AI Disclosure in Advertising: The Label Isn’t the Decision

Sometime before your next campaign ships, someone in the room is going to ask whether you should tell people AI helped make it. I hear this almost every day. That’s the AI disclosure question, and most brands are filing it under legal. Wrong drawer. The legal part is mostly decided. Regulators and platforms spent the past year deciding it for you. What’s left is the brand part: when the label shows up next to your work, what does it say about you?

We’ve watched two versions of this play out over the past year. One brand disclosed its AI and got buried for it. Another swore off AI entirely and turned that promise into its best-performing content in years. Same transparency. Opposite outcomes. The label didn’t decide either one. The work behind it did.

AI disclosure just became the default

For a couple of years, brands had a third option between “proudly AI” and “proudly human”: say nothing. Use the tools, pocket the savings, let the audience assume whatever it assumed. That option is expiring on a schedule you can look up.

Since August 2, 2026, Article 50 of the EU AI Act has required AI-generated content to be marked in a machine-readable way, deepfakes to be disclosed to people on first exposure, and chatbots to identify themselves as software. If you sell into Europe, that’s not a trend piece. That’s your compliance calendar. New York got there first on one front: in December 2025, the governor signed a law requiring advertisers to conspicuously disclose when a synthetic AI performer stands in for a human being. Google reworked its ad policies in July 2026 so advertisers can carry AI labels right inside the creative, because regulators in multiple markets now expect them. YouTube has required disclosure of realistic synthetic content since 2024. Meta stamps “AI Info” on posts (see photo above). The IAB published a transparency framework built on C2PA provenance metadata, which travels inside the file itself, quietly, whether or not anyone writes a caption.

Add it up and the direction is obvious. Disclosure is becoming infrastructure, like the nutrition panel on a cereal box. Nobody voted on whether they wanted one. It just became part of the packaging, and then everyone learned to read it.

Which means the real question has changed shape. You don’t get to decide whether people find out. You get to decide what finding out means.

Two labels, two outcomes

In late 2025, Valentino released a fully AI-generated campaign for a handbag: surreal, kaleidoscopic visuals, limbs morphing into logos, bodies pouring out of leather. The house was upfront about how it was made. It didn’t matter. Commenters called the work “cheap” and “lazy,” and the critique that stuck wasn’t about the technology at all. It was about the mismatch. This is a house that charges couture prices because human hands spent hundreds of hours on the product. An ad assembled by a model in minutes read as the opposite of the thing being sold. Coca-Cola walked into the same wall with its AI-generated holiday spots. Disclosure didn’t soften either backlash, because disclosure wasn’t the problem.

Now the other direction. In October 2025, Aerie pledged to keep its marketing “100% real,” promising no AI-generated bodies and no AI-generated people, ever. The pledge became the brand’s most-liked post in a year. By spring 2026 the company had Pamela Anderson fronting the relaunch and was reporting double-digit awareness gains alongside a 23% sales lift in the quarter after the pledge. Take the brand-reported numbers with the usual salt. The shape of the result still holds: a promise about process became the most effective creative the brand had run in years.

Here’s what those two stories share, and it’s not the obvious thing. Honesty didn’t sink Valentino, and honesty didn’t lift Aerie. Fit did. Valentino’s label exposed a contradiction between what the house sells and how the ad was made. Aerie’s pledge sat on top of a decade of unretouched photography, a promise the brand had been keeping since 2014. One label said “we cut a corner you’re paying for.” The other said “we’re still who you thought we were.”

A label is a receipt

Strip away the policy language and an AI disclosure does one simple thing: it tells people where your money and effort went. That’s why identical labels produce opposite reactions on different brands. A receipt means nothing on its own. It means everything next to the price you charged.

Luxury sells hours and hands, so an AI label on a luxury film reads as an admission. Aerie sells the absence of manipulation, so an AI-generated model wouldn’t just be off-brand, it would dissolve the brand entirely. A software company shipping a product demo made with AI tooling? Nobody blinks, because nobody was buying craft from them in the first place. The label lands on top of an existing promise, and the reaction is the audience auditing that promise in real time.

The research on consumer sentiment keeps pointing the same direction: when people believe a brand leaned hard on AI, trust drops, and the effect is strongest for brands that built their story on authenticity or craftsmanship. People can’t reliably spot AI work anymore. What they’ve learned to punish is the feeling of it, that thin, averaged, nobody-home quality the internet now calls slop. We wrote earlier this year that the anti-AI design wave isn’t a backlash, it’s a standards reset, and the disclosure era is that reset with paperwork. People don’t read the label to learn about your workflow. They read it to find out whether you still care.

There’s a flip side that gets less attention, and it’s good news if your work is actually human. In 2026, brands are getting accused of using AI when they didn’t. Illustrators post process videos to prove their hands were involved. Photographers publish contact sheets. Once an audience is primed to see slop everywhere, real craft eats false accusations, and a shrug isn’t a defense. A working disclosure regime fixes that too. The same provenance metadata that outs a generated image can certify an unretouched one. For a brand that genuinely does the work, the receipt isn’t a threat. It’s the proof you’ve been wishing you could show.

The pledge is the expensive option

Which brings us to the tempting move of the moment: the no-AI pledge. Aerie’s numbers make it look like free money. It isn’t. A pledge is the single most expensive form of disclosure, because it converts a workflow preference into a public promise with enforcement risk. We argued this summer that brand honesty is a risk you take, not a message you send. A no-AI pledge is that idea with a legal team. The moment you make it, every asset you ship becomes evidence. One AI-touched image from a freelancer, one vendor who quietly generated the background plates, and the story stops being about tools and starts being about the lie.

Dove could make its 2024 promise to never use AI to represent real bodies because that promise is structural. Real bodies have been the entire brand since 2004. Aerie could follow because unretouched photography was already a decade deep in its identity. In both cases the pledge didn’t add a value. It fenced one that was already there.

If your brand’s story isn’t about realness, human craft, or bodies, a no-AI pledge is a costume. Audiences have seen enough purpose-washing to recognize the move, and the first inconsistency will cost you more than the pledge ever earned. Aerie’s pledge isn’t brave. It’s consistent. That’s the part worth copying.

Your vendors are your disclosure now

Here’s the part that bites brands who think they’ve already made their decision: you don’t control most of the hands that touch your marketing. The photographer’s retoucher, the video house compositing your product shots, the freelancer building social cutdowns, the influencer reading your brief, the stock library feeding your decks. Any of them can introduce AI into your creative without a single person at your company choosing it. Under the new rules, and under your audience’s new scrutiny, their workflow becomes your label.

The EU’s framework makes the point explicit by putting obligations on deployers, not just toolmakers. If a synthetic performer ends up in your ad, “our production company handled that” isn’t a defense a regulator or a comment section will accept. The brand wears it. Every time.

So the disclosure decision isn’t one decision. It’s a policy, and it has to reach your contracts. The brands handling this well right now are doing unglamorous things: asking vendors to declare AI use per deliverable, writing provenance requirements into SOWs, deciding in advance which asset classes can be generated and which can’t ever be. None of it is exciting. All of it is cheaper than explaining to your customers why the “100% real” campaign had a synthetic crowd scene in the background. If you’ve made a promise, your procurement is now part of your brand team. If you haven’t, your vendors are making your promise for you, quietly, one deliverable at a time.

Disclose the hand, not the hammer

So where’s the sane middle? Start with an observation nobody puts in a compliance memo: no brand has ever labeled its Photoshop use, its render farm, or its spellcheck. Audiences never asked for that, because those tools never touched the thing being bought. The outrage arrives only when AI replaces the thing the customer believed they were paying for. The real body in the swim campaign. The couture hand in the fashion film. The lived point of view in the writing.

That’s the test, and you can run it on any asset before the law makes you. Three questions, in order. The promise: what is this audience actually buying from us, effort, realness, taste, speed, price? The proof: if a label appeared on this asset tomorrow, would it contradict that promise or leave it untouched? The price: if we pledged the opposite and swore off AI here, could we keep that promise on our worst-staffed week two years from now? Most disclosure decisions collapse into ten minutes once those three are on the table. The brands that got burned skipped straight to the output and never checked it against the promise.

We’ll go first, since it’s fair to ask. We use AI at Jacob Tyler. It reads, it drafts, it pressure-tests, it does the eleventh revision of a resize nobody should do by hand. It doesn’t decide what a brand stands for, and it doesn’t get final say on work that carries a client’s name, because judgment and taste are the product our clients are paying for. AI can hold the hammer. It doesn’t get to be the hand.

When every ad carries a receipt

Play this forward a few years and the labels themselves stop mattering. Provenance metadata rides inside every file. Platforms surface it automatically. Shopping agents check it before a human ever sees the ad. When every piece of creative carries a receipt, disclosure stops being a differentiator in either direction. The scarlet letter fades. So does the halo. What’s left is the question the label was always standing in for: was this worth making, and does it sound like anyone in particular?

That’s the durable version of the AI disclosure question, and it has nothing to do with Brussels or Albany. Labels reward brands that already know what they’re for, and they expose the ones that hoped nobody would look at the receipt. Strong brands can read their own receipt out loud. Weak brands need the fine print.

So run the test now, before the law runs it for you. Put the label on your next campaign in your head and read the work again. If nothing changes, ship it. If the work suddenly reads as a broken promise, the label isn’t your problem, and neither is the AI. If you’d rather not run that test alone, that’s where we come in.

Emotional Spending: Why Experience Trumps Product

There’s a common saying among marketers and copywriters: “Sell the benefits, not the features.” In essence, this means that consumers are more interested in what the result of your product or service will have on their experience as a consumer than how the product works or what it’s made of. People who purchase facial cream are more interested in eliminating wrinkles than knowing the cream contains vitamins A, D and E. As much as we human beings like to think we operate strictly on logic when choosing products and services, there is an undeniable emotional component to our actions (why do you think Mr. Spock was always so perplexed at Kirk’s decisions?) These truths are mostly self-evident, but the allure of experience can be much stronger than we might anticipate – and brands should keep experience at top of mind when crafting a marketing plan.

In their book Happy Money, psychology professor Elizabeth Dunn and marketing professor Michael Norton explore the “science of happier spending” through research and vignettes demonstrating spending habits that often defy what most would consider “logical” financial choices. In one example, young married couple Marcia and John, both nuclear engineers, shared a dream of being astronauts. When they first heard about Virgin Galactic’s $200,000, six-minute flight to space, the couple agreed to save enough in retirement to take the flight. A few years later, John died unexpectedly. When Marcia received the money from John’s life insurance policy, she decided to spend it on a ticket for the flight – which doesn’t yet technically exist. Illogical? Maybe, but Marcia felt it was more important to honor her husband’s memory, and in some way, share the experience with him. Maybe she would have been better off shoring up her financial future. But that’s the purchasing power of emotion.

This type of choice, however, doesn’t always win the day. Dunn and Norton offer another example of children at the restaurant/fun emporium Chuck E. Cheese. At birthday parties, children are given a set amount of tokens which they can choose to use on experiential games – like laser tag – or cash those tokens in for tickets, which can be redeemed for prizes like plastic frogs and teddy bears. More often than not – according to Dunn and Norton’s anecdotes – the children prefer the instant gratification of the tickets and corresponding prizes. These results though, still speak to the power of prioritizing experience when spending. The children didn’t choose the tickets because of the perceived value prize, but for the way it made them feel at the moment of purchase.

Human emotion is a powerful thing. We’re all looking for experiences that elicit positive feelings – be it a lifetime of memories earned from a backpacking trip through china, a feeling of trust from an auto mechanic, or a swelling of pride from owning the latest greatest tech gadget.

Brands must combine a valuable experience with their product to compete in a world of choices. They must identify not only who their audience is, but what drives their decisions in order to create a successful brand experience that keeps customers emotionally fulfilled – and coming back for more.

Want to learn more about driving buying behaviors? Fill out the form to the right, let’s talk.

Behind the Name: How Kenneth Cole Inspired the Jacob Tyler Brand

Behind the Name: How Kenneth Cole Inspired the Jacob Tyler Brand

The name itself – Jacob Tyler – is named after my son, Jacob Tyler Kollegian. But the inspiration for the brand that Jacob Tyler has become, began at a clothing store in Grand Central Station in New York City.

Kenneth Cole Store

Let me rewind.

In the late 90s, I left a job as the creative director at a large agency to test the waters for new opportunities. While searching for a new job, I started to do some consulting work. To legitimize my new business, I registered the domain name “Vivid Commerce” to host my portfolio, figuring it made sense for a graphic designer that had a strong interactive design and development background– though I hadn’t really given it much thought.

Most of my clients at the time – large firms I had connections with from my agency work and referrals from friends – happened to be on the East Coast, mostly in New York City. So I often flew east from San Diego to work with them (in no small part because my “office” in San Diego at the time was my bedroom and my business attire consisted of boxer shorts and tee shirts).

From a wardrobe standpoint, I was chronically unprepared for New York. I never packed enough clothes. During many of my trips, I had to extend my stay and the last thing I had time to do was laundry. Knowing I couldn’t go back to the office in the same dirty shirt and tie yet again, I decided to buy some clothes on the way to the office. Wearing the previous day’s outfit, I took the train to Grand Central Station and walked into the Kenneth Cole store… luckily they opened at 8am. I bought a brand new shirt and tie, changed clothes in the fitting room and went off to work.

It became a routine.

Soon I was in Kenneth Cole up to three times a week, picking up new outfits. I was making decent money at the time, so had some “disposable” income but I kept going back because the clothes were reasonably priced, I thought they looked great on and the customer service was impeccable, always greeting me by name. Eventually, they had multiple outfits, pressed and ready to wear, for me to choose from every morning – whether I showed up or not.

2003

By 2003, my “consulting” business was taking off and my son was about to be born. We had decided to name him Jacob Tyler, and I decided to rebrand my company with the same name. Of course I loved the name itself – I had chosen it for my son – but it also reminded me of Kenneth Cole, a brand I wanted the Jacob Tyler brand to emulate.

Whenever I left that Kenneth Cole store, I felt and looked great. I wanted Jacob Tyler’s clients to feel the same way. I wanted Jacob Tyler to be the Kenneth Cole of graphic design. Like Kenneth Cole, at Jacob Tyler, we provide a great customer experience and top-quality products at a reasonable price.

The inspiration I took from my experience at Kenneth Cole in those early days in New York became the heart and soul of the Jacob Tyler brand. And really, that’s what a brand is – a living, breathing thing. It’s your organization’s culture. It’s the people. It’s what you deliver and how you deliver it. It’s something you live every day.

The name Jacob Tyler and our visual representation embody our brand and agency. They communicate who we are and what we’re about. But it’s our culture that defines us. For more than a decade, we’ve cultivated our brand and grown with it, but have never lost sight of those early principles I learned from Kenneth Cole.

5 Themes from Interactive Day San Diego, 2015

Ah, Interactive Day. The one day a year when Southern California’s best, brightest and most innovative digital marketers convene to remind each other just how behind the curve they are. It is a day of inspiration and excitement and anxiety and terror: how do I institute this philosophy at my agency…how do I make these trends tangible enough to sell to my clients…when does happy hour start?

The Jacob Tyler team attended several insightful sessions throughout the day and identified a short list of the most prevalent themes discussed by leaders in the industry. Below are key takeaways, implications and points of inspiration from each theme.

1. Millennials (2015 is the peak year for marketing to millennials)

THE SCOOP:

  • This coming-of-age generation, now 18-34 years old, is the largest generation in the workforce.
  • Well educated and socially mindful, expect a growing annual spending power and influence among peers
  • A stronger connection to brands provides trust and relevance

PRO TIP:

  • Don’t be afraid to evolve with this audience and use a dynamic marketing approach. Be where they are, use their preferred media platforms, you won’t reach them otherwise. (Next Up: Gen Z)

INSPIRATION:

  • Lowe’s Fix In Six (#lowesfixinsix) campaign uses Vine to provide low-budget, clever improvements to make life at home a little easier. https://vine.co/Lowes

2. Personalized Content (Your content – whether text, images, or video – should be personalized and relevant for the audience)

THE SCOOP:

  • Ensure your campaign matches the data behind what your audience cares about.
  • Engaging experiences are made through personalization and relevance to the platform being used.
  • Content should be the start of a two-way conversation (talk to them, not at them).

PRO TIP:

  • Include descriptive and informative messaging that is helpful for the audience. It’s not only about the visuals.

INSPIRATION:

  • Top performing pins on Pinterest provide instructions and tips as well as a beautiful image — brands recognize that pins are about planning and information, not just aesthetics. https://www.pinterest.com/categories/popular/

3. Augmented Reality (Creating a near-real experience with a brand in a connected world)

 THE SCOOP:

  • Consumers today have made their purchase decisions well ahead of an in-store visit.
  • Augmented reality transports the consumer to a branded environment for a fully immersive experience. It can live anywhere your consumer lives, and become interactive through a variety of devices (smartphone, wearables or anywhere in between).

PRO TIP:

  • Start simple: how can my prospects see themselves using my product? Build a simple experience reflecting that, then test, and grow, and test, and grow.

INSPIRATION:

  • Always ahead of its own curve, the IKEA catalogue took augmented reality to an innovative (and still approachable) space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDNzTasuYEw

4. The Internet of Things (So much more than using Nest to create a connected home)

 THE SCOOP:

  • Speaking of wearables…the next generation of personalization and automation provides efficiency to living and working lifestyles.
  • Let technology learn more about you to improve day-to-day tasks and challenges through data.

PRO TIP:

  • Focus on how your brand and the information it gathers can simplify your consumers’ lives, and invest in the technology to build that connection.

INSPIRATION:

5. Live Interactions (Streaming video can be used to create a real-time, shared experience)

THE SCOOP:

  • Consumers crave real-time access to events as they unfold.
  • Live, user-influenced content creates an immediacy and shareability to brand experiences.

PRO TIP:

  • Listen to and know your audience, then build events and stories that invite them in as a live participant.

INSPIRATION:

  • Watch Gisele fight back to negative comments as the new face of Under Armour. http://gisele.underarmour.com/

How do these trends come to life, and how to they apply to your brand (or your clients’ brands)? What success stories have you seen, and what pitfalls should brands avoid?

Jacob Tyler | Branding Agency in San Diego

5 Easy Tactics to Reach Brand Enthusiasts

Do you own a gadget that you can’t wait to tell all of your friends about? Are you quick to recommend your favorite restaurant or a film you enjoyed to anyone who will listen? If so – to paraphrase the late Jeff Foxworthy – you might be a brand enthusiast. Brand enthusiasts are more than a fan of a certain product or brand – they champion brands, spreading word far and wide, without expectation of compensation. And they’re more common than you might think. According to a recent study, more than 25 percent of consumers are considered brand enthusiasts. That number doubles among Millenials, whose social media prowess makes them the most powerful and effective purveyors of enthusiasm – not to mention a powerhouse purchasing demographic.

Marketing to brand enthusiasts is a no-brainer, and the reasons are largely self-evident. Brand enthusiasts are trust worthier than advertising or marketing campaigns – and they don’t charge. They personify your brand from a deeply personal place, relaying their experience to a willing audience. Quite simply, brand enthusiasts are the most powerful arrows in your marketing quiver.

But reaching these magical marketing creatures – and convincing them to evangelize for your brand – is no easy task. There’s no magic formula, and if there were, there’s no way to guarantee enthusiasm for your particular brand. Aside from offering a great product or service, there are strategies you can employ to help you win brand enthusiasts to your cause. Start with these five:

Show Up: Don’t wait for brand enthusiasts to knock on your door asking to sample the goods. Go to where they are. With a little research, you should be able to find out where the conversations around your particular market are taking place – social media channels, chat rooms, etc. Be where the conversation is, and add to it.

Start a Conversation: Want to know what people think about your brand? Ask them. You will learn more about the perception of your brand from a conversation than you ever will from your assumptions. You’ll you gain a solid understanding of the way people feel about your brand, and learn how you can improve your brand in the eyes of your customers.

Gather Information: Brand enthusiasts are generally more willing to offer personal and contact information than more skeptical consumers. By collecting contact information and staying in touch with them, you can move from conversation to relationship.

Make Sure Your Technology is up to Snuff: Brand enthusiasts are known as some of the most tech-savvy consumers on the planet. As such, they research and engage with brands overwhelmingly through mobile devices. Make sure your website is easily accessible though mobile devices and operating systems.

Feed the Hungry: Brand enthusiasts devour content. After all, one can’t truly be considered an enthusiast if he or she isn’t an expert on the subject. Provide timely, targeted and useful information to your audience. If your brand enthusiasts like what you have to say, they’ll share it with the world.

Want to learn more about how you can generate enthusiasm for your brand? Fill out the form to the right and lets chat!

San Diego’s Best Branding Agency | Jacob Tyler

The Five Main Components of a Strategic Brand Communications Plan

Does your brand have a plan? How will your brand communicate with its audience? Who is its audience? What message do you want to deliver? A strategic brand communications plan is an integral part of any branding effort. Integrating a strategic plan into your marketing efforts assures that you are reaching the right audience at the right time to drive results for your brand. It’s an analytical approach to creative efforts. Like any good strategy, a strategic brand communications plan should begin with research. While you might be able to guess the general audience for your products or services, you may be surprised to find additional market segments to tap into. Once you’ve completed research, it’s time to get down to the strategy. The following five components are the backbone of a brand communications strategy, and will inform the rest of your plan.

Identify the Audience: To WHOM do we need to communicate?

What is the audience for your products or services? Perhaps there are multiple audiences. Identifying your audience is the first step in your strategy.

Determine Goals and Objectives: WHY communicate? WHAT do we want to achieve?

Too often, brands communicate for the sake of communicating. Your communication efforts should always be in support of a larger organizational goal. If you own a burger stand, your goal might be to increase sales by 20 percent. Never lose sight of the goal when communicating.

Develop Key Messages: WHAT do we need to communicate?

Develop clear and concise messaging that communicates to your audience what you do and how you do it in simple, easily digestible copy.

Develop Tactical Plan: HOW will we communicate, to whom and when?

The tactical plan is the blueprint for your communications plan. A tactical plan should include a linear strategy for reaching your goals. Strategies and ground level tactics support goals. Creating an outline that shows how tactics support strategies, and strategies support goals, is a best practice for strategic brand communications planning.

Identify Measures of Evaluation: HOW will we know if we are successful?

Metrics are important. Whether or not you’ve reached your organizational goal should be fairly easy to determine (did sales increase by 20 percent?), but applying metrics to determine if your communications tactics and strategies were ultimately successful – and what role they played in reaching (or not reaching) your organizational goals can be more difficult. There are, however, various options for capturing these data, especially in digital communications. Whenever possible, apply outcome metrics instead of output metrics.

Think about these five basic components of a strategic brand communications plan and apply them to your organization. Are you communicating effectively? We can help! Fill out the form to the right to reach out.

San Diego Website Design by Jacob Tyler

Shake, Rattle and Roll: Shake Shack’s $1.6 Billion Brand

At Jacob Tyler, we draw design inspiration from the world around us. We create functional and intuitive designs that accurately portray the brand they represent. In order to achieve this end, we immerse ourselves in the culture of an organization to ensure we can “feel” the brand as well as we can see it. A great design is inspired by culture, product and when applicable – physical surroundings. Shake Shack – the high-end burger chain that recently launched a $1.6 billion IPO – is a great example of what could be called “indigenous” branding. Created by world-renowned designer Paula Scher, Shake Shack’s branding was meant to mimic its original physical location and construction. Built in Madison Square Park as a part of the park’s conservancy, the structure of the original Shake Shack was constructed with corrugated metal to blend in with its surroundings – an urban park landscape. Drawing inspiration from both the structure and the core of Shake Shack’s offerings – a 1950’-inspired burger joint – Scher created a simple, flat design that conveyed both past (“neon” 50’s roots) and present (neo-urban landscape).

Shake Shack’s branding was not conceived to represent an international chain restaurant, only a one-off location. But the restaurant’s immediate popularity gave way to a meteoric expansion that now includes locations in Russia, Dubai and even Turkey. And the original brand design survived – and thrived. It’s a great example of indigenous branding. While Shake Shack is now a multi-national corporation, it’s appeal remains grounded in its original offerings and that first location in New York. Your brand represents your company’s core – it’s culture, it’s products and its way of doing business. Success doesn’t change brands – it strengthens them.

To read more about Shake Shack’s brand story, check out this article from Fast Company: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3041777/the-untold-story-of-shake-shacks-16-billion-branding?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=codesign-daily&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=02022015#1

To learn more about how Jacob Tyler can help with your branding needs, fill out the form to the right.

Branding by Jacob Tyler in San Diego

Super Brands: The Brand Personalities of the Seahawks and Patriots

The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks faced off this past Sunday in Super Bowl XLIX (49). The Seahawks and Patriots have not only been two of the most successful NFL franchises over the last few years, but two of the league’s most identifiable brands. Success has been a large part of each team’s recognizability – the Seahawks were the reigning Super Bowl champions until this year and the Patriots, under coach Bill Belichick and star quarterback Tom Brady, appeared in their sixth Super Bowl. The recent success is only one ingredient in the recipe for a great NFL brand. In fact, success, in large part, can be tied directly to each franchise’s internal culture – the basis for each team’s brand. The Seahawks and Patriots both have strong cultures and thus, strong brands.

At Jacob Tyler, we work with clients to create and reinvigorate brands. Part of this process is developing a brand guide that helps define the brand’s story, how it differentiates itself from the competition, and the voice and personality that define its culture. So what would the “personality” of the Seahawks and Patriots brands look like? In honor of Super Bowl XLIX, a thought exercise:

The Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are loud and brash. They’re optimistic and confident. They have faith in their system, their coaches and each other. They share a bond with their fans – whom they refer to as the “12th man” – and exude a strong sense of provincial community. The Seahawks personality traits are:

  • Confident
  • Team-oriented
  • Exuberant
  • Optimistic
  • Colorful
  • Vigorous
  • Resilient
  • Strong
  • Relentless
  • Tight-knit
  • Dedicated

The New England Patriots

The Patriots have for years enjoyed incredible on-field success, despite an average 30 percent turnover in players each year. They have been able to maintain excellence largely on the culture of the team and organization, directed by coach Bill Belichick and enforced by perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Tom Brady. Operating under the mantra of “Do your job,” the Patriots have earned unwavering support from their fans, and begrudging respect from the rest of the league. The Patriots personality traits are:

  • Efficient
  • Dedicated
  • Focused
  • Resilient
  • Reserved
  • Confident
  • Calm
  • Professional

Brand personalities are the basis for what your brand does, how it operates and how its audience will view it. Brand personality is the basis of a brand’s culture. NFL franchises are a great study in brand and culture. This past weekend, a clash of cultures took center stage. The Seahawks and Patriots have very different cultures, and have both enjoyed success. But the NFL, by its very nature, is fickle. Maintaining a strong brand over a long period of time is incredibly difficult.

Want to learn more about how to strengthen your brand? Contact us using the form to the right.

Branding in San Diego | Jacob Tyler

Crashing the Party: How Brands Engaged an Audience of 33 Million at the College Football National Championship

People always want to be invited to the biggest party. The parties with the “In Crowd.” It’s human nature. These days, they call it “FOMO” – Fear of Missing Out. But it’s more than that. It’s the desire to engage with others. It’s the desire be accepted by your peers. Because if you’re not in, then, well – you’re out. This year, for the 10th year in a row, I failed to receive an invitation to HBO’s Golden Globes after party. While I was a little bummed, I understood why I didn’t make the cut. I don’t work in Hollywood, I don’t personally know anyone who attended and I didn’t even watch the Golden Globes (or realize they were happening). Still, it stung a little. I could have made some great connections and maybe even drummed up some new business. But alas, there will be other parties.  And now that we’re living in the digital age, invitations are no longer needed to get in to some of the biggest parties of the year.

Take the NCAA football National Championship between Ohio State and the University of Oregon. 33.4 million people tuned in on Monday night to watch Ohio State take home the title. That’s a BIG party. And everyone was invited. Through the magic of social media, anyone with an Internet connection or a smartphone could join in on the fun. Whether it was OSU and UofO fans taunting each other, people taking issue with some of the referee’s calls or talking heads tweeting out stats, everyone was in on the conversation. It wasn’t just individuals at the party. Lots of big brands – and plenty of smaller ones – were in attendance as well.

Today, brands must engage their customers and potential customers in order to survive. The numbers of choices consumers have for each product is staggering. Brands must now go to where the consumers are instead of the other way around. Brands have to be at the party. During the National Championship, they showed up in droves.  AMC Theatres and Marvel Studios were there; reminding everybody how awesome the new Avengers movie will be, after debuting its first trailer at halftime. Nike – a massive Oregon benefactor – was actively chatting up the crowd (and reminding everyone that they sponsor Ohio State as well). CNN, among many others, noted that the lead referee was an uncanny Bob Newhart doppelganger. Bob Newhart himself (still alive, still funny) even joined in on the fun, tweeting a joke in response. Macy’s showed off their Oregon and Ohio State tee-shirts, and Butterfinger – always quick with a joke – capitalized on their name and the unusual amount of fumbles by tweeting this picture. Even small brands, like Garden and Gun – a lifestyle publication from Charleston, SC – got in on the fun, offering up game time recipes.  Everyone – save Oregon fans – had a good time.

The sheer volume of brand engagement during the game – and the witty, personable voice of those brands – is a testament to the effectiveness of customer engagement in the digital age. And though the communication feels off the cuff and natural, it’s part of an all-encompassing branding strategy to reach and engage with customers, no matter what party they’re attending.

If you’d like to learn about how your brand can engage customers, fill out the form to the right and let’s chat!

San Diego Branding Agency | Jacob Tyler

Content is King: Inbound Marketing and the New Consumer

The world of marketing and advertising has changed. You’re more likely to fast-forward through TV commercials on your DVR rather than watch them. You’ve probably clicked that little “x” on the digital ad that popped up on your screen while you were trying to read a recipe for gluten-free kale burgers. You’ve switched the dial on your car radio during commercial breaks – only to learn that seemingly every station has commercial breaks at the same time – and couldn’t escape listening unless you wanted to jump out of your car onto the freeway. And if you have a phone, which I assume you do, you may have gotten a call from someone named “Kevin” calling from Mumbai offering low prices on prescription drugs. I know I have.

What these marketing tactics have in common is that they are coming directly to you – and not at your request. These tactics aren’t new, of course, but they are becoming increasingly outdated. In the digital age, consumers are taking a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” stance on marketing. Today’s consumer doesn’t need to be inundated with direct marketing, because there are a plethora of options for almost any product or service, just a few clicks away.  Consumers are still consuming, and as the economy continues to shake awake from a long slumber, marketers are employing new tactics to reach their intended audiences. One of the more popular tactics is “inbound marketing.”

In short, inbound marketing draws consumers to your company, service or product, instead of the other way around. Inbound marketing can attract consumers who know what they are looking for and convert them into customers by creating relevant, engaging and useful content on blogs, info products or social media. Content that makes your company, product or services stand out from the clutter. Content that doesn’t include a “hard sell,” but positions your brand as a friendly, helpful and educational go-to for a particular market.

The following article from Entrepreneur – The 8 Fundamentals for a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy – is a good primer on inbound marketing. If you’d like to learn more about how inbound marketing can enhance your brand strategy, fill out the form to the right and let’s talk!

San Diego Ad Agency Jacob Tyler