To truly change a brand's narrative, marketing's 'talking the talk' is insufficient. The product experience itself must embody the desired story. This 'walking the walk' through the product is the most powerful way to shape core brand perception and make the narrative shareable.

Before committing engineering resources, Ather's product team creates a high-quality ad film for a new concept. They then host a full internal launch event, complete with mock media Q&A, to sell the vision to the whole company and create internal accountability before building begins.

Avoid the middle ground. On Running learned that designing for a "hybrid" persona who moves from the gym to a cafe leads to compromises. It's better to create a best-in-class performance product that people choose to wear for style, rather than a watered-down product that serves neither purpose well.

Only showing the final, polished product makes others feel inadequate and behind. More importantly, it prevents you from building an engaged audience by not sharing the journey. Sharing mistakes, pivots, and behind-the-scenes struggles gives others permission to start messy and builds their curiosity for your eventual launch.

Handbag founder Stephanie Ippesen found that products designed from customer aesthetic suggestions failed, while those from her own intuition were bestsellers. She learned to filter feedback, implementing functional requests like strap length or zipper closures, while retaining full creative control over the brand's style and design.

In an era of diminished direct marketing, the old mantra "make something people want" is insufficient. The new imperative is to "make something people want to talk about." This shifts focus to creating products with inherent virality and word-of-mouth potential, turning customers into a marketing channel.

Product inspiration can come from unexpected places. On Running's CPO points to the perfume industry's ability to sell an intangible feeling through packaging and branding as a key lesson in creating an emotional connection with consumers, even for highly functional products like running shoes.

A "perfect" product can be a sterile one. On Running reflects that a collaboration might have been more successful if it was less complete, suggesting that leaving something for the consumer to finish—like adding a second pair of laces—creates ownership. This small act of co-creation fosters a stronger emotional bond.

The most effective product reviews eliminate all abstractions. Forbid presentations, pre-reads, and storytelling. Instead, force the entire review to occur within the actual prototype or live code. This removes narrative bias and forces an assessment of the work as the customer will actually experience it.