This does a very good job summarizing a complex decision process: "invest in improving your brand when your brand perception is getting in the way of growth"
Great content and story Adam, it's very helpful. Also thanks for sharing the positioning workshop and the voice (aka personality) document. I will steal it ;)
I like how Patreon took the time and did proper research for understanding why growth was slowing. It would be easy to jump to conclusions and think that Patreon just misses some specific features. Finding out the real problem was not so obvious to figure out.
I was also wondering if you guys where hiring employees based on the personality voice (witty, fearless, and inviting)?
You also give a great example of how to both use qualitiative and quantitative data to validate the hypothesis about what the root cause is and how it might be solved.
Thanks Niels! Steal it all :-). We didn’t hire based on that voice but we did have a rigorous culture interview panel that had the only absolute veto of an interview loop. We trained them extensively and they interviewed every candidate. It worked well. Maybe I’ll write about that someday.
Such great content and really helpful to see the artefacts from the process that are typically internal-only. Thanks very much for sharing. Im currently going through a branding exercise for a new venture and while it's not at the same maturity as Patreon was as you describe here, the to-do is clearly similar. Thanks Adam.
Usually branding shows it's value in a long term period. Can you really rely on the validation methods such as A/B test for this type of changes? How can we measure brand's impacts on retention, LTV and other long term metrics before launch?
This does a very good job summarizing a complex decision process: "invest in improving your brand when your brand perception is getting in the way of growth"
Thanks Dan!
Great content and story Adam, it's very helpful. Also thanks for sharing the positioning workshop and the voice (aka personality) document. I will steal it ;)
I like how Patreon took the time and did proper research for understanding why growth was slowing. It would be easy to jump to conclusions and think that Patreon just misses some specific features. Finding out the real problem was not so obvious to figure out.
I was also wondering if you guys where hiring employees based on the personality voice (witty, fearless, and inviting)?
You also give a great example of how to both use qualitiative and quantitative data to validate the hypothesis about what the root cause is and how it might be solved.
Looking forward to the next article :)
Thanks Niels! Steal it all :-). We didn’t hire based on that voice but we did have a rigorous culture interview panel that had the only absolute veto of an interview loop. We trained them extensively and they interviewed every candidate. It worked well. Maybe I’ll write about that someday.
Such great content and really helpful to see the artefacts from the process that are typically internal-only. Thanks very much for sharing. Im currently going through a branding exercise for a new venture and while it's not at the same maturity as Patreon was as you describe here, the to-do is clearly similar. Thanks Adam.
You’re welcome Cam! Good luck with your new venture.
Thanks a lot, Adam! Very useful, laughed at the "barricading event".
You’re welcome. And that barricade story is 100% true. The hottest, steamiest, sweatiest conference room I’ve ever been in.
very insightful. especially enjoyed the experimentation part :)
Thanks! I had long believed that it wasn’t possible to test brand. Then… we did!
Kudos :).
PS: love your Startup Dad podcast.
Thanks Daniel!
Pure gold
Love this story, can't wait for part 2.
Thank you!!! So glad you enjoyed it.
So good🔥
Thank you 😊
Great real case study!
Usually branding shows it's value in a long term period. Can you really rely on the validation methods such as A/B test for this type of changes? How can we measure brand's impacts on retention, LTV and other long term metrics before launch?