Brand Foundations

June 8, 2022

21 minutes

Most people think branding is a logo. Some think it's marketing. A few think it's just for big companies with fat budgets.

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All of them are wrong.

In this episode – the first proper one – Martin Sully breaks down what branding actually is, why it's every single decision your business makes (yes, including the soap in your bathroom), and how to build foundations strong enough that everything else you do actually sticks.

This is the episode to send someone who's just starting to think seriously about their brand, or who needs convincing that branding is worth the investment before anything else. If you'd rather read than listen, the Snapper Studio blog covers the six brand foundations in detail.

Common branding misconceptions

What's Covered in This Episode

What branding actually is: not a logo, not marketing, not just for big companies – it's the collective gut feeling people have about your business
Why the small decisions matter: toilet paper, soap, how your team answers emails – your brand is leaking everywhere whether you're thinking about it or not
What branding can genuinely do for sales: including a wild example of a story applied to an inanimate object that drove a 6,000% increase
Why a brand audit doesn't have to be painful – think of it as a bloopers reel (Martin's 20,000 misprinted flyers make an appearance)
How to find your why – and why you need it to survive the hard patches, not just to sound good on a website
USPs: what makes you unique and why you need to nail it before you touch your marketing plan
Understanding your audience well enough to make them feel genuinely seen
Setting 1 to 3 brand goals you can actually hit – with dates on them
The emotional foundations of your brand and why feelings drive buying decisions more than features ever will

Our Podcast evolved

This episode was originally recorded for an earlier version of the podcast. The audio intro references a previous name – the content is all still the good stuff.

New to Martin's thinking on branding?

This episode is a great starting point. If you want to go deeper on the six brand foundations covered here, the Snapper Studio blog breaks each one down in detail – What Are Brand Foundations? The 6 Core Elements Explained. And if you're ready to apply it, the How I Think About Branding page is where to go next.

See How I Think

Our Podcast is ever evolving

A quick note

This episode was originally recorded for an earlier version of the podcast. The audio intro references a previous name – the content is all still the good stuff.