The Human-Layer Brand Test
Build distinctive brands by reflecting whole people and tolerating disagreement
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 94%
Test a brand against the full humanity of its audience rather than treating people only as workers seeking professional success. Research their ambitions, identities, relationships, humor, fears, and cultural context, then create stories that address more than functional utility. Move beyond safe educational content by entertaining, engaging, inspiring, or empowering people. The brand should also hold a clear, relevant perspective so audiences can recognize what it represents. That requires vulnerability: stronger identity will attract disagreement, including criticism from people who are not the intended audience. The objective is not controversy for its own sake but meaningful differentiation. A brand that remains neutral on everything avoids rejection at the cost of being ignored.
Origin
Ross Simmonds and the hosts developed this test on Marketing Against The Grain while diagnosing why B2B brands struggle with non-educational storytelling.
Core principles
- 01Customers are whole people, not merely job functions
- 02Cultural closeness produces more resonant stories
- 03Distinctive brands express a recognizable perspective
- 04Emotional range creates stronger associations than utility alone
- 05Some disagreement is the cost of standing for something
How to run it
- 1
Study the whole person
Research what audience members care about inside and outside the narrow task your product supports. Capture emotional, social, and cultural dimensions as well as functional needs.
Pro tip Listen to natural audience conversations rather than relying only on persona documents.
Watch out Do not appropriate personal concerns merely to manufacture relevance.
- 2
Get close to the culture
Learn the references, tensions, language, aspirations, and participation norms of the group the brand hopes to influence.
Pro tip Include people from the culture in research and creation.
Watch out A distant executive interpretation of culture can feel artificial or patronizing.
- 3
Expand the emotional range
Create work that can make people laugh, feel inspired, become curious, participate, or receive recognition—not just perform a job task.
Pro tip Add formats and creators with strengths beyond conventional instructional content.
Watch out Do not abandon usefulness; combine it with a richer human response.
- 4
Choose a defensible perspective
State what the brand believes about its category, customers, or way of working. Make the position specific enough to guide content and decisions.
Pro tip Choose a view the organization is willing to demonstrate through action.
Watch out Manufactured controversy without operational conviction damages credibility.
- 5
Tolerate relevant disagreement
Distinguish useful criticism from rejection by people who are not the intended audience. Refine genuine errors without retreating into total neutrality.
Pro tip Define the audience and non-negotiable principles before publishing.
Watch out Being disliked is not automatically evidence that a position is strong or correct.
In the wild
A software company supplements technical SEO guides with stories about the people behind customer teams, the pressures they navigate, and the communities they support. It also states a clear view on unhealthy growth practices and applies that view to its own product decisions.
→ The audience associates the company with a human perspective and values, not just interchangeable instruction.
A category brand publicly argues for a customer-friendly operating principle that some competitors reject. It supports the position consistently in its pricing, content, and community rules rather than using it as a temporary campaign line.
→ Supporters gain a concrete reason to identify with and advocate for the brand.
Common mistakes
Reducing people to their jobs
Assuming professional success is the audience's only concern produces repetitive content and weak emotional connection.
Choosing total neutrality
A brand that avoids every meaningful perspective gives people little identity or association to follow.
Confusing hostility with distinction
Provocation is not a substitute for a relevant, defensible position grounded in audience understanding and action.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for B2B and product-led brands whose content is useful but emotionally flat, overly neutral, or culturally disconnected.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as permission to provoke indiscriminately or take positions unrelated to the brand's audience and purpose.
From the transcript
“Get closer to the cultures that you're trying to influence.”
“When in reality, people are like onions you have multiple layers”
“If you're neutral on everything, then no one will care.”
From the episode
Be The Most Interesting Brand In Your Market with Ross Simmonds
Ross Simmonds