Talking Brand Purpose With Nick Asbury
Writer Nick Asbury interviews me about my views on brand purpose, Catholicism, "unschooling," and social media.
For anyone new here, I’m the founder of Woo Punch, a brand consultancy rooted in evidence-based brand design. I write about the evidence that debunks brand purpose, differentiation, brand love, loyalty marketing, customer personas, color psychology, mission statements, customer engagement, AdTech, and “hustle culture.”
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Watch Our Conversation Below…
…or listen on the go!
Who is Nick Asbury?
I used to think I was alone on an island regarding brand-purpose advertising. Then I heard an interview with Nick Asbury on the Call to Action podcast. Nick Asbury is a freelance creative writer, co-author of The Perpetual Disappointments Diary with his wife Sue Asbury, and the man behind one of my favorite Substacks, Thoughts on Writing.
Nick recently got some attention for his article, Start with Why, End with Wire Fraud. In it, Nick questioned Simon Sinek's lens of history and business philosophy in the most-watched TED Talk of all time. Nick has also written beautifully about Patagonia and Dove and questioned the credibility of the IPA Effectiveness awards.
About Our Conversation
In our conversation, we discuss how I view brand purpose through the lens of my Catholic faith and its teachings, why self-directed learning worked for me and why I believe “unschooling” could work for my kids, and why I've been off social media for one and a half years.
On brand purpose, we discuss…
Conflict with my Catholic views and some of the messages promoted in brand-purpose advertising, including hidden Marxist ideologies behind some trending social causes and the advertising industry as a whole more recently.
The ineffectiveness of brand-purpose advertising for brand growth.
The misguided influence of politics on the advertising industry.
Why I believe brands should get their house in order ethically before attempting to solve the world's problems.
Guilt around the original sin of being an advertiser.
The role age differences play in brand-purpose advertising.
On unschooling, we discuss…
Why traditional schooling failed me.
How self-directed learning saved me after graduation.
Why Nick felt compelled to take his son out of school.
Fear's role in traditional schooling and why I despise LovEvery with a passion.
On social media, we discuss…
The story of my addiction to social media and why I got off it.
How a debate I had on LinkedIn with Chris Do and Marty Neumeier distracted me from my wife on our anniversary.
Facebook & Twitter's prioritization of division and LinkedIn and Instagram's prioritization of cliche toxic positivity.
Ridiculous community engagement expectations when all you want to do is use social media as a tool to get clients and support your family.
Hopefully, this is the first conversation of many! Enjoy!
Let us know what you thought in the comments!