The First One

Ok. Fuck. It’s for real now. I promised I would publish a newsletter the moment I had 100 subscribers. And we are at 102. So this is it. The start of my weekly newsletter about branding, communication, entrepreneurship, fuckups and funny thoughts.

So welcome to the first edition of Branding Donkeys, sent every week until I decide to stop. Please forward this to ONE friend today and tell them either to subscribe here or to be more curious about life

Who Am I?

First of all, it’s a real person writing here, not AI. Hi I’m Ingrid! My newsletters will be written from first-hand and experiences, no deep dive research. There will be spelling and language errors. My mother tongue is Dutch, my husband is French speaking, and I’m writing this in English because I want to.

I recently left my own company to start all over again. Years ago, I quit my job as a journalist at Bruzz to go and work for Ketnet, the childrens tv network. After 6 years, I left the golden cage VRT to start my own media company Maison Slash. And now, 7 years later, ooops I do it again. I’m opening the doors to new adventures. And I apparently just started to write a weekly newsletter to share my knowledge of 20 years professional life in media, and advertisement, some of it as an entrepreneur and with a share of life fuckups (and wins, of course!!).

This is me taking a breath during a morning walk. I’m happy and relaxed. 🙏How are you?

WHY Branding Donkeys?

It’s simple: I just like to share some thoughts, some things I have learned over the years.

And why the name? I have to be honest, there is no heavy strategy behind the name Branding Donkeys. 🙈 (That’s maybe not a good start for a newsletter about branding strategy, but hey!) I just quickly needed a name. Maybe there will be one day a rebranding. But for the moment, this is it.

This is how it went:

• I wanted a name that hints at what the content is about -> branding

• I wanted a name with a comical tone -> donkeys

• Donkeys are seen as stupid but in fact they are really smart. -> Maybe i’m feeling a bit like a donkey?

• Anything can be branded in life, even a donkey!

Brandlove

Soooo anything can be branded? Yes! If you are some smart marketeer, you can brand anything. Even donkeys. But also rocks.
Do you know The Pet Rock? In the 1970s, a man named Gary Dahl started to sell rocks as pets. No kidding. Because rocks are easier than actual pets. True.
And even better, you can still buy the rocks today on Amazon! The man became a millionaire only trough clever branding and packaging! And also because it’s so stupid that it’s funny - of course.

Copywriting

Recently on linkedin, I shared a tip for copywriters that was well read.
So I’ll repeat the tip here too. Btw, I was inspired by Chase Dimond for this.

Here it goes:
Always - I mean always!! - look for the pains of your target audience.
If you are doing market research, read this.

1) Go to Google

2) Search for your competitors

3) Check the reviews for their products

4) Study the complaints presented in each negative review

5) Solve those complaints with your own product

Implement this.
Win.

Podcast

My husband thinks it’s a phase and that I’m in my midlife shizzle. But my go to podcast for the moment is Mindvalley. It’s about spiritual energy and not limiting yourself. It is absolutely amazing! Everyday I am inspired by a new talk. (There is also an app, but it is quite expensive so I’m sticking with the free stuff for the moment haha!)
Maybe my husband is right.
But also is this meme.

See you next week!

x Ingrid