Taja Dockendorf is the Founder, Owner, and Creative Director at Pulp + Wire, a female-founded, award-winning, full-service CPG branding and marketing agency. Pulp + Wire specializes in helping natural and organic foods, cannabis, hemp, and lifestyle brands discover their identities and create websites, packaging, and social media strategies that resonate with their audiences.

Taja has built P+W into one of the most in-demand, referred design houses in the Northeast, and her creative approach to a client-centric and holistic business model has consistently earned the company multiple graphic design and advertising awards. She is a regular contributor to Forbes, focusing on team culture in the creative space, and has been featured in The Dieline, Graphic Design USA, and Food Manufacturing Magazine, among other publications. Before Pulp + Wire, Taja co-founded multiple other brands and companies.

Many founders and brand owners maintain that their brand is “their baby” and should be an extension of their personalities. However, this mentality doesn’t always resonate with target audiences. How can you separate yourself from your brand to create a company that serves your target audience?

While your personality may fuel your brand’s vision, it doesn’t always define it. Award-winning brand builder Taja Dockendorf emphasizes conducting in-depth research into your target audience’s habits, preferences, purchasing decisions, and lifestyles to structure your brand. Once you’ve conducted sufficient research, you can begin creating products and designing packaging and logos. During this phase, it’s crucial to acquire and embrace customer feedback to refine your efforts and create a brand that best resonates with consumers.

In this exclusive episode of the Brand Alchemist Podcast, Taja Dockendorf talks about creating a consumer-centric brand that doesn’t just reflect your personality. She shares consumer testing strategies for the launch phase, delves into the research phases of brand-building, and explains why your brand isn’t really your baby.