5 Books That Changed How I Think About Brand Building
320 Hours to Profit Challenge - 280 hours to go
Hey everyone,
Quick check-in from the trenches of our turnaround journey. While we're heads down building at Guud, I wanted to share something that's been crucial to rethinking our approach to brand building.
Since this summer, I've been deep-diving into brand strategy books. Honestly, I wish I'd read some of these 3 years ago. They would've saved us some expensive mistakes.
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Here are the five that really shifted my perspective and the main takeaways for me:
1. Future Demand by James Hurman
Connor Archbold from Tracksuit recommended this, and it completely changed how I think about marketing spending. The key insight? Early on, you should invest more in brand marketing than in performance marketing.
When you ask brand marketers what metrics they track, you will get many answers. Truth be told, brand building is complex to analyse unless you're using a platform like Tracksuit (not sponsored).
However, the evidence shows investing more in brand has a massive impact on long-term growth. On average, a 60/40 split is recommended, but for some companies in newer industries or markets, this can go up to 80/20. We learned this the hard way in 2024. We focused too much on short-term performance metrics, and whatever we tried, our acquisition cost went up.
2. How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp
This is the classic marketing bible, and it hit me with a truth bomb: the difference between a big brand and a smaller brand isn't loyal customers - it's ‘occasional’ buyers.
Byron calls out that the biggest brands have the best customer acquisition strategies. This all sounds very rational, but we did focus a lot on retention early on. It resulted in an amazing retention profile, but we sacrificed time spent on acquisition.
While there has been much obsession by marketers with "brand loyalty," Sharp tries to prove scientifically that even the biggest brands grow mainly through occasional customers. This was an important message for a niche startup like us. However, it is important to note that the book received some criticism and is mainly focused on mainstream brands.
3. No Bullsh*t Strategy by Alex H. Smith
Eva Goicochea, who runs Maude, put me onto this one. And it's exactly what it says on the cover: no BS strategy talk for founders. My big takeaway is simple but powerful: find a way to move away from the competition.
You're playing a losing game if you're fighting everyone about the same piece of pie. The book breaks down strategy in a really practical way, showing how actually to differentiate instead of just talking about it. It's a quick, and fun read too.
4. Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
Written by Ogilvy's VP, this book challenges conventional business thinking in the best way. The core message? Do the psycho-logical instead of the logical.
One of my favourite stories from his copywriting days is about a Microsoft product launch. When they needed engineers to attend a demo, instead of sending regular email invites, they used expensive FedEx delivery. This simple switch in delivery method signaled exclusivity and importance - and sign-ups skyrocketed. It's a perfect example of how psychological factors (the perceived value of FedEx delivery) can outperform logical ones (just getting the information across).
Sure, no one ever got fired for buying IBM. But as a brand, understanding these psychological triggers and subtle signals can be way more powerful than pure logic. Sutherland's writing is packed with these brilliant real-world examples that make you rethink everything about how brands work.
5. The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
This might not seem like a brand book at first, but it's crucial for understanding what your brand should actually be doing. The key learning for me was: your customer owns the problem, you own the solution.
If you ask customers about their future behaviour, they'll act like a hallucinating ChatGPT 😅. Instead, look at their past behaviour to understand what they really need. This completely changed how we do customer research at Guud.
Where to Find These Books
If you're interested in checking out any of these books, here are the links:
How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp
Future Demand by James Hurman
No Bullsh*t Strategy by Alex H. Smith
Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland
The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
Why These Matter Now
As we're racing against time to turn Guud profitable, these books aren't just theoretical - they're guiding real decisions. We're rethinking how we balance brand and performance marketing, how we position ourselves against competitors, and most importantly, how we actually solve our customers' problems.
Would love to hear what books have shaped your thinking on brand building. Drop a comment if you've read any of these or have other recommendations - always looking to learn more.
Back to the trenches, Jan
P.S. We're documenting our entire journey from bleeding to profitable in this 320 Hours to Profit series. If you haven't subscribed yet, hit the button below to follow along.