AI Updates
Coming Soon: We’re Taking Brand Voice Into the Age of AI
Over the years, we’ve developed voice guidelines for numerous clients—specifically, those who understand the value of managing their verbal as well as their visual brands. Valuable as...
Eric La Brecque
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Mar 20, 2025
Brand Management
Sticky on the Inside: Brand Story Meets Company Culture
So, you’ve been working on your organization’s brand. Hopefully it has been an engaging and eye-opening activity, not only for you but also for others inside the...
Josef Bastian
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Nov 29, 2024
Brand Management
CEOS: Developing Your Strat Plan? Then It’s Time for a Brand Physical
We’ve long been interested in the long tail problem of brand management and what to do about it. Briefly put, this problem describes the gap in time...
Eric La Brecque
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Nov 11, 2024
Front Lines
Peeves Department: “Read Sample” on Amazon
Go ahead and think me persnickety. I don’t care. I’m pretty certain the issue I have with reading samples on Amazon is a bellwether for a larger...
Eric La Brecque
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Nov 1, 2024
Project Updates
The Henry Ford’s Stand 44: Sustainable Food Systems Make a Stand
In the future—and, increasingly, the present—you’re likely to seek out some of the most satisfying and thought-provoking dining experiences at your local museum. Seriously. Cultural institutions are...
Eric La Brecque
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Oct 18, 2024
Naming
Names-A-Go-Go: A New Source for Dotcom Domain Names
We’ve just added 50 new .com domain names to our prêt à nommer website, Names-a-GoGo.
Eric La Brecque
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Mar 18, 2024
Seen & Heard
From Twitter to X: My Take
Yes, the Twitter logo was iconic. Many have expressed fondness, nostalgia even, for its tweetness. If the company’s ultimate goal were to retain and grow a loyal audience...
Eric La Brecque
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Sep 11, 2023
Naming
I Take the 30-Minute “Innovation” Naming Challenge
I’m not just a namer. I’m a naming junkie. Maybe all namers are. Regardless, I simply can’t stay away from name-related preoccupations even in my free time....
Eric La Brecque
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Sep 26, 2022
Naming
NIY: Name It With Numerals
A list of finalist name candidates we presented to a client this earlier week included one that combines a word and a numeral—an alphanumeric. Alone in a...
Eric La Brecque
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Sep 12, 2022
Naming
Crabtree-But-Not-Evelyn and the Demise of the British “Purveyor of Quality” Name
At a recent stay at a Hilton, the brand of bath products on offer caught my attention: Crabtree. “‘Crabtree’ as in ‘Crabtree & Evelyn’?” I wondered. Indeed....
Eric La Brecque
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Sep 8, 2022
Strategy
Is the EV Era (Finally) About to Take Hold? Yes—If We Can Tell The Right Stories
In the auto industry, the EV segment has been something of a sleeping giant. We know EVs are inevitable. We know they will transform not only personal...
Josef Bastian
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Aug 19, 2022
Front Lines
Meta-morphosing Facebook
The elephant in the room with the Facebook-to-Meta move is, obviously, the timing. The announcement comes off as an effort to distract from the intense criticism Facebook...
Eric La Brecque
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Oct 1, 2021
Brand Management
A Power Tool for Brand Storytelling: Meet the Brand Wheel
When we set out to build a foundation for telling a brand story, we develop and organize the building blocks of the story with a specific framework...
Eric La Brecque
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Nov 4, 2020
Naming | Seen & Heard
Washington’s New NFL Team Name: Touchdown? Not.
I’ve heard some of the candidates floated to replace the Washington R———s, a name so offensive to people I respect that I will no longer repeat it. Red Wolves, Redtails,...
Eric La Brecque
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Jul 16, 2020
Brand Work
Discover Your Values and Priorities: A Simple Exercise for Leaders
Our client: A highly successful entrepreneur who has built an entertainment technology empire. The company at the heart of his empire no longer interests him the way...
Eric La Brecque
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Apr 29, 2018
Seen & Heard | Strategy
Helping Great Minds Think Unlike: Unlocking the Power of Diversity to Turbocharge Teams
As my colleague and Mack Reed so well expressed in a recent post on Veebit, human-centered analytics stand to play a decisive role in team performance — in companies no...
Eric La Brecque
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Jul 12, 2017
Seen & Heard
Weaponized a Good Story Lately?
(From a longer, forthcoming piece on the language of the current political moment.) Stand the old adage on its head: The pen isn’t mightier than the sword....
Eric La Brecque
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Feb 27, 2017
Brand Work
Mission (Statement) Accomplished
Given what we do, we see a lot of mission and vision statements. We don’t see many that strike us as very clear or useful, however—in part, maybe,...
Shonn Sopko
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Dec 14, 2016
Seen & Heard
Mirror Neurons: Hardwired to be Spellbound
Empathetic marketers, take note. Recently, neurologists have begun studying the effect of storytelling on the brain. Dr. Uri Hasson of Princeton University performed a study to observe mirror neurons (neurons that fire...
Shonn Sopko
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Sep 26, 2016
Brand Storytelling | Front Lines
Trump and His (Almost) Teflon Brand: A Few Lessons Others Won’t Tell You and a Memo to Hillary
(I started this piece a while ago. Since then, Trump’s presidential prospects seem to have dimmed a bit. That said, assuming Trump can rein in the most...
Eric La Brecque
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Aug 26, 2016
In the Mix
“What’s In A Blog?”
(Shonn Sopko is, among other things, an intern with Applied Storytelling. I enjoy his wide-ranging interests and inquiring spirit. Look for more perspectives from him in the months to...
Shonn Sopko
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Mar 31, 2016
In the Mix
Journey On
“You’ve got to remove the word journey from that sentence!” says the client with unexpected intensity. She’s the designer of a delectable line of fine leather handbags, a luxury...
Eric La Brecque
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Mar 22, 2016
Seen & Heard
2015: Favorites
For us, this was a year of doubling down on two of our favorite things, strategy and storytelling. From there, we journeyed into exciting marketplaces and expanding...
Eric La Brecque
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Dec 29, 2015
Startups
Storytelling Notebook: What’s the (Pain) Point?
Last week, I had the privilege of serving as a panelist commenting on product demos by eight Oakland-based technology startups organized by Two Point Oakland, an organization dedicated to...
Eric La Brecque
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Mar 5, 2015
Brand Management | Brand Work | Strategy
How Authenticity Became the A-word
Here’s a resolution for 2015. Ban “authenticity” from your brand vocabulary. Haven’t we beaten the a-word to death? It’s become a lazy word, used by brands that...
Matthew Kruchko
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Jan 23, 2015
Seen & Heard
Brandwich, Anyone?
Tempting Turkey. Tasteful Tuna. Classy Chicken. Harmonious Ham. (Ah, the inspiration behind that last one, especially!) It was at a gas station somewhere along the I-5 in...
Eric La Brecque
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Dec 4, 2014
Seen & Heard
The Two Faces of Uber
Will the real Uber please stand up? Is it the strong-arm brand doing whatever it takes to disrupt the entrenched boys’ club industry of taxis and town...
Matthew Kruchko
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Dec 3, 2014
Seen & Heard
Get DOOBED
DOOB gets personal with 3D printing Move over, Madam Tussauds. Instead, become your own action figure at the DOOB pop-up shop in Santa Monica. Pick your size,...
Matthew Kruchko
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Nov 24, 2014
Seen & Heard
Viv: Simple Principles to Grow By
This month’s [09.22] Wired is full of gems. Read James Bamford’s in-depth profile of Edward Snowden if you read nothing else. You might feel as if you’ve been given...
Eric La Brecque
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Sep 16, 2014
Brand Management | Brand Work
Wordburnout: Engaging
Okay, I’m done with you, Engaging. I don’t know where I was or what I read, but today I finally reached my limit. Let’s give each other...
Eric La Brecque
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Jul 12, 2014
Seen & Heard
Top Trends & Stories from CES 2014
We attended CES 2014, the world’s largest consumer technology show, to see what products—and stories—are being introduced into the market this year. We attended as a guest...
Matthew Kruchko
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Jan 27, 2014
Naming
Naming & Innovation: Sleep On It
Do you allow your big thinkers to take naps? Maybe you should. It comes down to this: If you want to innovate, you need to learn how...
Eric La Brecque
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Dec 13, 2013
Strategy
Vision Statement Test: Correcting for Nearsightedness
In a recent work session, a client with an early stage company asked us if a company’s vision can change over time. It can, we said, though...
Eric La Brecque
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Nov 8, 2013
Naming
Natalie Pau: What’s in a Naming?
[This is the third in an occasional series from our writing intern.] Naming is difficult. Explaining the naming process? Even more so. People tend to think that...
Guest Writer
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Oct 11, 2013
Seen & Heard
Made in Detroit
I’m a Michigander. Proud to work in Detroit. And prouder yet of the blue collar spirit and manufacturing roots of this city. I see signs of spring...
Applied Storytelling
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Oct 4, 2013
Seen & Heard
And Another Thing: Over-Tipping and Number Lists
Is our growing taste for tips, tricks and lists compromising our ability to share real, expert knowledge? I’m seeing troubling signs that it is, in which case...
Eric La Brecque
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Oct 1, 2013
Seen & Heard
The Other Side of John O’Brien
John O’Brien, the head of our Detroit office, has a viral smile. We discovered he also has a discriminating eye: This past weekend he announced he was heading...
Eric La Brecque
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Sep 26, 2013
Brand Work
Natalie Pau: Goodbye, Purple
[This is the second in an occasional series from our writing intern.] I have always been a complicated person. I never enjoyed plain things or the ease...
Guest Writer
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Sep 9, 2013
Project Updates
Relaunching The Henry Ford
On August 15, 2013 The Henry Ford launched its new website. For us, relaunching the site was partly an opportunity to set months of brand development work in...
Sunny Lee
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Aug 29, 2013
Naming
Punning in Pompeii
On a late-night research jag about Pompeii a few days ago, I stumbled upon a bit of marketing lore in the Wikipedia entry about the ancient Roman...
Eric La Brecque
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Aug 26, 2013
Brand Work
Natalie Pau: Why I Write
[Note: Natalie Pau began her internship—apprenticeship, really—with Applied Storytelling three weeks ago. We were taken not only with her eagerness to develop her writing skills for the...
Guest Writer
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Aug 25, 2013
Seen & Heard
Yahoo: Hello again!
I recently saw a teaser announcing the rebranding of Yahoo. There is no question that Marissa Mayer is kicking Yahoo into shape. Recent launches of products like the Yahoo weather...
Sunny Lee
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Aug 19, 2013
Naming
Falling in Love with “iPad”
A few days ago, a former senior Apple engineer told me the name “iPad” was widely disliked at first within the company. Go figure. At any rate,...
Eric La Brecque
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Aug 15, 2013
Brand Management | Brand Work
Taking Our Own Medicine
Our new website is live as of last Monday. We’re happy with how it represents us, but we’re not writing to celebrate that fact. (And yes, we...
Applied Storytelling
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Jul 29, 2013
Brand Work
Between You and Me? B2P
Until just a few years ago, conventional wisdom held that, in the digital age, the balance of power in the ongoing conversation between buyer and seller had...
Matthew Kruchko
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Mar 17, 2013
Brand Work
Brand Values: The New Humility
Set aside for a moment the debate as to whether a strong brand depends more on its internal values or external image. Regardless of your position on...
Eric La Brecque
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Jun 15, 2012
Funding the Unsexy
Last week, I took part in a meeting to talk about fundraising campaign messaging with a non-profit that’s gearing up to raise tens of millions of dollars...
Eric La Brecque
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Jan 25, 2012
LG Thrill and Marquee: Smartphone naming gets smarter
With a huge appetite for evocative names based on real English language words, mobile carriers have put OEMs in an difficult position: to locate something ownable in...
Applied Storytelling
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Sep 20, 2011
Be interesting
A friend with a small startup business asked me not long ago what single piece of advice I would give him to build a successful brand. Just...
Eric La Brecque
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Jul 5, 2011
Raymond Loewy and the birth of the brand platform
How gratifying to read about this early, great industrial design consultant in Henry Petroski’s The Evolution of Useful Things. First, of course, Loewy was an early proponent of...
Eric La Brecque
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Jul 1, 2011
Local is the new national
We purchase a Lululemon sweatshirt and read on the label, “Made in Vancouver”. We open the box of a new Apple computer and read, in white print...
Eric La Brecque
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Jun 26, 2011
Positioning: Choose one
Recently, a major research firm tested three positioning scenarios we’d developed for a new energy company.
Eric La Brecque
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Jun 4, 2011
Naming made easy
So easy, in fact, anyone can do it. (Except that a growing number of the names you generate will already have dibs on them.) First, forget about...
Eric La Brecque
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Mar 6, 2011
RealD: from startup to stock offering
Working with startups requires special attention—and can provide unique satisfaction. Last week, we celebrated the kind of milestone we hope to see with every startup client when...
Applied Storytelling
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Jul 30, 2010
The Toledo Region: Positioned for growth
Live, learn, work and play attributes set to drive economic development At a time of increasingly intense competition between cities and regions for talent, funding and resources,...
Applied Storytelling
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Jul 27, 2010
Etiquette for professional services partners
It’s the same in brandland as in so many other areas of endeavor: collectivity rules. Alliances and networks of small, highly specialized firms can deliver thinking and...
Applied Storytelling
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May 6, 2010
Genoptix introduces NexCourse, a comprehensive approach to solid tumor testing
Genoptix Medical Laboratories, a specialized laboratory diagnostics company focused on delivering personalized, comprehensive assessments to community-based hematologists and oncologists, has released its first bundled set of evaluations...
Applied Storytelling
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Apr 7, 2010
Spring Design’s dual display Alex enters the fast-growing eReader marketplace.
Winner of best-of-show at CES 2010, Spring Design’s Alex Reader has a lot going for it: It’s the only dual screen reader based on Google’s Android platform...
Applied Storytelling
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Feb 19, 2010
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County raises the profile of its first-ever capital campaign.
Seeking “to revitalize and expand…so that it may live up to its potential as the region’s indispensable hub for connecting people and nature”, the Natural History Museum...
Applied Storytelling
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Feb 11, 2010
Elements of a Successful Global Branding Strategy
The successful global brand strategy is relevant and responsive to all audiences (by type, channel, and geo). The strategy enables the creation and use of targeted tools that...
Applied Storytelling
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Jul 24, 2009
Yes: Newsweek rethinks itself
The previous weeks’ Newsweekmay be the boldest fundamental rethink of a magazine we’ve seen in a long time. The update goes far beyond the merely graphic-cosmetic: Essentially, it’s...
Applied Storytelling
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Jun 7, 2009
