but also not too over the top.
I want you guys to feel like you get to know me. What I stand for and how I can contribute to the world and you. Believe it or not, this isn't my first rodeo. I did a podcast last year as a guest for the creator club. And honestly, I didn't think I had it in me to do it.
And then I did it, and I loved being involved. So the motto of the story is to take opportunities while you can, so you don't regret them later.
Eleven months later, I am now your host, and I appreciate some of the amazing feedback I had from people in the run-up to putting the show together.
Hopefully, your views have shaped the show, and I can deliver something missing from your lives and inject some new information into the small business branding space.
And, if you're wondering where the names come from, a couple of people have said, " is it going to be a metal music show?" Not at all.
Hot metal type is going back into the history of typography and laying out books. They originally cut typography out of wood to use in printing presses. They gradually then moved across from wood because wood's not that durable. It breaks easily, especially under the pressure of a printing press.
So they moved on to casting them from molten metal. They were more durable, quicker and cheaper to produce, so that's the hot metal part. And this, for me, stood for the kind of foundations and theory of my design practice. Then we've got branding, which originally dates back to 2000BC.
Four thousand years ago when people started branding their livestock. So that shepherds could identify their animals and know which animals were in their possession. Then fast forward to the 1860s, and the Bass Brewing Co, registered a little red triangle on their bottles to help them identify their brand. And they have that trademarked. Then from there, we've had a bit of a snowball effect where people started protecting their identity. But, it's not all about the big brands like McDonald's, Coca Cola, Nike and Adidas. Any of those huge companies. So even the little ones are getting onboard and grasping branding to help set them apart and keep them ahead of the competition. If you can stay one step ahead of competitors, they're always trying to chase your tail.
Big brands spend millions and billions on their marketing and branding every year. But luckily for you guys, it's far more affordable now, as you can hone in on what your target market loves rather than using a scattergun approach. It's a fascinating time for people to be able to grow their brand right now.
In future episodes, I will be covering brands that I love and guests with scorching hot brands and knowledge they can share with you on their journeys.
When the pandemic first kicked off in 2020, I worked out an eight-step framework to help my strategy and branding clients build the foundations of their incredible, authentic brands. This is where the first episodes come from.
The eight sections are interwoven, but I can easily break them up. And more importantly, I can make them a lot of fun and allow you to look at your brand from the outside, looking in. And this is a handy skill.
Seeing what you're doing from an external viewpoint allows you to fix potential problems. Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end, and I cannot wait to dive deeper into more branding, design and small business topics.
We are a branding studio who create one-off brands. We love to fully understand your problem before suggesting how to make a bigger impact.
