Max Stricker, founder and director of Ortum Consulting, argues that small brands rarely need more marketing activity. What they truly need is better decision-making. His work centers on identifying the moments when buyers should remember a brand, maintaining consistency long enough for associations to form, and making the most of existing assets. He says, “Marketers are in the business of memory management via associations.” Essentially, Stricker believes that effective brand building on limited budgets comes from fewer, more deliberate choices that stay memorable.
This view often aligns with the realities many smaller businesses face. “Budget limitations are only one part of the challenge. Teams are lean, specialist expertise is limited, and day-to-day operational pressures often take priority,” Stricker explains. A survey highlights taxation and rising costs as ongoing concerns for SME leaders, shaping how marketing decisions are made. Stricker recognizes that when time and resources are tight, the quality of decisions becomes a multiplier of impact.
Because of this, he encourages teams to begin with the moments when buyers should think of the brand. Many organizations start with the desire to go viral with their content ideas, which often leads to scattered activity. A more effective starting point is defining the situations, needs, or occasions where memorability matters most. Stricker says, “If you are clear on when you want to be remembered, you become clearer on what to say and where to show up.” This shift may help teams avoid pursuing visibility without direction and instead focus on the moments that influence buying behavior.
Research supports this emphasis on memorability. A report on effective social media campaigns shows that meaningful engagement plays a more significant role than surface-level reach. High view counts or shares may indicate exposure, but they do not guarantee lasting memory. The same analysis suggests that strong mental associations depend on relevance, emotional resonance, and distinctiveness. In other words, social media may deliver more value when it reinforces a broader strategy centered on creating lasting memories.
Once key buying moments are defined, the next challenge becomes consistency. Stricker notes that many smaller brands refresh their creative work more often than necessary. New campaigns, designs, and messages are introduced before existing ones have had time to settle in people’s minds. Internally, this may feel productive, yet it often resets the very associations the brand aims to build.
“A lot of marketing changes because the team has seen it too many times, not because the audience has,” Stricker states. Long-term advertising studies support this view. Findings from Kantar show that repeated exposure strengthens memory links between brands and messages, while true creative fatigue is far less common than assumed. In many cases, consistent repetition reinforces recognition and recall, both essential for future choice.
According to Stricker, this has implications for smaller teams. Instead of constantly producing new assets, extending the life of existing work, refining selectively, and maintaining core elements over time tends to deliver greater impact. Consistency, he notes, becomes a mechanism for building memory. “Consistency is one powerful way memory builds. Each exposure adds a layer, and over time those layers become hard to ignore,” Stricker explains.
With strategy and consistency in place, execution tends to become more efficient and impactful. One of Stricker’s recommendations is to treat every owned touchpoint as potential brand media. Everyday items such as packaging, coffee cups, and vehicles often go overlooked because they appear operational rather than promotional. Yet these items circulate in real environments and carry repeated brand signals, making them powerful tools for reinforcing recognition.
“The coffee cup is a good example,” Stricker explains. “It’s small, disposable, and easy to ignore. Yet it moves through the world, visible to many people, often in moments that matter.” He encourages businesses to view such items as opportunities to strengthen familiarity. Packaging can act as a free in-store billboard, and vehicle livery can extend visibility into local areas. The goal is to ensure recognizability even when an item is partially visible or seen briefly.
This principle reflects what Stricker considers a broader design philosophy rooted in real-world conditions. Stricker emphasizes that a touchpoint only works as brand media if it communicates clearly in everyday use: when it’s being held, moving, or seen at an angle. “If it only works in a perfect mock-up, it is unlikely to work in the real world,” he says. For smaller brands, this perspective turns ordinary assets into practical tools for building recognition, potentially allowing them to reinforce familiarity without relying on large media budgets.
According to Stricker, one support tool that small to mid-sized businesses can leverage is AI. He points to a report on SME technology adoption, indicating that 32% of businesses currently use AI-enabled tools, with many expressing cautious optimism alongside a desire for deeper understanding. Stricker views AI as a useful support in the thinking process on what associations to focus on. “AI can help you explore options and challenge your assumptions,” he says. “The value comes from how you interpret and apply what it gives you.”
Stricker believes that these ideas point toward a more deliberate approach to brand building for small teams. “You don’t necessarily need to do more. You need to make the work you already do more memorable,” Stricker remarks. For SMEs navigating limited budgets and capacity, this shift in thinking may lead to clearer decisions, reduced waste, and a brand that remains present in the moments that matter.
