The Hidden Truth About Branding That Most Shopify Brands Miss

If you think branding is just a logo and a color palette, Brad Imburgia is here to shake up your perspective in the best way possible. In this episode, the founder of Ember Brand Co unpacks what real branding is, and why it’s the single most powerful lever ecommerce business owners are ignoring or misusing.

Brad’s no-nonsense, clear-eyed approach to building a Shopify brand isn't about aesthetics. It’s about perception, positioning, and pulling the right emotional levers to drive long-term customer affinity and business growth. Whether you’re a scrappy startup or a scaling DTC operation, the way you define and communicate your brand could be the reason you're plateauing or popping off.

This conversation is especially valuable for business owners who feel like they’ve nailed their product, built a solid store, but aren’t seeing conversion, repeat purchase, or recognition at the level they expected. If that’s you, Brad’s take on branding could be the unlock.

Your Brand Isn’t What You Say . . . It’s What They Remember

Brad nails it early: a brand isn’t your logo or your mission statement. It’s a story being told in the mind of your customer. And the problem? Most businesses aren’t actively participating in that narrative.

Instead of obsessing over what you want to say, Brad encourages brand owners to ask: “What do I want my customers to believe and feel after interacting with us?” That mindset shift alone transforms branding from a design exercise into a business driver.

Your job, as a founder or marketer, is to craft and reinforce the emotional signals that shape customer memory and perception; every single touchpoint matters.

Clarity Wins. Always.

Forget the fluff. Brad’s brand strategy framework cuts straight to this: if your offer, audience, and differentiation aren’t crystal clear in under five seconds, you’ve lost the game.

Many Shopify brands suffer from what Brad calls the “confused middle.” They look nice, they’ve got a decent product, but they haven’t nailed the message that tells someone why they’re different. That’s where strategy beats style.

When your positioning is sharp, your customers don’t need to be convinced. They see your brand and say, “This is for me.” That’s how real brand equity gets built.

Branding Is Not a Vibe, It’s a Conversion Tool

One of the biggest takeaways? Branding and performance marketing are not at odds. In fact, strong branding enhances every ad, email, and checkout page you put in front of someone.

According to Brad, great ecommerce branding doesn’t just look good, it converts better. When customers understand what your brand stands for, they’re more likely to click, trust, and buy. Branding isn’t a cost center, it’s a multiplier.

If your acquisition costs are rising or your conversion rates are flat, it might not be your media buying. It might be that your brand isn't doing enough heavy lifting.

Top Episode Quotes:

1. “Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

2. “Good branding makes your ads cheaper. Bad branding makes them invisible.”

3. “We don’t build brands that look good, we build brands that mean something.”

4. “The real metric of brand success is belief. What do people believe about you?”

5. “Design can’t save weak positioning. Strategy has to come first.”

Immediate Action Step:

Within the next 24 hours, schedule a 30-minute session to review your homepage, product pages, and ads. For each asset, ask: “If someone had no idea who we are, what would they remember? What belief are we planting?”If the answer is vague or generic, you’ve got your next to-do: tighten your positioning for clarity and resonance.