“I’m excited to walk you through some of our approaches of really starting to lay the groundwork for building your brand thoughtfully and strategically,” said Sara Rosario-Gray.

Rosario-Gray is creative director at Pulp+Wire, is a Maine-based creative agency that specializes in consumer packaged goods strategy, branding, packaging and web design.

Ashton Bean, director of accounts at Pulp+Wire, joined Rosario-Gray in presenting at the 2025 Selling More Maine Food webinar series sponsored by Maine Grocers & Food Producers Association, Maine Center for Entrepreneurs and Food Fork Lab.

Rosario-Gray and Bean shared their framework for bringing a brand to life, communicating who you are as a company and elevating a brand through discovery, strategy and design.

Step 1: Questions & Discovery

“This is a lot of information that you already know. It’s just a matter of framing up the questions in a way that can help support and guide your big picture,” said Rosario-Gray.

The goal of this step is to understand who you are as a business and how you want to show up as a brand in the marketplace.

Bean said that often their clients have too much information that they want to share, and these questions – framed using the “four Cs” of marketing (consumer, competition, culture and company) – can help companies tease out the most important ideas to share with customers.

The first question to consider is “Who is your target consumer?” “Make sure you’re not afraid to target and really be specific and narrow into what the audience is so that you avoid looking too generic. Appealing to everyone is generally not the right way to go,” Bean said.

Companies should think of their customers as members of their personal fan club.

Understanding competition – who a company needs to watch out for – depends on the product or service being sold. Bean encouraged companies to consider the question “Where is your unique white-space opportunity?” (White-space is untapped market opportunities – blank spots.)

A company defining their culture needs to have an understanding of how outside influences such as social media, the news and current trends influence consumer choices.

Company, the last “C,” provides a chance to think about the beliefs and practices engaged in each day for the brand. Some questions to consider include “What is your purpose?” and “How do you want your brand to show up for your audience?”

Step 2: Arrange Step 1 Into a Cohesive Brand Pyramid

The goal of creating a brand pyramid is to distill the principles of a brand’s identity into a map of coordinated concepts. This can be used as future reference to shape a clear, consistent and compelling brand story.

There are many brand pyramids available. Pulp+Wire uses a version with a company’s purpose on the top. It then descends through these categories: mission, values, functional and emotional benefits, unique value and unique brand position and personality traits.

At the base of the pyramid are three reasons to believe – the provable pillars of the company’s purpose and mission.

Not all of this information can be displayed, for example, on the front label of a maple syrup bottle. Some is better left for a website, social media or other communication outlets.

“To me, it’s really the top and the bottom of the pyramid – that peak of the pyramid with the purpose and then the foundations of the reasons to believe – that really anchor what we want to be communicating on the packaging,” Bean said.

The goal of this pyramid is to provide a framework for any future brand communication: logos, packaging, newsletters, emails and social media posts. Rosario-Gray and Bean refer to these as “creatives.”

“All this really helps set us up for is how we want to translate this into our creatives, to bring in a more of a strategic approach,” Bean said.

Step 3: Creative Execution

Creatives will depend on whether a company is undergoing an evolution (changing packaging, for example) or a revolution (completely changing their creatives or establishing them for a new company). It’s also important to consider different packaging options.

Either way, before anything is created it’s important to consider current and future distribution: Are you considering wholesale? How big or small do you want to look compared to the competitors out there? Do you want to have a smaller homespun, handcrafted feel?

Another part of the creative execution is to explore other companies’ branding. Pay attention to fonts, logos, colors and the mood that various brands attempt to evoke.

“Sometimes it’s easier to start with who you don’t want to be than who you do want to be,” Rosario-Gray said.

Bean encouraged people to create a digital collage to aid the creative process. Inspiration can be found on Pinterest, social media and grocery store shelves.

“Anything like this helps drive inspiration if you’re working with someone to execute your creative for your brand and packaging. Designers love to see what resonates with you because that can help inform the creative and makes sure that you’re doing down the right path,” Rosario-Gray said. “The goal of this is to capture the feeling or vibe that you’re after. What will be memorable and sticky?”

Once a creative direction has been selected, it’s important to maintain consistency across all channels.

“Consistency is key and consistent execution across all your platforms is what’s going to help your brand shine,” Rosario-Gray said.

by Sonja Heyck-Merlin