The Hardest Part of Branding (That No One Mentions)

Devin Reed

Four or five years ago, I got this question on a podcast:

How do you define good branding?

Or something like that. Again, it was a few years ago.

I shared my philosophy: Build a beloved brand that your audience adores and competitors envy.

How? Create raving fans.

I learned this during my time as Head of Content at Gong.

We didn’t just want followers or clients—we wanted raving fans.

People who loved experiencing our brand, who followed our content, attended our events and eventually, bought our software — and told everyone about us along the way. (Hello 'word of mouth'!)

And it worked.

We made it happen in many ways. But for my team, it came down to one principle: Deliver content so good that people would pay for it.

(They never had to btw. But plenty of people told us they gladly would.)

That was our ethos. We took pride in it. And we delivered on it—over and over, for years.

Now, that’s a solid answer.

But I left out something I learned years later.

And oddly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a marketer talk about it.

A principle every marketer should know:

Protect your brand at all costs.

Building a brand is hard.

So if we, as marketers, are fortunate enough to have the ability, creative freedom, a decent budget, and a solid product that's sellable—we should guard that brand like our (marketing) lives depend on it.

Yes, a great brand is that valuable. And that delicate.

Here’s how:

Building a brand means gaining attention, credibility, and trust.

Protecting it means upholding consistency, authenticity, and long-term reputation.

Protecting your brand is rarely one big, defining moment.

It happens through a series of small decisions that might seem insignificant to others.

It usually takes someone brave enough to say, “Hold up" in a planning or production meeting or during editing.

They realize a decision on the table could break the consistency of the brand, and they speak up. The truth is that keeping a brand alive takes just as much conviction and courage as building one.

A great example:

Take Nick and Armand from 30 Minutes to President’s Club.

It’s one of the biggest sales podcasts in the world, and they’ve scaled it into a multi-million-dollar content empire.

Nick recently told me on my podcast that salespeople love their content because it’s always delivered on its promise since day one:

• Actionable sales tactics
• Zero theory, mindset, or fluff
• 30-minute episodes (or less)

But what if a guest bombs?

Most B2B marketers get stuck here. And it’s not their fault.

Because on most corporate podcasts, guests are either prospects, customers, or friends of an exec—so simply not airing a lousy episode isn’t an option.

And asking them to redo it? That could be viewed as downright offensive. Better to air some "meh" content than cause internal static.

So, the episode gets published. And the show’s quality drops.

But more importantly, they break their brand promise.

Nick and 30MPC are relentless about protecting the 30MPC brand

First, they prevent bad episodes with a rigorous preparation process.

There’s no “show up and throw up.”

Every episode is treated like a bespoke product.

How?

• They require a written outline with main points before recording.
• Guests are briefed: Tactics only.
• No long-winded intros. Fluff gets cut.

And if an episode doesn’t meet the standard?

They edit ruthlessly.

They’ve even told guests their episode won’t air—and invited them to rerecord.

I can confirm—I was a sponsor, and one of my corporate speakers didn’t make the cut.

That's a potentially tense conversation with someone (me) who'd paid thousands of dollars. But that’s what it takes to protect your brand.

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Most marketers obsess over building a brand.

But the real pros?

They protect it at all costs.

Holler at you later,
Devin

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How to Build a Multi-Million-Dollar Content Engine ​

Nick Cegelski founded one of the fastest-growing sales podcasts on the planet.
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He recently joined me on Reed Between The Lines to share how to:
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→ Create un-ignorable content offers that drive downloads
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→ Scale into new channels without burning out and wasting money
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→ Maximize engagement with high-impact content distribution tactics

​Watch on YouTube​
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🎧 Listen on Spotify ​

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts​

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