Big Brands vs. Small Brands
What We’ve Learned Working With Both
We have the privilege of working with $30–40M CPG brands.
We also work with earlier-stage brands doing a few million a year.
And the intersection between the two is fascinating.
Here’s what I’ve noticed:
1. Reporting Means Different Things at Different Stages
Every brand wants reporting.
Big brands. Small brands. Everyone in between.
They should.
Data keeps us honest.
But here’s what I’ve noticed:
For larger brands:
- Reporting often needs to ladder up multiple levels.
- Metrics need to be packaged clearly for leadership.
- There’s a strong focus on incremental movement and benchmark comparison.
For smaller brands:
- Reporting is often more hands-on and microscopic.
- Founders and lean marketing teams want to understand what’s working right now.
- Decisions can shift quickly based on what we’re seeing.
The difference isn’t whether reporting matters.
It’s what happens after.
With more layers, reporting often feeds broader alignment and long-term planning.
With fewer layers, reporting can immediately turn into action.
Both are valuable.
But they create very different rhythms inside the same type of work.
2. Community matters more than it shows up on paper.
If a brand gets 1,000 comments in a month and we respond thoughtfully to every single one, that rarely becomes the headline of a report.
But it builds:
- Trust
- Loyalty
- Repeat customers
- Retail velocity over time
Smaller brands feel that more directly.
Larger brands often measure what’s easiest to measure.
Both are valid. But they’re different lenses.
3. Layers slow things down. Trust speeds them up.
With smaller brands:
- One marketing lead.
- Clear direction.
- Quick approvals.
- Calendars can pivot fast.
With larger brands:
- More stakeholders.
- More approvals.
- More alignment needed.
Nothing wrong with that. It’s natural.
But creativity moves at the speed of trust.
And the fewer layers between idea and execution, the faster you learn.
4. Small-brand experience is not small capability.
One thing I’d say to larger brands considering agencies that work with smaller ones:
Don’t confuse revenue size with sophistication.
With early-stage brands we often:
- Build the strategy from scratch.
- Execute the content.
- Manage community.
- Support retail launches.
- Drive paid media testing.
- Help shape brand voice.
We’re not just maintaining the engine.
We’re building it.
So yes, we can build the decks.
But we can also build the machine.
I don’t think one model is better than the other.
Bigger brands bring structure and scale.
Smaller brands bring speed and hunger.
