Trying to make everyone happy? Congratulations—you’ve just built the most forgettable brand in the room. In this episode of The Brand ON! Show, Brandon Coleman Jr breaks down why great branding is never done by committee. From clueless stakeholder input to family drama and employees resisting change, Brandon exposes how brands get watered down into meaningless jargon and mediocrity. Real leadership means making bold, market-driven decisions—because at the end of the day, great brands don’t try to please everyone, they stand for something. If your brand is stuck in “safe mode,” it’s time to shake things up and make it Brand ON!

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Transcript (with chapter marks)

00:00:52 Everyone’s Got an Opinion!

Brandon Coleman Jr: God so loved the world that he did not send a committee. He sent one. Compromising to please others is a common road hazard capable of destroying your tires, your wheels, and making your brand car wobble. Everyone's got an opinion, especially family and partners. Advisors, friends, board members, employees, and random influencers all weigh in like the next Don Draper in Mad Men.

00:01:53 Never By Committee

Brandon Coleman Jr: Great branding is never done by committee. Input is fine, even encouraged, but keep it at that input, let it morph into a group project, and you're begging for mediocrity.

00:02:27 The Expert Epidemic

Brandon Coleman Jr: The first pothole is the expert epidemic. Everyone's a critic. Like we mentioned, thanks to technology, everyone thinks they're a branding pro. Your cousin's got a logo sketch, your buddy's got a tagline, your barber's got vibes… Everyone's an expert till you call their block.

00:04:15 The Compromise Conveyor Belt

Brandon Coleman Jr: Number two is stakeholder pressure, the compromise conveyor belt. Look, I get it. I've been in front of 1000s of them, boards, investors, partners. They'll lean on your heart… Boards might push safe names from their corporate days, or investors might demand a little flash over substance. It's not malice, it's just perspective. But if you go too far, your brand becomes a Frankenstein of their agenda. It’s not your vision; pressure's a slow grind.

00:06:36 The Emotional Family Minefield

Brandon Coleman Jr: Dad had a dream. He had built a dream, and he dreamed of the legacy with his son following through. The son, zero interest.. Dad saw heritage, the son saw shackles, we wrestled it out. It was a long project, but the brand finally clicked. It united them. It brought them all together.

00:08:10 Employee Pushback

Brandon Coleman Jr: Employees can derail alignment, too, and today's workforce is a new beast. They demand voice, purpose, emotional, savvy, saving the world. They demand it all.

00:09:31 The Committee Conundrum

Brandon Coleman Jr: Number five, the mediocrity spiral, death by committee. Committees breed mediocrity. We talked about it up front, at the top of the show. Pleasing everyone sands down your edges. Your brand goes from Sharp to shapeless. Universities are hotbeds of committees and compromise, which generate a plethora of misaligned brands within their walls. Everyone's worried about what everyone thinks.

00:12:10 The Committee Conundrum

Brandon Coleman Jr: Markets. Don't reward consensus. They reward guts. Lead and they'll march or they'll limp off. It's your call. Just remember, compromising to please others is not a brand alignment strategy.