Brand all over the place? Here’s how we fixed that for a UK-based food tech startup
This food tech startup came to me with a common problem: “Everyone’s doing the brand their own way.” They had a logo, some colors, and a few slides from early days.
But the designers, marketers, assistants, they were all winging it. And every time someone new joined, the brand changed again. They were looking for a structure without a full rebrand, and here’s where we came in.
The challenge
Startups don’t always have time for branding.
They’re focused on product, growth, or raising investment.
That’s normal.
But as the team grows and channels multiply, a lack of structure becomes a blocker.
Here’s what was going wrong:
No tone of voice or communication guidelines
Socials, pitch decks, and emails all looked and sounded different
Freelancers were guessing, and juniors were improvising
The brand was getting diluted, fast
What we did?
We didn’t touch the visuals. We focused on what matters most: How the brand speaks and shows up. Aka, the marketing brand book.
1. Audit & input
We reviewed everything they had: social media posts, landing pages, pitch decks, internal docs, and spotted the inconsistencies.
We also talked to stakeholders to understand where they were struggling and what “good” should look like.
2. Voice framework
I used my own brand voice structure to define:
Who they’re speaking to
How they should sound
What to say more about
What to cut out
Which rules every team member should follow
This was specific. With examples, “say this / not this” tables, and all the core tone building blocks they’d need.
3. Brand book toolkit
The final deliverable was a clear, useful brand book.
It included:
Audience breakdown
Brand personality and tone rules
Messaging examples
Do’s and don’ts
Language and visual rules that apply across socials, product, and press
What happened next?
Content became more consistent across platforms
Freelancers and new hires started faster, with less back-and-forth
The team finally had one shared language, and fewer random experiments
The brand book became their internal menu: simple, accessible, and actually usable.
Your brand isn’t too early for this
If your team is growing and you’re seeing signs of drift, let’s fix it.
We’ll keep what works, clean up what doesn’t, and leave you with a playbook that grows with you.