Your brand isn't your founder's mood board

Sometimes the branding brief is more aspirational than the brand itself.

I’ve lost count of how often “premium” sneaks into a brief. A founder asks for something luxurious, then elevated, then aspirational.

But what if the business itself requires a different story?

Maybe it’s accessible, built for scale and meant for a broad audience. Its opportunity might be to feel familiar, relevant and easy to choose.

I believe this is where aspiration gets confused with positioning.

Founders are influenced by the same culture as everyone else. They see the brands, spaces and success stories around them and want their business to belong in that world. There’s nothing wrong with that. The tricky part is when the brand starts reflecting the founder’s idea of success more than the customer’s reality.

And that can become a problem at the foundation. Looking expensive is not the same as being valuable, desirable or built for success.

Sometimes the smarter move is to get closer to people rather than create distance. To build relevance instead of exclusivity. To feel confident without signalling status.

When so many brands are trying to look upmarket, being genuinely accessible can be a more distinctive position.

Good branding should help the business move forward. That starts with being honest about what it needs, not just what it wants to look like.