Creator brands vs follower brands highlights the difference between businesses that lead with original ideas and those that wait for competitors to prove them first. Original creative thinking can help brands earn attention, build recognition, and stand apart from competitors. A few years ago, we presented a concept to a client. It was different from anything their category had seen. The room went quiet, then polite, then cautious. "Let's go with something safer for now." We

Every few weeks, I watch a good idea die in a meeting room. Not because it was wrong, but because no one in the room knew how to choose. We talk a lot about creativity, but very little about selecting it. Yet the decision to say yes or no to an idea shapes a brand as much as the idea itself. After years of sitting on both sides of the table, I've come to believe that choosing creative is a craft of its own. Here's what that craft looks like. 1. Judge it against the brief, not

Most brand problems aren’t in the brand guidelines. They start after the communication ends. When I audit a brand, I ask one question: Where does the promise start breaking? Sales handover. Onboarding. Delivery. Customer support. Returns. Crisis response. Take Ola Electric. In 2024, India’s consumer regulator acted after more than 10,000 complaints involving service, warranties, refunds, recurring defects and other customer issues. Ola later said it had resolved 99.1% of thos

Six things to check before you sign — from a brand consultant in Kerala who runs an agency, and would rather you hired well than hired us. Every few weeks a founder sends me a message that begins the same way. “We’re looking for a new agency. The last one didn’t work out.” I’ve stopped asking what went wrong, because the answer is almost always the same, and it’s almost never the thing they think it is. The design wasn’t bad. The team wasn’t lazy. The logo was, in most cases

Your agency, your digital team and your social handler are all doing their jobs. So why isn't the brand working? Count the people working on your brand right now. There is probably an agency that made the logo. A digital company running the ads. Someone handling social media, possibly a young person who joined last year. A printer who makes small decisions every time a file goes to press. And you, with a new idea most weeks. That is five people making brand decisions. Ask you