Branding Isn’t Just Your Logo. It’s Your Promise.

Hey there,

Let me tell you a quick story that’s been rattling around in my head since the branding workshop I participated in today for one of the agencies in our portfolio.

Back in the 1950s, a guy named Jack O’Neill just wanted to surf longer in cold water without freezing his limbs off. So he started messing around in his garage, gluing foam rubber to his swimsuit. After some trial and error (and probably a few hilarious wardrobe malfunctions), he invented what we now know as the wetsuit.

But here’s where it gets good.

Jack wasn’t just selling neoprene. He wasn’t selling a product. What he really sold was a feeling. His brand tagline?

“It’s always summer on the inside.”

That right there is branding.

He took a functional benefit — staying warm — and turned it into an emotional promise. He made cold water surfing feel like a rebel move. Like an escape. Like a badge of honor.

That phrase didn’t come from a copywriter. It came from someone who deeply understood what his customers wanted to feel — not just what they needed to buy.

And that’s the whole point.

Branding is not your logo.

It’s not your tagline.

It’s not some agency’s mood board or brand voice chart.

Branding is the collective feeling your company creates over time. It’s what customers expect from you, what they remember about you, and how they explain you to their friends.

At the workshop, we talked about this a lot:

• Customers aren’t buying a result. They’re buying a transformation.

• The best brands create irrational loyalty — the kind where leaving for a competitor feels like betrayal.

• And the only meaningful differentiation in today’s market is uniqueness — not just being different, but being you in a way no one else can replicate.

Here’s the part I really want you to remember:

The job of branding is to answer three questions:

1. What does it say about someone that they choose your company?

2. What’s the one thing they get from you that they can’t get anywhere else?

3. How do you make them the hero in their own story?

When you can answer those, you stop being just another option in the Google search results. You become the one.

Just like Jack’s wetsuits weren’t about rubber and seams, your business isn’t just about repairs, installs, or replacements. It’s about what your work means to your customer — safety, comfort, control, peace of mind, pride, belonging.

Call it emotional connection. Call it storytelling. Call it whatever you want.

But make no mistake. It’s branding.

And it’s the only thing your competitor can’t copy.

Talk soon,

ET