Creating a brand means engaging a professional. That makes you the customer, right? So you’re always right…right?
The phrase “The customer is always right” is familiar to most business leaders. What many people do not realise is that this is only part of a longer idea. Variations of the full quote can be traced to early twentieth century retail pioneers such as Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker, and Marshall Field. The phrase was intended to remind businesses that customers may not always be objectively right, but their preferences and tastes are what ultimately drive purchasing decisions. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_customer_is_always_right)
When expanded, the idea becomes more precise: the customer is always right in matters of taste. In other words, businesses control product quality, service standards, and internal processes, but customers decide what they find appealing. Taste only exists in the mind of the market, not in the mind of the owner.
Why your personal taste is not the guiding force of your brand
It can feel uncomfortable to hear that your own preferences should not be the deciding factor for your brand. You may have excellent taste. Many leaders do. But taste is subjective, and when you are deeply inside your own company, you cannot see your brand the way an outsider does.
Here is why this matters:
- You are not your customer. You already understand the business. You know the backstory, the history, the motivations, and the internal meaning behind your visual choices. Your audience sees your brand for only a few seconds at a time. What makes perfect sense to you may not land with them at all.
- Being inside creates bias. Insiders naturally value legacy elements, internal symbolism, or their own design preferences. Customers do not have this context. They judge instantly and emotionally. A study from Northwestern University found that choices labeled as matters of taste increased self focused language and personal interpretation. This means your audience makes decisions based on their own frame of reference, not yours. (https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/~/media/FF4B1458CFD44876AC612C740AA42ADA.ashx)
- Taste may be subjective, but brand performance is not. Stronger alignment with customer values translates into measurable outcomes. McKinsey research shows that modern consumers place higher importance on emotional connection, experience, and perceived relevance. Brands that meet those expectations see higher loyalty and stronger financial performance. (https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/state-of-consumer)
This is why personal preference cannot drive a brand. You may like a particular color or typeface, but if it fails to connect with your target audience, it becomes a distraction rather than a strategic asset.
You are not the customer, and that is your advantage
This point is crucial. Saying “you are not the customer” is not a criticism of your taste or judgment. In fact, it is the opposite. It is a recognition that your expertise lies in running your business, and that your proximity to the brand gives you knowledge your audience does not have.
This deep internal context makes it more difficult to see your brand objectively. Customers approach your brand with fresh eyes. They do not know your origin story or your motivations. They respond to how your brand makes them feel.
Professionals step in to bridge this gap. Their job is not to ignore your taste. Instead, their purpose is to interpret your goals, research your audience, and build a brand that aligns with the people who must respond to it.
How to shift from internal taste to external alignment
There are several practical steps to help move from personal preference to audience driven branding.
- Define your audience clearly. Understand their values, motivations, fears, and aesthetic expectations. Without this foundation, every design decision becomes guesswork.
- Gather real audience data. Research does not have to be complex. Surveys, interviews, customer feedback, behavioural data, and competitor audits all reveal what actually resonates. Even light research can prevent costly misalignment. (https://inmotionmktg.com/blog/the-customer-is-always-right)
- Let professionals translate insights into strategy. Designers and brand strategists take raw data and turn it into a coherent, effective visual system. Their work is not based on guesswork. It is based on experience, repeatable patterns, and established human perception principles.
- Use structured testing. Concept testing, A and B comparisons, and preference studies help validate decisions. This shifts the conversation from “I like it” to “our audience consistently responds to this direction.”
- Separate emotion from decision making. Personal taste can guide the conversation, but it should not end it. Decisions should be based on what your customers will respond to, not what any one person prefers internally.
A respectful reminder: this is not a dismissal of your taste
Your personal taste matters because it informs your vision, values, and leadership style. It brings energy and direction to the branding process. The goal is not to override your preferences but to place them in the correct context.
When you understand that the audience controls matters of taste, branding becomes more strategic, more confident, and more effective. You no longer need to rely on instinct alone. You can rely on research, patterns, and professional guidance.
This is not about reducing your influence. It is about elevating the brand so it can do what it is meant to do: connect with the people who matter most.
