♾️ The Brandless Visionary
✅ Summary
A client who wanted a series of blog posts to establish thought leadership but had no established brand voice, no style guide, and no clear understanding of their target audience.
📜 Full Story
When Robert Rodriguez, a seasoned content strategist at Denver-based ABC Copy, received an inquiry from XYZ Solutions' CEO David Whitman, the project seemed straightforward enough. Whitman wanted to position his software consulting firm as an industry thought leader through a series of technical blog posts. The proposed compensation was competitive, and the timeline seemed reasonable—at first glance.
The Initial Meeting
During their first video call, Rodriguez noticed red flags waving frantically. Whitman, dressed in his signature black turtleneck (an obvious homage to a certain tech visionary), spoke enthusiastically about "disrupting the paradigm" and "revolutionizing the industry landscape." When Rodriguez attempted to narrow down XYZ's target audience, Whitman's response was telling: "Everyone in tech needs our solutions."
Rodriguez pressed further. "Could you share your brand guidelines or style guide?" he asked. Whitman's webcam froze momentarily—a fitting metaphor for the project's future. "We're too innovative for a rigid style guide," Whitman declared. "We need content that breathes, that lives, that transforms."
The Descent
Despite his better judgment, Rodriguez accepted the project. The first draft focused on cloud computing solutions, written in a professional yet accessible tone. Whitman's feedback arrived three days later: "This doesn't capture our essence. Make it more... visionary."
Four revisions followed. Each time, Whitman's feedback became increasingly abstract:
- "Can we make it sound more like a TED talk?"
- "I'm thinking less corporate, more prophet-in-the-desert."
- "Imagine if Nikola Tesla wrote a LinkedIn post."
By the sixth revision, Rodriguez had cycled through every conceivable writing style, from academic to conversational, from technical to inspirational. Nothing stuck. The project timeline had doubled, and the profitability had evaporated like morning dew in the Mojave.
The Breaking Point
The situation reached its zenith when Whitman sent a midnight email requesting that the entire series be rewritten to "sound more quantum." When pressed for clarification, he responded with a link to a physics documentary and three emoji: 🌌🧠💫
This is a fictitious case study developed for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to actual people or organizations is purely coincidental.
🛠️ How to Fix This
Lessons Learned and Preventive Measures
Rodriguez eventually completed the project, but at a significant cost to his time and sanity. The experience led him to develop a comprehensive pre-project checklist:
- Mandatory Discovery Session: A paid, two-hour deep dive into the client's brand identity, target audience, and content goals.
- Brand Voice Worksheet: A detailed questionnaire requiring specific examples of desired tone, style, and messaging.
- Audience Persona Development: Creation of detailed reader profiles before any content development begins.
- Style Guide Requirement: Either the client provides one, or it becomes a separate billable deliverable.
- Revision Parameters: Clear documentation of what constitutes a revision versus a complete rewrite.
Rodriguez now includes a "brand voice development" phase in all his proposals for clients without established guidelines. This additional service has not only prevented similar situations but has become a valuable revenue stream.
The Silver Lining
While the XYZ project tested Rodriguez's professional limits, it led to significant improvements in his client onboarding process. He now maintains a waiting list of clients who appreciate his structured approach to content development.
As for Whitman and XYZ Solutions? They eventually hired an in-house content team, who reportedly receive regular midnight emails about making their copy more "quantum." Some say they're still trying to capture that elusive Tesla-meets-TED-talk voice.