~Help ~PayItForward ~Feedback

I didn't quite know how to title this post - I guess all those three headers fit (including the 'kinda' tilde).

I often post about the fundamentals of Brand and (after 40+ years in the business) my abhorrence for Brand Archetypes and Color & Typography Psychology Charts, 'Branding' as just a verb, 'Brand' as a synonym for 'Company', Brand is not a Logo paeans, shallow sloganish meaningless Positionings, and superficial HoB/BH Brand Architecture content - and the like.

In my own posts I own my views of course, but when I comment on someone else's post ...
- most times I politely and respectfully offer my opinion;
- a few times I feel that harder pushback is necessary so that certain misinformation or myths don't keep spreading: that's bad for all of us in the profession and for clients who may be exposed to it*. Having said that, I apologize to whomever I may have perhaps offended 

(*I know that Mats Georgson, Ph.D. agrees, he does the same with his Marketing-related <Fail> crusade. Interestingly, I'm Italian and he's a Swede, and direct frankness shouldn't quite be in our DNA; I behave almost like a Dutchman, and I guess he vaults over his innate Konflikträdda and Jantelagen. But I digress.)

Getting to the point, three days ago I saw something that kinda made my BrandingBloodBoil (note to self: start a series like Mats' 'Fail', but named 'BBB') and posted a fairly critical comment on someone's post. The original post had a healthy visibility, and my own comment got 21,511 impressions, 24 likes, and 7 comments. Guess it struck a nerve.

Is this kind of public debate healthy? I think so, and so do people better than me:
"we all need feedback, that’s how we improve" - Bill Gates
"I cannot teach anything. I can only make one think." - Socrates
"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." - Winston Churchill (hope this is not one of those Churchillian Drifts)

And so, for anyone who wishes to discuss or argue about Brand & Branding topics - companies or agencies - an intelligent conversation on a quick phone or zoom call is easy to do. DM me, anytime, I'd love it.

Bill Chidley Andrea Fabbri David Martin Marty Neumeier Marty Marion James Orsini Andrea Sullivan Jürgen Häusler Alan Brew Howard Belk Erich Joachimsthaler Ph.D. Elizabeth Harrow

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My name is Q. I write (and often rant) about Brands & Branding - here, at masterbranded_dot_com, BrandingMag, Substack, and Medium. Visit, comment, follow, and share as you see fit.
(And don't forget to check out nickmalandrino_dot_work)