I got fired.

Quietly.

While my direct manager was out. The CEO slid in my office like a house cat up to no good, head swiveling left and right searching for a spray bottle.

Apparently, the CEO of the company I’d been hired to be Multimedia Designer thought I wasn’t bringing in enough revenue. I agree, however, I did diagnose the problem. Multiple times. So I asked him why—once again asking him to hold himself accountable for his part in his dissatisfaction with his business.

The phrase “I don’t need people pointing the finger at me.” said it all. So let me tell you what I tried to tell him, for a year.

The brand lacked curb appeal.

Now, when I started with XXXX, I was excited to walk into a company that was pitched as “Poised to grow,” and like any brand guy worth their salt, I got to studying them. The product had a nice vintage texture and the promise of scalable product lines. They had collections of similar items with different patterns but no distinct lines to design from, I can work with that.

They had a showroom that was closed to the public—most likely because the guy in charge of keeping it up didn’t do it. But there is a charm to the pieces scattered about. They did numbers but mostly do to sales that were not from their direct site but outside platforms. We needed to cut out so many middle men. The product is getting “trampled” before it gets to market.

The CEO had a really big fascination with Ralph Lauren as a company and wanted that type of luxury vibe for his brand. So I studied some more. Dug into what really made the clothing brand unique. Most likely the fact that they made 19th-century sports gear fashionable by showing the clothing in high-value areas. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s Polo and Rugby clothing at the root of the brand. That gives it a humanness to it. With the CEO’s product, gatherings and nostalgia are the most common human thread.

What makes garden décor human?

Together.

I work these thoughts through some basic brand concepts starting with:

Luxury is limited—even in design.

I come to these idea’s for raising brand perception.

Action steps:

• Trim product offerings until public awareness rises.
• Focus on top sellers and build compelling stories around them.
• Logo & identity work:

• The logo feels too nostalgic and outdated.
• The current rounded square/oval resembles a Pennzoil sign from a 1950s garage—needs to go.
• Begin petitioning for a custom font treatment.
  • My manager informs me this won’t happen; the CEO is emotionally attached to the current font. Suggests working with it. Okay.
  • I pivot slightly, I remove the oval shape and create two versions.
  • I begin dropping the oval and using both versions interchangeably until testing shows results.
  • Plan to use data over time to justify a formal redesign.

Product strategy starts with brand vision and brand values. I’m not sure where to start here.

• CEO dislikes certain products’ style but refuses to stop selling them.
• These products dilute the luxury brand he wants to build.
• I begin to strategize how to handle these contradictions within the brand ecosystem.

I looked for this in XXX.

It was hard to frame them and position them, as there were no company values, vision, or mission. Why did this brand exist outside of extracting revenue from customers?

What did purchasing from their actual channels—website, social media integrations, etc.—do for the customer that they wouldn’t get from Wayfair, Etsy, or any other sales platform? And why would they choose your version of something someone else sold cheaper?

Right now I just see product dilution, every channel has their own pricing models and compete with each other on price of YOUR products. This is good to start but, Amazon isn’t going to let you scale that high on their backs and you’ve given them final say on the cost of your best selling products.

I need these answers. And the staff doesn’t have them. The CEO gives these gems.

“Our brand is clean.”
“Our brand is blue.”
“Guys who wear shoes with no socks.”

My bathroom is clean. My car is blue. Homeless people wear shoes with no socks.
What’s our promise to the public?

“Quality.”

Everybody says that.
How do we prove it?

So far, the brand lacks curb appeal, and the people who live there aren’t really talking about much. The living room is empty.

This house needs a some love.

And a Landscaper.

“If you’ve ever worked with a brand that looked or felt like this, follow and connect so I can show you how to build a weed wacker. If the homeowner pulls the chord or lets the damn lawn die 🤷‍♂️, not up to us”

well…

Spiderman had Uncle Ben. This place? Rice paper walls and no origin story.
I had to start somewhere.
This is my diagnosis—what would you handle first?”
(Follow to see how the Scape Goat rises.)