Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One – Emily Heyward | Free Book Summary

Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One – Emily Heyward

How Modern Marketing Works

Beyond a Logo

Long ago, a great user experience design was enough to give an edge. If something was easy to use or worked well, it was enough to get people excited.

Your brand is far more important now. Branding in the traditional sense is not enough. “Branding” is not a logo, your name, or a tagline. To build a winning brand today, you have to start with your customer and the issue you’re solving for them.

The Purpose Of The Brand

Leading brands are capable of forming deep emotional connections because they stand for something people care about.

Founders should consider the brand before day one. It is not an afterthought but forms the core of your culture from the start. This way, your brand will always reflect its fundamental purpose and guide any difficult decisions.

The Brand Creation and Purpose

When determining your brand:

• Identify who the brand is for.
• Identify the key problem
• Identify the answer to the key problem via the brand.

Solve The Problem

Start with the problem you’re solving:

• Define the idea a brand stands for.
• Define how it should make people feel.
• Then think about tonality, design, and language.

Promote the Emotional

When you launch a new product, think about what the brand does and how it makes people feel. People love brands that stand for a clear emotional idea that is bigger than the product’s benefits.

Connect the product to a meaningful story to create a strong bond. The emotional idea should be backed up with a practical function.

Tap Into People’s Sense Of Self

A brand serves as connective tissue. A successful brand realizes that to create meaningful and lasting relationships, they need to tap into people’s sense of self.

Branding is about creating a shared identity with your customers. Customers want brands that align with their values and uphold their identity.