Debbie Millman built a brand out of conversation.

Debbie Millman is an American brand designer, educator, author and broadcaster. According to Wikipedia, she joined Sterling Brands in New York in 1995 and became a partner, president of its design division and chief marketing officer. Omnicom bought Sterling Brands in 2008 and she stayed until 2016. She became president emeritus of AIGA in 2014 and co-founded the branding graduate programme at the School of Visual Arts, which she chairs, with Steven Heller in 2009.

What is Design Matters?

Design Matters is the podcast she founded in 2004. It started on VoiceAmerica Business Radio, an internet radio network where she paid for airtime. In 2009 Bill Drenttel of Design Observer asked her to bring it to his site. The show has won a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, and Apple's iTunes named it one of the year's best podcasts in 2015.

Her books include How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer (2007), Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits (2011), Brand Bible (2012) and Why Design Matters (2021).

My take

This is opinion. The detail I find most useful is the one about airtime. In 2004 she paid to broadcast a show about design when there was no guarantee anyone would listen. Years later it is a flagship programme.

Authority is rarely built by one great piece. It is built by turning up in the same place, with the same standard, until people expect you. And notice whose ideas sit at the centre: her guests'. A brand can grow by making other people's thinking easier to find.

That is the Connect phase of the Brand Growth OS™ in practice: be where the market already pays attention, consistently, and be useful before you ask for anything. It is also why I publish this series every day.

Three questions about the conversation you could own

• What topic could you talk about for ten years? Choose one close to your offer, not a trend.
• Whose ideas could you put at the centre? Interviews, case studies and roundups give you authority by association and make good content.
• What is your minimum standard and schedule? One a week at a high standard beats ten random ones.

The Newsletter Plan and the Founder Visibility tool help you decide the first two.

Sources

Wikipedia: Debbie Millman. Details such as dates and honours are as listed there. See all brand voices · About Mike Bruce.