Logo
Logo
Login
Subscribe
latest
branding
design
campaigns
culture & lifestyle
about
about
airplane-takeoff

start here

Welcome to Brand Matters.

heart

authors

Get to know the writers

hands-praying

advertise

Direct access to your people.

sunglasses

community

(Coming soon)

Logo

Archive

All Posts

How the 2026 FIFA World Cup became the biggest brand machine in history

Deep Dive

+1

/

Jun 11, 2026

How the 2026 FIFA World Cup became the biggest brand machine in history

FIFA expanded the tournament, reclaimed the premium, and put a sensor inside the match ball. The brands that understood what was being built stopped asking for space and started holding up the walls.

Tom Mackay
Tom Mackay
Sardinia and the hyperlocal code

Culture

+1

/

Jun 11, 2026

Sardinia and the hyperlocal code

A shopkeeper who names her pasta in Sardinian first, a farmer with no address, and what big brands keep getting wrong about local.

Lucía Rivas Alfonzo
Lucía Rivas Alfonzo
Design for the user who can't be polite

Inspiration

+1

/

Jun 10, 2026

Design for the user who can't be polite

The world's first art exhibition for dogs is a better case study in sensory-first design than anything your agency has pinned to a mood board.

Emi Cerutti
Emi Cerutti
The Weekly Rundown: The NBA playoffs are a masterclass in brand theatre

The Rundown

/

Jun 4, 2026

The Weekly Rundown: The NBA playoffs are a masterclass in brand theatre

Also: why sleep has become another productivity project, the fonts actually worth licensing this month, and how Etsy is sounding human while everyone else is trying to fake it.

Tom Mackay
Tom Mackay
The NBA playoffs are a masterclass in brand theatre

Deep Dive

+1

/

Jun 4, 2026

The NBA playoffs are a masterclass in brand theatre

How did the most complained-about sport in America become its greatest entertainment product?

Tom Mackay
Tom Mackay
Even sleep is a project now

Culture

+1

/

Jun 2, 2026

Even sleep is a project now

Wellness used to be about feeling better. Now it's about doing more. From mouth tape to sleep scores, a new culture of self-optimisation has turned even rest into another task on the to-do list.

Lucía Rivas Alfonzo
Lucía Rivas Alfonzo
Every brand is racing to sound human. Etsy already is one.

Campaigns

+1

/

Jun 2, 2026

Every brand is racing to sound human. Etsy already is one.

When the anti-AI wave recedes and everyone who surfed it moves on to the next positioning, Etsy won't need a new campaign. The marketplace they've built is their entire argument.

Jair Lucena
Jair Lucena
Fonts actually worth licensing in May

Inspiration

+1

/

Jun 1, 2026

Fonts actually worth licensing in May

Four typefaces worth licensing this month — from Type of Feeling's quietly authoritative condensed serif to Blaze Type's dark editorial system, now gone global.

Natalia Gomez Uyabán
Natalia Gomez Uyabán
The Weekly Rundown: Stop treating UGC like an afterthought

The Rundown

/

May 28, 2026

The Weekly Rundown: Stop treating UGC like an afterthought

Also: the epidemic of sameness hiding inside every brand collab you've seen this year, duck noodles and an unexpected design lesson from Thailand, and Four Seasons making public health content Gen Z actually watches.

Tom Mackay
Tom Mackay
Load more

Stay ahead of the brand moves that matter.
Delivered every Thursday.

Quick Links

About
Advertise
Authors

Info

Lento Agency
Work
Contact Us

Stay ahead of the brand moves that matter.
Delivered every Thursday.

Quick Links
About Us
Advertise
Authors

Info
Lento Agency
Work
Contact Us

© 2026 Lento Agency.
beehiivPowered by beehiiv