Brand it! with Petchy Petchy

In this episode, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Rachel Allen. 


Rachel is the owner of Bolt from the Blue Copywriting, where she and her team make words make money.


She loves mixing the neuroscience of communication with the art of great writing to create the words and strategies that make it possible for businesses to take the cap off their income, impact, and influence. Ultimately, all her work is in service of one simple mission: to write the words that bring great ideas into reality.


A little while back, Rachel wrote a series of three articles about the state of the online business world. They’re so good, I highly recommend you read them — in fact, I think they should be mandatory reading for every business owner out there!


Anyways, out of everything that Rachel wrote, six words really stood out for me. And by “stood out”, I mean: I couldn’t get them out of my head. They’re still there, they keep popping up in my mind almost daily — a sure sign of a true golden nugget!


Those words are: Human is the only move left. 


And that, my friend, is exactly what Rachel and I are going to dive deeper into in this episode — that also just happens to be the perfect follow-up to the last episode I dropped; about reclaiming authenticity.


I hope you enjoy this very human conversation!


TL;DR — episode links:


ShownotesBolt from the blue websiteConnect with Rachel on Instagram or FacebookArticle 1: The big lieArticle 2: The third wave of masculine marketing is here. It’s smart. It’s woke. And it’s horrifyingArticle 3: Human is the only move leftJonathan Stewart (Rachel mentions him)

Authenticity. It’s unfortunately become a bit of a buzzword in the branding world, and that is a pet peeve of mine!


Because so many companies have been misusing authenticity as a marketing gimmick to appeal to people’s yearning for something genuine, trustworthy, sincere products and experiences, “authentic” no longer carries the same meaning as it used to. 


So now, when a brand claims to be authentic, instead of leading to increased levels of trust — it often leads to scepticism and cynicism. That’s because we, as consumers, increasingly recognise that many brands use authenticity as a fancy facade to hide their true intentions. And those intentions are often focused on profit, profit and more profit, at any cost. As a result, these cynical brands have ruined authenticity for the rest of us, and it’s pissing me off big time!


Can we reverse this damage? I think we can, but it’s going to take some work. As human-centred brands, we need to take a different approach, one that prioritises authenticity in every aspect of our businesses — without shouting about it as if it’s a big deal. I mean, it kinda is a big deal, but really it should just be the norm. We shouldn’t have to question someone’s authenticity, but here we are.


Tune in to hear my take on this!


TL;DR — episode links:


ShownotesStrategic brand designBrand BoostBrand it! strategy hoursBook a free callFree five day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!

In this episode I want to dig deeper into a topic I emailed my list about a couple of weeks back, and I want to challenge you to ask yourself: are you falling into the trap of building a shallow brand?


I want to make it clear: I’m not implying that you, as a person, are shallow! Firstly: I don’t think you’d be listening to this podcast if you were, tbh. I would have scared you off a loooong time ago!


And secondly: even if you were, you wouldn't admit it, would you? I mean, who wants to be seen as someone lacking emotional or intellectual depth; that person who judges others on their looks, their job, their house, or how much money they have. Who is all-consumed with appearances, but flakey af when shit's about to get real. I’m not saying that at all.


Of course you're not shallow. But what about your brand?


I hate to tell you: If you are only focusing on the visual aspects of your brand, then… yes. Your brand is shallow.


 — But I want [my brand] to be so much more than just a pretty face! I hear you scream. Well, my friend, I want more for your brand too.


Tune in to hear about the pitfalls, and how to avoid them!


TL;DR — episode links:


ShownotesFree brand audit checklist (PDF)Free five day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!Free brand perception survey (Google form)Brand it! strategy hoursStrategic brand designBrand BoostBook a free call

With all the recent talk about artificial intelligence I thought it would be fun to “invite” ChatGPT to be my guest for a podcast episode about the importance of a human approach to branding in 2023 and beyond. I hope you appreciate the irony of the topic as much as I do 😆


Anyways: I asked ChatGPT to script an episode, and dropped a few questions into the mix along the way, and here’s the resulting “conversation” between AI and I.

It should come as no surprise to regular listeners that I take a very strategy-driven approach with my work. A little while back I connected with today’s guest, and as we chatted it soon became apparent that the “strategy first” approach is something we share, and that we both implement in our respective professions. Today, you’ll hear us chat about how strategy and branding come before a website — and how most people think of the website as a thing that leads those, but it's truly just one piece of implementation.


I’m thrilled to be welcoming today’s guest: Kelsey Gilbert-Kreiling, the cofounder of Week of the Website. With over 700 successful site launches to date, Week of the Website aims to be the most creative, trusted and loved Squarespace agency for industry innovators. Week of the Website has worked with groundbreaking artists, industry innovators, game-changing political advisors, creative leaders and just all around awesome people.


Kelsey drives business development and sales for Week of the Website, and loves working with clients to help them synthesise their ideas and make them real. She’s all about breaking down barriers between her clients and their websites, and gets super excited to work on projects featuring authors, travel, hospitality and design, but also likes digging into innovation in professional services. As the Fearless Leader of the Week of the Website design team, Kelsey loves coaching and supporting developers as they help make their client’s website dreams come true.


When she’s not working, Kelsey loves spending time with her son and her husband in Chicago. Lately, she’s making her way through a cosy knitting project and reading The School for Good Mothers by Jessamin Ward.


TL;DR — episode links:


Week of the WebsiteConnect with Kelsey on InstagramWebsite planning toolkit — handy steps you can take to prepare to build your website either on your own or with a designer

OK, so this is exciting! And terrifying. But mostly exciting. When you're a brand designer, one of the hardest damn things in the whole world is working on your own brand! And yet, that is exactly what I've been doing for the past few months.


I'm 42 today, and this is my gift to myself: a bolder, braver, and more edgy iteration of my brand. I'll be rolling it out across all my platforms and collateral over the coming month or so, starting with my evergreen Instagram grid, the most important parts of my website and my podcast. 


You'll recognise some familiar things, like two of my brand colours and one of my brand fonts (and me, I'm not going anywhere) — but there are also some quite radical changes, like a new and quirky feature font that is also used for the logotype. My yellow accent colour is sharper, and I've added a darker teal for better visibility and contrast against white backgrounds. Overall, it's a more attention-grabbing brand identity that aligns better with my brand values — and my depleting levels of f***s left to give.


To hear more about the rebrand and why it came about, tune into this week's podcast episode!


TL;DR — episode links:


Check out my new Instagram 9-gridTake a peek at my new brand guidelinesSign up for the Brand values, not bland values! micro email course