EP39: June 7, 2025 – Why Your Brand Feels Confused (and How to Fix It)
If your brand feels like a mishmash of half-finished ideas, you’re not alone. Today’s spark? How to find your brand’s spine and finally make it click.
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"Your brand can't be clearer for others if it's not clear for you first."
Full transcript
If your brand feels like a mismatch of half-finished ideas, then you're not alone. Today's Spark, it's all about how to find your brand's spine and finally make it click. Welcome back to Morning Cup of Brand Spark. Today is Saturday, June 7th, and I'm Gina Dunn, founder and brand strategist of OG Solutions.
Today's spark is for anyone who's ever felt like their brand is just a little confused. So let's spark it up. So let's be real and honest today. Brand confusion isn't just an aesthetic problem. It's an energy leak. It's that feeling when you're writing a post and you're not sure if it even sounds like you. Or that feeling when someone asks you what you do and you find yourself rambling.
or defaulting to safe buzzwords or things you've heard other people say. Even though you know you're so much more than that, I've been there. And it's not just you. It's common. Because building a brand and building a business, it's messy as hell at times. And we're taught to focus on the visuals, the marketing hacks, the endless social media posts.
all of the advice out there. It's messy. We're taught so many things that don't make sense. But underneath all of it, if your brand doesn't have a spine, a clear backbone of what you stand for and what your offer is, it will always feel scattered. And here's what I mean by a brand spine. It's that invisible thread that ties everything together.
your words, your visuals, your vibe, your core. When you don't have it, you're basically duct taping everything together, random ideas, and hoping that they'll feel like a brand because of some polish you put on it. And the spoiler here is that they won't. Let's pull an example from the real world. You might remember this. In 2009, Tropicana did a huge massive rebrand.
They actually spent $35 million on new packaging and new visuals. And you know what? It bombed. Their sales dropped by 20 % in just two months. And do you know why that is? It's because they changed the look, but not the story. They took away the emotional connection, like the real backbone that people had with the old brand. They took that away.
And they leave us with a lesson. Brand confusion isn't about how it looks. It's about how it feels. And people can feel when something is disconnected. Here's the spark for today. Your brand can't be clearer for others if it's not clear for you first. So if your brand feels confused, start here. First, get honest about what you stand for.
and then find your spine, the single idea that ties everything together. And then and only then build everything else around that spine and what you stand for. So here's your spark check. Spark one. If you had to rewrite your brand spine in one sentence, what would that sentence be? And spark two. What are you over-complicating?
Or where are you overcomplicating things instead of actually simplifying your story and focusing it? And SPARK 3. What's one messy real thing that you're ready to own in your brand? So that's your SPARK for today. Brand confusion isn't about needing another photo shoot or another logo. Sometimes it's about finding your brand's backbone.
and letting everything else flow directly from there. And if you're stuck and need help finding that spine, let's talk. DM me on LinkedIn or drop a comment in this episode. I'd love to help you make sure your brand doesn't just look good, it feels like you. I'll catch you tomorrow.
Key takeaways & FAQ
Five things to steal
- 01 Brand confusion is an energy leak, not just an aesthetic problem worth ignoring.
- 02 A brand spine is the invisible thread connecting your words, visuals, and core.
- 03 Changing visuals without changing story creates disconnection audiences immediately feel.
- 04 Your brand cannot be clearer for others until it is clear for you first.
- 05 Find the single idea tying everything together before building anything else around it.
Frequently asked
A brand spine is the invisible thread that ties everything together — your words, visuals, vibe, and core. Without it, you end up duct-taping random ideas together and hoping polish makes them feel like a brand. According to brand strategist Gina Dunn, the spine is the single idea that anchors what you stand for and what your offer is, and everything else should be built around it.
Brand confusion often happens because business owners focus on visuals, marketing hacks, and social media posts without establishing a clear backbone first. If your brand doesn't have a spine — a defined sense of what you stand for — it will always feel scattered no matter how polished the surface looks. The fix starts with internal clarity before external expression.
In 2009, Tropicana spent $35 million on new packaging and visuals, but sales dropped 20% in just two months. The rebrand failed because they changed the look without changing the story. They removed the emotional connection consumers had with the original brand, illustrating that brand confusion is not about how something looks — it is about how it feels to the audience.
Start by getting honest about what you stand for, then identify the single idea — your brand spine — that ties everything together. Only after that should you build your messaging, visuals, and content around it. Gina Dunn also recommends asking yourself what you are overcomplicating, and what one real, messy truth you are ready to own inside your brand.
Tropicana spent $35 million on a rebrand in 2009, only to see sales drop 20% in just two months.
— Gina Dunn citing Tropicana rebrand case study · 02:26
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