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