Breaking Brand — A Podcast Series By Buffer

Gin Lane has helped launch over 50 startups — creating nearly $15 billion in market value. Now, follow along as it launches a new direct-to-consumer business of its own.

Over the course of the next 5 episodes, we take you inside the world of one of the world’s most exciting consumer businesses and share a transparent account of the journey from pivoting a highly successful agency to launching a completely new business.

In episode one, Gin Lane’s Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director Emmett Shine shares the origins of his hugely successful agency, and how it helped build and launch brands like Smile Direct Club, Sweetgreen, Harry’s, Recess and more. We then meet Gin Lane’s CEO Nick Ling and VP of Brand Camille Baldwin to learn what made Gin Lane unique and how they were able to build brands that stand out from the crowd and redefine industries.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Must-listen moments

1:03 – Emmet Shine discusses what made Gin Lane so successful

"I think we always pushes ourselves to listen to the audience we're working with and just go out and say what do you do? What do you want to see? What do you feel? What would be cool? What would be interesting?" — Emmett Shine

6:06 — We hear how Emmett first met Gin Lane CEO, Nick Ling‍

"As soon as we really started to double down on that [working with startups], I realised I was becoming over my head of trying to oversee all the creative as well as really lead the business." — Emmett Shine

"It was like a complete cultural change of how to approach work and how to approach life, just arriving at the office." — Nick Ling

11:21 — Nick opens up about Gin Lane's brand building process

"The first job we would have to do would be to move from the what and the how to the why. So typically a lot of people come and say 'I'm building a brand to disrupt X.' But consumers don't really care about that. What they care about is 'why does this matter in my life?'"

13:10 — Camille takes us inside the 'Key Insights and Takeaways' report Gin Lane would produce for clients ‍

"[The first part] was the “definition phase” where I think of that still as a strategy led phase - really thinking about now laying principles down of the core DNA of a brand." — Camille Baldwin

"[We'd look at] what can this company offer consumers and promise to them that they are going to get every time that they interact with this company." — Camille Baldwin

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