Cody and Isaac sit down to discuss how your brewery should vet and hire a design firm for your rebrand—what should you expect from this process, what are some land mines to watch out for and why you should work with an expert.

Points of discussion:

1. Give us an eagle eye view of the business development process, from a branding firm’s perspective.

2. How much should a brewery prepare ahead of your initial conversations with a potential partner?
3. What subjects will you discuss in your early exploratory meetings? (timeline, budget, project goals, project context, business objectives, etc.)

4. What is project “fit” and why is it so important at this stage of the process?

5. Differences between contracts and proposals.

6. Always Be Closing?

7. How often does CODO pass on a project because of poor fit?

8. What should a rebranding proposal outline?

9. What is an RFP and why is Isaac always cursing about them?

10. How important is it to like your design partner? What is the role of chemistry in this process?

11. That time a brewery hired CODO because Isaac was “…not some skinny hipster asshole.”

12. What should your branding or rebranding budget look like? How much will this all cost?

13. Why your budget should be tied to business objectives and the value this project will create.

14. Cody presses Isaac for a firm number. Isaac relents with a figure he’s seen cited in several business books.

15. Why work with an expert?