The Game-Changing Role That Liberated Brands in 2023 and What’s Next for 2024

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Before I answer what’s next for 2024, I wanted to look at what happened in 2023.

I’ve broken this information into the following sections:

1. What branding trends worked (and what didn’t) in 2023?
2. A quick overview of some of the companies we partnered with to help them and their brands stand out in 2023 and beyond
3. A collection of the most powerful and useful videos we created in 2023
4. A look at what’s ahead in 2024

Let’s get started, shall we?

2023: The Year of AI

Of course, AI was on everyone’s radar.

AI appealed to everyone’s desire to get the most done with the least effort in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of money.

The only flaw with this was the same flaw that surfaced when the internet was born or any other technological breakthrough: everyone (talent or not, skill or not) jumped into this new pool of opportunity.

Some results showed considerable promise. Others started filling the pool with tons of participants who never learned to swim in the first place.

So rather than up our skill, this unfortunately led to (and fed to) our inclination to take short-cuts.

Without experience and judgement, a ton of mediocre content has gottten distributed and thrown into the wide world of content along with the truly smart material.

5 Branding Trends We Saw in 2023: Some Winners, Some Losers

In 2023, several breakthrough branding trends stood out for their cutting-edge and defiant approaches. These trends not only helped brands to distinguish themselves in a crowded market but also pushed the boundaries of traditional branding practices:

1. User-generated Content (UGC): Brands, in their effort to “feel real,” reached out to ordinary folks to add another layer of “authenticity.” Paradoxical, but in some cases, it worked great. In others, it confirmed how shallow and shortsighted some companies can be.
   
2. Self-effacing Branding: Think of this as the Ryan Reynold’s approach to branding. Ryan has this dialed in perfectly. Few others can match what he’s done building his brand empire.
   
3. Voice and Conversational Branding: With the rise of voice assistants and chatbots, brands have attempted to build unique voice tones and conversational styles, making their interactions more personalized and human-like.
   The mistake most make is “trying to scale humanity” rather than elevating the quality of those who are on the front lines of any brand.
   How many of us can recall the last time someone was really memorably great and authentically caring on the phone. Unfortunately it’s way too rare and, even worse, it’s too underestimated in how much of an impression in makes on us.
   
4. Metaverse Marketing: Let’s call it what it is: crap. It was DOA and is still in the morgue, and getting stiffer by the day.
   
5. Anti-Branding and Minimalist Marketing: In a defiant move against traditional marketing, some brands adopted an anti-branding approach, stripping back logos, minimizing advertising, and focusing on product quality and word-of-mouth.

These trends represent a bold departure from conventional branding, leveraging new technologies and societal shifts to create distinctive and memorable brand identities and experiences.

Leaving us all to determine which is which?

Companies We Partnered With: Accelerating Brand Performance

Here’s a quick look at some of the companies we partnered with to create killer brands that rose above the noise.

• The Self Renew health supplement line extension for Karli Center
• The Safe Dog Chew Company rebrand
• The Toronto-based SMARTHAIR rebranding and product branding
• Lifelong Access rebranding for this 68-year-old nonprofit
• Beyond Mastery branding for Grammy-winning cellist and music legend Eugene Friesen
• Xcitium rebrand for this cybersecurity company
• Let’s Roll rebranding for this motorcycle owner storage company
• Karli Center branding introducing “The Greatest Stride in Joint Self-renewal”
• Rebranding GRIT Partners, a boutique in private investment
• Life on the Rocks branding for a new lifestyle podcast
• Smart Hair package design 

My 5 Most Important Videos of 2023

If Netflix is leaving you high and dry, I have a better choice for some mind-blowing binge-watching.

Below are 5 videos that really helped define what was possible in 2023:

• How a chocolate rebrand boosted sales 300%
• How entrepreneurs are redefining freedom and innovation
• 10 Companies That Use “First Principle” Thinking to Drive Business Growth
• An in-depth look at a non-profit rebrand that raised nearly a quarter-of-a-million in 30 minutes
• The “Branding is Life” Video featuring Grant Cardone, Claude Silver, Daymond John and Oren Klaff.

7 Skills to Master in 2024

While many of us are looking at getting more done faster, the bigger focus is increasing skills and elevating quality, and not just looking at shortcuts.

Moving into 2024, I see seven of these skills we all must master.

1. Mastering Differentiation and commanding attention in crowded markets.
2. Elevating how to Forge Connections and create emotional bonds with your audience.
3. How to Cultivate Loyalty and nurture lasting customer relationships.
4. How to Drive Growth relentlessly, and attract new customers and revenue.
5. How to reinvent your identity and Revitalize Your Brand with purpose.
6. How to Command Undivided Attention, and captured your audience’s focus, and
7. How to Secure the Future, and ensure long-term brand resilience and vitality.

How do you master these? As a subscriber to this newsletter, you already have a head start.

Then you need to engage in only those activities that drive your voice to the top of the mountains with an unapologetic wavelength of being impossible to ignore, and entirely irresistible.

This is the ultimate list of skills to master.

Stay the course and don’t fall for the endless parades of shortcuts and always choose elevating your skill instead.