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 Business Company, a strategic consultancy on a mission to make brand more accountable and effective.

They take the lessons they’ve learned from over a decade of experience working with big brands like Morningstar, Formula E, and Shell, and adapt them to work with smaller, fast-growing companies to help them get more attention, convert leads and drive sales.

So if you’re trying to get the budget for ‘brand’, create messaging that converts, or lower your cost of acquisition, check out Creative Business Company for ideas, evidence and tools that will help you make an impact fast. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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). It connects the dots between the WHAT and the HOW of attention. Brand owners need to do well in both areas and those who do can see transformational executions.

You can download the full article here. It also includes a quick ‘Health Check’ you can take to start your Associative Attention journey.

* Max on LinkedIn

* The article with on WARC (paywall)

* 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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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% discount.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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 marketing opportunities.

* Investing in the fundamentals of marketing while experimenting with new platforms is a key approach to future-proofing marketing strategies.

Learn more about brand strategy

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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 fakes." Think Dove's 'Cost of Beauty' campaign – realness is key!

* 🤪 Embrace the Absurd: Get creative and stand out! Brands should dare to be different, like Liquid Death's wacky marketing. It's all about being bold and breaking the mold.

* 😂 Playfulness is Power: In a serious world, brands that bring joy stand out. Like Specsavers with their funny ads – it's about making people smile and escape the gloom.

* 💡 Future Gazing: Will and Rachael predict more personal brand growth, physical experiences blending with digital, and businesses exploring unique, authentic marketing paths.

Learn more about brand strategy

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com

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 monster, Calvin Cooks, and made his content more memorable.

* 🛠️ DIY Mascot Magic: Using Bing AI Image Generator for consistency across marketing touchpoints.

* 🌟 The Power of a Mascot: Standing out in B2B marketing, attracting attention, and enhancing brand recall.

* 🔮 The Future: The growing role of AI in branding and marketing, plus tips for those interested in creating their own mascots.

🚨 Important note on legal protection: In the podcast, I stated that it’s not possible to trademark assets generated by AI, I was notified that this is not the case, you CAN 100% trademark an AI-generated mascot as long as it’s not descriptive of the goods and services. My confusion was mainly around ‘copyright’, where this is indeed the case (the need for human input). I will follow up in more detail in an upcoming podcast episode.

Subscribe to the YouTube channel here to get notified when the tutorial is live.

Important links

* Discover Haris Spahic (and Calvin Cooks) on LinkedIn

Learn more about brand strategy

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.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letstalkbranding.substack.com