Timestamps
0:00 - Coming up
01:04 - Who is Lewis Kemp?
03:02 - What is a ‘gimpfluencer’?
06:43 - Why most brand guidelines are pointless
09:22 - Defining what a real brand actually is
10:30 - What businesses lose sign of
12:35 - Examples of ads ruined by brand guidelines
14:50 - Lewis’s banned ads and controversial campaigns
17:12 - How to work with the ‘brand police’
20:30 - The importance of the hook
23:54 - Channel-specific tips for Meta, YouTube, and Google Ads
26:11 - The psychology behind ads
27:05 - When brand guidelines actually matter
28:30 - Final thoughts & The University of Creative Idiots
Overview
Most marketers worship their brand guidelines.
Lewis Kemp thinks you should burn them.
In the first episode of Season 3 of the Paid Media Lab, Lewis Kemp (founder of Lightbulb Media and The University of Creative Idiots) joins us to explain why strict brand rules kill creativity, and reveals how to rebuild a system that drives actual, meaningful results.
We cover:
• Why almost every small businesses doesn't actually have a “brand” yet
• How ego kills performance (and what to do about it)
• The banned ads that made Lewis’s clients millions
• How to work with the brand police, and win
• Why creative variety is the secret to scaling paid campaigns
Episode links:
Prefer reading? Read the full episode recap here
