Who are the top branding experts to follow in 2023? “Top” is a subjective term. Instead, I’m going to offer eight individuals who are inarguably branding experts and explain why I think they’re among the best in various categories. I’ll include those who are experts at branding on social media, those with best-selling books, and […]
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Brand naming course review: Fundamentals of Memorable Brand Naming with Rob Meyerson
TL; DR: Names impact the longevity and prosperity of a business. This brand naming course teaches you how to properly develop professional quality and effective brand names. If you could optimize one of, if not the most encountered assets of a business or brand would you? Who wouldn’t? Why shortchange your sales, brand salience, […]
Q&A with Katie Klencheski, founder of SMAKK
Katie Klencheski is founder and creative director of SMAKK, a branding and growth studio in New York. She started her career in advertising working brands like Sony, AMEX, Catier, and Trump (yes … that Trump, and yes … we talk about it). Today, at SMAKK, she says she’s “on a mission to change consumer behavior […]
Eight of the best branding books coming out soon (2023)
Who needs another list of the best branding books? Every year, it seems, dozens of new branding books are published. So many, one could be forgiven for wondering whether there’s really anything new to write on the subject! But then, every now and again, a book like How Brands Grow (2010) makes a huge impact, […]
Branding color psychology is mostly (but not entirely) bullshit
You see red, you feel passion. You see blue, you feel calm. Those types of color-emotion mappings form the basis of the pseudoscientific field known as branding color psychology. Color psychology is the theory that colors affect human behavior and emotions. There’s some research to back this up—for instance, one study found that the color red […]
Q&A with Sarah Robb of Brand Strategy Academy
Sarah Robb is a London-based brand strategist with over 20 years working at agencies like Landor and WPP. She now runs her own consultancy, Brand Lateral, teaches the Brand Strategy Academy, and speaks on topics related to brand strategy. I wanted to interview Sarah Robb partly because I’m interested in the brand education space, which […]
Brand renaming: Avoid these 7 big rebranding mistakes
When companies ask my advice on brand renaming, my answer is typically to avoid change as much as possible. Consistency is so important to building a strong brand over time, and repetition is key to consistency. Right about when we’re getting sick of repeating our brand name is when our customers finally start to remember […]
How to be a designer in the post-advertising era
We live in a post-advertising era. Right? Media divergence, social platforms, and a new generation of brand-savvy (and skeptical) consumers have collided to effectively demand a more layered approach, changing the entire communications landscape—and with it, what it means to be a designer. How has advertising evolved? Advertising, careers, and egos were built on […]
Q&A with Beat Baudenbacher of loyalkaspar
Beat Baudenbacher of loyalkaspar, a New York-based creative branding agency, describes himself as “obsessed with searching for magic in the mundane while vigorously defending the creative process against all forces of evil.” In addition to co-founding loyalkaspar and serving as the agency’s Chief Creative Officer, he’s the author of Somewhere Yes: The Search for Belonging in […]
The ultimate guide to brand naming
Table of contents Skip to a section in the ultimate guide to brand naming: Why brand names are important What makes a good/bad brand name? Types of brand names The brand naming process The naming brief How to generate name ideas Trademark prescreening Domain names How to present brand names Books about brand naming Websites […]
Q&A with Jessie McGuire of ThoughtMatter
Jessie McGuire, Managing Partner at ThoughtMatter in New York, has spent over a decade working with billion-dollar brands like Kimberly-Clark, P&G, and Colgate-Palmolive—transforming them into social icons. She’s also a mother of two, a Salvadorian-American, a graduate of Pratt and SVA, and a former Advocacy Chair on the board of directors of the New York […]
Branding news roundup: March 2022
About once a month, I publish a newsletter with branding news, featured blog posts, examples of great branding work and interesting images, and branding tips and tools. If you’re not already getting the newsletter, sign up here. The most recent newsletter—from March 2022—featured the six stories below. Brands are responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine […]
