Brand, Creative & Category.

• →When we recall a memory, the brain re-fires the same neurons as the original event — so experiences compound long after the moment.
• →Create flashbulb memories: vivid, emotional moments the market can’t forget.
• →“A brand is … the product of a thousand small gestures.” (Michael Eisner) — every touchpoint enriches or erodes it.
• →“The best marketing is invisible … it makes you feel something.” (Seth Godin)
• →Train the muscle: the HaHa Journal, and an inspiration gallery of emotional-moat brands (Liquid Death, Lavender, LEGO).

Influence: Jonah Berger’s Contagious — engineer the STEPPS drivers (Social currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical value, Stories) and word-of-mouth does the distribution.

• →At Flip, a product seen as a legacy IVR became “the Alexa-like experience for your contact center” — and a new Voice AI category.
• →Recognized as a Pavilion 2023 Category Leader finalist.
• →Play Bigger lessons: recruit partners who back your POV; build lightning-strike moments the market can’t ignore; hold a POV strong enough to create discussion.
• →Own the mic — podcasts, content, and speaking carry the category narrative.

Influence: Play Bigger — you design and condition a category rather than compete in it; the “lightning strike” rallies the market behind your POV, and the category king captures most of the value. April Dunford’s positioning discipline underneath it.