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Branding industry news · mentors · Mike Bruce's take Brand voices.

What is happening in branding, and what I think about it. Alongside it, the authors, designers and strategists who shaped the craft, one at a time, with sources.

Newest first

Takes and profiles.

A tall grey stone block with one small orange cube on top, beside the word Position

Voices · 5 min read

Al and Laura Ries: a brand wins by owning one place in the customer's mind.
Grey gift boxes on concrete, one with an orange ribbon, beside the word Shared

Industry take · 5 min read

Sports Direct and Nike made one Christmas ad. If you sell through partners, ask who owns the story.
A row of identical grey gift boxes on concrete with one orange box, beside the word Again

Industry take · 5 min read

Christmas ads 2026: the big brands came back with the same characters. That is the point.
A stepped stack of plain grey concrete blocks with one small orange block on the top step, beside the word Resonance

Voices · 5 min read

Kevin Lane Keller: a brand lives in the customer's mind, so build it in order.
A row of plain grey cups on concrete with one orange cup standing on a low block, beside the word Steady

Industry take · 5 min read

Starbucks wants fewer peaks and more platforms. Your brand needs the same.
A row of plain grey jars on concrete, one raised on a block with an orange price tag, beside the word Earned

Industry take · 5 min read

Unilever says price rises must be earned by the brand. So must yours.
A pale paved empty street with a wooden bench and a planter holding one orange plant, beside the word Everyone

Industry take · 5 min read

Oxford Street is "for everyone". Is that a position?
A diagonal row of five concrete tiles shrinking in size, the smallest painted orange, beside the word Smaller

Industry take · 5 min read

Visa shrank its mark to one letter. Could you?
A row of plain grey boxes on a concrete shelf with one orange box pulled forward, beside the word Recall

Voices · 5 min read

Byron Sharp: be easy to remember, and easy to buy.
An orange spinning top in motion on a concrete slab beside a grey top lying still, next to the word Coasting

Industry take · 5 min read

Interbrand's 2026 ranking: reputation is a balance, not an income.
A heap of carved wooden type blocks on a concrete slab with one orange block on top

Voices · 5 min read

Paula Scher: your typography is your voice, made visible.
An empty folding stadium seat on a concrete slab with one orange ticket stub, beside the word Borrowed

Industry take · 5 min read

McDonald's quit the World Cup. Rented attention has a ceiling.
A glass prism on a concrete slab splitting light into six beams, with one orange edge

Voices · 5 min read

Kapferer's prism: a brand has six faces, not one logo.
Four brass compasses with needles pointing in different directions, one needle orange, beside the word Disagree

Industry take · 5 min read

AI assistants don't agree about your brand. Plan for that.
A grey stone heart tied with one orange thread on a concrete surface, beside the word Love and a question mark

Industry take · 5 min read

Brand love is not the plan. It is the receipt.
The cover of Octavo by Marty Neumeier, a red letterpress 8vo on cream paper, beside the word Octavo

Voices · 5 min read

Marty Neumeier wrote a novel. Read it as a brand lesson.
A steel ruler, set square, compass and pencils on concrete, one pencil orange, beside the word Identity

Voices · 5 min read

Alina Wheeler gave brand identity a process.
A blank brass price tag on a chain resting on a concrete block, beside the word Priced

Voices · 5 min read

Chris Do taught creatives to talk about money.
A tower of rough concrete blocks with a single orange block on top, beside the word Equity

Voices · 6 min read

David Aaker taught brand people to count what a brand is worth.
A vintage studio microphone with an orange cable on a concrete floor, beside the word Matters

Voices · 5 min read

Debbie Millman built a brand out of conversation.
One orange cow figurine standing among identical grey ones, beside the word Viable

Voices · 5 min read

Seth Godin and the case for a smaller audience.
A black dish of still liquid with concentric ripples around a single orange droplet, beside the word Dropped

Industry take · 4 min read

Apple Music dropped red. What replaces it?
Pruning shears beside a heap of cut branches, with one orange leaf on a small sapling, beside the word Pruned

Industry take · 5 min read

Coca-Cola pruned its brands. Here is what to copy.

How this series works

Every piece names its sources and links to them. Opinion is marked as opinion. Profiles of other people use only facts that can be checked, and where sources disagree, the piece says so. If something is wrong, tell me and I will correct it.

The writer is Mike Bruce, Brand Growth Architect and Consultant, founder of Mike Bruce Design.