Branding Lessons From Barbie with Marissa Garcia

In today’s episode, we are joined by the incredible Marissa Garcia to delve into the world of branding and marketing through the lens of one of the most iconic brands of all time: Barbie. We’ll be exploring the power of Barbie’s brand strategy, its longevity since 1959, and the secret behind its success in staying relevant in today’s ever-changing world. From embracing creativity and consistency to the influential role of social media, we’ll uncover the fascinating story of how Barbie has captivated consumers and become a cultural phenomenon.

The Business-First Creatives Podcast is brought to you by CRM and Dubsado expert Colie James. Join Colie each week as she discusses how to build a business that brings you joy and a paycheck! From business advice with fellow entrepreneurs to sharing automation tips and tricks, Colie and her guests are sharing industry trends and resources, along with a little bit of sarcasm.

LISTEN ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLAYER

Apple Podcast App | Spotify | Amazon | Google Podcast | Youtube

Guest Bio

Marissa Garcia is a Brand Designer and Strategist, helping a new wave of Women-Led Businesses and Entrepreneurs write, design and bring to life their brand.

Marissa’s creative and strategic approach to Branding has made her a sought-after Brand Designer, Speaker and Consultant for Small Businesses. Her notable clients include Shine with Natasha, GirlTREK, The California Fig Advisory Board, and San Diego’s Leading Charter School, Altus Schools.

Marissa is the Founder and CEO of Workday Creative, LLC. where she joins clients, from brand strategy development through brand design and implementation, to build remarkable brand experiences that attract raving fans and loyal customers.

If you’ve tried setting up your Dubsado account, yet aren’t actually utilizing all of the features it offers, I want to invite you to check out The CRM Blueprint. My course includes templates for all of the forms, emails, and workflows that you need to get paid in one easy step. Ready to maximize your use of Dubsado, enroll in The CRM Blueprint today! Use the code PODCAST for 10% off.

Here are the highlights…

[01:07] Meet Marissa

[03:09] Brand vs. Branding

[11:50] Barbie’s Successful Branding Strategy

[23:52] Filtering Trends to Align with Mission and Vision

[27:09] Barbie’s Popularity Through Word of Mouth

[32:41] So What Does This Mean For My Business?

Mentioned in this Episode:

Marissa’s Instagram Feed where she did Barbie posts

Connect with Marissa:

• Instagram
• Now booking Q4 clients for Brand Strategy and/or Design! Start here: https://bit.ly/wdcletsgo
• In the meantime, grab your FREE Brand Strategy guide here: http://bit.ly/wdcbrandstrategyguide

Review the Transcript:

Colie James:

Hello. Hello. And welcome back to the business first creatives podcast. I am here with my new friend, Marissa Garcia of Workday Creative, and we are going to be talking about branding and marketing, but most important guys, we’re going to be talking about Barbie. Marissa, welcome to my podcast.

Marissa Garcia:

Hi. How are you? Thank you so much for having me.

Colie James:

I am so good. Uh, I am just like, remember like a month ago, we were sweating it out in Dallas together and currently we’re sweating it out in California and Colorado, respectively.

Marissa Garcia:

Oh, yeah, Dallas was, uh, Dallas was a who, uh, the, the humidity, the humidity was, whew, I don’t know how we, we at least don’t have that here in California. And I think in Colorado, humidity can keep over there on the East Coast and South, but still getting these triple digits is no, no, not much better.

Colie James:

I feel so bad for, well, you have a pool, so I actually don’t feel that bad for you, but also I feel a little bad for you. Marissa, why don’t you tell the listening audience what you do?

Marissa Garcia:

Yes, hello everyone, my name is Marissa. I am a brand designer and brand strategist. So, what the heck does that mean? Um, I help this new wave of women led businesses to write, design, and bring to life Um, I will shout from every rooftop from every mountaintop that branding is actually the most creative and energizing part of your business. Um, and there is so much. Misconceptions, misinformation, and confusion around like what is branding, um, and there’s not much valuable education out there. So, I have really, I have started Workday Creative to not only work in helping bringing those visions to life, but also educating business owners on why they need branding in their business. So, Koli, I always like to preface. Uh, when people slide into my DMs or when I do these things that if you are here just to learn how to create content that converts or you are what you should be posting on social media or how to go viral or how to create many posts, then everything. If that’s your main goal, then everything I say is probably not going to be relevant to you. Because this is about having a true brand conversation about how to attract the raving fans and loyal customers in a way that clearly differentiates you from your business, from your competitor. So that I’m super passionate when it comes to branding and uh, yeah, that’s why I’m

Colie James:

Okay, let’s, let’s actually, let’s take a step off of that for a second, because I think for many, many years, I assumed that branding was your color palette. Like you get a logo and you get a set of colors and that’s your branding. So why is that the wrong way Okay. Bullseye.

Marissa Garcia:

Yeah, so this is probably the biggest misconception. So there is a difference between having a brand and then your branding and it’s really important to note the difference between these two. Your brand is people’s perception. Your business is their experience with your business. So an example would be, if I were to give you the name Target you have developed in your head what exactly Target is. You know what they sell. You know what you’re going there for. You know that as soon as you step foot into the doors, you’re hitting being hit with a $5, serotonin of $5 goodness of shit that you don’t want. But need or don’t need, but what you understand as a mama, you understand that target is a place for escape. Like I certainly indulge in me time. I roam up and down those aisles for hours on end, coming in with one thing, meeting one thing, but knowing damn well, I’m not walking out with like 50 additional things, right? is a brand. It’s people’s experience and perception of their business. Branding helps us to shape that perception, right? It influences the image that we have created within our mind. So again, when I say target, you’re going to think of the specific Red shade color color of red you’re gonna Think about their commercials and how they use a dog in their marketing strategy Right you bullseye you understand that when you are out in society You see a red polo with khaki shorts or pants. You are automatically thinking about target. So Brand is the perception or experience people have with your business. Branding helps shape and influence that perception. And you use things like your logo, your brand identity, things, visual things, but also not just visual things, your customer service is part of branding. The way the customer experience is part of branding, all of that shapes our perception, shapes our brand. So that is the, that is the foundation of understanding when it comes to brand building.

Colie James:

Okay.

Marissa Garcia:

lot, a lot.

Colie James:

yeah, you’re making me think of my brand in like a different way, because of course, there’s my client. There’s what I do for my photography clients. There’s what I do for my systems clients. But, like, also, I try to communicate that all of that is fun. I’m a great person to hang out with. I love rainbows. I love Disney all of those things. Are part of my brand, but they’re also part of my branding because that’s how I’m communicating what the experience with me will be like, okay, I feel like this is a, go ahead.

Marissa Garcia:

there’s in piggybacking off of what you’re saying, uh, there is a definitive line on deciding, do I have a business or do I have a brand? And here’s the difference between that, this having a business and having a brand serve very different purposes. They serve very different. You’re going to have very different conversations. A business is very. logical. It is an exchange. It is engaging in that commerce, the very logical thinking. So if you have a business, anyone can start up a business, any type of exchange between you and someone else, right? What the difference is, is having a brand is a brand helps. To serve, you’re serving people, right? You’re serving, you’re, you’re appealing to their wants, their needs, their desires, their aspirations, and it’s letting people know what they can expect from you. You’re giving, like, so for instance, when it comes to photography business, right? You can surely show the pictures that, the types of pictures that you take. They can get a perception of what they’re buying, right? But what difference that I love about you, Koli, is that I’m not only just seeing the pictures that you take, but also I’m getting a sense of who you are. I know that you love Disney, Disneyland, and Disney. Girl, you are my girl! You are my people! You love color, you like being vibrant and vivacious. So, branding is going to help. Distinguish you, not only from your competitors, but to help resonate with, with, um, your audience. And so that’s one of the biggest things that you need to ask yourself. Am I developing a business or am I building a brand? So yeah.

Colie James:

It was funny, I really didn’t think about how my personality and like, the way that I’ve built my brand was related to the actual service that I was offering until someone said, oh, no, Koli makes systems fun. And I was like, wait, what are you talking about? You’re like, you make me feel like I could do anything with my systems instead of, you know, not understanding and being stuck. And I was like, okay, how do I do that? And they’re just like, you know, everything that you do on Instagram. And I was like, really? I was like, I had never really thought about the connection between my personality and what I actually infuse into my brand personality, if you will, into how that was making the clients think about the actual end result, like the actual systems that we were creating together. And that was when I started to realize that I needed to talk about that more. I needed to make sure that they know, okay, I know I say that I like to go to Disneyland and have a lot of fun and ride rides, but like, This is how this is connected to systems because as I’m writing Dumbo my systems are taking care of my business. I am getting paid. I am getting inquiries. I am getting all of these things that are happening behind the scenes and that’s why I’m able to go to Disney. Like, I mean, I know that it seems like it’s fun. I mean, it is fun. That’s how I’m able to have fun or that the systems allow me to do it. And I know that people feel like systems are really complicated and hard. But like, if we work together and we figure out what your business actually needs, I can, I don’t want to say dumb it down, but I can make it really simple to where you are just making a few key decisions before you have an entire system set up in your business to help you, you know, work with more of the clients that you love and so on. But like, I don’t know why I had never thought of that until the person was like, Oh no, you make systems fun. And I was like, really?

Marissa Garcia:

Oh my gosh. Yes. And they’re not only buying the service or what you’re offering, Chloe, but they’re wanting to be a part, a part of your world. I had to do it. Has anyone sung on your podcast? I just did it. Okay. Wow.

Colie James:

podcast, but

Marissa Garcia:

But honestly like branding is your opportunity To connect with your audience on a on a very on a deeper emotional level Like people don’t buy products and services. They actually buy brands and your brand is how you’re making them Feel how the experience you’re providing the P it’s showcasing who is actually behind the business. And I can almost guarantee fully based on the things that we see on your Instagram, that people want to just be a part of your vibrations and be near you and receive that energy while also helping to build their business. Like what? Yes. Sign me up.

Colie James:

I mean, I feel like that’s a good segue into what we’re here to talk about today. So, hey, guys, what happened was. Barbie, Barbie is now I saw the movie yesterday. It was amazing. Um, but I feel like I was seeing more and more people inside of my Instagram feed on my television, taking advantage and like putting forth what I was considering to be like marketing materials in the vein of Barbie and Marissa has done quite a few on her Instagram account. I am going to link them in the show notes, but. One thing that it brought to mind was I was seeing brands that I wouldn’t necessarily associate color with or fun with, not you, Marissa, because you are all of those things, but I was seeing brands that typically wouldn’t have that start to showcase. Like content, marketing content that was related to being colorful and like Barbie. So first let’s talk about Barbie as a brand. Like how is Barbie building a brand related to what all of us should aspire to in our own businesses?

Marissa Garcia:

Yeah. Really great. Great question. I think for Barbie, Barbie holds such power. In the commerce space ever since 19, what, like 59, they’ve been building, building their brands, if you will. And the thing that Barbie does so well that we can all learn from is that they are embracing creativity. They’re embraced, they are consistent and there is cohesiveness. Within all the things that they are, they are in, they are doing right. Um, they really do a great job at appealing to. The psyche and heart of everyone out there of thousands of people you don’t see barbie barbie out here You don’t see the barbie brand out here trying to sell sell sell sell sell They’re not out here telling you. Okay, you need this barbie doll Look at her how she functions look at she can sit you don’t see them out here Speaking anything about the actual product that they’re trying to sell what they are selling Our experiences and Barbie, the Barbie brand is, is indulgent. Good branding is indulgent. We, it draws those who resonate with it and keeps them wanting more. So social media has really. Innovated the way of bringing our brand to life. And so when we look at things like the Barbie trend on Instagram. That is a great example of how Barbie has created a brand that people want to be a part of. Like, I want to be Barbie. I love it so much that I’m going to turn myself into Barbie. Or, like, I’m going to tap into the, the needs, wants, and aspirations of my community. That, the things that they love about Barbie and apply it to my own business. So that’s why we see, like, Cold Stone having… Barbie cups or the bias luggage, having pink, pink luggage or all, oh, you know, everyone is tapping into that Barbie, um, brand. And so a great lesson on, um, creative, cohesive and consistent experiences that you’re building around your brand is really the key. In developing your own brand and something that we can learn during if you’re constantly again If you’re constantly sell sell sell sell selling here’s my product. Here’s my service. I’m doing this launch Uh, here’s a discount to my services all those things. No one wants to be sold at 24 7 what they want is To be we all are yearning to be a part of a community to find our our spot within your universe. Show us what what that looks like, what that feels like. Um, that is going to be more powerful for you as a business to then Inspire them to buy and inspire them to engage and inspire them to want to be to to Send out your message through them to an even greater audience, right? so yeah that barbie has done such a well job a phenomenal job and um, one other thing that I want to talk about is that we see that the barbie has Barbie has utilized and going back to the cohesiveness, the movie itself is really Barbie’s way of updating their brand strategy. We’ve seen over the years, Barbie on this straight trajectory upwards, the popularity of it going up, up, up. We’ve done over the past few years have seen a dip. We can assume that there’s a sales dip as well. Why? Because they, the messaging wasn’t keeping up with. Their target audiences wants, needs, and aspirations, the problematic, problematic messaging around their dolls, the non inclusiveness, the just limited view, and Since the movie came out, this is their way of saying, Hey, we have, we see you, we hear you, we see these cultural changes. We want them to be better for you. And because they’ve made those shifts in their brand strategy of being more inclusive of, um, you know, shifting the perspective on how we see women. People are on board and they want to be a part of that. They’re loving the Barbie brand. So that’s why we’re seeing such an influx of trends, Barbie trends on social media. And so Barbie has definitely done such a well job doing that. Yeah.

Colie James:

Yeah. I mean, one of the words that I picked up when you were talking was you were talking about engagement and I feel like They’ve had a lot of opportunities for engagement, like not just Mattel itself or the Barbie brand, but like every time someone is taking like that Barbie feeling and they start to put it into their own content marketing, I myself have found myself more likely to like post and be like, Oh, my gosh, like, this is amazing. I was telling you tonic. Is one of my favorite website designers for templates. I mean, they design show at templates. I love them. I met them at the show at conference last November, but. They’re they’re templates themselves while I love them and they’re fantastic. Um, I don’t know that I’ve ever really seen the potential in like a website for myself, because as you’ve said, I love color. I’m, you know, that’s my personality. That is my brand and none of their templates out of the box. Are like super colorful and speak to me as what I want my end result to be. But then recently Jen, one of the co founders, she did a Barbie reel where she took their blandest template. One that I would never in a million years consider purchasing. And she did a reel where in 30 seconds she showed it, how she used that template and gave it a complete Barbie makeover, if you will. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I could use that for my own website. Like, look at that, that with some tweaks, that could be my new website. And so I do feel like they’re giving us a lot of opportunities to engage, not only in conversations about inclusiveness. And, but I mean, in that particular instance, it was like a highlight of, Oh my gosh, like that is amazing. And I could use that particular product. And I will say, Marissa, I felt the same way when I saw a few of the reels that you were doing related to Barbie. I was like, you know what? I’m not really feeling these reels this week. Like, I don’t want to make reels. And I don’t ever feel super creative when I make them, but I was looking at all your Barbie reels and I was like, Ooh, like what kind of Barbie reel can I make? It wasn’t the movie that was like making me think of what I could do. It was all of the reels that you were doing. Cause I feel like in a five day period, you put out at least one or two Barbie reels like

Marissa Garcia:

Yeah, we’re, we’re going hard. Yeah, though, uh, you know, the Barbie brand, um, it’s, it’s such a fun, uh, way of bringing, you know, some light to what your, what your business is all about. And, um, again, we’re tapping into how the Barbie brand is aspirational and people want to be a part of that and they want to see it. On the daily and they want to see how it can apply to them specifically and so there was a really great opportunity for businesses of all kinds of all kinds to tap into that. Right. We know these things. We know this, uh, what people are wanting to see. So why not have that, you know, why not tap into that and piggyback off of the opportunity to, um, reach new audience potentially, um, to resonate, um, the Barbie brand, if, if the Barbie brand is. Is engaging with audiences that are similar to your own, then it’s a, it’s a no brainer. It’s a no brainer to tap into that. And I think what a big problem I see is that, um, there’s this, this, this tension of, you know, should you lean into trends or should you not? Should I lean into this trending audio? No, I need to be original on content. Well, I’m actually very much in the middle. I think there is benefits to trends, but then also very much benefits for you need to be unique. Benefit, you tapping into trends lets your audience know that you have a great pulse on what people

Colie James:

Mm hmm. And what’s going on right

Marissa Garcia:

and what’s going on right now, right when you so that is how the, you know, are, we see all these businesses happening into party because it’s timely, it shows that, you know, they understand. So that’s the benefit of trends. Now, should it be your entire strategy? Hell no, like, do not. Do not make it your entire strategy. That’s a bad idea. There’s no one wants the sameness, you know, sameness is bad Right, but you can certainly input it into the things that you are doing just to spark some creativity Let people know like hey, this is what i’m about. I love this brand You should like do you love it too? If you do cool, let’s vibe, right? Um, but the unique not the uniqueness is the key For Using trends, right? There’s trending barbie stuff. How can I tailor it to something? that I Specifically am am in, you know doing or how can I tailor it to something? No one else is doing Right, we don’t want to repeat. We don’t want to be like lukewarm like content We don’t want to be a copy of someone that’s actually goes against Everything that branding is setting out to do you have to find your new unique angle your unique perspective on trends And how can you turn it into something that specifically in your niche, specifically that your target audience can benefit from? Are you, how can you reach their wants, needs, and aspirations when it comes, when you are doing trends for your own business?

Colie James:

I mean, you just took like 3 of my questions away from me and answered them, but I mean, you brought up such a good point, because 1 of the things that I’m thinking to myself is that these Barbie. Like content marketing strategies have to have a very short shelf life. I mean, it’s only going to be in the movie theater for so long and while Barbie, you know, it’s going to continue to be sold inside of stores. And it’s probably going to get, you know, when it comes out of the theaters and it’s available for streaming, it’s going to get another push. And I mean, when there’s an award ceremony, and it gets nominated for something like there are times that it’s going to pop back on, but in particular, like. This, whatever the trend is, trends don’t tend to last very long. Now, one of the things that I wanted to ask you about, though, is it has a short shelf life, but also how do you balance your content marketing strategy to make sure that the trend doesn’t overwhelm it? I mean, I know that you said a little bit about that, but can you speak to like, maybe not a specific percentage, but like, how can we make sure? That a particular trend doesn’t take over our entire marketing strategy for the month or the week or the quarter or whatever it may be.

Marissa Garcia:

Yeah, I think it’s important to always remember that you, you have to understand what your personal mission is at hand. First, that’s foundation, your brand strategy, you have to understand, okay, stepping back and understanding what’s my purpose here. What’s my vision? What’s my mission? All those things that are encompassed within a brand strategy Having clarity of like what are you setting out to do? And then you have to filter when you jump on trends when you jump on things like the barbie you have to filter it in How is this moving my needle forward? How how will this? Further my mission and help me achieve my vision. Um, and so when you look at things like Barbie and it’s short shelf life, um, you need to understand like, this is only, this is only a short creative way of how I can repurpose my messaging, how I can bring a new, like. Idea or light to what I’m trying to teach or what I’m trying to sell or what I’m trying to convey um And it should not be your entire Your entire content strategy because that is just a shirt people will you know It’s the same as like being sold at constantly 24 24 7 People will get tired of it. And you’ll, you know, then you run, run dry, right? You need to just keep in within your content strategy. It needs to be fresh, but also making sure that it’s still tied to the mission and your vision at hand. Super, super crucial. So the Barbie trend is not going to work for everyone. And you have to be okay with that. You have to, you have to be okay with it. Not, you know, you and you don’t, don’t feel the need or pressure to have to jump on those trends if you, if it’s not fitting, if it’s not aligned with what your vision and mission is. So, but there is power like social media has given us this creative power of bringing our brands to life. And so you can choose to or choose not to embrace what social media has allowed us to be able to do right. The old marketing way was before social media was strictly billboards and bus stops and in the newspaper and, you know, those things, but. Social media has opened up this new avenue. To invite our audience to actually come and experience us to come and experience our brand and to then. Use them as almost like walking billboards for your own brand, because they’re, if they love what you’re doing, if they love your messaging, you’re putting out there, if they love your brand, they’re going to go on and do it on their social media and, and tell their friends and family about it. And that’s what Barbie. Barbie has specifically been doing. They’re relying on all of us to be their walking billboards for the Barbie brand and it’s working, right? So,

Colie James:

Yeah. And I mean, I read an article in the New York Times this morning while we were driving and it was really talking about how, Barbie and Oppenheimer were still doing great in the box office, but that haunted mansion came out on my birthday and it, you know, 200 million to make it. And it’s only made 24 million thus far. But I w the, the thing that the article was discussing was that Barbie and Oppenheimer had already gotten the bulk of their marketing activities in before the strike, but unfortunately for haunted mansion, the strike occurred one day before it’s like marketing blitz was set to go. But I feel like at this point, like Barbie is still trending upwards because all of us are taking it on ourselves to like talk about the movie and put it on our social media. And so it is, I mean, I think that one of the things that we can all think about in our own businesses is how can we get our clients to talk about us, like all of us are talking about the Barbie movie, because one of the things that I saw. Was that there were some people on television that had given the Barbie like men, let’s be honest. There were a bunch of men on, on like the news channels that were giving Barbie a bad review. And people were saying that made them even more motivated to go and see the movie and spend money and do all of these things. But like. We all want evangelists for our own business. And so if we take anything away from Barbie, it’s not that all of us should like start doing Barbie reels nonstop, but like, how can what Barbie has built in getting everyone to talk about Barbie, the products, the movie, the movement, all of these things, how can we get our clients to do the same thing about us? Because in the end, like, Our client’s word of mouth is, of course, you know, key. I mean, if you don’t have money for paid advertising and you’re really not a great marketer, you can get your current clients to do the marketing for you with a good strategy. So how does that fit in with our overall brand strategy? Like.

Marissa Garcia:

Yeah, I think, think people need to realize that building a brand is a long term game. It is not an overnight success. It works for every once in a while, blue moon, you might, you know, get the viral person. But for the most part, branding is not a short term journey. Barbie started their marketing a year ago. Yeah. And because of that, they’ve built this top, like I remember the first iterations of like when they started filming the movie of, you know, seeing stuff, uh, this is coming branding is a long term game. If you are what I was been saying that consistent, cohesive and creative from the get go from, you know, you’re, you’re constantly. Inviting your, your audience to experience your brand. It’s a constant thing. It’s ever, it’s always going right. Then you’re building up the success of your business. You have to keep at it. You have to keep at it. You have to keep at it. It is not a one time thing. Your brand strategy is, is a living, breathing. Thing a living breathing document your brand is living and breathing. You’re constantly Going to be evolving it. Um To meet with the times and you know, our aspirations and needs are going to constantly change We need as a brand we need to Evolve with our customers and hear them and that’s why it’s so important to do your market research to do Customer surveying and seeing what is it? Am I still meeting your needs? Am I still meeting because when we meet their needs and their aspirations We gain their trust and trust is like gold trust is gold for you and your business trust is what’s going to Convince them to be walking billboards for your business and continue to speak positively about your business to other people and do TikTok trends and Instagram trends about your brand specifically. So it’s really important to understand that branding is a long game. It is not an overnight success. Some, it may work for some, but I would question the, um, what is the word I’m looking for? I would question the sustainability of that business model if they were a viral success.

Colie James:

I was going to say longevity, but same thing.

Marissa Garcia:

hmm.

Colie James:

Okay. Marissa. So what if someone in our listening audience is like, you know what? I don’t even know what my brand is. Like, how do I get a brand? What is like one actionable tip that you could give the listening audience in order for them to take a good hard look at their business and their brand to figure out A path going forward, because we’ve said a lot about cohesiveness and creativity, but like bottom line, I know someone is listening to this podcast and they’re like, yeah, I don’t, I don’t build a brand. Like, I don’t even know what my brand should be. What’s an actionable step that they can take to like, start moving forward. Cause of course it’s going to take another step and another step and another step. But what’s one thing they can do first.

Marissa Garcia:

Yeah, one of the things that you can do first, and this is for everyone in all stages of your business. Okay, let me let me step back real quick one second because a lot of times people will come to me and be like the algorithm is out to get me. I don’t know what to post. Like, I don’t know what to do. They’re not showing my content. I’m stagnant in my business. And I’m like, okay, first of all, the thing you’re probably bored. You’re probably bored right now. Creative entrepreneurs, let me know. The problem I see is they’re bored out of their effing mind because they’re trying so hard to be like someone else or they’re trying so hard to incorporate the things that worked for someone else that maybe it could work for you. So the first step into building a brand is having clarity of why you’re doing the shit in the first place. You need to have a brand strategy. This is like the roadmap to everything. You wouldn’t go on a treasure hunt. I like to use the silly little analogy. You wouldn’t go on a treasure hunt without a map, without understanding why do I want this treasure? What is it going to do for like, how is it going to impact my life? What do I need to find this treasure? Where am I going? Like you you need that roadmap You need to understand who you are first. It’s going to take some internal um, like sitting down with yourself to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing and The biggest thing is that people don’t want to spend that time discovering those things And i’m telling you right now you are shooting yourself in the foot by skipping over your brand strategy So the first step is to develop your brand strategy. There are five areas within your brand strategy, and we’re taking it back to the elementary stages. The who, why, what, where, when, how. Literally, uh, the foundation of your entire brand. Once you have clarity around that. Once you have a brand strategy and clarity around why you’re doing what you’re doing. Then you can move into your brand design. Brand design is what most people would What think of when we talk about brand or branding, it’s your brand identity. So it’s the visual aspect. It’s literally brand design is literally your brand strategy visually, right? From brand design and your developing your brand identity. The logos, colors. Yadda, yadda, yadda. From there, then you move into brand implementation, creating those brand experiences, looking at your customer touch points and how you are going to infiltrate those areas with your brand strategy and brand design. So there’s a very clear steps. And I know a lot of, there’s a lot of designers out there who Are not in tune design without strategy in mind There’s a lot of brand strategists out there that don’t have the skill set to do Brand design and then there’s a lot of strategists and designers out there that don’t have the marketing Experience or capacity, and so to implement it and the way that you grow a brand is having cohesion between all those areas, all those stages of building a brand, so it’s very important that one that you, you do it in that way, a brand strategy comes before brand design. Brand design comes before implementation. Um, and so for those that are wanting to know how to build a brand or where to even start, it’s not on social media. It’s not on your website right now. It is working on your brand strategy. Why are you here? Why are. You doing what you’re doing. And so I would want to, I always appeal like you got to start with a brand strategy. I promise you will have so much clarity around the things that you’re doing. All the problems that you are experiencing right now will be solved or definitely moving to being solved when you have clarity around your brand strategy.

Colie James:

I mean, you sound like me yelling at people. Your systems, your systems don’t start in your CRM. Your systems start with a piece of paper and a pencil and you deciding what it is that you want to do with these clients. And then you build your systems around that. So I hear you. I hear you, girl. If people want to learn more about what you do at Workday Creative, where can they find you on the internet?

Marissa Garcia:

Yes, of course. I always want to connect. I, I like to, uh, always claim that I am a bonafide hype woman. I want to see women win. I want to see women of color win. And so you can connect with me on Instagram. That’s where I’m most active here. Instagram is where you can. Find me and then from there, of course, all the things in the Instagram, my, in my bio, but please send me a DM, shoot me a, shoot me a DM, introduce yourself. I want to support you in any way that I can. So Instagram is where you’re most active and where you can find me at Workday Creative.

Colie James:

thank you so much for popping onto the podcast for this bonus episode, all about marketing and the Barbie trends, everyone. That’s it for this episode. See you next time. All right. We’re good. I’m going to hit stop and you have to wait until it uploads on your side.

Marissa Garcia:

Okay. Perfect.

Colie James:

I don’t know.

Marissa Garcia:

was.