Focus some spend on the stuff [customers] touch multiple times per day, every day.

Branding helps shape your brand before people shape it for you.

So, does your branding plant the seed for what your reputation and lasting impression should be?

Or does your branding poison the well for what your reputation and lasting impression could be

I want to say that purpose, mission, and vision statements are kinda stupid. But they ARE the main thing.

Sure, they can feel overly aspirational and not connected to reality.

These stupid statements may not do much day to day. But when you really need, they're there to ease the burden.

Make it simple. Make it memorable. And let others make it meaningful.

Visual branding needs to be recognizable and create associations from the moment it's seen. From first impression to lasting impression.

A smart brand manual will show acceptable and appropriate examples of the branding's flexibility and variation. This is more like establishing a spectrum than a set of rules.

These systems are incredibly clear and unapologetic about protecting and reinforcing the brand. But somehow, they are also annoyingly flexible and laid back.

A personal brand is kayfabe. That's why a personal brand is not real. It's a reputation built around a personality that's not true. It's a deception.

How might you present your business in a way that is different enough to escape the narcissism of small differences? What if you could avoid competing entirely?

Typically, businesses want to stand out. But within niches and subcultures, it's totally possible to stand out too much. By being too different. So if you're an outsider trying to do business in one of these tight subcultures, tread lightly.

Looks affect how things are perceived. Specifically, looks can affect something's perceived effectiveness. So in a way, the perception of quality is quality.

Your favorite podcaster feels like a friend. Can your favorite brand feel like a friend?

I think one of the most underrated aspects of visual branding is that it makes shit real. Take a person’s vision, a dream, and mix it with some sweet branding… Now that dream is tangible.

I may not have much faith in mission and vision statements, but let's not trash them entirely.

The process of thinking through and writing mission and vision statements can be extremely helpful and clarifying.

And if you're going to slog through the introspective process you might as well end up with statements that are coherent and easily acted on. No ambiguous corporate-y jargon.

The disappointment of a terrible movie with a great trailer sucks because it feels like you've been tricked. Tricked is not the lasting impression you want to leave.

People, designers especially, worry a lot about being original. STOP. Instead, worry about being novel. Let me explain...

What your business says about itself in a statement is basically meaningless. What matters is how your business's actions live up to the statement. Your business's purpose, vision, and mission statements are not just statements on paper. They are statements that are expressed with every action your business makes.

Too bad brand loyalty is BS.

We shouldn't think about brand loyalty as the tendency of some consumers to continue buying the same brand of goods rather than competing brands.

Authenticity is peculiar because it's inversely related to effort. The more you think about being authentic. The more you say you're authentic. The more you try to be authentic. The less you are.

Even the things you DON'T do are branding. Because doing nothing is still doing something.