Life in the Brand Lane with The Brand Guys

In this episode Finlay and Ronnie explore the significance of storytelling in branding and marketing, particularly in the context of AI's impact on creativity. They discuss how brands can become mere commodities without the emotional connection that storytelling provides. The dialogue also touches on the importance of translating these storytelling principles to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the evolving landscape of marketing in the digital age. The conversation concludes with reflections on the future of storytelling and its role in creating meaningful connections with consumers and investors alike.

Fin and Ron hook up in the studio for the start of a new series of Life in the Brand Lane.

They start off the discussion around the sad passing of guitarist, songwriter and leader of The Band- Robbie Robertson.

The mood lifts as they start to explore brand themes as they relate to cinema and famous directors such as Scorsese, Coppola and Spielberg. How do brands inter-play with these and the directors and movies as brands themselves.

The Brand Guys highlight brand strategies and tools that can be used by brand managers and entrepreneurs to unlock the magic in their brands.

Finlay is joined by Sanket Mali, founder and CEO of Viewpod, Adam Morris, Director of Shorthand PR and Shane Herath, founder and CEO of LondonInc to discuss the future of news.

Sanket's app Viewpod lets users listen to news and share their comments and opinions vocally. Our panel discuss the advantages of this method over the traditional written word; where news distribution could be heading in the future; and the development of sustainable technology.

Frejz is a branding consultancy that can help your customers fall in love with your brand. If you'd like to know more about how we can help your business check out our website www.frejz.biz

Intro/outro: Keep 'em dry - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In this episode Finlay is joined by Ewan Reid. Ewan is the MD of Matthew Algie, a coffee roastery based in Glasgow that provides coffee and cafe supplies to coffee shops and cafes across the UK. He discusses their brand and how they've managed to strike the balance between being a heritage brand founded in the 19th century whilst continuing to evolve, stay relevant and innovate. He explains how sustainability and honesty is at the heart of their brand and how they've rebranded during lockdown.

Ewan is also a big music fan and musician himself so does a fantastic job in connecting 3 tracks that really get to the heart of his brand.

Tracks played:

Living Colour – Cult of Personality

Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson – Winter in America

Blue Nile – Tinseltown in the Rain

Intro/outro music credit: Dragging Out The Loneliness - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In this episode Finlay is joined by Ewan Reid. Ewan is the MD of Matthew Algie, a coffee roastery based in Glasgow that provides coffee and cafe supplies to coffee shops and cafes across the UK. He discusses their brand and how they've managed to strike the balance between being a heritage brand founded in the 19th century whilst continuing to evolve, stay relevant and innovate. He explains how sustainability and honesty is at the heart of their brand and how they've rebranded during lockdown.

Ewan is also a big music fan and musician himself so does a fantastic job in connecting 3 tracks that really get to the heart of his brand.

We are very sorry but for rights reasons we cannot play the tracks to a non-UK audience, but the tracks discussed are:

Living Colour – Cult of Personality

Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson – Winter in America

Blue Nile – Tinseltown in the Rain

Intro/outro music credit: Dragging Out The Loneliness - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

What do Van Halen, Joe Walsh and Harry Styles have in common? They're 3 of the tracks that Fin and Ron have chosen to define the essence of Frejz. In previous episodes we asked brand managers or company founders to choose the tracks that they think best represent the essence of their brand. But this time Ron and Fin indulge themselves (it's Christmas after all!) and choose the tracks that they feel define the uniqueness of Frejz.

They discuss how brands are composed of micro relationships and interconnections while listening to Bad Company, and compare the many layers of a Joe Walsh track to the many layers of branding.

If you'd like to appear on the podcast to discuss your brand and the tracks that represent it please get in touch at www.frejz.biz - we'd love to hear from you.

We are very sorry but for rights reasons we cannot play the tracks to a non-UK audience but if you would like to listen on Spotify we have set up a playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74SjDOnjjSDQGszgBQVD9T

Tracks Played:

Eruption - Van Halen

Bad Company - Bad Company

Life’s Been Good - Joe Walsh

She’s a Woman - Jeff Beck

Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles

Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin

Never Say Die - Black Sabbath

Intro/outro music credit: Dragging Out The Loneliness - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

What do Van Halen, Joe Walsh and Harry Styles have in common? They're 3 of the tracks that Fin and Ron have chosen to define the essence of Frejz. In previous episodes we ask brand managers or company founders to choose the tracks that they think best represent the essence of their brand. But this time Ron and Fin indulge themselves (it's Christmas after all!) and choose the tracks that they feel define the uniqueness of Frejz.

They discuss how brands are composed of micro relationships and interconnections while listening to Bad Company, and compare the many layers of a Joe Walsh track to the many layers of branding.

If you'd like to appear on the podcast to discuss your brand and the tracks that represent it please get in touch at www.frejz.biz - we'd love to hear from you.

Tracks Played:

Eruption - Van Halen

Bad Company - Bad Company

Life’s Been Good - Joe Walsh

She’s a Woman - Jeff Beck

Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles

Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin

Never Say Die - Black Sabbath

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74SjDOnjjSDQGszgBQVD9T

Intro music credit: Dragging Out The Loneliness - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A tailor by trade, Michael Frackowiak chats with Finlay about how he considers himself more of a branding/marketing guy. Working in a very traditional sector he explains how he's adapted and how we all need to be considering what our consumers need now. There are some great insights here that could apply across all industries, not just clothing and retail.

The book Michael mentions is Talk Triggers - The Complete Guide to Creating Customers by Word of Mouth by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin.

You can contact Michael at https://michaelfrackowiak.com and https://bespokeshirt.club

Frejz is a branding consultancy that can help your customers fall in love with your brand. If you'd like to know more about how we can help your business check out our website www.frejz.biz

Intro/outro: Keep 'em dry - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A tailor by trade, Michael Frackowiak chats with Finlay about how he considers himself more of a branding/marketing guy. Working in a very traditional sector he explains how he's adapted and how we all need to be considering what our consumers need now. There are some great insights here that could apply across all industries, not just clothing and retail.

The book Michael mentions is Talk Triggers - The Complete Guide to Creating Customers by Word of Mouth by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin.

You can contact Michael at https://michaelfrackowiak.com and https://bespokeshirt.club

Music

Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson

Frejz is a branding consultancy that can help your customers fall in love with your brand. If you'd like to know more about how we can help your business check out our website www.frejz.biz

Intro/outro: Keep 'em dry - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

We use copyrighted music on some of our (UK) shows. To satisfy the local legislation and make sure the artists and publishers get paid correctly we hold a Limited Online Music Licence from PRS(LE-0022496). Listeners from outwith the UK are kindly requested to listen to the non-UK version.

Each week we discuss what makes an iconic brand and select Scottish examples to dissect. What brands make the list and possess the magic? Which brand will top the icon league?

In this episode Ron and Fin look at the storytelling used in Johnnie Walker branding and discuss how the "Keep Walking" tagline of constant progress and overcoming adversity could also apply to the Scottish Football team (who at the time of recording had just qualified for their first major tournament in over 20 years).

Frejz is a branding consultancy that can help your customers fall in love with your brand. If you'd like to know more about how we could help your business check out our website www.frejz.biz

Intro/Outro: Bright And Beautiful - Royalty-Free Music by audiohub.com

License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)