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JUST Branding: Daily Summaries Delivered
by JUST Branding - by Jacob Cass & Matt Davies
The JUST Branding Podcast, hosted by Jacob Cass & Matt Davies, is the only podcast dedicated to helping designers & entrepreneurs grow brands. Each episode goes deep into the details of the brand building process, with professional insights, actionable tips and resources to help you build better brands. The focus is on helping designers & entrepreneurs bridge the gap between strategy and design. Branding professionals from around the world join Jacob & Matt in discussing the benefits of brand strategy, top tools, how to sell strategy, brand purpose, brand positioning, neuroscience, brand personality, messaging, storytelling, brand naming, tag lines, logo design, brand identity design and brand experience. ABOUT JACOB CASS Jacob Cass is a Sydney-based designer & strategist who runs JUST Creative, an award-winning branding & design firm that doubles as an industry leading blog. Jacob helps brands grow & get results by crafting distinctive logos & brand identities that are backed by a solid brand strategy. He recently rebranded San Francisco and Puerto Rico, and also branded New York's Digital District. Other clients have included the likes of Disney, Nintendo and Jerry Seinfeld. Jacob has spoken at TEDx, been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur and has been awarded LinkedIn’s “Best of” for branding. For him, design is a lifelong journey of continuously honing his craft, as well as educating other fellow designers & business owners to build on theirs, which has allowed him to build a large and loyal following, including his website which has been been viewed over 50 million times. Jacob is an avid traveler and has traveled to 87 countries. ABOUT MATT DAVIES Matt is a brand strategy specialist working with leaders to align around their brand and get it ready to connect deeply with those inside and outside of their organisations. His work enables you to grow your business faster and easier. Matt solves a variety of brand challenges, from strategy and positioning to naming and identity right through to company culture and product innovation.
Latest Episodes
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- Today1h 6m
S07.EP12 - Creative Leadership & The Future of Branding with Ekaterina Solomeina
In this episode, Jacob Cass & Matt Davies sit down with Ekaterina Solomeina, creative director, TEDx speaker, co-founder of Future London Academy, and host of Creative Capes, to explore how branding, design, and creative leadership are evolving. As AI accelerates execution and businesses face more complex cultural, technological, and commercial challenges, the value of creativity is shifting. It is no longer enough for designers and brand leaders to simply make things look good. The real opportunity is to connect creativity to business value, strategic decisions, customer trust, innovation, culture, and growth. If you want to become a more strategic, commercially valuable, and future ready creative leader, this conversation is packed with insight.
- 3 weeks ago55 min
S07.EP11 - Pricing Creative Work with Jonathan Stark
In this episode, Jacob Cass sits down with Jonathan Stark, pricing expert, author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, host of Ditching Hourly, and co-host of The Business of Authority, to unpack why trading time for money is such a poor fit for expert work. Together, Jacob and Jonathan explore the difference between fixed fees and true value pricing, how to run better sales conversations, why pricing is deeply connected to positioning, and how authority changes the way clients buy. They also discuss the psychology of charging more, why creatives often underprice their own judgment, and the practical first steps for ditching hourly without blowing up your business overnight. If you are tired of selling hours, defending rates, or being compared against cheaper alternatives, this episode will help you rethink what you are really selling and how to build a business around expertise, not availability.
- Jun 25, 20261h 1m
S07.EP10 - The Science of Brand Associations with Ulli Appelbaum
In this episode of JUST Branding, we’re joined by Ulli Appelbaum, globally respected brand strategist, founder of First The Trousers, and author of The Science of Brand Associations. Ulli has spent years helping organisations understand how brands grow by shaping the associations people hold in memory. In this conversation, we unpack one of the most important and often misunderstood areas of branding: how associations are formed, strengthened, measured, and used to drive real business growth. We explore why some brands own clear memory structures while others remain vague, how emotion and storytelling help build associations, and what marketers often get wrong about consistency, distinctiveness, and meaning. If you want to build a brand that is easier to notice, easier to remember, and easier to choose, this episode will give you a practical look at the science behind brand growth.
- Jun 8, 202643 min
S07.EP09 - From Execution to Expertise with David C. Baker
In this episode, Jacob Cass and Matt Davies sit down with David C. Baker, author of The Business of Expertise and one of the leading voices on positioning, specialization, and advisory businesses. Together, they explore what actually becomes valuable in a world where production is abundant. We discuss: • The difference between execution and expertise • Why many creative firms still struggle to position themselves clearly • What clients are really paying for at the highest level • Why judgment, trust, and perspective matter more than ever • How AI is reshaping pricing, specialization, and creative work • What makes a firm truly irreplaceable This conversation is for designers, strategists, consultants, and creative entrepreneurs who want to move beyond being seen as a pair of hands and become trusted experts.
- May 25, 202641 min
S07.EP08 - Why Most Agencies Sound The Same + How to Really Differentiate with Emily Penny
In this episode, we sit down with brand strategist and verbal identity specialist Emily Penny to unpack the growing challenge of differentiation in an increasingly saturated market. Emily is the creator of the Fully Saturated report and founder of a micro studio focused on positioning and voice. Together, we explore why so many agencies struggle to stand out, what strong positioning actually looks like today, and how agencies can build relevance in an AI-enabled world. We discuss: • Why agency positioning often falls flat • The real meaning of “fully saturated” • How verbal identity creates distinction • The role of personality and point of view • What agencies can offer that AI can’t • How micro studios and modern agencies can stay valuable Whether you’re a strategist, designer, consultant, or agency founder, this conversation will challenge how you think about differentiation, positioning, and the future of creative businesses.
- May 9, 202654 min
S07.EP7 - Founder Branding with Amelia Sordell
Jacob Cass and Matt Davies speak with Amelia Sordell, founder and CEO of Klowt and one of the leading voices in founder-led marketing. We explore how founders can show up without overshadowing the business, how to align personal voice with company positioning, and why posting more does not automatically mean building authority. You’ll also learn where to start if you are building from zero, what content habits actually move the needle, and how to think about ROI from founder branding.
- Apr 21, 202644 min
S07.EP07 - UX & UI — The Brand Experience Gap w/ Alexander Lofthouse
In this episode, Jacob and Matt sit down with Alexander Lofthouse — Senior Designer at Nzime and a specialist in UX and digital experience. Lex and Jacob go back nearly a decade, and after watching her deliver a standout talk at NDC London, it was time to get her on the show. They get into where brand strategy ends and UX begins (and whether that line even makes sense), what happens when brand and product teams are pulling in different directions, and why beautiful brands so often feel terrible to actually use.
- Mar 31, 20261h 7m
S07.EP05 - Why Most Designers Won’t Last (and What AI Can’t Replace) with James Martin
Why do some designers build lasting careers while others fade out? In this episode of JUST Branding, we sit down with James Martin, founder of Made by James, to unpack what really sustains creative success over time and what quietly destroys it. Learn more at https://justcreative.com/podcast While many designers are chasing visibility, speed, and short-term attention, James makes the case for something deeper: reputation, craft, taste, and care. We explore why reputation is more valuable than hype, why craft still matters in a world of AI and instant design tools, and why taste remains one of the most overlooked advantages in creative work. James also shares why motivation is unreliable, why care is a far stronger driver of long-term creative growth, and how designers can think more clearly about their role in an industry being reshaped by automation and DIY branding tools. This conversation is not just about design. It is about longevity. What makes people trust your work. What makes your work worth paying for. And what separates designers who build real careers from those who get lost chasing noise. We also get into the hidden cost of DIY branding, when founders should do it themselves versus bring in a professional, and what becomes more valuable for creatives as AI lowers the barrier to entry. If you are a designer, strategist, or founder trying to build something with depth, credibility, and staying power, this one is for you. In this episode, we discuss: • Why many designers confuse visibility with credibility • What actually builds a strong creative reputation • Whether craft is being lost in the age of speed and automation • Why taste is still a serious competitive advantage • The difference between motivation and care • The hidden cost of DIY branding • What AI makes easier, and what it can never replace A sharp, honest conversation about what still matters in creative work, and why the designers who last are rarely the ones chasing the fastest win.
About JUST Branding
The JUST Branding Podcast, hosted by Jacob Cass & Matt Davies, is the only podcast dedicated to helping designers & entrepreneurs grow brands. Each episode goes deep into the details of the brand building process, with professional insights, actionable tips and resources to help you build better brands. The focus is on helping designers & entrepreneurs bridge the gap between strategy and design. Branding professionals from around the world join Jacob & Matt in discussing the benefits of brand strategy, top tools, how to sell strategy, brand purpose, brand positioning, neuroscience, brand personality, messaging, storytelling, brand naming, tag lines, logo design, brand identity design and brand experience. ABOUT JACOB CASS Jacob Cass is a Sydney-based designer & strategist who runs JUST Creative, an award-winning branding & design firm that doubles as an industry leading blog. Jacob helps brands grow & get results by crafting distinctive logos & brand identities that are backed by a solid brand strategy. He recently rebranded San Francisco and Puerto Rico, and also branded New York's Digital District. Other clients have included the likes of Disney, Nintendo and Jerry Seinfeld. Jacob has spoken at TEDx, been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur and has been awarded LinkedIn’s “Best of” for branding. For him, design is a lifelong journey of continuously honing his craft, as well as educating other fellow designers & business owners to build on theirs, which has allowed him to build a large and loyal following, including his website which has been been viewed over 50 million times. Jacob is an avid traveler and has traveled to 87 countries. ABOUT MATT DAVIES Matt is a brand strategy specialist working with leaders to align around their brand and get it ready to connect deeply with those inside and outside of their organisations. His work enables you to grow your business faster and easier. Matt solves a variety of brand challenges, from strategy and positioning to naming and identity right through to company culture and product innovation.
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JUST Branding covers topics including Arts, Design. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
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