Building your brand foundation

Pre-work:

• Gather all existing brand materials (logo sketches, color ideas, competitor screenshots)
• Have positioning statement from Sprint 2 visible
• Invite key stakeholders (max 5 people to keep it productive)

Hour 1: Vision, purpose, and values (60 min)

Exercise 1: The 20-year roadmap (15 min)

Close your eyes. It's 20 years from now. Your company has been wildly successful. What has changed in the world because you existed?

Write individually for 5 minutes, then share.

Example answers:

Slack: "Teams have stopped relying on email for internal communication. Work happens in real-time, transparently, and efficiently."

Shopify: "Millions of entrepreneurs have built independent businesses without needing venture capital or technical expertise."

Your 20-year vision guides everything. It's your "why."

Exercise 2: What, How, Why (20 min)

Write three sentences:

What we do: [the functional thing]
How we do it: [your unique approach]
Why it matters: [the change you're making]

Example: Stripe (Early days)

What: We provide payment infrastructure for internet businesses
How: Seven lines of code, instant integration, designed for developers
Why: We're making it possible for anyone to build an online business

Example: Airbnb

What: We connect travelers with local hosts who rent their homes
How: We create belonging by enabling authentic experiences in real neighborhoods
Why: We believe anyone can belong anywhere

Notice how "What" is functional, "How" is differentiated, and "Why" is aspirational.

Your turn: Write your What, How, Why.

Exercise 3: Top 3 values (25 min)

Values aren't platitudes like "integrity" or "innovation" (every company claims those). Instead, values are the principles that guide hard decisions.

Good value example (Stripe): "Favor outcomes over activity"

• What it means in practice: We measure results, not hours worked or features shipped. We'd rather ship one game-changing feature than 10 mediocre ones.

Good value example (Netflix): "People over process"

• What it means in practice: We hire exceptional people and give them freedom. We avoid rules that constrain high performers to protect against low performers.

For each value, write:

• The value (3-5 words)
• What it means (2 sentences)
• Example of it in action (1 real or hypothetical scenario)

Your turn: Brainstorm 10 values, then vote on the top 3 that truly differentiate you.

Hour 2: Personality and positioning (45 min)

Exercise 4: Personality sliders (25 min)

For each spectrum below, mark where your brand sits. These define your tone and visual identity.

1. Friend ←--------→ Authority

• Friend: Mailchimp, Slack (casual, fun)
• Authority: McKinsey, Goldman Sachs (serious, expert)

2. Cutting-Edge ←--------→ Classic

• Cutting-Edge: Stripe, Linear (modern, minimal)
• Classic: Rolex, Brooks Brothers (timeless, traditional)

3. Playful ←--------→ Serious

• Playful: Innocent Drinks, Duolingo (witty, light)
• Serious: Carta, Brex (professional, focused)

4. Accessible ←--------→ Elite

• Accessible: Zapier, Notion (for everyone)
• Elite: Tesla, AmEx Black (for the few)

5. Discreet ←--------→ Loud

• Discreet: Superhuman, Airtable (understated elegance)
• Loud: Webflow, Figma (bold, opinionated)

There's no right answer—only what's authentic to your positioning.

Example: Slack's personality

• Friend: "We are your teammate."
• Cutting-Edge: Modern workplace deserves modern tools
• Playful: Work does not have to be boring
• Accessible: Every team deserves great communication
• Loud: We are proud to stand out

These sliders will guide everything from copywriting to color palette.

Exercise 5: Competitive visual differentiation (20 min)

Pull up the websites of your top 3-5 competitors. Screenshot their homepages.

Analyze:

• Color palettes: Do they all use blue? (Most B2B SaaS does)
• Typography: Serious serif or modern sans-serif?
• Imagery: Illustrations, photos, or abstract?
• Tone: Corporate or casual?

Find the gaps. If everyone is blue and serious, maybe you're purple and playful. If everyone uses illustrations, maybe you use bold photography.

Example: Stripe's differentiation

In 2010, payment processors like PayPal and Authorize.net had clunky, corporate, early-2000s websites. Stripe launched with:

• Clean, minimal design
• Developer-first language
• Blue/purple gradient (vs. corporate blue)
• Code samples front and center

This visual differentiation reinforced their positioning: the modern payment platform for developers.

Your turn: How will you visually differentiate from competitors?

Break (15 min)

Hour 3: Visual identity and AI assets (60 min)

Exercise 6: Visual identity foundations (30 min)

You don't need a full brand book yet, but you need the foundations:

1. Color palette (10 min)

Choose:

• Primary color: Your brand color (used in logo, CTAs, links)
• Secondary color: Supporting accent
• Neutrals: Grays for text and backgrounds

Use tools like Coolors.co or AI:

AI Color Palette Prompt:

Suggest a color palette for a [category] brand targeting [ICP] with a [personality traits] personality. Our positioning is [positioning statement]. Competitors mostly use [competitor colors]. I want to be [differentiation goal].

Provide:
- Primary color (hex code)
- Secondary color (hex code)
- Neutral palette (3 grays)
- Rationale for each choice

2. Typography (10 min)

Choose two fonts:

• Headline font: For titles, logos, big statements
• Body font: For paragraphs, readable at small sizes

Pair well-known fonts or use AI for suggestions:

AI Typography Prompt:

Suggest a font pairing for a [category] brand with a [personality] personality. The brand should feel [adjectives]. Provide:
- Headline font (with reasoning)
- Body font (with reasoning)
- Example of them together

3. Visual style (10 min)

Choose your visual approach:

• Photography: Real product shots, lifestyle images, team photos
• Illustrations: Abstract, character-based, or technical diagrams
• Graphics: Bold typography, geometric shapes, data visualizations

Reference your personality sliders. "Playful + Accessible" might use friendly illustrations. "Serious + Elite" might use high-end photography.

Exercise 7: AI-ready brand assets (30 min)

Here's what makes this sprint different from traditional brand work: we're creating AI-ready brand assets that ensure consistency when team members use AI tools.

AI Brand Asset #1: Brand voice prompt library

Create a prompt template that any team member can use when asking AI to generate content:

You are a brand voice assistant for [Company Name]. When writing any content, follow these guidelines:

**Brand Personality:**
[List personality traits from sliders]

**Tone:**
- [Friendly/Authoritative]
- [Playful/Serious]
- [Technical/Accessible]

**Voice Characteristics:**
- [List 3-5 characteristics, e.g., "Clear and jargon-free," "Encouraging but not cheesy," "Confident but humble"]

**Writing Rules:**
- DO: [List 3-5 dos, e.g., "Use short sentences," "Start with the outcome," "Include specific examples"]
- DON'T: [List 3-5 don'ts, e.g., "Use corporate jargon," "Make promises we can't keep," "Be overly formal"]

**Sample Sentences:**
[Include 5-10 sentences in your brand voice across different contexts: greeting, CTA, explanation, reassurance, celebration]

When I ask you to write something, apply this voice consistently.

AI Brand Asset #2: Brand voice evaluation rubric

Create a scorecard for evaluating AI-generated content:

Any AI output scoring below 4 in any category needs revision.

AI Brand Asset #3: Brand context template

Create a structured context file that team members can share with AI tools:

BRAND CONTEXT FOR [Company Name]

**What we do:** [1 sentence]
**Target customer:** [1 sentence ICP]
**Positioning:** [positioning statement from Sprint 2]
**Key differentiators:** [3 bullet points]

**Brand personality:** [from sliders]
**Brand values:** [top 3 with explanations]

**Visual identity:**
- Primary color: [hex]
- Secondary color: [hex]
- Headline font: [name]
- Body font: [name]

**Messaging dos and don'ts:**
- DO: [5 examples]
- DON'T: [5 examples]

**Competitor positioning we're NOT:**
- Not like [Competitor A]: [how we differ]
- Not like [Competitor B]: [how we differ]

Use this context when generating any branded content.

This file becomes your "brand in a prompt" that team members can paste into any AI conversation.

Workshop deliverable: Brand Sprint Canvas

By the end of the 3-hour workshop, you should have documented:

1. 20-year vision
2. What, How, Why statements
3. Top 3 brand values with examples
4. Personality sliders marked
5. Competitive visual differentiation analysis
6. Color palette and typography choices
7. AI brand prompt library (draft)