Now that an on demand version is available, I’ve officially signed up.

If you’re considering joining too, I also have a MAD//Masters discount code that will save you £200. Use the BBA200 discount code when you enrol.

But the discount is only part of the story. My main reason for joining is to challenge how I think and become a better brand builder.

I was immediately interested, but there was one practical issue holding me back.

The challenge of learning from Australia

The original MAD//Masters programme included live sessions, which were difficult to make work from Australia due to the time difference.

While the live element would have been valuable, committing to sessions at inconvenient hours was not particularly realistic. So, despite being interested in Rory Sutherland’s course, I held off.

That recently changed.

MAD//Masters has now introduced an on demand option at half the cost of the live programme. It does not include the live aspect, but it gives me the flexibility to work through the material in my own time.

For me, that was the perfect fit.

So, I’ve officially signed up.

Why I want to learn more about behavioural science

Behavioural science is relatively new territory for me, which is exactly why I want to study it.

Brand building is ultimately about people. It requires us to understand how people perceive value, make decisions, form preferences and choose one option over another.

Those decisions are rarely as rational as we like to believe.

As brand builders, we can easily become focused on strategy frameworks, positioning exercises, data and established processes. These tools are useful, but they can also lead us towards familiar answers.

Behavioural science offers another lens.

It can help us understand why people behave in ways that conventional logic does not always explain, and how perception, emotion, context and psychology shape the decisions they make.

I’m not taking the course because behavioural science is already my area of expertise. I’m taking it because it isn’t.

The point is to challenge my existing thinking, develop new ways to approach problems and become a better brand builder.

What is MAD//Masters by Rory Sutherland?

MAD//Masters is a Rory Sutherland course designed to help marketers, founders, agency leaders and other commercial professionals apply behavioural science, creative thinking and experimentation to real business problems.

Rather than encouraging students to simply repeat conventional marketing theory, the programme focuses on how to think, ask better questions and consider less obvious solutions.

The course explores areas such as:

• Understanding customer behaviour through a psychological lens
• Reframing problems and considering unconventional solutions
• Making better decisions using practical mental checklists
• Taking calculated creative risks
• Recognising the strengths and limitations of data
• Using creativity, experimentation and behavioural science together
• Challenging conventional marketing and business logic
• Finding more distinctive ways to compete

The MAD//Masters course also examines concepts such as choice architecture, heuristics, loss aversion, social proof, reverse benchmarking and the relationship between perception and reality.

What appeals to me most is the focus on asking better questions.

Instead of simply optimising what already exists, Rory encourages you to step back, challenge the assumptions behind the problem and consider whether there is a more interesting way forward.

That feels especially relevant to branding. As Rory explained in our conversation about problem framing and creative brand thinking, the strongest solution is not always the most obvious or rational one.

Learning at my own pace

The new on demand format means I can work through MAD//Masters at my own pace without battling the time difference between the UK and Australia.

It also makes Rory Sutherland’s course more accessible for anyone interested in behavioural science and creative problem solving who cannot commit to scheduled live sessions.

The on demand option gives me the flexibility to study when it suits me, revisit useful ideas and consider how I can apply them to branding, strategy and client work.

I’m particularly interested in exploring how behavioural science can improve the way we:

• Frame brand and business problems
• Understand customer motivations
• Communicate value
• Make strategic decisions
• Develop more distinctive ideas
• Challenge assumptions within a brief
• Create brands that connect with people emotionally

I’ll share more once I’ve worked through the course and had a chance to put the ideas into practice.

MAD//Masters Discount Code: Save £200 on Rory Sutherland’s Course

Looking for a MAD//Masters discount code? Use the BBA200 discount code to save £200 when you enrol in MAD//Masters by Rory Sutherland.

This Rory Sutherland course explores behavioural science, creative problem solving, marketing strategy and customer behaviour. It is designed for marketers, founders, agency professionals and business leaders who want to challenge conventional thinking and make better decisions.

As a MAD//Masters partner, I can offer you an additional £200 off with the MAD//Masters coupon code BBA200.

Explore MAD//Masters by Rory Sutherland and save £200 with code BBA200

Start with our Rory Sutherland podcast episode

If you want a taste of Rory’s thinking before considering the course, listen to our JUST Branding Podcast episode, Problem Framing: Rewire How You Think, Create and Lead.

In the episode, Rory explains how changing the way we define a problem can reveal creative opportunities that conventional thinking misses.

We discuss behavioural science, emotional decision making, creativity, brand strategy and why reframing a bad brief can produce much better answers.

I’m looking forward to getting started, exploring a field that is relatively new to me and bringing what I learn back into my work as a brand builder.

If you have already completed MAD//Masters, I’d love to hear what you thought.

MAD//Masters FAQs

Time to get started

I’m looking forward to exploring a field that is relatively new to me and bringing what I learn back into my work as a brand builder.

It is easy to keep refining the skills and frameworks we already know. Sometimes the better investment is to explore a new discipline that challenges how we think.

That is what I hope MAD//Masters will do.

If you have already completed the programme, I’d love to hear what you thought.

Choosing a font for a project isn’t always an easy task but this list of professional classic and elegant serif fonts will make the task a little easier.

When it comes to typography, the beauty is in how well it expresses your voice. Serif fonts have a lot to offer in terms of simplicity and elegance.

These fonts always add flair to your typography, really helping it stand out. If you’re working on a logo or branding project, be sure to check our post on the best serif fonts for logos.

But before you dive in, you may want to consider this incredible offer below.

Also see our features on the best regal fonts, and the best luxury fonts.

UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets

Download all the Elegant Serif Fonts you need and many other design elements, available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of over 50 million items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock photos too)!

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Classy Fonts for Classic & Elegant Designs

1. JUST Serif® – Modern Editorial Serif Font

JUST Serif® brings classic elegance into a contemporary setting. Its high contrast letterforms, sculpted terminals and warm humanist curves give logos, headlines and brand identities a refined presence without making them feel cold or overly formal.

The family includes seven weights from Extra Light to Extra Bold, plus a variable font for precise creative control. With more than 400 characters and support for 200+ languages, JUST Serif® is a versatile choice for luxury branding, packaging, editorial design, websites, posters and international visual identities.

It also pairs naturally with JUST Sans, allowing designers to combine expressive display typography with clear, practical supporting copy.

2 Giveny – Classy Serif Font

As if designed specifically for magazines and publication headlines, Giveny does a tremendous job of looking stunning in simplicity. This all-uppercase font bundle is arguably one of the fiercer-looking picks from the bunch but equally as classy and sophisticated.

3. Pierson An Essential Serif Typeface

A classy serif font never goes out of style, and Pierson is proof of that. Complete with a ton of styles and variations, you’re free to pick both thick and slender versions of the font.

Classy, pretty, legible, and light on the eyes—what’s not to like?

4. Gadhen – Classy Fonts

Anyone who says funky display fonts can’t be classy hasn’t seen Gadhen – Classy Fonts yet. Great for both small texts and large signages, this trendy headline font is as crisp and sophisticated as it gets.

5. TAN Aegean

TAN Aegean is an elegant typeface that makes clever use of swashes. Great for branding designs, marketing projects, and headlines, this classic favorite is a best seller for obvious reasons.

6. Megante – Classy Font

Megante‘s chic overall shape and its striking combination of thick and slender make it a standout. Suitable for branding and marketing efforts, this bundle comes with uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, basic punctuation marks, and  TTF, OTF,  and WOFF formats.

7. Holland Classy Font

Nothing says elegant the way a signature font does. So if this is the aesthetic you’re gunning for, try Holland Classy Font. Loaded with both uppercase and lowercase letters, this bundle also comes with basic punctuation marks, multi-lingual support, and numbers.

8. MABOZ Classy Advertisement Font

Designed specifically for eye-popping billboards and advertisements, MABOZ does a swell job of immediately capturing one’s attention. Mixing thick and slender and packing odd-shaped holes inside a few characters, this classy font bundle is a standout for reasons that don’t require elaboration.

9. Ahayo – Classy Elegant Font

Another expensive-looking sans serif on the list is Ahayo. Combining thick structures with slender lines, this pick feels straight out of a premium product’s logo. Featuring only uppercase letters, this bundle makes for a spectacular option for headlines and branding projects.

10. Bastine Modern Classy Serif Font

Bastine is a contemporary, sophisticated serif font that features a plethora of unique alternative glyphs and ligatures created using unique style, regular, and outline. Perfect for magazines, branding projects, advertising materials, and headlines, there are plenty of things you can create with this one.

11. Amoore – A Classy Handdrawn

Are hand-drawn fonts more of your thing? If so, you’re going to enjoy making designs with Amoore, a classy hand-drawn font. Loaded with all uppercase letters, punctuation marks, and numbers, this font bundle makes for a fantastic headline.

12. Valky

Valky is a classy modern typeface that features occasionally exaggerated swashes and a combination of thick and thin structures. Suitable for branding logos and other similar projects, this striking pick is one of the more visually memorable options here.

13. TAN – ALASTAIRE

Working on a book cover? You might want to use TAN – ALASTAIRE. Complete with both uppercase and lowercase letters, this display script is perfect for a variety of designs and illustrations.

14. Rutch Display Font

Rutch is a funky-looking display font that’s both trendy and elegant. Legible enough to be light on the eyes and distinct enough to stand out, this all-uppercase wavy contender is a visual feast for plenty of reasons.

15. Frankfute Classy Font

Frankfute is ideal for stunning titles and logos. Featuring numbers, symbols, and both uppercase and lowercase letters, this pick here is equally distinct from previous contenders. Here, all of the fonts, including web fonts, are included, as are OTF and TTF files.

16. Bon Vivant Family

Bon Vivant is a font duo that features script and serif fonts. Designed primarily for elegant branding efforts, this upscale-feeling font bundle is great for premium products and experiences.

17. The Chatalestick – Classy Font Duo

Another classy font duo you might like is The Chatalestick, a strong condensed sans serif and a classy script font. It’s perfect for a lot of design projects, too, although you’ll want to note only the script option has small letters.

18. Blessing – Classy Handlettered Font

If you’re looking for a hand-lettered font, then Blessing may be just that—a blessing. As if written with a marker, this pick feels authentic, warm, and familiar.

19. Eugusto Display Typeface

Another sans serif stunner in the bunch is Eugusto Display Typeface. Featuring 3 styles and over 350 glyphs, this bundle is beyond complete. If you’re looking for a fun mix of playful and elegant, this soft-edged font pack is a strong contender.

20. Rossanova

Does your project call for a cute and trendy but classy typeface? Then Rossanova might just be the solution for that. Featuring soft and rounded edges, this thick-structured font bundle is suitable for plenty of designs.

UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets

Download all the Classy Fonts you need and many other design elements, available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of over 50 million items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock effect & element packs too)!

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28+ Classic & Elegant Serif Fonts

Here is an overview of 12 of the best classic serif fonts but for more, scroll on. We feature classy serif fonts, luxury serif fonts, and premium serif fonts.

You’ll find fresh picks as well as tried and true old serif fonts. Now let’s dive in!

1. Nimbus Roman No 9

The Nimbus Roman No 9 is a classy and elegant font that can work well for more sophisticated projects. Created by URW Studio in 1987, it looks very similar to the Times New Roman font and generally carries the same overall tone. This is a true classic serif font.

2. ITC Garamond Light

Created by Tony Stan in 1975, ITC Garamond Light has ITC’s signature house style. Much like most serif fonts, it works for serious and elegant messaging. As the name conveys, Claude Garamond’s typography work inspired this font. 

3. Minion

Minion was created in 1990 by Adobe Systems inspired by the late-renaissance era. Designed by Robert Slimbach, it’s intended for body text, keeping legibility uppermost in mind. Minion is a balanced and clean font that can be great when used to convey more serious messaging.

4. URW Antiqua

URW Antiqua was designed by Hermann Zapf in 1985, alongside URW Grotesk — a sans serif font that goes well with it. The font by itself is great for conveying more elegant themes.

5. Times

The Times font is from the same font family as the more popular Times New Roman font. This font is great for conveying a serious and academic voice. There are several variations of this font available, but the Times font is in a class all its own.

6. Baskerville

Baskerville, a typeface created by John Baskerville in the 1750s, and characterized by its more circular strokes, is used often for marketing messaging. Popularized presently by Microsoft, this font, like most serif fonts, is sophisticated and bold.

7. Baskerville No. 2

Created by the URW Design Staff in 1980, the above typeface served as the inspiration for this font. Characterized by its thin, more circular, and sophisticated strokes, the Baskerville No. 2 is an iteration of the popular Baskerville font. This is a true luxury serif font. 

8. Mrs Eaves

Mrs Eaves is a font designed by Zuzana Licko in 1996. It’s a transitional serif typeface that is used in display contexts such as book descriptions and titles. This font can convey elegant and fanciful messaging and titles.

9. Cheltenham Old Style No 2

URW Type Foundry produced the Cheltenham Old Style No 2. For body copy in books and magazines, this typeface works beautifully. It is based on the Cheltenham font that architects Bertram Goodhue and Ingalls Kimball created in 1896 for the Cheltenham press. This font has a strong, memorable style.

10. Cushing Std-Book

The Cushing Std-Book typeface was created by Vincent Pacella and is trademarked by the International Typeface Corporation. This is yet another great typeface for presswork and body copy that keeps things interesting and elegant.

11. Aldine 721

Originally designed by the font designer Frank Hinman Pierpont, this font was later adapted for digital printing and use by Bitstream. Aldine 721 is great for legibility and sophisticated overtones.

12. Plantin Std

Named after the 16th Century printer Christophe Plantin, this typeface was the predecessor to the Times New Roman — and was the basis for this typeface. Plantain Std is a modern-day variation of this font. The font is great for magazine text and anything that requires substance and class. This is a true timeless serif font.

13. Sabon

Originally designed by German-born designer Jan Tschichold, this old-style serif font was later digitized by Linotype. Sabon is a slender and legible typeface that is great for book covers, poetry, quotes, and even posters. Like most serif fonts, it conveys an overall sophisticated feel.

14. Arno Pro

Arno Pro is a serif font created by Robert Slimbach from Adobe Type for professional use. Heavily inspired by Italian renaissance texts, this font is great for book design, even earning a winning entry in the 2007 Type Design Competition.

15. Palatino

This old-type serif font was created by Hermann Zapf in 1949 and later published by Linotype. Palatino was later licensed to Adobe and Apple, which made it a pre-installed font, increasing the popularity of this elegant typeface. This font family has 20 styles and family package options. This is a very formal serif font, and a top funeral font choice too.

16. Centaur MT Std

This serif typeface was created by Bruce Rogers and later released in 1929. Also known as Metropolitan, this font variation was digitized and licensed by Linotype. Inspired by renaissance printing in the 1470s, Centaur MT Std conveys a scholarly tone.

17. Bookman Light

This old-style serif font was inspired by Bookman Old Style that was created in the 1860s. It rose in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s for its legible and classy characteristics. Bookman Light can give an impression of reliability without the heaviness.

18. Perpetua Std

The Perpetua font was designed by Eric Gill in the 1920s. This font was published by Monotype and comes with 22 styles in this package. Perpetua has a delicate and crisp font structure and is very similar to 18th-century British fonts like Baskerville.

UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets

All the Fonts you need and many other design elements are available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of 50 million items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock photos too)!

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19. New Century Schoolbook Roman

New Century Schoolbook Roman was designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1919. The transitional serif typeface was created to improve textbook readability (from where it derives its name). Later published by Linotype, this font retains its sophisticated and informative aesthetic.

20. Berthold Baskerville Book Regular

Berthold Baskerville is a reinterpretation of the classic Baskerville typeface from Berthold Type Foundry in the 1800s along with several other font variations. Most of the Baskerville typeface’s original features are still present in this font. The typeface is bolder and has sharper lines, which is one of the most obvious differences.

21. Scala Pro-Regular

Created by Martin Majoor in 1991, this font is an old-type serif, published by the FontFont Foundry. This font has an emphasis on clarity and is also very calligraphic in italics. Generally, it conveys a clear and crisp overall tone.

22. Garamond Premier

This font was created by Robert Slimbach for Adobe and is described as a more restrained and modernized approach to the classic Garamond font. Garamond fonts were re-envisioned by Slimbach to meet the business requirements of the time. Garamond Premier has a sophisticated, minimalistic appearance.

23. Bembo

Created by Monotype, this font is based on one used by the Venetian printer, Aldus Manutius. Bembo is an old-type serif font that rose in popularity because of its overall sleek look and its ability to remain consistent in color. This font has an elegant and clean aesthetic.

24. Times New Roman MTStd

Times New Roman by Monotype was designed by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent. To date, this font is for many the golden standard for academic writing and the publishing of important information. The font is bold, legible, and leaves an official impression.

25. Caslon

Adobe Caslon was created by Carol Twombly and William Caslon for Adobe. This font was inspired by the Caslon font, designed by William Caslon in the 1600s. This old-type serif font looks sophisticated and has an overall clean look.

26. Bodoni

The Bodoni typeface is based on similar ones created in the 1800s by Giambattista Bodoni. Many of Bodoni’s fonts draw inspiration from the same design movement as Robert Baskerville. As a result, there is a slight similarity to the Baskerville typeface. The font’s exquisite appearance is enhanced by using alternate thin and broad strokes.

27. Goudy 38

Goudy 38 is a typeface by Red Rooster Collection based on Goudy Old Style. Goudy Old Style was particularly famous in advertising circles for its overall boldness and eligibility. The Goudy 38 retains this quality and adds a slightly whimsical touch to it.

28. Goudy Trajan Pro

Goudy Trajan Pro is “Fonts favored by Hollywood movies” by Frederic W. Goudy and Jason Castle. This font comes in three different styles and is similar to the Gowdy 38. If you want to give your project something different and unique, then go for this serif font.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Typography & Font Resources:

• Best Timeless Fonts
• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time
• FREE 27 Page Type Classification eBook
• Designer’s Favourite Fonts & Why

Classy, Classic & Elegant Professional Fonts Summary

A classic serif font is perfect for creating any project or document where you can expect readers will read it because it accentuates the ends of strokes. Serifs are not merely decorative, though, they add a touch of class and elegance to the design.

Have you got a favorite classic serif typeface or classy font was missed in this list? Let us know in the comments below.

For many designers, when it comes to designing a clean and elegant logo for a company, using a Serif font in their designs helps to add a little bit of flair, class & sophistication to the brand.

A serif font is easily identified by the “little feet” that appear at the ends of the letters being used. Searching for Serif fonts can lead you down the proverbial rabbit hole with all of the options there are to choose from.

To offer a bit of help, we wanted to focus on ten of our favorite Serif fonts you can use when branding or designing a logo with a clean and sophisticated look.

Now, you may have your own favorite Serif font and it may or may not appear on our list, but we recommend taking a closer look at the options presented here, some of which are revivals of the classics, ensuring your logo has a unique character to it.

Who knows, you may find a new font that you end up using for years to come.

See here for the best sans-serif fonts for clean & minimal logo design as well as the top fonts professionals use.

Also see Best Modern Serif Fonts and Best Round Serif Fonts

UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 50 Million+ Fonts & Design Assets

Download all the Serif Fonts you need and many other design elements, available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs $16.50 per month and gives you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of over 50 million items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock photos too)!

DOWNLOAD NOW

20+ Best Serif Fonts for Modern, Stylish & Beautiful Designs

Below we list the most beautiful serif fonts and aesthetic serif fonts so you can the best serif font for your needs!

We feature modern serif fonts, bold serif fonts, and popular serif fonts so you have a wide range to choose from.

1. JUST Serif®

JUST Serif® is a contemporary high contrast serif typeface that combines editorial elegance with warmth and distinctive character. Its sculpted terminals, friendly curves and confident capitals make it especially effective for clean logos, luxury branding and memorable visual identities.

The family includes seven weights from Extra Light to Extra Bold, along with a variable font for greater control. With 400+ characters and support for 200+ languages, JUST Serif® is equally suited to packaging, posters, websites, magazines and international brand systems.

Designed as a companion to JUST Sans, it can be paired with a clean sans serif for supporting copy while JUST Serif handles expressive headlines, wordmarks and display typography.

2. Hermann

Designed in 2018 by Diego Aravena and Salvador Rodriguez, the Hermann font family is one of the design teams’ most readable fonts available so far. Looking at the works of Herman Hesse and Aldous Huxley for inspiration, the team found the concepts of duality, surrealism, and wildness frequently appeared, fueling the design process.

Designed to not only be an accurate font when it comes to legibility but can also present a feeling of being wild and bold. Available in ten different variations including italic and bold, the Hermann font is inspired by the novels of the 20th century and their worlds, taking its name from one of the most prolific authors of that era.

3. Recoleta

Like a melting pot, Recoleta combines many different aspects from fonts of the past to create something new, fresh, and with a modern flavor. By taking the soft and gentle shapes found in the Cooper font and the fluid angled strokes in Windsor, designer Jorge Cisterna has blended together a beautiful and familiar font that looks amazing in a logo or on a business card, giving them a look that’s unique

Available in a variety of weights, this font gives you the options you need to choose the best typographic color for whatever project you’re working on. While body text works well with a lighter weight, if you’re writing headlines, heavier weights are ideal.

The Recoleta font can make any design stand out like in the Waves to Wilderness logo.

4. Blacker

A wedge serif type font, Blacker was designed to be a take on the “evil serif” typeface genre. The high contrast, sharp wedge serif design was created by Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini and Andrea Tartarelli who were looking to evoke the proportions of fonts used in the 1970s.

Using the Latin alphabet, Blacker features an extended character set that covers more than seventy languages, including Russian Cyrillic. Small caps, fractions, alternate forms, four sets of figures, as well as superior and inferior figures, and discretionary ligatures are all features of the Blacker font family.

5. ITC Lubalin Graph

While it is technically a slab-serif font, the ITC Lubalin Graph font helps convey a no-nonsense look, that while strong, can be perfect for a modern design, especially with lighter weights.

ITC Lubalin Graph is a 1974 design that is based on an earlier sans serif font that was designed by Herb Lubalin, ITC Avant Garde. The character shapes may be identical between the two designs although Lubalin Graph adds a slab serif feature.

Designed to look good in applications from headlines to packaging, this is an extremely versatile font family.

6. Linotype Didot

Designed by Adrian Frutiger, the Linotype Didot font pays respect and tribute to one of the most important print shops and font foundries in France during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Didot family were active designers as well as printers, typeface designers, inventors, intellectuals as well as publishers during this era.

Frutiger’s Linotype Didot design is a sensitive interpretation of the French Modern Face Didot font and gives any text you use, a classic and elegant feel and at the same time paying respect to the original Didot family.

A truly stylish serif font, perfect for logo design, branding and fashion.

7. Begum

A Latin display serif typeface with contrast, the Begum font family has an ultra-contemporary appearance and shares DNA with other Anglo-Dutch font types such as Caslon, Fleischmann, or Times, with a slightly exotic feel.

Designed by Manushi Parikh, the Begum font truly shines when used with texts of a shorter length, article introductions that are multiple lines, and even on packaging.

8. ITC Caslon No. 224

Designed in 1983 for the International Typeface Corporation by Ed Benguiat, ITC Caslon 224 was designed to be a modern-day interpretation of the Caslon typeface.

With eight font weights ranging from Standard to Standard Black Italic, ITC Caslon 224 has a large x-height, a very high contrast between thin and thick strokes, and also provides transitions between the different weights smoothly.

9. Sabon

In the 1960s, a new typeface was requested by the German Master Printers’ Association to be designed and produced identically on both Linotype and Monotype machines in order for both the text and technical composition would match. Jan Tschichold was commissioned to use Claude Garamond’s classical and serene Roman font and design a new version.

Sabon succeeds although its bold and italic styles are limited by Linotype casting machine requirements. This forces the character widths to match between different styles and also gives the italic typeface its characteristic narrow f.

10. Bookmania

With 10 styles, 658 swashes, and a multitude of expert features, Bookmania is a font that any logo design can benefit from.

Designed by Mark Simonson in 2011, the Bookmania font type has all of the features that you may expect to appear when using a modern digital font family. As a revival of the Bookman Oldstyle, designed in 1901, and the Bookman font family from the 1960s, the Bookmania font family has the features that you need to make your logo design excel.

11. Gabriela Stencil

Designed by Antonio Mejia in 2016, Gabriela Stencil has a unique character while being part of a classic font family. Well-suited for headlines & fancy logos, the font emphasizes the modern and elegant personality that the font features and has been inspired by the style found with the Didone typefaces from the 19th century.

Also ideal for branding, short text, and publishing projects, Gabriela Stencil is a highly readable font with an x-height sized at 50% of the cap height, along with short ascenders and descenders. Available in six styles, the font family contains a 433-character set that supports over 200 different languages.

UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS: 400,000+ Fonts & Design Assets

All the Serif Fonts you need and many other design elements are available for a monthly subscription by subscribing to Envato Elements. The subscription costs ~$16.50 per month and give you unlimited access to a massive and growing library of 400,000+ items that can be downloaded as often as you need (stock photos too)!

DOWNLOAD NOW

 

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12. Bridesmaid

Bridesmaid font is a new product and is also named Britain Rough Serif Font. This font is suitable for fun-themed, and classic vintage-themed projects. This font is also suitable for posters, apparel, badge, labels, and emblems. 

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13. Montage Serif Font 

The Montage Serif font works best with Cricut, Silhouette, Photoshops, Illustrator, Procreate, InDesign, and Canva Pro. This font looks subtle and elegant, so it works for clean and classy logos, titles, and headlines. 

14. Sundays Modern Serif Font

The Sundays Modern Serif Font draws inspiration from fonts like Baskerville. This font has a modern and classic touch that you can use for magazines, catalogs, mastheads, logos, and headers. This font features subtle curves and minimal serifs, which gives the font an elegant look. 

15. Hughe Serif Font Family

The Hughe Serif Font is a classy-looking font. This serif font is ideal for logos, posters, brochures, presentations, quotes, invitations, movie titles, magazines, book covers, branding, Halloween, Christmas, and Thanksgiving cards, packaging design, and many more creative projects.

This font features four styles such as regular, light, round, soft, and bold. This serif font contains uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters. The Hughe Serif font family has OTF and TTF file formats. This serif font also supports multilingual characters.

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16. Floreal Serif Font

Floreal is a sophisticated, modern, and fancy serif font with a hint of fashion. For websites, magazines, business cards, logos, tags, or any other broadcasting objectives, floral produces the greatest results.

Regular and true italic are the two fonts available in floral. It has elements like ligatures that help elevate and distinguish your project. This typeface has strong typographic legibility and has a good range for those with dyslexia.

17. Ferly Serif Font

Ferly is a magnificent, delicate font with multilingual support. A very adaptable font, Ferly produces the best results in both large and small sizes. The ideal applications for this font include magazine headings, advertising campaigns, home décor designs, product packaging, and adding attractive text to any backdrop image.

Ferly offers the finest results for promoting expensive and ostentatious goods like jewelry, diamonds, etc. The uppercase, punctuation, symbol, and number features of Ferly are available.

Our Favorite Serif Fonts

Still undecided? Below we’ve hand-selected our favorite 12 serif fonts from the list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Best Serif Fonts for Clean & Modern Logo Design Summary

Using a clean and stylish serif font in your logo design not only makes it sophisticated but can also add a bit of exciting flair to your design.

There are so many different, well-designed serif fonts that are available for any graphic designer to use.

We hope that our list of the ‘best professional serif fonts for logo design’ can provide you with some options you might not have considered before and inspires you.

More Top Font Compilations

• Best Minimal Fonts
• 15 Stunning Font Combinations
• 20 Best Modern Fonts
• 10 Most Iconic Fonts
• The Top 100 Best Fonts Of All Time

Do you have a favorite serif font that you use in your logo designs?

Let us know in the comments below.

Infographic: What your Logo’s Font Says About Your Brand

Thanks to Brand Marketing Blog for the below infographic.

Don’t forget to save the blog for later, pin the image below!

Our Top Pick

Looka Logo Maker

4.7

FREE

Our top pick goes to Looka as it's a powerful free logo maker (and brand builder) with a fun and user-friendly design. All it took for us to create a logo was a few clicks and five minutes! We customized a logo we loved and then Looka built out the rest of the brand! A truly seamless brand-building process we can't recommend more highly!

Pros:

• Incredibly easy to use
• Offers more than just logos

Cons:

• Full Brand-Kit offering is a paid add-on.

Coupon: Get 10% off Brand-Kit with coupon code ‘JUST10’.

Try Looka Today Read Our Review

The more memorable your logo, the better it will be at striking a chord with your customers and keeping your brand fresh in their minds.

But designing a logo or getting it designed by a professional artist can be costly (see our guide to logo design costs here) so perhaps that is why you are looking for the free and best logo makers online.

If you are on a tight budget or run a small website/business, then investing money in your brand logo might not fit into your initial plans. But don’t forget that your brand’s visual identity is important as well.

So what to do?

Well, the internet is full of surprises. You can do some searching, and find the right links, just like this one. There are loads of online logo design software for creating logos with no design/coding knowledge.

To help, we have personally reviewed the best free logo makers and generators that will help you design an engaging logo that sends the right message about your brand.

Without downloading/installing, or learning graphic design, let’s get right into the top free logo-making online tools.

But before you choose a free logo maker tool, make sure you read our warnings below if you are serious about your brand and its impact.

As designers ourselves, we don’t recommend free logo makers but instead, recommend hiring a professional because a well-designed brand is going to yield much better results than stock logos could ever do.

Also, see our blog on the dos and don’ts of logo design.

If you know the basics of graphic designing and want to make the logo from scratch on your own you can have a look at the list of graphic design software you can use.

As professional logo designers ourselves, we use the industry standard Adobe Illustrator to design our logos.

Contact us for a custom logo design.

Boost Your Brand!

Get Your Own Custom Logo Design + Brand!

5.0

Stand out from the crowd with a unique custom logo design that captures your brand's essence. Boost your business's identity today! View our services or schedule a call.

Pros:

• Free Brand Clarity Call

View Portfolio Book Free Brand Clarity Call

Learn Logo Design Online (Logo Design Course)

LogoCore Masterclass (includes 10% discount + 65% off Adobe Creative Cloud)

Price: $72-$320 | Course Duration: 15-20 hours

The LogoCore Masterclass is the most in-depth & best logo maker course available online, perfect for beginners and intermediate designers looking to learn logo design.

You will learn to master Adobe Illustrator (our #1 logo design software choice), learn grid structures, how to vectorize a logo, how to present design work, create a style guide, build a creative brief, get valuable feedback, animate logos and so much more. They also have a mentorship program.

Get an exclusive 10% discount with coupon code ‘JUST10’. Simply enter the coupon at checkout.

The best part? You get 65% off Adobe Creative Cloud as you qualify as a student.

14+ Best Free Logo Makers Online

1. Looka — A highly rated choice great for beginners / non-designers (Editor’s Choice)

The best free logo maker overall 

Looka is a solid free logo maker choice that comes with a fun and user-friendly design.

This logo design program saves your logo designs as JPEG and PNG files, as well as vector file options like SVG and EPS, making it convenient for scalability.

Looka guides you through the logo design process. You can add certain elements that you want to associate with your brand and include them through icons and symbols. Other than this, you can pick the overall feel you’re going for and also the color scheme you’d prefer.

After designing your logo, you can use it on social media templates, color variations, and even post-purchase updates to the overall look.

Looka also offers a ‘Brand Kit Subscription‘ add-on that includes everything you need to start your business, beyond just the logo.

This means you can use Looka, one of the best logo makers for Social Media Posts, Business Cards, Email Signatures, Letterheads, Invoices, Brand Guidelines, and more. This is a paid add-on that goes for $96/year billed annually or $196/year if you want an AI-generated website too.

You can get 10% off your first year with code ‘JUSTCREATIVE10’ and read our Looka Logo Maker review.

2. Tailor Brands (Editor’s Choice)

The best all-in-one logo maker and business launcher

Tailor Brands makes setting up your small business easy and its AI-powered logo maker is a game-changer! It’s easy to use, incredibly smart, and quite spot-on with its designs!

Granted that there is no replacing custom-designed logos, we think the platform does a decent job of getting your brand off the ground.

We did find the font options to be quite limiting and the algorithm does much of the legwork for you (which means you won’t have all that much control over your logo’s final look). Whether that’s a good or bad thing is entirely up to you!

What’s more, if you decide to put out merchandise, social media art cards, or maybe even business cards, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by your array of choices.

If you’re looking to start a business and want to get started right away without complex branding strategies, Tailor Brands is a great choice.

3. Adobe Express Logo Maker

The best free logo maker overall

Adobe Creative Cloud Express logo maker is a great free tool for creating unique logos for your brand and business. It comes with a wide range of customization options like fonts, colors, and texts to creatively alter designs.

You can find 100+ icons and four styles to get started with. There is also a spinning wheel to choose the style and placement with ease. The great part about the free logo maker is that you don’t have to start from scratch.

You can set your preferences like colors, aesthetics, or industry to get a handful of pre-created templates. Just like other Adobe products, you will love the simplicity of this delightful free logo maker.

You can even great other branded elements such as social graphics, website graphics, and more right within Adobe Spark.

The best part is that you get Adobe CC Express free forever! The premium offering is $9.99/month and includes a free 30-day trial. See the differences between the plans here.

If you decide to purchase a subscription to the larger Adobe CC Suite of products, make sure you see our Adobe discount guide to save up to 65% and also our guide on how to use Adobe Express.

4. Canva Free Logo Maker

The best logo maker to create awesome logos

Canva is an all-around online logo design tool and one with which you’re probably familiar. Apart from creating your social media posts and landing page images, you can create super awesome logos using Canva.

With a drag-and-drop interface, users with absolutely no design experience can create beautiful logos in no time. Equipped with 100+ templates, you can get started with this online logo maker by answering a few questions about your brand.

Based on your company’s name and responses, you will see a variety of logos from which to choose. Just a couple of tweaks and you can change the feel, color, and font. The best part? You can download the high-resolution logo without paying an extra charge.

The best part about this tool is that you can trial Canva Pro free for 30 days. See our feature of the best Canva templates and the best Canva Instagram templates.

5. Logo Diffusion

The best generative AI logo maker

Logo Diffusion differs from most logo makers on this list because it generates new concepts from text prompts, sketches, or reference images rather than assembling layouts from a fixed library of icons and templates. Its proprietary AI model is trained specifically for logo design, with more than 45 visual styles available for exploring different directions.

The platform also includes tools for creating variations, transferring styles, removing backgrounds, generating mockups, and refining designs inside its editor. Paid users can export transparent PNG files and layered SVGs with editable vector paths, allowing designers to continue working in Illustrator, Figma, or Affinity Designer.

Logo Diffusion is best treated as a concept exploration and production tool, not a replacement for brand strategy or professional design judgment. AI generated logos can still raise questions around originality, copyright, and trademark availability, so important marks should be refined by a designer and legally cleared before use.

You can try the generator free, although the free plan has limited credits and export restrictions. Paid plans start at $24 per month and include commercial usage rights, private generations, downloads, and vector export.

Pros:

• Generates concepts instead of relying solely on shared templates
• Accepts text, image, and sketch inputs
• Exports editable SVG and transparent PNG files on paid plans
• Includes vectorizing, editing, mockup, and upscaling tools

Cons:

• The free plan is mainly suitable for testing the generator
• AI output still requires careful selection and refinement
• Copyright and trademark clearance are not guaranteed

6. LogoMakr

The best logo maker to create commercial logos

When you visit LogoMakr’s website, you might find a useful video that details how to utilize the free tool in its entirety. Drag and drop is also used on their user interface.

Compared to the tools above, this best free logo maker app online is a logo builder that is somewhat less customizable but is still quite simple to use. They do charge for the high-quality file, however, the low-resolution option is free to download.

7. Shopify Free Logo Maker (Hatchful)

The best logo maker for eCommerce business

Shopify’s Hatchful is an easy-to-use, best free logo maker app, the perfect choice for eCommerce businesses to create an intuitive logo for their online store. Simply by typing your brand’s name, and choosing the icons, colors, and fonts that you like, you will find a wide range of unique logo combinations.

As it is a DIY logo maker, you can easily customize the theme, feel, and color of the logo to complement your brand message. The best thing about this tool is that once you export the logo, you can receive it in your email inbox in different aspect ratios and sizes. It will be ready to use on your website, social media, business cards, etc.

8. MarkMaker

Despite being a prototype, this program is excellent. You begin by entering the name of your company. Then, MarkMaker produces a vast array of logo choices.

You can select the category your company falls under and “heart” the types of logos you like. Because our free logo design program progressively learns which options you prefer, be sure to “love” as many potential logos as you can.

When you find a design you like, you can edit it by clicking the pencil symbol while your mouse is over the picture. You can download it when you’re finished.

Get an exclusive 10% discount with coupon code ‘JUSTCREATIVE10′. Simply enter the coupon at checkout.

Also, see our blogs on the best logo design principles, and logo design tips.

9. Squarespace Free Logo Generator

The best instant logo generator

Squarespace Logo Generator is a unique tool that helps you visualize your new logo on your website, business card, t-shirt, and more. It is not as robust as other tools on the list, but it will get the job done.

By selecting the type of symbols, icons, and colors you want, Squarespace will generate beautiful results in seconds. Once you decide on your logo, you can see it live and in action. And if it meets with your approval, it is all yours to download and use.

10. NameCheap Logo Design Tool

The best logo design tool for entrepreneurs

NameCheap Logo Design Tool focuses on entrepreneurs and has amazing features when it comes to designing super awesome logos. You can easily find the right colors, fonts, and icons for your logo by seeing them live on real applications.

By literally narrowing down your choice from hundreds to tens, you can see delightful mockups to imagine the logo in real life. Once you complete your logo design, you can download the vector file to use it as you like.

11. Ucraft Logo Maker

The best logo maker with a vector editor

Bored with all the above tools? Nothing appealing about the logo templates and AI-powered designs you’ve seen? Ucraft is here to help create your unique logo from scratch. It is an easy-to-use vector editor that will give you lots of options and flexibility with icons, text, color, and shapes to design your perfect logo.

The best part is that Ucraft comes with over 220,000 icons, so it’s bound to be the perfect choice for you. Once you complete your design, you can export the high-resolution PNG image file for free. This makes Ucraft a perfect free logo maker to create the logo of your choice.

12. Zyro Free Logo Maker

The best logo maker to create simple designs

Zyro is the very definition of simplicity and one of the easiest tools to use on the list. This intelligent logo builder helps you convert your creative ideas into a logo design. All you need to do is select a starter logo and decide on the color and shape.

You will receive a wide variety of logo ideas that you can easily tweak and customize to create your dream logo. And it is free! Within minutes, you can create and download your logo without the help of a professional graphic designer.

13. Fiverr Online Free Logo Maker

The best logo maker with a professional touch

Fiverr’s logo maker gives your brand’s logo a professional touch. With Fiverr, it is super easy to design an enticing logo for your business. Simply enter your brand’s name and select your preferred style. By adjusting the colors, icons, design, and typeface, you can get some great ideas and fantastic options for designing a logo that increases brand awareness.

You can choose the paid option to have your logo reviewed and polished by one of their designers, elevating your creative product.

14. DesignEvo Free Logo Maker

The best logo maker to create stunning designs

DesignEvo is one of the most popular logo makers that offers 10,000+ templates for creating a stunning logo for your brand. By simply hovering the mouse over any template, you can smoothly customize the background, text, color, icon, shape, etc., to match the logo with your brand’s theme.

The best part is that you can preview the logo on your website and marketing materials like business cards, t-shirts, etc. With any time, anywhere cloud access, you can tweak and make changes to the logo on the go from any device.

*Warning* Paid or Free Logo Makers Might Mess Up Your Brand 

Logo makers are very tempting. To design a beautiful, low-cost logo (if not for free), seems like a deal you can’t pass up. But should you really use a free online logo maker? After all, your logo is going to represent your brand and you want it to be memorable for your customers.

So, let’s check out what you will want to consider before making your decision to go with a free online logo maker.

#1 – Lacking Uniqueness

You are not the only one visiting the online logo design tools. The tool is available to everyone across the globe and there are hundreds or thousands of people accessing the same logo templates. So, surely other businesses could create the same or similar logo as yours. That makes your brand’s visual expression open to a loss of originality and punch.

#2 – Less Creative Expression

The online templates might get the job done quickly for you, but they can leave little room for creativity. You won’t have much control over the fonts, shapes, color combinations, and other design elements. When you use free logo design software, your logo can lack a creative touch and flair.

#3 – No Access to Copyright

With most free logo maker sites, you won’t receive a proper trademark or a copyright license for your logo. Without information on the legal use of your logo, you could have copyright issues in the future.

#4 – Hidden Charges

On many of the so-called “free logo maker” sites, you will invest your time in designing an engaging logo for your brand. In the end, when you go to download your logo, there could be a charge for the download of your high-resolution logo file. So, be sure to factor in that you may still pay for what will be a more generic logo.

#5 – Limited Customization & Resources

You will not have complete freedom to customize your graphics and logo. Customizing and using your own images or design on the logo is important for business identity. In using these limited customizations, other businesses might duplicate your logo, without you even in a position to claim infringement.

That all being said, what will be your best option? You can hire a professional logo designer at a reasonable price to create a unique logo. There won’t be any copyright issues and you will have a full claim. See here for our guide on how to choose a logo designer.

Moreover, you can explain your requirements, and your desired color combinations, to an actual professional human designer with a logo design process. This opens more doors for creativity to create that awesome, unique logo that speaks volumes about your brand.

Benefits of Using a Free Online Logo Maker

Although using an online logo maker has a number of drawbacks it does also include a number of benefits, including:

#1 Time-saving

You can create your logo in just a few minutes, without having to spend hours learning to design.

#2 Cost-effective

Online logo makers are often much more affordable than hiring a professional designer, although the latter is recommended for serious business owners.

#3 Customizable

You have complete control over the design of your logo, allowing you to create a unique and eye-catching design that perfectly represents your brand.

#4 Accessible

You can access online logo makers from anywhere with an internet connection, making it easy to create your logo whenever and wherever you need to.

Key Features of Online Logo Maker Apps

Online logo makers are designed to make logo creation quick, easy, and affordable. Here are some of the key features you can expect from a professional logo maker.

#1 User-friendly interface

Most online logo makers have a simple, intuitive interface that makes it easy to create your logo, even if you have no design experience.

#2 Templates

Many online logo makers provide a range of templates to choose from, so you can find one that fits your brand perfectly.

#3 Customization options

From font choices to color palettes, you can customize your logo to reflect your brand personality and values.

#4 Affordable prices

Online logo makers are often much more affordable than hiring a professional designer, making them a great option for small businesses and startups.

Best Free Logo Makers Conclusion

Before you use a free logo maker online, think about hiring a professional.

Although a free online logo maker can mess up your logo, it can be a useful tool if you are on a budget. Just make sure you are fully aware of what makes a successful logo.

For best results, keep five things in mind: Simple, Memorable, Timeless, Versatile & Appropriate.

To summarise these are our top three choices for the best free logo maker online:

1. Looka Logo Maker — Great for beginners / non-designers
2. Adobe Creative Cloud Express Logo Maker — One of the best free logo makers overall
3. Canva Logo Generator — The best logo generator for customizable logos + brand templates

If you’re looking for a custom logo design, contact us or check out our logo portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Logo Resources

• Best Logo Design Courses
• Best Logos of Popular Brands
• How to Present Your Logo Designs to Clients
• How To Easily Make AI-Generated Art
• The Logo Design Process of Top Designers [Infographic]
• Logo Design Grid Systems Deconstructed [Video Class]
• Color Psychology in Logo Design
• Best Photoshop Logo Templates
• Best Logo Design Software
• Best Logo Design Kits & Branding Templates (Free & Premium)
• Adobe Express VS. Canva
• Download Adobe Spark Free (Now Adobe Express)
• Best Adobe Creative Cloud Express Templates in 2024
• Logo Design Trends
• 101+ Best Fonts for Logos
• How To Design A Logo

Brand Builders Alliance

Members gain access to expert masterclasses, live coaching, practical resources, structured learning pathways and a global community of brand builders who share advice, feedback and opportunities. Its central belief is simple: no one builds alone.

Each year, BBA awards a full scholarship to a brand builder who demonstrates ambition, commitment and the potential to make meaningful progress with the right support.

This Brand Builders Alliance case study follows last year’s scholarship recipient, Hailey Fackrell, founder of Greater Heights Marketing. When Hailey applied, she was struggling with confidence, inconsistent leads, unclear offers and uncertainty around what to charge.

Over the following year, Hailey simplified her services, repositioned her business and doubled the value of her combined branding and website projects from approximately $6,000 to $12,000. She is now working with fewer clients while moving toward her highest revenue year yet.

In the case study below, Hailey shares where she started, what changed inside BBA and how greater clarity and confidence helped her build a more focused and valuable business.

Hear Hailey’s Brand Builders Alliance Testimonial

In this audio interview, Hailey shares where Greater Heights Marketing was before she joined BBA, the challenges she faced around confidence, pricing and focus, and what changed during her year inside the community.

Audio interview coming shortly (currently being edited).

Results at a glance

• 2X increase in the value of combined branding and website engagements
• Increased standalone website pricing by approximately 1.3X
• Simplified multiple packages into clearer core offers
• Worked with fewer clients while moving toward her highest revenue year
• Built the confidence to charge based on the value of her work

Meet Hailey Fackrell

Hailey Fackrell is the founder of Greater Heights Marketing, a branding, web design and systems studio based in Boise, Idaho.

She started the business after graduating from Boise State University, driven by a clear personal goal: to build meaningful work while having the flexibility to stay home with her son.

Hailey had taught herself many of the creative and technical skills needed to serve her clients. She had built a functioning business, but after several years, she knew something needed to change.

The challenge

When Hailey applied for the Brand Builders Alliance scholarship, she was struggling with confidence, inconsistent leads and uncertainty around her pricing.

Her services had become spread across multiple packages. She was considering courses, digital products, community building and several other possible directions, but lacked clarity about where to focus.

She also wanted access to other experienced creatives who understood both sides of the work: delivering strong branding and building a sustainable business.

“I wanted a space where I could ask other creatives how they do it. I needed help with both the business side and the design side.”

Hailey did not need more disconnected information. She needed direction, feedback and people who could help her apply what she was learning.

Why she joined BBA

Hailey first encountered BBA through the Brand Builders Summit, which she described as the best summit she had attended.

The depth of the sessions stood out, but so did the participation and sense of connection. It gave her a glimpse of what an active community of ambitious brand builders could offer beyond a conventional course.

When the BBA scholarship opportunity opened, she applied.

Her ambition, openness and commitment to building a better business stood out among dozens of applicants, and she was selected as the scholarship recipient.

Finding focus and support

Inside BBA, Hailey used the learning library, session replays, coaching, community feedback and Accountability Pods to focus on the areas that mattered most to her business.

Because she was balancing client work with caring for her son, attending every session live was not realistic. Having organised pathways and accessible replays allowed her to learn on her own schedule.

More importantly, she could find relevant support whenever a new challenge emerged.

One month, she might need help with pricing. Later, it could be positioning, design or refining her services.

“It’s not just for one level. Wherever you are in your journey, there is something relevant to help you.”

The community gave Hailey a place to ask questions without feeling judged. Members shared advice, resources and even offered private conversations to help her work through specific challenges.

She was no longer trying to solve everything alone.

Simplifying the business

One of Hailey’s major goals was to reposition Greater Heights Marketing through a redesigned website and clearer copy.

With feedback and accountability from BBA, she completed the redesign and began simplifying her services.

Instead of filling several packages with different combinations of deliverables, she moved toward one clearer core offer for each service. A coaching conversation helped her recognise that her custom services deserved greater focus.

That clarity made it easier to communicate her value, present her services and establish a stronger minimum engagement.

Doubling her project value

As her offers became clearer, Hailey gained the confidence to increase her pricing.

The value of her combined branding and website engagement grew by approximately 2X. Her standalone website pricing also increased by approximately 1.3X.

Clients have since booked her at the new level, giving her evidence that the market was willing to pay for the value she provides.

The result is a more focused and efficient business. Hailey has served fewer clients this year while moving toward her highest revenue year yet.

“I’m serving fewer clients than I ever have, and it will probably be my highest revenue year. That is significant to me.”

This was not simply a pricing adjustment. It was a shift in how Hailey understood and communicated the value of her work.

More confidence and more freedom

The commercial progress matters, but Hailey’s reason for building the business has always been personal.

Greater Heights Marketing gives her the flexibility to remain at home with her son while contributing meaningful income to her family. During a year filled with personal challenges, the business provided valuable stability and support.

The scholarship helped Hailey improve the business without sacrificing the reason she started it.

“Before BBA, I wasn’t charging what I was worth and I wasn’t very confident. Now, I’m much more confident and able to charge for the value I bring. BBA accelerated that journey.”

Hailey’s Brand Builders Alliance review

When asked to share her honest Brand Builders Alliance review, Hailey pointed to the combination of practical education, community support and access to people who were willing to help her work through real business challenges.

She could ask honest questions, learn from more experienced brand builders and receive practical support from people who wanted to see her succeed.

Her advice to another designer or strategist considering BBA is simple:

“Join it. The community alone has been incredibly valuable. It is a supportive space where you can ask questions, connect with people and know that someone will show up to help.”

Hailey’s journey is still unfolding, but the direction is clear: fewer distractions, stronger offers, greater confidence and a business capable of supporting the life she wants to build.

Her experience reflects the central belief behind BBA: No One Builds Alone.

Listen to the full Brand Builders Alliance testimonial

Listen to Jacob Cass and Hailey Fackrell discuss her experience inside BBA, the changes she made and the results she achieved.

Full audio interview coming soon. It’ currently being edited.

The trick is knowing where to look and what is genuinely worth buying. Our Black Friday deals for designers and creatives guide brings together the best offers we find across software, courses, fonts, stock media, design assets, hardware, and creative business tools.

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday falls on Friday, November 27, 2026, followed by Cyber Monday on Monday, November 30, 2026.

You do not need to wait until Black Friday itself. Many creative brands launch early access promotions during the first half of November, while others extend their offers throughout Cyber Week.

The strongest discounts often appear during three periods:

• Early Black Friday sales throughout November
• Black Friday weekend from November 27 to 29
• Cyber Monday and extended Cyber Week promotions from November 30 onward

Some deals last several weeks. Others disappear within 24 to 48 hours. If there is a particular tool on your wish list, check its usual price before the sales begin.

Where can creatives find the best Black Friday deals?

Start with our regularly updated Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for creatives.

Instead of searching dozens of websites, you can use the guide to compare deals across the categories creatives are most likely to need:

• Graphic design software
• Adobe Creative Cloud plans
• Fonts and typefaces
• Mockups and presentation templates
• Stock photography, video, and audio
• Online design courses
• Computers, monitors, and accessories
• Website builders and hosting
• Marketing and business software
• Productivity tools
• Creative services and subscriptions

We update the roundup as offers are announced. Because discounts and availability can differ by country, account type, and subscription status, always check the final price and renewal terms before purchasing.

You can also browse our broader collection of design tools and buying guides when comparing products outside the Black Friday period.

1. Creative software

Creative software is one of the first places designers should look during Black Friday.

Subscriptions can become a significant annual expense, so even a modest discount may save more than a dramatic percentage reduction on a smaller one off purchase.

Software worth watching includes:

• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Affinity
• CorelDRAW
• Procreate
• Capture One
• Topaz Photo
• Video editing and motion graphics tools
• Prototyping and interface design platforms
• Productivity and project management apps

Adobe usually attracts the most attention because Creative Cloud includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Lightroom, and other professional applications.

If you are unsure which programs you need, our complete Adobe Creative Cloud guide explains the major apps, plans, features, and use cases. You can also review our Adobe software list for a simpler overview of what each application does.

Adobe has not yet confirmed its 2026 Black Friday promotion. Based on previous years, discounts may become available before Black Friday and continue into Cyber Week. Eligibility can depend on your country, plan, and whether you are a new or existing subscriber.

See our dedicated Adobe Black Friday guide for the latest confirmed information, or compare regular plan costs in our Adobe Creative Cloud pricing guide.

What to check before buying software

Look beyond the percentage printed on the sales page. Confirm:

• Whether the discount applies for one month, several months, or the full year
• Whether an annual commitment is required
• The renewal price after the introductory period
• Whether existing customers are eligible
• Whether the offer is limited to individuals, teams, students, or teachers
• Whether cancellation fees apply
• Which applications, credits, storage, or services are included

A 50% discount for three months is not equivalent to 50% off an entire year.

If the discounted software still exceeds your budget, compare it with our selection of the best free graphic design software before committing to a subscription.

2. Fonts and type resources

Black Friday is a strong time to build your type library, especially if you regularly work on branding, editorial, packaging, advertising, or web design.

Look for offers from:

• Independent type foundries
• MyFonts
• Fontspring
• YouWorkForThem
• Creative Market
• Font Bundles
• Type subscription services
• Before buying a font, check the licence rather than relying on the product preview.

Independent foundries may offer smaller discounts than large marketplaces, but their bundles and complete family upgrades can provide better long term value.

If a premium font is not essential, explore our collection of the best free font websites before buying. Always confirm the individual licence, even when the font itself is free.

3. Design assets, templates, and mockups

Asset marketplaces frequently offer Black Friday discounts on:

• Logo presentation templates
• Brand guideline templates
• Packaging mockups
• Device mockups
• Social media templates
• Brushes and textures
• Illustration packs
• Icon libraries
• Presentation templates
• Lightroom presets
• Procreate brushes
• Photoshop actions and effects

Popular places to check include Envato Elements, Creative Market, RetroSupply, Yellow Images, Placeit, and independent creative shops.

Our best design assets guide brings together recommended fonts, brushes, textures, patterns, mockups, effects, and other useful resources.

If you are working on brand presentations, you can also browse these free branding templates and mockups before paying for a larger collection.

Subscriptions are useful if you download assets throughout the year. Individual bundles may be better if you only need resources for a particular style or project.

Ask yourself whether the purchase solves a real production need. A folder containing 10,000 unused templates is not a bargain.

Check the asset licence carefully

Before downloading or purchasing a bundle, determine whether the licence permits:

• Commercial client work
• Use in products for sale
• Editable templates
• Print on demand products
• Logo or trademark use
• Multiple users
• Continued use after cancelling a subscription

The number of included assets matters less than whether you can legally use them in your intended work.

4. Stock photography, video, music, and audio

Stock media can consume a large part of a creative project’s budget. Black Friday promotions may reduce the cost of subscriptions, credit packs, or annual plans.

Watch for deals from:

• Adobe Stock
• Shutterstock
• Depositphotos
• iStock
• Freepik
• Envato
• Motion Array
• Storyblocks
• Artlist
• Epidemic Sound

Compare more than the download allowance. Review:

• Commercial usage rights
• Client usage
• Distribution limits
• Editorial restrictions
• Music publishing requirements
• YouTube channel registration
• AI training and generation terms
• Whether downloaded assets remain licensed after cancellation

For client work, save a copy of the licence and purchase receipt with the project files. Marketplace terms can change, and a clear paper trail may save you trouble later.

5. Online courses and creative education

Courses are among the most heavily promoted products during Black Friday. This makes November a useful time to learn a new discipline, provided you choose a course you will actually complete.

Look for offers covering:

• Brand strategy
• Logo design
• Typography
• Illustration
• Motion design
• Photography
• Web design
• UX and UI design
• Creative business
• Pricing and sales
• Client management
• Marketing
• Content creation
• Artificial intelligence tools

Course platforms and educators to watch include:

• Brand Master Academy
• The Futur
• Skillshare
• Udemy
• Coursera
• Domestika
• MasterClass
• Interaction Design Foundation
• Independent designers and educators

Our creative courses and books directory covers graphic design, branding, UX, animation, marketing, photography, illustration, and other creative disciplines.

More specific guides include:

• Best branding courses
• Best brand strategy courses
• Best logo design courses
• Best free graphic design courses
• Best online learning platforms

Do not judge a course by its discount alone. A permanently discounted course advertised as “90% off” may offer less value than a specialist programme with a smaller reduction.

Review the curriculum, instructor experience, project examples, update history, student outcomes, access period, and refund policy.

The best course is the one that addresses the next constraint in your career or business.

6. Computers and creative hardware

Black Friday can be a good time to buy expensive equipment, but hardware requires more research than a font bundle or course.

Creative hardware deals may include:

• Laptops
• Desktop computers
• Monitors
• Drawing tablets
• Cameras and lenses
• External storage
• Keyboards and mice
• Microphones
• Lighting
• Printers
• Colour calibration tools
• Office furniture

Amazon, Apple, B&H Photo, Best Buy, Adorama, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and specialist photography retailers are useful places to monitor.

Before buying a laptop or workstation, match the hardware to your actual workflow. A designer working mainly in Illustrator and InDesign has different requirements from someone editing 8K video or building complex 3D scenes.

Check:

• Processor and graphics performance
• Memory capacity
• Storage size and speed
• Display resolution and colour coverage
• Port selection
• Battery life
• Upgrade options
• Warranty conditions
• Return policy
• Independent reviews

A slightly older professional model can offer better value than a heavily promoted entry level device.

Compare our best laptops for graphic design or see the best budget laptops for designers if price is your main concern.

7. Website builders, hosting, and portfolio tools

Black Friday hosting discounts are often substantial, but the lowest advertised monthly price can be misleading.

Deals may be available from:

• WordPress hosts
• Webflow
• Elementor
• Squarespace
• Wix
• Shopify
• Framer
• Domain registrars
• Email hosting services
• Portfolio platforms

Our guide to the best website builders for artists and designers compares tools for portfolios, ecommerce sites, and creative businesses. Web professionals can also compare the best web design software.

Check the full contract value, not just the monthly equivalent.

A host advertising a very low monthly price may require payment for three or four years upfront. The renewal price can also be several times higher than the introductory rate.

Consider:

• Initial contract length
• Total upfront payment
• Renewal price
• Number of websites
• Storage and bandwidth
• Backups
• Staging environments
• Email hosting
• Migration support
• Security features
• Cancellation and refund terms

If your portfolio or business website already performs well, a discount alone is rarely a good reason to migrate.

8. Business and marketing tools for freelancers

The best Black Friday purchase may not be a design tool.

For many freelancers and studio owners, the right business system can save more time and money than another collection of assets.

Look for deals on:

• Accounting software
• Proposal and contract tools
• Customer relationship management software
• Scheduling apps
• Email marketing platforms
• Form builders
• Cloud storage
• Password managers
• Time tracking
• Project management
• Social media scheduling
• Website analytics
• Search engine optimisation tools

Our guide to the best invoicing software for freelancers compares tools for invoicing, contracts, payments, project management, and client relationships.

Before committing, compare the discounted annual plan with your expected usage. Many platforms restrict their most valuable features to higher tiers.

Check client limits, automation allowances, storage, integrations, transaction fees, and the number of team members included.

9. Independent creators and small design shops

Some of the best Black Friday deals never appear on large marketplaces.

Independent designers, educators, type foundries, photographers, illustrators, and template creators often release limited bundles through their websites or email newsletters.

These offers may include:

• Complete font families
• Brush libraries
• Preset collections
• Course bundles
• Template packs
• Digital books
• Community memberships
• Coaching sessions
• Lifetime access deals

Follow creators whose work you already respect before the sale begins. Their email subscribers may receive early access, additional bonuses, or a better discount than the public offer.

Buying directly can also provide clearer documentation, product updates, and support from the person who made the resource.

10. Newsletters and curated deal guides

A curated guide can save hours of searching, but not every deal roundup is genuinely curated.

The best guides should:

• Separate confirmed offers from predictions
• Display the sale dates
• Disclose affiliate relationships
• Link to the relevant product or offer
• Explain who the product is for
• Identify subscription and renewal conditions
• Remove expired promotions
• Avoid repeating unverified discount claims

Bookmark our Black Friday deals for creatives page and check back as new 2026 offers are confirmed.

How to tell whether a Black Friday deal is genuine

A large discount does not automatically mean a low price.

Before purchasing, use this checklist.

Check the normal selling price

Some products spend most of the year “on sale.” Search the company’s pricing page, previous promotions, and recent reviews to establish the usual price.

Calculate the total commitment

Multiply the monthly price by the required contract length. Include taxes, fees, and paid add-ons.

Check the renewal rate

Many subscription deals apply only to the first billing period. Add a reminder before renewal if you do not want to continue at the standard price.

The US Federal Trade Commission provides additional guidance on subscriptions and negative option plans.

Confirm eligibility

Offers may be restricted to new customers, particular countries, students, educators, or specific billing options.

Read the licence

For fonts, templates, stock media, and other creative assets, confirm that the licence covers client and commercial work.

Check the refund policy

Digital products may have limited refund rights once files have been downloaded or course content has been accessed.

Ignore the countdown clock

Some countdowns reset when the page reloads. Make the decision based on value, not artificial urgency.

What should creatives buy on Black Friday?

A worthwhile purchase should do at least one of the following:

• Replace a tool you already pay for at a higher price
• Remove a repeated bottleneck from your workflow
• Improve the quality of billable work
• Save meaningful production time
• Support a specific service you plan to offer
• Provide training you have scheduled time to complete
• Replace equipment that is limiting your work

If you cannot explain how you will use the purchase within the next three months, leave it in the cart.

What should creatives avoid?

Be cautious with:

• Lifetime deals from unproven software companies
• Huge asset bundles with inconsistent quality
• Courses bought without a learning plan
• Duplicate tools that solve the same problem
• Subscriptions with unclear renewal pricing
• Fonts without appropriate commercial licences
• Hardware purchased only because the discount looks impressive
• Offers that hide the final price until checkout

The goal is not to buy more. It is to spend less on tools that make your work better.

A simple Black Friday plan for creatives

Before November

List the tools, assets, courses, and equipment you genuinely need. Record their current prices and remove anything that does not support an active goal.

Early November

Subscribe to relevant newsletters and bookmark the product pages. Check our creative Black Friday roundup for early offers.

Black Friday week

Compare the final prices, licences, billing commitments, and refund policies. Prioritise limited offers only when they match your original list.

After purchasing

Save receipts and licences. Add renewal dates to your calendar and schedule time to install, organise, or complete what you bought.

Black Friday deals for creatives FAQ

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday is on Friday, November 27, 2026.

When is Cyber Monday 2026?

Cyber Monday is on Monday, November 30, 2026.

Do creative Black Friday sales start early?

Yes. Many software companies, marketplaces, educators, and hardware retailers begin their promotions before Black Friday. Some start in early or mid November.

Is Black Friday or Cyber Monday better for creatives?

There is no consistent winner. Software, courses, and digital assets may retain the same price throughout the weekend, while individual retailers may introduce different Cyber Monday offers.

If a confirmed deal matches your budget and requirements, waiting may not produce a better price.

Where can I find confirmed Black Friday deals for designers?

Visit our updated Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for designers roundup. It covers software, courses, fonts, stock resources, hardware, web tools, and other products for creative professionals.

Are Black Friday creative software deals available worldwide?

Some are, but prices and eligibility can vary by country. Taxes, currency conversion, account status, and regional terms may affect the final offer.

Are annual subscriptions worth buying during Black Friday?

They can be if you already use the product and the discount applies to the full subscription period. Check the contract length, cancellation terms, and renewal price first.

Does Adobe offer a Black Friday discount?

Adobe has offered Black Friday promotions in previous years, but the discount, eligibility, and dates can change. Check our Adobe Black Friday guide for confirmed 2026 details as they become available.

Find the best 2026 Black Friday deals for creatives

Black Friday is useful when it helps you buy the right tool at a genuinely lower price. It becomes expensive when urgency replaces judgment.

Create your wish list early, compare the full cost, review the licence, and concentrate on purchases that will improve your work or business.

We will track the strongest offers throughout November in our complete guide to the best Black Friday deals for designers and creatives.

Bookmark the guide and return as the official 2026 deals are announced.

In this guide, we cover everything you need to know about the expected Adobe Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026 sale, including likely dates, possible Creative Cloud discounts, current Adobe pricing, and what existing subscribers can do.

Looking for even more savings? Black Friday is a special time to grab the best deals on laptops, drawing pads, and yes, even design software such as Adobe CC. Let’s get into how to get the best Adobe deals available.

Adobe Black Friday 2026: Quick Overview

• Black Friday 2026: Friday, November 27, 2026
• Cyber Monday 2026: Monday, November 30, 2026
• Official Adobe sale dates: Not yet announced
• Expected sale period: Mid-November through Black Friday, with a possible extension into Cyber Week
• Expected discount: Up to 50% on selected individual and team plans, based on previous promotions
• Student and teacher pricing: Adobe currently advertises 71% off Creative Cloud Pro for eligible US education customers during the first year
• Availability: Prices, discounts, and eligibility vary by country and account type

Is the Adobe Black Friday 2026 Sale Live?

No. Adobe has not yet announced a dedicated 2026 Black Friday or Cyber Monday promotion.

Adobe is currently advertising other Creative Cloud offers in some regions, including a US promotion giving eligible new subscribers 50% off Creative Cloud Pro for the first three months. This is a standard promotional offer, not a confirmed Black Friday deal.

Check the offer period carefully. A discount for three months is not the same as receiving 50% off an entire year.

Expected Adobe Black Friday 2026 Deals

Adobe has not confirmed its Black Friday discounts for 2026. Based on previous promotions, the sale may include:

• Up to 50% discount on Creative Cloud all apps membership 
• Up to 50% Off Teams on Creative Cloud all apps membership
• 70% off for Students & Teachers 
• An optional Adobe Stock trial with selected Creative Cloud plans

These offers are predictions, not confirmed 2026 sale terms. The actual discount may differ by country, plan, billing option, and customer eligibility.

Expected Adobe Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026 Dates

Adobe’s official 2026 sale dates are not yet known.

Black Friday falls on Friday, November 27, 2026, while Cyber Monday falls on Monday, November 30, 2026.

Based on Adobe’s 2025 promotional schedule, our best estimate is that an Adobe Black Friday promotion could begin around November 12, 2026, and run through November 27, 2026. Adobe may then continue or extend the offer through Cyber Monday or into the first week of December.

This forecast should not be treated as a confirmed sale schedule. Bookmark this page and return when Adobe publishes the official terms.

How to Get the Adobe Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deal – Step by Step Instructions

Once the 2026 promotion is live, follow these steps to claim the Adobe Black Friday discount and save up to 50-70% on Adobe Creative Cloud:

Step 1: Visit the Adobe Offers Page

• On the sale dates, go to the Adobe Black Friday Deals Page.

Step 2: Browse & Select Your Plan

• Review the available deals for Creative Cloud All Apps plans including, Annual, Monthly and Paid in Full Up Front subscriptions.

Step 3: Sign In or Click ‘Save Now’ to Create an Account

• Exisiting Subscribers: Log in to your Adobe account
• New Subscribers: Create a new account by clicking “Save Now” and selecting your desired plan (see next step)

Step 5: Choose Plan & Check Discount

• The discount (e.g. 50%-70% off) should automatically be applied at checkout. The best deal is the “Annual, prepaid” offer.
• If the discount is not visible which is possible if you’re a current subscriber, use Adobe’s Virtual Assistant:
  • Click on the Help/Chat speech bubble in the bottom-right corner. Or head to the Adobe Help Center if you don’t see it.
    
  • Type “Talk to Agent” and ask the agent about the Black Friday deals for your region or subscription. Results vary depending on the agent you speak to, so our suggestion is to keep trying.
  • If all else fails, you can consider setting up a new account with a new email address to get the Adobe Black Friday offer.

Step 6: Complete Your Purchase

• Enter your email and payment details to confirm the subscription.
• You will receive a confirmation email with the subscription details.
• Congratulations, you just saved a few hundred dollars!

If you decide you want to cancel your plan, see our instructions on how to cancel Adobe subscription.

Can Existing Adobe Subscribers Get the Black Friday Discount?

Possibly, but eligibility varies.

Some Adobe promotions are restricted to first-time or new subscribers. Existing customers should sign in to their Adobe account and check the Manage Plan area for personalised offers.

If no offer appears, contact Adobe Customer Care and ask whether your current plan is eligible for:

• A promotional renewal price
• A move from Creative Cloud Pro to Creative Cloud Standard
• A different annual billing option
• A retention or loyalty offer
• A regional Black Friday promotion

Adobe does not guarantee that existing subscribers will receive the advertised new-customer price. Get the final price and commitment terms in writing before changing or cancelling a plan.

How to Download Adobe Creative Cloud Software for Free 

One way to find the perfect software for you before the Black Friday sale happens would be by checking which Adobe software is the best fit for you. And instead of making any commitments right off the bat, why not just try a trial for free.

Can you install Adobe software for free? You can! Once you create an Adobe account, enter your payment details (credit card) and register for a free trial.

However, it’s important that you cancel your free Adobe trial software seven days before the trial period ends in order to avoid being charged.

Current Adobe Creative Cloud Prices in 2026

Adobe’s published US prices for annual contracts billed monthly are currently:

• Creative Cloud Standard: US$54.99 per month
• Creative Cloud Pro: US$69.99 per month
• Creative Cloud Pro for eligible students and teachers: US$19.99 per month for the first year, then US$39.99 per month while eligibility continues

Adobe also lists these US payment options for individual plans:

Prices exclude applicable taxes and vary by country. Adobe can change its prices, so confirm the current total before purchasing.

For a complete comparison, see our Adobe Creative Cloud pricing guide.

What is the Adobe ‘All Apps’ Plan?

Creative Cloud Pro is the new name for Adobe’s former Creative Cloud All Apps plan.

It includes more than 20 creative applications, including:

• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• InDesign
• Premiere
• After Effects
• Lightroom
• Acrobat Pro
• Adobe Express

The plan also includes Adobe Fonts, cloud storage, full access to supported web and mobile apps, unlimited standard generative AI features, and monthly credits for premium video and audio generation.

Creative Cloud Pro is best suited to professionals who regularly work across several creative disciplines or need Adobe’s broader AI, web, and mobile features.

If you mainly use desktop applications and require fewer AI features, Creative Cloud Standard may provide better value.

The Adobe Student and Teacher Discount

Another great deal besides the Adobe Black Friday Sale is the Student and Teacher discount. For those of you who are teachers or students, you’re in luck! You’ll be surprised to find out that you can get over 60-65% off on the Adobe ‘All Apps’ plan!

And to break it down for you, you’ll be paying $19.99 per month for a plan that normally costs users around $69.99. So if you’re a student or teacher and you want to get ahead in Adobe, we’d strongly recommend you opt for the discount as it’s quite a steal!

Also, you can easily become a student (temporarily) to take advantage of this plan. And if you want to know more information about this, I’d suggest you take a look at our Adobe Student and Teacher discount article.

Adobe Black Friday 2026 FAQ

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday falls on Friday, November 27, 2026.

When is Cyber Monday 2026?

Cyber Monday falls on Monday, November 30, 2026.

When will the Adobe Black Friday 2026 sale begin?

Adobe has not announced the official sale dates. Based on its previous schedule, the promotion may begin in mid-November and continue through Black Friday or Cyber Week.

Is the Adobe Black Friday 2026 sale live?

No. As of September 2026, Adobe has not announced a dedicated 2026 Black Friday sale.

Will Adobe offer 50% off Creative Cloud Pro?

Adobe has offered discounts around this level before, but the 2026 promotion is not confirmed. Check the official offer terms when the sale is announced.

Can current subscribers use the Adobe Black Friday deal?

It depends on the offer. Some promotions are limited to new subscribers. Existing customers should check their Adobe account or contact Adobe Customer Care for available options.

Is the Adobe student discount better than the Black Friday deal?

It may be. Eligible US students and teachers currently pay US$19.99 per month for the first year, which Adobe describes as a 71% saving against the regular Creative Cloud Pro price. Compare the complete first-year and renewal costs before choosing.

Does the discount apply worldwide?

Not necessarily. Adobe prices and promotions vary by country, tax treatment, currency, and customer eligibility.

Related  Adobe Product Articles

• Adobe AI Tools
• Key Adobe AI Updates
• Adobe Courses To Learn Adobe Tools
• How to Download Adobe Premiere Pro Free
• How to Download Adobe After Effects Free
• How to Download Adobe Dimension Free
• How to Download Adobe Stock Images Free
• How to Download Adobe Photography Plan
• Logo Package Express 3.0
• Best CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Discounts
• What Is Graphic Design?
  
• Adobe Lightroom Alternatives

Key Takeaways: Adobe Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026

Adobe has not yet announced its official 2026 Black Friday promotion, so any precise dates or discounts should currently be treated as predictions.

Black Friday is on November 27, 2026, and Cyber Monday is on November 30, 2026. Based on previous years, Adobe may launch its sale before Black Friday and extend it into Cyber Week.

Before purchasing, compare Creative Cloud Standard with Creative Cloud Pro, calculate the complete first-year cost, check the renewal price, and confirm whether the offer applies to your country and account type.

We will update this guide once Adobe publishes the official 2026 sale dates, prices, and eligibility terms.

Enjoy the savings!

We’ll update this page throughout November as new offers are announced and remove deals as they expire.

Have a Black Friday deal of your own? Email us and we’ll consider adding it to the roundup.

Keep in mind that many offers will only be available during Black Friday + Cyber Monday period, from November 27 to November 30, 2026.

Some of the deals below are from 2025 and will be updated to 2026 once we have the final details.

Best Black Friday Deals for Designers 2026 (& Cyber Monday)

For full details, valid dates & coupon codes for these Black Friday deals you must scroll on further.

Courses

• TheFutur — 25% off
• Skillshare — 50% Off
• Udemy — 85% Off
• Domestika — $9.90 Courses + 10% Off
• Masterclass — 2 for 1 Memberships

Marketplaces

• Envato — 30% Off
• CreativeMarket — 30% Off

Stock

• Abobe Stock — Get 10 Free Photos
• Shutterstock — 25% off
• RetroSupply Brushes — $270 off

Fonts

• MyFonts — 20-80% off
• FontBundles.net — 50% off

Icons

• IconFinder — 50% Off
• 45,000 Icons: RoundIcons — 50% Off

Web

• WebFlow – 50% Off Templates
• BlueHost — 75% Off

Services

• Blinkist — 60% Off
• NordVPN — 69% off
• Freshbooks — 50% off

2026 Black Friday & Cyber Monday FAQ

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, when many retailers offer special deals both online and in stores. It is widely considered one of the best times of the year to buy almost anything.

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday falls on Friday, November 27, 2026. Sales generally run throughout the weekend until Cyber Monday on November 30, although many retailers launch their offers days or weeks earlier.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is an online shopping event when retailers offer significant discounts on products and services.

When is Cyber Monday 2026?

Cyber Monday falls on Monday, November 30, 2026.

100+ Best Black Friday Deals for Graphic Designers & Cyber Monday Sales

Here are all the best deals for graphic designers this Black Friday! Enjoy.

Adobe Creative Cloud Black Friday Sale Save 50% (Dates TBC, if confirmed)

The 2026 Adobe Black Friday Sale and Cyber Monday sale are expected to offer savings of up to 50–70% on selected Creative Cloud Pro plans, including annual plans billed monthly and annual plans paid upfront.

Adobe has not yet confirmed its 2026 Black Friday discounts or promotional dates. Based on its 2025 schedule, our best estimate is that the Black Friday sale will run from approximately November 12–27, 2026, followed by an extended Cyber Monday promotion from approximately November 28–December 6, 2026.

Expected offers may include:

• Up to 50% off Creative Cloud Pro for individuals
• Up to 50% off Creative Cloud Pro for teams
• Up to 70% off Creative Cloud Pro for students and teachers
• Get 10 free Adobe Stock photos

The dates and discounts above are estimates based on Adobe’s previous promotions. We will update this page when Adobe confirms its official 2026 Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers.

Pink Friday — Up to 60% Off Our JUST Creative Shop

Get up to 60% off items from the JUST Creative shop including coaching, VIP days, templates, fonts and more.

• ​1:1 Coaching Bundle with Jacob Cass (3x Sessions)​ – $1500  $750. (Save $750)
• ​Brand Strategy Discovery Workshop Template + Training​ $149 $74.50 (Save 50%)
• ​JUST Sans Font​ – $49 $24.50 (Save 50%)​
• ‘Become a Brand Master’ Branding Course — $199 $98.50 (Save 50%)
• ​JUST Creative Shop​​ – 50% Off Everything Else with code BF2026

Envato Elements – Get Unlimited Downloads of 50+ Million Design Assets (30% off)

Get unlimited downloads of 53+ million creative assets: graphics, web and video templates, audio, photos & more! All for one low cost, cancel anytime.

Plus, with this sale you get an extra 30% off.

Likely on sale: 25-28th and possibly to December 1 for Cyber Monday.

You can download our typeface, JUST Sans, as a subscriber to Envato Elements.

Amazon Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals Week

Amazon have an awesome Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals week page that lists everything from electronics, toys, kitchen tools, pet supplies, and more.

Top Gear for Designers:

• Best laptops for designers
• Best printers for designers
• Best monitors for designers
• Best tablets for designers
• Best mouse for designers
• Best earphones for music-lovers
• Best cameras for designers
• Best microphones for designers
• Best office chairs for designers
• Best external hard drives for designers
• Best monitor calibrators for designers
• Best pens for creatives
• Best phones for designers
• Best smartphone tripods
• Best noise-canceling headphones
• Best smart-watches
• Best wireless chargers
• Best USB flash storage drives
• Best computers for designers

Logo Package Express – Up to 80% Off Pick Your Price (Nov 28-Dec 1)

Save out your client’s logos with just one click with Logo Package Express. Get up to 80%.

Click ‘Buy Now’ now then choose your operating system ‘Mac’ or ‘PC’ and click ‘Buy This’.

Logo Package Express

• Export Logos 10x faster
• Save $40 on the regular price of $149 and get Logo Package Express for just $119

Logo Package Portal

• Store and share logos with your clients
• Save $40 on our bundles which include Express and Portal

Logo Package Swatch

• Color info at your fingertips
• Save 20% on the regular price of $25 and get Logo Package Swatch for just $20

Valid Nov 29-Dec 2.

Mr Mockup’s HUGE Pro Mockup Bundle – 80% OFF

It’s finally here! The Mockups Sale from MrMockups!

You can get all of their products in one massive Mockup Bundle.

The total of this is $1447, but you can get it for just a fraction of that.

Get it now before its gone!

1. Poster Mockups – Studio Scene
2. Floral Mockups + Stationery Pack
3. Stationery Mockups – Corporate Pack
4. Logo Pin Enamel Mockup
5. Business Card Mockups
6. Poster Frame Mockups – Generator
7. Book Cover Mockups
8. Folded Paper Mockups
9. Patch Mockups + Embroidery Generator
10. iPhone 11 Mockups Pack
11. Glued Poster Mockups
12. Magazine Mockups
13. Moodboard Mockups Scene Creator
14. MacBook Mockups – Workspace Mockups
15. Canvas Mockups – Studio Scenes
16. Sign Mockups and Storefront Mockups
17. Vehicle Mockups – Car Mockups
18. Logo Mockup Bundle – Paper Print
19. Business Card Mockups Vol.1
20. Box Mockup Bundle – Mailing Box
21. Magazine Mockups Vol.1
22. Sticker Mockups – Shape Generator
23. Billboard Mockups + Banners & Signs
24. Can Mockups – Nature Scenes
25. Burger Mockups – Scene Creator
26. Stationery Mockups – Studio Scenes
27. Bottle Mockups – Beer, Soda, Yerba
28. Coffee Mockups – Scene Creator
29. iPhone 13 Pro Mockups + Case Mockups
30. Hardcover Book Mockups
31. Billboard Mockup – Scenes Creator
32. Macbook Pro 16 Mockups + Clay Style
33. Apparel Mockups – Scene Creator
34. Outline Device Mockups – Vector Pack
35. Badge Mockups – Packaging Creator
36. Sunlight Branding Mockups
37. City Billboard Mockups
38. Front View Branding Mockups
39. Outdoor Branding Mockups
40. Studio Branding Mockups
41. Branding Mockups Kit
42. Wine Mockups – Scene Creator
43. Device Mockups – iPhone and MacBook
44. Outdoor Apparel Mockups

You can also shop their store and get 10% off with code ‘MRJUST10’.

RetroSupply  – Save up to 50%+  Get BonusRewards

Discount: 50% off just about all digital products in the shop.

Save 50% off on just about all RetrosSupply digital products including brushes, textures, fonts, and even bundles.

Plus, get FREE digital downloads and merch with each purchase. The more you spend the more free gifts you get.

They will have asale during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (and the days after) but it will not exceed what we offer now and the rewards will not be as big as the pre-BlackFriday deal.

The Futur – Courses & Business Resources 

The Futur have 25% off their whole catalog. Use coupon code ‘THANKYOU‘ at checkout.

Download their LookBook as there are over 100+ pages of digital products, sample curriculums, exclusive insights, testimonials and more.

Attend their live events for 70% Flash Sales!

See our review of the best Futur courses and their official Black Friday sale here.

SkillShare – 4 Weeks FREE of Unlimited Classes

Get 4 FREE weeks of Unlimited Classes from Skillshare. Learn a new skill today, enroll in a class from Skillshare.

Brand Master Secrets – Brand Strategy Course (Save $200-$500)

If you want to level up your branding game, become in-demand brand strategist, and earn specialist fees, then now’s the time to back yourself. I’ve reviewed this course in detail here, and it’s my #1 recommended course on the topic of brand strategy.

You can also grab their Black Friday Super Bundle which combines Brand Master Secrets & Brand Master Workshops, featured below.

View all Brand Master Black Friday Deals.

Brand Master Workshops Course (Save $200)

The only program you need to run effective brand strategy workshops with your clients to develop strategies and brands they understand, feel connected to and believe in.

Exclusive 20% coupon discount available only to JUST Creative Insider subscribers.

An email will be sent out around Nov 23-25. Limited availability!

You can also grab their Black Friday Super Bundle which combines Brand Master Secrets & Brand Master Workshops.

View all Brand Master Black Friday Deals.

Janda’s Ultimate Freelancing Course – $800 $249

Save $551 on Michael Janda’s Ultimate Freelance Course Bundle. And $150 off the Web Design Business Bootcamp.

The Lighthouse CBO Brand Strategy Masterclass (40%)

The Lighthouse CBO Masterclass is a self-paced program for small business owners, solopreneurs and brand strategists ready to master the art of building standout brands. Guided by Peter Wilken—an industry veteran with 35+ years of experience working with global brands like Coca-Cola, Shell, PepsiCo, McDonalds, Unilever and BMW—the course is built around the proven Brand Centered Management process.

It’s focused on practical, real-world application, not academic theory. With 50+ videos, 100+ templates, live cohort sessions, a private community, and optional 1:1 mentoring with Peter, it will give you the tools to craft unique Brand DNA, solve real business challenges, and deliver transformative results – with the human engagement to make the journey productive, enriching and enjoyable.

Get 40% of the DIY and 20% off the Done-with Community package.

Domestika – 10% Off

Discover the community’s top-rated courses and choose 5 of your favorites to hone your skills alongside inspiring professionals and like-minded creatives.

This deal can get you 5 courses for around $49!

Jeremy Mura’s Premium Templates for Designers – 40% Off

Use code BF40 at checkout. Ends Nov 28.

1. Notion Freelance Hub: A comprehensive tool for freelancers to manage projects, clients, and workflows.
2. Logo Presentation Deck: A template for presenting logos professionally to clients.
3. Stylescape & Moodboard Template: A resource for creating effective stylescapes and moodboards.
4. Brand Discovery Workshop Deck: A deck designed to facilitate brand discovery workshops.
5. Instagram Carousel Templates: Templates for creating engaging Instagram carousel posts.
6. Turbo Badge Logo Builder: A tool for designing and constructing badge logos.
7. Type Blaster Graphic Styles: A collection of graphic styles focused on typography.
8. Chalk & Charcoal Brushes: A set of brushes for digital artwork mimicking chalk and charcoal.
9. 200 Grunge Textures: A vast collection of grunge textures for various design uses.
10. Adventure Logo Backpack: A resource pack for creating adventure-themed logos.
11. Client Welcome and Offboard Guide: Guides for onboarding and offboarding clients effectively.
12. Freelance Mastery: Skyrocket Your Design Biz: A course aimed at enhancing freelance design business skills.
13. AI Magic: Unlock Your Creativity with Midjourney, ChatGPT, and Adobe Firefly: A guide to leveraging AI tools in creative processes.
14. Brand Guideline Sheet: A template for creating concise and clear brand guidelines.
15. Capabilities Deck: A resource for showcasing a freelancer’s skills and capabilities.
16. Brand Identity Design for Beginners: An introductory course on brand identity design.
17. Photoshop MasterClass for Graphic Designers: An advanced course for graphic designers to master Photoshop.

These resources span a range of topics relevant to branding, design, and freelancing, offering tools, templates, and educational content to enhance your skills and business processes.

Dubsado – Business Management Solution

Dubsado is a business management solution designed to cut out the busywork. Build relationships, schedule appointments, and create workflows to streamline your projects from start to finish.

During this time, Dubsado’s monthly rate will be $30 (reg. $35) and their yearly rate will be $300 (reg. $350). You must sign up for a paid plan during the sale time to lock in that rate. But guess what? Once you’re signed up for a plan, you’re locked into that rate forever, it will not go up!

iStock – Save 20%

• Save 20% on Photos, Illustrations, and Video. Use promo code SAVE20.
• 15% off annual subscriptions for all customers with promo code ANNUAL15.
• 12% off everything for new customers with promo code 12NEWIS.

Blinkist Book Summaries App – 60% Off

Blinkist is an app that summarises the key ideas from a bestselling nonfiction book in just 15 minutes.

You can get books in bitesize text form as well as audio which makes it easier than ever to find time to read.

You literally get the golden nuggets from each book, without all the reading.

It’s genius and I’ve been loving it and wanted to share it with you!

I’ve outlined the best Blinkist book summaries for designers & creatives below, so you can listen to 20 top-selling books in a variety of categories in a fraction of the time.

And the best news is that you can get a Free 7 Day Trial! After that, it is $9.99/month. Also see our best Blinkist books for designers.

Click here for Blinkist’s 60% off sale for Black Friday.

Shutterstock Stock Photos & Vectors – 25% off

Get over 60 million stock photos, vectors, videos and music tracks from Shutterstock.

Get 25% off 750 image subscription plans or get 25% off any order with code ‘SHARE25’.

NordVPN (68% Off)

NordVPN is the easiest to use VPN provider out there. You can watched previously banned TV from other parts of the world, while increasing your online privacy.

Get an exclusive 68% discount on a 3 Year Plan making it just $3 a month. Use code ‘3ydeal’ to claim.

Cloudways 40% Off on All Plans! + Extra $25 Hosting Credit

Cloudways is our recommended choice for SMBs managed hosting. It is a managed cloud hosting that enhances productivity and provides peace of mind. Just Creative readers save up to 40% off for 4 months of their hosting with a BFCM4030 code + 30 Free Migrations + an EXTRA $25 Hosting credit.

The discount is available between the 21st and the 28th of November.

MyFonts Best Sellers & Special Offers

Browse the MyFonts best sellers and special offers page and grab some great Black Friday deals.

BlueHost Web Hosting 75% Off AND 50% Off Domains

BlueHost is our recommended web host for small to mid-sized businesses. Easy to use, great value, great support and our first choice for clients. Just Creative readers save up to 66% off their hosting and 50% off domain names. See our tutorial on how to set up your own website. See here for other top web hosts.

The Ultimate Guide to Logo Design eBook – 35% Off

The Ultimate Logo Design eBook by Kyle Courtright is the “definitive guide to logo design”. This eBook would go for $29 however you can get $10 (35% off) the book, making it just $19. This is your chance to up your logo & branding game – there really is no other resource like this. Use coupon code ‘JUST10OFF’ at checkout.

IconFinder – 5 Million Icons 70% Off

Get 70% off the first month or year on all Pro subscription plans, including access to millions of icons and thousands of illustrations.

50% Off All Marketplace Items at FontBundles.net

Get 50% off all marketplace items at FontBundles.net. Browse items.

TopazLabs – Save Up to 60% Off

Get Up to 60% off all TopazLabs products including Video AI, Photo AI, Gigapixel, Dense AI, Sharpen AI and more. Browse items.

November 17 – November 29

Udemy Online Courses – 85% Off

Master a new skill with an online course from Udemy for just $10-$15 which gives you up to 85% off any particular course!

Use BLACKFRIDAY24PP from 21 to 29 November 2026.

Creative Market – 25-50% Off

Get 30% off stock resources from CreativeMarket from Nov 17 until Dec 1.

OptinMonster Lead Generation Software – 35% Off

Get 35% OFF your entire OptinMonster cart between November 21-30. Use code: BF2026.

Freshbooks Invoicing

Freshbooks online invoicing and accounting. FreshBooks plans will be 50% off for the first 3 months when new users skip the 30 day free trial period and opt to buy now.

Between November 13th to December 18th.

101+ Gift Ideas for Graphic Designers & Creatives

In a shopping mood? Check our feature on the best 101+ gifts for graphic designers and the best Christmas gift ideas for designers. Or the best gifts for writers and the best gifts for photographers.

More 2026 Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals

I will update the deals below as they come in. If you have your own, please contact me.

Courses

• Online Courses from Udemy – $10-$15 (85% off)
• Skillshare – 4 Free Weeks of Unlimited Classes
• CodeCollege – 50% Off all memberships and courses. Use code BLACKFRIDAY2026
• Coursera – 10% Off or more
• GoSkills – BFCW50 to get a 50% discount on 1-year subscription (Nov 24-Dec 2)
• Interaction Design – UX courses – 25% off – Nov 26 to Nov 30.
• Mastering The Logo Grid Course Bundle – 65% off

Graphic Design Assets / Marketplaces

• MightyDeals – 25% Sitewide Sale (Nov. 22 – Nov. 28)
• CreativeMarket – Graphic design marketplace 30% Off
• Envato – 30% off
• InkyDeals – 25-95% Off + extra 60% Off Site Wide
• FontBundles.net Marketplace Items – 50% off
• HungryJPEG – Up to 50% off + Special Holiday Bundle
• Vexels – 55% Off on Nov 30
• YellowImages– 3D Object Mockups – 50% Off
• MasterBundles – 50% Off. Code ‘BlackFriday2026’ (Nov 24-26)

Mock Ups

• PlaceIt – 40% Off – 25th Nov – 3rd Dec
• Mockup – All-in-one online design platform – 70% OFF
• MockPlus – Up to 70% off

Stock Photography

• Abobe Stock – Get 10 Free Photos
• DepositPhotos – 30% Off
• StockUnlimited (3 Years of Unlimited Downloads) – $49
• Shutterstock Stock Photos & Vectors – 20% off
• iStock – Save 15%  – Coupon: ANNUAL15
• Freepik – 40-63% Off (Nov 23-30)
• Hum2d.com – 40% Off

Design

• Adobe Creative Cloud – 40-65%% off
• Corel – 60% Off
• The Ultimate Guide to Logo Design eBook – 35% off
• Logo Package Express – Get 40% off with coupon code ‘fri40’. Nov 25 to Nov 30.
• Moo.com – Printing – 30% off – Nov 25 to 30
• Business Templates for Designers & Creatives (Nov 25-30)
• Bonsai – All-in-one freelancing solution – 2 Week Free Trial
• Framer – UX design tool – ‘FRIDAY20’ for $30 off
• Better Proposals – Business proposals – 50% off for 4 months
• WrapPixel – Templates & Admin Dashboards
• UXPressia – 30% Off. Use code UXP-BF-21 (Ends Dec 31)

Fonts

• MyFonts – Best Sellers & Special Offers – 20-80% off
• FontSelf – Font creation software – 10% Off
• FontBundles.net – 50% Off

Icons

• Streamline Icon Pack – 10% off
• RoundIcons – 30% Off with code BLACK2026
• IconScout – 50% Off

Hosting / Domains

• BlueHost – 66% off hosting and 50% off domains
• GreenGeeks – Up to 70% Off
• LiquidWeb – Up to 60% off (Nov 24-Dec 1)
• WPEngine – 60% off with code CYBERWPE30 (Nov 23- Dec 4)

Web Apps / Software / Services

• Common Ninja: – 40% off over 145 customizable widgets
• BuddyBoss – Online Communities – 30% Off  Nov 25-30. Code: BLACKFRIDAY2026
• HoneyBook all-in-one business management tool – 50% off first year. Coupon ‘justcreative’
• WPEngine – 5 months FREE on any annual shared plan at WP Engine. Coupon Code: cyberwknd30
• NordVPN – VPN service – 75% off
• Freshbooks online invoicing and accounting
• BlogVault – WordPress backup, staging, migration & security. 40% Off. Nov 25-Nov 30
• GravityForms – WordPress form plugin – 50% Off
• WPManageNinja – Up to 50% off all plugins
• AAWP – Amazon Affiliate Plugin – 30% Off – Code ‘BLACKWEEK2026’
• PDFLiner – Document management – 50% off Nov 26-29.
• Rawsie – 20% Off with code BF22 – Reduce RAW file sizes by up to 80%
• Writecream – AI content generator. Offer: $59. Nov 19-Dec 31
• Linkz.ai – 50% off for 6 months. Code: BLACKCYBER2026
• UXPressia – 30% Off – Visualize customer journeys, creating personas, and impact maps. Use code JUSTCREATIVE (Nov 10- 29).
• SocialBee.io – 70% discount for 3 months. Social media management.
• WP Hacked Help –  40% off – WordPress Cleanup & Security Deal. Coupon code: WPHH10 (Nov 25-Dec 31)
• ReadyMag – 10-30% off – Website Design Tool (Nov 21-25)
• Tidio – 16-20% off Customer Service Software / Chat bot (Nov 17-Dec 4)
• Brand Style Guide Builder – Get 30% off until November 29 with code BF22 – Create an expert-level brand style guide with little effort.
• Tagbox.io – 80% off BF deal for creatives – A Creative Asset Management platform – The deal will be up for 48- hours only, This Fri-Sat.
• StatusGator – Monitoring – 20% Off. Use coupon BLACKFRIDAY2026. Valid 11 to 12 12.
• DocuGenerate – Generate high-quality PDF documents. 50% Off. Promo Code: BLACKFRIDAY2026. From Nov 10th to Nov 30th, 2026

Web Site Builders, Themes & Templates

• WebFlow 50% off templates. Ends 12/3. Code: WTNCC-CYBER2026
• Elementor – Website Builder – 30% Off – Nov 24 to Nov 30
• Pixpa – No-code website builder. Use BLFPIXPA55 for 55% off. From Nov 28 – Dec 31
• TemplateMonster – Templates up to 55% Off (Nov 19 – Dec 1)
• Divi Theme – 35% Off – Code: DPBLACKCM35
• Qode – WordPress Themes – 50% off
• We Love No Code – 40% off
• CrocoBlock – 40% off – WordPress plugins (22-30) Code: BFCROCO22
• ThemeSelection – 30% off admin dashboard templates & UI kits. Code: CW30OFF
• WebAudit – Get 50% off for 3 months on ANY plan or 3+ months on annual plans.

Marketing

• SmarterQueue – Social media scheduling tool – 30-40% Off – Nov 29-Dec 2

Lead Gen

• Aweber – Email Marketing – 25% off for 1 year. 29th Nov to 2nd Dec.
• OptinMonster – 35% Off. Use code: BF2026.

Other

• Company Folders – Printing & Marketing materials – Save 20–50%
• ContractShop – 40% off Contracts
• SleekLens Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop Products – 20-30% Off. Code BLKFRIDAY
• Teachable – 14-50% Off
• Wing – Dedicated Assistants for Growing Businesses – Get $200 credit. Code: BF200
• Whatagraph – 20% off – marketing analytics visualization and automation platform

Submit your own sale and I’ll add it above.

Best Black Friday Laptop Deals for Designers in 2026

Looking to grab a laptop deal on Black Friday? Check out these posts:

• Budget Laptops for Graphic Designers
• Best Laptops for Drawing
• Fastest & Most Powerful Laptops for Graphic Designers
• Best Amazon Laptop Deals

Also check out the retailers below.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Retail Links

The big boys will have some great deals too, see their quick links below.

• Amazon
• Walmart
• eBay
• Newegg
• Dell
• B&H Photo
• GameStop
• Toys R Us

Black Friday Deal Compilations & Resources

• Where to Find the Best Black Friday Deals for Creatives
• More 2026 Black Friday Deal Compilations coming soon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving and is best known for its heavy discounts and sales. For retailers, it’s the day they hope their sales will take them from “in the red” to “in the black” and end the year on a profitable note. For consumers, Black Friday can be one of the best days to do their holiday shopping.

What are the best Black Friday deals for courses?

Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare, and Futur often offer great deals on courses. For those interested in studying branding, we recommend the Brand Master Academy courses.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday falls on Monday, November 30, 2026. It is the Monday following Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and one of the best times to find discounts on electronics, gadgets, software, and other online purchases.

What are the best Black Friday deals for designers?

Adobe, Envato Elements, Design Cuts, Creative Market, and Amazon are some of the best places to look for Black Friday deals for designers.

When are the Amazon Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales?

Black Friday falls on Friday, November 27, 2026, while Cyber Monday falls on Monday, November 30, 2026. Amazon typically begins offering deals before Black Friday and continues them through Cyber Monday, although the exact dates and offers can vary.

What are the best laptop deals for designers on Black Friday?

For the best budget deals, take a look at our article on the best budget laptops and keep an eye out for discounts on any of the featured models.

Please share the love with your fellow designers! If you enjoyed this post, a share on your favourite platform would be appreciated!

Thanks!

What makes a customer experience memorable?

In this episode, Jacob Cass & Matt Davies speak with customer experience expert and author Si Elliott about the psychology behind how people experience, perceive and remember brands.

Drawing from his book, Customer Experience Thinking, Si explains how behavioural science can help brands create stronger customer relationships. They explore the role of expectations, emotion, identity, effort, personalisation and control, along with the small details that can shape an entire experience.

They also unpack some of the behavioural biases every brand strategist should understand, including loss aversion, framing, anchoring, social proof, the paradox of choice and the peak-end rule.

You’ll discover:

• Why a customer’s memory of an experience may matter more than the experience itself
• How first impressions influence everything that follows
• Why offering more choice can make an experience worse
• The difference between being personal and being personalised
• How emotion and identity shape brand preference
• Where AI can improve customer experience and where humans should lead

If you want to create brand experiences that feel more human, valuable and memorable, this conversation will change how you think about every customer interaction.

Get Si Elliot’s New Book: Customer Experience Thinking: How behavioural science helps you understand, connect and build deeper relationships.

Listen Here

Love the show? Please review us on Apple.

Play Now

Watch on YouTube

Learn Brand Strategy

Brand Master Secrets helps you become a brand strategist and earn specialist fees. And in my opinion, this is the most comprehensive brand strategy course on the market.

The course gave me all the techniques and processes and more importantly… all the systems and tools I needed to build brand strategies for my clients.

This is the consolidated “fast-track” version to becoming a brand strategist.

I wholeheartedly endorse this course for any designer who wants to become a brand strategist and earn specialist fees.

Check out the 15-minute video about the course, which lays out exactly what you get in the Brand Master Secrets.

Transcript

Hello, folks, welcome to this episode of JUST Branding. Brands spend an absolutely enormous amount of time thinking about how they look, what they say, how they present themselves to the world. But we know that ultimately brands are experienced by human beings, by end consumers. And we know that those human beings sometimes, I would pretty much say all the time, are not really rational in the way that they think and behave. We’re all emotional beings, influenced by context and various other key things. So we’re not robots. So if we want to manage meaning, if we want to build brands, it’s so important that we get our heads around consumer behavior, customer behavior, you could call it, and behavioral science. Today, in this episode, we are exploring a simple question. What can behavioral science teach us about creating better customer and therefore brand experiences? And we have an amazing guest to go into this subject with. Today, we’re joined by Si Elliott, a customer experience expert who spent the last two decades exploring the intersection between digital progress and human connection. Si began his career in marketing and today co-owns creative agency, Diversity, and is the founder of customer experience consultancy, Fabrics, where he combines behavioral science with practical strategy to help organizations create experiences that genuinely resonate with people. On top of that, if that wasn’t enough, he’s also an award-winning guest lecturer at Nottingham Trent University here in the UK, the University of Nottingham and the Communication University of China, as well as sitting on academic advisory boards spanning business and psychology. And perhaps most relevantly, he is the author of a new book that’s just come out this year, Customer Experience Thinking, a practical guide to using behavioral science to build deeper, more meaningful customer relationships. Si, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you for that introduction. There’s very little I can say now. I think you’ve pretty much cut off everything you’ve done.

Let’s wrap it up. Well, I think we could tuck into one small story, and that’s how we first met. Do you want to sort of, you know, open up that can of worms?

Yeah. So 2004, I think it was, our creative studio was a little bit overloaded with work. So we went out to some freelance designers here in Nottingham, and a very energetic young chap with a lot of hair arrived through the door. Did some fantastic work with us. So I can vouch that the work was very good. And we’ve been in touch ever since. And I think it’s always interesting when you have, and you’ve just reeled off a lot of things that I’ve done. And the reason I’ve done that is because I’ve been around for so long. But I think it’s really interesting when you have more than two decades of experience in a market, in an area, in a niche, to see the people that keep coming back into your, kind of revolving around your world and your ether as well, and your network. And yeah, it’s great to see what you’re doing. It’s fantastic to meet Jacob as well. And I’ve got a few questions for Jacob a little bit later on as well. That’s a whole different thing.

Well, thanks for so much for carving out some time. I think it was a couple of years ago, we were in a Starbucks and you mentioned this book that was coming out. And now it’s here. So congratulations on launching it. We’re going to get into that. But one thing I was just going to touch on, I think what’s interesting about our connection is that, in effect, we’ve both had, I would say similar, but different approaches in our career, which is that I think we’ve gone up the value ladder, if you like, in the sense of how are we really creating stuff that has real true meaning and value for customers? And coming from the design and creative side, that’s where my career has gone more into the strategy side. And I know yours has also, and slightly differently, but ultimately kind of ending up on that side of things, which is less about, I guess, the fonts, the colors and the shiny bits, and more about the true, for you, the customer experience that really kind of generates value.

Absolutely. Yeah. And I think you touched on the book, and I’m sure we’ll chat through that a little bit. And that was certainly a labor of love. I know you’re working on one at the moment. I know, Jacob, you’ve been through that process as well. And that was a commitment device. I just told everybody I’m writing a book, because eventually, every time you see someone, they go, how are you getting on with the book? You go, yeah, I need to complete that. But, you know, an absolute curse of optimism. I thought I’d have the book done in a year. It took three years. And hopefully, there’s some value that people can get out from that. But certainly, and I know we haven’t teed up the two letters of AI yet, but we’re never going to get through this without unscathed, without talking about that. That wasn’t even in my thinking when I started the book. But it’s certainly become more important. And the point you touched on now, for anybody working agency side, a designer, people at the moment that maybe have some worries about what’s happening in the world, that moving up the value chain and adding the thinking in is absolutely critical now. It’s never been more important. It’s never. And I think when we touch on what you guys do from a brand perspective, I genuinely think that now might be the most important time in history to get brand right.

Agreed. Well, look, before we tuck in some of that stuff, let’s just start with basics, right? Because we have a varied audience that tune in and we always like to lay some groundwork first. We love definitions on the JUST Branding Podcast just to start us off. So the book’s called Customer Experience Thinking. Perhaps we could get you to give us a definition of what that is. What is customer experience thinking?

Customer experience is just the perception of feelings that people have with the interactions or the experience they have with you, your product, your service or your brand. So in simple terms, that’s all it is and it lives in the mind of the customer. So we’re trying to influence that, but fundamentally, customer experience is always from the other side of the fence and a lot of brands think about what they’re delivering as customer experience rather than what’s been received and trying to fit that on its head and walk in their shoes a little bit more.

Love that. Love that. So why is that important, do you think, to having that kind of mindset around human behavior? Why is that important to creating those experiences for businesses and brands?

Well, let’s think about why does a business exist at all? It’s to serve someone and hopefully have a value exchange where you get compensated for that service to the other side. So I think modern marketing and certainly technology has really driven us down a line of thinking about conversion, thinking about this user, that metric, and we actually need to take a step back and go, we’re actually serving people at the end of the day. A lot of the work you guys will be doing in your day jobs is not just about selling to a business, it’s serving those people within the business. And I feel in marketing, we’re losing a little bit of sight on that. Certainly with big data, certainly when we look at, you know, think about the social platforms and the ability to reach such a large audience, I feel we’re starting to lose a little bit of connection with the fact that it’s the person on the other side that we’re serving. And the brands that do it super well, and I think are gonna be really successful moving forward, are those that keep that in mind and remember, I’m here to serve you. So my book is written to hopefully serve value to you, and therefore it’s worth the money you’ve paid for it, and it creates that value. So I’ve had to write it with you in mind, not in mind of just, this is what I want to say.

Right.

How did you come to the idea of writing a book?

Well, partially, partially there’s a big personal side to it. I’ve got two young daughters, and 11 and 14, they’re digital natives. They’re growing up in a world that is so different to the world I grew up in 40 odd years ago. And I now observe that and think, well, what they’re coming into, how well is it serving them versus they’re serving it? So how much is the technology the master rather than the other way around? So I was starting to just observe this and think about the marketing industry in general, and how we’re, as I say, starting to focus more on metrics, users, conversion rate, rather than delivering out to people. And that’s been accelerated in recent years, but from the start of the book, it was really looking at that and looking at this whole trend of, we’re more connected than ever, but potentially more lonely, we’re a lot more plugged in, there’s notifications going off, I feel it. When I think about starting out in a design creative studio here in Nottingham, I was doing two or three ad campaigns a week, and I used to wait for an ISDN line to slowly tick along, and that’s great. And now I look at the speed that my team are working at, the amount of notifications going off, if you’ve got Slack, if you’ve got Teams, WhatsApp’s going off, emails, people are expecting instant answers on. Everything’s ramping up, but we’ve still got these prehistoric brains that have been formed over thousands of years, and we’re not having hardware updates with our brains as quickly as the technology is. So I’m looking at it and thinking, well, as marketeers, we have a responsibility. We fund a lot of what happens in technical development, because it’s us that is paying these platforms, wanting to have our presence on there. So it’s just thinking about that. And I was seeing a lot of clients having that frustration with, I think, the pace of optimization and wanting to build something that’s a little bit more long term. That was kind of the two things coming together, my two worlds colliding together into a, well, you’ve got an opinion on it, why don’t you start to write a book? You lecture on these things. Why don’t you get it down to paper? Because there’s also only so many conversations you can have in your lifetime. So, you know, hopefully people will pick this book up and go, I did some interesting things in there, but I’m going to move on to the next level. Like the great books I’ve read over the years, that’s part of my evolution in my thinking. I want to just be a little, one of those little ticks in someone else’s evolution along the way, where they start to maybe question things a little bit differently. And I’ve given my daughters the book and asked them to think about their decisions as consumers when they’re trying to buy stuff online as well. Love that.

And I think you’re so right, like short-termism, it can be such a drug, right, for businesses, particularly big organizations where, you know, people are so desperate to justify their existence. And if they can point towards some data somewhere, you know, it feels rational and it feels lovely. And, you know, they can kind of justify their existence when, as you say, if we lose sight of the basic thing, which is as a business, you’re there to serve someone else, you’re there to serve their need today. But if you think just about that, you’ve got a problem, because really you want to be thinking, I’m here to serve you for as long as you need me to. You know, that could be for years. And if you’ve got short-term focus and your teams are all driven, short-term, short-term, short-term, they sometimes might make a decision, which will benefit the customer and themselves in the short-term, but might damage the long-term relationship. And that, I think, is sometimes how businesses and brands get themselves into difficulty. Anyway, what I was going to say was, let’s shift gear a little bit and dive into this like full on, right? Because I know in your book you go through, which by the way, just to lend my endorsement to it, I think everybody on this who’s listening to this should definitely grab a copy. We’ll give details in a minute of where you can get it. But let’s just go into some of the principles that you outline. I think you go through like eight key principles of customer experience. So I was wondering if you’d be open to outlining those for us. And then perhaps we could dive in and unlock a couple and kind of get into some nitty gritty. Would you be open to that?

A hundred percent. Let’s start with why they principles are not rules or laws. And I’m not necessarily the most linear of characters myself. As I would imagine, many great entrepreneurs, business leaders, designers, brand strategists are as well. So the principles because, and my school reports would tell you this, I didn’t always follow the rules. But it’s something that over time that I’ve just crafted these through. So A, where we look at, consider every detail on how they work together, set, manage and exceed expectations, personalised for the individual, on their terms of putting them in control, minimising effort and stress, considering the identity and emotions, learning and building relationship over time and considering all the senses. And they’ll map against whether it’s accessible, functional or emotional or a series of those. And they just help, I think, give foundational building blocks to start planning your work around. The second half of the book dives into Behavioural Science, which takes it to a slightly different place. But that start point is things that we’ve been working with clients for years on, trying to put a little bit of a structure behind it. But I refuse to call it anything beyond principles because I don’t want to be held to it in the fullness of time. We’re allowed to rethink at some point. But certainly, you know, those are the important things that for me, when you guys are doing brand exercise, I’ve got to live up to your brand exercise, putting them through this lens of these eight principles and really testing my metal against that.

Yeah. I mean, some of them, particularly for the designers who are listening in, will be really obvious. Like that first one, consider every detail and how they work together, right? I guess from a visual perspective, a lot of people are familiar with that, but it goes beyond that, doesn’t it?

Absolutely. So as humans, we’re kind of hardwired to notice differences in environment and things that don’t quite join up. Usually that could be, and I’ll quite often talk about our prehistoric roots where you were a caveman. You’d be looking out for those queues.

You’re like the third guest recently that said that I’m a bit caveman-like. I will accept it, but I’m getting a little nervous. Carry on.

But you, evolutionary, have to look out for risks. So you look for inconsistencies, slight things, and then you go, do I trust this now? And it will be the same in any brand exercise as well, where we need to be consistent across the piece, because otherwise I won’t believe your claim. If in three places you say it, but in one place you contradict it. And that’s when I just think about wording and the things that you’re promising. Before then, I look at what you’re doing visually. So if I think about consistency visually, you say, we are an authentic people first brand, and then you’re using AI generated content on social. I don’t believe your first claim now. So consistency is really important. And I think that’s a tough one for designers, because you like novelty. You like to change things up, freshen things up. So for then someone to go, no, no, we need to be super consistent is tough. And a couple of episodes ago, I can’t remember your guest’s name now off the top of my head. But when they talk about Marlborough and then designing things in green, everything’s got to come back. Consistency is a tough one. It is a tough one because we also like novelty ourselves. And when you’re working on something so much, you forget that it’s 100% of your head space. But for the consumer, it’s that fleeting thing that they see once every four months for three seconds.

That’s a great point and I see it all the time. On a macro scale, you get a new CMO and they want to stamp their authority upon the brand, literally take it in a different direction. And again, going back to that first point, is this how we serve people well? I’m working on a big project at the moment in the US and it’s a brand relaunch and it’s going to market. We’ve got ad TV spots and all sorts going out. And I had to have a really serious conversation with the brand director over there because they asked for, in this particular project, for example, different strap lines to the end of every ad. And my position was, look, we should stick to one really strong because we want to kind of be really clear about what we stand for. And they were like, yeah, but don’t you think consumers will get bored? I was like, literally, someone’s going to see one of your ads and then not see it again or see anything to do with your brand for a day or two, right? You know, even with the best funding in the world, that’s the reality. So what we need to do is we need to think exactly this, you know, consider the detail and be really, really clear about the experience. And yeah, I think I won that one, but hey, we’ll wait and see. Time will tell. Yeah, time will tell. I also think like there’s a new rebrand that’s been echoing around the interweb of, you know, the way Coke has been refreshing there. I don’t think that they’ve gone live with it yet, there’s been some sort of leaked Coke things. And what I think is phenomenal about Coke, if you think of a brand with the longevity of say Coca-Cola, how the level of consistency around, you know, some of their key brand codes has been absolutely locked in for many, many years. The red, the ribbon, the way the can and the bottles work and all of that stuff, for years, consistency pays off. And now, yeah, they’ve tweaked a few things, typographies, tweet, you know, et cetera, et cetera. But ultimately, look at brands like that, I would say, to and consider your business, your brand and consider how frequently you’ve changed over the years. You know, a lot of B2B brands change every two, three years and they think this is what it’s about, but perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s about consistency.

There has been some dilemmas around with the packaging design and Coke Zero. I don’t know if you’ve seen that, but they can’t tell the difference between Coke Zero and regular Coke because the black has gone and people are picking up the wrong thing and sales are going to go down because of that. So when we talk about how things all work together, I think that is one of those things, even though the system would say to do that, we have to make a decision of like, well, does it actually help the brand and sales? I don’t know. Time will tell on that one.

And that’s where behavioral science comes in and we’re going to get to that. We’re going to get to that, but let’s keep going through these principles, right? So that was number one, consider every detail and how they work together. Number two, set, manage and exceed expectations. Kind of like, how does that work? Like that’s a tough one, right? Like how do you exceed expectations, Si?

Before we get into that, Si, I just had a question because you mentioned these, like building blocks and we want to make them usable and practical, but before we get into this, for the context of how we actually apply this, using these principles, how do you generally work with clients if you’re going through these principles and like make it usable?

So typically a client will either come in and go, let’s look at the whole of our experience, map it out, so customer journey map it right the way through. Or alternatively, they may, the spot point might be, we don’t think this bit’s working. Can we have a look at that? And then you end up expanding out from there. So they’re looking to sharpen up a certain elements they might see that they are customer satisfaction scores are through the floor. Or our NPS all of a sudden has gone massively backwards. We don’t know why. Or alternatively, we’re having this issue over here. Yeah, we used to get this response rate is now dropped down to this, or we’re seeing a higher churn in some of our customer base. So it could be any one of those. And for anybody doing this as well, you don’t always need to grab someone like me and you can just start to pick this up and look at it yourself. But I would always say where you think the problem is, is rarely where it actually is, and you have to expand it out. So they’ll be like, right, our conversion rate there is bad. Okay, why? And that does kind of come on to Matt’s next one, then, which is about set, manage and exceed expectations, which we often talk about, let’s exceed expectations. But that’s firstly, the start point actually is take a step back and go, does Jacob actually understand what is required? So let’s think about getting a mortgage. Do you know the component steps when you’re first time buyer of getting a mortgage? No, you don’t. So from the outset, we’re going to be super clear and go, right, okay, Jacob. So nine step process. First bit, you’re going to get dead excited because we’re going to tell you exactly how much money you can borrow. So then you’re going to jump over if you’re in the UK, some like right move and start searching for properties and get all excited at that point. But by the way, just to give you a heads up, there’s going to be a really boring point where we ask you to show us all your credit card statements, all your bank statements, go through that process of due diligence. That’s a real emotional low point in the process. So we’re going to have to work really hard at that point. So to start with, in a lot of purchases, we don’t have background record or history to know what we’re doing. Yeah, go to pick up a can of Coke in a local supermarket. We’ve done that handful of times, so we know what we’re doing. Although if we picked up Coke Zero, it’s a bit disappointed now because of the color scheme. But we know what we’re doing. But in a lot of cases, we don’t. If it’s the first time you’re engaging in the space, you don’t. Or alternatively, if you are the first direct, when they first came out from a banking perspective, you’re doing things differently to the other guys. You got no branches, it’s all online. Well, I’m going to have to walk you through that process. So, starting that out, and personally when I think about that, I want to lean back in on the team that’s done brand creation to go, right, what are we setting in how we talk to people? What are we setting those expectations? And expectations will also be set from external factors. So, I am setting up a little shoe shop here in Nottingham, doing lovely tailored shoes. Yeah, Jacob, you’re like, I want next day delivery because Amazon Prime has got me on that page. I can’t deliver on that. So, I need to explain to you very early on, these are tailor-made, they’re going to take us two weeks to create the shoe. We’re going to send you out a measuring chart so we get your size of foot absolutely right. And then it’s going to be delivered out to you. And then ideally if we can deliver that in one and a half weeks, well, that’s where we’ve exceeded the expectation, but we’ve got to set it and then manage that along the way as well. And if any brand leaves a gap in the management of expectations and things, and we’re not going to be too clear, we don’t need to mention that. One of your competitors who’s more aggressive in any space will have set a different expectation. Amazon, as I say, has changed all expectations and changed a lot of consumer behavior, so we plan less in advance. So now, my boutique shoe shop all of a sudden has to work really hard to overcome that and give you the story of maybe the individuals who are making your shoes behind the scenes as well. So you get that emotional warmth to it and you go, this is what I’m buying into, I’m buying into this experience.

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Yeah, personalization is a tough one and it happens at scale when you have longer relationships because you have more data to put on and more understanding. And things don’t always have to be at a huge scale. There’ll be a lot of small businesses that will get a lot more data points quickly because of the nature of their transactions with people and B2B very much so. So B2B, for me, when I look at personalization and B2B, so everybody in marketing goes, oh, let’s personalize, right? So we’ve got a first name tag on an email. Great. Okay. But actually, have we thought about our clients who are buying from us and those individuals of Jacob and Matt and actually what their needs are and how we’re now presenting to their needs? So we’ve got this advantage now where technology allows us to tailor things a lot more, but only if you’ve got really good steer on the person first. And that’s where with a lot of the brand work we do and a lot of the planning work we’re doing, it’s looking at building up customer advisory programs and things like that to start to understand cohorts of customers. But then it is about, a lot of it is data driven, but doesn’t always have to be big data. It can be the things that if you’re having a conversation with me and I’m your client, you’ll be making some notes about things. And it might be, SIA CMOs have a real battle with the CFO because they’re trying to drive more performance metrics in the next six months, because that’s really important for these reasons over here. Okay, I now know with my proposal how I personalise that. So depends where you are. And obviously when it comes to mass marketing, I’ll probably talk about an American brand called Zappos quite a bit because they are literally world class in customer experience. So I’ll talk about those guys a bit, but they’re the one I will use to people when they go, but this doesn’t scale because they sold to Amazon for 1.2 billion. So that’s enough scale to evidence it. But you have to have the desire to really want to get close to Jacob to understand his world, to be able to deliver a really personal service.

I think that’s such a great point. I mean, sort of the gimmicky side of it, you’ve got like Starbucks writing my name on my cup. And I just love that, like, you know, with a little kiss or a little smiley face. Always makes me feel wonderful. That’s personalised, but I think with the rise of AI and the tech space, like you were saying, the data that we can now use and then leverage, it goes beyond that. I was excited to see Hilton doing, you know, they have like smart rooms, right? So you go into your hotel room, you can set the temperature, you set the lighting. And most people set that and they don’t really change it beyond like turning it off at night. And then they go out the next day and then, you know, you fly over to New York, you go into Hilton, flip, you’ve got to set it all up again, right? So what Hilton are doing is these, I can’t remember what it’s called, I think it’s called Hilton Connect, this concept where they know you, they know your preference in terms of temperature, heat, lighting and stuff. And that’s just automatically set when you walk in the room. That to me is like hyper, you know, hyper personalized, such a beautiful thing for them to do as a service to their customer. And then I don’t know if they’re going to do this, but I imagine they’re going to leverage that as a differentiator, right? So that now if I have to choose a Hilton versus something else, and I have a travel lodge or something, I’m going to choose the Hilton because I know I’m getting that extra level of kind of service. So that’s where I think we can get to if you really, as you say, get close to the customer and look for opportunities to build brand experiences that go beyond.

So yeah. Why have they come up with that? Because of course, that will be linked into a lawyers program where I can get you to sign up. And obviously then I’ve got you on that database. But why have they done that? Because they’ve walked in the shoes of people staying in the hotels and thought of those points of annoyance, those little points of annoyance and friction points and gone. How do we make that just that little bit easier?

Like the observation of that is super smart, isn’t it? Like they would have, as you say, like would have had to have spent some time either as customers themselves or with customers to see, oh yeah. And notice what I think is smart about that is, it’s not like they followed a customer into one hotel, right? As you said earlier, they’ve sort of zoomed out. They followed customers throughout maybe a year of interacting with the hotels or six months, and then figured out that this is a little pain point. That the customer might not have even thought that they had, right? Because like who would expect the same room setting from when you last visited hotel? How interesting.

Or they may have borrowed that idea because someone in their leadership team might have been in Uber, and knowing that in Uber you can put your settings in of temperature, whether you want a conversation, whether you want music, and they might have gone, why aren’t we doing this? And so I’m all about borrowing from other brands and seeing what other people are doing around in similar space and different space and going, how can we apply that to what we’re doing?

As an ex-designer, I can vouch for borrowing as a very exciting way of leveraging your work. That was number three, by the way, to personalise. Let’s get into number four. You’ve said on their terms and put them in control is principle four, which I guess is what we’re talking about here as well, isn’t it?

Absolutely. And look, we all like the autonomy. We love freedom, don’t we? That’s our autonomy to be able to make decisions. Well, if you’re selling to me, but it’s all on your terms, the way I can communicate with you is only via certain channels. I had a real annoyance of being stuck in Copenhagen Airport when Heathrow, they had a fire, so the airport was shut for the first time in decades. I couldn’t get in touch with BA to have a conversation. Sadly, I could only do stuff through the app, and I was getting a lot of contradictory advice. On my terms at that point means I have the ability to press a button to bring someone. 95% of the time, my interaction with them is great through the app, but in those moments, I need to do that. All the power is taken away from me, so I was hugely frustrated. Now, it’s not really the brand’s fault. There’s a big factor of influence in them externally, but it didn’t meet up to my expectations of a premium carrier, and so it took the control away from me in the moment. That adds stress, just builds up your annoyance, and of course, I’m not going to blame myself. It’s never my fault, so I’m not irrational. I’m not unreasonable, so that’s their fault. So it is really important, where possible. You can’t always put people in control. So when Jacob’s getting his mortgage with me, I can’t say, yeah, don’t worry about sending me the credit card bills. I don’t need to see those. There are certain things that you have to do, but I just need to go, how’s the best way to serve Jacob? What are the best channels for him to get in touch with? And if there’s a point where I go, yeah, this bit is going to be frustrating. How do I sweeten that a little bit, soften it a little bit when I need to get that information? But yeah, absolutely everything is about putting you in control, which is why your SatNav will offer you three different routes to go somewhere, even though it knows the optimal one, it knows you’re probably going to hit the optimal one every single time. We don’t want the machine telling us what to do. I want to choose from it. So it’s curated me three options and I’ll choose the option. It’s the one that was in the darker blue that was the fastest route by six minutes anyway. So it always knew I was going to do it, but it gives me the options rather than just presenting one. And I think that’s a really important thing as well, is that the choice and allowing people to have that opportunity to have choice doesn’t let them feel in control of the zone, even if they’re always going to go down that same darker blue six minutes.

Right, it gives them the option on the one in a millionth time they might want to try something different. They know that that option’s there. So as you say, they don’t feel trapped or pushed into an area. I think as soon as you start feeling like a brand or a salesperson or anyone is pushing you, at least for me, with my… I don’t know, is it a British thing? I don’t know. It’s like my wife, if we ever go into a carpet like a retailer or something, and there’s a salesperson that’s overly eager, she just walks out. It’s like brutal, brutal response to that. So if you feel pushed sometimes, it can have a real negative effect. Principle five is minimize effort and stress, which again, it’s interesting how these all feed into each other. I just wondered, is it often with your work that removing things can actually enhance a customer experience? What are your thoughts on minimalism?

Absolutely. We live in such a busy overloaded world. Wherever we can make things simple for people, when we come on to behavioral science, we’ll talk about cognitive load a little bit, which is just our thinking, the amount of thinking we have to do. There are so many decisions we need to make in a day. So where you can make things a little bit easier for me, remove the stress out of it, then I’m absolutely going to welcome it. And that just take friction out of that loop. I think that’s really important. And I think nowadays we do try and overload too much of everything and just paring it back is really important. Now there will always be as well, these are principles. And you’re right, because it’s almost like, if you pick up a fishing net, all of them are, you may pick up the one where you go, this is about identity and emotion, but everything else comes with it. And this is how you see how these work together. But yeah, if you start to think about how busy and how overloaded I am, how can I pull this back and make it easy, except if I’m in a space where I actually want to make the cost of entry difficult. So if you want to get a Rolex, that is not simple. But that’s part of the experience, is I have to actually go through this process of being on a wait list, buying four other Rolexes to be one of their key customers. Or when you look to think of the Enzo Ferrari, it was invite only to purchase it when they released that. Now, you would think, well, actually, I’ve got two million pounds to pay here. Can I just have it? No, you can’t. And so some brands and in some spaces will go the other way. So if you wanted a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, you have to have owned to think at least four or five Porsches before you’re allowed to go in and spend the 300,000 pounds on it. And so all of these things as well, you have to look at context of where you are and what your experience is, because some things you would ramp that up because that should be part of the experience. But in 95% of the cases, you want to be trying to just make it as easy as possible for that person to make the best decision for themselves. That’s an important factor, not the one that makes Matt the most amount of money on his SaaS product. But what is the right one for Jacob to be buying? Let’s make that right. Loyalty will come longer term. Recommendation comes longer term. So we’re not just trying to upsell him into the enterprise tier because he’s never going to use it and eventually he’ll drop off. We go, you’re in the pro tier. That’s the exact right one for you. So how do you make it easy for him to get to that decision point?

Yeah, I think that’s so smart. And also it’s about serving the person. So for luxury brands, like you mentioned, like the Porsche or Rolex examples, you know, scarcity is part of that identity that you want to create for that individual, right? You don’t want… It’s like I was listening to a podcast bizarrely. I listened to all sorts of podcasts, as well as the JUST Branding one, of course. Listened to all the back episodes every single time, don’t we, Jacob? But it was on the royal family, right? The British royal family. And one of the things that this commentator was saying was that, you know, it’s a scarcity thing, right? Like the royal family, part of their success is that they create that sort of very scarce interactions with the royal family. They’re not going to be walking down the street with a plastic bag full of shopping, right? It’s curated and it’s scarce, which makes it an attraction to certain people. So I think that’s a great point. Sometimes it’s not about removing things. But if you’re going to put things in the customer’s way, I think what your point is is that you should design them carefully so they service that customer and what that customer wants in terms of the value it’s getting from the brand. So scarcity being one of those. Rather than what I see a lot of brands, and you probably do as well, Si, is like there’s frustrations in the customer journey that they’re not even aware of, right? And therefore, if only they could just become more aware of that, then they could take steps to remove that stress. And I think that’s your point, isn’t it?

Absolutely.

Yeah, brilliant.

It perfectly leads into the next one around their identity and emotions. I see what you’ve done here, Si.

Smart.

Hopefully, it flows quite nicely. And that probably answers why it took three years to do the book. Yeah, I mean, look, every purchase really is partially us signaling what I want the world to see about me. So before we came on this, Matt was like, are you on Mac? I’m like, no, I’m on PC.

Oh, that old debate goes back decades.

Yeah, whereas Jacob, you’re like, okay, here’s how we do the settings. Whereas Matt couldn’t have a PC because he needs to be on the train to London with everybody seeing that he’s creative and a little bit different. And that’s what the Mac immediately screams. But I jest with that a little bit, but it’s so true. Those choices and decisions we make are often, with brands, is what this says about me to the rest of the world as well.

Tribal, aren’t they, yeah.

So that’s why we are thinking about identity. Car purchases, you are buying into not just a car, but what the car says about you. So it might be that you want to be seen as sensible, family man, you’ve got the Volvo or something along those lines. Whereas, you know, maybe it’s, I’m going through my midlife crisis, so I go out and buy the Ferrari or something. Therefore, I want people to see, oh, he’s successful, you know, he’s liquid, he’s got money, he’s got a Ferrari, he likes design, he’s a good driver. Although, you know, you’d probably question that later on. And so thinking of people’s identity is really important because again, you put yourself in their shoes. And then when we think about emotions, how much in certain moments in time does the emotional state change the reaction from someone? And how can we help be sensitive towards that? Back to my point at Copenhagen Airport, I was just frustrated. So the first person I speak to when I’ve got back to seven days later, I’m probably not as reasonable as if it was just a normal call to find out about some points or how I can claim a reward seat. So yeah, identity is so important and we like to think, we love to think that we’re totally logical and we’re not driven by emotion. And that we’re not these kind of egotistical people that have to show the world I’m brilliant. But the reality is we’ve kind of got that bubbling under the surface. We need to be aware of that and aware of the people. So if you’ve got a product, let’s say in a construction trade category and you talk about it’s the professional product, well, that’s going to attract people that want to be, they might pay the premium to be buying those professional products because they want to be seen to be there. And when we think about the construction trades, it’s very tribal when it comes to what tools you’re using and what you’ve got on site. And you can see the tribes separate out and they’ll mock, oh, you’ve got the red tools, oh, you’ve got the green ones. But again, that is them virtue signaling when they go on site, this is who I am and this is the kind of tribe I’m part of.

So principle seven is learn and build the relationship over time, which I guess almost brings us full circle. We were talking about short-termism and long-termism. But what changes, Si, when brands and brand leaders start thinking longer term about the customer relationship as opposed to short-term, do you think?

I’ll give you one executional point that gets right away. You don’t have this crazy first sign-up form that’s trying to extract 18 different answers and therefore has a really poor conversion rate. Because you’re asking for that information over time, you’re building up, you’ve got value exchange in there as well. So to be able to do the whole thing of personalization, I need your information, but don’t be too over familiar too quickly and don’t start asking Matt for every bit of detail. Back to Jacob and we’re doing that mortgage again. To start with, I know I need to get him in gradually by going, what’s your earning? So I can give you a number so you can start to look for properties and build the excitement from there. No, right, now give me your credit card details. All of these are on the way as well. So it is building those bits out and some of those bits within that mortgage process will be very much around. These are functional things I need to deliver for you, but other things is how do I enrich it? So back to my shoes. Well, start with, I just want to know about Jacob’s feet so I can send him those lovely brogues out. And then eventually it’s like, okay, start to understand, right, we’ve got a young family. Okay, right, we do a range of kids’ shoes. These will be nice for Christmas. Start to build that out, but I’m not going to ask him that when we’re first talking about the shoes he needs for a meeting in a month’s time, not the day after, because otherwise, sorry, head to Amazon Prime, you know, in a month’s time. I’m not going to start extracting that, but over time as he gets to know the brand, he’s going to be a little more comfortable. And there is quite a a persistence, especially in the younger generation as well, on their data and protecting their data, which I think is great. You know, understanding the value of your data and how it’s shared with people, I think is something that should be taught in schools. I think it’s really, really important. So we as a brand want to, I want to get that from you, but I’ve got to do it slowly. Look, I’m building up hopefully a long-term relationship rather than one night stand with you. So I’m not going to last too much straight off the bat. I want to marriage with you eventually as a brand and as a business. That’s where I want to get to, not a series of one night stands that are just constantly churning through people. But it does take time and our impatience often means that we are trying to extract that too quickly. I think you’ve really got to pose the question, how much I’m asking for Matt and Jacob’s benefit versus how much I’m asking for my benefit. Right.

It’s about volumes. Okay. Last principle. Should we do that?

Absolutely.

Consider all the senses. This is an interesting one. I’d love to get your thoughts on this in relation to the digital world that we’re in. Because obviously with digital, we sometimes limit the senses to what the sight, possibly hearing, I guess. But how can brands start to do this and think about all the senses, particularly in a digital world? That would be my question.

You got to work hard in a digital world because the senses are at the moment, at the moment, who knows where we’re going to be in 10 years’ time, the senses are fairly limited. From a brand perspective, I would say that vision is the sense that 99 cent of effort’s gone into and the others come for the ride from time to time, where possible. But if I’m an online retailer of clothes, I’ve got to make sure the copywriting really brings the fabrics to life. So that’s where I want to work with really talented writers to achieve that. Otherwise, it’s very hard for you to go, well, this woolen knit sweater, OK? And I’m not a copyright. So I can’t give you a great description right now of how I should write that. But I would want to try and bring that to life. I would also want to make sure that I’m investing in really great photography to get the right angles to bring that to life as well. So to start to build out those senses. It is tough, as I say, for digital brands. And in some space, it doesn’t lend. And that’s why the principle is because somebody is going to need to forget. But when I look at a brand who spans digital and the online and in real life, I look at, there’s a guy called Matt Siebeck, who’s Chief Experience Officer at St. Louis City Soccer Club. I went to spend some time with them. And those guys, the MLS New Boys, they’ve been around for five years now. And the way they’ve set up their customer experience is anybody gets a chance to go and watch a, and I will try and call it soccer, because I have to remember to do that, to pay homage to them and talk about, on the pitch and things like that, as they would talk about it. But they looked at every sentence when they would, they would design the stadium. So the rake of the stand, the angle of the stand, was designed to be still safe, but the best acoustics that will bounce the noise back from the other end. They’ve got a Chief Flavor Officer. So a guy who curates the retailers, the food retailers.

That’s like my kind of job. I’d like that.

Yeah, what a great job. Yeah, what a great job. When I met him, he was also one of the happiest men I’ve ever met. I don’t know why. But Matt was talking to me and he was saying, what we’ve done as well is we want the best smelling stadium in the world. So most stadiums will take the exhaust fume from where you’re cooking and fire out the stadium. He’s like, I’ve got such good food vendors, I send it down the concourse. So he’s thinking about all of those elements. And ultimately, it’s just a soccer match, right? People are just turning up to watch that. But in doing that, 65% of revenues before the game kicks off, they think about simplicity through, they’ve got contactless supermarkets at half time, they’ve got city pay that’s on their app that speeds stuff up. But they’ve thought about all of the senses when you go to the stadium and really give them a little thought and then how they’re bringing them back into the app experience as well. So yeah, it’s tough in a digital interface to get all of those across. And if you can’t, don’t worry about it. But you do need to start to think of those and actually, as I say, going back to the retailer when we’re thinking from a clothing perspective, don’t just AI generate some functional copy, bring it to life. What am I going to be feeling when I pick that item up and really spend time on that? I’ve done a lot of work over the years with Dulux Paints. Just look at the name of the paint colors that they come up with. That’s what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to make it feel more of a sensory experience.

Yeah, I think everyone can learn from that. And even, I guess you’d call them, primary digital brands often could, if they had the desire, enter the physical space potentially as well. Jacob, I’m thinking of your… I’ve just got this here before me. Jacob runs a community called the Brand Builders Alliance, right? And I’m a coach on it. And I remember, Jacob, you sent me this lovely medallion coin. I’m a resident coach and it’s there. And it’s kind of like, you didn’t have to do that, right? But it kind of connects me in a different way. I’ve got a field to it. I’m just sort of spinning around in front of random people. But, you know, and it’s true, there’s opportunities to build longer term relationships to enhance brand meaning through different senses. So I think that’s absolute. And we often overlook it. So that’s super smart. I’m just mindful time is running on rampantly. And we’ve kind of got through the first half of the book, there is the whole second half, which we’ve been alluding to. So I definitely want to touch on that. That talks about behavioral science, talks to us about biases and how behavior is influenced and how that kind of changes our understanding of brands. I’d love to just dive into a few random ones, if I might, off the card. So I’m going to pick like a handful and then perhaps, you know, folks, if you want more, they’re all in the book, but I’m going to pick randomly like a loss aversion. Let’s talk about that for a moment.

Yeah, so in the book, just to give a little bit of context, eight categories of behavioral biases that we frequently use in customer experience. There are far more, but we need to keep things simple. Otherwise, the book would have been far too long and probably a little bit too dull of me droning on by the end of it, in eight categories, but yeah, loss aversion. So-

This is in anxiety, which is the first kind of negative behavioral bias.

Yeah, so anxiety is a category where we worry about stuff. And you will, if I ask you something that you’ve been ruminating on for the last week, that happened to you last week, it’s usually the negative things that come to mind first. And that’s normal, that’s the survival instinct. We should focus on the negatives, because the threats are the things that probably used to take us down more than the positive things. So be mindful of that big line over there, rather than the fact that there’s beautiful sunshine on the far side of us. But loss aversion really looks at the fact that psychologically we feel the pain of a loss twice as much as that of a relative gain. So you losing 10 pounds is feels the equivalent psychologically as you gaining 20 pounds. So you can start to think about this and people will protect themselves against losing. And with the behavioral biases, like that idea, you put on one loads of other ones, some of them are interrelated to it as well. So then that will take you down the route of things like status quo bias where the best way to not make a mistake is to make no decision at all. But we find that in language and terminology and Carphone Warehouse here in the UK, mobile phone retailer did it where they just changed it from rather than saying saved, saying you could be wasting 194 pounds a year on the wrong tariff, we can help you. So straight away, that’s actually more powerful psychologically. So we look at loss aversion and we look at the things I’ve got and I’ve built up are mine and giving them away is quite painful. So it is just that considering that even in some of the language and some of the copy that you use and just the way that you’re phrasing your benefits to people might be not always about what you’re saving them, but you may be bringing them. And anxiety is a difficult one because you don’t always want to lead with a negative. You don’t want to scare tactics all the time. So you’ve got to be very, very cognizant of how you’re presenting it. But you’ve got to know it’s there because if we know people got these things, you can provide reassurance. So with anything anxiety based, I’d say you need to address it with reassurance rather than just going deep in, oh, Matt, you’re going to lose out on all these things because that’s quite a scary space.

I think some companies do this quite well, like car companies where you can borrow the car overnight and you get to try it out. You don’t want to give it back. Apple, I put my laptop into repair. They gave me one to use and I didn’t want to trade that back in for my older one. So that sort of thing, they get you.

Yeah, I mean, a car salesman is, when you look at some of the, let’s say their behavioral science nudges, tricks or hacks, use car salesman as some of the best because they give you the car key. They take you on the test ride. I mean, absolutely right. That’s not my car for the time being. And then it’s like, you got to give the key back now. There’s just that little trigger of psychological pain that helps maybe convert you a little bit more. And I will take a step back within the behavioral science element as well to remind everybody, we are here to serve others. We are here to create the best customer experience for the customer. So it’s not how we make the most out of you by using these as tricks or using the dark arts to try and get you to spend a bit more. We’re just going to try and simplify your decision making using these biases to allow you to process and make that decision as easily as possible and be able to figure out what’s best for you.

Yeah, I’ve had people throw that at me sometimes like, are we being manipulative? It’s like, no, we’re not being manipulative. We have to write the instructions for downloading and using the app. Right. We might as well write it in a way that will help people with what we’re trying to serve them with. So we might as well do it in a way that’s easier for them, like you were saying. So I think that makes complete sense. The second behavioral bias that you mentioned is about being right, and you go through things like confirmation bias. So that one’s really quite interesting as well. I’m like a kid in a sweet shop, Si, we could go on forever, but I’m just mindful that we’re running through. I’m going to jump to number three, which is about context, because this is one I’m particularly excited about. Can we dive into framing? That’s a behavioral bias that we have, how things are framed. I wonder if you could talk to that briefly.

Yeah, I mean, no decision is made in isolation, is it? Everything is within the context that is around us. So how you frame your offer can be incredibly powerful or incredibly demotivating, depending on what sits around that as well. So if visually you’ve got a really busy web page and someone’s already overloaded and then you want them to absorb your message or that structure to the offer that you’re putting forward, that’s going to be really tough. But when I think of context as well, I like to think if you want a nice ice cold bottle of beer, you’re going to go into the supermarket, you might pay a couple of pounds for it, maybe $3 for you, Jacob, I’m not sure. But now you’re on the beach, you’re on a holiday, it’s absolutely boiling. Someone walks up with a bucket of ice cold beers and offers you one for 10 pounds, you’re probably going to buy it. That bottle of beer is exactly the same, the temperature of the beer is exactly the same, but everything else in the context has changed. So all of a sudden your value case of what you’re willing to pay, because you wouldn’t do it in the supermarket, your value case has changed. So we often think, oh, I’ve really got to work on the pricing element of my offer. But what’s all the other stuff around it? And how does that all influence it? And you get into things like when you look at anchoring. So the first number you see, you then adjust, you anchor to that number, you adjust around it. So if I was like you two, and I might be teaching how to suck eggs here, like a super successful brand consultant doing massively high value ad stuff, I would start with the client by saying, and in getting this work right, we are going to create an incremental five million pounds worth of value. So then Matt, when I’m asking you for 100,000 pounds, you go, well, that feels really good value. Whereas if I start asking you for 100,000 pounds and then try and build up the value case, I’ve anchored to that first number. So context and framing is something that’s really important for people to consider.

Yeah, people should totally take note of that. Definitely all those consultants out there that I speak to, I always say, like, how much do you charge? And I always find that people charge way too low for the value that they bring. And it’s exactly because of what you said, because we anchor into not the value that we’re going to bring. So, so important. Number four of the behavioral biases is around, like, memory, and priming is quite an interesting one that I think maybe we could tuck into. What’s priming?

Well, priming is that we start, and it’s very similar to anchoring, we start with the first thing we see, and then everything is built from that. So first impressions really do count. And fundamentally, we’re trying to build up good memory structures with people. There’s a lot of great evidence-based marketing now that we’re starting to see around memorability, and that is really important, because what we have to remember is we’ve got two cells. So you’ve got your experiencing self, and typically living in about three second segments, and then everything else goes to the remembering self. So life is the story that we tell ourselves that we’ve been down, and actually it’s not always that factually correct, but the bits that are salient, we will remember. And one of the things that is going to be salient is the first time I see something. So the first time I come across something, that is what’s going to be salient. And one of the things, I love serial position effect. I talk to marketeers about this all the time, because it’s a mistake I made for at least two decades of my career, which was we’ve got five features benefits, whatever it wants to be, and we just put them in priority number one to five. And the reality is first and last of the most memorable and the ones in the middle of the list are more likely to be forgotten. And it’s only when you look at primacy, recency, that you start to understand that. It’s just those little tweaks that this allows you to bring in that just makes it easier for the person to remember it. And as I say, building memory is probably the most important thing that we’re doing from a brand perspective, from a customer experience perspective, because living in the moment is so fleeting and life moves on so quickly.

Right, right. So some of the other principles you talk about in relation to building memory are like overconfidence, like optimism bias, for example. Talk about simplicity and then that’s where you talk about anchoring amongst other things. Number seven is social. I think it might be worth tapping into that, particularly like social proof, like how that affects you, because I understand that from a psychological perspective, if you’re the first one in your social group to do stuff, to do something, to buy something, to own something, you’ve got to overcome that weirdness, right? Because why are you the first one doing it? The first person to buy solar panels, for example, in the street has to overcome this weirdness where we’re all going to be looking around going, oh, you’ve got your social panels heavy. And so you’ve got to kind of that we have to navigate that social side of things. How would you sort of advise brands who are trying to do something new that have to kind of figure out that bias against people kind of taking a double take at the new thing that they’re doing?

I think let’s understand where it comes from first, right? We are social animals, we’re herd animals. So through thousands of years of evolution, we had a higher survival rate if we’re part of a tribe, a clan, part of a community. So that is what deep down drives us. You’ve just touched on that, you don’t want to stand out from the crowd. If we go to a new city, two coffee shops next to each other, there’s a queue out the door of one, the other one’s empty. On a logical level, it’s quicker to get my coffee and get out and get on with the rest of the day if we go to the one that’s empty. I’m going to join the queue because firstly, I’m delegating the decision to the rest of the tribe and secondly, they must know something that I don’t know. Now, if I’m a new brand or we’re moving into an innovative space, I would come back to the bit that I was chatting to Jacob about, which is, okay, let’s go and find the people who’ve got that identity of wanting to be an innovator and be different and make sure it’s not too psychologically uncomfortable to be different. But actually, to be the guy in the street that drives a Tesla and has the solar panels and everybody knows is the king of net zero if you’re based here in the UK and actually wants to be known by their green credentials and wants to step out from the crowd. But social is just so important. And out of all the categories, that’s the one just remember we heard animals. And so you’ve got to do the hard yards to start with. But that’s then when the flywheel kicks in and all of a sudden, it starts to drag a load of people through. And then, okay, maybe I’m trying to expand into a different area of the solar panels. Well, I might use the case study of the people that are in Tunbridge Wells, different area of the UK and go, you know, all these people have done it and this is what they’ve seen and try and give evidence to get those first people over the line. And then I would be promoting to the rest of that street, the solar panels and saying, how clever is your neighbor? They’re saving all of this money. Why aren’t you on it yet? And then they’re probably going to go and talk to the neighbor and the neighbor is because again, we’ve got this ego, I’d like to be right. The neighbor’s not going to go, yeah, they’re a bit of a nightmare. They’re brilliant. Yes, best thing I’ve ever done. I’m the first one on the street. Aren’t I clever? I’m playing into my identity and emotions once again, and they’ll do the sales job for you.

That totally happened to us. We live in a super rural area here in Wales, and I think I was having issues with the internet all the time. I was having really bad wired internet, and then I got 4G, really annoying. And then I bought Starlink, and then loads of people were talking to me about Starlink. Now everybody’s got Starlink, but I found it quite weird. At first, I did have that thought like, well, if this is so good, why am I the first person doing it? And it does cross your mind, that thing. But once you see a few around, then it becomes easier because you don’t have to stay.

And that’s a great example, because two years ago I sat in a coffee shop with someone talking about, moaning about my Wi-Fi, because I live next to a farm. And that person, who sometimes looks a bit like a caveman. So I’ve got Starlink, and it’s absolutely brilliant. So I’ve now got Starlink. A brother of all that lives across the field from me has now got Starlink. And it expands out from that. And that is social, the power of social.

I forgot I had talked to you about that. Like, last one is value, which Starlink gives me lots of value. Just sort of touch on that. What do we mean by value in behavioral science?

Well, we’re not. The interesting thing in behavioral science is that we’re often economists. So behavioral economics basically starts to look at… If you studied economics, you would assume everyone was like Dr. Spock, a bit of a human calculator, working out the best possible option and then just going with that. But we’re far more Homer Simpson, where we’re driven by the donor. We’re irrational, I should say. We are beautifully irrational. And so value, we don’t just go, oh, that is 12 pounds 78 pence, therefore it’s worth it. We’re relating, what else can I do with that? It’s because that’s how we used to manage resources. So if I’m trading meat with UMAP for something, it’s like, how much do I want to trade there? Because I’ve got to trade some others. So I’m managing my pile of resources. And just so happens now that we look at it as money, in most cases, sometimes it might be our time as well. So we’re always trading things off. And you’ve got things like effort heuristic, which is around if we demonstrate how much effort went to the production or something, people value that higher. So all of a sudden, if you just went brand exercise, three bullet points and then just number at the bottom, then I go, okay. But if you then went, and I’m using this framework, I’ll do this, and follow this, and do these stakeholder meetings, and this happens, and then we do this mapping, we do these workshops, and then same number. Same outcome, very different feeling about the effort going into it, and therefore the value that sits within it as well. Then you’ve got things like Veblen Goods, which we touched on Rolex earlier on as well, which is actually the more expensive something goes, the more desirable it is, because again, it’s showing that I am super successful. If I do have a Rolex on my wrist, which I don’t, if you do have a Rolex on my wrist, all of a sudden it’s showing in the world that I’m super successful, because everybody knows that was really hard to get my hands on as well. Value is very much something that we often look at it and just think solely based on price elasticity, but there’s so much more you can do to build out that value. Just look at the way that Jack Daniels talk about their Tennessee bourbon. And actually the way they talk about 130 years of craft, our craftsmen, this barrelman, seven generations, etc. They’re just building that out. So you go, a lot goes into that little bottle of light brown fluid. But they’re building that out in their communications and what they’re doing. And clearly, I mean, I noticed this probably about four or five years ago from them, so I’m not sure how long they’ve been doing it for. But clearly, there’s something within the business where it’s going, we need to build out the value case in the mind of the consumer. We don’t just want to race to the bottom on price, where we’re having to discount to get bottles off the shelf. We want to really reinforce that. So value sits in the eye of the beholder, but it’s how can we therefore just start to influence that?

Love it. A lot of work I do with leadership teams is to try and get them to focus on the unique value that they can only bring to market, that their competitors can’t do very easily or won’t do. I love to help teams focus on that. If you can get that and orientate a business towards it, absolutely, gold dust. I’ve done it a few times and it’s been great. I think it’s good to see it in the behavioral science bit of the equation. Well, look, we’ve gone through absolute s**t loads there. We’ve basically done a whole run through the book. But folks, we’ve hardly touched on any of really what Si has put in the book as well. So although we’ve gone through the high level, there’s a lot still in the book. So I want to encourage everybody to get that. I want to do a quick fire round with you now, Si, and then we’ll wrap. Is that, are you good for that?

Let’s go for it.

All right, Jacob, you up for up for some quick fire questions?

Yeah, let’s do it.

Should we go first? Yeah, go.

All right, best customer experience you’ve ever had?

It’s got to be St. Louis City Soccer Club. Matt Seebeck is genuinely, we often say visionary about people. Not everybody lives up to that title, but this guy absolutely nails it.

Most frustrating CX mistake that brands make?

Rush to automation when you need human in the loop. That’s only getting worse. We’ve seen big brands say they’re getting rid of 700-odd customer service executives, then to realize actually that their customer experience has gone through the floor and have to bring it back. It’s often just a cost-cutting exercise rather than thinking what’s right for the customer.

One behavioral bias every brand strategist should understand?

Our Starlink example there, everyone is social animals, so you’ve got to think about how to create that herd mentality. If you’re in the early innovative stages, then you’ve really got to think about how you find that lead user community to really start the flywheel.

Nice. One brand that really understands customer experience and not the one that you gave earlier.

Okay. I can’t use Zappos again.

Give us another one.

They are great. Okay. I touched on Dulux Paints. I’ve worked with them over the years. If you probably won’t thank me for saying this, if you ever have a problem, they just fix it. They are fantastic for that. Also do a lot of work with WD-40 as well. They are another brand, household name. But if there’s ever a problem, which there rarely ever is, the speed that those guys solve things is impressive.

All right, and the last one, one piece of advice for anyone wanting to create more human customer experiences.

Walk in their shoes, get them in the loop. If you can, get a customer advisory program up and running to help shape it. It’s amazing how we become a little bit blind to it and can’t see the wood for the trees. External perspective is super valuable. So if you’re not bringing in a customer advisory group, then get a consultant. In the same way, I would say, if you’re working on brand and you’ve been working on your brand for years, get someone like one of you guys in, because that fresh perspective helps you see the things that you think simple, that you’ve got widening your brain. That’s really straightforward. And they go, I didn’t understand that. Okay, we can take a step back. So get to the point.

I’m going to step in as well and answer that one and say, buy Si’s book on Customer Experience Thinking. And on that note, he could say that. He’s not paying me to say it as well, folks, but it is a cracking book. On that note, how do people get hold of it? How do people follow you and your work?

So books available, Amazon, all the bookstores, sielliot.com to find me, fabrics.agency for the consultancy, or just jump on LinkedIn, sielliot, double L, double T. Drop me a DM, loads of people do, and just go, I’ve got this slight problem. Where would I start? I love those ones. So fire that my way and just get into my network.

Awesome. Awesome. By the way, I love throughout the book, how you’ve got Si tracks and Simon says, or Si says, just I love how corny that is and how gorgeous that is. So well done to you for squeezing those in.

I’ve tried to avoid too many side tracks during this because we’ve run out of time.

We’ve been quite focused. Yeah. Well, there’s a lot to get through, and thanks so much for carving out the time. Really appreciate it. Your book’s amazing. Keep up the good work and keep in touch, and hopefully we’ll grab a Starbucks sometime.

Absolute pleasure.

Take care.

So I analysed every keynote, panel, Q&A and workshop from the Summit. That is roughly five or six full length business books worth of ideas covering brand strategy, design, marketing, business, creativity, community and AI.

The speakers came from different disciplines, backgrounds and perspectives, but across all that content, the same themes kept surfacing. And they point to a significant shift in the branding industry.

AI is making production faster, cheaper and more accessible. Logos can be generated in seconds. Copy can be drafted instantly. Images, presentations, concepts, research summaries and marketing assets can be created at a scale that would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago.

That does not make brand builders obsolete. But it does change where our value comes from.

The future does not belong to the person who can produce the most assets in the shortest amount of time. It belongs to the brand builder who can think clearly, exercise judgement, make better decisions and help people move forward.

Here are the eight lessons that stood out.

1. Make decisions, not just deliverables

For decades, much of the perceived value of creative professionals came from our ability to produce things other people could not. Logos, layouts, campaign concepts, presentations, illustrations, messaging and websites all required specialist skills and significant time.

Today, AI can help create all of them faster than ever. But generating an asset is not the same as knowing whether that asset should exist.

A logo can be beautifully executed and strategically wrong. A campaign can be clever without solving the business problem. A positioning statement can sound impressive while saying absolutely nothing distinctive.

This is where the value of the brand builder begins to move upstream, into brand strategy and the decisions that inform the creative work. Instead of simply asking, “What should I make?”, start asking: What should be created? Why does it need to exist? What problem are we solving? Which decision needs to be made? What outcome should this work create? How will we know if it worked?

There is a major difference between executing a brief and helping shape the thinking behind it. The latter is much harder to commoditise.

This is also why a strong brand strategy and design process starts well before visual exploration. Discovery, research and strategy create the criteria that the creative work should ultimately answer.

Before opening your design software or prompting an AI tool, ask: What does this brand actually need to achieve, and what is the right response?

That is where the more valuable work begins.

2. Be different, not just better

AI is extremely good at producing plausible work. And that is exactly the problem.

Generative AI systems learn from enormous bodies of existing material. As a result, they are exceptionally capable of reproducing familiar patterns, styles and category conventions.

Ask for branding for a premium skincare company and you will probably see elegant serif typography, muted tones and minimalist packaging. Ask for a disruptive tech company and you may get gradients, geometric typography and futuristic imagery.

Everything can look competent. Everything can also start looking the same.

This makes differentiation more important, not less. Brand builders need to understand the conventions of a category and deliberately decide which ones to keep, reinterpret or reject.

As Sally Hogshead puts it: “Different is better than better.”

That does not mean being weird simply to attract attention. Difference needs to be relevant. It needs to mean something. The goal is to create a brand that is recognisable, memorable and difficult to compare directly with everyone else in the category.

That distinction between strategy and expression matters. A successful brand identity should not simply look good. It should express the positioning, personality and strategic choices behind the brand.

Ask: What could this brand own that competitors would struggle to claim?

The answer may come through positioning, story, language, personality, product experience, visual identity or the way the organisation behaves.

Whatever the form, meaningful difference becomes increasingly valuable when everyone has access to the same powerful creative tools.

If you want to explore this further, I have also broken down what makes a good brand and the fundamental elements that give brands focus, consistency and relevance.

3. Guide what happens next

There is a common failure point in branding projects. The strategy is approved. The identity is delivered. The guidelines are handed over. Everyone celebrates. Then the branding team disappears.

The client is left to translate all that strategic thinking into marketing, sales, culture, customer experience, content, product decisions and everyday behaviour. And that is often where a strong strategy slowly begins to fall apart.

During the Summit, Stephen Houraghan described the opportunity for brand professionals to become guardians of the brand. I think there is enormous opportunity here.

Instead of seeing delivery as the end of a project, help organisations work out what should happen next. Where should this strategy show up? Who needs to understand it? Which teams need to act on it? What needs to change internally? Which opportunities should be prioritised? What could prevent this strategy from being implemented?

Most importantly: What should we do next?

This moves the relationship beyond deliverables. You become an adviser, facilitator, strategic partner and, in some cases, an operator.

Clients rarely struggle because they do not have enough PowerPoint decks. They struggle because turning decisions into action is difficult.

Help them do that.

4. Build community, not just reach

AI can create an almost infinite amount of content. It cannot automatically create genuine belonging.

That distinction matters. An audience consumes. A community participates.

Several Summit speakers, including Marissa G., Chanel Clark and James Martin, demonstrated how generosity, participation and genuine connection can create opportunities that reach alone cannot. A large audience may create visibility, but community can create relationships, referrals, collaboration, trust and shared identity.

I have seen this firsthand through the Brand Builders Alliance. What began as a way to provide more education and support has developed into a year round community where designers, strategists and creative entrepreneurs learn from one another, collaborate, share opportunities and work through the challenges of building brands and businesses together.

For years, the default online growth question has been: How can I reach more people?

A better question might be: How can I help the right people connect and contribute?

That could mean creating recurring conversations, making useful introductions, giving people a place to share their work, connecting clients with one another, sharing opportunities, inviting your audience to contribute ideas or creating events where people participate rather than simply watch.

Community is not another content channel. It is a relationship system.

And in a world filling rapidly with synthetic content, real relationships become considerably harder to replicate.

5. Develop a point of view

Producing more content will not make you irreplaceable. Developing a perspective that people recognise, remember and trust might.

AI can summarise thousands of existing opinions and generate perfectly acceptable commentary on almost any subject. What makes your perspective valuable is not simply access to information. It is what you believe after experiencing the work yourself.

Your judgement. Your convictions. Your failures. Your taste. The patterns you have noticed. The ideas you are willing to challenge.

This is something we explore regularly on the JUST Branding Podcast, where conversations with strategists, designers, marketers and business thinkers often become most interesting when people move beyond frameworks and explain what they actually believe about building brands.

James Victore is a strong example of this. His work is memorable because the person behind the work is visible. He does not disappear behind safe, polished industry language.

In James’s unmistakable spirit: “Get off the f*ing fence.”**

You do not need to become provocative for the sake of it. But you do need to decide what you believe.

Ask yourself: What does my industry regularly get wrong? What have I learned through experience that others might find useful? What am I willing to defend? Which commonly accepted ideas do I disagree with? What do I want to become known for?

A point of view gives your work a spine. It also gives people a reason to follow you instead of simply following the topic.

6. Strengthen your judgement

When generating options becomes cheap, choosing between them becomes more valuable.

AI can create 100 logo concepts. Someone still needs to decide which one is right. It can generate 50 campaign headlines. Someone still needs to know which one actually expresses the strategy. It can create multiple positioning territories. Someone still needs to understand the customer, category, commercial context and organisation well enough to recommend one.

This was central to my Brand Builders Summit keynote, 5 Keys to Becoming the Brand Builder AI Can’t Replace.

Your value does not come from rejecting AI. And attempting to compete with AI on production speed is probably a losing strategy. Your advantage comes from being able to direct the technology intelligently and recognise when the output is generic, strategically weak, inappropriate or simply wrong.

Good judgement also begins before concepts are generated. A strong brand strategy workshop can clarify the brand’s purpose, audience, competitive environment, positioning and strategic priorities before anyone starts debating fonts or logos.

Judgement is then built over time. Study great work beyond whatever happens to be trending on Instagram. Define criteria before generating solutions. Compare creative choices against the strategy. Learn to articulate why one option is stronger than another. Review the outcomes of your work, not just the visual result. Expose yourself to ideas outside design and branding. Develop the confidence to reject an attractive idea when it does not solve the problem.

The person who can generate the most options is not necessarily the most valuable person in the room.

Increasingly, it may be the person who can choose, explain and defend the right one.

7. Build confidence through action

A surprising amount of creative careers can be spent waiting. Waiting until the portfolio is better. Waiting until you have more experience. Waiting until the website is finished. Waiting until you feel qualified. Waiting until you know enough. Waiting until you are confident.

The problem is that confidence rarely arrives first. It usually follows action.

You do the work. You solve a difficult problem. You present an idea. You receive feedback. You survive the uncomfortable conversation. You publish something. You raise your price. You lead the workshop.

Each experience creates evidence. And that evidence slowly changes what you believe you are capable of.

As Robert Smith, RGD, CDP puts it: “Find your weird. Find your power.”

That power is not discovered by endlessly preparing behind the scenes. It becomes clearer when you make something, share it, test it and learn from what happens.

This is especially important for designers moving into strategy. Reading about strategy is useful, but confidence develops much faster when you actually facilitate conversations, ask difficult questions and apply the thinking with real clients. My Brand Strategy resources hub includes frameworks, articles, courses and tools for anyone looking to strengthen that side of their practice.

If you are waiting to feel completely confident before publishing, presenting, selling strategy or stepping into a more senior role, you may be waiting for a very long time.

Pick one visible action. Do it. Then let the evidence replace the hesitation.

8. Turn knowledge into practice

There has never been more information available to creative professionals, and AI has accelerated that dramatically.

You can ask an AI tool to explain brand architecture, customer research, positioning, pricing strategy or practically any established framework within seconds. Information itself is no longer particularly scarce.

Application is.

You can save 500 posts, take 20 courses, read 100 books or attend 44 hours of Summit sessions. None of it creates value until something changes because of what you learned.

The better question after consuming an idea is: What will I do differently because of this?

Where can I apply it? When will I test it? What outcome am I expecting? How will I know if it worked? Should this idea become part of my process?

Knowledge becomes useful when it survives beyond the moment of inspiration.

This is one of the reasons I believe practice matters so much in branding. Frameworks help. Education helps. Theory helps. But eventually you need to sit across from a client, make a recommendation and accept responsibility for the decision.

That is where knowledge becomes capability.

Where AI is moving the value of branding

The common thread through these eight lessons is not that AI will replace creative professionals. It is that AI changes which parts of creative work remain scarce.

Production is becoming abundant. Options are becoming abundant. Information is becoming abundant. Basic execution is becoming easier to access.

That means the more defensible value increasingly sits elsewhere: in judgement, strategic context, taste, decision making, leadership, relationships, facilitation, responsibility and knowing which problem deserves solving in the first place.

Execution still matters. Great brand design still matters. Craft still matters. But execution alone becomes harder to defend as a premium service when the tools used to create it become increasingly accessible.

The opportunity for designers, strategists, marketers and creative entrepreneurs is to move closer to the decisions that shape the organisation.

Help clients understand what matters. Create meaningful differentiation. Guide implementation. Build relationships and communities. Develop a recognisable point of view. Strengthen your judgement. Turn knowledge into action.

That is how we move from simply producing brand assets to building brands.

The short version

After analysing more than 432,000 words from 48 Brand Builders Summit speakers, I keep coming back to three capabilities:

THINK clearly. Make better DECISIONS. Help people MOVE FORWARD.

AI will continue getting better. Production will continue getting faster. The tools will change.

Those three capabilities will remain extraordinarily useful.

And they are worth strengthening whether AI is involved or not.

Continue your Brand Builders Summit journey

Brand Builders Summit 2026 brought together 48 speakers across brand strategy, design, marketing, business, creativity and AI.

If you want to revisit the ideas in this article and explore the complete Summit, the Brand Builders Summit VIP Pass gives you lifetime access to all session replays, including the keynotes, panels, workshops and Q&As, plus more than $3,000 in speaker resources and VIP bonuses.

The current VIP Pass offer ends September 24.

Get lifetime access to Brand Builders Summit 2026

And if you are looking for ongoing support beyond the Summit, the Brand Builders Alliance is our year round community for designers, strategists and creative entrepreneurs who want to master branding and build stronger creative businesses.

A huge thank you to every speaker, attendee, partner and community member who helped make this year’s Summit possible.

The conversations have only reinforced what I believe about where branding is heading.

The tools matter. But the person making the decisions still matters more.

I’ve judged creative work across branding, logos and audio, but digital experiences bring all those disciplines together. A great website or app needs more than an attractive interface. The idea, message, usability and technical execution all have to work for the people using it.

That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing in this year’s entries.

For its 25th anniversary, Horizon has reorganised the competition to reflect the work digital teams are creating now. You can enter websites, advertising and marketing campaigns, interactive and immersive experiences, apps and digital products, video, and digital learning projects.

There are also dedicated categories for AI native and AI hybrid video, as well as AI powered learning. I’m curious to see where creators are using these tools to make genuinely better experiences, not just faster ones.

What makes digital work worth recognising?

Horizon judges entries across five equally weighted areas: UX and design, creativity, technical execution, message and effectiveness.

That last one matters to me. I love distinctive work, but I also want to understand what it set out to do and whether it succeeded. Who was it made for? Does the experience make sense to them? Is there a strong idea behind it?

The competition uses blind judging wherever possible, so judges do not receive entrant or company information during evaluation. The work has to speak for itself.

Enter your work

If you’re a designer, developer, creative studio, agency or in house team with a digital project you’re proud of, take a look at the 2026 categories and entry requirements.

My advice is to give the judges enough context to understand the work. Explain the audience, the challenge, the thinking behind your decisions and the results where you have them. For a private app or an experience that can’t be explored directly, a clear walkthrough can help show what makes it special.

Entries close 11 December 2026. You can enter the Horizon Interactive Awards here.

I’m grateful to have judged with Horizon since 2019 and to return for its 25th anniversary. It’s another opportunity to recognise thoughtful creative work, alongside my judging roles with the Designity Awards, LogoLounge, Signal, Indigo Design Award and LogoWave.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve made.

AI is no longer simply helping consumers make decisions. It is becoming an active participant in what they discover, trust and buy. In this episode of JUST Branding, Jacob Cass and Matt Davies speak with Asha Parmar, founder of Élan Intelligence, about the changing relationship between brands, buyers and AI.

Asha explains how AI is compressing the traditional customer journey, influencing brand discovery and creating a new kind of AI enabled consumer. The conversation explores “machine equity”, the role of reviews and third party conversations, and why brands must now communicate clearly with both people and machines. They also tackle a bigger question: if consumers increasingly outsource their research, decisions and even personal reflection to AI, how will that affect identity, values and brand loyalty?

You’ll learn:

• How AI is changing consumer behaviour and purchase decisions
• Why the traditional marketing funnel is being compressed
• What machine equity means for brand builders
• How brands can become more visible to AI systems
• Why transparency and genuine customer experience matter more than ever

How to research AI behaviour within your category The next buyer choosing your brand might not be human. Is your brand ready?

Listen Here

Love the show? Please review us on Apple.

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Learn Brand Strategy

Brand Master Secrets helps you become a brand strategist and earn specialist fees. And in my opinion, this is the most comprehensive brand strategy course on the market.

The course gave me all the techniques and processes and more importantly… all the systems and tools I needed to build brand strategies for my clients.

This is the consolidated “fast-track” version to becoming a brand strategist.

I wholeheartedly endorse this course for any designer who wants to become a brand strategist and earn specialist fees.

Check out the 15-minute video about the course, which lays out exactly what you get in the Brand Master Secrets.

Transcript

Hello, folks. Welcome to this latest episode of JUST Branding. This one is going to be exciting. We are going to be pushing the boat out on that lovely buzz phrase of AI. Before everybody groans and dies inside, this is going to really shift your mindset. We have with us the most amazing person to discuss this with, this Asha Parmar. She’s an award-winning insights leader with a decade of experience in global research and strategy at the intersection of culture, audience brand, and product innovation. I asked Asha before this, can I drop some of the people that she’s been working with into this bio and she said, no, Matt, because I’m so wonderful. I’m NDA’d. But put it this way, folks, she’s worked with some of the top AI brands out there to kind of uncover consumer intelligence in this new age of AI. She’s been advising those leading tech companies around AI search, consumer behavior, and agentic product development. So she’s the perfect person for us to tap into today. I’ve just got a couple of other notes that say that Asha has built a global footprint in the industry from conference stages to podcasts. She’s recently received wonderful awards from Dreambook and Women in Innovation for her contributions at the frontier of AI and innovation. And today she is the founder. How do I say this, Asha? I should have probably checked with you before. I’m going to say Élan Intelligence, but is that correct?

It’s technically from a French word, but that works. Élan Intelligence, yes.

Élan Intelligence. What confused me, folks, is there’s a little squiggle above the E. And the language ignorant person, I don’t know what that means, but Élan Intelligence, so E-L-A-N, intelligence, a boutique consultancy focused on AI and consumer brand dynamics. That was probably the worst introduction I’ve ever done, but welcome, Asha, to JUST Branding.

Thank you, Matt. Just, I guess, to clarify Élan in French means momentum. So I think a lot of what I’ve been focused on is, as the big variables are shifting, what does that mean for human behavior and the dynamics between consumers and brands, and how do you find and forward, path forward and maintain that momentum? So that’s really where the idea of the name came from.

Love it. Love it. We’re all about momentum here on JUST Branding, as Jacob will testify to. Before we get into this, it’d probably be worth just saying, me and Asha have a funny story because, Asha, I think you thought I was in New York and you were visiting New York, weren’t you? And you were like, people, I think we’d been connected for a while. And you were like, hey, let’s meet up for a coffee. And I was like, yeah, I’d love to meet up for a coffee. But it was the most bizarre message. It was like, I’m in New York. Would you like to meet up for a coffee? I’m like, I’d love to, but I’m in South Wales in the UK. So that’s going to be tricky. But we decided to have a conversation, didn’t we? Because this subject of how consumer dynamics is changing is on the forefront of at least my mind as a brand builder. And you’re right there at the cutting edge. So I’m really thrilled that you agreed to follow up our conversations and eventually come on the podcast. So thank you.

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Matt. I think really where my story begins with all this, I’ve spent the last decade in a kind of combination of consumer insight, brand. I’ve jumped around like many of us in the industry have, sort of taking little leaves out of the different playbooks. Most recently, I was specializing in tech sector, working with some of the biggest tech names, at a big agency in New York. And then AI happened, right? AI sort of exploded onto the scene, and I found myself completely enthralled with what was going on, how that was changing the way that consumers behave, what’s it doing to our psychology, and the possibility for how it changes, the way that we relate to brands and interact with them. So that’s sort of a bit of background as to how I got here. What I found really sort of surprising to begin with is that so much of the conversation was really around AI efficiency gains, how do we optimize process, how do we cut costs? And we were sort of pretty distracted from the bigger strategic opportunity, at least as I saw it. And that’s really what led me to ultimately go independent and start this business where there’s a lot to unpack in terms of the mechanics of how consumers work and what that means for brand strategy.

That is so smart. And that’s why I think this is going to be really interesting because I think you’re right, I go to lots of conferences and speak all over the place. And the mistake I see a lot of businesses focusing on, if you like, they don’t think it’s a mistake, this is just the way they think, is they’re exploiting what’s already there, if that makes sense. So what they’re doing is they’re looking at what they’re doing already, and they’re thinking, how can we make this better? How can we save money? How can we fire half the sales team, cut wage bills? How can we build digital workers and agents to basically do what we do right now, but with agentic AI? Which is fine, right? I mean, I don’t know what your thoughts are, Asha. I kind of think that kind of makes sense. But what I love about what you’re saying there is, is that that’s not the big picture here. There’s a bigger picture around customers and consumers and the way that behavior is shifting. Now, we are presented with, I guess, artificial intelligence that can support the consumer. Is that right?

Yeah, absolutely. I think as you say, Matt, I think it makes sense. It’s a very logical place for people to start. It’s super tangible. We can optimize things. We can immediately see the return on whatever we’re cutting, whatever we’re optimizing. So it makes sense. I think the challenge with AI is, A, that it’s changing so quickly. Like keeping up to pace with what is actually happening in the developments of these tools is not really a minefield, but it’s happening so fast that you sort of have to be immersed and really close to it to even get a sense of what might be happening in the bigger strategic picture. And because of that and because it’s so murky, I think there’s a lot of sort of ostriching, right? Heads in the sand as to, well, what does this ultimately mean? And that’s why I’ve decided to go super niche on it, because I think you need that genuine immersion to actually understand what’s changing, to apply it to what that looks like in terms of consumer behavior, and then to extrapolate that on to not only what does it mean for brand building as a sort of fundamental discipline, but what does it look like category to category? And I think, again, there’s so many variables that are a part of it. That’s why I’ve sort of decided to go in quite niche on it.

Smart. So in terms of changing consumer behavior, perhaps we could start there. And how would you sort of describe that shift? I know you’re fully immersed in this, and a lot of people on the podcast will be fully familiar with some of this, but let’s just sort of start simply, and then we’ll build the complexity into the conversation.

Yeah. So I think let’s start before we get into brand specifically. When we look at the data on AI usage in daily life, in personal life, I mean, even this data is maybe even a little old, a little old now, maybe six months old. But taking Europe as an example, you’ve got more than four and five people that are using AI in daily life, whether that’s for work, whether that’s for personal planning, moral reasoning, which I’ll come to a little bit later, why am I being ghosted, that sort of thing. It’s already become such a big part of-

Jacob is obviously up for now.

It’s already become such a fundamental part of people’s lives. Yes, it’s a tool, but it’s become a lot more than that in people’s life. It’s become a companion, it’s become a bit of a trusted friend when we talk about this moral reasoning or relationship guidance even. It’s got influence over the way people think, how they behave, what they’re doing, where they spend their money, and that’s really where brands come into the picture. I wanted to level set on that broad behavior before we get into it. When we look at actually how it’s come into decision journeys, into the brand mechanics, we’ve got, again, this data maybe is a few months old, but you’ve got more than two and three European consumers, at least I’ll use that as a bit of a bellwether for now that are using it upstream in the journey. So in learning about a category, in discovering new brands, products, in evaluation, in comparison, and it’s particularly high in the more research-intensive categories, perhaps that’s not super surprising, but I’ll use a personal anecdote here. It’s not just young people. So my parents were planning a road trip to Canada to go and visit my sister who lives out there. My dad texted me a few months ago saying, you won’t believe this, but I’ve just used ChatGPT. They had sort of super specific needs for this road trip. My sister was joining for some of it. They had some flexibility on certain dates, all these sort of very nuanced specific needs that in the end he was going mad trying to use Google for this. He just put it all into ChatGPT and he ended up booking somewhere that was recommended by ChatGPT. He did it through booking.com, but he went for somewhere that was recommended by ChatGPT because it allowed for him to come with that super nuanced, highly contextual intent signal. That’s what I mean where I’ve written about the decision journey or the funnel collapsing. It’s not necessarily that it doesn’t exist anymore, but it’s being compressed. You have so much of the activity, so much of that upfront process happening within one interface, within one surface, that by the time somebody comes to interact with a brand, that they’re coming much closer to the decision point. It raises interesting questions around how much influence or flexibility a brand has over those earlier touch points when so much of it’s being mediated through these platforms.

That’s such a great point. I’ve got another, there’s loads of studies out there, aren’t there, but one of the studies I found quite interesting was one from Stanford. Again, it’s probably a little bit old now, but what they found was that this is 2026, so it’s this year, Stanford 2026 AI index report, if you want to look it up. It found, for example, that 53 percent of the population that they interviewed, which was US, I believe, they basically had 53 percent adoption within three years. This is over half the population within three years had adopted AI, and it’s probably going way up now, because it was earlier this year. But why that’s amazing is just to give us all a bit of a pause for breath, is that’s faster adoption of a technology than any other technology that humanity has ever seen. So faster than the personal computer, even faster than the Internet across the world’s population. So 53 percent now of us across the world, at least 53, it’s probably gone up, are using AI. So that’s like mental next level, and it’s mildly scary, right? Because as you say, Asha, like if it’s affecting behavior, right? Like, you know, that’s very worrying. It really is. I like to think that there’s a lot of governance in place, but I do worry that it’s not. We’ll get to that.

Yeah, well, we’ll definitely, I definitely have some opinions and thoughts around, around, you know, what the governance and what it means in terms of, you know, the data that it’s trained on and what that means for power and things like that. But yeah, I mean, as you say, it’s being adopted so quickly. It’s changing behavior so quickly. And that’s where I think there’s a sort of oversight or short-sightedness within brands, even within agencies, that like there’s so much to understand and unpack and stay on top of as to how this is changing and what that means for the dynamics between the brands and the consumers. And I say dynamics, I know it’s maybe not a super common term, but I think it’s more than the relationship, it’s more than the interactions. We have this sort of unpredictable, unknown entity now that is mediating it, this sort of go between that no one has control over. The brands certainly don’t have control over, that consumers are, it’s sort of refracting their experience of the brand. And I think, and Matt, we’ve talked in the past about narrative control. And I think that’s a really, really, even for IP lawyers, right? This extends beyond sort of people in house and in brand teams to the sort of legal ramifications. And I don’t want to walk myself down a legal rabbit hole here because I don’t know too much about it in terms of IP law. But when we think about how the narrative around a brand is refracted through these systems and what that means in terms of lack of control, it raises questions around, well, how do brands keep building equity nowadays when there is this intermediary?

Right, and this intermediary, so this is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot for some of the projects I’m on. The intermediary, I’ll tell you a little story, actually. So one of the classic things that I do within leadership teams is obviously try and help them think about the consumer at the end of the cycle of what they’re doing as they’re building their brand. So my work is very customer-focused. And so I was working with a project, it must have been about eight months ago. And one of the things we do is create ideal customer personas like at the top level. So I do it with the leadership team, right? And I bring research in and I say like, who are we trying to orient, who are we serving as a business and as a brand? And we’re going through this exercise, it’s all classic, typical kind of exercise. And I’m in this workshop and someone says, yeah, but we’ve got another persona that no one’s thought about yet. So what’s that? It’s the agents. And I was like, what the heck? How do I build a brand persona for us to speak to agents? And they were like, they were super passionate about it. And I just thought this person was off their heads. Anyway, I went away and thought about it and thought, actually, this is actually true, like exactly what you were saying. I still haven’t quite cracked how I build a persona for an agent because the agent, in effect, becomes, and I’d love to get your thoughts on this, my agent, like my chat GDP, if I’m losing it at a low level or even if I’ve got an agent, is a manifestation of what I’ve put into it, roughly. And I’ve framed it and it wants to please me. So it knows my values, it knows how I think, it knows the quality and what I want from whatever product I’m trying to buy. So it’s kind of a reflection of the ideal consumer. But there’s one massive difference, which is that, this is how I see it. It can research at lightning-fast pace, make decisions without really consulting me based on its assumptions about me at lightning-fast pace. And therefore, I’m starting to use this term like AI-enabled consumers. So I’ll give you a quick example. Let’s say I’m super into the climate change and the planet and stuff, and minimizing my carbon footprint is a huge deal to me. My agent will know that. So when I go and say to it, what lawnmower should I buy? Right. It’s going to be like, OK, I know Matt’s super keen on the environment, and it’s going to be not only assessing price, quality, size of lawn, all the things that it might ask me about, but it’s also going to be thinking, right, what’s going to be the most energy efficient, what’s going to be the most green option, and then make recommendations. It may not even mention to me, hey, Matt, I’ve recommended this because it’s an electric lawnmower, and actually the carbon, that will help you with your carbon footprint values. It might just offer it up as a thing. And that’s the kind of the dynamic shift I think we might be witnessing. Say like with your dad’s example, like he wants to plan a trip, etc. It will know certain things about what your dad values and enjoys in life that might start offering those up as part of the itinerary. It might not say on day three I’ve offered this particular restaurant because I know you’re a massive fan of fish, but it will do it. So is that the sort of shift that you’re seeing and the sort of things that you’re starting to think about? How do you think about some of those things that I’ve mentioned?

Yeah, so I think I’m so glad that we’re talking about this. So I think one thing that I want to maybe clarify is that LLMs, your chat GPTs, your clods is not the same as an agent. Agents are so new, they’re really like piloting in the US at the moment. They’ve actually not really sort of made headway yet over here in the UK and Europe. So I think a lot of what I’ve been talking about so far relates to people using LLMs, for example, or AI-enabled experiences within brand interfaces. I will come to agents in a second, but I just wanted to start off there. So as you say, there’s a sort of part of the LLM that has got to know me, that knows sort of the kinds of ways that I ask questions, the things that I value. It has built some sort of picture of who I am. There’s also the part of it, and here we sort of get into, well, how does this sort of recommendations process work in this sort of AI black box, and the sort of question of how does that machine equity, as I like to call it, work? So just to take a bit of a step back, a lot of the machine sort of mentions and recommendations come from a couple of things. So there’s the sort of part that the brand can control, which is how is my native data structured? Is my brand narrative consistent across different touch points, across my different surfaces? Is it machine legible? So when somebody comes to an LLM and says, I’m looking for a brand that is XYZ, that offers XYZ, is my data clear enough to be able to read that need, interpret that from my native content and say, hey, there’s a match here. This brand answers that specific question or need that that person has. That is part of it, but it’s not the biggest part. The sort of major part of how these machines recommend is actually from third party UGC, right? It’s going to, when you see on ChatGPT or on Claude, when it’s sort of scanning through those different sites that it’s pulling the responses from, you’ll see Reddit come up a lot, because Reddit is a massive citation source that it references. And so we have this situation where actually the human equity that brands build, where you have consumers being vocal about the brand on socials, on Reddit, that is actually informing the machine equity, what it ends up recommending and suggesting. So you have this sort of interesting cycle where obviously brands need to keep building equity with people as they have done in the past. But not only is that just to build that mental availability, the emotional resonance, everything that we know already about brands, but actually now that feeds into how the machine equity is built when it’s reading about how people are being vocal about the brand on things like Reddit, and that is feeding into it. It’s then of course overlaying it, as you said, with this sort of persona that it’s built of you as the user in terms of what you value. So there’s so many sort of things that come into it. Parts that the brand can control, as I said, how the data is structured on their native content. But then things that they can’t control, which is what are people saying about the brand online? And how do those marry up? Is it consistent? So I think that’s why I talk about human and machine equity, and that sort of being the new mandate that brands have to work towards, because it’s no longer just the human at the end, it’s the machine at the end. But they share a lot of commonality and root in how to build that equity.

I’m so pleased that you clarified a couple of those things.

Let’s take a little break from today’s conversation. If you are enjoying this episode, I think you’re going to love the Brand Builders Summit. You can join me, Jacob Cass, Matt Davies, and more than 40 leading brand experts from September 8 to 11 for four days of free talks, live Q&As, workshops and panels. You can reserve your free ticket at brandbuildersummit.com. Now back to the episode.

When you think about what Asha’s just said, folks, right, listeners, can you imagine like this? What this means to me is this goes back to what we talk about a lot in terms of brand strategy, right? That the brand is the meaning that other people attach to you, right? That you don’t own the brand as the company. In fact, the customers own the brand. It’s in the eye of the beholder. So what AI is enabling is basically that on steroids, right? On steroids like that, you can’t fudge stuff anymore, right? If you’ve got a NAF brand, a NAF product, a NAF offering, a NAF service, it’s going to be damaged. Anyway, sorry, Jacob, I know you wanted to come in. In fact, I think we’re about half an hour in.

Yeah. It’s very unusual. I’ll get one question in. I’ll get one question in. It’s really interesting that you say that we can control the data within our brand and it’s important to structure that correctly in the best way possible. That’s what we can essentially control in the UDC content. We can’t really. So what can brands do to control that data better? Because I’ve seen, for example, on web developers sites, I’ve been on a few of them recently and they have these buttons where you can see what the agent can see behind the scenes. So it’s like, hey, this is the visual front end. You click this button and now you can see exactly what the agent sees. And it’s just like a bunch of code. And he’s kind of promoting his knowledge of AI and development, showing that, hey, I can structure data for brands and websites, so agents can actually read it correctly. So you’re actually sending the right data. So how important is it to control that sort of data in terms of websites and everything on the back end? And what can we actually do better today to control it?

Code is not my bag, right? So in terms, I’m sure that sounds incredibly helpful in terms of being able to see what the machine would be able to interpret. But in sort of natural language, right? For sort of the general population, what can we do? Well, it’s honestly really simple things. It’s like having bullet points or tables. And yes, you might, from a sort of visual brand perspective, nobody necessarily wants tables on their website. But in terms of how you actually structure it, whether you adapt it so that you don’t actually visually see a table or whatever, in terms of the actual structuring, if you think even in hiring people, when people are using these ATS systems, these AI systems to read CVs, people have to structure it in a certain way now so that the machine actually can read it and sort of distill their experience from how it’s structured. Nobody wants a super boring CV when they’re sending it through. But you have to adapt it now to what the machine can actually read to make sense of it coherently and pull it out in the right way. So from the visual branding perspective, there’s things you can do to mask those very formulaic structures that the machines actually need to be able to read it. That’s a combination of design team and developers and website getting that stuff in the right order. From the UGC perspective, obviously a lot of it you can’t control, but I’ve been speaking to brands and it’s really talking about, well, digital PR, what can we do about that in terms of building community and actually doubling down on how we build equity with people through community, through the things that live outside of AI that ultimately are going to benefit how the AI reads it.

I think that’s worth unpacking, how to actually build equity for both man and machine. How?

I know one of the things that we talked about earlier, Matt, in the notes was, do we need a totally brand new player, do we need to rip up everything? I don’t think that’s the case. I think we need to sort of reframe the playbooks that we’ve had already to make sure that they still work. There are things that we need to double down on. As I said, it’s still the sort of fundamental thing, the things that Sharpen, Ripson actually did agree on at Cannes this year, right? It’s like there still needs to be this mental availability, but it’s the mental availability not just for humans, but for the machines. How visible are you online in terms of the actual like mass share of model that’s coming in? It’s things like authenticity and consistency. So is what your brand is saying, does it match up to the actions, the behaviors that the brand is actually enacting? AI, as you said Matt before, AI can like digest swathes of data at lightning speed. It knows when a brand’s claims aren’t going to stand up to scrutiny and it will penalize for that. So it’s really, I’ve said this on a post before, it’s like it’s really bad news for anyone, pink washing, green washing, rainbow washing, that stuff isn’t going to, it just isn’t going to fly anymore because the machine will penalize it and we’ll see when that’s happening. So a lot of the traditional fundamentals still apply, but it’s just making sure that we’re doubling down on those things in a way that the machine can read. As I said before, there is this cycle of building this human equity that then informs the machine equity and that being a virtuous cycle. Maybe this is where agents actually is a good time to bring in agents because there’s the third part of that which is, well, once you’ve got agents owning some of those end-to-end decisions or finalizing transactions or completing these choices, that’s where the machine equity ends up getting cemented. So if you’ve built this human equity with an individual who’s going to your brand directly or who is being vocal about your brand on these public forums, that is feeding into the machine equity where it recommends to other people to go for your brand or your product. Once we start seeing agents actually acting on those decisions, transactions, completing those journeys, then you have that sort of cemented machine equity where it becomes the algorithmic default. Again, obviously, this varies by category, but it’s sort of the framework of how I’m thinking about it.

So, Asha, we’ve been talking about agents for a little bit. I think it would be good to define that for our listeners. Like, what is an agent? How is it different to LLMs? And what are they doing on the back end? Like, how do they work as well?

Yeah, so an LLM is what we know of as ChatGPT of Claw. It’s like, it’s, I was about to say basic interface. It’s obviously not basic, but it’s the sort of very kind of commonplace interface that we see now. It’s essentially search on steroids, you might say. Like, you can use it to do your research, to evaluate. It’s a lot of those kind of top of funnel, upstream parts of the process. Where agents come in, and it’s less perhaps about agents live natively within these AI platforms, and more about how are brands implementing agents as part of their experiences. Agents are autonomous decision makers, and they can act and decide within whatever confines and bounds a user gives, right? So I might say, if I set up an agent and say, look, there’s a pair of sneakers that’s like limited edition that I really, really want, but I will only pay X amount for them. Keep tabs on what’s happening in the resell market, and when it drops to that price, just buy it no matter what. That might be a very sort of specific set of confines that I’ve given it. It won’t do it until it hits that price, and it may never hit that price, or I might say within this certain price range, or only if they’ll ship from Germany, or whatever it is, it can act autonomously, but within parameters set by the user. And I think, again, we’re not quite there yet. This is where, I don’t know if you guys saw the Google IO conference in May this year, Google is starting to introduce these more agentic experiences into search, where you can kind of have these assistants essentially running in the background for all manner of things, where you set individual kind of custom agents to take care of certain things that you want. But it is very different to a user interacting with an LLM and maintaining that control over the process versus an agent which is essentially AI acting autonomously.

Understood. Thank you for defining that. So where are we going from here? The strategic opportunity we kind of dropped at the beginning, we haven’t kind of unpacked what that may be. So what is the strategic opportunity here for brands?

As we’re moving away from this focus on efficiencies, I think so much of these sort of purchase journeys and broader brand building is going to be increasingly mediated through these entities, right? This is sort of why I’ve called it both an existential threat and a golden opportunity, because brands that don’t respond to this aren’t necessarily going to survive it. They might in the next 10 years, but if we’re thinking super long-term, I mean, who knows where we’re going to go with this technology and what that’s ultimately going to do to culture and behavior in the longer term. But you can’t only lean on the human equity forever. We need to be still monitoring and baking in how does that relationship work between the humans, the brand, and the machines. This is what I mean by dynamics. It’s this push and pull, this fluid relationship of power in that dynamic. I think brands that we’re now are going to be the ones that respond to these changes that are purposefully building equity with the humans and the machines and keeping tabs on how those things are changing.

Yeah. One of the things that crossed my mind around this was, in terms of when we think of opportunity, as you rightly point out, now if we have AI-enabled consumers, that in effect can research, the claims of a brand, and they can verify to the best of the AI’s ability, the claims. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a rise in what I would call radical transparency from brands to differentiate. I think there’s opportunities to differentiate themselves in market. For example, if I’m in a B2B brand, I don’t know, I’m selling ball bearings or something, and I know my competitor is using very dodgy manufacturing techniques, and as you say, maybe they’re greenwashing, maybe they’re using labor that they shouldn’t be using in parts of the world. That’s pretty unethical. Whatever it might be, maybe they’re sourcing material from mines that have all these issues. I don’t know, whatever it might be. If I then say, right, hang on, our differentiating point is that we’re going to back up our claims. Okay, so what we’re going to do is make our supply chain open. There’s been a concept for a while in, I’m just going off on a tangent here, but this concept of open book, which is where we’re going to share what everything costs, where everything comes from, like coffee sourcing, for example, fair trade, all that good stuff. I think we might see more of a rise of that side of things, so that now, when an AI is scanning my industry, they can see quite clearly that what I say is true and right, and that I’ve been open about it, versus my competitor, who I know would find it very hard to open up their books, if you like, to use that ancient expression, on their supply chain. So there might be things like that, which we start to see as an opportunity for brands to stop fudging it, to start standing by these claims that they’re making and really opening themselves up to scrutiny. That’s what I hope, because I think the world will be better for that.

Totally. And I think that’s a really important point, like this shift, I think it’s basically going to make brands like pull their socks up, right? You’re going to have to be more radically transparent, more radically authentic. I mean, I think there’s the machine part of it, what you’ve just been mentioning, Matt. It’s going to know when there’s inconsistency and it’s going to penalize that. But from the human point of view, if we think about the world around us today, it’s because of AI largely, it’s like a super flat, samey world. It’s really fragmented. There’s a lot of just flatness. And I think people, I think, you know, I do a lot of cultural research as well. People are gasping for meaning. I think we see a lot of narratives in our industry at the moment of like, weird is good, right? It’s like the antidote to AI slot, this algorithmic flatness that we’re sort of seeing around us, these media echo chambers where this sort of nothing has that much meaning anymore. And as consumers, we’re sort of starved of that. So we’ve got this sort of on the one hand, weird is good, reintroducing intentional friction into brand experiences, spiky edges to really have some distinctiveness, some level of friction and meaning in the experience, helping brands kind of cut through the noise. I think that’s a really, really important part of it. But I guess this sort of brings me to a slightly bigger philosophical point that I’ve been thinking about recently quite a lot, which is the way that we understand ourselves as people, as consumers, when we think about who are we, who do we want to be, what do we align ourselves with, what are our values? We’re outsourcing a lot of that kind of thinking, or increasingly so, to AI. So when we’re talking about the sort of moral reasoning, am I being ghosted? Okay, maybe that’s a funny example. But actually, how do I navigate this tricky conversation with someone? What career path should I take? A lot of the thinking, not just in the work, in how we use Excel, a lot of the sort of personal introspective thinking that we’re doing is being outsourced to these machines. And maybe this is slightly tangential, but I think it’s really interesting from a sort of consumer identity brand point of view where our sense of self as individuals is, I think neuroscientists, psychologists, you know, philosophers agree on this, is that the sense of self is derived from the stories we tell ourselves, right? These narratives that we build, it’s the same for brands, but for us as people, it’s built from this very active process of reflection, introspection, participation in that. When that’s getting outsourced, what does that mean for how we understand ourselves, what we align to, what we, our sense of what we value, and what does that mean then for the relationships with brands? So it’s quite, I guess it’s a bit of a sort of murky, amorphous point at the moment, and it’s when maybe not yet there at a sort of critical juncture of it. But as I sort of see us outsourcing more of that and us sort of losing the ability to perhaps introspect and build that sense of self, I think it’s going to raise some pretty big questions for brands and how they understand the consumer and how the consumer understands themselves and the brands that mean something to them. There’s this idea of AI being a bit of a co-author to the self, right? Tell me if I’m going off on too much of a tangent here. But if we think even aside from LLMs, we use predictive text every day. We’ve got algorithms telling us how to speak. We’re using wearable data telling us how we should feel. Oh, you might be pretty tired today. Take it easy, right? It’s impacting the way that we see ourselves, think about ourselves and how we live. And so when you think about that on the one hand, and then the sort of structural piece around it, I read a report yesterday called Liquid Adulthood, which was super, super interesting. It’s like we no longer have in society today, we no longer have the traditional scaffolding that previous generations relied on to make sense of our identity. We don’t have sort of stable employment in the same way. Home ownership is out of reach for a lot of people. These kind of traditional markers aren’t really sort of consistently there for us. So the sort of burden of building a coherent sense of self falls squarely on us. Okay, but now we’re outsourcing a lot of that. So it suddenly becomes quite murky. And when we think that these models, how these models are trained, the data that they’re trained on, it’s not unbiased data, right? It’s sort of Western, democratic, rich, the weird sort of demographic that the data is largely built on. As we’re sort of co-authoring the sense of self, what does that mean for questions of power, representation, fairness, and ultimately, what does that mean for?

And ethics and morals, right?

Totally.

You mentioned the scaffolding of the past, like religion is now something that is, well, bizarrely, at least in the UK, it’s kind of coming back around because I think we’ve gone down a path and realized, actually, we’re kind of lost, we need some scaffold to use your term. So that’s super interesting. Ethics and morals are really interesting. If the LLM and the AI is there to serve my interests, and I say, hey, Asha is getting in my way, what does it advise me to do? I’m just talking broadly. That’s just an interesting thought. These are really big questions that I think we need to get to grips with. I don’t know if we’re going to get to grips with them on this episode. But I think they’re worth brands thinking about. Like if a brand, for example, stands for something, by definition, it stands against something else. You take that to the extreme. That can be quite serious. We do need to balance these things up ethically and think through. That’s why I’m a big fan of like, what is it that Rory Sutherland talks about? It’s like, I’ve forgotten the name of it, but it’s like reverse benchmarking is what he talks about. The idea is that a brand can own a part of the market that makes a lot of sense and is like stands for a high value thing that would appeal to a particular audience. But when you reverse benchmark that against the opposite, that should also be of value to a particular type of audience. Not wrong, not right, just like a different option. Then you’re in a healthy situation where there’s not right and wrong. It’s like you might like red, but someone else likes blue. Fine, if you want blue, go over there. You’re not for us. If you want red, you’re for us. That’s a good way of thinking about it if folks are thinking on the podcast. That’s how I’ve started thinking about it. But rather than thinking in absolutes, so think about consumer value, that’s maybe one thought. But yeah, wow. I think we should probably bring it back round to starting to think about closing out, because I think you’ve blown my mind a few times. Was there anything that you wanted to touch on before I bring it back round? I know you were going down a particular route there with the agents and then threw into like these LLM models and then ethics and stuff. Was there anything else you want to touch on before I ask my next question?

Yeah. Go for your next question. We’ll see what we get to with the rest.

Yeah. Okay.

Well, I was going to talk about, because we were talking about the opportunity, weren’t we? I think it would probably be worth just touching on your advice to folks who are navigating this space. I know we are still in its infancy and trying to grapple with these things, as this podcast has explained. But someone who’s like yourself is on the cutting edge, who’s being approached by top brands to figure things out. What do you advise brand builders who are trying to get their arms around this?

I think a really important part of it is understanding the, it is running research to understand, how are the mechanics playing out for a specific category, or even product category within a category, because if we think about a consumer using AI to look at luxury handbags versus toothpaste, we’re not dealing with the same kettle of fish. So let’s say, since I was 18, I’ve always wanted to have a Louis Vuitton handbag.

Jacob, that’s the case for Jacob, I’m sorry.

A pink one, a pink one.

I think, you know, this, and again, this is sort of a model that I’m trying to kind of work on building at the moment, right? That sort of relates to, again, it’s not finalized. So it’s something around, how does consideration level as a variable impact things, whether that’s in terms of emotions, finance, complexity, how significant is the outcome of a purchase decision if it’s a holiday versus, I don’t know, trying a new type of olive, right? And how significant is the experience of that purchase process? So again, to take it back to the handbag example, if I’ve had this aspirational Louis Vuitton handbag dream since I was 18, I probably know that that’s the brand that I want to go for. I might be using AI at that point, not to try and figure out, is that the brand I want? I probably know that because it’s been aspirational for a long time. It’s got all the emotional components of social signaling that I want. But maybe I’m using AI to understand, well, where should I buy it from? Is it worth doing it, weighing up the cost of, well, it’s not going to be a brilliant experience buying it at duty free versus if I go in store, maybe I have this whole other experiential part or what does the resale market look like if I’m using it as an investment? Understanding how AI is part of the process within the category versus toothpaste, I might be looking for if I’ve got super specific needs, really sensitive teeth or I want extreme whitening, maybe I’m using it to understand brands, but I’m probably not going to care that much if I’m shopping and it substitutes it for another toothpaste because it’s low cost, it’s fairly low stakes. Understanding how those mechanics look within a specific category, how important are these different factors influencing these behaviors and in what parts of the journeys. Then also understanding how does that vary between different audiences, how a gen alpha might be using it or a very niche subculture, how super fans of Taylor Swift are using it in terms of their broader ticketing experience or merch or whatever. I think there’s a lot of research to be done around these different mechanics. It’s so untouched right now, a lot of that. There’s a lot to be understood in order to reap the benefits of the strategy there.

What you’re talking about is, I guess, is a multifaceted strategy based on different… Again, I guess you’d call it psychographics, wouldn’t you? What state of mind is the consumer in when they are entering the category to buy? I’d also throw another one out there, which is very Mark Rickson-esque, which is perhaps you have a target market. There’s the 95-5 rule, right? Which is like 95% of your ideal customers are not in the market to buy today. Usually only 5% are in any, roughly speaking, any given kind of segmentation. So, not only would we use AI in the 5%, right? Which is, as you were talking about, the different states of mind, different type of psychographic for them. But the 95 who don’t even know they need my product or want my product yet, how do I start to think about positioning my brand and building up awareness and salience within those markets? I mean, this is like, and using AI and thinking about that through that lens. I mean, this is going to get complicated, Asha, more complicated than the average person might care to think about. So, I think you’re in a good space as you continue this journey and focusing in on this because, as you say, this is definitely going to be the future. So, we will be keeping an eye on you and your work as time goes on. If people wanted to do that, Asha, how do we connect with you and all of your work and like, what’s the best way to kind of keep in touch with your thinking?

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On LinkedIn is probably where I post the most. I can maybe put it in the description, a link to my profile and my website, elanintelligence.com. I do a lot, post a lot of my thinking there. I’m probably going to be sub-stacking one of these days soon. So, if I do before this comes out, then I’ll drop a link to that as well.

Amazing, amazing. Final questions, because we’re running out of time, but the final question for me would, and I want to do a quick fire round in just a second, just to wrap things up. The final long-winded question would be, you’ve obviously been, as you say, brand building pre the AI revolution, and then you’re working through it. What’s the biggest shift in your own thinking that you’ve had to grapple with over the last few years? For listeners, right, you’ve sort of got like that emoji where you’re like thinking emoji. So that was what was going on there. Carry on, Asha.

Sorry for the long pause. Why the long pause? I mean, I think, again, I think it’s this obvious one that we’re now dealing with. It’s not a sort of binary, it’s not a duo, right? We’re not just talking about the brand and the consumer anymore. I think when we’ve got this third party, this third entity, that again, is a bit of a black box and not understood, that sort of throws everything out of the water, right? There’s so much of it that we don’t understand, that we won’t ever be able to understand because it’s so tightly kept under wraps. So it’s a bit of a Tetris game of understanding, well, what are the mechanics between now the three of these and how they fit within the bounds of what we actually can learn and understand about this third entity that’s part of it and how do we organize around it in the new dynamic.

Okay, let’s do the quick fire and then we’ll wrap. So I’m going to start off. AI optimist or AI realist?

AI realist.

One brand everyone should study.

Probably Nike.

One AI tool you couldn’t live without.

Claude.

Search or agents?

Well, search now, agents tomorrow.

One thing every brand leader should do in the next 12 months.

Research into what’s happening in your category. How people are interacting with you, your brand, your category and AI. What role is AI playing in that process, not just in the journey, but for your consumers in terms of their behavior and attitudes.

Love that. I’ve got one more. Ten years time. What is it all going to look like?

If I knew that, Matt, I would be a very rich lady. I think agents will be very much here. And I think the brand building, brand equity game is going to look very different even than what I’ve been talking about now. So keep watch this space. That’s all I’d say.

Absolutely awesome. Well, look, thanks so much for jumping on. It’s been amazing to open up that subject. Not an easy subject because, as you say, there’s still so much that’s unknown, but so many interesting things for us as brand builders to ponder. I want to thank you for your time and look forward to following you and your work as time goes on. Thanks, everybody, for joining us on this episode of JUST Branding. We always appreciate comments. If you have been sat there listening to this thinking, no, Matt’s got it completely wrong again, or Jacob, mainly you’ll probably be thinking about it.

I think I’ve said about five words this episode.

Shut up. Then please drop a comment because we love to hear from folks, so you can do that on any of our LinkedIn’s, or if this has been posted somewhere and you’ve been jumped on through LinkedIn or through Instagram or something, drop a comment. We’d love to know your questions. Also, I was going to say this, I haven’t checked with Asha, but I’m pretty sure, if listeners have questions that they’d like us to tap into, we may not be able to get back one-to-one or whatever, but we might be able to do something, a follow-up or something in the future. So please ask your questions. We’ll put them to Asha and other AI experts as well as we all start to navigate this space. Thanks folks. Have a great day. Cheerio. Bye.