OK, let me give you a tough pill to swallow: if your organization doesn’t have a compelling brand, you’re cooked.
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Listen, if your brand isn’t attracting younger people, it’s a clear sign you're done like dinner. (That phrase will hit harder with anyone over 25.) Let me explain why.
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New brands are popping up constantly. And sure, you might say, “But Cliff, we’ve got access to AI now, it’ll make everything easier!” Yeah, well... so does everyone else. AI can help with the basics, but that also means everything is about to start looking painfully generic.
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So what can you do about it?
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Obviously, I’m biased, I’ve been a branding strategist for nearly 20 years. But I’ll tell you this: I have yet to see anything AI has created that comes close to the kind of original thinking produced by the best creative minds out there.
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AI doesn’t generate truly original ideas. People do. And original ideas with real tone, real flavour, real personality will always be more captivating to the people you’re trying to reach.
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Let’s get back to why branding matters so much.
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Branding is storytelling.
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What’s your organization’s story?
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Yeah, I know, it sounds like one of those clichés you’ve heard a thousand times. But here’s the thing: when you think of a company, what do you think of? You think of a compilation of stories. Stories they tell, and stories people tell about them. And those stories affect how you feel.
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If you don’t believe storytelling matters, sit down and think about your childhood. We all have moments burned into memory, things we’ll never forget. That’s story. And while we won’t unpack why stories are so powerful in this blog, we can agree they’re incredibly valuable.
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So, if we can agree that a company’s brand is its story... this blog is basically over.
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Because we both know:
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There’s nothing more memorable, more compelling, or more magnetic than a great story.
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So to everyone out there trying to build an organization, take a wild guess what my number one piece of advice is.
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I’ll leave it there.

Sky Story Creative

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