Name first, product second

Loving a brand, buying it and coming back for more aren’t necessarily the same thing. This week’s podcast episode starts with my lifelong support for the Newcastle Knights rugby league team and why sticking with a struggling football team is a different kind of loyalty from choosing a burger, butter, coconut water or a bearded branding guy that has a penchant for pink to do you branding.From buying McDonald’s more often than my favourite local burger shop, to my mum only buying Devondale butter because of its connection to her father, I explore the difference between what people feel about a brand and what they actually purchase.Drawing on research from Byron Sharp, the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, Kantar and others, this episode looks at why reaching more buyers matters for brand growth, and why your most enthusiastic customers shouldn’t become your entire marketing audience. It also covers Coca-Cola’s shift away from brand love as a primary measure of success, how price and availability influence buying decisions, and whether loyalty programs encourage extra purchases or reward behaviour that would have happened anyway.The aim is to understand how branding can help people remember, think of, find and confidently choose your brand, without expecting every customer to support it like their favourite football team. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

What can you expect from this podcast episode?“Oh s**t, we need a brand audit” might sound like the start of an uncomfortable conversation, but this thing called a ‘brand audit’ can give you the clarity to work out what your brand needs next to win. This week’s podcast episode starts with the brand identity I developed for Alice CPA, an audit firm in New York City, where we used toilet paper packs, calming candles and a bit of humour to acknowledge the nerves startup founders felt about needing a financial audit before securing venture capital funding. A brand audit serves a different purpose, but having someone examine your business can bring on similar feelings, especially when you suspect things aren’t working or you’re unsure how you compare with competitors.From business ambitions and brand strategy to customer research, recognition, messaging, packaging and team culture, this episode works through a practical ten-point checklist to assess where your brand stands. It covers whether customers remember you, how easy you are to find and buy from, whether your name and logo work in everyday use, and how well you attract and support the right people. The aim is to identify what needs attention alongside the strengths worth protecting, then turn those findings into priorities you can act on. You might need a rebrand, or you might discover that clearer communication, a better customer experience or stronger team alignment would make a bigger difference. Either way, you’ll have a clearer direction to give your brand a shot at better business success. Toilet paper optional. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

What can you expect from this podcast episode?You can know your business inside out and still misunderstand why customers choose your brand. This week’s podcast episode looks at how customer research can help you move beyond assumptions to understand who buys from you, what they need and the circumstances that lead them to choose your offering. Using two fictional brands I’ve developed, Popits popcorn ball snacks and Sydney real estate agency Chapter Realty, I work through five practical steps, from getting your assumptions down and finding people willing to share feedback, to speaking with customers before and after they buy, including those who chose someone else.Because knowing why people choose you gives you something useful to shape your brand strategy around. This episode explores how to compare what customers say with actual buying behaviour, combining qualitative feedback with quantitative data to make more informed decisions about targeting, positioning, messaging and customer experience. It also looks at category entry points, the needs and occasions that bring your category to mind, and how those insights can help your brand be remembered and available when needed. Whether you’re serving a particular customer segment or a wider market, the aim is to give your branding and marketing a clearer direction based on the people you’re trying to connect with. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

What can you expect from this podcast episode?AI can give anyone access to branding and marketing tools, but access to the tools doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the same outcome. This week’s podcast episode looks at the difference between using AI yourself and having a branding, marketing or creative professional use those same tools, where their experience can help determine what to ask for, what’s actually good, what needs changing and, perhaps most importantly, when AI shouldn’t be used at all.Because AI can produce an output, but expertise determines whether that output is actually useful. From the IKEA effect and becoming overly attached to something you’ve prompted AI to create, to logos, photography, messaging, websites, print and other branded materials, this episode looks at some practical guardrails for where AI can help and where you might be better off calling in a professional. Because my two general rules are pretty simple:* Use AI to help with something, not necessarily to do the whole thing.* If a consumer is thinking “is this AI?” and not focused on what you’re actually communicating, it’s not good enough for your brand. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

What can you expect from this podcast episode?Name first, product second. When every piece of marketing leads with what you sell rather than who is selling it, there’s a risk that all the attention you’re generating is helping people remember the product, category, or even competitors, instead of remembering your brand. This week’s podcast episode looks at why putting greater emphasis on your brand can help build stronger awareness and recognition, particularly when your competitors are selling many of the same things and using many of the same category cues to communicate them.Because the category isn’t yours to own, but the brand can be. This week’s episode highlights a particular coffee brand’s distinctive a pproach to canned coffee packaging demonstrates how context, positioning and distinctive brand assets can help your brand stand out without sacrificing clarity about what you sell. Because as this bloke put it on LinkedIn: “If people just think about the product before you, then the next time they want it, they can get it anywhere because lots of people sell it too.” Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

Every interaction someone has with your brand, from seeing your logo and packaging to hearing your music, visiting your store, seeing your content or speaking with your staff, has the potential to create another memory they can connect back to you. This week’s podcast episode looks at how brands can build stronger awareness and long-term memorability by creating more recognisable and connected ways for people to remember who they are, what they offer and, most importantly, when they might need them.Because being recognised isn’t quite the same as being remembered and thought of when it matters. Using the idea of mental availability, along with a brand version of games like Memory, 20 Questions and Guess Who?, this episode looks at how positioning and distinctive brand assets can make a brand easier to identify and retrieve from memory. Because the real test of a strong brand isn’t simply whether someone has heard of you, but whether your brand comes to mind when they’re actually in the market for what you sell. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

What can you expect from this podcast episode?Building a brand at the start is the exciting part. Maintaining it over years, through changing teams, priorities, budgets and the constant temptation to mess with it, is where the real work begins. Much like a marriage, brands can go through a honeymoon phase, a reality check, power struggles, the seven-year itch and, if you stick with it long enough, stability and maturity. This week’s podcast episode looks at those different phases and why the strongest brands are often the ones that have had the commitment, alignment and perseverance to stay the course.Because maintaining a brand takes more than keeping the logo consistent. It means sticking to the strategy, taking marketing seriously beyond just promotion, resisting the urge to constantly change your brand assets, getting outside help when you need it, protecting what you’ve built and making sure the people inside the business share the same idea of what the brand is there to do. The fun of something new eventually wears off, but the value of a brand comes from what you continue to build, protect and maintain long after the honeymoon is over. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

A great brand isn’t always built around what it sells. Instead it can be built around a bigger idea that gives people something memorable to connect with long after products and services evolve. Now, for many businesses, they focus on communicating what they offer. But the strongest brands I believe create meaning beyond the transaction, shaping everything from their messaging, visual identity, experiences, and even the products or services themselves, to the way customers remember and choose them.So using real examples including Figurs, Saweet Way and Evening Clay, this episode covers how a simple but unifying concept can become the backbone of an entire brand. It’s a practical look at why products may come and go, but a well-crafted brand concept can create lasting recognition, stronger perceived value and greater brand equity that extends far beyond the product itself. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is all about a question I get asked more than almost any other: Why does branding actually matter? So much so I put a list of 10 dot points on my G’day Frank brand services website about the 10 biggest reasons I believe better branding leads to better business success.Which covers everything from helping customers choose you over competitors and pay a premium, through to building loyalty, creating stronger mental availability, making buying decisions easier, and giving your team greater clarity. If you've ever thought branding was just a logo or colour palette, this episode will challenge that assumption.Whether you're a startup wondering if branding is worth the investment or an established business looking to strengthen your competitive advantage, this episode will help you see branding as one of the most valuable long-term assets your business can build. Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe

What can you expect from this podcast episode?Big brands have plenty of advantages that smaller brands don’t, but that doesn’t mean smaller brands can’t learn from what they consistently get right. In this episode, I looks at some of the simple branding principles that businesses of any size can use to become more recognisable, memorable and easier to think of when needed. From choosing a shorter brand name and creating a more refined logo, to owning a distinctive colour and consistently reinforcing a clear message, the common thread is simple: give people fewer, stronger things to remember about your brand.I also look at why clear positioning can give every branding and marketing decision a central idea to work from, and why underused assets like distinctive sounds and mascots can create even more opportunities for recognition. A small business might not have the budget, reach or physical availability of a major brand, but it can still build and manage its brand with the same level of clarity and consistency. Because better branding can help a small brand appear bigger, stand apart from competitors and tip the scales in its favour.If audio podcasts are no longer your thingIf reading is more your thing, then here is the link to my blog version of this week’s topic, especially to read the specific briefcase you’re interested in:Work or chat with the DocAnd just to finish as always, a bit of a plug before I drop out of your inbox, if you’ve been following me for a while now and want to work with me to help give your brand a shot at a new brand of branding, for better business success. Then as always, say g’day today and book a call with me. (Same goes for you if you’re a designer or fellow branding person that needs a bit of help, reach out just the same!) Get full access to Doctor Branding at gdayfrank.substack.com/subscribe