Our 1,000th post!

A big thanks to everyone who has read or subsrcibed to the blog, and to those who have taken time to comment on it. Thanks also to my brandgym partners David N., Prasad, Diego and Anne for their contributions.

We've managed to do 2 stories a week, every week, for almost eight years. Phew. Ball-breaking work, yes. But also a lot of fun and a great source of branding stories and case studies.

I thought it fit for the 1,000th post to be a re-release of the first post I wrote, back in August 2006.

We've stuck to the vision for the blog. And it still seems relevant today, I'm pleased to say. The campaign for more substance and less spin continues!

"Where's the sausage?": building brands on substance, not spin

This new blog is part of a bigger brandgym campaign for building brands on substance, not spin. We think brands should focus more on the "sausage" of branding, relevant product features and benefits, and rely less on the "sizzle" of emotional values for differentiation. Sure, sizzle can help to sell, but it should reinforce the product idea, not work separately from it. More broadly, "sausage" also refers to delivering more substance and less spin for both employees and shareholders.

This blog aims to cut through the over-intellectual bull**** that waste so much of the time, energy and money spent on branding, taking the same practical, down-to-earth approach used in the brandgym books I've written. It will use topical brand examples to deliver bite-sized nuggets of insight, and each post will have a "5-minute workout" to help you apply the ideas to your brand. The blog should be a practical source of branding tips and tricks, not just a personal soapbox.