GLYPH Marketing

GLYPH is a world-class brand development and digital marketing agency based in Michigan. Our team  specializes in Brand Positioning Consulting, Market Strategy, Brand Design, Advertising Development, and Digital Marketing Campaigns. We work collaboratively with our clients to research, position, and grow industry leaders through relentless strategic planning and creative communication.

Marketing Director

Chemical City Paper

Vice President, Board Member

American Advertising Federation

Vice President & Board Member

Energize Workspace

Energize is Midland’s entrepreneurial hub and coworking community. Our collaborative workspace offers an exciting and self-driven community right in the middle of Midland, Michigan.

Founder & Owner

The Ashmont Group

Ashmont is a business growth consulting firm that works with organizations that care about the future of their business. We bring decades of industry leading experiences to the 3 pillars we work with: Organizational Operations, Community Impact, and Startup Ventures.

CMO & Senior Partner

Actualize Labs

Michigan Venture Development and Early-Stage Accelerator. We provide actionable experience to founders, startups, and businesses to build, launch, and grow new ventures.

Growth Marketing Consultant

Internationally-Recognized Strategist + Brand Marketer

Internationally-Recognized Brand Positioning Strategy Consultant, Award-Winning Marketing Agency Founder, Branding Speaker, and Startup Enthusiast.

Did you know that organizations that invest in their Brand Positioning generate 33% more revenue? Brands are the foundation of your business. They act as the blueprint to guide almost everything you do - from competitive advantage, audience strategy, product development, hiring and firing, internal product development, and marketing.

I partner with industry leaders and funded startups to help them challenge their position in a market. My team brings a high-intensity brand transformation process and award-winning marketing systems to help scaling brands defend their brand direction and competitively target their customer groups.

Do you have a unique challenge or opportunity for your brand? Lets hear your story.

Challenge for you all, define a powerful brand.

Tons of gurus say things like “great brands” or “powerful brands” but couldn’t tell you what a powerful brand is characterized by.

So let’s define it. 

Are powerful brands juts brands that have defined their own strengths?

Gain more customers?

Hit certain sales metrics?

Represent their values clearly?

Look a certain way?

Curious what your thoughts are. Let's discuss below.

Nicolai von Schneider

Positioning Strategy For Top 1% Of Competitive Brands | Globally-Recognized Differentiation Strategy | Integrated Brand Agency Founder

If your competitor can sell it, you're not differentiated. If customers don’t care, you're not creating demand. Real positioning passes both tests.

I feel like most positioning advice is generic "tell customers what you can do".

But here’s the truth: the market doesn’t care what you can do, only what your competitors can’t.

The market doesn't care about the one coffee shop, sitting next to a couple others, when they all sell largely the same cup of coffee at around the same price.

If your positioning sounds like the industry benchmark with new adjectives, you’ve already lost the sale.

On Monday I posted about how drinking your own kool-aid is bad for business because you build a brand around what you want to sell, now what customers want to buy. 

I got several messages asking how to pressure test what you sell so here is how I would start.

SELL IT AS YOUR COMPETITOR
Take your pitch and put their logo on it. Could they sell it just as easily? If yes, you're not differentiated enough and customers will see you as interchangeable. Find ways to distance yourself from the industry benchmark asap.

FIND THE UNCLAIMED GAP
Ask yourself: What would make my offer instantly impossible for the rest of my industry to claim? That gap is where differentiation creates demand.

MEASURE BY REJECTION
If your positioning doesn’t force competitors to abandon ground (because they can’t match it), then it’s not strong enough. Real positioning should trap other brands on the stance that only you can achieve, not just attract customers on what you all offer.

For me, the ultimate test of a brand is when the market proves they will pay for it, AND your competitors can’t use it.

When you learn how to deny the relevance of the rest of your industry through your positioning and messaging, you remove their influence and become the only logical solution. 

Differentiation creates distance. Distance creates demand.

Every rebrand my agency does is built on the backbone of months of brutal repositioning strategy.

Apparently, we are pretty unique there. 

As a globally award-winning brand agency, we’ve seen companies put millions on logos, websites, and color palettes when the problem wasn’t design at all.

Because not every repositioning needs to be a rebrand. But every rebrand should be built on challenging which strategy is showcased to your audience.

If you’re losing market territory and customer opportunities, chances are your visuals aren’t the issue.

Your strategy is.

Sometimes the smartest move isn’t a rebrand... it’s:
>> Tightening the audience strategy
>> Sharpening the market narrative
>> Adjusting your go-to-market approach

That’s where the competitive advantage gets rekindled. Not in Photoshop.

My team and I don't keep winning awards because we have better graphic artists. Hell, I shouldn't even mention it but we aren't even "stellar artists". 

We let them paint on canvases. We build companies and our paintbrush is knowing where and how to undermine your competitor's strengths.

Rebrands win when they’re backed by repositioning. But repositioning alone is often the cheapest, fastest way to win back ground.

Before you spend a dollar on a new logo, ask yourself: Is it design that’s costing you customers, or is your strategy? If you’re not sure, that’s the conversation we should be having.

Most brand stories collapse.

Not because the brand is weak.

Not because the product is bad.

But because the narrative has no anchors.

A real brand narrative isn’t about your origin story.

It’s the frame that decides how the market sees you.

And for it to hold, it needs 4 anchors:
> Enemy – What do you exist to fight against? (Without tension, your story doesn’t matter.)
> Hero – Who’s at the center of the story? (Hint: it’s not you.)
> Promise – Where are you leading people? (Without aspiration, there’s no pull.)
> Proof – Why should anyone believe you? (Without evidence, it’s just fiction.)

Miss one of these and your narrative drifts. Competitors hijack it. Customers forget it.

Get all four, and your story becomes a weapon.

👉 Ask yourself: Which anchor is missing in your brand narrative right now?

4 Anchors For A Narrative That Converts-Nic von Schneider

Most people don't realize how expensive it is to look like everyone else.

Not just in money... in momentum.

You lose time explaining what makes you different. You lose energy convincing people you’re more than just a safe bet. You lose leverage when your buyers can’t clearly see what they’re choosing.

This came up in a strategy session earlier this week.  

A founder with a killer track record. Brilliant product. Strong team. But the market just wasn’t moving.

Why?

He looked too familiar. Sounded too safe. Positioned like someone following the playbook.

And here’s the thing: He wasn't doing anything "wrong."  

He just wasn't doing anything unforgettable.

This is your lesson, whether a new founder or a seasoned executive. 

There’s a version of growth that doesn’t come from working harder. It comes from becoming unmistakably clear in the eyes of the customer.  

Not kind of different. Not category-adjacent.  

Clear. Sharp. Singular.

When you commit to being seen as the only viable option, instead of the best in a lineup, things move fast.

Leads stop asking for price comparisons. Teams stop second-guessing their next move. Sales stop dragging.

You have to be clear enough on your strengths that your market doesn’t even consider anyone else.

That's how momentum feels.  

And once you've built it…  

You'll never settle for “normal” again.

Who else is tired of being confusingly good instead of obviously first-choice?

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If I disappeared from your feed tomorrow, would you remember what I stood for?

In my experience, this is the gut-check most brands skip.

They're focused on content calendars and algorithm plays.

Meanwhile, they've never asked the one question that actually matters: Would your audience miss you?

Not your tips. Not your visuals. Not the value-packed posts you spent a weekend writing.

YOU. Your stance. Your position. Your perspective.

Because if the only thing holding attention is volume, you're not building a brand. You're just filling space.

The most powerful brands are engineered to be remembered. Not liked. Not followed. Remembered.

So here's the question:

If your brand vanished tomorrow... would your market even notice?

Comment your honest answer.

What’s the boldest belief you hold that would scare your competitors if you said it out loud?

Not emotionally packed. Strategically crafted to deny the strengths of your competitors.

Mine? Being better - or even the best - is meaningless if you’re still comparable.  

I don’t help brands improve. I help them escape the category completely.

From working with billion-dollar tech companies to fast-scaling founders, the consistent mistake I’ve seen is this: They aim to win the comparison game instead of refusing to play it altogether.

If your value can be measured on a chart next to the competition, you’ve already lost.

What’s one belief about branding, marketing, or growth you hold that would challenge the industry?

Drop it below. Let’s see who’s brave enough to actually lead.

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