Episode 13: When a brand strategy firm becomes its own client with Liisa Turan-Walters & Theo Fanning

In this episode, Emelia Rallapalli pulls back the curtain on Pebble Strategy's recent brand refresh with longtime collaborators Liisa Turan-Walters and Theo Fanning. Together, they walk through why the timing was right, how they approached the project, and why strategy has to lead design. They cover the steps of a brand refresh and how to set teams up for success during a new brand system rollout. Emelia closes with what she learned by becoming her own client — and how it's changed Pebble.Emelia Rallapalli is the founder of Pebble - a brand strategy and marketing research consultancy. With decades of experience in global brand planning, strategy, and research, Pebble has helped shape businesses of all kinds, from ambitious start-ups to global Fortune 100 companies. Liisa Turan-Walters is a creative who builds practical, scalable brand systems — designing frameworks that carry across every touchpoint, from websites and decks to print and physical spaces. Her clients have included Google, Visa, Samsung, TED, UnitedHealthcare, Hippo Insurance, and McDonald's.Theo Fanning is the founder and creative director of Strange & Co., with a career spanning branding, advertising, and experience design across companies large and small. An illustrator and filmmaker by background, he brings a distinctly multidisciplinary lens to brand and creative work.Welcome to Pebble Presents.- - - - - - - - -If you liked this episode of Pebble Presents, please share it with colleagues and friends! Find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to rate/review/subscribe to the show.Want more? Visit PebbleStrategy.com. You can also find us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/pebble-strategy/) and Instagram(https://www.instagram.com/pebblestrategy/).Thanks for listening and joining the conversation!ReferencesBook: Building Distinctive Brand Assets, by Jenni RomaniukShow Notes 0:21 - Emelia introduces today’s guests and topic0:50 - Liisa and Theo share the career paths that led them here3:20 - Liisa shares why it was the right time for a Pebble brand refresh9:20 - Theo and Liisa describe their approach to reworking the Pebble website10:38 - Emelia discusses how the team employed and applied a strategy around the design for Pebble15:20 - Theo and Liisa share when they think it's time for a brand refresh17:08 - Emelia, Liisa, and Theo discuss characteristics of bad branding and core steps in the redesign30:47 - Theo and Liisa discuss when to do a full rebrand versus refresh31:35 - Liisa shares how to enable client teams for implementation success 40:26 - Emelia describes how the brand refresh for Pebble went, and her takeaways48:32 - Theo and Liisa participate in a lightning round53:08 - Emelia wraps up the episodeEpisode CreditsExecutive Produced & Hosted by Emelia RallapalliProduced by Stephanie Watanabe Edited and Post Produced by Erin ZimmermanArtwork and design by Liisa Turan-WaltersWebsite copy by Theo FanningPebble illustrations by Goce IlievskiPebble website UX and Development by Eric HsuThis Episode was recorded at Handsome in San Francisco, CA.