Most businesses don’t think about brand until things start to fall apart. At least that’s the statistics I have in my years of experience helping companies build brands.
Those who have a long-term view of their brand see the value of investing in brand building.
Then, there are those who launch fast and market hard. They build products, hire teams, and chase leads.
Somewhere along the way, it starts feeling… messy.
Because everyone starts doing their own thing in their own way without guidelines.
The brand’s messaging is inconsistent.
The visuals don’t match.
Teams pulled in all directions just to keep things running and sell, sell, SELL.
And the customers?
They get confused to a point where they’re lost. They’ve lost affiliation with your brand and don’t even know what your business stands for anymore (or what you’re selling).
That’s what I call “The Chaos” (sounds like a good title for a horror film 🤣🤣).
And here’s what I tell our clients at Connecty: brand before the chaos, or pay for it later.
What is “The Chaos”?
You’ve probably seen it. Maybe even lived it (or living through it).
It’s the startup with a beautiful product but no clear voice and position in the market. For some of you reading this, your company may not be a startup anymore and the fire-fighting has been going on since you can remember it.
It’s a founder-led company with five different taglines across five platforms.
The growing business is hiring marketers to “fix” something they never built to begin with.
The chaos shows up as:
- Marketing that doesn’t connect
- A website that feels off-brand
- An identity crisis mid-growth
- Customers dropping off because they don’t “get” you
- Internal teams are unsure of what the company really represents
This is what happens when brand is treated like an afterthought.
The Brand-First Advantage
Branding before the chaos gives you something powerful: clarity.
When you’re bogged down with operations, sales, and the multitude of things to keep your business running smoothly, you won’t have the mental strength to engage in these deep thoughts.
When you start with brand, everything else becomes easier:
- Your messaging has focus
- Your visuals are intentional
- Your marketing becomes more effective
- Your team rallies behind a shared purpose
- Your business decisions align with your identity
It’s the difference between reacting and leading.
Trust me, these bullet points above may seem easy to answer – they are not (if you want to differentiate from your competitors).
The takeaway here is:
Brand is not what you look like. It’s who you are, what you stand for, and how the world remembers you.
A brand lives in the minds of your audience. You can only help shape the impression, you can’t force it on them.
What You Need to Nail Early
To brand before the chaos, you don’t need a massive budget or a full creative team. You need to get the foundation right.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Purpose – Why do you exist beyond making money?
- Vision – Where are you going?
- Mission – What do you do and how do you do it?
- Positioning – How are you different and why should people care?
- Audience Clarity – Who are you serving, and what do they need?
- Brand Personality & Voice – If your brand were a person, who would it be?
- Visual Identity – Logo, colours, fonts, and imagery that actually reflect your strategy
Without these, your brand is just a shell.
It’s just going to be a vicious cycle of chasing leads, difficulty in closing deals, price wars, and incredibly challenging to raise brand awareness.
The cycle will repeat with no light at the end of the tunnel until a competitor with deep pockets strolls in to put you out of business.
Brand ≠ Logo (Let’s Clear That Up)
One of the biggest myths we see? That branding is just your logo.
It’s not.
Your logo is just a symbol for your audience to remember you by.
You’ve got to give meaning to it.
Otherwise, it’s just a piece of fancy artwork.
Your brand is the emotional connection people have with your business. It’s the gut feeling they get when they interact with you. It shows up in your tone of voice, your customer experience, your culture, and yes, your visuals too.
But design without strategy is just decoration. And that decoration won’t hold up in a crowded market.
How to Brand Before the Chaos
So, where do you start?
Here are a few ways to set your foundation before the storm hits:
- Work with a strategist before jumping into design or marketing
- Run a brand discovery workshop with your core team to align on your story
- Define your brand pillars (purpose, audience, positioning) early
- Create brand guidelines that keep everyone on the same page
- Invest in clarity, not just aesthetics
At Connecty, we guide businesses through this process – strategically, collaboratively, and with a lot less overwhelm.
The Tale Of Penny Essentials
To cut the story short, I’m going to jump straight into the gist of it.
Penny, a holistic health and wellness advocate started out from the “launch first, think later” camp. With her brilliant efforts her business and community grew at a rapid pace.
Soon after learning what I do, she said to me…
Nick, can you help me brand my company? I need it to help put structure in the chaos, but the brand identity needs to remain flexible to accommodate future growth.
Penny had the foresight and knew that if she doesn’t invest in a branding exercise now, the chaos is going to turn into something unmanageable in the future as she pushes for more growth.
Guess what, COVID-19 hit.
Lockdowns were everywhere. Factories can’t operate, brick and mortar business shut, and…
Businesses who were complacent doing things the traditional way got a nasty surprise! F**K!
PANIC! CHAOS! SCRAMBLE!
But because Penny Essentials has been steadily growing and aligning the multiple aspects of the business, Penny’s sales grew 5x (obviously also due to the industry she’s in). Her wellness community grew by 400%.
Why?
Because she already has the tools to capitalise on when the unprecedented caught us by surprise.
Final Thoughts
If you don’t define your brand early, the market will do it for you. And that version might not be the one you want.
So, before the logo, before the product launch, before the marketing push—brand.
Because when the chaos hits (and it always does), your brand will be your anchor.
Need a Hand?
If you’re thinking about launching, pivoting, or scaling—and want to do it the right way—let’s talk.
At Connecty, we help forward-thinking brands find their voice, sharpen their message, and show up with confidence.
