Emily Paulsen is a Brand ​Growth E​xpert and Founder of Electric Collab, a psychology-based brand studio. After 14 years working in brand and marketing for well-known companies from Abercrombie & Fitch and The Wendy’s Company to scrappy startups and small businesses, Emily started Electric Collab to help leaders ​o​wn their individuality and scale their business with a brand that reflects the ​premium, unique value they deliver. Her comprehensive approach delivers a cohesive brand ecosystem built for where you're headed​.

00:00 Introduction to Branding and Consumer Behavior

Laura Kendrick (00:00)

Emily, I am so excited you're here. I actually, I really cannot wait for this conversation. I think this is going to be so interesting and where you're coming at this particular conversation from a slightly different angle, but you are playing in all the brain spaces that my brain like, like all those little nooks and crannies that my mind will wander into and just have a little thought party of its own. So I'm really excited. But let's start with you sharing.

Emily Paulsen (00:24)

Me too.

Laura Kendrick (00:27)

a little bit about yourself, who you are.

Emily Paulsen (00:30)

Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm really pumped for this conversation too. My name is Emily and I've been in the brand space for quite a long time. So I worked in corporate branding for 14 years, started with companies like Abercrombie and Fitch and the Wendy's company. It's like a shock to go from skinny jeans to french fries. And you can imagine what was more fun to brand and market. ⁓ But

I fell in love with branding and really the consumer behavior of what makes us buy things. How do we connect to brands? Why are some brands more successful than others? And I really had a front row seat in being on the brand teams of some of these really huge organizations. And then later in the small business space and kind of in the startup world, I had a front row seat to see what works, what doesn't, where are they putting resources, what things are kind of fun but fluffy and don't really move the needle.

and what things are really critical to build a relationship with your audience, which is what we all want to do as small business owners and entrepreneurs. So I started a brand studio called Electric Collab four years ago. And I say that it's a psychology-based brand studio because it really is rooted in that consumer behavior. And my goal is to help people connect with the clients that they want through language, design, and then their digital presence, which is really what we're going to focus on today.

Laura Kendrick (01:39)

Hmm.

01:21 The Psychology Behind Branding

Emily Paulsen (01:48)

understanding how to do that on a website so that your brand is working for you.

Laura Kendrick (01:53)

I love that. And I love that you're tapped into the psychology based side of that and like really kind of rooted in what's really working because there is often an element and I'm not saying this is for branding professionals necessarily, but certainly in our business space where people are, I mean, let's be real. I picked the colors because they were pretty. I picked the fonts because they were easy to read and I just, I knew they would be everywhere. Yeah.

Emily Paulsen (02:15)

Okay.

Right. Yeah. I think that's what most people do. Right. Like what else would you do in the early days of branding? You're kind of just going with your personal taste. Maybe a trend, even if you don't realize you're choosing something because it's a trend. You know, it's all over Pinterest or you're buying from a brand out in the real world and you love the way they're using color or fonts or whatever. So, yeah, I think that's how most people start. But once you once you kind of get past that phase, it's really fun to understand the science behind all those things. I mean,

Laura Kendrick (02:29)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Emily Paulsen (02:49)

our brains connect the dots when we see a certain font or when we see a certain color combinations that signals things to our subconscious. And all of that is really real and rooted in data and science. It's not just like, you know, hippie dippy stuff. So yeah.

Laura Kendrick (03:03)

Right, right. And the branding is intrinsically tied to the copy. Like they are, they're based on similar principles. And it's really interesting. was actually on a call with a bunch of like deep thinkers a couple of weeks ago and it was really interesting. Cause there was somebody was giving a little presentation on the call and she was a copywriter and a branding person. So she had this like mix of both worlds and it was really fascinating. Cause one thing that she laid out is

what is the order of operations that this should really be done in? Like, should the copy be done first, or should the branding, the pictures, and all of that be done? And it was a fascinating take that she had. Because of course, a bunch of copywriters are like, the copy, duh. Grass is always greener on our side here. ⁓ And she did say that. She's like, technically speaking, yes, the copy would come first. But interestingly, the psychology of

Emily Paulsen (03:45)

Okay.

Yep.

Laura Kendrick (03:59)

the brand owner and the customer says that they actually need to be done kind of in tandem or like being evolved at the same time where maybe, of course, because we don't all have huge budgets and teams, so maybe it's like you're upgrading a little bit of the copy and then you're upgrading a little bit of the branding and you're kind of going back and forth on that. But the buyer gravitates to the visuals. They gravitate to those things. But the foundation of all of that

04:28 The Interconnection of Copy and Branding

is the very, very deep base work that is done to get the messaging and the copy in the right place. So like the copy and all that goes behind it really does serve as this foundational piece to the branding. But also you can't ignore the branding. You can't just be like, it's just about the words.

Emily Paulsen (04:47)

Totally. No, they're both so critically important. And I love her response to that because they do have to work together. And we know that our brains process images in 13 milliseconds. That's incredibly hard to conceptualize. And we do that because in the past, we needed those skills, those shortcuts for survival. We were assessing, is this a cheetah running at me, or is this my friend? Is this food, or is this poison?

Laura Kendrick (04:50)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

What a choice, a cheetah or a friend.

Emily Paulsen (05:14)

I don't know why that's what my brain thinks, like a cheetah running at me in the wild, as if I'm like in the Serengeti or something. ⁓ But back in the day, you we had to make these really split decisions with limited information and that brain eye connection evolved. Now in modern times, we're using our incredible eyeballs and the way they send signals to our brain to scroll social media and shop online and live in the digital world. So.

Yes, like the imagery, the colors, the space, the use of white space and open space that we use on our website or in brand design, those things capture attention. That's what kind of gets us to stop for a second. But it's always the words that move people to take action. Nobody buys based on a pretty logo alone, even if they're obsessed with it. So they are so interconnected. Both pieces have to work together to really make somebody feel something. And that's how we buy. We always buy based on a feeling.

Laura Kendrick (06:10)

love that. I love that. it just... And I think that's true. like I'm thinking actually, cause just last night I was watching ⁓ one of the shows by like the renovation shows by the Magnolia company. And it was funny cause I was noticing how she has very specific taste when she's designing. And it is beautiful.

Emily Paulsen (06:24)

Mm. Okay, yep.

Laura Kendrick (06:35)

Like everything she does is stunningly beautiful, but it is totally not my taste. Like I wouldn't, I adore looking at it on TV. I don't want those dark colors on my own walls. Right. And just to kind of, I'm like in my mind thinking about that of like the aesthetic of that company and how successful it's become because of the aesthetic she's set up. But at the end of the day, it wasn't necessary. What turned them into what I assume at this point has got to be like

Emily Paulsen (06:46)

Right, yeah, not for you.

Laura Kendrick (07:05)

billion dollar company. What it has gotten it to is beyond just like the color she's putting on the walls. It is about all of the like underlying messaging that has come out in the magazines, in all the shows they've produced, in all of these bits and pieces. And that filters into our own business. And I love that you kind of put that that piece on about it's like, and I think that's, that's a really great way to kind of look at it too, is that it's

the visuals that are going to grab people in. Like if you're almost thinking about it as like a split second funnel, if you will, the visuals are the top of the funnel into the mid funnel. And then it's going to somewhere in the middle of the funnel transition into what are the words on the page? What are they saying? And then the bottom of the funnel is a hundred percent like what's being said, what's being offered. How is this working? And that's a really strong way to look at the relationship between those two things.

Emily Paulsen (07:41)

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yeah, exactly. And I love that you brought up that example, because even something as mainstream and mega now as Magnolia Network isn't for everybody. Right. So of course, like some of us look at that. It's not my taste either. Yeah. Right. Well, they have a pretty mainstream audience, but it's not for me. I would never purchase anything from them, not because, you know, no shade. It's just not my personal taste. So I think that's a really critical piece of this. What you just described is the funnel there.

Laura Kendrick (08:15)

in Target now. So apparently yes.

Emily Paulsen (08:32)

It's understanding that that's kind of how the, if we say the split second funnel, that that's how it works. All these pieces have to work together. The design, the language, you know, starting with that hook, that headline, and then getting into the details of what you actually have for sale. But it's also understanding who this stuff is for. What do they need to see? What colors are going to resonate with them? What type of digital experience and storytelling is going to prove to them that we know where you are today, we know what you want, and we're the bridge to take you there.

So I think it's important sometimes in branding, we get really obsessed with ourselves accidentally. It's like, what do I want my company to feel like? What do I have to say? What's different about me? What's my favorite colors? And like, yes, that's important. You want to feel very authentic and aligned with your brand and really proud of it. But it's equally important that we're thinking about what the audience cares about in all of these categories. So what we're creating doesn't just make us feel really good. It actually resonates with the right people.

09:30 Understanding Your Audience's Emotions

Laura Kendrick (09:30)

Yes, yes, talk more about that. Talk about like how you think about how the brand features. like that's like I think in terms of the words, I think in terms of the messaging. and I can definitely see it. I can see how the aesthetic pulls in a vibe. It shares a story about the brand itself and or for many of us the person behind the brand, the founder.

Emily Paulsen (09:34)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Laura Kendrick (09:57)

And that is towing a line of the messaging for sure. It is telling people you are in the right place or not. Like I'm actually thinking of a friend of mine who has a website that she actually kind of has a somewhat similar vibe to mine where it's very playful. And so there's these very playful images of her all over the website. And that, I mean, that tells a story that if you are like wearing a suit and tie all the time and very straight lace, this ain't the person for you. And so like that is giving an instantaneous like,

Emily Paulsen (10:18)

Mm-hmm.

Laura Kendrick (10:27)

is this interesting or not interesting? But I'm really, I wanna dig deeper on that.

Emily Paulsen (10:32)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, OK. So if we believe that people buy, no matter what the price point is, no matter what the expense is, if we believe that they buy because they're seeking a feeling, and there's a lot of data around that. I mean, there's multiple studies that show 90 to 95 % of purchasing decisions happen in the subconscious. We know that ads with, yeah.

Laura Kendrick (10:52)

mean, can we

pause right there and just like make sure that one lands on everybody's ears that people buy because they're seeking a feeling that the price doesn't matter? That's like,

Emily Paulsen (11:03)

Yes. Seriously, that is huge. That is huge.

And it takes a while to get there because we naturally, we bring our own feelings and our imposter syndrome and our self-doubt and whatever into our business. So it's like, my gosh, could I charge that much? And of course, the deliverable, the value that you provide and the result has to be there, of course. But I'm assuming everybody listening to this does provide incredible results.

Laura Kendrick (11:11)

Yes, for sure.

Emily Paulsen (11:28)

And a lot of clients come to me because they want to serve more premium people. They want to charge a more premium price point. getting into the mindset that, and again, there's so much data around this, like there's studies about ads with emotional resonance and how those boost sales, ⁓ brand loyalty, how that comes when we use emotional resonance in our language and in our design. So we know we need to make this emotional connection. How do we do that?

I always, when I do foundational work with clients, and I'm sure you have a system for doing this too with your copy, I always do like an emotional deep dive into their ideal client. So that's making a really robust list of fears, frustrations, anxieties. What are they terrified about? What would they never say out loud to you or anybody else? But you know, it's on their mind and it's impacting their decision making. So we want to get really clear on like deeply understanding their problem state.

Laura Kendrick (12:13)

Yes.

Yes.

Emily Paulsen (12:23)

And then equally important, deeply understanding the solution state. So we know, like, what are they feeling today when they're seeking solutions, when they're out there Googling, when they're asking chat GPT about our services or our products, what is their headspace? And then we want to know what they want. So when it comes to using a brand to actually like speak to people and say, send the right message, if we know that when they're searching for something, they're really stressed out, they're really tired, they're overwhelmed. ⁓

Maybe even maybe emotions that are worse than that. Maybe we're selling to people who are depressed, highly anxious. OK, well, then I'm not going to bombard my website with text. I'm not going to use red, which gives a really energizing emotional response. I'm not going to have a bunch of animation and things that like move around all over the place because the person who I want to land on my website and stay there long enough to really understand how I can help them, they're going to click away.

Laura Kendrick (13:19)

Hmm.

Emily Paulsen (13:19)

And they probably wouldn't say, I didn't hire that business because she used red. This stuff is subconscious. We don't even realize we're doing it. But it's just like, it's not meeting me where I am emotionally, so I'm not interested. So on the other side of that, we want to make it an experience that's really enjoyable. We want to use light calming colors, if that's what our person really needs. You mentioned playful images. If somebody needs to be inspired, they aspire to having more free time, more freedom.

more authenticity, more self-expression than having images of you self-expressing yourself in a hot pink suit or whatever that is, cheetah print pants, then subconsciously we're like, I kind of wish I could wear cheetah print pants. What is this girl all about? And again, you're not going to buy from her because she has cheetah print pants. But that's what made you stay. And it's kind of all the pieces combined when you have really great copy to back that imagery up.

you've created an emotional experience that makes people want to hang out. It makes them want to engage, learn a little bit more. And then eventually when all the pieces align, they convert and become a client.

14:24 Creating an Emotional Experience Through Branding

Laura Kendrick (14:24)

You have just kind of blown my mind wide open a little bit because, I like, know for anybody who's listening to this, who's a branding person is like, of course, Emily's like, preaches the truth. But the thing is, is my brain doesn't naturally gravitate to that space when it comes to visuals. It definitely gravitates to that space when it comes to words and to strategy and like basically everything, but the visuals. And I love what you just laid down there because it really does play in.

Like, yes, we do deep dives in messaging, deep, deep dives. And what you're talking about is that. And then we confirm through voice of customer where we're actually asking the ideal client, what is your pain point? And of course, they're not going to share in all likelihood the thing that they're not going to share with anybody. Like, that is sussed out through the person who's working with them all the time and can kind of see through what is going on there through the trends. But all of these things.

Emily Paulsen (15:12)

Totally.

Laura Kendrick (15:22)

And this is why, like going back to that call a couple of weeks ago, this is why she was making that argument for in a perfect world. Yes, like if you had a business that you were building totally behind the scenes and like, you know, let's pretend you were some you were just going to launch to great fortunes and fame right out of the gate and you had the ability to build, you would start with the copy because you are establishing all of that and all of these things that are going to tell the

the visuals, the branding pieces, like what are the right colors? Because you're getting that so deeply in the copy work. I love how this is like playing together. And I've never really thought about, and I will now, ⁓ about like thinking about if this person's anxious, this is not a color that they need to be seeing, or they don't need to see a bunch of GIFs jumping around at them. They need to be seeing something different. That is such a like.

Emily Paulsen (16:04)

You

Laura Kendrick (16:18)

I'm thinking way outside my selfish, I speak in GIFs Honestly, if I could only talk in GIFs to people, I would, because I find them so fun.

Emily Paulsen (16:26)

They are fun. They are fun. And there's audiences that want that fun, you know, I mean, maybe that's maybe that matches up with your ideal client. And that's fantastic. Or maybe you find it doesn't and you talk in GIFs with your friends and you don't use them on your website, right? It depends and

Laura Kendrick (16:29)

They are. But that's about me.

Emily Paulsen (16:44)

There are definitely cases where I work with somebody and it's like, my gosh, their personality is their ideal client, perfect fit, easy breezy. We'll just amplify them through digital design and it's going to work. There's other cases where, not that it becomes performative because that doesn't work either. It has to be authentic and aligned, but we can put certain feet forward in the way we present our work just to make sure our ideal person doesn't miss it. And that's the beauty of starting.

with those fears and frustrations, like we have to remember where they are before they find us. On the other side, they're gonna feel great. They're gonna feel amazing. You all those desires we're going to have fulfilled, and then it's all fun and games and GIFs you know, and that's a great space. But where are they when they're seeking us and how do we meet them there? And there's such a wide range of emotions. Like I go to, you know, in these examples talking about stress or anxiety, make sure that we're calming and kind and like open.

Laura Kendrick (17:18)

Yes. Yeah.

Yeah.

Emily Paulsen (17:38)

That is one way to do it. there's a million. That scale is huge, right? Like when we think about Liquid Death Water, it's a very emotionally resonant brand. It's literally about death. It's skulls and crossbones and heavy metal and harsh colors. But that's because their audience wants to feel bad ass, right? Like they want to drink water at a concert, but they don't want to feel lame about it. So they're creating an emotional experience just as like,

Laura Kendrick (17:57)

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Emily Paulsen (18:07)

a lovey dovey or light and airy brand is. It's not about boxing ourselves into a certain look or feeling. It's just about understanding your audience to the level that you can build something for them. Totally.

Laura Kendrick (18:16)

You can evoke that emotion. I have a question for you. the answer might be, no, you haven't thought about this. But have you thought of or have you worked with people where you are thinking about the branding evolving and becoming different as the funnel moves on? Where it like perhaps starts in one way and then it starts to shift. You kind of alluded to it before where it's like, it might be the, you know,

homepage on the website or the landing page for the lead magnet is meeting them where they are in that like, you maybe there's no GIFs It's very soothing colors. And then after the outcome, the kind of the people who have worked with the with you and have gotten all that anxiety to go away. Now, suddenly there can be lots of GIFs and it's a different a slightly different thing. Have you actually applied that or thought about applying that to a funnel?

Emily Paulsen (19:09)

Yeah, I think the piece that's important about this is aspiration. So even in those early days where we are, you we're thinking about where our people are emotionally when they come to us. We're also thinking about what they ultimately want. And that's what we want to showcase, too. So it's not all like we know you're down. We know that you're, you know, whatever the problem is, right? We know that you're struggling. We know you have pain around this specific topic. We don't want to completely stay there. We want to show in the branding, too. Like, here's the other side.

Laura Kendrick (19:13)

Mm.

19:39 The Evolution of Branding in the Customer Journey

Emily Paulsen (19:39)

So our shiny client results, what we can show through photography of ourselves or our clients, if that's something that applies. Before and afters of copy, before and afters of homes for home organization. I've worked with wedding planners, like of course all the vibrant imagery of what the wedding looks and feels like. So when you make it aspirational as well, then that's what allows your brand to last a little bit better. So it's not like, OK, now you're on the other side. Let's rebrand for the solution state.

You want consistency through branding. Once we land on the perfect color palette, the fonts, how we're going to lay out our layout and the way we do space within brand collateral, you want to keep that the same so people recognize it over time. We want stickiness. The golden arches for McDonald's, yeah, they've tweaked them a little bit over the years, but pretty freaking recognizable. And of course, I choose the one. Yeah, the Nike swoosh, the Apple Apple. It's not like, OK, now you have the iPhone.

Laura Kendrick (20:29)

Yeah. The Nike swoosh. Yeah. Yeah.

Emily Paulsen (20:37)

you don't let's get rid of the apple because you you you connected with something you connected with something that made you make the purchase we don't want to strip that away once you're on the other side so keeping that aspiration in the brand is what allows it to always work for your person no matter where they are in their journey with you

Laura Kendrick (20:40)

Could you imagine? Yeah, that's a like, point.

I love that. I love that. All right. I don't want to like keep you forever. So, though I could, honestly, like, do you want to just stay for the next three hours and we will just keep talking?

Emily Paulsen (21:10)

I'm sure that you and I could, I would love to, are you kidding me? I feel like it's been two minutes, so.

Laura Kendrick (21:16)

I know, it's so good, so good. ⁓ So, first of all, where can people find you?

Emily Paulsen (21:24)

Hmm. Yeah, I love connecting clearly. love talking about branding. So I'm always up to meet with people do one on one calls. My website is electric collab, colab.com. You can find me on Instagram at Hey, Emily Paulson. And yeah, both those places are the best place to get in touch.

Laura Kendrick (21:43)

Amazing. All right, any final thoughts or words like big truth bombs you want to drop on the listeners? No pressure.

Emily Paulsen (21:51)

Yes, I want to tell people branding should be fun. know, like the consumer behavior, the data, the statistics, the quote unquote rules of how we craft these things. All of that is real. But especially when you work with a brand partner, that's their job. That's our job to keep those things in mind. There's so many things we have to do in business. Like we have to do our freaking taxes. You know, let this be one of the things that feels like self expression. And it feels like

relationship building with the people who you built your business to serve. Branding can be such a positive and really therapeutic experience and sharing yourself, your gifts, your unique expertise with the world. So I hope people find a way to work with someone or work within yourself and keep the joy in branding.

Laura Kendrick (22:35)

here.

Yes.

23:37 Final Thoughts on Joy in Branding

I adore that you just said that. now I'm going to have to do it, where there's you and Justin Blackman are going to have to, like people are going to have to listen to these back to back. He's a part of the summit and he's a brand voice expert. And he's a friend of mine and a mentor of mine as well. And that's actually something really interesting because in the copy world, there are loads of rules of what makes good copy and what makes bad copy. mean, honestly, it's full of rules. It's insane.

Emily Paulsen (22:52)

Love that!

Laura Kendrick (23:08)

At the end of the day, what's really interesting when he talks about brand voice is when you're assessing somebody's brand voice or your own to look at it through the lens of maybe it behooves the brand to actually break those rules. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad copy if there's longer sentences. I mean, it is bad copy if that's not your brand voice, then yeah, that's bad copy. But if it is actually how the brand voice communicates and the

emotion and the feeling that you're trying to evoke when people interact with the copy, then that is not bad copy. It's just you're doing it your way and you're having fun with it. So I love that you landed right there because that is where like the two worlds, I mean, it's amazing how much the copy and the branding really are right wrapped up in each other. Like they are two things that need to be thought about at the same time. They need to be in an ideal world done at the same time where they're

Emily Paulsen (23:58)

Yes.

Laura Kendrick (24:05)

building on each other because they are intrinsically tied together in so many ways.

Emily Paulsen (24:12)

could not agree more. Absolutely.

Laura Kendrick (24:15)

Only like five more minutes added on after I was like, truth thumb. Should we keep going? No. It is. It is. Well, thank you so much, Emily, for adding your genius to this summit because it's just amazing. And I'm so glad you're a part of it.

Emily Paulsen (24:18)

Yeah. Well, it's important. This is important to say.

Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.