Under Your Skin
Branding is a lot like tattooing. It’s far better to think it through and make the investment than to cobble it together bit by bit.
A Better Mousetrap
Peanut butter is the ticket with mice. The trick is to put the trap out without setting it and let them get used to eating from it. Then one day you set it. Brands do the same thing with us.
The Revolution Will Be Commercialized
Brands have always capitalized on societal trends. But many covet the prospect of having a deeper relevance, so they weave cultural trigger points into their messages.
Let's Co-Everything
The cost and risk of opening a retail presence has always been a significant barrier for brands just getting started. You used to have to go it alone. But now you don’t have to.
Surprise and Delight
“Surprise and delight” is a phrase you hear in branding an awful lot. For good reason. Turns out, if a brand can make you feel surprise and delight, chances are you’ll part with some cash.
You Both Win
The more distant our daily business transactions become, the more we need to reach out and touch people on a personal level.
Our Brand Is Crisis
Brands that are built on celebrity rise and fall on the actions of the ambassador’s associations. When that persons name becomes synonymous with a chaotic and negative narrative, is it any wonder the brand is damaged?
Brandbot Voice
A powerful new touchpoint for reflecting brand personality is appearing. Not only does talking to a ‘bot need to feel “normal” but ideally you want to design a conversational brand voice that aligns with your brand’s positioning.
"Design ROI"-Rob Wallace
Rob Wallace's guest-post article on "Design ROI" represents the culmination of five years of independent research on empirically calculating design’s value and provides ground-breaking thought leadership on quantifying design’s return on investment.
Open Doors
In branding and design you have to understand what people do in order to fulfill their desires. The challenge is getting the truth.
A Happy Ending
What are these, “Mom jeans” for men? How could it be that a giant in denim, one with 50 years of experience in making jeans be so off the mark?
Going Small
There is a trend happening in the branding and design world. Large client companies are divesting themselves of their big agency relationships and hiring much smaller agencies. And the big agencies are freaking out.
Less Is More
Branding and design are processes of subtraction. You shed all that is unnecessary to express the kernel of the idea. You find the essence.
Dying on the Vine: Don't Build Your Brand On Borrowed Land
Twitter announced recently that they will be shutting down Vine, the 6 second video sharing platform “indefinitely”. But what becomes of the stars that Vine made? And why should you care?
Pick A Lane
I met with a woman last week who just patented an invention. It’s incredibly simple. It's the kind of invention that you look at and say “of course!”.
Make Your Mark
So often we want to create something new. Something out of nothing. Like a business, or a brand, or a blog. But we are paralyzed.
Out Of Your Comfort Zone
To grow, you have to let go of worrying what people think of you. Let go of perfectionism. Let go of that ego a little.
What Makes You, You?
What is it that makes you human? Are you bearing your soul a little in your work and in your brand? Tell your story and embrace your narrative.
The Moment Brands Dream Of
A few weeks ago, I attended the Virtual Reality Summit in NYC. I was struck, not with how advanced the technology is - but rather with how no one really knows what to do with it.