Branding
The Grey Line
Friday, March 13, 2026
A fair game and a good outcome are not the same thing. But brands have been betting on the confusion.
Previously
Branding
Life, Liberty, and the Promise of the American Brand
Ken Burns and the White House both released landmark narratives this fall; together, they offer an unintentional lesson in how brand mythologies are made and unmade.
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Insights in Your Inbox
Subscribe to The Findings Report and never miss a story. You'll get essays on why we buy, believe, and belong delivered direct to your inbox, written for the rare breed who enjoys reading long things on the internet. No rigid schedule or daily flood. Insights reported when there's something to report.
Subscribe on Substack
Management
The Oracle of the C-Suite
Marketing has the answers. It just forgot how to speak in a language that matters.
Friday, November 28, 2025
Management
The Gospel of Product Management
We gave product management the strategic throne, and in doing so, pushed marketing—the discipline that understands customers—to the sidelines, with questionable and predictable consequences.
Friday, November 21, 2025
Larry Vincent/generated in Midjourney
Branding
Smile Policies and Other Ways to Trash a Brand
Target’s new smile policy tries to fix the brand from the outside in but real change starts with product culture and giving people a reason to smile.
Sunday, November 9, 2025
Larry Vincent/generated in Midjourney
Behavior
Flatter, Faster, Smarter: The New Shape of Work
Despite layoffs and AI anxiety, a smarter, leaner future of work is taking shape.
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Larry Vincent/generated with assistance of OpenAI’s DALL·E.
Behavior
The Market for Human Connection Is More Complicated Than We Think
We don't need better connection apps—we need the courage to leave our comfortable cocoons.
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Larry Vincent/Illustration generated with the assistance of OpenAI’s DALL·E.
Personal
The Edits Are Theirs. The Story Is Still Ours.
In a time when diversity is being sidelined and queerness increasingly policed, this is a call to own our stories and confront the rebranding of our rights.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Larry Vincent/Midjourney
Branding
Pride and Principle
Aligning a brand with a cause requires a lot more than rainbows and media buys.
Friday, June 23, 2023
Innovation
Positioning a Vision
Apple's introduction of Vision Pro provides a case study on the art of reframing expectations to cross the chasm.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Culture
The Reality of Writing
One month into the WGA strike and many are questioning the value of writers on a cultural landscape that has plenty of alternatives for consumer attention.