Brandy
Our award-winning book that has spawned a popular podcast show and birthed a brand.
A MOTIF Brand
At Motif Brands, we spend a lot of time thinking about brand, marketing, and psychology. This thinking led to writing about these thoughts to share with businesses so they can improve their brands. As over three years of writing culminated, we knew that we wanted to not just create an ordinary book but create a brand. Brandy was born.
The Challenge
Creating concise writings on brand marketing that avoid industry cliches and bring real value to those wanting to grow their businesses by building their brands. In addition, creating a book that stands out to more effectively deliver insightful writing in an enjoyable experience that also challenges the status quo found in business books.
The Strategy
We decided to approach the book brand by creating a theme that was based on the unexpected, yet playful name of “Brandy” — the conceptualizing of the book based on this theme gave clarity to the design of the cover as well as the terminology we used for the book. The full book title - Brandy: 101 Sips of Wisdom For Attaining A Successful Brand - already positioned the brandy brand as a different experience that still addresses the desire of the reader.
Brandy was written and further curated so each “sip” (chapter) of Brandy flows cohesively and builds value for the reader as the book functions as a daily reader for them to enjoy from beginning to end or pick up and read a sip at random. The brand of the book created its own world that made it unique and increased its ability to scale to other mediums and products like a podcast.
The Design
Capturing the essence of the Brandy theme, the cover design reinforced this with visuals that portray the book as something one might find in a cocktail lounge instead of a library. The intricate detail in the dark leather texture with the gold foil wordmark and type gives it an elevated appearance that balances the clever title and subtitle. By visually setting a tone that is unconventional for a business book, Brandy stands out and improves the reader’s experience because we consider how they will feel when reading the book. Just like with any product, we want the reader to be comfortable reading the book in their office, at a coffee shop, or on a plane to land their next deal. We wanted Brandy to not only look nice, but feel nice for the reader because to be seen reading it says something about them as an individual.
The Creative Solution*
Considering the visual design approach to the cover and the wordmark for Brandy, this theme was carried to all touchpoints for the book and its brand, including a vague social media campaign leading up to the release of the book. BrandyBook.us became the home for Brandy that completes the cocktail experience with visuals and more messaging that plays with speakeasy terminology that creatively connects the details of Brandy with terms often associated with alcohol. This creates a fun experience and empowers the viewer to frame Brandy as more than just a book that is read, but an experience that is sipped.
Hardcover | Softcover | Kindle | iBOOKS
The Results
The 402-page book has readership in over 11 countries, received 30+ 5-star Reviews, and has been listed in Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers for Small Business Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Marketing & Consumer Behavior.
In addtion, Brandy received the 2024 Goody Business Book Award in the Marketing & Branding category after being selected from hundreds of global nominations and recognized by a panel of judges for its content, cover design, and value to business owners and entrepreneurs.
