Evolving Industry
Brand Frameworks: Flipping the Script on Creative-First Branding
What if the best way to build a brand framework isn’t by starting with creative ideas, but by digging into the data?
For decades, branding has been seen as a function of art and intuition, not a matter of science.
But according to Tyler Borders, Chief Brand Officer at Carnegie, the most impactful brand strategies are rooted in research and psychology.
Tyler’s journey from artist to strategist has given him a unique perspective on how to get to the core of a brand’s identity.
In this episode of Evolving Industry, he shares his framework for going beyond demographics to uncover what truly motivates an audience, the challenge of scaling a business, and how trust is the bedrock for any kind of success.
Tyler talked with us about:
- The difference between creative-first and research-first branding
- How to scale a company without losing its innovative "pirate" spirit
- The simple secret to building a culture of trust and transparency
The "Creative-First" Lie Around Branding Frameworks
For Tyler, traditional branding is flawed because it relies on a single question: “Do they like it?”
“Do they ever ask the question, ‘Is it right?’” Tyler proposed. “How can they know if the creative is right?”
That conventional approach often leads to bland results that please no one.
Tyler explained that most branding has been done with creativity first, but he wanted to flip that idea on its head.
“Most branding in my experience has been creative first,” he said. “I kind of wanted to flip this thing on its head and say, ’No, it's research first.’”
So Tyler developed a psychographic framework to go beyond demographics and understand an audience's core motivations and desires.
“What motivates a person? What is their personality like? What do they want? What do they desire?” he explained. “If I can tell a university, ‘Hey, you know, Johnny is driven by these sorts of personality characteristics…’ then that changes how you can communicate.”
Tyler explained that this model was so disruptive that clients were often scared of it at first.
“We would lose RFPs and proposals because they would say, ‘We’ve never seen this before… It’s scary because this is not typical.’”
He added that many agencies try to sell their work by appealing to their clients’ C-suite and not applying objective data.
Ultimately, the best way to define your brand’s DNA is to go out and listen to the people who know it best: your target audience.
“I'd look at competitive proposals, and they would be like, ‘We’re going to do five interviews,’” Tyler implied. “And they're going to probably call the most important powerful people in the organization to pretend that the job is done. We're talking to hundreds, often thousands, of people through mixed-method research.”
Scaling Your Company From Pirate Ship to Battleship
When discussing the startup paradigm, Tyler used an illustrative naval analogy to describe the disruptive chaos behind the scenes.
“I always think of it like a pirate ship,” he said. “It's exhausting because nothing's locked in... It's tiring.”
As Tyler’s company grew from a small, agile team to a larger organization, he realized the “pirate ship” mentality that got them to where they are wasn't sustainable for long-term growth.
“[We’re] just at a point now, with a lot of the growth… We're not a pirate ship, we're a battleship. And so, for me it's like, ‘Hey y'all, like I'm not asking us to go back onto the pirate ship, but like we’ve got to continue with a lot of that spirit.’”
This transition requires leaders to implement more structure, from budgeting to client management.
“I had to grow and develop and realize that there had to be more of an operational mindset,” Tyler acknowledged.
Building a Culture on Trust
While frameworks and processes are critical for scaling, Tyler believes that at the end of the day, everything comes down to people and relationships.
The world, he argued, runs on trust.
“I think trust makes everything go. And if I look back over my career, there's so much I didn't know and still don't know, but if you build a culture on trust and your team knows you've got them on a personal level, that is the bedrock for everything.”
He also offered advice that was given to him by a CEO for leaders who are afraid to make a decision without having all the answers.
“You're never going to get a hundred percent certainty. Get 80 percent of the way there, and go. So if you can get 80, move.”
For Tyler, success isn’t just about financial performance, but how well people align, commit, and execute together.
He believes that by prioritizing transparency and trust, leaders can build a company where your people can flourish.
”When you don't have that [trust], internally and externally, watch out,” Tyler warned. “Building trust, empowering people, and helping people to flourish and soar has been my mindset throughout my career.”
Craving more? You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Evolving Industry on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.