The Tactical Guide To Building a Great Brand | Ep 169
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On this episode today, what I want to talk to you guys about is brands.

And I don't want to talk about the fluffy high in the sky, philosophical brand stuff that I have assumed myself, but I'm trying to break this down as tactically as I can to explain to you guys everything I've learned in the last three years of what makes a great brand, how to build a great brand, how to ruin a brand and how you can do it yourself. Why is it that some companies can charge two times, five times or 10 times as much as their competition? Think about Fendi. Think about Chanel. Think about Apple.

They can charge two to five to 10 times for the same product as their competitor. And why is it that those companies also can get their customers to buy anything they release immediately? Think about Kylie Jenner. Think about skims from Kim Kardashian. Why is it that people buy immediately every drop they have? That is branding. In this video, I want to break down the principles that make a powerful brand.

When I was trying to learn about brand five, six, seven years ago, it felt very amorphous. Like there was no tactical, this is how you do it. And so this is my attempt at giving you the tactical how to build a brand.

Brand is the association between two or more things. In order for a brand to be successful, the audience that the product is being presented to must know one of them. An example of that would be I wear a Chanel outfit. Ironically, I'm wearing Chanel right now. Say I meet somebody off the street. They know Chanel. They don't know me. They associate Chanel with expensive luxury.

Now they meet me. I'm wearing Chanel. They associate me with expensive luxury. Another example is my husband, Alex. So he talks about business, marketing, sales, offers. And so then what happens is when he's talking about these things, he's wearing an acquisition.com tank top.

Even though acquisition.com does not make content about business, Alex makes content about business wearing an acquisition.com shirt. And by proxy, people associate acquisition.com with being an expert in business. You see, it works both ways, which means

If suddenly everyone that wore Chanel looked like they were homeless, but wearing a Chanel coat, you would no longer associate Chanel with expensive luxury. And some luxury brands actually changed this way. They open up a line that may be less expensive so they can get to a broader market. And what you notice is that sometimes their top tier products suffer because people no longer feel that when they wear Chanel, they are wearing a premium brand. And this isn't Chanel specifically, but this is an example of sometimes how luxury markets work. The reason that I

became so interested in brand is because when we were building our first business, Gym Launch, did not understand anything about brand at all. And in fact, the entire time that we built that business, nobody knew who I was. People barely knew who Alex was. If anyone did see him, they're like, you're this guy with a mustache. I sometimes see in ads. And so we built the entire business off of paid ads, off of cold outbound, off of all different types of paid media. We never invested in content. We never invested in branding.

The whole time that we were doing that, all these people would come up and say like, you guys should really make content. You should really invest in brand. You should really do all these things. And it got to the point where we sold the business and did so successfully. And we hadn't yet created a brand. And so when we decided what kind of business we wanted to create next, you know, we were looking at what was going on in the marketplace. And both of us had a theory.

But if we created content, it would make lots of things easier. And the way that I see it is that brand is almost like a lubricant for everything else that you do in your business or everything else you do in life, depending on why you're trying to build a brand.

So the question is, how does one build a brand? So I want to walk you through four principles that have helped me build my personal brand and business brand in less than two years. The first principle to understand is that brand is a series of associations. Think of a brand like a bouquet of flowers. So if I show you this bouquet of flowers, it's colorful, it's cute. You might think, oh, Easter, my friend's birthday. I'm sending to my girlfriend just to tell her she had a great day. If I show you this bouquet of flowers, you might think Valentine's

Romance, love, expensive. Is there really a big difference? Because if you look at these, these are roses and these are roses. And actually the only difference in this bouquet is that one is all red roses and one is colorful roses, but

Red roses have been so heavily branded with love and Valentine's day and gifting that they are associated with those things. And so when you give them to somebody, there's a different association made. Say you're not feeling well and you're at work and one of your male coworkers sends you a bouquet of red roses. What's your husband going to say? But if he gave you these roses, do you really think it was going to be that bad? Your husband would be like, oh, that's nice. They sent you flowers all because of the color of the flowers.

Now imagine you have dandelions, you have roses, you have daisies, you have all these different types. So even one flower, if I were to throw a daisy into this mix of red roses, it would change the entire bouquet. So what do I mean by this? Think of a brand like a bouquet of flowers. Let's take a few examples. And listen, I want to say there's nothing good or bad. There's just the brand. And then if you have associations that you make that are neutral, positive, or negative. So let's look at one, which is Kanye West. So for a long time, Kanye West's brand was like he was

He was a legend. He was unique. He was a star. And then some things happened with him personally. And now there are some associations made that are like off the wall, erratic, crazy, just based on a few things that have happened for him. How did those couple...

incidents change his brand. It's not that we say it's good or bad, but they have changed the brand. Is it that he's less famous now? No, maybe he's more famous for those things, but the brand itself has changed. Another example of this would be his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. So if you look at her, beautiful, feminine, you might think business celebrity, but then if you knew her from 20 something years ago, you might think, you know, porn star video, like all those things. And so if you took out the porn piece, how would that change Kim's brand?

Not saying it's good or bad, but it's different. And so again, one single flower or one single incident can completely

completely change somebody's brand. So the question to really think through when you're thinking about associations is that associations don't necessarily mean that you're going to grow or kill your brand. It might mean that it's just going to change, strengthen, or weaken your brand. So for example, there's a lot of famous people that we can think of who had very strong brands. The brands might be trustworthy, loyalty, hardworking. And then you find out that person cheated on their wife, had 17 girlfriends.

How does that change the brand? When the entire bouquet was red roses, hardworking, disciplined, this person is very consistent in building those associations. And then one day out of the blue, this thing comes out of nowhere. How does that change their brand? So logically speaking, you don't end a brand. You just vastly can change it through one or two incidents.

Another example that's really interesting is if you think of somebody like Michael Jackson. He was so good at music and all the things he did that even despite all of the things that happened afterwards that were very controversial down the line when he got towards the end of his life, people still celebrate him today. There are shows in Vegas happening every night celebrating Michael Jackson.

And so again, how many flowers did he have in his bouquet? For how many years was he consistent in doing this one thing very, very well, building a very strong brand. And so what you have to understand is that when you think of associations, the more strong on brand associations you have, the more you can withstand a negative blow.

versus somebody who doesn't have a very strong brand and doesn't have a lot of, I would say like goodwill in the tank. They're not going to be able to withstand a negative blow nearly as much. And when I say negative, it's negative if it hurts the brand or shrinks the brand, but it could also be different. It could be that the way in which an incident affects the brand changes it to a degree that now they cannot any longer do business, sell the same products or services or services, same audience, because that audience has lost trust.

And so if you want to build a strong brand, you want strong, consistent associations. So the less consistent you are with the associations, the weaker the brand is. The more consistent you are with the associations, the stronger the brand is. And so for a lot of people, what they don't understand is they think if they make an association one time that they have built their brand. But the reality is, is that the brand is not just about the associations you make, but how many times you make those associations and reinforce it to your audience.

And so what that means is putting things on repeat. The second principle is that if it doesn't build your brand or grow your brand, you don't do it. Think about this. Building your brand is a constant trade-off, which means you are in the process of trading the brand you have today for the brand that you have tomorrow.

And the goal is to trade up rather than to trade down. So just like if you have a business, you want to make sure that all the activities that you're doing are to grow the business because we only have so much energy or time in the day. And so if we are going to spend time in our business, we want to make sure that we're growing the business. We're not killing the business and we're not just like remaining the same. And so the same goes for brand.

We wanna make sure that when we are working on our brand, we are growing the brand rather than shrinking the brand or keeping it the same. And so in order to grow something, it has to change. But if you look at a flower when it is first bloomed, it's like this tiny little flower with these tiny little leaves, this tiny little, and then you look at it a year later, it's this beautiful, large sunflower, right?

grew, but it also changed. And so what a lot of people are scared of is they're scared of change because they're worried about ruining their brand. But if you're able to understand that in order to grow a brand, you have to continue changing the brand. It's just making a trade off. This means taking bets on what will grow your brand the most. So it's trading your brand today for what your brand could be tomorrow.

grow a brand by continuing to get clearer and clearer on what associations will grow it, will match with your audience and will target the people that you want to reach.

And in my opinion, the reason a lot of people don't grow their brands is because they're so afraid of losing what feels like the many in sacrificing that or getting more clear, like building stronger associations that they're afraid will repel other people. The more clear you are with your associations, the more easily you can trade up and grow your brand. Another example of this is Taco Bell.

So Taco Bell years ago was actually declining. I don't know if you guys remember this because maybe my age is showing here, but the saying that they used to have was like, yo quiero Taco Bell. Like it

Like it was on all the advertisements. It was what everyone would say. People would be fucking around. They'd be drunk at night. They'd be like, yo quiero Taco Bell. Like that's all I remember when I think of Taco Bell, right? But the funny thing is that when I think of Taco Bell now, I don't ever think of that. Why is that? So Taco Bell actually started plummeting in sales. And so what they realized is that their slogan was amusing and it was funny and it got people's interest.

But after a while, the cheap Mexican fast food chain realized that they were declining because they didn't have a strong brand that was attracting the audience they needed. So what happened is that the competitors popped up who had stronger brands with better messaging, aka better associations for the audience they were targeting or the audience they were both fighting for. Some of these competitors you might know. You might think of

Qdoba, Chipotle. So what's the difference between Taco Bell and those competitors? The difference was that Taco Bell was not catering to showcase upscale Mexican food. A lot of times you might think of Taco Bell, you might think of like diarrhea in the bathroom or like not clean at all. Stomachache, felt like I was going to vomit, ate it when I was drunk. But what they did is that they actually took a risk in opening upscale Taco Bell cantina locations.

These were an urban restaurant design, an open kitchen, a custom menu, shareable appetizers, right? And even alcoholic beverages. So they did menu experiments. They refreshed their branding. They revamped their interior design. And what happened?

The next year they grew by 16%. Why is that? Because they realized that in order to grow their brand, they needed to make stronger associations with different things. What happens when a competitor takes more of your market share, they've created stronger associations with things that the audience likes more than yours, and they have done it more times than you. So if you want to take the audience back from your competitors, you create stronger associations and repeat it more times.

Volume negates luck. The third principle is that brand to you and to your company is essentially gasoline to fire. Brand makes everything easier. If you build a strong brand, it pulls the right people towards you and pushes the wrong people away. Again, like I said earlier, the thing is, is that most people are afraid to do that.

Strong brands, especially when associated with a business, are more profitable because the brand does so much work for you. So let's think about this. If there's a strong brand, okay, you're watching my video, for example. Say I post a job opening and you've been watching my video for two years. How much effort does it take me and my business to get you to want to have a job with acquisition.com? It probably takes me a fourth as much effort as it might take a company that you've never heard of. And so what the brand does

is it provides you with leverage, which means that you can get outsized returns as a company if you have a strong one. It lubricates marketing, it lubricates sales, talent acquisition, customer acquisition. It makes everything easier. If you do this one thing well, it provides your business with more leverage than any other department can. And here's the thing, to build a strong brand, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a positive brand. A brand can be strong in either direction. So for example, I'll say a few names and I just want you to think, what's the first word that pops up? Donald Trump.

Andrew Tate, Kylie Jenner. Maybe you love them, maybe you hate them, but you're very clear on what their brand is. And that means their brand is strong, meaning they are crystal clear about who they are for and who they are not for.

And so for any of you that are watching this thinking, I'm going to be too polarizing and my brand's not going to be able to grow because I'm not catering to a wide enough audience. I want you to think of those three people and think how polarizing they are. How strong is your brand? When I was growing Gym Launch and I was trying to bring on top level talent, it was probably one of the hardest things I had to do.

What I had to do is because my brand wasn't strong, I actually had to borrow brand equity from a company so I could get talent. So what I had to do was when I was trying to hire for my executive suite, which is all like C-level, CFO, COO, all those roles, I couldn't get them on my own. I wasn't getting the kind of talent I needed. And so what did I do? I engaged with a firm. They're one of the top firms in the country. And they went out and tried to get talent for me.

and what did i get i got people from google from my fitness pal from nike from some of the biggest gym franchises in the world i would have never been able to get those on my own but i was able to because i paid them to borrow their brand equity when they reached out on my behalf and they said we work at x firm and we have a company we think you might be interested in people associate x firm with only good companies therefore now they associate my company with being a great company

This is why at acquisition.com for our portfolio companies, we recruit for them. Now, why do I do that? Because I think they can't recruit. No, I do it because I know that my brand equity is stronger than theirs. And so I allow our portfolio companies to borrow my brand equity to acquire talent because

Because for a lot of people who watch my channel or watch Alex's channel, they have strong positive associations with business, with leadership, with management. And so this lubricates the process of acquiring talent for a company. And so I know that if somebody on my team reaches out to somebody who is a prospect, that person's more likely to respond and it will probably be an easier process if they are familiar with our brand. Because now we take our brand, Acquisition.com, associate with our portfolio company. The fourth principle of branding is that

is that repetition reinforces brand. Many people don't have a strong brand because they are unwilling to repeat themselves. In fact, in writing this video, I was like, oh my gosh, if I am weakest in one of these principles, this is the one I have to work on. Because I feel like, oh my gosh, haven't I said that before? I'm telling you, people are busy.

think about how much you have going on do you remember every piece of content every person you watch has put out do you remember every post that kim kardashian has made that the rock has made that logan paul has made no but if you do go and you do look at their messaging what you will see is patterns you will see them continuing to make the same associations over and over and over and over again let's give some examples of some companies how many of you guys have heard geico can save you 15 or less on car insurance

I can't even like the amount of times I've heard that over the last 10 years of my life since I was like, I remember sitting in my parents' house when I was like,

12 years old hearing that slogan but they continue to say it because it continues to work and it continues to get them customers and build their brand so easy caveman can do it i even remember that part and once they find a message and once they find a slogan and once they find an association that clicks with their audience they don't stop they hone in on it the strongest brands repeat the associations for years once they understand the associations that

that attract their ideal audience and their ideal buyers, they are relentless, right? And within that, there's buckets of things that we know hit with the audience that is watching, which again, you stick with those things, you repeat them, you talk about them over and over again because it builds the brand, right? If you think of some of the biggest celebrities in the world, you can probably associate them with two to three different buckets of content or words that make you think of that person. For example, if I say Kim Kardashian,

You think of beauty, celebrity, fame. When I say Reese Witherspoon, you might think of food, businesswoman, soft, kind. Different people reinforce different things over and over and over again, which creates big brands, but doesn't mean that they're the same. It just means that they are a different brand and they have different audiences. And so the way that you strengthen a brand is simply by repetition. You don't need to build a personal brand to be a millionaire. But here's the thing. Everyone has a brand, whether you are intentional about it or not. I'm

Another word for brand would be reputation. Like think about a reputation on steroids. That is a brand, a reputation with eyeballs and views, a reputation with money put behind it, a reputation with effort put behind it. You think about it, you don't need that to become a millionaire or to make money. There's a lot of other ways that you can make money without anybody knowing who the heck you are. It comes down to preference.

You know, for me, I made most of my wealth until I was 29 years old off of nobody knowing who I was. I think I had like 2000 followers on Instagram. The thing is, is that for me, I realized I wanted to have an impact. The way I wanted to help people went beyond a transaction with a customer. And in the way in which I wanted to help them and I wanted to help people that worked for me and people that did business with me, I realized I had to build a brand to do that.

And so again, it comes down to personal preference. If you don't like talking to people, you don't like being on camera, you don't like writing, you don't like communicating in general,