Vibe Marketing

Craig Brooks
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

Two people – Craig Brooks and Caitlin Smith – who do the work every day (one in brand design, one in marketing) dig into the real questions business owners are asking, with honesty about what actually moves the needle.

  1. 1d ago

    You Might Be a Font Criminal (Here's the Fix)

    You picked a font because you liked it. That might be the problem. In this episode, Craig and Caitlin get into "font crimes," the typeface choices that quietly cost you customers without anyone ever telling you why. Craig even confesses his own past as a font criminal, the kind David used to call out years ago. What We Cover: Why your brain recognizes typography the way it recognizes a circle, triangle, or square, and why consistency creates subconscious brand recallThe case against using the same fonts as every competitor in your space (if they zig, you zag)Why scripty and cursive fonts can tank your search visibility, since Google can read a typeface but not an image of oneThe declining-cursive problem: entire generations can't read it anymore, so it belongs in accents of four words or less, never full sentencesThe two-to-three typeface rule, and why more than three makes the brain work to figure out what to read firstThe One Thing: Your audience is the one who has to live with your font, not you. Your brain already knows what your copy says, so legibility was never your problem. Pick the typeface that reduces friction for the person trying to read you, choose what works for your audience over what you personally love, and you've done the job. Craig Brooks is CEO of Clarity Creative Group. Caitlin Smith is a brand designer and strategist. Got a font crime to confess? Reach out and tell us what you've been getting away with.

    26 min

  2. Jun 22

    Stop Trying to Sound Professional

    Most roofers fight an uphill battle on trust. Carrie Moreau decided the answer was a cape. As "the Roofing Wonder Woman" behind Certified Best Roofing in Central Florida, she runs a business that pulls 90% of its revenue from in-person networking, in an industry where most companies spend 10% of revenue on SEO. What we cover: The two-business-card system: when the cosplay card comes out, when the standard one does, and why both belong in her walletWhy "Wonder Woman" works as a trust signal in an industry that gets lumped in with used car salesThe 8-minute rule Carrie uses to stay open to every entrepreneur without burning outWhy referrals "have babies, grandchildren, and great grandchildren," and how she tracks tier 1 through tier 4Caitlin's reframe: Carrie didn't try to become someone she wasn't, she just paired who she already was with something the world already recognizedThe One Thing: You don't have to become someone else to stand out. Find one thing that's already true about you, pair it with something universally recognized, then lean in with conviction. The detractors will be loud. The opportunities will be louder. Carrie Moreau is co-owner of Certified Best Roofing and host of the Wonder Women Who Build podcast, serving all of Central Florida. Call or text the Roofing Wonder Woman at 407-602-3363. If this one got you thinking about how you show up, send it to a business owner who's still blending in.

    31 min

  3. Jun 15

    What AI Still Can't Do (And Why It Matters for Your Business)

    AI can spin up a working website in an hour. The real question is what happens when you need a careers page, a CRM integration, or a fix at 2 a.m. David Forman, Co-Founder of Clarity Creative Group, has been coding since he was 11 and has been building agencies with Craig for 17 years. He joined us to talk about where AI actually helps a business, where it quietly leaves you exposed, and how to tell when a tool is making things up. What we cover: Why this tech cycle feels different from the ones that came before, and the parts that are just hype in a new jacketThe muffin shop problem: how AI gets you to a minimum viable product while leaving architecture, security, and scale on the tableA real example of AI confidently sending David toward a WordPress setting that has not existed for over a decadeThe tools each of us actually uses (Perplexity Computer, Claude, ChatGPT, Notebook LM, Cursor) and where every one of them breaksCaitlin's pushback prompt: how she keeps Claude from being her hype man and gets honest answers with sourcesThe One Thing: Open the AI tool you trust and ask it to count how many hours you have spent going back and forth on a single decision in your business. The number is your answer. Caitlin found out she had burned 37 hours questioning her own positioning, hired a copywriter that week, and was done. Use AI to tell you when it is time to stop using AI and start buying your time back. David Forman is Co-Founder of Clarity Creative Group, where he leads custom development, integrations, and architecture. Craig Brooks is also Co-Founder of Clarity Creative Group. Caitlin Smith is a brand designer and strategist.

    39 min

  4. Jun 8

    You're Not Your Customer

    Most business owners are quietly making brand decisions based on what they personally like, and paying for it in ways they never measure. This episode gets honest about the gap between owner taste and what the market actually responds to, plus the questions that help you tell the difference before you spend money in the wrong direction. What we cover: The tax of personal taste: what "I like blue" actually costs in lower conversions and slower growthThe Sally test: how Caitlin reframes taste arguments by making every decision about the customer instead of the ownerWhen your ideal customer should shift: why Caitlin gives clients a four-year checkpoint to re-audit who they're really servingThe Cracker Barrel lesson: why hard stop rebrands backfire and the bridge approach Caitlin uses with clients insteadVanity metrics, reframed: what 500 followers would actually feel like if they all showed up at your houseThe One Thing: Before making any brand or marketing decision, put your customer persona in front of you and walk through it with their frustrations and priorities in mind. Ask: how would they respond if I put this in front of them? It won't replace a strategic thinking partner who can call you on your crap, but it forces you out of your own head long enough to see the decision from the other side of the table. Craig Brooks is CEO of Clarity Creative Group. Caitlin Smith is a brand designer and strategist. New episodes dropping soon. Follow Vibe Marketing wherever you listen to podcasts.

    32 min

  5. Jun 1

    ADA Compliance

    Those scary ADA compliance emails from law firms aren't going away. But here's the thing: thefixes are more straightforward than you think, and most of them will actually make your brandwork better for everyone. Craig opens this one admitting ADA compliance used to confuse andfrustrate him. Caitlin walks through what it actually means for your website, why roughly 10% ofyour audience may not be seeing what you think they're seeing, and what you can do about itthis week. What we cover:● What ADA compliance for websites actually means (and why it's not just a legalcheckbox)● Color blindness by the numbers: why up to 10% of your audience sees your branddifferently● The vibration effect: what happens when two colors are too close in contrast and why itcauses headaches● Fonts and accessibility: why choosing a cursive primary font could alienate a generationthat was never taught to read it● Plugins vs. full audits: affordable quick fixes and when to invest in a deeper analysis The One Thing: ADA compliance isn't just about avoiding lawsuits. It's best practice design.Better contrast, more readable fonts, and cleaner visual hierarchy don't just serve the 10% withvisual differences. They make your brand stronger for 100% of the people who see it. Craig Brooks is CEO of Clarity Creative Group. Caitlin Smith is a brand designer and strategist.New episodes dropping soon. Follow Vibe Marketing wherever you listen to podcasts.

    32 min

  6. May 25

    Branded & Marketed by AI?

    AI can build you a logo in 30 seconds. The question is whether you should let it. Craig andCaitlin talk through what AI is actually good at in branding and marketing, where it fallsdangerously short, and how to use it as the sidekick it's built to be instead of handing it the keysto your entire brand. Caitlin shares her 10/80/10 framework, and Craig gets real about why evenas a power user, he doesn't trust it to do 100% of anything. What we cover:● AI as sidekick, not replacement: why the "automate everything" pitch should make younervous● The trademark trap: why you may not be able to legally own an AI-generated logo● Caitlin's 10/80/10 rule: be heavily involved in the first 10% and last 10%, let AI acceleratethe middle● How feeding AI your brand strategy playbook unlocks genuinely useful outputs● Using AI to find what clients almost said: parsing transcripts for the half-finished thoughtsthat matter most The One Thing: AI will always answer you, and it will always sell you on that answer. Your jobis to bring the 20% it can't: the human creativity, the strategic context, and the final qualitycheck. It's a great sidekick, but it's not the stool you want to put your whole weight on. Craig Brooks is CEO of Clarity Creative Group. Caitlin Smith is a brand designer and strategist.New episodes dropping soon. Follow Vibe Marketing wherever you listen to podcasts.

    36 min

  7. May 18

    Know Your Why Before You Network

    You joined the chamber, grabbed a few business cards, maybe went to the big expo. And then... nothing. Here's the problem: most business owners treat networking like a to-do list instead of a growth strategy. Rebekah Arthur has spent over a decade at the Seminole County Chamber and now leads it as President and CEO. She sits down with us to break down what actually works when you walk into a room full of strangers and need it to turn into something real for your business. What We Cover: Why your chamber can be the team you don't have yet, especially if you're running your business soloThe difference between collecting contacts and building relationships that actually generate referralsHow to pick 3-4 events that fit your schedule and personality instead of trying to show up everywhereCommunity as a marketing channel: why consumers choose businesses invested in their community at a higher rate than those running ads aloneThe local SEO advantage most small businesses miss: how chamber connections and local links outperform national backlinks for businesses that serve their areaThe One Thing: Know your why before you show up. The most successful chamber members, whether they have two employees or two hundred, are the ones who walk in knowing exactly what they need. Not more business cards. Not a plaque for the wall. A clear goal that tells you which rooms to be in, which people to talk to, and what "success" actually looks like for the time you're investing. Rebekah Arthur is President and CEO of the Seminole County Chamber, a five-star accredited chamber from the U.S. Chamber and Florida's Chamber of the Year in its size category. Learn more at seminolebusiness.org.

    32 min

  8. May 11

    The Soul vs. The Machine

    Your brand identity is the soul. Your marketing infrastructure is the machine. Neither one workswithout the other, and most businesses are running on one while ignoring the other. Craig andCaitlin break down what happens when you have a gorgeous brand book collecting dust in afolder, what happens when you have a marketing engine with no strategic foundation, and howconnecting the two is what actually moves the needle at every stage of business. What we cover:● The real story of a client who spent $4,000 on a brand book but had zero marketingexecution● Why handing your brand playbook to a marketer saves time, reduces decision fatigue,and cuts costs● How speed and capital work together: the two things that actually equal businesssuccess● A client case study: identifying one friction point in the customer journey led to 23%growth● Why the soul vs. machine framework applies whether you're a startup or doing millionsin revenue The One Thing: If something in your business is frustrating you right now, whether it's leadflow, client retention, or conversion rates, trace it back to the connection between your brandfoundation and your marketing execution. That gap is almost always where the answer lives. Craig Brooks is CEO of Clarity Creative Group. Caitlin Smith is a brand designer and strategist.New episodes dropping soon. Follow Vibe Marketing wherever you listen to podcasts.

    33 min
See All (13)

Trailer

About

Two people – Craig Brooks and Caitlin Smith – who do the work every day (one in brand design, one in marketing) dig into the real questions business owners are asking, with honesty about what actually moves the needle.

Information

  • Creator
    Craig Brooks
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026