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Hi Marketing Bestie,

When I started posting on LinkedIn in 2019, I had no real plan. I just wanted to meet smart Marketers and see what could happen. 1 of the first people I connected with was Amelia Sordell, and that connection changed everything.

Amelia is one of my favorite people in this industry. She builds strong brands, is herself, and always puts other Marketers on the map. She’s also the one who introduced me to Charlotte Mair.

This email is packed with Charlotte's brand-building wisdom - just like her talk at Marketingland '24.

Psst - Marketingland 2025 will be filled with even more tactical insights like this. Register now for free and come learn from the best.

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MARKETINGLAND SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENTS

P.S. Something else on Charlotte's resume? She gave one of the best talks at Marketingland 2024. And at Marketingland 2025, we're at it again.

Whether you want to get better at Growth, Brand, or Demand (or all 3), this free, virtual festival has your back. Join 4,574 other Marketers (and counting) to level UP on October 30th.

Lots to learn. Pajamas welcome. Save your spot and I'll see you there. 

SPARKNOTES FROM THE POD

Think about all the brands you care about. 

How do they make you feel?

There’s a good chance the brands you love make you feel positive. Or powerful. Or cool. Maybe all 3. 

As Marketers, our job is to create those emotions for others. We need to give them reasons to be excited about our products, our brand, the story, etc. 

Sometimes it makes a world of difference. And other times, your audience can tell you’re trying to be something you’re really not. 

To figure it out, we tapped Charlotte Mair, one of the leading voices in branding and communications, to break it down for the audience at Marketingland 2024.

Charlotte founded The Fitting Room, and she's worked with Sony Music, Popeyes, and even Megan Thee Stallion.

Here are her 5 tips pulled from her talk for building a brand people relate to and actually care about, in her own lightly-edited words. ⤵️

Charlotte’s Take: “Hype, Demand and Legacy became these three core principles in the business… our hype stage is that awareness, so top of the funnel…demand is built around a single insight that drives people to buy… and legacy is the hook or the deliverable that keeps people talking.”

Charlotte shares a fresh way to think about marketing using 3 simple steps: 

Hype → Demand → Legacy.

It’s the core strategy at her agency, The Fitting Room, and it helps brands keep up with culture by creating buzz, sparking interest, and staying relevant over time.

🔥 HYPE: Win the Attention War

This is the awareness stage, but not in the traditional sense of impressions or reach. Charlotte emphasizes cultural relevance as the real currency of attention. 

📈 DEMAND: Tap One Insight

Demand is where storytelling and insight collide. It's about hitting on one single cultural or behavioral insight that resonates so deeply, it naturally motivates the audience to engage or purchase.

💬 LEGACY: Be Worth Remembering

Legacy is the long-term payoff. It’s about embedding your brand into the cultural fabric so it remains talked about, shared, and remembered.

The Hype-Demand-Legacy framework encourages brands to be more human, more culturally literate, and less formulaic.

Takeaway: Grab a recent campaign. Pin down its single human insight. Map it: What builds hype? What pushes demand? What leaves a legacy? If any part is weak, tweak it to connect better with your audience.

Charlotte’s Take: “Valuegraphics are essentially a different way to think about your consumer… it moves away from that sort of ABC, disposable income, sexuality, gender… and looks at things that more connect people.”

1 of the most important shifts Charlotte advocates for is moving away from traditional demographic segmentation (like age, gender, income) and focusing instead on shared human values.

This is called valuegraphics. 

Valuegraphics focus on what people believe: their motivations, desires, and priorities.

Traditional demographics often lead marketers to make assumptions that miss the mark. 

Valuegraphics help you tap into real emotional drivers and speak to people in ways that feel personal and relevant.

For example, instead of targeting "women 25–34," you might focus on people who value belonging and personal growth, a much more effective way to shape campaigns, language, and community.

Takeaway: Audit your audience personas.

Replace demo stats with values: What do they believe? What unites them? Pick one value (e.g., belonging) and test it in your next email or ad. Track engagement. Does it resonate more? Tweak and roll it out wider.

Charlotte’s Take: “Subcultures are really the underheard and the underserved…by the time it gets into pop culture and everybody's consuming it…it’s already old news to the people that created those moments.”

Truly impactful marketing doesn’t come from chasing trends. 

It comes from listening to real people and understanding the communities they belong to. This means paying close attention to subcultures and grounding every campaign in a single, universal human insight.

Charlotte shared an example of a campaign that brought this to life:

Bathroom Besties was built on the insight that “women make friends in the loos.” 

It’s a small, almost silly truth. 

But almost every woman has experienced it. 

So, her team created a campaign around these bathroom moments to build emotional connection and brand relevance for a nightlife brand.

Takeaway:  Spot 1 quirky insight in your audience's life (ex. "post-party recovery cravings"). Build a quick test campaign around it, like a social post or email. Track clicks or sign-ups. If it pops, scale to full activation. 

Charlotte’s Take: “People are looking for things that are familiar…that make them feel warm and that connect them.”

During times of uncertainty (like economic downturns or cultural unrest) people naturally seek familiarity, comfort, and connection. 

Brands that understand this can create marketing that feels safe, nostalgic, and emotionally resonant.

When life feels uncertain, people gravitate toward what makes them feel good. Something they already understand, trust, or have fond memories of.

For brands, this means two things:

1. Revisit your archives: Is there a story, campaign, character, product, or aesthetic from your past that still has emotional value today?
2. Tap into collective memory: What cultural moments, trends, or icons does your audience already love and miss?

Takeaway: Scan your brand's content. Too polished? Pick a normal routine and weave it into a post or ad. Track shares and comments. Does it feel warmer? Remix for your next campaign.

Charlotte’s Take: “Build campaigns that are shared in gatekept communities. Not all wins need to be public.”

Not all wins need to be loud or public to be powerful. 

In fact, some of the most impactful brand-building happens quietly, within tight-knit, gatekept communities. 

Gatekept communities are intimate, self-protective spaces where people share language, culture, and values. These might be:

- Local scenes (Streetwear collectives, foodies, runners)

- Digital subcultures (#BookTok, Black Twitter, fanfic forums)

- Cultural groups with shared lived experiences (Immigrant families, neurodiverse communities)

These communities often set trends, but are wary of being “used” or appropriated. 

That’s why Charlotte emphasizes showing up consistently and respectfully, not just launching a one-off campaign to appear “relevant.”

She also says brands grow their influence by earning trust in small circles, then letting that advocacy ripple outward. 

This creates deeper emotional loyalty and longer-term relevance, not just short-term attention.

Takeaway: Identify one small, tight-knit community your brand wants to connect with. Spend time researching where they gather, what they care about, and who they trust. 

Look for creators, group chats, niche platforms, or hashtags. 

Then ask: How can we show up in that space with value, not just visibility?

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Something else to do before Q4? Learn how to pull your next growth lever, live.

With me! And special guest Emily Robinson of tvScientific - a CTV expert. Come hang out with us virtually on September 30th, and learn how you to run your first tests using new AI targeting tech + cost-per-outcome. AKA, guaranteed results. 

Bring your questions. Save your spot. See you there. ⚡️👨‍🔬 

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Daniel

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