2017 was, without a doubt, the year of quality content. As conversations went on about robotics and voice search, we content strategists (most of us authors in our own rights) watched the permeation of something we knew would forever change the game: thought leadership. And we welcomed it, for who isn’t tired of slugging through all of the click bait on Facebook just hoping that the next one will be a good one?

Now, at Brandingmag, we don’t believe in trends because (to be honest) branding doesn’t go in and out of style – nor do any of its components. Branding is a humane art form that marries aesthetics and personality in a way reminiscent of mindfulness more than anything else. There is a value at the core, an honesty that can be extrapolated and reverberated throughout your entire organization – although I’m tempted to say organism – to reach the kind of serenity that brings joy, hard work, and change. It is an introspective and collaborative effort, and can very well be the resulting framework for your entire company’s reason for existence, as many like to say.

And so, in an effort to look within ourselves and the values that we bring, we decided to pull together those articles from 2017 that we feel will live on – the ones that prove to readers that branding isn’t replete with trends, but rather with wisdom. That wisdom comprises of many more topics than those that we have collated here, but luckily we have all of 2018 to bring more of them to you.

For those that are always on the go, we have designed a lovely PDF version of our compilation that you can now download for free via the Brandingmag store. For the rest, you’ll find our editors’ top 18 picks for the new year below.

18. 6 Bad Brand Names in China: Lessons from Intertextuality

By Vladimir Djurovic

Labbrand, China

17. Rebranding in a Politicised World

By Miho Aishima

Aishima, UK

16. The New York Times’ Head of Audience and Brand, David Rubin – Don’t Panic No. 05

By Dominik Prinz

cg42, USA

15. 3 Ways to Use Recipes in Your Marketing

By Roseanne Luth

Luth Research, USA

14. Digital Platforms That Create Serendipitous Conversations and Help You Grow Happy

By Fay Cannings

Freelance, UK

13. Are You Seeking to Renovate or Remodel Your Brand?

By Irene Etzkorn

Siegelvision, USA

12. The Emerging (and Ever-Changing) Practice of Employer Branding

By Christopher Abelt

Sagg Creek Marketing, USA

11. Desire: The New Driving Force for Brands

By Yael Alaton

Pearlfisher, UK

10. Sonic Branding Is Dead, Enter the Audio User Experience

By Dexter Garcia

Audio UX, USA

9. You Don’t Know the Power of Brand Experience Until You Know Tea Traditions

By Flavia Anghel

Brandium, Inc., UK & Romania

8. Four Bright Ideas on Brand Governance

By Jackie Cutrone

Monigle, USA

7. The C-Suite: Byron Allen, Founder of Entertainment Studios

By Sidney Evans

Brand Vision Global, USA

6. The Power of Brand Image in B2B

By Bob Domenz

Avenue, USA

5. Where Your Brand Goes, Your Business Follows

By Chad Farmer

The Lambesis Agency, USA

4. Remember, Packaging Starts and Ends with Marketing

By Udo Panenka

Esko, Belgium

3. The Future of Advertising Is All about Experiential Marketing

By Len Stein

Visibility PR, USA

2. The Future of Lifestyle Branding: The Top 5 Most Wanted

By Sophie Maxwell

Pearlfisher, UK

1. Designing the Brand Designer of the Future

By Chuck Kent

Lead the Conversation, USA

Where do you think branding will take us this year? Do these pillars stand the test of time?