Let's talk branding

Hey everyone! Super happy to kick off a new season with more brand-building legends and insights.

In this conversation, I chat with Damian Borchok, Managing Director of Koto for the Asia Pacific region. A conversation sparked by a great article on Koto ‘s newsletter, We discussed the nuances of branding, rebranding, and brand refreshes. Damian emphasizes the importance of understanding the value of a brand and the strategic decision...

Show notes

* John on LinkedIn

* John’s Substack and other links

Summary

* John shares his journey from advertising to consulting, focusing on practical outcomes rather than marketing politics.

* He highlights the common misconception that advertising only means paid ads and explains that any brand communication can be seen as "advertising."

* John describes the industry's split between "brand" and "performance" marketing, noting that cus...

Show notes

* Adam’s agency Thinkerbell

* Adam’s book: Stop listening to the customer

Summary

* Adam Ferrier challenges the idea of being "customer-obsessed," arguing that brands lose their identity by focusing too much on consumer needs.

* He believes brands should prioritize their own values and what they stand for instead of solely catering to customer demands.

* Companies like Apple and IKEA are examples of successful brands that don’...

Here are the key takeaways from the podcast:

* Effectiveness in marketing: It's about ensuring that marketing efforts, particularly advertising, achieve their intended goals, whether that's awareness, behavior change, or sales.

* Econometrics simplified: Econometrics uses data to determine if a marketing campaign worked by analyzing both the campaign’s direct impact and other factors (e.g. a competitor campaign) that could influence ...

As a brand designer, Austin experienced a similar journey to mine, he learned about the power of brand strategy and started offering it to clients. Things were great. But on that journey towards becoming a strategist, he also noticed that some things were broken in this new ‘era’ of strategic brand designers.We explore the following topics:

* Is Brand Strategy Overrated?: We dive into whether brand strategy is often overhyped, somet...

Discover the 5 key brand religions, their core beliefs, and how they can apply to your brand.

Important links

* Download the white paper to take a deep dive into the 5 brand religions

* Kristof on LinkedIn

* The episode with Jan Verlinden (Ritchie)

Creative business company

One of the biggest challenges in my own career has been trying to convince business leaders that their ‘brand’ is one of the most important assets of their company.

Th...

Discover the captivating marketing story of Ritchie, a Belgian lemonade brand built from strong marketing principles by entrepreneur/marketer Jan Verlinden (ex Pepsi-co). Learn how Jan leverages his experience at big brands to grow Ritchie through unexpected marketing channels and tactics to expand his market share gradually.

Show notes

* Jan on LinkedIn

* Check out Ritchie, the amazing brand Jan is building

* The book about the Ritchi...

A deep dive into the problematic state of online advertising, from its lack of effectiveness to its societal impacts.

Show notes

* Find ‘Adscam’ + the free ebooks on Bob’s website

* Bob on LinkedIn

Creative business company

One of the biggest challenges in my own career has been trying to convince business leaders that their ‘brand’ is one of the most important assets of their company.

That’s why this episode is sponsored by Creative B...

A deep dive into brand architecture and how to use it to strengthen your brand positioning

Show notes

* Felicia on LinkedIn

* The Morningstar case study by Creative business company

Brand strategy course

Activate your strategic brain and level up your creative business. Find courses on brand strategy, brand workshops, and brand strategy presentations. You can use LTBPODCAST to get a 20% discount.

In this episode, we discover the power of ‘associative attention’, a framework developed by Max Stricker and Samuel Brealey. It zooms in on the importance of not only getting attention but the right type of attention through strong association.

Show notes

* Associative Attention Paper & ‘Health Check’

Associative Attention is a framework that helps brand owners deliver better executions (think advertising, POS material, packaging). I...

Discover what it takes to be a leader in brand for a large B2B tech company.

Show notes

* Gwen on LinkedIn

* This episode is sponsored by Creative business company. Find your free no-bs brand-building guides here.

Brand strategy course

Activate your strategic brain and level up your creative business. Find courses on brand strategy, brand workshops, and brand strategy presentations. You can use LTBPODCAST to get a 20% discount.

Show notes

* The multiplayer brand slidedeck

* Zoe on LinkedIn

* This episode is sponsored by Creative business company. Find your free no-bs brand-building guides here.

Brand strategy course

Activate your strategic brain and level up your creative business. Find courses on brand strategy, brand workshops, and brand strategy presentations. You can use LTBPODCAST to get a 20% discount.

Show notes:

* Article on Brand difference and pricing power

* Dom Boyd on LinkedIn

* BrandZ index

* This episode is sponsored by Creative business company. Find your free no-bs brand-building guides here.

Brand strategy course

Activate your strategic brain and level up your creative business. Find courses on brand strategy, brand workshops, and brand strategy presentations. You can use LTBPODCAST to get a 20% discount.

How brands can create an unfair creative advantage.

Show notes

* Discover the full paper here.

* Dan Salkey on LinkedIn.

* This episode is sponsored by Creative business company. Find your free no-bs brand-building guides here.

Brand strategy course

Activate your strategic brain and level up your creative business. Find courses on brand strategy, brand workshops, and brand strategy presentations. You can use LTBPODCAST to get a 20% disco...

Show notes

* Professor Pauwels on LinkedIn

* This episode is sponsored by Creative business company. Find your free no-bs brand-building guides here

Brand strategy course

Activate your strategic brain and level up your creative business. Find courses on brand strategy, brand workshops, and brand strategy presentations. You can use LTBPODCAST to get a 20% discount.

Show notes

* Bart on LinkedIn

* Bart’s new venture: I know a guy

Key Takeaways

* Understanding client problems and formulating them better than the clients themselves is crucial in agency-client relationships.

* The balance between digital and branding is essential in marketing strategies, with a shift towards investing in branding for long-term effectiveness.

* New platforms like TikTok and AR are on the rise and should be explored for ...

Show notes

* Discover the full trends report here

* Rachael Higgins on LinkedIn

* Will Posket on LinkedIn

Summary

* 🚀 Back to the Pod: Host Stef kicks off the year chatting with Will Posket & Rachael Higgins about 2024's hot branding and marketing trends. Time to dive in and learn!

* 🤖 AI & Truth-Seeking: Will and Rachael talk about AI's rise and its impact on branding. Brands need to be authentic and truthful in an "era of cheap fake...

Summary

* 🤖 AI in Mascot Creation: Making it easier and more accessible, especially for smaller brands.

* 💡 Before AI: Creating a mascot was a big deal – think illustrators, 3D artists, studios. Now, AI tools like Midjourney and Dali are game-changers.

* 🎨 AI's Impact: Brands can now craft imaginative characters consistently and bring them to life in various contexts.

* 🚀 Haris’s Story: How he crafted the purple, chef-hat-wearing m...