Show notes:

• The Golden circle by Simon Sinek
• https://www.edelman.com/news-awards/two-thirds-consumers-worldwide-now-buy-beliefs
• https://twitter.com/thetenzer/status/1222933004558966784
• saffron-consultants.com/insights/predictions-for-2020/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2019/11/30/record-black-friday-sales-14-growth-to-72b-in-digital-revenue/#187b30de6aff

If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

We talk about:

• Cole's copywriting shop: Honey Copy
• Ernest Hemingway as an inspiration
• Ogilvy ad with oysters
• Volkswagen ad
• How to write solid headlines
• How important copy is for brands
• How to find the right tone of voice

If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

We talk about:

• Imagination, the agency where Katie works
• Experiential vs Experience
• Messaging and experience
• How to collaborate with different creatives
• Researching and gaining insights
• Building experiences for car shows
• Future of retail: Everlane
• The roller coaster eperience by Google at CES
• Measuring the impact of an experience

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

In this solo episode, I walk you through some of the biggest mistakes I've made or see other people make in brand strategy. How can we spot them, avoid them and create a better, more actionable brand strategy? Have fun! 

Here they are: 

1. Fluff: the words in the strategy are so 'floaty' that it's hard to see what you mean. Usually a lot of 'human-centered', authentic storytelling. A lot of 'purpose' driven brands are also bs
2. Magical unicorn thinking: because of our unique story, people will come.
3. Unrealistic: in strategy, finding the balance between 'challenging' the client and creating something that's possible for the company is hard.
   1. A lot of strategy looks amazing on paper or in a deck, but is not possible in real life. Recognizing the internal and external restrections of a company are crucial to developing a strateg
4. Not actionable: strategy should inspire action,
   1. it should be a platform, a guiding policy for change, so go through your deck, do you see obvious areas to improve, are their steps we can take?
   2. A lot of people confuse writing a vision statement with strategy, that's not enough, how will we get there?
   3. What hurdles do we need to cross?
5. Not validated: most of strategy is based on assumptions, actually a lot of times, your clients will have gotten where they are by assumping certain things. A startup is bascially an assumption. Yet strategy is about 'diagnose', about researching.
   1. Triangulating your data sources is key.
   2. Have a source list
6. Not aligned: in a lot of cases, a few people are 'on board' and other people aren't, don't just let them out of the process because your clients think there will be friction, embrace that friction
   1. pull all the stakeholders in, also the conservetaive ones
   2. a strategy will only be put in action if all objection are adressed, don't think one person will do it for you when you're gone
7. No clear challenge defined: just creating strategy for strategy's sake is not the right approach.
   1. Everyone needs a brand strategy: sure, but why are we adressing this now? At what stage is the company at? Why are we using an external agency? All of these things might hint at a clearer challenge
   2. if the answers are: it doesn't have to be now, it's not really that important then maybe it's not the time, because they don't actually want change, if things are going the way they should, you shouldn't be creating strategy just because you can
   3. try to write a strategy outline: the problem - the approach - the challenges - weakness & strengths - opportunities & threats
   4. of course this might change troughout the strategy, it's a starting hypothesis, like a scientist starting out with a belief about the world, the data and insights will either confirm, alter or deny the hypothesis

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

We talk about: 

• Jenni Romaniuk's book: Building distinctive brand assets
• Julius his work for Norwegian airlines: article the Drum
• Julius his website
• How to research brand assets
• Doing online surveys to measure 'fame' of a brand asset
• Sonic branding as an important upcoming asset
• The danger of changing a logo

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

We talk about:

• Dave Trott on Predatory thinking
• Book: Al Ries & Jack Trout: Positioning, a battle for the mind
• Book: Brainsurfing
• Using projective techniques to interview customers
• Happiness, the agency where Els is strategy director.

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

We talk about :

• The four levels of learning: Read - Process - Play - Do
• Book list here
• Podcast list here
• Podcast about restaurants: Fast forward by QSR
• How education plays a roll in learning brand strategy
• Article about branding vs marketing
• Going beyond your bubble of knowledge
• How a brand strategy is similar to actually learning about it

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

We talk about:

• Tom's agency: GSD&M
• The Chicken wars
• Emotional support chicken
• Experiential advertising
• How to inspire fun ideas
• Brands should entertain
• First & only advertising
• How to keep your client on board

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

Topics discussed:

• Last weeks episode with JP Hanson
• Positioning as an internal alignment tool
• The hierarchy levels of strategy in the Rouser manifesto
• Marketing effectiveness
• Our agency: Ollie
• The different levels of impact of brand strategy
• The difference between business and brand strategy
• How you should not alter the business based on brand strategy
• How we tend to look at companies success from a narrow perspective
• How smaller companies have less layers of strategy
• How a lot of 'meaning' and purpose in companies can be a placebo effect

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter here . This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs. If you want to subscribe, you can use the code LTB and get a 20% discount.

JP Hanson is the chief executive for international consultancy Rouser, a globally recognized authority on business and marketing strategy, columnist for MarketingWeek and a popular headline speaker. He has delivered keynotes at events all over the world, from Reykjavik to Mumbai and London to Dubai, always with an entertainingly no-nonsense approach. Both a marketer and a lawyer, he is known for his firm belief in critical thinking, observable evidence and complete freedom from hype.

We talk about:

• The Rouser manifesto
• Positioning vs Distinctiveness
• Long term vs Short term brand building
• The definition of branding
• Tactics vs Strategy
• How to understand business strategy
• The hierarchy of business, marketing and brand strategy
• The Dove 'real beauty'  campaign
• Brand purpose as management tool
• The four 'P's by Kotler
• Positioning as a 'timesaver' instead of a marketing tool

There is a bunch of booktips throughout the episode:

• How brands grow by Byron Sharp
• Building Distinctive assets by Jenni Romaniuk
• Eat your greens by Wiemer Snijders 
• Good strategy, bad strategy by Richard Rumelt
• The Halo effect  by Phil Rosenzweig
• The long and short of it by Peter Field and Les Binet

Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, I would really appreciate a rating on Itunes. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the weekly episodes at your doorstep. If you want the deeper, juicier insights you can also subscribe to the newsletter below. This episode is sponsored by Holabrief, The go-to platform 
for creative briefs.