Everyone thinks they’re objective. Which is pretty fucking subjective when you think about it. We like to believe our opinions are rational, our judgements are informed and our understanding of the world is reasonably accurate. But the reality is we’re all walking around with a lifetime of cultural conditioning, personal experiences, inherited beliefs, professional biasesContinue reading “SUBJECTIVITY IS EASY. OBJECTIVITY TAKES WORK.”
Category Archives: BRAND
I USED TO GET TOLD OFF FOR ASKING TOO MANY QUESTIONS. NOW I GET PAID TO ASK THEM.
When I was younger, I asked a lot of questions. Why? How? Why not? But that doesn’t make sense? What happens if…? Eventually, as I’m sure happens to most relentlessly curious kids, I’d get some variation of: “Dan, stop asking so many questions.” Or worse, the answer I’ve probably hated my entire life: “Because that’sContinue reading “I USED TO GET TOLD OFF FOR ASKING TOO MANY QUESTIONS. NOW I GET PAID TO ASK THEM.”
ARE WE GAMIFYING A GENERATION INTO GAMBLERS?
I was standing in Australia Post yesterday returning a couple of things purchased from Amazon (PS: shoutout to how easy and frictionless their return process is), chatting to the guy behind the counter about how ridiculously simple the whole process has become. Scan this. Drop that. Refund appears. Sometimes, depending on the product, they don’tContinue reading “ARE WE GAMIFYING A GENERATION INTO GAMBLERS?”
JUST KEEP SWIMMING // GRIT, RESILIENCE AND SIMPLY BEING HUMAN
There’s a line from Finding Nemo that has somehow become more relevant to me the older I get… “Just keep swimming.” It’s ridiculously simple, almost stupidly so. But maybe that’s why it works. Because resilience isn’t always some heroic comeback story. Sometimes it’s simply staying in motion when you don’t know what happens next. ShowingContinue reading “JUST KEEP SWIMMING // GRIT, RESILIENCE AND SIMPLY BEING HUMAN”
PEOPLE ARE LOST BECAUSE THEY’VE STOPPED WANDERING
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWING SOMETHING AND UNDERSTANDING IT // We live in a world absolutely drowning in information. Reports. Dashboards. Podcasts. Books. Articles. Data. Research. TikToks. LinkedIn posts. Customer feedback. Sales numbers. Market movements. Brand trackers. White papers. AI summaries. Someone somewhere has probably already measured, analysed, explained, visualised or made a fucking carousel aboutContinue reading “PEOPLE ARE LOST BECAUSE THEY’VE STOPPED WANDERING”
HOW THE FUCK DO YOU BUILD A BRAND WHEN YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO BUILD A BRAND?
Big brands can buy repetition. Small brands have to earn memory. A box turned up at my place from Declan at Keating & Co. Condiments. Think – Chilli Oils. Hot Sauces. Characters and names that included Funky Beast. Berserker. Weird little monsters. Loud colours. A handwritten note. Various products that appear designed to make blandContinue reading “HOW THE FUCK DO YOU BUILD A BRAND WHEN YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO BUILD A BRAND?”
THE COST OF MODERN LIVING
Everyone’s talking about the cost of living. I think we’re asking the wrong question. What if the problem isn’t just that everything costs more? What if there are simply more things to spend money on than at any other point in history?The Meta algorithm Gods presented to me a Sunrise segment (a popular morning breakfastContinue reading “THE COST OF MODERN LIVING”
THE OG CREATIVE STRATEGIST IS DEAD…
At least according to LinkedIn… (so it must be fucking true, right?) Every few weeks another “Creative Strategist” role appears in my LinkedIn feed. Not because I’m actively searching for one. The algorithm has simply decided this is who I am. And every time I make the same mistake. I click, hoping this will beContinue reading “THE OG CREATIVE STRATEGIST IS DEAD…”
YOUR BIGGEST BRAND PROBLEM ISN’T OUTSIDE YOUR BUSINESS. IT’S SITTING AROUND YOUR LEADERSHIP TABLE.
One of the biggest misconceptions in business is that brand belongs to the marketing department. // Newsflash… It doesn’t. Brand belongs to the organisation. Or at least, it should. The marketing team might be responsible for communicating the brand, but they don’t own the thousands of decisions that shape how it’s actually experienced. That’s everyoneContinue reading “YOUR BIGGEST BRAND PROBLEM ISN’T OUTSIDE YOUR BUSINESS. IT’S SITTING AROUND YOUR LEADERSHIP TABLE.”
GLOBAL STRATEGY. LOCAL TRUTH.
I caught up with Mark Brown last week (Managing Partner & Creative Director at Sentius Creative) over a coffee. We ended up disappearing down one of those rabbit holes that curious minds seem to enjoy… talking about global brands, masterbrand strategy, localisation, relevance, culture – and why some brands feel like they belong wherever theyContinue reading “GLOBAL STRATEGY. LOCAL TRUTH.”
