Brandistry Buzz

There are two kinds of pride.The kind we celebrate in June. And the kind that got in my way twelve years ago when my son came out.I've written about my rainbow family each of the last three years in recognition of Pride Month.This year I wanted to share honestly what made that summer so hard. And why sharing my family's story since then has created a new identity that I'm proud of.

e.l.f. has a rule: no post-mortems.Not because they don't evaluate what went wrong. Because the word implies something died — and at e.l.f., every failure is just the input for the next attempt.They call them After Action Reviews. They run them in real time. And they're a big part of why a beauty brand compressed its Super Bowl production timeline from three weeks to eleven days over three years.In a marketing environment that’s made agility mandatory, every marketer should be studying e.l.f.In Part 2 of my Brandistry Buzz series on e.l.f., I explore the e.l.f.'s culture - the operating system that sits behind their 26 consecutive quarters of success.

Every CMO Kory Marchisotto consulted gave her the same advice: build a persona. Name it. Decide what handbag it carries.She read every customer letter in the company's files instead.What she found wasn't a persona. It was everyone. So she leaned into that reality — and ignored the advice.The results speak for themselves. $1.64B business growing at 28% per year. 26 consecutive quarters of growth.e.l.f. is doing something genuinely different and every marketer should be paying attention.Listen to Part 1 of my two-part series on e.l.f. in this week's Brandistry Buzz.

A good friend just got back from South Korea. Her first text to me wasn't about the temples or the food. It was: "Have any other countries done what Korea has done with a single letter?"And thanks to Ruth Jouanne, I've been turning that question over all week.No other country has built what Korea has built. Not Bollywood. Not the British Invasion. Not Nordic Noir. Each of those is a landmark. "K-" is something different. It's a master brand that extends across music, drama, beauty, food, and film, with each new category inheriting the equity of everything that came before.And here's the interesting part: Korea didn't design it. The world named it. Korea was just smart enough to build on what was being handed to them.This week's Brandistry Buzz is about what they built, how they built it, and what it means for your brand.

Marketers rank among the least trusted professionals in America. Just above lobbyists and members of Congress.Then again, we've all driven past a diner advertising the "World's Best Chicken."Maybe we earned it.But here's what I actually believe: most marketers aren't trying to deceive anyone. They're trying to get people to experience something they genuinely believe in.The problem isn't bad intent — it's bad execution.👉 A study that proves something nobody cares about.👉 A ranking that was accurate when you printed it.👉 A statement that's factual, but falls short in what's delivered.This week's Brandistry Buzz is about the claim game — how to win it, how brands lose it, and where the line is between creative marketing and something that ends in a courtroom.

I just returned from my fifth cross-country drive in nine months.My wife Eva and I have now covered 17,000 miles together driving back and forth from New England to SoCal in our Kia Telluride. We've seen the Heinze Museum, the Hoover Dam, and a hand-painted sign in North Dakota that kept us laughing for two straight days.We also survived a moment in a New Mexico truck stop that I can only describe as "fourteen days of road food catching up with us at the worst possible time."This week's Brandistry Buzz is about what 250 hours on the road reminded me about leadership. Three lessons. Five takeaways. One story I probably shouldn't have included but did anyway.(Originally from April 26, 2026)

The marketing landscape is shifting faster than anyone predicted. The old maps don't work. And the brands that are winning aren't following a better playbook — they're pioneering without one.This is Brandistry Buzz — the podcast version of my weekly newsletter for marketers who want to be READY for whatever comes next.I'm Nate Challen. Brand strategist. Marketing executive. And someone who has spent three decades helping brands navigate uncertain territory.Each week, we take one idea — in marketing, leadership, or innovation — and follow it until it's actually useful. Real examples. Honest takes. Clear recommendations.So get READY and let's Buzzzzz.