People use brands to shape social identities. We see this time and again in our work, as we help brands figure out how to deliver more value to their consumers. But what role fundamentally do brands play in people’s lives, and why do some resonate better than others? In this episode, host Eliot Salandy Brown is joined by ReD partner Filip Lau, to share ReD’s latest thinking on brands, the shifting perceptions around them and the different expectations consumers have of brands across categories and sectors. Eliot is also joined by Matt Johnson, PhD – a neuroscientist, speaker, and author of Branding That Means Business and Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains – to discuss what neuroscience can teach us about brand perception and how the latest science challenges the core views of many marketeers. What are the key questions brands should ask themselves to better connect with their consumers? What lessons might brand giants take from small, nimble players about approachability? And finally, what can a study about popcorn teach brands about the power of context on consumer behaviour?