Taja Dockendorf is the Founder, Owner, and Creative Director at Pulp + Wire, a female-founded, award-winning, full-service, CPG branding and marketing agency. Pulp + Wire specializes in helping natural and organic foods, cannabis, hemp, and lifestyle brands discover their identities and create websites, packaging, and social media strategies that resonate with their audiences.
Taja has built P+W into one of the most in-demand, referred design houses in the Northeast, and her creative approach to a client-centric and holistic business model has consistently earned the company multiple graphic design and advertising awards. She is a regular contributor to Forbes, focusing on team culture in the creative space, and has been featured in The Dieline, Graphic Design USA, and Food Manufacturing Magazine, among other publications. Before Pulp + Wire, Taja co-founded multiple other brands and companies.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [01:34] Should your brand be an extension of you?
- [02:46] Taja Dockendorf walks through the research phases of building a brand
- [04:07] How to create a consumer-centric brand
- [06:10] Consumer testing strategies for brands in the launch stage
In this episode…
Many founders and brand owners maintain that their brand is “their baby” and should be an extension of their personalities. However, this mentality doesn’t always resonate with target audiences. How can you separate yourself from your brand to create a company that serves your target audience?
While your personality may fuel your brand’s vision, it doesn’t always define it. Award-winning brand builder Taja Dockendorf emphasizes conducting in-depth research into your target audience’s habits, preferences, purchasing decisions, and lifestyles to structure your brand. Once you’ve conducted sufficient research, you can begin creating products and designing packaging and logos. During this phase, it’s crucial to acquire and embrace customer feedback to refine your efforts and create a brand that best resonates with consumers.
In this exclusive episode of the Brand Alchemist Podcast, Taja Dockendorf talks about creating a consumer-centric brand that doesn’t just reflect your personality. She shares consumer testing strategies for the launch phase, delves into the research phases of brand-building, and explains why your brand isn’t really your baby.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “Your brand needs to live and breathe for your audience, not just for you.”
- “I adapted because I wanted Pulp + Wire to serve our clients, not just reflect me.”
- “Research isn’t just nice to have, it’s essential groundwork for building a successful brand.”
- “Design that looks off in context might make perfect sense in a sterile environment.”
- “Creating a brand that aligns with purpose and profitability is both an art and a science.”
Action Steps:
- Separate personal identity from brand identity: By viewing your brand as distinct from yourself, you allow it to evolve based on consumer needs rather than personal preferences.
- Conduct in-depth audience research: Understanding your audience’s habits, preferences, and daily routines provides essential insights for crafting a brand that truly connects with them.
- Embrace adaptation in design: Being open to adapting your brand’s aesthetic based on research insights ensures that your brand aligns with consumer expectations, better serving the brand’s appeal and profitability.
- Visualize brand context: Always consider where and how your brand will appear in real-life settings, ensuring the design elements attract consumers effectively in competitive environments.
- Engage in consumer testing: Gathering real-world feedback is crucial for refining and improving your brand, allowing you to iterate toward a more appealing and profitable version.
