When you put something out into the world, the bigger it gets, the less control you have of it.

Your intentions and interpretations become less important over time. And the resonance and reverence amongst fans and the public becomes more important.

The meaning of your brand becomes a conversation, not a monologue.

According to behavior science, to boost believability, trustworthiness, and memorability, use:

• rhymes
• alliteration
• simpler words (also makes people think you’re more intelligent)
• humor

To sum up: aim to be clever, not smart (?)

The EU is cracking down on “very large tech platforms.” This means:

• Less personalized ad targeting
• Algorithm-free feed options
• Stricter content moderation
• More data transparency (to people like authorities and researchers)

The platforms are working on efforts to comply. But how will it work? And if it does, how long until the US copies it?

A winning ecomm email framework (that’s working right now):

• Company name in the “from” field
• Great headline (chatty is good) with subhead
• Product shot
• “Watch this video” or “Learn more”
• Product video gif
• CTA

45% Of U.S., U.K. Advertisers Have Used Same Ad Approach For Past 5 Years

71% of this group don’t plan to change their strategy in the next year.

Some Q4 offer planning tips from Foxwell Digital:

• Keep it simple
• People want % or $ off
• Don’t do “up to X% off” sales (consumers know what they want probably isn’t the full X% off)
• $ off only works if it’s a meaningful amount (in terms of total price)

Some email A/B tests to consider running:

• Subject lines
• Message text
• Framing of message (question vs. statement, etc)
• CTA text
• Best days for sending (look beyond open rate)
• Best time for sending

Spicy metric hot take:

Click rates are overrated if you aren’t driving the action you actually want.

I agree.

Click rates (and all click metrics) are proxies for actual business goals. Don’t over optimize the proxy and lose sight of the real goal.

One last story from Morgan Housel to close out the week.

Sugar, milk, and eggs were all rationed during World War II. Many food companies adapted to use different, often lower-quality, ingredients to get by.

See’s Candy was so obsessed with quality that it refused to lower its standards. One holiday season it closed down and put signs in its store that read, “Sold out. Buy war bonds for Christmas.”

Was See's Candy the original Patagonia?

If you believe in the quality and purpose of your brand so much that you would rather consumers not buy it than budge on those principles, you have a strong brand vision.

If consumers cheer the move, you have a strong brand.

More on the Don't Buy This Jacket campaign.

These 5 Prelaunch Secrets can be generalized to 3 ongoing tasks that build strong brands.

1. Learn about your customers: how they function, what their pain points are, what their aspirations are

2. Build trust: brands a promise delivery engines. Break consumer trust, break your brand.

3. Iterate: brands cannot be static