EP. 126: [RS Spotlight] Why Brand Strategy is Essential with Solveig Petch
Branding can feel VERY confusing. Not only do people usually assume it's about having the right colors and fonts, but it can be a bit perplexing as to what it actually does for you. The reality is that the brand identity portion (the visual assets) are really just the last part of the process. Getting clear on your brand strategy and values makes it so much easier to market to the right people, who'll not only be poised to pay you but will be a dream to work with. That's why in this Rebellious Success Spotlight interview I brought on Branding Expert Solveig Petch to explain the ins and outs of solid brand strategy. She's fantastic and makes it really simple to understand.
Solveig Petch, also known as Petchy, is a brand strategist and identity designer for purpose-driven business owners who want to build their brands their way; without pretending to be something they’re not, without compromising on their truths, without unethical business tactics, and without screwing people over in the process. She is on a mission to help other business owners unlock the power of their unique brand personality, so they can attract and connect with more of their perfect-fit clients. From her home office in rural Norway, she crafts strategic brand identities with a no-bullshit approach and a sprinkle of tough love. She’s also the host of Brand it! with Petchy – a podcast dedicated to demystifying brand strategy and helping business owners discover and consistently express their brand’s inner core – so they can attract those dream clients of theirs with ease!
Links:
https://www.petchy.co
https://www.instagram.com/petchy.co
https://petchy.co/checklist/
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Hey, Petchey welcome to the, sell it sister podcast. You are yet another one of my fabulous rebellious success. Spotlight spotlight episode interviewees. Oh my gosh. That's a, that's a mouthful. Um, but I am so excited to have you here, so welcome. Thank you, Erica.
I'm so excited to be here and I've got to say it's a bit weird to be on the other side. Actually be the person being interviewed rather than the person doing the interviewing. Yeah. Yeah. Cause you have an amazing podcast yourself, which is so good. Wonderful guests and anyone who's aligned with what I do and enjoys this one should definitely check out Patsy's podcast as well.
Yeah. So thank you again, and I'm really excited about this because I am actually not only were you. Did I get to work with you in the context of you were in rebellious success, but I'm about to work with you again, but as your client, this time for my rebrand and I cannot wait, I cannot wait. We need that.
I'm like if this was an on video, people would see me being all excited now. All the jazz guys. Yes. So exciting. So, um, and I know what, why don't first, why don't you talk a little bit about what you do and why you do it before we dive into like what the heck brand strategy is and why it matters? Yeah.
Yeah, sure. So I'm a brand strategist and identity designer, and I work with the purpose driven business owners who really want to. Build brands that will stand the test of time and that's have a purpose beyond just making money. Basically. And so what I do is I work with them to nail their strategy first.
And then if they want me to, I work with them to translate their brand strategy into their visual brand identity so that we know it's not just pretty fluff. It's actually got some substance behind it and it's going to be a tool that's going to help them achieve their business goals. I love that. I love that.
And you have been doing this a long time. You have a lot of experience too, which I know is not always the case, like in the world of online entrepreneurs who do similar work to what you do. Yeah. You know, I'm in danger of aging myself here, but way back in 2002, that's when I graduated and I actually did, uh, my degree.
On strategy. It wasn't a design degree. It was a designed management. So it's all about those strategic foundations. And I mean, all my life, I thought I want to be a graphic designer. And then I found design management and everything just clicked. I fell in love with that whole strategic approach, knowing that I could use my creativity, but within a more sort of structured framework.
So it, wasn't just something made to look pretty. Yeah. Yeah. That's really cool. That's really interesting. And um, yeah, I, I graduated the same year, so it's all, we're, we're totally we're the best year. Um, but yeah, that's, that is really cool. That distinction and I'm much like you and like just a total strategy geek and it truly wasn't until last year.
When I took the Clifton strengths test and realized I had high strategic strengths, uh, I actually didn't realize that other people's brains didn't have, didn't all like have strategic thinking because it's so part of just how I am as a human that now I'm like, oh my gosh, like, it it's mind blowing to me.
That other people aren't strategically thinking just 24 7. Um, and on the flip side of that, it did make me feel better because I had zero execution strengths and I was like, oh my gosh, there's other people there truly are other people who love this. So, you know, we're, we all have our own gifts for a reason and we're all better together.
Yeah. So why don't we talk a little bit about the strategy. Part and why for you, you put so much emphasis on the brand strategy and why it's actually like, okay. If somebody can't rush right out and do the identity design, like why do they need to start with strategy first? And, and how does that all work?
Well, and this is the thing, a lot of people, when they think branding, they think logo, they think colors. Typography and fonts and stuff that people can actually see, you know, the tangible elements of a brand. That's just the tip of the iceberg. When you speak about
branding and what you really need to work on, what's most important is the stuff that you can't actually see.
Um, and this, this has actually been a bit of an issue throughout my career is. The strategy is almost invisible. And so it's hard for people to even know that they need it, you know? And so it's only in recent years that people in the business fair have become aware that you know what, there's no point in making this look all pretty.
If we haven't got our foundation stuff, Yeah. In the first place. So before, you know, I was kind of a Jack of all trades in the design industry and that wasn't by choice. It was because people would come to me and ask for all of these things and then, okay. Do them for them, because I didn't know how else to approach it because when I started talking about strategy, their eyes would glaze over and they'd be like, well, I just want a logo.
But the thing is now when people come to me and say, oh, but I don't need all that strategy stuff. I just, I just want a logo. I can confidently tell them, just to forget about that logo. Like seriously, it doesn't matter in the big picture, your logo, you know? Yeah. It, it has a job, but it has like one job it's.
Be something that will identify you. So it's something that people will instantly recognize as your brand. Yeah. That's kind of it. And then all of the rest that comes before is what branding is really all about. Yeah. I love that. And I feel like, um, so one example that just popped into my mind is like Subaru, like the car maker, because like, I couldn't.
Like, I know that Subaru, like they have the star, like, I know it's like a constellation or something, but I couldn't like, I couldn't draw it right now. Or like, even I'm not even describing it very well, but like, when I think of Subaru as a brand, I think of like, oh, you know, outdoorsy and like, Uh, commitment to nature and adventure and like quality time with people you care about am like your pets.
They always feature pets and it's like fun and it's connection. Like, those are all the things, even though I'm like, I don't, like, I know it if I see it, but I, you know, um, but to me, like the larger brand, and I know, cause obviously they're like a huge company that. Happened by accident. They obviously have professionals who are helping them with strategy and marketing and all of that, but like, that's kind of it, right?
Like their strategy, like their whole brand essence is all of those other like emotions that you get when you watch a Subaru commercial or when you think about like owning a Subaru. Yeah. And that's just, it, uh, your brand is. It's the emotions. It's the emotions that come up for other people when they hear about you or when they interact with you or your brother.
You know, it doesn't matter which touch point. Like they should always get that same feeling. And when you get that kind of consistency, because you are very clear on your values and who you are as a brand and your brand personality and people get used to seeing you show up in that same way over and over and over again, that's when you build that brand recognition, that's when you start to build up brand trust, and then you will find that your logo doesn't really matter that much.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So when you are working with someone, um, well I know you have a
workbook that people can do on their own to figure this out on their own, which I definitely want to make sure you mentioned, but then you also, like, I know I still have to fill out my, my intake form for you, but what are some of those questions that are like, Um, you know, in the workbook or that you asked your clients, like how, how can people sort of start thinking about like, yeah.
What, like, who am I as a brand? And like what kind of. Um, brand, do I really want to have, it's funny that you asked because I've actually got my, my brand workbook document up in front of me. Cause I'm revising my frameworks lightly as we record this and it's not going to be any major changes. The basis is still going to be there, but I just want it to be, to make it a bit more me and like incorporate my approach into it.
But. For the purposes of this interview, let's just stick with my current framework, which is a five-step framework. And, uh, I'll quickly just go through the five steps basically. So you start by defining your inner core, and that means looking at things like your mission and your vision. So the big kind of hairy, scary vision that you want to achieve, but you're not even quite sure.
Whether you're going to actually be able to do it or not, but that's something that you you're reaching for. You're kind of reaching for the stars and then your mission, which is how you go about achieving that mission. And we also look at your business goals like short-term, and long-term because they're really important for a brand designer to know.
So if, if I'm only working with people on brand strategy and then someone else is taking over to do the actual. Identity design afterwards. It's really important for that person to know what is this bronze goal? What do they want to achieve? Who are they? You know? And, and then the next step, which is all about finding your brand playground, so to speak, we look at your competitors and we look at what position you want to take.
And if it's a, if it's a brand that's been around for a few years, maybe we look at what position they currently have. And then. Look at what position they want to have, and then start to think about what do we need to do in order to go from where we are to where we want to be. And then there's a third step.
Um, when, when we talk about branding and it all being like emotions and connections, that's when I like to encourage my clients. Almost humanize their brand. So give your brand human attributes, pretend like what if your brand was a person, what would that person be like? And obviously I have various exercises for how you can start to play around with that, but it's, sometimes it can be as easy as just looking at different, um, descriptive words and say like, oh, is it chirpy?
Or is it calm? Is it. Rebellious maybe, or is it more, you know, uh, understated and, uh, classic. And then from that we go on to craft the brand message and the brand story and looking at how we can start to communicate all of what we just spoke about into words, but then also into the final part, which is visualizing it and rolling out.
Across all of your touch points. So in every place where you're going to interact with your audience, basically, I love that. I love that. And it's, um, Yeah. Like, uh, I actually just this morning, cause I'm getting a new, uh, I'm doing a brand photo shoot in a couple of weeks
and it's, it's very much the same, like as she is planning it out, it's a lot of those same questions.
Like what's your brand vibe and, and everything. And um, and it's really cool. I think it's really fun too. Kind of see it in those terms, especially now that my business is more established. Cause I'm, I'm like, yeah, I know, I know who I resonate with. I know who resonates with me. I'm less afraid of like, um, you know, missing out on opportunities.
Like I'm, you know, in air quotes, like, because I know that the more that I live into what I want my brand to convey. I actually do get better fit clients. And it's funny because it's not, you know, people might think like, well, you have, you know, wild hair and you have tattoos. So like, do all of your clients end up looking like that?
And it's like, no, in fact, most of my clients don't look like that, but it's not that like, we have to look together, look the same, like as people, but it's more of like, I feel like, like you said, there's that, that like, trust that connection. It's like the. Um, none of you are like repelled by it at right.
And whereas like somebody else who might be a, not an ideal client, like they might be repelled by it. And that's great because like, if they're going to be really uptight and very serious, the whole time we're working together, like that's not fun. That's not fun for me either. It's not. And I love that you said that, that you brought this up because.
It's one of the things that especially new business owners find really, really scary. I know it's true for me as well. This, this whole notion of possibly scaring some people away. Yeah. So you play it safe, right? By playing it safe. You don't stand out and say, you just get more and more of those kinds of almost right.
Fit clients maybe, but not quite. And sometimes you will find one of those three dreamy, perfect clients who just click with instantly and you'll be like, wow, why can't I get more of these clients? That would be so awesome. If I could work with these kinds of people all the time. And that's the scary part.
The fact that you actually have to almost eliminate one target audience in order to really pinpoint the ones that you want to work with. Yeah, absolutely. But I, it is, yeah. It's so worth it. Like, that's why, um, I mean, I remember when I first started, cause my brother's a graphic designer and I literally was like, Hey, can you just, I just like need something.
Can you help me out? I like blue and yellow and he was like, sure. Like, you know, it was just really like haphazard. There were, because I didn't even know how to, I wouldn't have known how to answer those questions. Anyway. I was like, I don't know what, like this business is brand new. I have no idea who my target audience.
I mean to a little bit of a degree, but like, I couldn't have even made a brand strategy if I tried. But now, like, I know that when I go to answer your questions, some of them, you know, I might need to reflect a little bit, but like, I'm gonna know, like, I, I now know like what I'm for what I'm not for, who I love to work with, like who maybe is not the right fit.
And yeah. And it's exciting to me, like why I feel it's worth the investment, even if we were
just doing strategy and not the brand identity is like, it's almost like the, I can double down on what works. I can actually like amplify my brand, even bigger with the help of an expert, like you to actually reach more of those perfect fit people.
And that feels really exciting from like an impact point of view. So exciting when you've reached that step, you know, that stage in your business where you feel ready for that. I just in case someone's listening and they're thinking, no, I don't want to start scaring people away cause I can, I can only kind of manage just about manage the people who do come to me.
Um, you don't have to do it overnight and you don't have to do it in like big, scary steps. So. I'm just going to use myself as an example. And not because I like to center things around myself, but because I just want to show people that even someone who has worked in branding for 20 years struggles with this, when they start their own business.
So when I started it's, um, five, five and a half years ago now, uh, that's when I broke out of the, a design agency that I co-founded and I started pitching. And to start with, oh, you don't want to see my branding from back then because I thought I was going to work with the same kind of people I'd always work with.
I thought I had to look really professional. I thought I had to look really corporate or else I wouldn't get any clients. And so that first brand identity, it was so stiff and so formal. And so not to me. And I was doing all kinds of design work at that stage for all kinds of clients. Say like there would be people coming to him and saying, I need your business cards.
Can you do them? Yeah, sure. And then, yeah, that's what you do when you're just starting out because you need them. You need the revenue to start rolling so that you can actually pay your bills unless you've got a very rich dad or something most, most of us don't. But the thing that people can do is to just start.
Be a little bit more selective about what they put out there. So after I'd been doing my stuff for a year, I was like, I can't carry on like this, this where I'm just, this there's no point I might as well have just stuck in the job that I didn't like, because I'm just still doing the same things for the same people.
And it's sucking my soul. And so I knew I needed to change something, but I also knew that I probably would not be wise to just change it overnight because I still needed the money to come in. Right. So what I did was I first I did that internal work that you can't see that we just spoke about. And from that, I started just interacting more as me in my social media channels, for instance, and on my website, I removed all of the projects that didn't fit.
My idea of an ideal project. So all of the, like the little general design jobs gone, even if they were really nicely designed, gone, not in my portfolio anymore. And I literally just started putting out brand identity designs and brand strategy case studies, and then over the course of a year or two. More and more of the clients that started coming to me, started coming to me for what I actually wanted to help them with.
And so I've kind of flipped it now from being like 80% of my time doing the kind of tedious little design jobs and 20% to doing what I love brand strategy, identity design, and now it's.
It's like, I'm pretty much sure that, well, I haven't run any numbers or anything, but 90% of what I do now is what I want to be doing.
So that's a less scary way of doing it. Basically. I love that. And I'm really glad that you brought that up because I do think that it can feel like. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I ha it has to be this huge thing, but really like, especially with the clients I've worked with it, it does like to make these pivots in our business.
Like it, it is kind of like moving a large ship. Like you're not going to turn on a dime. You're gonna have to do it in phases. Um, even just for your own sakes, you don't burn out trying to like. Kind of read you, everything, all it all at once. So yeah, I feel like that's such a good distinction. And, and even for me, like I know too, like yeah, it's, you know, my team and I definitely have some time set aside in Q1 to like update my website and all of that.
But, you know, there's always going to be those things like the. PDFs that you forgot about that. You're like, oh shoot. You know, somebody's got to go into Canva and up to, you know, it's, it's just, and at this point I'm just kind of like, you know what, it's fine. I'm not Coke. I'm not Pepsi. Like
it's doing a complete rebrand takes resources. So, yeah, there, you're going to have to spend a shit load of money or you're going to have to spend a lot of time on it or both. And unless you're a large corporation and you have. I don't know, endless income streams, not going to be able to do it like overnight.
Even if you want to launch it overnight, you, well, even if they launch it, the big corporations launch it, like the rebrand overnight, you can be sure that they've spent probably a year or two at least. Preparing for that. So they've been working on it. They're just not been telling people and then are completely, completely, yeah.
I really love that, that we're talking about this because even as I I've seen, like, um, this summer, I went to see a big project that my brother helped with a lot of the design. Um, and even on opening, even on their grand opening weekend, there were things that still needed. Most of it was there and it was cohesive, but there were still things like he's like, oh yeah, we still have to design that with self to do.
And they had been working on that for well over a year. So yeah, it just, and they had like lots of money to, it was a huge restaurant space, so yeah. Um, well, that's great. So even though I, like, I would encourage anyone listening, even if you're like, I just don't know about the identity design right now. Uh, but I really would love to start more easily attracting.
Super dreamy, rad clients to check out patchy. So talk a little bit about like, I'm going to have everything in the show notes, and then I'd love for you to just to like talk a little bit about your experience in rebellious success, but where can they find like the workbook and, you know, any info about your strategy sessions?
So the best place to go for all of those things, um, as my website, so PECI. Cool. I can get my workbook there. You can book strategy sessions there. You can look in my portfolio, have a peek at what I've done for previous clients. Um, even getting in touch with me, leave me a message. Anything. Yeah, that's kind of my main hub, but if you want to hang out with me
and just have fun, it's Instagram, hands down, Instagram.
I love Instagram and it's peci.co over there as well. I love it. Yeah. And so definitely like she's got her, um, her free guide. She has the smaller, like self study workbook. You can do, you can do the strategy call with her all sorts of different ways, uh, or just have her, have her do ever do it all, which I just cannot wait for, for the reveal of, of mine.
Uh, Early 20, 22, but yeah, so exciting. And how excited I am about that. Yeah. And listen, if it's June of next year and you find a PDF with my old branding, like it's all good. Listen, it's all good. I'm not Coke on that. Pepsi. We'll get it, my team. And I just let me know my team and I will get it fixed no room for perfection here.
Um, but yeah, I'm so excited, but I will say that I really enjoyed working with you in. Rebellious success. It was so fun and obviously enrollment is open right now for the November cohort. So can you just tell anyone listening, like, what was your maybe biggest aha or takeaway or what you would want to tell somebody who's like, I don't know.
I keep hearing her talk about it, but I'm just not quite sure if it's for me. Get in there people. And that's the short story. Oh. Um, so I I've been following you for a while before you launched your first cohort or rebellious success. And so the minute that you put that out there, I was like, oh, I've been wanting to work with Erica.
But I didn't have the financial means to work one-to-one with you at that stage. So I was like, oh, I'm just going to have to wait. And then in a little while when I can afford it, she's probably up to rates and she'd be out of my reach again. And then you put that re re rebellious success and I can't even speak.
Um, and I was like, yes, I've got it. I really have to. And it was because of a lot of the things we've been talking about today. Actually, I seen you show up online. I liked what you, uh, the values that you stand for. I like your messages that you put out there. I just liked your whole approach. I liked your brand.
I felt like I could trust you. And I felt like you would be the kind of business coach I needed because. I don't want, well, I didn't want to work with a business coach who would just tell me to follow that cookie cutter recipe for success, because I know that cookie cutter doesn't cut it basically, cause we're not cookies and we're all different.
And so everybody needs to be able to follow their own approach. And that's what I found. So refreshing. I think about your approach as. But you kind of see us participants and you meet us where we are at and then help us grow from there. So that was really, really amazing. I really loved that. And then the fact that you are amazing at putting great people together, that's also a bonus because the community aspect of it, um, So valuable.
It was awesome. Thank you. Oh, that's all so lovely to hear. I really, I really appreciate it. And, and I can say the same about you in terms of the not cookie cutter. Um, cause you know, I know. I know anyone worth their salt, who does brand identity and brand strategy is going to take people's individuality into consideration.
And I, I think that that's so important when thinking about brand strategy and design is like,
you also have to find someone who's going to do the same, like. Definitely don't want somebody, who's just going to be like, you know, it's metallic, rose gold for everyone. Like we're all hashtag boss faves here.
Like no, no, absolutely not. So yeah, I think that, that, that's so important to work with people who like really see you for you and will, like you said, meet you where you're at and honor that and like respect it. Like kind of like, hold your hand in whatever way that looks like in whatever you, your magic is in your business, but like, hold your hand with your magic and like take you up to the next level.
So was kind of helping people and guiding people to. To step a little bit outside of their comfort zone, but still have like one foot inside it so that it's not so scary that you end up not doing it. Exactly. Exactly. Well, this was really awesome. Um, again, to anyone listening, the all Apaches info will be in the show notes.
Definitely go give her a follow and listen to her podcast and stay tuned for my cool new brands next year. But thank you so much, Peggy. I really appreciate your. Thank you so much for having me. This was fun.
