Dear Friend,

Good design is a profit centre.

There’s a persistent belief that investing in brand is something you do once the business can
“afford it.” But the businesses that treat brand as an operational tool - not a marketing
expense - consistently outperform the ones that don’t. This month’s Bolder is about what
happens when brand strategy and business strategy are the same conversation.

Each month, we break it down the same way:

01. The Shift - One strategic insight about brand or business.
02. The Work - One moment from a recent project
03. The Find - One resource worth your time
04. The Question - One question to sit with

Let's get into it.

Founders are experts in what they do. That expertise can be a barrier to seeing how
they’re perceived.

The closer you are to something, the harder it is to describe it simply.

We see this constantly with founders. They know every detail of their product, every nuance
of their service, every reason their approach is different. But when asked to explain it to
someone who’s never heard of them, the clarity vanishes. They default to industry language,
internal shorthand, and assumptions about what their audience already knows.

The most useful thing a brand strategist does isn’t adding complexity. It’s translating what a
client already knows into language their customers can actually connect with. The
information is always there. It just needs someone outside the business to hear it properly.

That’s not a criticism. It’s the reason external perspective exists.

Let's translate what you already know >

Applegreen — From forecourt to hospitality brand

Applegreen wasn’t a fuel company pretending to sell food. They were building something
genuinely different - a roadside hospitality experience. But the brand hadn’t caught up yet.

Over a five-year partnership, we worked through everything from masterbrand strategy to
sub-brand development - including creating standalone brands like Braeburn Coffee and
Crafted Kitchen & Deli along the way. Each one needed to feel distinct but connected, part of a bigger story about what Applegreen was becoming.

The shift from “forecourt operator” to “hospitality brand” wasn’t cosmetic. It changed how
partners, staff, and customers understood the business.

What’s been especially rewarding is seeing the brand continue to evolve. Applegreen has
since built an in-house design studio, and watching them carry the brand forward on the
foundations we set together - that’s the best proof a brand system works.

See the full case study

Perplexity (Tool)

We’ve been using this across the studio and it’s changed how we prepare for client projects.
Think of it as search that actually answers your question - it compresses research time,
pulls from multiple sources, and gives you usable summaries rather than a list of links to
wade through. If you’re doing any kind of strategic research, competitor analysis, or trend-
spotting, it’s worth trying.

Perplexity.ai

“We are the only business that...”

If you had to complete that sentence honestly, what would you say? If you can’t finish it
without reaching for words like “quality” or “care,” your customers probably can’t tell you
apart from your competitors either. The answer to this question is the foundation of your
positioning. Hit reply - we read every one.

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Brand New Creative, 61 Merrion Square South, Dublin D02EW25, , Ireland  |  Unsubscribe