Success Quote by Jay Chiat

Brand-building, for Jay Chiat, isn’t a logo problem. It’s a focus problem.

“It’s hard to build a brand, competitively” lands like a warning shot from the ad-world trench lines: if you’re trying to win in a crowded market, you can’t afford a fuzzy identity. Chiat’s subtext is that “competitive” doesn’t just mean better media buys or louder messaging; it means sharper differentiation. The brand is the decision you make to exclude most things so one thing can cut through. That’s why the second clause bites: “and tell people what you do as well.” The word “as well” quietly frames clarity as an extra task, almost a luxury item stapled onto the “real work” of branding. Chiat is calling that out as self-deception.

In the context of Chiat/Day’s era - when advertising shifted from product recitation to attitude, from features to felt identity (think Apple’s myth-making) - the quote reads like insider skepticism about the industry’s temptations. Agencies loved the sexy part: mood, rebellion, cultural sheen. Clients loved it too, because abstraction can feel premium. But the market punishes confusion. If the audience can’t quickly answer “What is this?” and “Why you?” you don’t have a brand; you have vibes.

The line works because it exposes a trade-off modern companies still dodge: being legible can feel limiting, even uncool. Chiat argues that the real flex is doing both at once: cultural meaning with operational clarity. That’s not just marketing. It’s strategy with the lights on.