The hottest Branding Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

What the NHS can learn from Dave

Odds and Ends of History • 670 implied HN points • 25 Jun 25
🎭️ Culture Branding
  1. Branding is important for organizations like the NHS. They need to decide between having a unique identity or one that fits into a larger network.
  2. TV channels often change their look, showing a balance between standing out and fitting in. The BBC and Sky have both done this in their rebranding efforts.
  3. Consistency in branding helps people recognize and connect with a service or product, but sometimes change is needed to stay fresh and relevant.

The Super Bowl to Valentine’s marketing pipeline is real, but who’s in it?

The Social Juice • 19 implied HN points • 14 Feb 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Super Bowl ads mostly replay the same playbook—nostalgia, celebrities, IP and safe emotional hooks—so they reflect where culture already is rather than show what’s next.
  2. Taika Waititi’s heavy ad output shows directors can add style and attention. The results are uneven and it raises questions about whether big-name filmmakers can rescue weak brand strategies.
  3. Marketing is a continuous pipeline from the Super Bowl into Valentine’s, the Winter Olympics and Lunar New Year, with brands using PR rollouts, creator-led work, stunts and partnerships to stay visible. That tactic can drive reach but also sparks backlash when campaigns touch hot topics like surveillance, AI or weight‑loss drugs.

What Is a Brand?

VERY GOOD PRODUCTIZED GUIDES • 119 implied HN points • 26 Jun 24
💼 Business Branding
  1. A brand is more than just a logo or a website; it's how a company is perceived by customers. It includes everything about the company, inside and out.
  2. Building a brand involves creating trust and relationships with people. It's about how customers feel when they interact with your business.
  3. Your brand is shaped by how others see you over time. It's important to stand out and leave a memorable impression, as that perception affects your success.

Only the best marketing campaigns of 2025

The Social Juice • 70 implied HN points • 03 Jan 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Brands leaned into bold, attention-grabbing creative across 2025, using pop-ups, OOH, stunts and viral social films to build real brand energy.
  2. Collaborations and celebrity partnerships powered many of the biggest campaigns, and the new COLLAB Index mixes consumer data with cultural scoring so marketers can choose partners that actually move people.
  3. AI and ethics emerged as major marketing issues, with debates about AI-generated content and trust alongside more brands taking public stances on social causes.

The Ultimate Founder & Team LinkedIn Playbook (+ Free Templates)

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 86 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Treat your LinkedIn profile like a landing page: be crystal clear who you help, what value you deliver, and what action you want people to take by using your banner, headline, and featured section as your CTA real estate.
  2. Turn employees into a distribution engine by leading from the top and removing friction — find internal thought leaders and give them ready-to-post templates, visuals, content calendars, incentives, and challenges so posting becomes easy and rewarding.
  3. Run a content engine that covers TOFU/MOFU/BOFU and focus on the fundamentals: add real value, engage with others, be authentic, and show up consistently to turn attention into pipeline.
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The Designer-Retailer Friction Edition

Why is this interesting? • 482 implied HN points • 03 Jul 25
🪞 Fashion & Beauty Branding
  1. Selling through big online retailers can be both good and bad for small designers. They get exposure and orders, but sales events can hurt their sales at independent stores.
  2. Designers struggle with fluctuating order sizes. A big order one season can shrink the next, causing financial stress if they've expanded their operations.
  3. Payment terms with retailers can be tough. They usually pay on their schedule, which can lead to cash flow problems for independent designers.

#1 Question You Need to Crush Your Niche

VERY GOOD PRODUCTIZED GUIDES • 99 implied HN points • 25 Jun 24
💼 Business Branding
  1. Success takes time and effort; it doesn't happen overnight. Jim Carrey's journey shows that hard work is key to reaching your goals.
  2. Understanding your audience is crucial. Asking 'What do they want?' can help you create something they truly value.
  3. Don't just settle for the surface; dig deeper to find unique insights. This can set you apart in a crowded market.

Becoming a Cult Leader

Investing 101 • 36 implied HN points • 10 Jan 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Control mindshare: be the obvious voice in your category, deeply knowledgeable and present so people instinctively turn to you.
  2. Command capital: influence without funding can’t move the needle, so find the right forms of capital—VC, revenue, grants, or debt—that let you execute.
  3. Be the standard bearer: combine relentless public leadership and real financial resources to set the market’s rules and pursue your mission no matter what.

Inside Red Bull: The Private Playbook That Built A Global Powerhouse

Huddle Up • 43 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Red Bull began when its founder discovered a Thai energy drink and struck a deal to adapt and sell it globally, with each partner investing $500,000 to launch the company.
  2. The business was built on strict financial conservatism — no debt, self-funded growth, and all expansion paid from profits rather than borrowed money.
  3. Leadership and control were tightly held and private: the founder gave very few interviews, and the original 49/49/2 ownership split kept decision-making concentrated and the Thai family with the decisive share.

Zombies at the Theme Park

New World Same Humans • 15 implied HN points • 11 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Branding
  1. Technology and data have created a nonstop system that knows you, predicts your wants, and delivers instant gratification like a theme park that never makes you wait.
  2. That constant, effortless satisfaction is turning a lot of people into zombies who scroll and consume without really experiencing or valuing what they get.
  3. A shift is happening now as people begin to wake up, and that will force businesses, brands, and creators to rethink how they build meaningful products and experiences.

2025 was the year we lived alt-2016 and debated everything.

The Social Juice • 73 implied HN points • 13 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Branding
  1. Algorithms and AI sped up and broke culture into smaller silos, turning niche memes into fast, disposable content and forcing people to invent codes and private signals to keep communities intact.
  2. People and brands learned to play the attention game — using keywords, hidden messaging, anti‑AI posturing, and even ragebait — which moved us from naming neat trends to living in messy, performative moments.
  3. The year felt full of ambient anxiety about jobs, health, and loneliness, so many people leaned into escapism, nostalgia, small communities, and a gambling mentality where every choice felt like a risk.

Lessons in persuasion from the Father of Advertising

A Bit Gamey • 13 implied HN points • 15 Feb 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Big ideas are usually simple and come from a well‑informed mind, so play with ideas, aim high, and look for one clear, memorable insight.
  2. Write plainly to real people — use the language they think, address them as individuals, and favour clarity over cleverness so your words change behaviour.
  3. Be disciplined: test relentlessly, edit your drafts ruthlessly, tell the truth, and repeat what works until it stops selling.

Novelist Barbie

quite useless • 707 implied HN points • 20 Aug 23
📚 Literature Branding
  1. Branding can impact how a book is perceived and who reads it.
  2. Gendered branding in novels can lead to misunderstandings and impact sales.
  3. Appropriately branded Big-Bomb art by women often performs well.

Brands are busy romanticising 2016, but you have to be here for the best of marketing in 2026 so far

The Social Juice • 29 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Top collaborations focus on resonance, not reach — the most effective partnerships are built for a small, passionate audience that creates depth instead of noise.
  2. AI is reshaping marketing as agencies and brands roll out AI-driven platforms and ads, but low-quality or careless AI work is already provoking backlash and regulatory scrutiny.
  3. Marketers are using nostalgia, celebrity tie-ins, bold stunts and product-first innovations to stand out, from fashion and beauty launches to gaming, sports and experiential activations.

Consumers don’t really care if AI made the ad. That's fine. They never cared about marketing.

The Social Juice • 83 implied HN points • 15 Nov 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Consumers mainly care about price and product, not whether AI made the ad. Brands need to focus on deeper questions that make people think about their values rather than just selling products.
  2. Marketers should balance the opinions of customers and non-customers, considering wider feedback to create meaningful campaigns. Creativity gets lost when brands only focus on what customers think.
  3. Brands are experimenting with new strategies to connect with audiences, like collaborations and fun campaigns. They need to evolve and engage in ways that go beyond traditional marketing tactics to stay relevant.

What we don't talk about when we talk about quality...

The faintest idea • 319 implied HN points • 24 Dec 23
🪑 Design Branding
  1. Quality really matters in software because it makes products more valuable and worth paying for. Just like with clothes or furniture, better quality provides a better experience.
  2. Software isn't always compared just by quality since functionality plays a big role too. It's important to fix the small details that make a big difference for users.
  3. People will feel the difference in quality when using software, even if it doesn't show up in simple success metrics. That feeling can influence their choices and how much they are willing to pay.

🚗beep beep, I'm on a road trip

Mehdeeka • 4 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Only sell features before they're built if the launch will happen within your average sales cycle, and be upfront about timing with clear “coming soon” messaging.
  2. Artful, minimalist ads can do heavy lifting for positioning — spending on creative brand moments signals luxury and makes higher prices feel believable.
  3. Keep messaging simple (ELI5), start early on EOFY campaign and sales-incentive planning, and get customer insight now by talking to sales, listening to calls, or checking dashboards.

Problems at Signet Jewelers (SIG)

The Bear Cave • 559 implied HN points • 16 Jan 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Lab-grown diamonds are becoming very popular, especially among younger couples, because they are cheaper and ethically sourced. Many people prefer them over traditional mined diamonds.
  2. Signet Jewelers, a major diamond retailer, is facing challenges as the market shifts towards lab-grown diamonds. They are trying to promote mined diamonds through a new advertising campaign aimed at younger customers.
  3. The diamond industry has a lot of hidden information and marketing tricks that make it hard to understand the true value of diamonds. An expert is now sharing insights to help clear up the confusion.

Why reverse benchmarking works

A Bit Gamey • 33 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Instead of copying market leaders, look for what they can’t do and compete on that different axis. Being meaningfully different in one area can beat being slightly better at the same things they already do.
  2. Big companies optimize measurable metrics and therefore create blind spots like intimacy, humour, or meaning. Small players can own these unmeasured dimensions to attract loyal customers.
  3. People respond to stories and contrast more than features, so changing the frame often beats pure optimisation. Don’t try to run the same race faster — find a race the leader can’t enter.

Designing for a single purpose

Product Identity • 118 implied HN points • 07 May 24
🪑 Design Branding
  1. Focusing on one clear purpose can make products stand out and be more appreciated. For example, stores or brands that specialize in a single item often attract loyal customers.
  2. In tech, many products have become complex and cluttered by trying to do too much. This often leads to products losing their original charm and purpose.
  3. Going back to basics and simplifying can bring more joy to experiences, like reading on a Kindle without distractions. It helps us focus on what truly matters.

The state of B2B merch in 2026

Mehdeeka • 8 implied HN points • 03 Feb 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Treat merch as a strategic, measurable marketing tool tied to revenue; focus on converting the undecided audience and run A/B tests to prove impact.
  2. Make merch useful and experiential — personalisation and on-site customisation or problem-solving items increase keep-rate and memorability.
  3. Use small-batch, targeted activations for ABM and earned media by sending thoughtful, timely gifts with digital tie-ins and repurposing designs across channels.

How to name a product

A Bit Gamey • 13 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
💼 Business Branding
  1. Pick a name that clearly matches what the product is and the feeling or behavior you want people to expect.
  2. Prioritize legal safety by checking trademarks and avoiding names others already control so your brand can be defended.
  3. Verify a suitable domain (ideally an affordable .com) or plan clear modifiers, because online availability drives discoverability and credibility.

The Road to Hell, part 1 of 3

Thoughts on Writing • 459 implied HN points • 19 Jun 23
💼 Business Branding
  1. Purpose in business, particularly social purpose, can lead to flawed ethical thinking and potentially negative outcomes.
  2. The concept of purpose emerged as a response to the reputational crisis faced by big businesses post-2008 financial crisis, aiming to portray them as 'good guys'.
  3. The purpose movement in business and marketing gained momentum in the 2010s but led to questionable outcomes, showcasing a gap between feel-good stories and harsh realities.

Cringe communication on LinkedIn. Yay, 🙌 or Nay? 🙅‍♀️

Business & Marketing with Nika • 19 implied HN points • 04 Aug 24
💼 Business Branding
  1. Communication on LinkedIn has shifted from formal to casual. It’s now common to see memes and selfies, which can feel a bit cringe.
  2. Being informal can help break the ice, but it’s important to maintain a professional image. Be careful when being casual, especially with potential clients or employers.
  3. When using LinkedIn, think about the tone you want to use. Make sure it fits your audience, and be aware of how your communication style might affect future interactions.

The silence of the brands and doing the right thing in 2026

The Social Juice • 48 implied HN points • 29 Nov 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Taste is subjective, and brands need to define what good taste means for them. It's about creating a feeling and reasserting that what they're offering is the new cool.
  2. Ragebait marketing works by creating spectacles, but it often leads to inaction from consumers. Brands may gain attention, but this approach can be unsustainable and unreliable for real engagement.
  3. Nostalgia marketing can be powerful, but brands need to balance it with present relevance. Relying too much on the past can prevent brands from evolving and connecting with current audiences.

10 rules of IP brands

The Sociology of Business • 438 implied HN points • 02 Oct 23
💼 Business Branding
  1. IP brands focus on monetizing their intellectual property through various means like merchandising, partnerships, and experiences.
  2. IP-focused retail brands position themselves at the intersection of fashion and popular culture, extending their brand beyond just products.
  3. Strategic rules for IP brands include interstitial storytelling, generating anticipation, creating repeatable narrative anchors, building fandom, and leveraging licensing for brand expansion.

Launching Something New

New World Same Humans • 40 implied HN points • 30 Nov 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. A new paid project launches on Thursday, December 4 — tied to the full moon — to create a fresh space for thoughtful analysis.
  2. It will explore the intersection of technology, business, culture and creativity, focusing on how emerging technologies and shifting norms are reshaping work and society.
  3. It's aimed at designers, marketers, strategists, consultants, founders and other practitioners who need to keep pace with fast-changing consumers and build impactful products, services, or campaigns.

The week that changed luxury fashion: a final call for the best and worst of marketing.

The Social Juice • 29 implied HN points • 19 Dec 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Luxury labels rushed into generative AI and ended up with shallow, low-quality work that sparked backlash because many uses lacked a clear creative purpose.
  2. The most effective campaigns leaned into human craft, emotion and local storytelling—holiday ads that used real artisans, nostalgia and thoughtful activations stood out.
  3. Brands are retooling for 2026 by investing in always-on brand tracking, cutting prices or SKUs, striking new partnerships and reshuffling agencies as consumers prioritise affordability.

Part II: The failed rebrand of Kamala Harris

Silver Bulletin • 499 implied HN points • 06 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Branding
  1. Political campaigns today are a lot like branding campaigns. Successful candidates have strong, memorable brands that stick with voters.
  2. Kamala Harris struggled to define her brand compared to other political figures. Inconsistent branding and messaging led to confusion about what she truly represents.
  3. The quick rise and fall of trends like 'Brat Summer' show how fleeting political memes can be. While they can spark interest for a short time, they don't build lasting support.

The Hemi Edition

Why is this interesting? • 422 implied HN points • 08 Jan 25
🎭️ Culture Branding
  1. The Hemi engine has become a popular and recognized brand name, almost like its own celebrity in the car world. It's known for its strong performance and has fans calling for its return in various vehicles.
  2. Hemi's reputation stems from its long history and impressive performance, especially during the muscle car era of the 1960s. Its success in races helped cement its legendary status among car enthusiasts.
  3. Unlike many car brands, the Hemi name is well-known even outside of car culture, appearing in music and pop culture. This broader recognition is a rare achievement for an engine name.

On Non-Determinism // BrXnd Dispatch vol. 35

BrXnd Dispatch • 137 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Branding
  1. Computers operate deterministically, following specific algorithms to produce consistent results.
  2. Contrary to computers, AI models rely on probability to predict outputs, leading to non-deterministic behavior.
  3. The concept of hallucinations in AI highlights the uncertainties and associations generated by models, similar to how brands are perceived as bundles of ideas and associations.

Vol. 2, Issue 10 - Interview with Dave Hillenbrand

Johto Times • 99 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Branding
  1. Dave Hillenbrand managed the Pokémon Center NYC, creating a fun shopping experience for kids. He wanted to make it as memorable as places like Disney.
  2. The opening of the store was a huge event just after 9/11, helping bring joy back to New York City. It involved a big marketing push and many excited Pokémon fans.
  3. Working with diverse teams taught Dave the importance of adapting to new challenges. He learned a lot about blending different cultures and teamwork to make things successful.

How the Bud Light Debacle Predicted America's Corporate Vibe Shift

The Ruffian • 301 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. Bud Light faced a major backlash after a marketing campaign featuring a transgender celebrity, showing how quickly consumer sentiment can change. This backlash resulted in a significant loss of sales and brand trust.
  2. Unlike typical consumer boycotts, the impact on Bud Light endured even after the company attempted to distance itself from the controversy. This highlights the lasting effects that cultural issues can have on brands.
  3. The Bud Light incident reflects a larger trend in corporate America where companies need to be more aware of the cultural-political environment. Brands must navigate these changes carefully to maintain their audience and market position.

Good for nothing

Thoughts on Writing • 599 implied HN points • 18 Nov 22
💼 Business Branding
  1. The concept of purpose in branding can lead to purpose nihilism and moral grandstanding, creating a focus on image rather than genuine altruism.
  2. Critics of purpose-driven campaigns often focus on ethical concerns over commercial effectiveness, highlighting the tension between doing good and making profits.
  3. Effective altruism movements, while aiming for rational philanthropy, can sometimes lead to noble cause corruption, blurring ethical lines for the sake of perceived long-term benefits.

🧠 50 Ways to Leave Your Guidelines (And Actually Build a Brand)

the case for brand 💼 • 137 implied HN points • 27 Jun 25
💼 Business Branding
  1. A brand is more than just a logo or a marketing plan. It's about how a business operates and the decisions it makes every day.
  2. Every interaction a customer has with a business is a chance to express the brand. From emails to packaging, every detail matters.
  3. To build a strong brand, it's important to think about how brand values influence everything, not just marketing. This includes team culture and customer experiences.