If your brand disappeared tomorrow, would anyone care?
The harshest brand audit you’ll ever take
Good morning Community Padawans,
How are you feeling today?
Every week, I say the same thing: This is my favorite topic so far.
But this time, I mean it.
This question hit me hard. Hard enough that it almost kept me up at night:
If your brand disappeared tomorrow, would anyone care?
I was journaling the other night (something I do daily by asking ChatGPT a question about community-driven brands, customer experience, or brand building).
This one popped up. And I immediately thought: Yes! This is THE question.
Because most brands are built to sell, not to stay.
And that one sentence alone should change the way CEOs, Marketers, and Brand Builders think about:
✔️ How brands are built.
✔️ How communities are created.
✔️ How experiences are designed.
Would YOUR brand be missed?
Close your eyes. Imagine this: your brand disappears overnight. What happens next?
Would customers be talking about it?
Would the media cover it?
Would employees fight to bring it back?
Or would it be just another company that came and went?
You don’t need to guess. You just need to ask:
What real impact has my brand had on people?
What conversations with customers have been unforgettable?
Would our community actively protest if we shut down?
What internal changes would this cause?
Which events, actions, or campaigns would people still remember?
How would customers describe our brand if it no longer existed?
Great brands don’t just sell products. They create deep emotional connections. They embed themselves into culture. They make a difference in people’s lives.
Think about Patagonia. If they vanished tomorrow, they wouldn’t just leave a hole in the outdoor apparel space. They’d leave a movement without a leader.
This is where real brand-building starts. Not with ad spend or growth hacks, but with being irreplaceable.
Signs your brand would be missed:
✅ People talk about your brand even when you’re not marketing to them.
✅ You have stories, not just sales—real moments where customers felt seen and valued.
✅ Your employees believe in your mission as much as your customers do.
✅ Your absence would spark conversation, not just silence.
Signs it wouldn’t be missed:
❌ Most of your customer interactions feel transactional, not emotional.
❌ If your social media disappeared, nobody would even notice.
❌ Your brand is competing on price or convenience, not connection.
❌ You’re relying on ads to stay relevant instead of creating something people want to rally behind.
So, gut-check moment: Would your brand be missed? Vote below 👇
Brands that truly matter
There’s a big shift happening in how brands grow.
Brands don’t fail because they lack funding.
Brands don’t fail because they didn’t market well.
Brands fail because they didn’t matter enough.
Meanwhile, the brands built to stay are doing something different:
✅ Community-first from day one: not as an afterthought or marketing play.
✅ Customer obsession: products and experiences that solve real problems.
✅ More than a transaction: they create impact beyond the sale.
✅ People would fight for them: employees, customers, and fans genuinely care.
The fastest-growing, most loved brands aren’t just pumping money into ads.
They’re designing entire experiences around their community.
A few examples worth studying:
🔹 Liquid Death – Built an irreverent, cult-like brand identity around sustainability and humor, turning water into a movement.
🔹 Patagonia – Doesn't just sell outdoor gear; it actively invests in environmental activism, making customers feel like part of something bigger.
🔹 Duolingo – Uses storytelling, gamification, and community engagement (even roasting users on TikTok) to create deep emotional investment.
The takeaway?
The next legendary brands won’t be the ones with the biggest ad budget.
They’ll be the ones with the deepest connections.
Build a brand that lasts
Want to build a brand people would genuinely miss? Start here:
1️⃣ Get brutally honest feedback.
Ask your customers what they love and what they don’t. If their answer is “meh,” you’ve got work to do.
2️⃣ Create moments, not just products.
What’s an experience only your brand can create? Make it unforgettable.
3️⃣ Turn customers into collaborators.
Give them a reason to invest emotionally in your brand. Co-create, listen, respond.
4️⃣ Stop competing on price.
If your only selling point is being cheaper or faster, you’re replaceable.
Build something unique instead.
Here’s a simple exercise: run a "brand disappearance test."
Sit with your team and ask:
1️⃣ What would our customers say if we disappeared?
2️⃣ What part of our brand experience would they actually miss?
3️⃣ Have we built real, lasting emotional connections?If the answers feel uncomfortable, that’s a sign.
Time to rethink, refine, and rebuild.
Final thought: The strongest brands don’t just survive, they become irreplaceable.
It’s not just about audience growth. It’s about building a brand that matters.
So, ask yourself: Are we built to sell? Or built to stay?
Until next time, keep redefining the game.