• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
You’re here. Awesome! 😉 Here’s a Free Thank You Gift.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
DBD International Logo

Award-winning branding, rebranding and package design

How brands outshine, outlast and outperform their competition

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About David Brier
    • In The Press
    • Keynote Speaking Engagements
    • The #1 Alexa Skill on Branding and Rebranding
  • Brand Intervention
    • Branding
    • Rebranding
    • Storytelling for Entrepreneurs
    • Leadership
    • Portfolio
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Blog
PR and branding

How Do You Disrupt an Industry That’s Lost Its Way?

PR and branding
Reading Time: 4 minutes

PR and branding

Disrupt. It’s a word that means “to interrupt the normal operation of.”

Well, what if that “normal” no longer met its initial objective?

What if it merely went about its usual without ever questioning its model?

Companies like Apple, Tesla, Nike and Dyson would never have come into existence.

Normal. What a Concept.

We’ve seen some industries continue to be innovative—constantly evolving and improving.

While that’s great when that happens, it’s more the exception than the norm.

When in Doubt, Disrupt.

“The norm” is where many industries find themselves: in a routine—an unquestioned status quo routine—that requires a fresh, courageous, outside look that’s willing to question what almost everybody considers “normal.” (If you suspect your brand’s in a rut, this checklist will help remedy that problem.)

What if this happened to the very industry responsible for “shaping the world’s view” of everything from politics to companies, from breakthroughs, fads, trends to innovations, from stars to ordinary everyday heroes?

Reinvention: Disruption with a Cause

Well, the above rut is exactly where the Public Relations industry found itself until recently.

Enter Karla Jo Helms (a PR industry veteran with a track record that any PR professional would kill to call their own), an alumni of Crisis Management where you have only one shot (like Olivia Pope, the character portrayed on the TV show, Scandal) portrayed on the TV show, Scandal) to correct things that have gone very, very wrong.

So Karla Jo and I sat down so I could get her vision of where the PR industry had gone astray.

It started with me understanding the name of the firm JoTo:

JoTo is an ancient Japanese word that means “excellence; the best, very high class.”

Karla Jo then shared with me what had become “the norm” in the PR industry and how clients were commonly spending a lot of money only to be left holding the bag with little to no results—and learning how Karla Jo’s firm operated, their industry-crushing results and their irrepressible business model—I immediately saw her firm as “the anti-PR firm.”

In essence, it came down this analysis:

Disrupt an industry with branding

So, it was then Karla Jo and I decided to rebrand her company, JoTo PR, and reposition it as the “disruptor” to the hole into which the PR industry had dug itself.

The Brand Story as a Tool to Disrupt

A key part of this disruption was fleshing out JoTo’s brand story to amplify their “anti-PR firm” position compared the usual PR offerings as shown in what would become their introductory presentation:

Disrupt an industry with branding

Disrupt an industry with branding

Disrupt an industry with branding

This set the stage to introduce their 3-stages to ROI in PR philosophy:

Disrupt an industry with branding

Disrupt an industry with branding

Disrupt an industry with branding

The Competitive Review

Now that the brand story had been established, it became a factor of giving her brand a fresh face, one in stark contrast to the “corporate brand look” many of today’s PR companies subscribed to.

JoTo competitor's

Having defined the Brand Story and conducted a visual audit of competitors, we developed the rebrand with the new slogan, Disruption, Exposure, Influence:

Before and After Rebrand of JoTo

The brand was then applied to a number of key showcases:

Rebranding a company that disrupts an industry

PR and branding

The brand color choice and style, explored in numerous settings, ensured it had the necessary “pop” to disrupt the PR industry not only in service but visually from the very first point of contact.

PR and brandingAnd here is an example of an ad marrying JoTo PR with today’s technology:

JoTo on Apple Watch

In closing, here is Karla Jo’s observation of the industry and JoTo’s role in restoring the power of PR.

If you’re going to disrupt, this is a perfect example of how to set the stage. If you want to see more examples of how female entrepreneurs are an unstoppable force of nature, check this out.

Disrupt an industry with branding

Related articles:

The Branding of a Champion: The Power of Words
How To Become A Better Brand Leader in 60 Seconds
The Amy Schumer School of Branding in 5 Easy Steps
Brand Intervention: The Day Gary Vaynerchuk Blew My Mind
Contact David Brier

Found this helpful? Never miss an issue

Join 7,500+ subscribers who get step-by-step
actionable brand strategies every two weeks


    Ready to defy gravity?

    For over 30 years, David Brier has worked with large and small companies and startups that refuse to blend in and want — not only a brand that has something to say but — a brand that demands to be heard: to defy gravity and rise above the noise. Read More…

    Discipline
    • Branding
    • Rebranding
    • Storytelling
    • Leadership
    • Portfolio
    4 ways I can help you
    • It’s the Entrepreneurs Bible. Yours Free
    • Amazon’s #1 BestSeller “Brand Intervention”
    • Transform Your Business and Brand in 9 weeks
    • Work With Me And My Team :One to One
    Subscribe to my branding insights email and get my free e-book on branding
    Free Branding Ebook - The Lucky Brand
    You Know You Want To!

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

    Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Log in