2020 was certainly a year for the history books. As we enter the New Year, here's a look back at some great reads and thought leadership pieces that BIC faculty and BICsters have been enjoying.  

By James I. Bowie

"In trying to restore a vision of the past, we may latch onto particular historical markers and exaggerate their actual prominence. “Est.” in this way is like the leg warmers worn to a 1980s-themed costume party: more common at the party than they actually were during the time the party celebrates." 

Welcome to Your Bland New World
By Ben Schott

"Despite hiding in plain sight (and plain recycled packaging), this “slight of bland” has won the wallets of a generation that considers itself above marketing, and created some of the buzziest companies of the age." 

By Zontee Hou, BIC Board Member and President and Founder, Media Volery

"Don’t expect isolated tests to produce universal rules. An ongoing test-and-learn approach is essential to future success." 

The Great Logo Debate
By Eliza Williams

"What is clear is that a logo for another event taking place many years in the future has distracted us enough from the calamitous state of the present world to incite much discussion." 

The Great American Rebrand
By Jeff Beer

"We need a rebrand. How do we not only engage and enlighten our audience to once again see the promise of the American brand, but inspire them to help build it?"

Read more here.

Creatives Can Genuinely Shape Culture And Society By Working With Progressive Brands
By It's Nice That

"The theme of the evening was clearly about staying true to yourself and your vision, whether that’s pulling on your heritage, uplifting others or being staunch in your belief that a creative route is the right one." 

The Custom Color Treatment: How Brands Up Their Game with Specially-Formulated Hues
By Theresa Christine Johnson

"Thinking about the deeper meanings of colors, the process of making a product, and how that can get tied to particular hues, or the actual experience that’s offered and the feelings it evokes opens up possibilities for brands to not simply exist beautifully, but meaningfully, too." 

Post-COVID Forecast: A Resurgence of Marketing and the Beginning of the End for Madison Avenue’s Manslaughter
By Michael Farmer, BIC Board Member and Chairman & CEO, Farmer & Company

"I predict a slow but inexorable resurgence of marketing — a discovery of “what works and what does not” — and a re-establishment of agency partnerships to help make it happen. CMOs will then be able to join their C-Suite colleagues and hold their heads high." 

NYT debuts new ad program to help brands address sensitive topics
By Sara Fischer

"The Times is focusing revenue efforts more on subscription dollars from readers than on advertising dollars from corporations. The idea behind Pivotal is that the Times can leverage the unique data and relationships it has with its paid subscribers and its readers to make marketers' ads more relevant." 

Brand purpose. The biggest lie the ad industry ever told?
By Tom Roach

"Purpose has to start deeper than marketing functions and penetrate more widely, but that doesn’t mean that marketing can’t be part of it. And in some cases, marketing can be the inspiration for it." 

‘Thumb-Stopping,’ ‘Humaning,’ ‘B4H’: The Strange Language of Modern Marketing
By Tiffany Hsu and Sapna Maheshwari

"The ad business is overrun with buzzwords and acronyms, and some people are saying it’s enough already...Every industry has its argot, but people who work in the advertising “space” seem to love insider language more than most. In news releases, ad copy and earnings statements, they have tortured plain talk in service of the sell, with Frankensteinian combinations and avalanches of acronyms."

Read more here.

How Does Your Brand Purpose Stand Up?
By Scott Goodson & Chip Walker

"As we enter an era dominated by the pandemic, purpose will continue to be a top priority for company and brand leadership. While our research shows consumers clearly favor businesses with a higher purpose, it also shows that we are by no means dealing with a naive consumer when it comes to purpose."

Read more here.

Tab, Coca-Cola’s Diet-Soda Pioneer and a ’70s Icon, Is Going Away
By Jennifer Maloney

“We love our brands, make no mistake,” said Cath Coetzer, head of Coca-Cola’s innovation and marketing operations. “We want to make sure that we create space for new.”

The company is winnowing products and brands that are small, aren’t growing and don’t have the potential to achieve a large scale, Ms. Coetzer said. “It’s about meeting our consumers where they need us to meet them.”