Because we're always more woundable when caught at exactly the time where we're in the mood for that particular product or service - and as Big Data increasingly are able to pick up on clues revealing desire - automated systems are increasingly able to hit at exactly those moments, across those channels we move - with an offer matching exactly what we're desiring.

The enemy shapes the brand.

A competitor is a valuable foil that unites a company from within and pushes the brand's boundaries.

Imagine a smashed stained-glass window, a page torn from a Bible, or a snippet of choral singing. You would still recognize their religious roots, wouldn't you? In 1915, Coca-Cola designed a bottle so unique that if it were smashed into thousands of pieces, from a single shard of glass you'd still be able recognize the brand. We call such a device a Smashable. It can be anything from a color to a sound, from a pattern to a smell to an icon.

Branding is not about what something says or what it means, but how it makes us feel.

Here in particular the idea of contextual communication - i.e. communicating the right message, at the right time to the right audience - seems to generate an increasing effect on the consumer in a manipulative way.

Rituals build brands.