Focus On Brand

When your product outpaces your brand, it's a signal — not a crisis. After a decade of building, Seamless recognized that gap and decided to do something about it.

In this episode of The Debrief, Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney sits down with Jonathan Pogact (VP of Marketing) and Philip LaChance (Principal Designer) at Seamless, to relive their 8+ month rebrand journey — from building the internal case to launching a brand that finally matched the company they'd become.

In this episode you'll hear:

• How to recognize when it's time to rebrand
• Why choosing the right agency is about vibe as much as craft
• What it takes to champion a long, multi-stakeholder rebrand from start to finish
• What the internal ROI of a rebrand feels like on the other side of launch

If you're a B2B marketing or design leader watching your competitive edge become table stakes, you'll be taking notes on this one!

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Brand decisions don't have to be personal. The best rebrand leaders know how to take the emotion out and replace it with clear criteria. ✅

In this episode of The Debrief, Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney sits down with Beth Forester — now CEO of Animoto, and VP of Marketing during their rebrand — to explore how intentional process and clear decision-making can be the difference between a brand project that stalls and one that actually succeeds.

Animoto was shifting its market position from consumer to SMB, carrying four iterations of their old brand across their product experience, and accumulating brand debt fast. What followed was one of the most structured, stakeholder-savvy approaches to a rebrand we've seen.

In this episode, Bill and Beth cover:

• Building internal alignment before agency engagement ever begins
• Using the RACI framework to manage input and keep decisions moving
• Navigating the logo phase before opinions start to outweigh criteria
• Defining success metrics early to keep brand decisions objective

If you're a B2B marketing or brand leader heading into a rebrand — or trying to figure out how to get your organization aligned before one — this episode offers a practical, grounded look at how to lead the process with clarity and confidence.

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What happens when a brand still holds value — but no longer reflects who you’ve become?

In this episode of The Debrief, Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney sits down with Nick Donovan, VP of Marketing and Communications at the Technology Association of Iowa (TAI), to explore how his team evolved an almost decade-old brand into a scalable system that better reflects who they are today.

With a background in graphic design and agency life, Nick brings sharp perspective on aligning purpose, messaging, and identity and what it really takes to bring a modern B2B brand to life.

You’ll hear:

✅ Why slowing down is essential to making smarter, more strategic brand decisions

✅ Why a deeper look at brand equity led to a more confident, focused refresh

✅ How to design a scalable system that unifies multiple sub-brands and programs

✅ How clear messaging enables more confident, consistent brand activation

Whether you’re planning a brand evolution or leading an identity rollout, this episode offers practical insight into what lasting, modern B2B branding really requires.

Editor's Note: You’ll notice some of our video dips into lo-fi territory throughout this episode. We had some rendering issues, but thankfully the insights came through in HD.

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Focus Lab is an established B2B brand agency that believes, without question, that the most successful companies are the ones who invest in branding. Focus Lab creates transformative B2B brands that resonate with their customers and stand out as industry leaders. Through a proven process and a shared commitment to create unforgettable experiences, we develop true partnerships that help B2B brands become their boldest, most original selves.

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Brand naming in 2026 is more complex, and more critical, than ever.

David Placek, founder of Lexicon Branding (the team behind names like Swiffer, BlackBerry, Sonos, and Dasani), joins Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney to explore the new frontiers of naming: from AI-driven processes and trademark saturation to global naming challenges and evolving consumer expectations.

What you'll learn:

• How AI is reshaping naming workflows and client expectations
• When a rename makes strategic sense (and when it doesn’t)
• Why global names must be distinct, ownable, and emotionally resonant
• What’s changed — and what still holds true — in naming today

Whether you're a CMO, founder, or brand strategist, this episode unpacks how to make smarter, more future-proof naming decisions.

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Focus Lab is an established B2B brand agency that believes, without question, that the most successful companies are the ones who invest in branding. Focus Lab creates transformative B2B brands that resonate with their customers and stand out as industry leaders. Through a proven process and a shared commitment to create unforgettable experiences, we develop true partnerships that help B2B brands become their boldest, most original selves.

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When’s the right time to let go of a brand that’s no longer serving your business—even if it’s been working for 10+ years?

In our latest episode of The Debrief, Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney talks with the GigSalad team: CEO Mark Steiner, CTO Locke Bircher, and Product Designer Nichole Baiel. Together, they discuss the bold, intentional rebrand that helped them level up and better align with their future audience and goals.

They unpack the creative decisions, moments of friction, and meaningful conversations that shaped the transformation from the brief to the big reveal.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ Why holding onto a legacy brand can quietly limit future growth

✅ How “playing it safe” in B2B branding makes it harder to stand out

✅ Why designing for your audience—not yourself—drives better results

✅ The often-overlooked value of soft skills when choosing a branding partner

🎧 Whether you’re evolving your identity or evaluating your agency partner, this episode offers candid insights into what bold B2B branding really takes.

Let's be honest, we don’t need more AI hype. We need real examples of how teams are using it to work smarter. In this episode, Henrique Cruz of Rows shares how AI is becoming a true creative collaborator — streamlining workflows, accelerating iteration, and unlocking bandwidth for higher-value thinking.

After partnering with Focus Lab on a full rebrand, the Rows team didn’t shelf the guidelines — they activated them. Henrique shares how they now use AI to generate on-brand creative drafts faster, using the original system as a foundation. The result? More assets, more agility, and more space for designers to focus on what matters most: pushing the work further.

What this episode covers:

🔺 Real examples of AI-driven creative workflows inside a lean B2B team

🔺 How brand guidelines + AI = speed without sacrifice

🔺 The tactical impact of AI on creative ops and content velocity

🔺 How to keep humans at the center while working smarter

Whether you’re leading a brand, scaling a creative team, or exploring AI for marketing execution, this conversation delivers practical insights — not just predictions.

Show Notes:

What does it really take to lead a successful B2B rebrand — one that aligns internal teams, resonates externally, and drives measurable ROI?

In this episode, Contentstack CMO Gurdeep Dhillon joins Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney to break down the full rebranding journey. You’ll learn how Gurdeep approached agency selection, structured internal collaboration, navigated creative feedback, and activated the brand with impact.

Whether you're planning a rebrand, navigating M&A, or evolving your company's voice, this is a playbook for brand leaders who want to get it right.

What you'll hear:

• How a refresh clarified the need for a full rebrand
• The four traits Contentstack used to select a brand agency
• Early ROI indicators just weeks after launch
• Advice for CMOs leading their next rebrand

In the final episode of our Brand and Product series, Bill Kenney (Focus Lab) and Lee Eisenbarth (MaxQ) look ahead: What does the future hold for brand in a world shaped by evolving user expectations and AI tools?From kids swiping TikTok to professionals navigating enterprise software, the bar for user experience is higher than ever. So how does brand show up — not just in how things look, but in how they feel?This episode dives into:

• Why younger generations will force brands to prioritize experience inside products
• What Apple teaches us about branding beyond visuals
• How AI is changing creative work — and where humans still hold the edge
• One mindset shift every founder should make about brand and product
• And so much more!

Whether you’re a founder, product, or brand leader, this conversation will challenge how you think about the emotional resonance of brand, and its vital role in the future products we build.Watch the full series for a complete perspective on how to bridge brand and product in ways that endure.

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Focus Lab is an established B2B brand agency that believes, without question, that the most successful companies are the ones who invest in branding. Focus Lab creates transformative B2B brands that resonate with their customers and stand out as industry leaders. Through a proven process and a shared commitment to create unforgettable experiences, we develop true partnerships that help B2B brands become their boldest, most original selves.

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When brand and product are treated as separate silos, user trust suffers. In this episode, Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney and Max Q Co-Founder Lee Eisenbarth unpack what it means to build software experiences that feel cohesive—because they are.

They explore how design systems, microcopy, onboarding flows, and even 404 pages can carry the weight of brand, not as decoration, but as the soul of the experience. You’ll hear examples from companies like Slack, Linear, and Ledger, and leave with tactics to align product with purpose — even on a lean budget.

Key Takeaways:

• Why brand-product misalignment kills trust (and how to fix it)

• Where to inject brand personality into the product — without overdoing it

• Small but mighty ways to make technical UX feel human

• How internal teams (not just marketing) scale brand consistently

  
  

Whether you’re building your MVP or scaling a platform, this is your playbook for embedding brand into every corner of your product.

Episode Resources:

When product teams build fast and brand is left behind, user experience gaps emerge — and trust erodes.In this first installment of our Brand & Product Series, Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney sits down with Lee Eisenbarth (Co-Founder, Max Q) to unpack why brand and product are still so often siloed — and why that separation is a critical failure for B2B startups and scale-ups.From early-stage identity myths to missed emotional cues in product design, this conversation sets the foundation for a new way forward: one where brand is built in from day one.

What we cover:

• Why product-first thinking often undervalues brand
• How emotional architecture builds resonance and retention
• The business risk of “brand as garnish” thinking
• Real-world moments where brand drives product trust (Duolingo, Chase, Chewy)
• How to align marketing, product, and brand as one experience

Whether you're a founder, product leader, or brand strategist, this is a must-watch on how to create unified, enduring experiences that move both hearts and markets.

Totango’s CMO Karen Budell joins Focus Lab’s Bill Kenney to unpack how bold branding choices and a tight internal team led to a rebrand that didn’t just look good — it worked.

From aligning internal cultures to creating a booth activation that got people talking, Karen shares tactical insights and strategic takeaways that any B2B leader navigating brand change can apply.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The role a small, empowered team plays in driving rebrand success
• How honest feedback (and base jumping) sparked a bold creative pivot mid-project
• Behind the scenes insights from Totango’s booth activation — and why it worked
• Why upholding the brief is one of the CMO’s most critical roles
• And so much more!

Brand isn't just a creative exercise — it’s a product that drives ROI.

Back for his third appearance on the Focus on Brand podcast, Sergio Claudio (ex-Adobe, Marketo, Zuora) joins us to challenge how organizations perceive and measure creativity. Is it just a cost center—or a powerful growth engine?

In this episode, Sergio unpacks how creative work can (and should) drive business outcomes. From C-suite blockers to strategic alignment, we cover how to elevate creative teams from "make it pretty" to make it perform.

What we cover:

🔹 Why creativity is still misunderstood in many orgs

🔹 Common executive roadblocks—and how to address them

🔹 How to align creative efforts with real business goals

🔹 Tactical ways to integrate brand moments into the customer journey

Whether you're a brand leader, CMO, or creative looking to make a bigger impact, this episode is packed with clarity, inspiration, and action.

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Join Bill Kenney as he sits down with Jason Alvarez Coen, CEO and co-founder of Popl, and Bryce Alston, VP of Marketing, to relive Popl's transformation in this insightful episode: 

✅ Discover how Popl transitioned from a viral TikTok hardware product to an enterprise B2B SaaS company 

✅ Learn about the triggers and catalysts that prompted the rebrand 

✅ Understand the challenges and opportunities faced during the process 

✅ Gain insights into their strategic rollout plan for a successful market entry 

✅ Hear about the importance of aligning brand identity with company evolution 

If you're considering a rebrand for your rapidly growing startup, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways on planning, execution, and achieving alignment. Don't miss it!

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Calling all creative agency founders (or aspiring founders) 🚨 In our latest podcast episode, we sat down with the partners of Casa Davka, a consulting firm for creative agencies.

Focus Lab CEO, Bill Kenney, had the pleasure of diving into the highs, lows, and everything in between with Emily Cohen and Hunter Vargas on their experiences and observations working with agency owners across the country and beyond. 

They hit on fantastic insights such as:

• The top three things agencies struggle with
• Emily's book, Brutally Honest, and the need for clear communication
• The importance of agencies demonstrating the value of design and branding to clients
• Recent trends and shifts in the creative agency model (and market)
• Advice to anyone considering starting their own agency
• And so much more!

A huge thank you to Emily and Hunter for taking the time to join us on the podcast to share their points of view on the industry as well as advice to creative agencies everywhere.

Episode Resources:

Calling all design and brand mascot nerds that were around in the 90s! We sat down with one of the original creators of Clippy (and the suite of Microsoft Office Assistants) and we got really deep in the lore of the tech mascot universe. Focus Lab CEO and Monte Atherton, founder of Astonishing Work design studio, hit on so many fantastic topics such as:

👉 How Clippy (and friends) came to be Office Assistants 👉 Using mascots to humanize technology in the 90s & today 👉 Clippy walked so AI could run 👉 Monte's advice for developing a B2B mascot 👉 And so much more! Be sure to like + subscribe for more content like this — and let us know which Microsoft Assistant you used in the comments.

In our latest episode of The Debrief, we're sitting down with MessageGears VP of Marketing, Will Devlin. After 10 years with the same logo, the MessageGears team's rebrand mantra was "anywhere but here" — and their rebrand project benefited greatly from that mindset. Will and Bill touch on so many important topics such as:

• The inflection point for the MessageGears rebrand
• The challenge of the unknown when entering a brand project
• The benefits of setting expectations when committing to something new
• The importance of a strong strategy in a rebrand
• And so much more!

You won't want to miss this episode. Will and his team were a highlight of our year and being able to debrief with him was the cherry on top! P.S. Don't forget to like + subscribe.

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In this episode of The Debrief, we're sitting down with Irwin's VP of Marketing, Melissa Homère, and digging into their team's experience working alongside Focus Lab to level up their existing brand. Irwin had an innovative product and a respected brand, but recognized that they were in need of a refresh to get organized, strategic, and elevated. In our conversation, we touch on everything from: 👉 Verbalizing the importance of a rebrand to the larger team 👉 The importance of strategy in their rebrand effort 👉 Quantifying the ROI of the rebrand after just a few months And so much more!

In this episode of The Debrief, we are sitting down with our pal Philip Lakin, former CEO and co-founder of NoCodeOps. What do we mean by former, you ask? Well, a few weeks back our friends at NoCodeOps were acquired by "their favorite player in the space" — Zapier.

Focus Lab CEO, Bill Kenney, sits down with Phil to relive their rebrand experience with us from two years ago and discuss how the brand has helped get them to where they are today. They touch on topics such as:

👉 The strategy behind making tough brand architecture decisions

👉 The success behind a community-based approach as a SaaS company

👉 How the brand investment helped with the Zapier acquisition

And so much more!

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Join us in our latest episode of In Conversation as we chat with John Rougeux — founder of Flag & Frontier, a company that specializes in narrative design and execution. In this episode, John and host Bill Kenney break down various category design strategies, discuss how to find c-suite alignment without taking away autonomy from the larger team, dig into what the right mindset is to have when approaching a big brand change, and so much more. Whether you're a business owner, marketer, or creative we think you'll find some valuable insights from John!

Calling all B2B marketing professionals out there — our latest episode of In Conversation is not one you'll want to skip. Today we're sitting down with Palmer Houchins, currently Head of Marketing at G2 (maybe you'v heard of it).

In our latest episode, Palmer and Bill dive into Palmer's early days at MailChimp, the tricky science of measuring brand ROI, the future of B2B marketing, and so much more!

A huge thank you to Palmer for joining us on the podcast and for sharing so many nuggets of wisdom.

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As an AI company who was building their premium product well before the big AI boom, PolyAI recognized that their previous brand did not represent the level of power and maturity they had achieved — it was time to level up.

It was a pleasure to have Kylie Whitehead, Senior Director of Marketing and Brand at PolyAI, sit down with Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney to reflect on their rebrand project with our team. Tune is as they discuss PolyAI's choice to reposition their company prior to finding a rebrand partner, the major benefits of transparency in a rebrand project, the importance of getting your C-suite on board, and so much more.

Rewind to 2022 when we were still gearing up for Odi, our sister agency purpose-built for startups. In order to drum up some excitement, we ran a giveaway — a free brand project for one lucky (soon-to-be) client.

The winner of that giveaway was no other than Noelle London, founder and CEO of Illoominus, a company focused on simplifying HR tech stacks in order to transform organizations into people-first workplaces.

Tune in to our latest episode as Noelle and Bill sit down to discuss how it felt to be the first ever Odi project, how the B2B landscape is becoming more humanized, and Noelle's approach to making brand decisions that would grow with her business goals.

Get excited: we've got a brand new Odi Debrief episode! Odi is a B2B brand agency built from the team at Focus Lab specifically to serve early-stage startups.

You won't want to miss this episode as we sit down with Ryan Masuga, owner of Masuga, a web development company that has been around for 17 years and recently made the bold and brave decision to rethink their brand after a hard economic year for so many service-based businesses.

Tune is as Ryan and Bill discuss what Ryan's approach to investing in brand, his best advice for founders considering a brand investment, how impactful the new brand has been for his business even after just two months.

For creative work, we find that “good feedback” means “effective feedback.” That means hearing what isn’t working, AND what is. We’ve got some tips for you, or your clients, to get beyond “I don’t like it” and onto effective, actionable feedback.

To date, Crossbeam's Bob Moore has founded three companies, all centered around data engineering. Bob was originally a non-believer when it came to the power of a strong brand, but after his first brand project with Focus Lab, Bob had a change of heart. Enough so that he wrote the forward for Bill Kenney's recent book, Conquer Your Rebrand. Shortly after the book launched, Bill and Bob sat down to discuss his multiple experiences with Focus Lab and Bob's inspiring forward.

Thrive Digital is a world-class growth marketing partner focused on paid acquisition, creative and measurement science. Focus Lab CEO Bill Kenney chats with Thrive Digital's Founder and President Jonathan Becker about embarking on a rebrand just as the world started shutting down due to the pandemic, and how why they prioritized the rebrand regardless. Check out Thrive Digital at thrivedigital.com