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Welcome to Red Threads
Weekly strategy for marketers, operators, and leaders
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The Red Thread This Week:
A brand is a shortcut, and a promise.
Plenty of really thoughtful builders and operators think “design project” when they hear the word Brand.
Logo. Colors. Fonts. Maybe a tagline if you're feeling ambitious.
But that's not what a brand is.
A brand is two things:
1. A shortcut.
When someone sees your name in their inbox, or your work in their feed, something fires instantly:
A feeling.
An expectation.
A sense of what they're about to get.
A brand compresses a lot of information into instant recognition and understanding.
This way, we don't have to think too deeply about every single decision we make as we move through the world each day.
2. A promise.
Brands allow people to predict the future of what it’s like to interact with you.
What can I expect from you today?
Will it be similar to what I’ve experienced before?
If Harley Davidson suddenly started selling low cost index funds and ETFs, that might be a real departure from what we’ve come to expect from them.
So…
The shortcut provides relief from too much mental load.
The promise, kept repeatedly over time, builds trust.
Together, they make it much easier for a relationship to thrive between people, products, services, ideas, and art.
The Red Thread this week is about how to evaluate and enhance your own work with a small dose of brand strategy.
~ Jaime
🔑 The Unlock
Brand Codes
Here’s where it gets practical.
The strongest brands encode their work to specific human desires.
And they reinforce those desires consistently over time.
These are a few brand codes and patterns that show up again and again:
1️⃣ Security & Safety
Helping people avoid risk, mistakes, or costly uncertainty.
You help people navigate decisions they're afraid to get wrong
You protect something that matters to them
You help them avoid pain they can't afford
The promise: "I'll help you avoid the mistakes that hurt."
Example: Allstate (“You’re in good hands”)
2️⃣ Belonging & Connection
Helping people feel seen, understood, or part of something bigger.
You build community
You create shared identity
You make people feel less alone in their challenges
The promise: "You're not alone in this."
Example: Coca-Cola (sharing happiness, "Open Happiness")
3️⃣ Freedom & Autonomy
Helping people escape constraints or build a life on their own terms.
You help people leave situations that don't fit
You help them design their own path
You help them break free from conventional expectations
The promise: "I'll help you build a life that's actually yours."
Example: Jeep (“Go anywhere. Do anything”)
4️⃣ Growth & Transformation
Helping people become more capable, confident, or effective.
You develop skills
You expand capacity
You help people become a better version of themselves
The promise: "You won't be the same after this."
Example: Nike (“Just do it.)
There are plenty more themes in the Brand Code bucket:
Pleasure and desire (Godiva)
Esteem and status (Rolex)
Love and care (Jif “Choosy Moms”)
Power and control (BMW)
Risk and adventure (RedBull)
Health and well being (Whole Foods)
A lot of operators creating media and content try to activate all of these at once.
A little security here. Some growth over there. Maybe some belonging sprinkled in.
The result is often emotionally neutral and (unfortunately) totally easy to forget.
💡 Mindset Shift
You don't get to choose whether you have a brand.
You already have one.
Every time someone encounters you, or your work, their brain is forming a shortcut, whether you like it or not.
So here's what matters:
Which code does your work most likely activate for your audience or your customers?
Not which one sounds best. Not which one you wish it activated. Which one shows up most naturally when you're delivering your best work?
And then:
Are you activating it on purpose and reinforcing it consistently?
Or diluting it by trying to be too much?
🎲 Prompt Playground
The Brand Code Audit
Use this to uncover how your work may (or may not) be encoded with real emotional drivers.
Prompt:
You are a brand strategist helping me identify the primary emotional signal my work sends.
What I do: [describe your work]
Who I serve: [your audience]
The outcome I help create: [what changes for them]
What people often say about my work: [if you know]
Help me identify:
Which emotional brand codes my work most naturally activates: Security & Safety, Belonging & Connection, Freedom & Autonomy, or Growth & Transformation, etc.
Evidence from what I described that supports that
What to reinforce consistently
What to avoid that would dilute trust
One clear sentence that captures my brand promise
Be direct. No hype.
⚡ Before You Go
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Thanks for spending time with Red Threads this week, I’m glad you’re here :)
~ Jaime