When Bragging = Helping

If you’re the kind of person who eats dessert before dinner, loves a snappy highlight reel or lives with ADHD, feel free to stop reading after the next six paragraphs.

For years, I’ve accidentally hidden the most valuable thing I’ve ever made: my branding process. I’ve shown parts and pieces, but never the whole banana. And I’ve done a terrible job of talking about the ROI – what my approach actually does for clients.

Subconsciously, I’ve probably held back because I hate boasting. At the same time, modesty is selfish when it withholds a gift. So I finally told my inner critic to go boil his head, and I’m stepping out of the shadows to share a method that’s worth seven-plus figures in the right hands.

I’ve heard more than a few colleagues say that branding and design clients only care about results, not process. I agree – to the extent that the general order of operations is a no-brainer (research, strategy, creative, launch). But if someone discovered a new way of creating something that matters to you – building cars, creating financial plans, designing buildings or building brands – a way that provided superior value, effectiveness and longevity – wouldn’t you be curious about the how and the why?

To that end, I recently wrote down my entire branding process, stem to stern, as seen through the lens of one particular client: Silverback Concrete. I picked them as my case study because in the 2.5 years since we launched their new brand, the firm has nearly quadrupled in revenue and reach. Silverback’s president credits the emotional traction that their brand generates every day as a major factor in that growth.

While the narrative focuses on construction, the principles and frameworks apply to any industry. For now, it’s a plain old Google Doc with lots of pictures. Some day, this will be (part of) a book.

If I’ve piqued your curiosity, reply to this email or click the button below to email me directly and I’ll send you the case study. No strings, no funny business. You can even pass it along to whomever you like; anyone with the link can access it.

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If you like a good yarn, here’s the scenic route.

My clients are among the most incredible people I know. I’m grateful for each of them, past and present. They’ve placed a great deal of trust in me. They pay me good money to make art that solves business, personal and environmental problems.

I’m grateful for the bad clients, too. They’ve taught me what to avoid and how to separate the chaff from the wheat.

The best clients roll the dice on an unorthodox branding process that strengthens their reputation and spurs growth – by several orders of magnitude, in some cases.

Here are four examples from recent years.

A five-star boutique hotel carves out a position as the only Mindful Luxury destination in Costa Rica. A playful, sophisticated and thoughtful identity reflects the hotel’s belief that nature and luxury are a match made in paradise. Two years after launching its new brand, the hotel wins the title of “Most Innovative Wellness Hotel” from GBWA, the world’s preeminent beauty and wellness awards.

An architecture firm receives its new brand strategy on a Tuesday. By Wednesday, the principal has memorized their purpose, mission and vision statements and uses them to pitch and win the firm’s first eight-figure project. This is halfway through the branding process, no less – before anyone has an inkling what the visual identity would look like.

A brain tumor summit breaks through institutional walls and old rivalries, rallies the brightest minds in cancer research and accelerates the funding and discovery of life-sustaining treatments. Its secret weapons are urgent, vivid messaging and a fluid symbol that depicts its common goal.

A construction company nearly quadruples its revenue and reach in three years. Healthy family values, a hungry crew of young leaders and an immaculate track record all drive the company’s growth. According to their CEO, the fourth major factor is a brand foundation that turns heads and wins international clients.

All of these organizations took a risk on an unusual investment that grows in value year after year.

They’ve seen firsthand how this investment attracts ideal clients, donors and teammates. How it helps them cut through the noise and stand out in a world that won’t stop yelling.

That investment is called Essential Branding. And it’s the most useful thing I’ve ever created.

Through 20 years of brand strategy and design experience, I’ve developed a method that transforms businesses into iconic, enduring brands that can’t be overlooked.

I hesitate to say Essential Branding is completely novel. Put it this way. If anyone else in branding is doing anything similar, I don’t know about it. More to the point, Essential Branding is so effective I’d never dream of returning to the status quo.

From that angle, any and all diffidence is selfish, even avaricious.

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield expresses this perspective beautifully:

“Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action.”

“Do it or don’t do it.”

“It may help to think of it this way. If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.”

“You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God.”

“Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”

I haven’t trademarked or patented Essential Branding and I don’t plan to. I’d be thrilled to see other people learn how it’s done and adapt it for themselves.

To that end, I’ve made an in-depth case study that describes Essential Branding, step by step, through the lens of my work with Silverback Concrete. Abhi and Jason, my sales consultants, deserve credit, too. We co-wrote this piece, and they helped me cut bucketfuls of chaff.

The story focuses on construction, but the process works for every sector. So if you’re a business leader who wants to set industry standards, maximize cash flow and swim with the big sharks, this case study is for you.

If you’re a creative director, brand strategist or designer looking to level up and find better ways to serve your clients, this is for you, too.

If you’re an old friend, a casual observer or a devil’s advocate who wants to know whether I’m bullshitting you or not, this story is for you, too.

So. To learn more about how Essential Branding helped (and still helps) Cala Luna Hotel, Walker Architects, ReMission Summit and Silverback Concrete create emotional traction and grow, just reply to this email and I’ll send you the link. No strings whatsoever. You can also click the green button below to reach my primary email address.

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P.S. I plan to visit your inbox more often, starting today. Biweekly or thereabouts. *Shorter* missives, still focused on all things identity. In the queue: remembering mentors, sword-craft, sumi ink and several (!) new case studies.

P.P.S. In case you missed my last email, I’m now offering Enneagram coaching and workshops for individuals, couples and businesses. As I write, a therapist is halfway through a custom coaching program with me. She’s loving it and her clients are already reaping the benefits.

Book a call if you’d like to learn more.

P.P.P.S. As always: if you don’t want these emails anymore, no worries. If it ain’t you I’m lookin’ for, babe, just click the unsubscribe link and I’ll vanish like a hot fart in a cold wind. 💨