We suspect one of the most intimidating challenges marketers face is the prospect of a rebranding effort. We’ve been contacted many times to provide expertise on the topic. This often comes from prospective clients whose business may be experiencing a sluggish period where they suspect their “brand” is the problem. The phone call to the agency goes something like, “I think we need to rebrand.” Then we’ll say something like, “Hmm, tell us more about why you think that,” then the conversation often veers into things like logos, TV commercials, slow sales, and “Brand X who is stealing our share because their branding is way better.”

In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886), the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment applied to corporations, legally establishing what is referred to as corporate personhood.
While this decision was based strictly on legal reasons, nowhere does the personhood of a corporation ring truer than in its brand. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll look at three famous quotes about the importance of personal authenticity and apply them to brand authenticity.

Recently, we onboarded a new client with a rapidly growing technology company. The company needed help in several areas, but most importantly, they needed a new website. In reviewing their current website, we noticed a stock photo we laughed about because we were certain we’d seen it many times before. After a quick Google Images search, we found the same image on hundreds of similar and competitive websites. Understanding that even the biggest of brands can, at times, rely on stock photography, in this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll look at the two factors that lead to most stock photography fails. Plus, we’ll discuss how to best avoid stock photography and how to best maintain brand authenticity when stock is your only choice. Then, we’ll look at the present state of AI as an alternative.

You already know the importance of trust but are you thinking about this important form of capital the right way? In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll explore brands looking at trust as something to be built rather than just simply something to protect. You’ll also learn how to build a trusted brand using five key insights.

Many of our articles are about tangible topics, with acronyms like ESG, ABM, or GBP. Marketing, though, is about the mastery of both the objective and the subjective to help you best sell your products or services. In this edition of Plain Talk, we’ll discuss black and white advertising and seven reasons why your brand might choose to use this creative in our full-color world. We’ll also learn some of the psychological impacts it may have on your consumers.

In 1990, the Canon EOS Rebel camera ad featuring tennis star Andre Agassi boldly told us, “Image is Everything!” Back then, it certainly was something, but was image more important than it is today? You needn’t look any further than your friend’s and family’s social media pages to realize that the “ideal self” is still alive and kicking in 2022. In today’s edition of Plain Talk, we’ll juxtapose concepts that center on the concept of real self vs. ideal self in advertising and what we think that means for the future of brand relationships.