Brand

Going deep on strategy with the Hungry podcast

An exciting change of pace this week, where I’ll give you a break from the essays and point you instead to my recent appearance on

The Way is now The Hidden Path, and here’s why

First things first: Yes, it’s still me, Alex from Basic Arts And yes, this is still The Way, the strategy newsletter you subscribe to

Strategy is a mess – here’s how you tidy it up

One of the main reasons strategy is needlessly confusing, is because the word itself is used to describe multiple different “things”. Although when we use

The coming of the desperate brands

A note before we begin: the below describes a trend which I’m sure is true, but which would benefit from more research than I’ve had

Product is nothing: How to see things the way your customers do

People – especially founders – are fond of saying “product is everything”. Have a great product, and you’ll succeed. Have a poor product, and you’ll

If you want to do great marketing, never use this word

As long time readers will know, my views on business begin and end with one simple belief: Business is the practice of delivering value to

Taste: The secret ingredient

A client and I were recently analysing the surprising success of the canned water brand Liquid Death, now valued at over $700 million. In case you’re

The fatal flaw of trend-based brands

If you’re a founder, you probably got into the game partly through a desire for freedom. Being your own boss and all that good stuff.

Stop confusing strategy and brand strategy

When I tell people I help companies with their “strategy” the response I invariably get is “what kind of strategy?”. This is because people are

The schizophrenia machine: How brands remake our identities

Below is number 5 in my cultural context series, following the previous ones on the post-cultural myth, horizontal loyalty, supernormal stimuli, and concentration. I hope you find it useful, or at least interesting.

The danger of boring yourself

The thing about churning out one of these essays every week, is that it forces me to constantly be focusing on the “next” thing: the

How to be truly rebellious

In 2022, there’s nothing more conformist than being revolutionary. I’ve written about this before, but I still think it bears repeating that it can be