
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.
Latest episodes

Dec 21, 2020 • 42min
S01.EP22 - Building FMCG Brands with Folkert van der Heide
What's it like to build brands in the food and beverage industries? In this episode we sit down with consultant Folkert van der Heide from the Netherlands who shares his story brand-building for many years in this space.
Coming from a humble background where he grew up learning from his families farming and other small businesses, Folkert went on to work for various businesses before finding himself working in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods). He did this initially for corporations in-house before then eventually going freelance. This work then led eventually to him establishing his own drinks brand, Moj.
We dig into the story of Moj, why he created it, and his experiences creating a brand from scratch and bringing it to market. Folkert shares his approach and methodology - including how to create a product with a "big idea" behind it. If you are involved in creating brands you'll find this very inspirational!

Dec 14, 2020 • 40min
S01.EP21 - Making a Difference with Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson, founder and creative director of Johnson Banks, discusses the importance of branding beyond visual elements. He shares insights on defining values and tone of voice, the power of distilling messages, and the inspiration behind his book on branding.

Dec 7, 2020 • 1h
S01.EP20 - The Future of Branding with Valerie Jacobs
Look into Valerie Jacobs’s crystal ball and see what lies ahead for the future of branding. You’ll go back to the future, by following Valerie’s journey to becoming a master trend forecaster and how she uses these techniques to innovate & grow brands for Fortune 500 brands.
You will learn how to gather consumer & market insights, and more importantly how to use these insights for “future-fluency”, a skill that will provide you with “future-forward design intelligence” that you can use to stay relevant in today’s accelerated world. Buckle up, it’s time to fly, chicken.

Nov 23, 2020 • 50min
S01.EP19 - How to Grow Real Brands with Dava Guthmiller
Dava Guthmiller, who spearheaded Uber’s branding, is founder and CCO at Noise 13, a branding & design agency in San Francisco. In this episode, you will discover what it takes to be a “real brand” - one that is bold, honest and centred around emotional connections.
You will learn how Dava used this philosophy to rapidly scale her agency, including a deep dive into her process of working with Uber and various other lifestyle brands. Dava shares her past failures, with key insights on why execution is just as important as strategy, plus strategies on how to measure branding. Tune in with Dava Guthmiller, Jacob Cass & Matt Davies and discover how to grow real brands with strategy & design.

Nov 9, 2020 • 1h 4min
S01.EP18 - Growth, Mentorship & Strategy with Philip VanDusen
Join Philip VanDusen as we discuss personal growth, mentorship and how to use the power of strategy, design and marketing to build bullet-proof brands & businesses.
PHILIP VANDUSEN
Philip VanDusen is the founder of Verhaal Brand Design, a YouTube Star and has over 20 years experience in branding & design including roles like ECD at Landor, Head of Design for Global Snacks at PepsiCo, P&G Old Navy.

Oct 26, 2020 • 1h 6min
S01.EP17 - Personal Branding with Tom Ross & Michael Janda
Grow your personal brand with confidence. Tune in with Michael Janda & Tom Ross as we explore what it takes to maximise your personal brand’s success! These “Biz Buddies” run multi 7-figure businesses and in this episode, you’ll hear the lessons they’ve picked up along the way.
MICHAEL JANDA
Michael Janda is an agency veteran, business coach, and best-selling author of Burn Your Portfolio. He helps creative freelancers and agencies run their businesses with confidence and make more money.
TOM ROSS
Tom Ross is the CEO of DesignCuts and a marketing coach. He co-hosts the Biz Buds podcast with Michael Janda and is probably the most Honest Entrepreneur on the internet. This episode is not to be missed!

Oct 12, 2020 • 44min
S01.E16 - Nike & Brand DNA with Matt Watson
What does working at Nike for 10 years teach you about brand? Find out in this episode with Matt Watson, founder of Watson Creative & Brand Labs, as he reveals all, including his affinity for the Nike logo. Watson will make you think about your brand and market differently after you hear how his firm handles the branding process. We discuss brand audits, consumer research including both creative & analytical sides, the power of brand DNA, plus some key insights on how to take a position and own it. Don’t miss this episode with Matt Watson, Jacob Cass & Matt Davies! Show notes: https://justcreative.com/podcast

Sep 28, 2020 • 48min
S01.E15 - Brand Mastery with Tobias Dahlberg
Get to know the super sleek brand educator that is Tobias Dahlberg all the way from Helsinki, Finland. In this episode, we discuss the value of brand strategy for businesses and how it can be applied to multiple business units and not just marketing, plus exactly how to approach this and embed it in businesses. Tobias discusses brand theories such as “becoming the only choice”, “radical differentiation” and how he gets people on board when making “brand choices”. He also explains his background and the super work he is doing at The Future Academy. This episode is not to be missed! Show notes at justcreative.com/podcast
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Tobias Dahlberg is an Entrepreneur & Strategist. He is the Founder of Wonder, a strategic brand and design consultancy in Helsinki, Finland. He is also the Founder of The Future Academy - a learning platform for entrepreneurs and companies who want to build game-changing brands and businesses. He has consulted, advised and created hundreds of strategies and innovative concepts for brands such as: Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, Fiskars, Fazer, Iittala, Hartwall, Nissan, Paulig, Telia, Marimekko, Halti, Neste Oil, Altia, Mandatum Life, and many more, from start-ups to multi-national corporations.

Sep 14, 2020 • 43min
S01.E14 - Psychology-Driven Brand Strategy with Kaye Putnam
In this episode, we sit down with the wonderful Kaye Putnam, a psychology-driven brand strategist from South Carolina. We geek out about all things brand thinking. We get into the meaning of ‘psychology-driven branding’, about knowing your brand and living your brand. Kaye shares her ‘4C Brand Strategy Framework’ which helps to bake psychological principles into brands.
We also discover Kayes inspirational story, her obsession with human decision making and how this helps her in her work + how she keeps a work life balance as a Mum and entrepreneur.
ABOUT OUR GUEST: Kaye Putnam is a psychology-driven brand strategist for entrepreneurs. Through work with hundreds of clients from international corporations to solo-entrepreneurs, she developed her signature Clarity Code™ method. She believes that online business should be more human and that all entrepreneurs have genius they can use to impact the world. She works with students in her brand incubation program and with clients 1-on-1. When she’s not transforming brands, she’s exploring the world with her husband and two little ones.

Sep 7, 2020 • 1h 12min
S01.B1 - Design Education, Change & The Business of Design
In this bonus episode, we have Douglas Davis join us, Jacob Cass & Matt Davies, to discuss the current state of design education and what it takes to remain relevant as we evolve as creatives in these disruptive and turbulent times. We explore his book, Creative Strategy & The Business of Design as well as the future of design. There has never been a more timely episode.
Douglas Davis is a strategist, author and professor at the New York City College of Technology, a part of the The City University of New York. He holds the chair for the BFA in Communication Design and has a through background in marketing, creative strategy and art direction.
Show notes available at https://justcreative.com/podcast
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