Dude, Annie, YES. The founder's story one especially! Some brands do have a great founder story that can and does work in showing a unique point of differentiation...but this is very rare these days. Some brands that have tied it in well are Fable & Mane (the rooted in tradition tagline is so smart), for example, but the founder needing to be main personality is truly such a double edged sword (KVD, for example) if things go wrong. PS- Soft Services is SO good! Buffing Bar is helping my KP a lot.
Thank you Lauren! I've never heard of Fable & Mane, will look them up! Kat had SUCH an incredible story to lead an artistry brand for the alternative/glam crowd. I don't know honestly what her team could have done differently, COVID really brought out the worst in people.
Ok Annie, HoliRoots oil is sooo good for scalp massage if you try it, and Akash and Nikita are a joy. And yes, COVID really did a number on personalities for a few which was a shame. BTW- love your pod as well, Eyewitness Beauty is a delight. Love the theme song.
Lauren, I find that the founder's story can be a powerful tool when it's genuine and ties into the brand's uniqueness, like with Fable & Mane. But relying too much on the founder's personality can backfire, as seen with KVD. Thanks for sharing your insight, Lauren!
Loved this! It feels like all of my subconscious feelings as both a brand consultant and (more importantly) a consumer were being fed back to me through your words, albeit much more eloquently.
Also - similar to “thoughtful” but I’ve had it with “intentional” and “mindful” as adverbs too
As someone helping develop the brand playbook at a large, heavily performance-driven company, we often look to Glossier as the gold standard in terms of foundational brand-building. You and the early team killed it!!
Thank you! That's so nice to hear. I was just talking with another founder about the Glossier playbook, and I do want to caveat that there were a lot of advantages that helped the brand take off that were beyond our control, and certainly beyond mine. Too, I hope my writing doesn't come off as claiming to be the sole inventor of the strategy—I did do a lot, but especially in writing the brand book, it included a lot of my own concepts, but also I just put into writing ideas and strategies that Emily, Helen Steed, Alexis Page, Adriana Deleo, and others had originated. The brand book was designed by Helen and Adriana, it was a big project at the time. Another advantage was that Glossier's core was editorial—we made content all day long, and had an engaged audience which gave us constant, immediate feedback. So we were able to get to a content and ultimately brand strategy by trying A LOT of things that didn't work.
Would love to hear what you've found works, and what's outdated.
Sending the last point to a friend. She’s not starting a makeup brand or creating her own lip balm, but rather I’m sending to her as a lesson that she does not need another damn lip product. Thanks for this list! It was a pleasure to read
Your insights on avoiding the overused 'we' and focusing on original content are spot on. It’s fascinating how such subtle shifts in language can significantly impact a brand’s authenticity and customer connection.
Dude, Annie, YES. The founder's story one especially! Some brands do have a great founder story that can and does work in showing a unique point of differentiation...but this is very rare these days. Some brands that have tied it in well are Fable & Mane (the rooted in tradition tagline is so smart), for example, but the founder needing to be main personality is truly such a double edged sword (KVD, for example) if things go wrong. PS- Soft Services is SO good! Buffing Bar is helping my KP a lot.
Thank you Lauren! I've never heard of Fable & Mane, will look them up! Kat had SUCH an incredible story to lead an artistry brand for the alternative/glam crowd. I don't know honestly what her team could have done differently, COVID really brought out the worst in people.
Ok Annie, HoliRoots oil is sooo good for scalp massage if you try it, and Akash and Nikita are a joy. And yes, COVID really did a number on personalities for a few which was a shame. BTW- love your pod as well, Eyewitness Beauty is a delight. Love the theme song.
Lauren, I find that the founder's story can be a powerful tool when it's genuine and ties into the brand's uniqueness, like with Fable & Mane. But relying too much on the founder's personality can backfire, as seen with KVD. Thanks for sharing your insight, Lauren!
Loved this! It feels like all of my subconscious feelings as both a brand consultant and (more importantly) a consumer were being fed back to me through your words, albeit much more eloquently.
Also - similar to “thoughtful” but I’ve had it with “intentional” and “mindful” as adverbs too
Thank you Katie! Of course since I wrote this I can think of a million exceptions. Agree re: "intentional" and "mindful"!
Such a good read. I learn so much from you. Thank you
thank you Sarah!
Amen to the lip balm directive!!!
Greatttttt read!!
Truly insightful POV on the Youthforia controversy - loved!
As someone helping develop the brand playbook at a large, heavily performance-driven company, we often look to Glossier as the gold standard in terms of foundational brand-building. You and the early team killed it!!
Thank you! That's so nice to hear. I was just talking with another founder about the Glossier playbook, and I do want to caveat that there were a lot of advantages that helped the brand take off that were beyond our control, and certainly beyond mine. Too, I hope my writing doesn't come off as claiming to be the sole inventor of the strategy—I did do a lot, but especially in writing the brand book, it included a lot of my own concepts, but also I just put into writing ideas and strategies that Emily, Helen Steed, Alexis Page, Adriana Deleo, and others had originated. The brand book was designed by Helen and Adriana, it was a big project at the time. Another advantage was that Glossier's core was editorial—we made content all day long, and had an engaged audience which gave us constant, immediate feedback. So we were able to get to a content and ultimately brand strategy by trying A LOT of things that didn't work.
Would love to hear what you've found works, and what's outdated.
Annie this was such a good read!!!
Thank you Jake
Sending the last point to a friend. She’s not starting a makeup brand or creating her own lip balm, but rather I’m sending to her as a lesson that she does not need another damn lip product. Thanks for this list! It was a pleasure to read
Thanks Gabbie
I ate this UP… ! Love this insight
so goodd
Your insights on avoiding the overused 'we' and focusing on original content are spot on. It’s fascinating how such subtle shifts in language can significantly impact a brand’s authenticity and customer connection.