@mixesintheattic

What they said

Ranked as revealed (reveal order is shuffled; each item gets a big yellow title, then its rank is filled into the list):

1. Logo - rank 8. "As long as it doesn't look like your nephew designed it, it doesn't really matter what your logo looks like. Just pick something that looks good and stick with it."
2. Founder story - rank 3. "Why the founder started the brand is usually a powerful story that you can use in marketing to explain why someone should buy it from you."
3. Brand consistency - rank 5. "Not that important unless you've been around for a while. You need to figure out what works first before you can decide what to become consistent on."
4. Brand codes - rank 4. "Don't spend six months designing a brand code when no one knows who you are, but if something does start to become recognizable you should lean into it and repeat it."
5. Brand purpose - rank 9 (last). "A huge mistake that a lot of brands make. Nobody cares about your brand's purpose. They only care about what your brand can do for them."
6. Brand positioning - rank 2. "You need to know what makes you different and why someone should choose you. Positioning is often connected to the founder's story. They work together."
7. Brand name - rank 6. "Not that important. There's so many successful brands with stupid names. As long as you're not called something really stupid or offensive, it doesn't really matter."
8. Brand guidelines - rank 7. "Not important unless you're a huge global brand. For small brands, you end up spending six months agonizing and creating these things and then end up not using them anyway."
9. Product experience - rank 1. "The most important. In the early stages, your product is your brand. And if it sucks, then nothing else on this list is going to save you." Final list on screen: 1 Product experience, 2 Positioning, 3 Founder story, 4 Brand codes, 5 Brand consistency, 6 Brand name, 7 Brand guidelines, 8 Logo, 9 Brand purpose. Creator's follow-up logic in comments: nail the first three and you are successful enough to worry about the rest later; founder story is "raw material for brand positioning".

Try this

• New brands: Spend your time in this order: 1 product experience, 2 positioning, 3 founder story, 4 brand codes, 5 consistency, 6 name, 7 guidelines, 8 logo, 9 purpose. Get the first three right before the rest.
• Product: Early on, the product is the brand. If it disappoints, nothing else saves it.
• Positioning: Write one sentence on what makes you different and why someone should pick you. Link it to why you started.
• Logo and name: Pick something decent that is not embarrassing and stick with it. Do not wait six months for a perfect identity.
• Guidelines: Skip a heavy guide at first, but write a one-page version once agencies, freelancers or creators start producing content for you.
• Purpose: Talk about what your product does for the customer. Remember this is one opinion, and luxury and gifting brands often rely on story and values more.

Links

None. Comment references: Ehrenberg-Bass (marketing science institute; creator replied "always good to meet another Ehrenberg-Bass disciple" to a commenter citing mental availability / distinctive assets / consistency); Liquid Death cited by a commenter as counterexample; Temu/fast fashion used by creator to argue purpose does not drive buying.