Applied Brand Science

Applied Brand Science We cut through brand bullsh*t with brand science. We show business leaders how to use brand science to build & grow thriving brands.

Think about the last time you watched a gorgeous, funny TV ad... and then completely forgot what it was selling.We’ve al...
05/28/2026

Think about the last time you watched a gorgeous, funny TV ad... and then completely forgot what it was selling.

We’ve all done it. As marketers, we sometimes treat our own brand name like a rude interruption. We whisper it at the very end, hoping people will just figure it out. But buyers aren't calculating machines—they're just busy humans conserving energy.

A fascinating study out of the Netherlands showed that subtlety doesn't build memory. To actually get people to remember your brand, you need to say it out loud and show it at the same time. Doing that just three times in an ad spiked brand recall by 56%.

It's a relief, honestly. You don't have to be endlessly clever. You just have to make it easy for people to remember you.

Your consumer journey makes sense on paper. Your buyers' brains just don't work that way.Neurologically, they're mental ...
05/27/2026

Your consumer journey makes sense on paper. Your buyers' brains just don't work that way.

Neurologically, they're mental misers — taking shortcuts, grabbing what comes to mind first, skipping most of your funnel entirely.

Worth knowing before you rebuild it again. Stay tuned for the Laws and Levers intro webinar, launching in June.

05/26/2026

Does your brand feels too tied to your name and you're not sure how to change that?

Carmell Clark brought this exact problem to Cover Brand this week. She's been coaching people for 25 years and she's ready for her institution to stand on its own. The thing she had to sit with is that her buyers need her name before they can trust the institution.

Walk before you try to skip ahead.

Full episode
🎧https://vist.ly/55gz2

Think about the grocery store loyalty cards in your own wallet or phone. Did you start shopping there because you got th...
05/21/2026

Think about the grocery store loyalty cards in your own wallet or phone. Did you start shopping there because you got the card, or did you get the card because it was already on your route home?

We love to assume our loyalty programs are changing buyer behavior. But the data shows we usually just have the causality backwards. People sign up for perks at places they already frequent.

Even then, your heaviest buyers are still spending over half their budget at your competitors. Loyalty programs can still make you money—they usually deliver a modest 4% bump—but they won’t cure a leaky brand. It’s a relief, honestly, to stop expecting a points system to do the heavy lifting of brand growth.

Tired of your own ad? Your prospects probably haven't seen it yet.99% of them haven't even seen the ad you're already do...
05/20/2026

Tired of your own ad? Your prospects probably haven't seen it yet.

99% of them haven't even seen the ad you're already done with. The wear-out is yours, not theirs.

Run it again.
Learn more at appliedbrandscience.com.

05/19/2026

I love a conversation that ends somewhere I didn't expect to go.

Chelsea Burns — brand ethicist, relational psychologist, The Marketing Psychologist — came back on Cover Brand this time for some Shop Talk. She has a four-step framework for building what she calls a belonging brand. Consent, reciprocity, trust, belonging. And her point is that most brands stop at trust and think they're done. Check the box, move on.

But trust isn't a destination. Every touchpoint is either building it or breaking it. You never get to coast.

We used Target, VW, Cialdini, a broken nose, and Triple Stuff Oreos to investigate and illustrate the concept.

Tune in to the whole episode and let us know what you think.

Have you ever noticed how much we argue over picking the "right" influencer? We usually assume we either need a micro-cr...
05/14/2026

Have you ever noticed how much we argue over picking the "right" influencer? We usually assume we either need a micro-creator who is super niche, or a massive celebrity if we have the budget.

But the data on how attention actually works tells a different story. An analysis of over 800 campaigns showed that engagement forms an inverted U-curve. The sweet spot for cost-effective engagement actually sits right around the 1-million follower mark.

We spend so much energy trying to hack the system at the extreme ends of the spectrum, but the most efficient lever is usually sitting right in the middle.

It makes you wonder how many other "best practices" we blindly follow that are just based on gut feelings instead of reality.

There are actual laws in marketing. Not the "10 rules of great branding" kind. The gravity kind.Your brand operates unde...
05/13/2026

There are actual laws in marketing. Not the "10 rules of great branding" kind. The gravity kind.

Your brand operates under them whether you know them or not. Might as well know them.

Not rocket science — brand science.

05/12/2026

Ever feel like your brand or community idea is real and meaningful — but somehow still not landing?

Might not be your message. Might be where you're standing on the ladder of abstraction.

"Connection," "resilience," "belonging" — those live at the top. Your buyer lives at the bottom, asking a much simpler question: *what do I actually do here?*

This week on Cover Brand I talk with Jamie Rich, who's building Out Here Together — a wisdom platform for gay men over 55 navigating the third act. We get into what makes a niche community brand actually stick, and why the most specific ideas are often the ones that travel the furthest.

Link in comments 👇

Remember the guy drinking cranberry juice on his skateboard singing Fleetwood Mac? We tend to think those cultural momen...
05/07/2026

Remember the guy drinking cranberry juice on his skateboard singing Fleetwood Mac? We tend to think those cultural moments go "viral" by being passed along from friend to friend in a giant chain reaction. We assume the content was just so contagious it couldn't be stopped.

But the data tells a much less romantic story.

When researchers analyzed over 600 million online shares, they found that massive hits don't spread like a virus. They just get picked up by a few giant accounts that broadcast them to millions of people at once.

There is no magical tipping point. If we stop banking on our content being miraculously contagious, we can start focusing on the actual levers of reach.

Address

Boulder, CO
80304

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Applied Brand Science posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Applied Brand Science:

Shortcuts

Share

Category