An analysis of over 800 Instagram campaigns reveals that influencer engagement actually forms an inverted U-curve, which means the true sweet spot for cost-effective engagement is probably different than you think.

 John Pabon, sustainability strategist and three-time author, joins Ethan to dig into the say-do gap, the greenwashing trap, and why the brands that lead with what's wrong with them are the ones worth trusting.

We love to think campaigns 'go viral' by spreading person-to-person like a grade-school cold, but what if that’s far from the truth?

What happens when the expert is in the way of the institution she's building? Carmell Clark, executive coach and founder of the Center for Transformational Influence, joins Ethan to work through one of the trickiest brand problems out there — live, in real time, and with a Monty Python reference or two.

Logo, mascot, or something else? A massive global study of 5,000 brand assets looked at what the most distinctive brand asset is.

Chelsea Burns, The Marketing Psychologist, joins Ethan for another round of Shop Talk to explore why ethical branding, belonging, and the leaky lazy brain are the real forces driving consumer decisions — and what that means for how you build your brand.

A fascinating experiment in a UK wine shop found that background tunes subconsciously dictated whether shoppers bought French or German wine, proving that you should never take survey data at face value because buyers usually have absolutely no clue what actually drives their decisions.

Ethan Decker talks with community builder Jamie Rich about why starting narrow — in this case, a wisdom-sharing platform for gay men over 55 — is actually the most powerful way to build a brand that eventually resonates with everyone.

First-mover advantage isn't an ironclad law of brand science—it actually belongs in the massive 'it depends' category, because pioneers often just end up with arrows in their backs while later entrants swoop in to win the market.”

Ethan Decker talks with life coach Dror Yaron about why literal, descriptive brand names usually fail, and why real-world buyers will always ruin the perfect "target persona" you built in a conference room.

Bain & Co analyzed actual purchase data across multiple categories and found that brand 'loyalty' is a sloppy myth, because 100% monogamy is the rare exception and normal buyers naturally rotate through a repertoire of brands—so stop freaking out when your customers buy your competitors' stuff.

Ethan Decker and Nic Hinwood dig into the everyday realities of agency work—why many clients start by asking for a logo, and how real brand value often lives somewhere much bigger than the logo itself.

Designalytics analyzed 52 pack redesigns and found that asking if people “like” your new packaging is a surprisingly terrible predictor of sales, because in-market success actually comes down to whether your design beats what they currently buy and makes the category benefits incredibly obvious. ]

Ethan Decker talks with startup founder Jay Friedman about the explosion of marketing tech tools—and why brands increasingly need help separating real capability from slick websites.

Ad agencies love to pretend their shockingly young workforces are all about staying relevant with youth culture, but the stark reality is it almost entirely comes down to cheap labor and a willingness to work weekends.

Ethan Decker talks with filmmaker Karen Moore about raising awareness for her work addressing colorism—and why the smartest way to build a national movement might be to start with one city.

Despite what the surveys say about Gen-Z demanding "brand purpose," their actual favorite brands prove they just want big, obvious, easy-to-remember products that simply nail the basics.

Ethan Decker talks with founder Chelsea Burns about the messy early days of building a brand—why focus matters, why most companies don’t start with “why,” and why the real answers come from customers, not your own head.

People forget your brand because memory naturally decays, so unless you fight exponential forgetting with relentless, distinctive repetition, you’re basically asking a brain that can’t remember its keys to remember your logo.

Ethan Decker talks with Australian agency owner Nic Hinwood about the “small-town perception problem”—and how turning your location from liability into signal might be the smartest branding move you can make.