In this episode of the Brand Edge Podcast, Wayne Roberts looks at the rise of the Anti-vax/Anti-mask movement thru the lens of the brand community. The rationalizations that they use today are the same as someone who buys a superfast car in the midst of climate change. People don't buy anything ... They buy in

We're having an election ... who gives a shit? The Brand Communities of every party, that's who. Elections are the epitome of Brand Community marketing. Watch thru that lens, and you'll see why the parties don't want (or need) everyone's vote, just enough to get by.

In this episode, Wayne takes us through the existential crisis we face in a world rocked by an ongoing pandemic, accelerating climate change, and lingering economic uncertainty. At the heart of our troubles, personally and commercially, is a crisis in belief that challenges brands to be relevant and worthy of our emotional investment. The Good News? Wayne also outlines some key takeaways to help your brand navigate this shifting landscape successfully.

Fact is, people fucking hate most ads, cuz most ads are worth hating.

What we continue to see out there is worth ignoring. Apart from how depressing a lot of the content is and with due respect to the annual orgiastic Super Bowl extravaganza, advertising in a general sense is largely stupid, clichéd bullshit. It's ugly as hell, noisy as hell and all too often hucking products and services that are just as shitty.

In this emotionally-charged episode, Wayne takes you through some revealing truths about what people actually do when they buy your product or service. Spoiler Alert: they don't actually buy, at all. What they do is invest a currency far more valuable than money. They invest their trust, their faith, their expectations of satisfaction.

Every brand's purpose should be community relevance, community building and community support by delivering goods and services that help the community flourish.

But the myth making machinery and it's "opinion (mis)leaders" have recently anointed the word Purpose with a fresh new coating of importance to encourage brands to get all purposeful - even if their purpose remains boning the world for profit and prominence.

Still, "purpose" can be positive if a brand really is focused on the health and wellness of every member of its brand community. Sadly, too many firms use lofty words like "purpose" to make themselves feel (and to trick their community into believing) their doing something worthwhile. Meanwhile, their real purpose is increasing shareholder value, manipulating the stock market and hollowing out going concerns to reap billions (Check out this recent example: https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1c33fqdnhf21s/Eddie-Lampert-Shattered-Sears-Sullied-His-Reputation-and-Lost-Billions-of-Dollars-Or-Did-He

Wayne S. Roberts feels time is running out on the planet's tolerance for that shortsighted narrative. In Wayne's view, it's high time we demanded better promises from better brands. And invest our efforts in those enterprises as stakeholders. That's a purpose you can get behind, no? Have a listen to Purpose is for Posers and get Wayne's take this recycled narrative that needs a reality check.

In this special two part series for Black History Month, Brand Edge host Wayne S. Roberts sits down with two entrepreneurs to discuss their experiences growing up as Black men in Toronto & Newark, New Jersey, and the obstacles they had to overcome to be here today.

In Part Two of our Branding Black series, we talk with Johnnie Davis in Charlotte, North Carolina. Johnnie is a best selling author of the book I'm Still Here: From Heart Failure to Heart of A Champion. He's a successful entrepreneur and success coach. His focus on excellence and his backstory of near death cardiac arrest have made him a sought after speaker and trainer. www.succeedwithjd.com.

In this special two part series for Black History Month, Brand Edge host Wayne S. Roberts sits down with two entrepreneurs to discuss their experiences growing up as Black men in Toronto & Newark, New Jersey, and the obstacles they had to overcome to be here today.

Our guest for part 1 is Toronto's Jason Burke, an accomplished athlete, entrepreneur and style maker whose own branding and growth marketing skills have seen him work with a wide variety of luminaries including Drake, Kanye West, Pharrel Williams, Jay Z and others.