Brands and internet culture

Member lesson

How to write a brand teardown

Lesson 9 of 10 in Brands and internet culture.

Checked against the makers' documentation on 9 October 2026.

How to use the Wayback Machine · Internet Archive
Lesson

A teardown takes one brand decision apart so you can learn from it. It is neither a review nor a fan letter. The library's own Case studies follow one fixed order of six questions: what the brand looked like before, what problem it was trying to solve, what it changed, what happened next, why that worked or did not, and what a founder can take from it. Each ends on a verdict of one word, worked, reversed or mixed. The order is there to stop a writer skipping the awkward question, which is nearly always what happened next.

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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which question does the lesson say writers most often skip in a teardown?

    • What the brand looked like before
    • What happened next
    • What the new logo is called
    • Who designed the typeface
  2. Question 2, locked

    Where does commentary rank among a teardown's sources?

    • First, because it is the easiest to find
    • Second, straight after the brand's own words
    • Last, since it is usually somebody else's teardown
    • Nowhere, because it should never be read
  3. Question 3, locked

    Why does the lesson suggest using Save Page Now on any web page a teardown relies on?

    • Brands change their websites without notice
    • It makes the page load faster for your readers
    • It removes the page from search engines
    • It is required before quoting any brand

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