Start With the Spark: Why Clarity Is the New Competitive Advantage

Most brand problems don’t start with a logo or a color palette — they start with a feeling. A subtle shift. A moment when someone on the team says, “I don’t think this sounds like us anymore,” and no one disagrees. It doesn’t feel urgent, so it gets pushed to the side. The work continues. But beneath the surface, something is drifting.

I see this all the time: teams trying to articulate the same mission and landing in completely different places. Explainers that get longer with every meeting. Leaders pulling out the same phrases they’ve used for years, even though the organization has clearly outgrown them. Not because people aren’t smart or talented — but because clarity has slipped just out of reach.

Brand drift isn’t dramatic, but it is cumulative. It shows up in tone, in meetings, in decisions, in the stories people tell about your work. And if no one stops to examine it, the organization slowly becomes less aligned, less energized, and less understood.

Clarity can feel uncomfortable at first because it forces decisions. It forces you to say the quiet parts, to name the real value, to drop the language that’s technically correct but emotionally empty. It asks you to be specific in a world that loves broadness. It asks you to be honest in a world that loves polish. 

But the moment a team steps into clarity, something almost physical happens. Shoulders relax. Ideas click into place. Workshops suddenly have momentum. People start finishing each other’s sentences — in a good way. And the brand doesn’t just become easier to talk about; it becomes easier to believe in.

That’s the part I never get tired of: the shift from explanation to conviction.

In my work, I often see that organizations already know their clearest truth — they’ve just buried it under layers of legacy, habit, aspiration, or “what we’ve always said.” The real story is usually sitting right there, waiting to be uncovered, named, and shaped into something that actually sounds like them. It’s a process that’s part strategy, part therapy, and part translation. But once the right words land, they tend to stick.

That’s why I created The Spark Series — to explore the moments before the clarity. The messy middle. The tension between what an organization says and what it actually means. The gap between the old story and the new one trying to surface.

I’m less interested in only teaching frameworks and more interested in illuminating the patterns — the ones that quietly shape how leaders show up, how teams communicate, and how brands evolve when no one is intentionally steering the narrative. The subtle tells. The small misalignments. The almost-there truths that deserve to be brought forward.

My hope is that this feel like a conversation — the kind you have with someone who’s been inside enough rooms, around enough whiteboards, and through enough rounds of “let’s try that again” to know clarity isn’t a deliverable. It’s a practice.

So if your brand feels slightly misaligned or hard to explain — not broken, just blurry — consider that a spark. It’s often the earliest sign that a more honest, more resonant, more energizing version of your story is waiting to be written.

And that’s where this series begins.

Brandon Austin is the Founder of BRNDWORKS and the Chief Insights & Innovation Officer at the Executives’ Club of Chicago. He builds brands that move people — blending sharp strategy, magnetic storytelling, and a distinctly human touch. Known for helping leaders find the language, clarity, and conviction behind their biggest ideas, Brandon brings a rare mix of creative rigor, cultural fluency, and executive vision. His work spans brand strategy, narrative development, product innovation, and the design of experiences that spark momentum. When he’s not shaping stories, he’s usually spotting patterns, laughing loudly, or adding just the right amount of confetti to serious work.