Alex Foss says good research starts with good questions
Release Date: 03/09/2026
Alex Foss says good research starts with good questions
How Brands Are Built
In this episode of How Brands Are Built, I talk with Alexander Foss about research—why it matters, what makes it valuable, and a few pitfalls to avoid. Alex and I first worked together at , where he was on the strategy team before moving more deeply into research and insights. In our conversation, he explains what pulled him in that direction: the feeling of backing up recommendations with something stronger than a “finger in the air.” We talk about the shift from agency work to client-side research, and how different it is when you're responsible not just for delivering against a brief,...
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Robin Goffman is all in on Designing Brand Identity
How Brands Are Built
On today's episode of How Brands Are Built, host Rob Meyerson of speaks with Robin Goffman—brand thinker, design strategist, and founder of —about her career path, her approach to creative work, and her experience designing multiple editions of . Robin shares the story of how she first entered the world of design, from early hands-on tutorials in Adobe software to studying art direction at Temple University. She describes how a single introduction—through her professor, —connected her with the late Alina Wheeler and ultimately set her on the path to helping design several...
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The Q&A episode
How Brands Are Built
A few weeks back, on LinkedIn and Instagram, I asked whether anyone had questions about branding, naming, or other topics I might be able to speak to. My plan was to do a Q&A episode—and this is it. On this episode, I answer questions from branding professionals and others about branding, naming, and book publishing. Here's a sample of what was asked: How do you manage clients wanting to wordsmith your brand strategy work? What guidance should you give clients to help them implement your recommended brand strategy? How do you maintain brand consistency when people at your company won't...
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Jacob Cass ran a wildly successful summit
How Brands Are Built
In today's episode of How Brands Are Built, host Rob Meyerson speaks with Jacob Cass, designer, brand strategist, and founder of , about his recent venture: the . This innovative, four-day virtual event featured 24 speakers and attracted over 20,000 attendees from 156 countries, significantly surpassing Jacob's initial goals. Jacob discusses the unique format of the summit, which blended pre-recorded sessions with live Q&As, panels, and workshops, emphasizing the crucial integration of brand strategy, design, marketing, and community. He reveals insights into the promotional strategies...
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Alex Center links package design to fashion
How Brands Are Built
Today's guest is , a designer and podcaster and founder of the award-winning design and branding studio, . From 2006 to 2017, Center worked for the Coca-Cola Company, helping build the brands Vitaminwater, Powerade, and Smartwater. Today, he and the team at CENTER are building the next generation of icon brands partnering with companies like United Sodas of America, Apple, HEYWEAR, Good Light, New Balance, SIMULATE, and Liquid Death. One of the reasons I wanted to talk to Alex today is because his agency, CENTER, is a contributor to the new edition of . CENTER pitched in on the pages about...
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Designing Brand Identity book launch at Noise 13
How Brands Are Built
This episode of How Brands Are Built is a live recording of an April 25, 2024 book launch for Designing Brand Identity, sixth edition, held at in San Francisco. The event included a panel discussion moderated by Rob Goodman. The panelists were Dava Guthmiller, founder of Noise 13, Rob Meyerson co-author of the sixth edition of , and Robin Goffman, creative director for the book. The discussion includes thoughts on rebranding, trends in branding, and how Rob and Robin first got involved with Alina Wheeler (the creator and author of Designing Brand Identity, who passed away in December, 2023)....
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The Brand Names Report: A walkthrough and summary
How Brands Are Built
Back in February of this year, I released the first Brand Names Report, an analysis of polling data on brand names from Brand New, the leading brand identity review site edited and written by Armin Vit. From July 2020 to June 2023, visitors to Brand New cast a total of 22,769 votes across 131 brand names, rating each as Great, Fine, or Bad. These polls are the only easily available opinion data on brand names that I'm aware of. And while the data is far from perfect (I'll walk through some weaknesses on this episode), I wanted to see whether it could tell us anything useful about which...
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Fabian Geyrhalter builds and launches successful brands
How Brands Are Built
Rob Meyerson and Fabian Geyrhalter discuss brand strategy's balance of innovation and foundational rules, touching on brand creation challenges and successful launches in the evolving marketing landscape. Today’s episode is special. It's an edited version of a LinkedIn livestream chat with Fabian Geyrhalter, founder and principal at FINIEN, "a purposefully small consultancy based in Los Angeles." Fabian is a brand strategist and creative director and host of the Hitting the Mark podcast. He's also written several best-selling books, including How to Launch a Brand and The Brand Therapy Book....
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Rob Goodman uses content to drive business outcomes
How Brands Are Built
Today's guest is Rob Goodman. Rob specializes in content strategy and creative content production, with experience at companies like Google, Wix, and Webflow. He's delivered award-winning branded content, content strategies, and comprehensive content calendars for these companies and other clients, helping brands transform into publishers built for engaging today's audiences. Rob also hosts his own podcast, Making Ways, about the intersection of art and music. He interviews bands, like Melvins and Nada Surf, and the visual artists they collaborate with to create album art, music videos, and...
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Season four wrap-up: How brands (and branding professionals) can do good
How Brands Are Built
It's the summer of 2021—one year since the . And if you’re wondering what that has to do with the season-four wrap-up of a podcast about branding, let me tell you: in early 2020 I had a plan for season four of How Brands Are Built. But in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and protests around the world, my plan changed a bit. 2020 was already a pretty awful year for most people, and it just seemed to be getting worse and worse. So I started thinking about whether there was a way I could use this little platform of mine to do some good—or at least talk about something positive. That...
info_outlineIn this episode of How Brands Are Built, I talk with Alexander Foss about research—why it matters, what makes it valuable, and a few pitfalls to avoid.
Alex and I first worked together at Interbrand, where he was on the strategy team before moving more deeply into research and insights. In our conversation, he explains what pulled him in that direction: the feeling of backing up recommendations with something stronger than a “finger in the air.”
We talk about the shift from agency work to client-side research, and how different it is when you're responsible not just for delivering against a brief, but for defining the business problem in the first place.
A big theme throughout the episode is purpose. Alex makes the point repeatedly: research should start with a clear question. If you don't know why you're conducting a survey, for example—what decisions it’s meant to inform—you probably shouldn't be doing it.
We also dig into a naming research study I conducted last year—research on research—and the tensions it revealed between how namers and researchers think about the topic. Why are experienced namers often skeptical of quantitative testing? Which methodologies do namers and researchers recommend? And how much influence should research have over a naming decision versus other important factors?
Alex argues that research should inform decisions, but not make them. He uses the analogy of buying a house: you can quantify square footage and energy efficiency, but at some point you also have to decide whether it feels right. Naming is similar. Quantified consumer reactions matter, but they're just one input.
Finally, we discuss updating the research section of Designing Brand Identity, sixth edition, and what young strategists can do to build real expertise in a world where AI can handle more and more of the executional work.
If you care about branding, naming, or research—and especially if you've ever struggled with how much weight to give the numbers—this conversation will give you a clearer framework for thinking about it.