About

I started Red Birch Round because I want to share the critical things that great brands do to succeed. And, really importantly, I want to show how best to do them.

After guiding twenty years’ worth of CPG, Life Science, Retail and B2B brands around the world, I learned there is a yawning gap between what a business does to build its brand and how it goes about doing it.

Developing a killer position, a bullet-proof architecture or super-smart messaging means nothing if it can’t be executed. And it’s very difficult to execute when only a handful of people have been read-in, onboarded or generally included in the Team Sport that is branding.

First, What do they do? Great brands do three things really well:
They commit to building equity
They cultivate the entire brand ecosystem
They grow by really, really understanding who their consumers are

love the What, but I really love the How. Because the How keeps everyone focused on the bigger picture behind every choice. It ensures that we keep our why front and center. It reflects the reality that brands are constantly in motion and require pro-active cultivation. You cannot, Set it and Forget it.

Three critical elements of How:
Always be experimenting. In everything you do ask if there is a way to capture more learning. More learning means more insight. Without learning we sometimes stall out in conjecture land. Instead, build a prototype. Draft a new framework. Put it out there – it will spark productive action.

Prize curiosity. There are no bad questions, just lazy answers. Inside every individual’s urge to ask ‘why’ is a rich new opportunity to see the challenge in a new perspective.

Anticipate pivoting. There are only a straight-lines on paper. In reality, (and especially if you experiment and remain curious), you and your team are going to constantly be seeing the landscape in higher definition. That means being agile enough to adapt to what you learn as you go. Your eyes stay on the prize but your feet find the best path.

The more people in your organization to whom you can teach this approach, the more effective, more efficient and more sustainable you will be in building your brand.

Brian