In this episode, Stewart, Julie, and Chris dive into the pervasive problem of "AI-powered" marketing in 2026. Sparked by observations from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the team discusses how lazy product marketing has reduced AI to a meaningless badge, plastered on everything from battery chargers to computers without explaining actual customer value.

Drawing parallels to the "smart" and "connected" buzzwords of 2015-2016, the hosts explore why technology companies struggle to articulate benefits instead of features. They argue that AI actually offers more tangible value than previous tech trends, making it even more frustrating when companies default to shorthand rather than explaining how their products save money, make money, or solve real problems.

The conversation takes a personal turn when Stewart shares his reaction to receiving an AI-generated Christmas card, sparking a broader discussion about authenticity, consumer scepticism, and knowing when AI use matters versus when it doesn't. The team emphasises the importance of showing the "messiness" of real progress, admitting mistakes, and being honest about the journey—something AI's perfectionism often obscures.

The episode concludes with reflections on the coming AI backlash and predictions about what next year's CES might bring (spoiler: it's robots).

About Good, Brand Consultants
Good Brand Consultants helps B2B organisations turn brand strategy into commercial reality. Based in Scotland and working globally, we partner with clients to tackle everything from foundational brand positioning to practical implementation frameworks. If you're wrestling with brand challenges or want to explore how strategic brand work can deliver real business results, we'd love to hear from you. To learn more about us, visit goodbrandconsultants.com.

Lululemon built an empire by obsessing over community, culture, and the women they served. Then something changed. The stores lost their personality. The customer workshops disappeared. The soul got diluted.

Sound familiar? It should. Because what happened to Lululemon happens to almost every brand that prioritises growth over identity. The investors start calling the shots. The quarterly targets become more important than the customer. And slowly, the thing that made you special becomes the thing you sacrifice first.

In this episode, the team at Good unpacks what went wrong at Lululemon—and more importantly, what it teaches us about keeping brand at the centre when everyone's screaming for more revenue, more stores, more growth. Because here's the truth: most leadership teams don't want to hear: your brand foundations should dictate your growth strategy, not the other way around.

About Good, Brand Consultants
Good Brand Consultants helps B2B organisations turn brand strategy into commercial reality. Based in Scotland and working globally, we partner with clients to tackle everything from foundational brand positioning to practical implementation frameworks. If you're wrestling with brand challenges or want to explore how strategic brand work can deliver real business results, we'd love to hear from you. To learn more about us, visit goodbrandconsultants.com.

Most brand projects fail not because of bad creative work, but because of poor internal groundwork. In this episode, we sit down with Robert McKechnie, MD of Starrett Europe and a veteran of successful brand transformations at organisations including Core (Scottish Power) and Norbord.

Robert shares his powerful "torch and bridge" analogy that reframes how clients and agencies should work together. While agencies shine the torch to illuminate what's possible, it's the client's responsibility to build the bridge: doing the internal work, securing buy-in, and creating the cultural foundation that turns brand strategy into business results.

We explore why brand exercises fail when they're just "poster campaigns," the critical importance of bringing customers into the room during strategy development, and why you should never find yourself in a boardroom discussing fonts. Robert also tackles the eternal tension between marketing and sales, and shares hard-won advice for mid-level marketeers struggling to make an impact.

This is a conversation about the unglamorous but essential work that separates brand projects that deliver real commercial results from those that simply look pretty.

About Good, Brand Consultants
Good Brand Consultants helps B2B organisations turn brand strategy into commercial reality. Based in Scotland and working globally, we partner with clients to tackle everything from foundational brand positioning to practical implementation frameworks. If you're wrestling with brand challenges or want to explore how strategic brand work can deliver real business results, we'd love to hear from you. To learn more about us, visit goodbrandconsultants.com.