Ep.12 / Ana Andjelic Shares The Secrets Behind the World’s Most Desirable Brands

Ana is a global brand executive, author of “⁠Hitmakers: How Brands Influence Culture⁠,” and “⁠The Business of Aspiration⁠” and has been recognized three times by Forbes for her CMO work. She earned her doctorate in sociology, and is a widely read writer of ⁠The Sociology of Business⁠, speaker and advisor. Ana is known for her strong strategic POV within fashion, lifestyle and luxury, and she specializes in building business-driven cultural programs for brands. This conversation included:The Northstar that guides her is achieving freedomChasing the ‘new’ led to a non-linear career pathHer philosophy for modern brand building involves cultural programing with "cultural products" replacing traditional brand marketingBuilding brand worlds and narratives that create a lore and a myth"Hitmaking" by tapping into the zeitgeistIn reality, the “most viable, feasible ideas win" not necessarily the "intellectually best" or "most creative" Common mistakes include brands repeating past successes or imitating competitorsKey to her success is a combination of analytical and creative thinking ("left brain, right brain"), coupled with risk-taking, boldness, and decisiveness