Ethan Decker
ehdecker.bsky.social
Ethan Decker
@ehdecker.bsky.social
Cheesesteak snob, brand science dork, adoptive dad, cocktail flunkie, fair-weather triathlete. AppliedBrandScience.com
Most taglines are beige wallpaper.
Jenny Desmond and I talk about how to create one people actually remember—and maybe even repeat to their friends over mojitos in Havana.
Sticky beats clever. Clear beats cute.
#coverbrand #BrandScience #BrandStrategy
December 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Even IT brands can learn from Prada.

This week on Cover Brand, I chat with Laura Diral about how to make serious B2B brands 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆—not just “relevant.”

Turns out, salience beats logic every time.

🎧 Listen anywhere you pod.
#CoverBrand #BrandScience #Marketing #B2BBranding
December 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
WHAT PROBLEMS DO MARKETING AUDITS ALWAYS FIND?

Like, when you hire a proper group to do a proper audit on your proper company, what issues turn up over & over?
December 11, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Your audience’s brain syncs with your brand—literally.

This episode of Cover Brand, I talk with Evante Daniels about how neuroscience, physics, and culture collide to shape what trends (and what tanks).

Forget messaging. Start with the nervous system.

🎧 Listen anywhere you pod. #CoverBrand
December 9, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Those who do not study marketing's past mistakes are condemned to repeat them.

- not George Santayana

(It's one of the reasons I love Paul Feldwick's work so much.)
December 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Incentives, incentives, incentives.

Fines for fraudulent ads would be $1Bn
Revenue is $16Bn

There's no way in hell Meta wants to stop fraudulent ads, deepfakes, etc.

(Unless they were about Zuck or his family. Of course.)

vist.ly/4hgsn
Mark Ritson: Martin Lewis shouldn’t be alone in calling out Meta’s lucrative scam ads
Mark Ritson: Martin Lewis shouldn’t be alone in calling out Meta’s lucrative scam ads
www.thedrum.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
HOW DO YOU AVOID CRAPPY MARKETING DATA?

It’s easy to end up with turds in your data. Too easy. Waaaay too easy.

So what can you do to avoid crappy marketing data?

You can start by asking six very powerful, simple questions about the numbers you’re looking at.
December 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Ever tried to explain your business and ended up saying, “You just have to see it”?

I chatted with Amy Biondo about marketing what people feel, not what they buy—aka, vibe marketing.

Turns out, the best brands sell an occasion, not a product.

Listen anywhere you pod.
#BrandScience #CoverBrand
December 2, 2025 at 2:08 PM
ONE bad datapoint is like a turd in a punchbowl: adding more good data just makes more turd punch.

If you have 3 variables you can measure to 5 decimal places, and one turd, then your whole model is as good as turd.

But 💩 X 74.2849 + 4.561 / e^3.746 still = 💩
December 1, 2025 at 4:16 PM
It's Cards Agains Humanity Big F.U. Day!

If you don't know of the CAH Black Friday Stunts, start now!

Stunts for the first few years were massively successful — huge spikes in search, buzz, and sales. By 2015 the little startup rivaled Monopoly.

My fave: vist.ly/4gczh
Diamond Potato by Cards Against Humanity
Real diamonds. Real potato. Diamond Potato.
www.diamondpotato.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
HOW DOES ONE UPDATE THE SALES FUNNEL?

You know the funnel: awareness, consideration, purchase. It's a classic.

Give the new funnel a spin. It might re-tune your intuition about where to focus, what to do there, and how to measure success.
November 26, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Professional ≠ boring.

This week on Cover Brand, I talk with Michele Blazier and Arissa Kirkland from Bishop Fox about when brands should drop the polish and show some personality.

Turns out, a little chaos can be good for business.

🎧 Listen anywhere you pod. #BrandScience #Authenticity
November 25, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Data, data, every where,
and not a thought to think.

We're awash in data and still thirsty for insight.
We're drowning in data and still can't connect cause & effect.
We're swimming in data and still can't craft a successful strategy.

Maybe it's not more data that we need.
November 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Marketing brief: “Make it edgy and for everyone.”
What could go wrong?

This week on Cover Brand Covers On Brand, Laura & I talk Therabody, creative chaos, & how brands can stand out without losing their cool.

🎧 Cover Brand Covers On Brand - wherever you pod.

#OnBrand #TeamRyan #TeamBianca

November 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM
DO NEW CATEGORIES FOLLOW BRAND LAWS?

F’rinstance, does a rapidly-changing, relatively-young category still adhere to the "laws of brand physics?"
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November 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Ever try to nudge a client off vanity metrics—& realize your killer ROI graph is about as persuasive as a fax machine ad in 2024?

Learn about the psychology of data obsession, & why persuading with playfulness works better than pummeling with numbers.

Listen everywhere you pod. #CoverBrand
November 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
"The reports of TV's death have been greatly exaggerated."

Plenty of evidence to refute this oft-said pablum.

And it's not so simple, either: is Cable "TV"? Is YouTube? Lots of people watch it on their home TVs, not just their phones.

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Subscribe at vist.ly/4etsd
November 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
What do you do when your client asks for a “viral digital series”?

This week on Cover Brand Covers "On Brand with Jimmy Fallon", Laura Dodds and I break down the KitchenAid episode.

vist.ly/4efyi
On Brand Ep. 7: No Cords Attached | Cover Brand
Listen to On Brand Ep. 7: No Cords Attached from Cover Brand. What do you do when your client wants a viral digital series—but actually just wants expensive commercials? This week, Ethan and Laura break down On Brand Episode 7, where KitchenAid challenges contestants to create a digital campaign for their new KitchenAid Go cordless appliances. The duo explores the brand science behind product positioning, the power (and peril) of iconic products, and why understanding your audience and occasion matters more than any brief.They dive into how brand storytelling can go wrong when clients confuse entertainment with advertising, how pressure stifles creativity, and what KitchenAid’s “No Cords Attached” challenge teaches marketers about staying grounded in audience truth.Main Topics Covered:The double-edged sword of iconic products like the KitchenAid stand mixerWhy “cordless” isn’t always the benefit you think it isThe difference between occasions and demographics when defining a marketHow to handle clients who ask for what they don’t actually wantThe danger of confusing brand storytelling with product placementWhy psychological safety beats panic for creative performanceThe art of winning over clients (without “pushing back”)When good ideas die because the client or culture isn’t readyWhat Jennifer Garner taught us about brand fluency and the value of a good spokespersonPremium Stickiness Award: “Unplugged and Unleashed.”It wasn’t the perfect pitch, but it nailed the insight: freedom is the fantasy. Even when your product’s power source changes, your story still has to plug into something human.Tune in for a lesson in brand briefs, client psychology, and the fine line between “digital series” and “expensive ads.” Subscribe to Cover Brand wherever you get your podcasts, and follow this special On Brand mini-series as Ethan and Laura decode the weird, wild world of reality TV marketing.Descript used to create drafts and then edited with human eyes, ears and hands. Produced by BiCurean.com#TeamBianca #TeamPyper
shows.acast.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
WHAT'S THE BEST "VALUE" IN INFLUENCERS?

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Get these thingies sent to your inbox so you don't miss a single one at AppliedBrandScience. com/SignUp
November 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Influencers are the local papers of the 21st century.

🔸 Tons of 'em.

🔸 Each have their own specific audience.

🔸 Mostly gotta work with 'em 1 by 1, tho there is increasingly consolidation.

🔸 And what they really get you is high-quality REACH.

November 12, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Ever try to explain your shiny new AI thing & watch eyes glaze over?
Yeah—same.

On Cover Brand, I talk with Joel Grabois of Blue Onion Media about Sweet Stack, a media brand that proves even tech needs syrupy simplicity.
AI’s a feature. Clarity’s the benefit.

Listen everywhere you pod. #CoverBrand
November 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Another friendly reminder that HOW YOU VISUALIZE DATA MATTERS.

Lots of headlines about how shocking it is that Virginia — which is soooo red — elected a blue governor from "just" the urban centers.

Well duh: that's where all the people are.
November 7, 2025 at 3:07 PM
What happens when your brand mascot hits retirement age?

This week on Cover Brand Covers On Brand, Laura and I talk Doughboy, nostalgia, and how to make brand characters feel human (without losing the frosting).

🎧 Cover Brand Covers On Brand
#CoverBrand #OnBrand #TeamPyper #TeamBianca
November 6, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Why do unpopular candies keep getting bought & handed out for Halloween?

I won't name names, but they're always the brands that ara left in the bowl, or uneaten, or taken in to the office.

One interesting reason people keep buying & handing out candy that few people want: the ABILENE PARADOX.
November 5, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Think your market’s too crowded?
Spoiler: it’s not.

In this week’s Cover Brand, I talk with Julianna Strickland of Space Camp Organizing about the myth of saturation, charging what you’re worth, and why math beats panic every time.

#CoverBrand #brandscience #branding
November 4, 2025 at 3:08 PM