Month: August 2026

Reach is loud. Resonance is remembered.

 

They said advertising was a science. They said brand positioning was a marketing exercise. They said your culture was an HR problem.

 

They were wrong.

 

And this month, at BrandKnew, we decided to debate it. The August edition of BrandKnew is a manifesto for the age of creative disruption.

 

For those who prefer a digital flip, you can access the interactive version here: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/0c50cc2860.html

 

Here are a few grenades we’ve lobbed into the mix this issue:

 

1. The End of the “Story” -Your brand is no longer a story. It is a Universe. In a world drowning in content, attention is no longer won through frequency. It is earned through immersion. The future belongs not to brands that tell stories, but to brands that create worlds so compelling that people willingly step inside them.

2. The Death of the Campaign– AI isn’t just changing how we work; it is dismantling the very architecture of marketing. We’ve moved from a world of “campaigns” to a world of “growth engines.” The brands that win in the next decade won’t be defined by how well they use AI tools, but by how well they connect insight, creativity, and execution into a single, continuous system.

3. The “Relevance Obsession”– Stop trying to be the majestic eagle. Start being the resilient cockroach. In an era of AI sludge, standing out is a vanity metric. The real marketing priority is Relentless Relevance. If your customers don’t think about you when their world changes, you don’t exist.

4. The Luxury Blindspot – This is the one that keeps me up at night. AI is rapidly becoming the new gatekeeper of consumer choice. But here is the kicker: AI understands the surface of luxury, but it is completely blind to its soul. Scarcity. Heritage. The unspoken signals. If you are a luxury brand, are you visible to the machines? Or have you been optimized out of existence?

 

We also dissect the great Nike vs. Adidas World Cup battle (Reach vs. Resonance), unpack Unilever’s staggering 50,000-creator siege, and explore why Frankfurt Airport is rewriting the rules of brand experience by following “desire lines” instead of dictated paths.

 

The BrandKnew Take

We don’t believe in neat little case studies. We believe in the wobble. The friction. The glorious mess of how things actually work. Certainty is not an advantage. Adaptability is.

 

This edition is not for the faint-hearted. It is for those who are ready to build, break, and rebuild.

 

I’m genuinely curious: What’s your biggest takeaway from the “Relevance vs. Reach” debate? And are you ready to build a universe, or are you still telling stories?

 

Let’s get into it.

 

Written to be read with a raised eyebrow, not a nod of agreement. If something in here annoys you or you think we’ve got it wrong — tell me. Genuinely. The last issue got better because of exactly that feedback.

 

Link to the BrandKnew August edition below. Would love to know what lands and what doesn’t.

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/0c50cc2860.html

 

Onward! Let’s get into it.

#BrandKnew #Branding #MarketingStrategy #AI #LuxuryMarketing #Creativity #FutureOfWork

PS: On a completely different note, pleasure to share that ISD Global has introduced three new products viz the Strategic Foresight Almanac, BrandKnow and BrandKnew.They are available for review and purchase on these links below:-

BrandKnow https://www.magzter.com/AE/ISD-Global/BrandKnow/Business/

The Strategic Foresight Almanac https://www.magzter.com/AE/ISD-Global/The-Strategic-Foresight-Almanac/Business/

BrandKnew : https://www.magzter.com/IN/ISD-Global/BrandKnew-Magazine/Business/

I am also taking the liberty to share here that my other blog SOHB(State Of The Heart Branding) Story is now a Podcast as well. You can access it on these links below

Daily Hunt: https://bz.dhunt.in/148BKr

If patience is a virtue, tissue boxes are the ultimate virtue test. I have failed. Repeatedly

The Issue With The Tissue or Why We Should Declare War on a Cardboard Box

 

I want to talk about a design flaw so ancient, so universal, so deeply woven into the fabric of human suffering, that we’ve simply stopped questioning it. Like potholes.

 

Let me begin by stating the obvious: I am a grown man. I pay taxes. I have (almost) successfully assembled IKEA furniture without crying (the first time). I have navigated rush-hour traffic, corporate politics, and the dreaded Monday morning blues. Yet, every single day, I am defeated by a box of tissues.

 

Imagining The Back Story

 

Going back in time. Somewhere, in a laboratory or a research centre, a group of adults sat down and decided that pulling out one tissue from a box should feel like extracting a molar. You reach in for a single, humble tissue — you have a cold, you are not asking for much — and out comes an entire relay team. Just back from the Commonwealth Games. Four tissues, holding hands, popping up one after another like they’re taking a bow. “Thank you, thank you, we’ll be here all week.”

 

And mind you, the box knows. That’s the part that rankles me. The box knows you only wanted one. It has watched you do this a hundred times. And still, every single time, it pulls the same stunt — like a magician who’s done the same trick so long he’s forgotten it’s supposed to be a surprise, it’s just become plain bullying.

 

Then there’s the second tissue. The traitor. The one that peeks halfway out and just…stops. Doesn’t commit. Won’t come, won’t go back. Just sits there, popped up like a meerkat( yes, the same burrowing mammal belonging to the mongoose family), judging you, daring you to pinch it out with the precision of a bomb disposal expert while your nose is actively staging a protest. By this time, you can’t see beyond your own nose. Because who knows, when the next one will come out, if at all!

 

And don’t get me started on the box itself — that flimsy cardboard coffin that looks structurally sound on day one and by day four has the spinal integrity of a wet biscuit. You press it back into shape, it springs back into “abstract art( Andy Warhol, you listening?).” Every refill is a renegotiation with cardboard that has given up on life. Card Bored is more like it!

 

The Designated Crying Tissue

 

And while we’re airing grievances, can we talk about the DCT(Designated Crying Tissue)? Every box, at some point in its life, produces That One Tissue — sitting right at the top, a little too soft, a little too central, clearly put there by fate for a Moment. And the unspoken family law is: nobody touches it for something as vulgar as a runny nose( or that oily Samosa). It just sits there. Waiting. Reserved. Like a good tablecloth, or the good spoons, except its job is to catch tears during a family serial season finale. You’ll use six ordinary tissues for a full-blown cold before you dare touch The One. That’s not cardboard engineering. That’s cultural engineering. Somebody in R&D deserves a raise(or possibly a background check should be more like it). Clearly a species of engineer with a personal vendetta against ease.

 

Thinking Inside The Box

 

And let’s talk about the box itself, shall we? The slot. That narrow, sadistic little slit. Who designed this? An engineer who hates humanity? A cat? The slot is either too tight (so the tissues disintegrate on exit) or too loose (so the tissues just sit there, mocking you, refusing to surface). There is no middle ground. It’s like the Goldilocks of frustration—except every bowl is either lava or ice.

 

We Have All Been There And Had Issues With It

 

You’re sitting at your desk. You feel a sneeze coming. A glorious, nose-clearing, soul-evicting sneeze that demands immediate attention. Your hand darts to the tissue box with the speed and precision of a ninja. You reach in. You grab. You pull.

 

And what happens? The tissue rips in half. Not a clean tear—no, that would be too dignified. It rips diagonally, leaving one sad, crumpled corner in your hand while its twin siblings stage a mutiny inside the box. You now have shredded tissue on your nose, and the sneeze? The sneeze has already launched a full-scale assault on your shirt sleeve.

 

But it gets worse.

 

You try again (Remember, we are in the Republic of Resilience). This time, you’re smart. You go in again with the precision of a bomb disposal expert. You pinch, you wiggle, you coax. And out comes not one tissue, but seventeen. It’s a tissue parade. A paper waterfall. You’re now holding enough cellulose to reforest a small nation( let’s call it Nauru or by its new name Republic of Naoero). And you can’t stuff them back in—because that would violate the sacred laws of tissue box physics. So you’re stuck holding a bouquet of tissues while your nose runs like a leaky faucet. And you are left licking your wounds.

 

You Would Think Innovation Would Have Solved This By Now

 

We have self-driving cars. We have AI that writes poetry. We have robots that can perform surgery. But we cannot invent a tissue box that dispenses one tissue at a time? This is the greatest unsolved problem of our generation. Move over, climate change. Step aside, world peace. The real crisis is the tissue box.

 

Out Of The Tissue Box Thinking

 

Let’s redesign it. Let’s make it a button. One press, one tissue. Like a peppermint dispenser, but for adults. No ripping. No pulling. No crying. Just pure, unadulterated tissue extraction.

 

Until that day comes, we should continue our battle. Let us fight the good fight. We will sneeze with courage, pull with conviction, and weep in frustration—all while clutching seventeen tissues in one hand and a shred of our dignity and self-respect in the other.

 

It was, all along, a chaos delivery system with excellent packaging — and the only thing “out of the box” about it is the fourth tissue you never asked for, standing up, taking a bow, absolutely delighted with itself.

 

Brands: Your customers aren’t confused about your product. They’re anxious about their decision.

 

And therein lies the opportunity. Certainty is the new luxury.

 

We used to buy things. Now we buy sleep.

 

A larger house doesn’t feel like luxury anymore. Neither does a faster car, or a finer watch. The new status symbol is quieter — it’s knowing your flight leaves on time, your money is safe, your child’s future still makes sense.

 

Somewhere between AI rewriting job descriptions and headlines nobody fully trusts, the world got smarter and blurrier at the same time. And blurred futures don’t need more options. They need fewer questions.

 

The latest issue of SOHB(State Of The Heart Branding) Story examines precisely that.

 

Here’s the shift most brands haven’t caught onto yet: customers were never comparing products. They were comparing how much doubt each one made them carry.

 

Apple didn’t win because the iPhone changed every year. It won because it barely did — and that predictability became the product. Volvo doesn’t sell horsepower; it sells fewer sleepless nights. Zerodha doesn’t promise you’ll get rich; it promises you’ll understand exactly what’s happening to your money.

 

They’ve become what we call certainty engines—because in a world of infinite information, predictability itself becomes priceless.

 

The Strategy Shift

 

Stop asking, “How do we build trust?” Ask instead, “Where are we accidentally creating uncertainty?”

 

Trust isn’t built—it’s a residue. The residue of repeatedly removing doubt.

 

None of the brands referred above chased trust directly. They just kept removing the small frictions — the vague email, the hidden fee, the confusing form — until trust was the only thing left standing.

 

Where are we quietly manufacturing uncertainty — without even noticing?

 

Because the next decade’s most valuable brands won’t be the loudest, or even the smartest.

 

They’ll be the calmest room in a noisy world.

 

Certainty is the new luxury. Are you selling it? Read it here on SOHB Story

 

#Certainty #Luxury #Brands #BrandKnew #SOHBStory

 

PS: On a completely different note, pleasure to share that ISD Global has introduced three new products viz the Strategic Foresight Almanac, BrandKnow and BrandKnew.They are available for review and purchase on these links below:-

BrandKnow https://www.magzter.com/AE/ISD-Global/BrandKnow/Business/

The Strategic Foresight Almanac https://www.magzter.com/AE/ISD-Global/The-Strategic-Foresight-Almanac/Business/

BrandKnew : https://www.magzter.com/IN/ISD-Global/BrandKnew-Magazine/Business/

I am also taking the liberty to share here that my other blog SOHB(State Of The Heart Branding) Story is now a Podcast as well. You can access it on these links below

The Guru Who Sold You Enlightenment Hasn’t Found It Either.

 

Caveat Emptor: “This isn’t about discrediting the messenger(in this case the influencer); it’s about reading the fine print on the package. We need to stop treating their mantras like scripture and start treating them like a marketing pitch—best consumed with a healthy dose of skepticism, and maybe a full shaker of sodium for the ones promising you a Ferrari in 30 days.”

 

The ” influencer “ promised nirvana still remains just out of reach.

 

We are drowning in a sea of “authenticity” that is meticulously manufactured . What began as a promise of connection has devolved into a relentless marketing machine where we are either the product or the salesperson—often both . The “influencer” (in most cases) isn’t a friend giving advice; they are a specialist in online manipulation, blurring the line between personal expression and commercial transaction.

 

Are We Chasing A Ghost?

 

Most likely, yes. We log on hoping to find a community or an escape, and instead, we are marketed a lifestyle we can’t afford and a transformation that is physically impossible. The result isn’t inspiration; it’s resentment and depression.We feel shortchanged by our own lives, comparing our messy, unedited reality to their perfectly staged “realness.” We are being sold an illusion, and the harder we chase it, the further it recedes.

 

Is The Seller Also Trapped?

 

Here is the irony that you may take with a tumbler of salt. Even the influencer isn’t free. With 64 million of them globally, they are trapped in a “life cycle” where their success becomes their straitjacket.The very image and lifestyle they cultivated to gain influence becomes the prison they cannot escape. The more successful they become, the less freedom they have to deviate from the script .They are no longer a person; they are a “content delivery system” for a large audience, scared to break character.

 

Hello: How About The Hypocrisy That Cuts Deepest: They Don’t Even Practice What They Preach

 

The wellness guru who preaches “digital minimalism” while posting 27 Stories a day. The financial freedom expert who is drowning in debt, monetizing your desperation. The “hustle culture” prophet who preaches 4 AM wake-ups while their team secretly manages their schedule because they haven’t seen 4 AM since college. The relationship coach with three divorces.The sustainability influencer flying private jets to “eco-retreats.” The “detach from ego” coach with a comment section built entirely to feed theirs. The minimalism influencer with a storage unit. This isn’t hypocrisy as scandal — it’s hypocrisy as business model. Practicing the thing would take time away from selling the thing. So the sermon gets polished while the practice quietly slides.

You’re not being handed wisdom. You’re being handed a performance of wisdom, delivered by someone auditioning for their own advice.

 

None of this means growth is a scam. It means borrowed maps — especially unwalked ones — rarely fit your terrain.

 

They are selling you a destination they have never visited themselves.They are tour guides for a country they only know from postcards.They tell you to “be authentic” while every tear, every laugh, every “vulnerable moment” is calibrated for engagement metrics. They preach “self-care” while burning out to maintain the very machine that feeds their ego. They tell you to “quit your 9-to-5” while they are more enslaved to their content calendar than any employee ever was to a boss. They are not living proof. They are living propaganda.

 

Distance is the Product

 

Every feed you scroll promises the same finish line: “5 habits to unlock your best self,” “the mindset shift that changed everything.” You’ve bought the course, journaled the gratitude, done the cold plunge. And yet — nirvana still sits exactly one horizon further than yesterday.

 

If the destination ever arrived, the subscription would end. So the finish line is engineered to move. Not maliciously — just structurally. An influencer’s business model requires your transformation to be perpetually 80% complete. You’re not failing the program. The program is succeeding at exactly what it was built to do.

 

But if the gap is manufactured, what would it take to actually close it?

 

That’s the real question — and almost nobody selling you the map has walked the territory. Which brings us to the one thing that would collapse the entire industry overnight: someone asking the guru, on camera, “are you there yet?”

 

Try it. Watch how fast “there” becomes “a journey, not a destination.” Convenient philosophy, that.

 

Food For Torque: Some Takeaways?

 

Three ways to reclaim your own coordinates:

  1. Audit the practice, not the pitch. Before you follow anyone’s advice, check if they actually live it off-camera. A say-do gap is louder than any testimonial.
  2. Set your own finish line before someone else profits from moving it. Define “enough” in writing. Revisit it quarterly — on your terms, not the algorithm’s.
  3. Trade consumption for construction. One hour building your own practice beats ten hours absorbing someone else’s highlight reel. Wisdom compounds; content scrolls past.

 

Peace was never behind a paywall. It was always available — just not as photogenic. Nirvana is not for sale. But attention is. Stop buying.

#InfluencerMarketing #Attention #Nirvana #Consumption #Distraction

 

PS: On a completely different note, pleasure to share that ISD Global has introduced three new products viz the Strategic Foresight Almanac, BrandKnow and BrandKnew.They are available for review and purchase on these links below:-

BrandKnow https://www.magzter.com/AE/ISD-Global/BrandKnow/Business/

The Strategic Foresight Almanac https://www.magzter.com/AE/ISD-Global/The-Strategic-Foresight-Almanac/Business/

BrandKnew : https://www.magzter.com/IN/ISD-Global/BrandKnew-Magazine/Business/

I am also taking the liberty to share here that my other blog SOHB(State Of The Heart Branding) Story is now a Podcast as well. You can access it on these links below