Cover Brand : Brand Personality
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Cover Brand : Brand Personality

This episode of Cover Brand features a deep dive into branding authenticity with guest Rajev Sivarasa. Together with host Ethan Decker, they unpack how small enterprises can maintain their unique brand essence during growth by leveraging brand behaviors and personality.

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How hard is it to buck demand curves?
Charts Ethan Decker Charts Ethan Decker

How hard is it to buck demand curves?

Like, can you have a high-priced product that’s also a high-volume product?

It’s one of the oldest truisms in business: if you raise your prices, demand (and thus volume) should go down. It’s the ‘Demand Curve’. Augustin Cournot described the relationship in 1838 (20 years before the invention of the oil well).

But now that we have zillabits of data, does it hold up? Why yes, it holds up remarkably well.

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Cover Brand : Show Don’t Tell
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Cover Brand : Show Don’t Tell

In this episode of Cover Brand, host Ethan Decker engages with Dan Smink to explore the often-overlooked world of branding in the manufacturing space. Discover actionable strategies to enhance brand recognition and make your business memorable, even in traditionally less brand-focused industries. From premium brand positioning to leveraging brand details that speak volumes, this episode has something for anyone looking to elevate their brand game.

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Cover Brand: Brand Body Language
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Cover Brand: Brand Body Language

In this episode of Cover Brand, host Ethan Decker is joined by sales expert Andy Wilson to talk about how to create sweet harmonies between sales and marketing. Learn the powerful concept of "brand body language", and how your brand's non-verbal cues communicate volumes to potential customers. Learn about the synergy needed between sales and marketing, the importance of aligning on brand messaging, and the power of “on-brand toilet paper”.

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Cover Brand : Brand Neighborhood
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Cover Brand : Brand Neighborhood

Host Ethan Decker chats with Sima Ali from the Ali Law Group and HRtelligence about foundational steps of launching a new brand. They cover the concept of the “brand neighborhood”, an exercise for establishing what position you want to occupy in the market, a key question for any and every business.

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Cover Brand : What is “Brand”?
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Cover Brand : What is “Brand”?

Host Ethan Decker chats with seasoned business leader Marc Wallace about What We Mean When We Say “Brand”. Understand the dual concepts of "Big B" and "Little b" branding, and discover how these elements work in harmony to shape a company's image, reputation, and business.

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Cover Brand : Brand Architecture
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Cover Brand : Brand Architecture

Host Ethan Decker sits down with certified professional photographer and business strategist, Peggy McCartha. They discuss this thing called ”brand architecture”, a way to think about managing multiple intersecting businesses under a cohesive roof. Whether you're an entrepreneur managing multiple ventures or a brand manager overseeing several brands, you’ll find valuable insights in this chat.

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Cover Brand : Opening Act
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Cover Brand : Opening Act

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Cover Brand, where host Ethan Decker unveils the fascinating world of branding, marketing, and advertising. In this podcast, you’ll learn the science of brand growth. Whether you’re part of a business, nonprofit, or any venture, you’ll learn practical, simple, and evidence-based tips and tools for growing your organization.

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What’s the “point of no return” for distribution losses?
Ethan Decker Ethan Decker

What’s the “point of no return” for distribution losses?

Like, how many points of distribution can a brand lose and still recover?

Michael Kruger & IRI crunched 6 years of scanner data to find out. It covered all food, drug & mass outlets (not Walmart) for 298 categories and 10,818 brands. They only looked at brands with >30% distribution in year 1.I mean, we’re all creatures of habit, right? And brand loyalty is what we’re all after, right?


Well, The Hartman Group asked 2,000 Americans where they bought their groceries in the past month. In particular, which channels they shopped. (Grocery, mass, dollar, club, natural, etc.)

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Is anyone 100% loyal to their grocery store?
Ethan Decker Ethan Decker

Is anyone 100% loyal to their grocery store?

I mean, we’re all creatures of habit, right? And brand loyalty is what we’re all after, right?


Well, The Hartman Group asked 2,000 Americans where they bought their groceries in the past month. In particular, which channels they shopped. (Grocery, mass, dollar, club, natural, etc.)

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How many brands can one person “love”?
Ethan Decker Ethan Decker

How many brands can one person “love”?

In marketing, we talk about “brand love” all the time — well, some people do. 

But what’s the State of Brand Love in America?

A couple years ago, Upland Localytics did a simple survey of 1,000 adults to find out. Turns out, there’s no time for love, Dr. Jones.

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When do you know you launched a bullseye vs a brick?
Ethan Decker Ethan Decker

When do you know you launched a bullseye vs a brick?

Nielsen crunched a whole lot of data to see the pattern — at least in terms of distribution — for CPG (consumer packaged goods).

They found that for the first 6 months, all launches grow distribution equally well. (% ACV is a measure of how many stores a product is sold in out of all the possible stores. Roughly-ish.) Good sell-in and retailer excitement helps most brands ramp up quickly.

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Do ads really ever “wear out”?
Ethan Decker Ethan Decker

Do ads really ever “wear out”?

Analytic Partners has just put a heaping mound of data on this question. They looked at the effectiveness of over 50,000 ads in 2020 to see if their impact was wearing out.


They found that 14 of them — FOURTEEN — showed signs of wearing out.


That’s 1 in 3600. That’s 0.03%. In other words, 99.97% of ads were going strong, doing fine, and didn’t need to be replaced.

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