Your source for knowledge, reports, thought leadership, and other tomfoolery. No fluff. No folklore. Just sticky, science-backed brand truth.
The Most ABSurd Blog
Cover Brand: Bankruptcy to Brand
Ethan Decker sits down with Max Emma of Bookskeeping to talk about the winding road most brands take before they become the version we know.
How Much Does Quality Weigh?
Should a $250 Scotch feel heavier than a $19 vodka? You'd think so. Turns out price barely predicts bottle weight. And that's a quality cue most brands are leaving on the table.
Cover Brand: Wearing the Sales Hat
Ethan Decker sits down with Thomas Sloan, a behavioral science brand strategist just launching his own solo practice.
What Happens When AI Runs Out of Humans to Copy?
The internet's filling up with AI-generated "synthetic data," and feeding that back into AI models is a recipe for garbage in, garbage out: squared.
Cover Brand: The Ice Cream Party Problem
Ethan Decker sits down with Christian Helms of Helms Workshop to talk about why the best brand work almost never starts with a logo.
Do Nonprofits Get a Pass on Brand Science?
We love to believe that mission-driven nonprofits operate on passion and deep loyalty, but are they more like businesses than we even realize?
Cover Brand: Rain Doesn’t Fall Up
Ethan Decker talks with Laura Coblentz, founder of Caraline Skincare, about the particular kind of hard it is to market your own brand — and why healthy skin, not anti-aging fear, might be the bigger opportunity in a $50 billion category.
Is anyone actually loyal to their alma mater?
Turns out 4 out of 5 college grads switch schools for their next degree — so if your customers "love" you, don't assume that means they're loyal, because loyalty and love aren't the same thing.
Cover Brand: The Expertise Curve
Ethan Decker sits down with Brad Flowers of Bullhorn Creative to talk about what happens when your expertise outgrows your brand — and why professional services firms can't just coast on reputation.
How Much Are Markets Really Stratified By Income?
Turns out rich & poor buy the same shampoo. Marketing "common sense" weeps.
Cover Brand: Old Brand, New Tricks
Ethan Decker sits down with Lee-Sean Huang, Chief Community Officer of AIGA, to dig into what happens when a 100-year-old institution has to fight for relevance in a world where nobody joins anything anymore.
What happens when a 104-year-old brand icon dies on live TV?
Planters killed off their 104-year-old mascot. But why?]
Cover Brand: In The Messy Middle
Ethan Decker sits down with Bob Jordan, founder of InterimExecs, to untangle a question every growing company eventually trips over: when do you build one brand, and when do you build ten?
Is Your Brand’s Pareto Ratio 80/20?
What does data from hundreds of companies actually show about the 80/20 rule?
Cover Brand: Liberating Ideas
Cat How, founder and Executive Creative Director of How Studio, joins Ethan on Cover Brand to talk about three recent brand launches and chat about some of the science behind the decisions.
What's Your Brand Story Even For?
We obsess over crafting the perfect brand story — but 99.9% of buyers are mental misers who couldn't tell you their favorite product's backstory.
Cover Brand: The Curse of Too Much Knowledge
The smarter you get at your job, the worse you get at explaining it. This week Richard Byrd (Bluebyrd) joins Cover Brand to talk about the curse of knowledge, why your best engineers make your worst salespeople, and what a BMW has to do with any of it.
Are Haters Really Your Biggest Brand Problem?
A survey of over 27,000 shoppers proves that obsessing over your vocal brand haters is a massive waste of energy. So if haters aren’t your biggest problem, who actually is?
Cover Brand: Carve Out a Smaller Pond
Promo products guy Swire Ho joins Ethan with a simple flex: no cups, no party. And they get into why the most boring industries in LA might be sitting on the best untapped merch budget around.
Why Can't Anyone Agree on What Your Brand Is Worth?
Brand valuation agencies mostly agree on the world's biggest players — but their dollar figures? Wildly apart. Turns out pricing human memory and market reputation isn't a spreadsheet problem.
