The Kaye Putnam SourceBook 02

Words

How this brand sounds: the voice, vocabulary, and stories that make the writing unmistakably Kaye.

2.1

Tone of Voice

Warm, intelligent, and direct: like a brilliant friend who happens to know more about branding and marketing than almost anyone you've met.

The voice takes ideas seriously without taking itself too seriously. Authoritative without being cold, personal without being confessional, concise without feeling rushed. The character in the room is the smartest person there who makes everyone else feel smart too.

2.2

We Will Sound / We Will Not

We will sound
  • Direct (lead with the claim, then explain)
  • Warm and personal (constant “you,” genuine interest)
  • Quietly confident (expertise evident, never announced)
  • Generous (teach freely, no gatekeeping)
  • A little irreverent (the parenthetical that names the elephant in the room)
We will not sound
  • Corporate or stiff (“leverage,” “utilize,” “robust”)
  • Hype-y or salesy (“game-changing,” “you won’t believe”)
  • Academic or distant (passive voice, jargon)
  • Vague (“take your brand to the next level”)
  • Apologetic or hedging (“I think maybe it might be worth considering”)
2.3

Tone Spectrum

Where this voice sits on four axes.

FormalCasual

Conversational, but composed

SeriousPlayful

Wit in the asides, substance in the claims

UnderstatedBold

Declarative claims, no hedging

CoolWarm

Direct address, personal, human

2.4

Brand Vocabulary

The named things. Frameworks and concepts that belong to this brand.

The Clarity Code
The master framework: Character, Offer, Demand, Energy.
The 12 Brand Archetypes
The signature positioning system.
The Brand Archetype Quiz
Top-of-funnel entry point at brandingquiz.com, taken 250,000+ times.
3D Messaging
Desires, Devils, Doubts.
Brand Gravity
Audience as gravitational pull: the larger it grows, the more it attracts.
The SourceBook
A living, web-based brand standards document. You’re reading one.
Signal vs. noise
The recurring AI-era metaphor: clarity is the signal worth amplifying.
2.5

Phrases

Phrases we use
Brand clarity is the strategyBuilt on truth, not trendsA signal worth amplifyingAutomating your noiseResonates, not persuadesPsychology-driven brandingTactics fade. Brands compound.They choose a feeling
Phrases not to use
Make an offerLead magnetsIdeal client avatarGrow your audienceBizGirl bossUnlock the secrets10x your brandInsane resultsSynergiesBest-in-classInnovative solutions
2.6

Stories

The narratives that carry the brand. Told in first person, with the embarrassing parts left in.

Origin story

The identity-seeker arc. First computer password at age 11: “identity.” A photography business in high school lit by $13 windshield reflectors. A marketing degree with a psychology minor, then the embarrassing copycat phase (“Hey BOMBSHELL!” is real and she’ll tell you about it), then the eureka moment of finding the 12 archetypes. The lesson: people can sniff out inauthenticity a mile away, and clarity starts with knowing who you actually are.

Results story

From a $35K salary to $35K months by productizing psychology-driven branding. A quiz built in 2013 that’s now been taken 250,000+ times. A framework taught to hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs, now applied at the executive level.

Movement story

Brands need to be more human, and AI is how we scale that (not the opposite). The movement is against noise: for signal, for truth over trends, for marketing that resonates instead of persuades.

Archetype stories

The Sage story is the lifelong obsession with understanding identity, taught generously. The Magician story is transformation made real: the $99 first online business becoming the framework, the Everest Base Camp trek becoming the Quantum Quarter metaphor, clarity turning everything it touches into something that works.

2.7

Content Themes

  1. 01

    Brand psychology and archetypes

    The signature body of work.

  2. 02

    Clarity as strategy

    Positioning, differentiation, messaging.

  3. 03

    AI + brand

    Signal vs. noise; clarity as the input to AI leverage.

  4. 04

    Hospitality and STR branding

    The thesis in action at Freewyld.

  5. 05

    Marketing leadership

    Peer-level thinking for people who own the outcome.

2.8

Humanizing Topics

The personal threads that keep the brand human.

Fair game
  • Family life and the move-around years (Italy, Minneapolis, North Carolina)
  • Everest Base Camp
  • CrossFit and has-been athleticism
  • Cheesecake and wine (more than the average person)
  • Four younger brothers
  • The Kool Kidz Klub website with the flashing gifs (a first lesson in personal branding)
Phrases I say
  • “Turns out, that’s the hard part.”
  • “I call B.S. on showing up every single day.”
  • “Your brand is so much more than design.”
  • “People can sniff out inauthenticity a mile away.”
2.9

Messaging Pillars

Brand strategy

Build your brand on truth, not trends. Psychology-driven positioning that makes everything else start working.

AI + marketing systems

AI doesn’t replace brand thinking. It amplifies it. Clarity is what separates signal from noise.

STR / hospitality

People don’t choose a place to stay. They choose a feeling. Experience-first branding in a category that defaults to mechanics.

2.10

Taglines & Elevator Pitch

Taglines
  • Brand clarity is the strategy.
  • Helping brands find the clarity that changes everything.
  • Tactics fade. Brands compound.
Elevator pitch

I'm a brand strategist and marketing leader working at the intersection of psychology, brand, and AI. I'm best known for the brand archetypes framework (the quiz has been taken over 250,000 times), and right now I'm applying that thinking inside hospitality, leading marketing at Freewyld. The through-line in everything I do: when a brand knows exactly who it is, the marketing resonates, the team aligns, and AI finally has a signal worth amplifying.

2.11

Style Choices

The editorial rules. Non-negotiable, especially for AI-assisted writing.

Em dashes
Never, in anything. Use commas, colons, parentheses, or periods.
Staccato fragments
Never string short fragments for dramatic effect. Connect related thoughts into well-built sentences.
Contractions
Always. Formal constructions read cold.
Parentheses
Yes, for warmth and the occasional wink.
Exclamation points
Rare and genuine.
Ellipses
Occasionally, for conversational pause.
Direct address
Constant. This voice is always in conversation with “you.”
Headline emphasis
Gold underline on the key concept word, never italics.
Reading level
Accessible to everyone, condescending to no one. Sophisticated ideas in plain language.
Numbers
Specific over vague. “250,000+ quiz takers” beats “a large audience.”