Bodacious Brands

Two of the founders at Chubbies sharing lessons from mistakes we've made in building brands like Chubbies, Solo Stove, ISLE Surf & SUP, and Oru Kayak to help you build extremely profitable consumer retail brands that grow, sustainably, and for a long time - and that really *matter* to their customers.

Featured Posts

The 95/5 Rule

As a brand builder, the stat that completely changed my approach to brand building was the 95/5 rule.

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

How Best to Balance Brand Marketing and Direct Response Marketing

Here are 2 things I learned that would have reduced the mistakes and heartaches I put myself through for nearly a decade.

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

The Most Important Thing in Brand Building: Choose the Right KPI

If you optimize for the wrong thing, you'll just light money on fire

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery, +1

What Does "Brand" Mean Anyway?

For the better part of a decade, I had no idea what brand meant.

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

Brand Marketing is Bullsh*t

I spent most of the time on the road to Chubbies' IPO thinking this. However, these 5 ideas changed that.

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery, +1

Holding on to Digital DTC Too Long Was My Biggest Mistake

and why it makes sense to go multichannel earlier

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

Archive

Transitioning from DTC to Wholesale Saved Our Brand

Here's how to think about making the transition for your brand

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

How To: Increase Your Resilient Base of Organic New Customer Revenue

...which is the most important thing you can do

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

What NOT To Do When Your Brand's Post Goes Viral

We've All Done It - And it Does More Harm Than Good

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery, +1

Want Better Ad Performance? Mix Brand in With Your Direct Response

But you have to do it in a very specific way for it to work

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery, +1

Want a 9-figure exit? Get worse at Facebook ads.

Let me explain...

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

Here's What Happened When They Turned Off Their Facebook Ads

TL;DR, their business grew.

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

Chubbies Had A Strong Brand. But We Didn't Do Brand Marketing.

Let me explain...

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

Talladega Nights taught me The 2 Immutable Laws of Brand Building.

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

The Sea of Sameness

where brands go to die

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

The Best Brands Drive Purchase Decisions Using This System of Thinking

Here's how

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery, +1

The 2 Step Playbook to Build a Fast-Growing Brand: Contribution Margin and Exactly How to Strengthen Your Brand

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford, +1

New Approach: Increasing the Longevity of Impact From Your Marketing

Here's my story about that

Tom Montgomery

Preston Rutherford

Tom Montgomery, +1