Anti-Bullshit Branding: Take a Stance or Disappear with Cat How

Can AI make a logo in four seconds? Sure. So what exactly are you paying an agency for?Cat How is the founder and Executive Creative Director of How&How, a B-Corp certified global branding agency with studios in London and Los Angeles. A former award-winning journalist and design critic, she later studied Communication Design at Central Saint Martins before launching the agency in 2020. She's also the founder of the pro-bono climate initiative GetSet and the female leadership mentorship program GetEven, and serves as an Ambassador for UN Women and Clean Creatives.In this episode, Cat breaks down why most brands are telling their story wrong, what it actually means for a brand to "live in the product" rather than in a slide deck, and why she gives naming and verbal identity equal weight to visual design when most studios treat words as an afterthought. She also makes the honest business case for spending six figures on branding instead of growth marketing, and shares why she publishes everyone's salary at her own agency.What We Talked About:- Why most brands get their story wrong- What it means for a brand to live in the product, not the deck- Why words deserve equal weight to visual identity- The real business case for investing in branding over growth marketing- Why she publishes everyone's salary at How&How- Repositioning legacy companies without alienating existing customersConnect with Cat How:Website: how.studioInstagram: instagram.com/how___studio/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/howandhow/