By: Makayla Ross

“People are there for more than just a paycheck.”

Jamie Schwartzman, Chief Creative Strategist at Flux Branding, summarized the evolving goal of branding during his appearance on Your World of Creativity. In a conversation with host Mark Stinson, Jamie offered insights that challenge some common assumptions about brand identity—and shared what it can take to create lasting value.

For him, branding isn’t just a look. It’s a feeling. And companies that overlook this aspect may struggle to connect with the people they need most.

Branding Is About People, Not Palettes

“Brand is much more than visuals,” Jamie said. “It’s fundamentally about meaning and story.”

In his three decades leading brand strategy, Jamie has observed many companies defaulting to logos, fonts, and colors while sometimes skipping the deeper work. “People often think branding belongs only to sales and marketing,” he noted. “But brand helps shape culture. It reflects who we are and what we believe in.”

He described how branding touches every part of a business—from customers to employees to investors. “Engagement doesn’t stop with your audience,” he said. “It often starts with your own team.”

Aligning Hearts Before Launching Campaigns

One of Jamie’s recurring themes is emotional alignment. He believes companies generally become more effective when they have internal clarity.

“When their hearts and souls are in the game, that’s when you often get a highly spirited organization,” he said. “Brand is a spiritual undertaking. Not religious—just deeply rooted in human commitment.”

That’s why much of his work begins during moments of change. Whether it’s a merger, a new product, or a cultural refresh, Jamie looks for signs that something significant is shifting. “Typically, we come in when business as usual isn’t working as well as it used to,” he said.

The IDEA Method: A Strategic, Emotional Framework

To guide clients through change, Jamie uses a four-step process called the IDEA Method. It blends brand science with creative discipline. IDEA is an acronym for the four essential elements in any branding initiative:

• Ignite is the research phase. It’s where his team uncovers the identity that already exists. “We don’t invent brands—we reveal them,” he explained. “You need a third party because you’re often too close to it. You’re drinking your own Kool-Aid.”

• Distill is where the story takes shape. Here, language is everything. “Simplicity can be sophisticated,” Jamie said. “We might write 10,000 words just to land on the right three.”

• Energize brings design into play—but not just for decoration. “Visuals matter because they create an emotional response,” he said. “But they need to reflect strategy, not just preference.”

• Activate puts the brand into the real world—on websites, packaging, signage, and more. “Activate is the fourth step of the process, and that’s when we start doing things with it,” Jamie explained. This is where the work becomes visible and functional, but as he emphasized, the earlier steps build the foundation: without early alignment, the results are less likely to last.

Visuals, Memory, and Why Design Isn’t Just Aesthetic

Jamie described how visuals connect to human memory. “We’re wired to respond to novel, creative things,” he said. “Dopamine is released when we experience something creative.”

That emotional trigger helps make branding memorable—and often more effective. But it’s not just about graphics. “A brand can be expressed through a scent in a salon,” he said. “Or the sound in a waiting room. It’s about crafting experiences people remember.”

In a current project involving sustainable seafood and respected chefs, his team focused on visual language that could speak to fine dining values. “All of that has to come through in the visual language,” Jamie said. “How is this fish going to resonate with fine dining? How’s it going to resonate with chefs who focus on sustainability and quality ingredients?”

From TV Features to Tech Startups: Branding That Moves

Jamie’s work has spanned sectors and stages. He recently appeared as a branding expert on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars, where he helped a finalist simplify and present a complex product—3D-printed beverages. “We coached him on story and visuals,” Jamie said. “He won the grand prize, a $250,000 investment from Ramsay himself.”

Beyond TV, Jamie is currently writing a book called Brilliant and continues developing tools like his brand archetype quiz and brand blueprint consultation. “For companies willing to engage deeply, this work can feel like corporate therapy,” he said. “You come out understanding who you are—and why you matter.”

And in a world full of noise, that kind of clarity can be one of the most strategic moves a company makes.