Brand the Mundane
Give routine work a memorable identity that raises energy and recall
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 97%
Brand the Mundane turns an ordinary recurring workflow into a named internal program. Start with work that matters but attracts little energy, such as customer-ticket analysis or legal claim reviews. Preserve the real objective and quality standard, then give the activity a concise name, a simple story, and a recurring ritual. Teams can talk about the branded program, anticipate its updates, and remember its findings more easily than they would a generic report or meeting. The method does not replace operational rigor with theater. Its purpose is to make the rigor more visible and motivating. A good internal brand creates shared language around the work while the cadence and reporting loop keep it useful.
Origin
Laura Modi traced the practice to Airbnb's Air Dives, a branded analysis of customer-service tickets and pain points. At Bobby, she applied it to projects and to a monthly Secret Shopping Program run by regulatory and legal teams.
Core principles
- 01Routine work becomes more engaging when it has an identity
- 02A distinctive name improves memory and recall
- 03Storytelling can motivate operational work without changing its substance
- 04A branded program should still preserve the underlying quality standard
How to run it
- 1
Find the forgettable workflow
Select recurring work that is important but described in flat, procedural language. Clarify the outcome it must produce and the standard it must preserve.
Pro tip Good candidates already recur often enough that stronger recall will compound.
Watch out Do not brand work that has no clear owner, purpose, or follow-through.
- 2
Create a compact identity
Choose a distinctive name that is easier to say and remember than the formal process label. Tie it to a simple story about what the team is discovering or protecting.
Pro tip Names work best when they are vivid enough to become natural shorthand in conversation and Slack.
Watch out An obscure code name without an understood purpose creates confusion rather than energy.
- 3
Build the ritual
Give the program a recurring cadence, recognizable meeting or report, and clear participants. Make the team expect the next installment.
Pro tip A regular reveal of findings can turn a report into an event people look forward to.
- 4
Close the action loop
Report what the program found and assign the resulting fixes. Keep the branded layer attached to measurable operational work.
Watch out Branding without corrective action turns an operating system into empty theater.
In the wild
Airbnb named its analysis of customer-service tickets and pain points Air Dives. The memorable identity made people want to hear the latest findings on Fridays, even though the underlying activity was a customer-service analysis.
→ A routine analysis became a recognizable, anticipated source of customer insight.
Bobby needed teams to follow legal quality standards for content claims. Its regulatory and legal team created a monthly Secret Shopping Program, reviewed claims, and reported misleading or unclear language that needed updating.
→ A dry compliance review became a memorable recurring quality ritual with concrete corrections.
Common mistakes
Naming without a mechanism
A clever project name cannot compensate for missing standards, cadence, ownership, or outputs.
Letting theater replace rigor
The brand should improve motivation and recall while the underlying analysis or review remains substantive.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders running recurring operational, research, quality, or compliance routines across a team.
Not ideal for
One-off tasks where naming and ritual would add more overhead than motivation or recall.
From the episode
How to build a cult-like brand
Laura Modi (Bobbie)