BRANDED

Hosted by Ben Kaplan and TOP Thought Leader

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160

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Feb 2026

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About the show

Explore the latest business and brand headlines with insight from the world’s leading experts in marketing, advertising, economics, and finance.

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60 recent

February 23, 202610 min

AI BUBBLES, DOW 50K, and AD FRANCHISES

Is the economy booming, or is the DOW 50K just a shiny brand hiding a "K-shaped" disaster? This week on Branded , Ben Kaplan exposes why Big Tech is gambling $650 BILLION on an AI future that hasn't paid a single bill yet. We’re breaking down the shift from "one-night stand" commercials to Super Bowl franchises and why the Olympics are turning every living room into a data-driven "addressable unit". In this episode, we dive into: SUPER BOWL Winners & Losers: How Dunkin’ built a "universe" while others spent $10 million just to sponsor a meme. The $650B AI Gamble: Why investors are flinching at Big Tech’s massive spending and "soulless" AI creative. The $600K "Translator": Why Microsoft and Google are hiring creators to make complex tech feel human. DOW 50,000 vs. REALITY: The branding problem of a "strong" economy when groceries cost 30% more. Olympic Micro-Moments: How Milano Cortina 2026 is changing the economics of global sponsorship. Are you building a brand infrastructure , or just paying for a stunt that people will forget by Monday?

January 22, 202610 min

1/21/26: Netflix’s $480M Gamble, The $300k GPT-4 Killer, and Why Taylor Swift Just Lost to a 4-Year-Old Song

From Netflix’s massive $480 million bet on Stranger Things to a four-year-old "invisible" song dethroning Taylor Swift overnight, TOPAgency.com CEO Ben Kaplan deconstructs the week culture moved faster than the boardroom. We’re double-checking the ROI on $8M Super Bowl ads and diving into how a "cheap" Chinese AI model just undercut OpenAI by 50x. Is "Made in China" the new premium in AI, or a race to the bottom? Featuring: The Joe Keery Effect: How the Stranger Things finale created a global #1 hit from a 2022 "side hustle." Streaming Math: Why $60M per episode is actually a bargain for Netflix retention. The DeepSeek Disruption: Can a $300k Chinese model actually beat billions in Silicon Valley R&D? NVIDIA vs. Tesla: Why Wall Street just picked the "platform" over the "product" at CES. The Dictator’s Hoodie: How American brand Origin turned Nicolas Maduro’s arrest into a masterclass in real-time marketing. Jonas Brothers vs. AI: Why the future of "real" advertising might mean ditching the algorithms. Watch on YouTube at: ⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@branded-podcast Follow on TikTok at: http://tiktok.com/@top_agency Get the merch at: ⁠ https://store.nationaltoday.com/

January 2, 202612 min

1/2/26: Disney Bets $1B on AI Mickey, Lululemon's Founder Goes to War, and McDonald's Ruins Christmas

From McDonald's AI Christmas disaster to Disney's billion-dollar gamble on letting you remix Mickey Mouse, TOPAgency.com CEO Ben Kaplan breaks down the wildest marketing moves of the week—and reveals why more brand control might mean letting go.Featuring: McDonald's fully AI-generated Christmas ad (and why it flopped) Disney's $1B OpenAI deal: Remixing Mickey without losing control Lululemon founder Chip Wilson publicly trashing his own company Trump Accounts: Policy or presidential branding campaign? Netflix vs. Ellison family's $108B bid for Warner Brothers Australia bans social media for everyone under 16 Mondelez's creepy AI that predicts your Oreo craving before you do Watch on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@branded-podcast Follow on TikTok at: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c2q2UAA2xDRI2mqCLFeTM Get merch at: https://store.nationaltoday.com/

December 17, 202511 min

The "No AI" Flex: Why Brands are Going Analog

From Pepsi undoing a decade of design history to Olipop parking a SpongeBob Airstream where digital ads can't reach, we're learning from the week's wildest marketing news. Did you know that BMW paid for an entire highway lane to give their drivers a free ride—and then forced Mercedes and Audi owners to advertise for them to get the same perk? Ben Kaplan (CEO, TopAgency.com ) breaks down why the era of "perfect" campaigns is over—and why the next big marketing wins won’t come from data-driven insights alone. Featuring: Apple’s $230 "sock" & the luxury of zero utility BMW’s petty (and brilliant) Russian toll lane war Pepsi’s "Ugly Sweater" logo pivot Adidas vs. Nike: Why gut instinct can sometimes beat big data The Campbell’s Soup hot mic disaster Olipop’s SpongeBob Airstream & physical retargeting Why "No AI" is the new premium flex

December 5, 20255 min

BMW, Apple, Pepsi: The New Rules of Attention Warfare.

Minimalism had a long run. But consumers got bored and brands felt it. BMW pulled off a toll-lane stunt that turned Audi and Mercedes drivers into unwilling brand ambassadors. Apple dropped a knitted “iPhone Pocket” that has more in common with Hermès than hardware. And Pepsi just ended a decade of flat, sanitized branding with a bold return to maximalism. The new wave isn’t clean, quiet, or neutral. It’s loud, emotional, and intentionally polarizing. Because in a crowded market, clarity doesn’t win contrast does. Which brand nailed the moment?

November 21, 20256 min

Why Belief Is the Most Powerful Brand Strategy in 2025

LeBron had millions bracing for goodbye—until the twist revealed it wasn’t retirement at all. And that’s just one part of this week’s story about belief: who has it, who earns it, and how brands weaponize it. From China blocking influencers without real credentials… to Cheetos turning a baseball superstition into an official MLB deal to Prime, Feastables, and Stanley proving that today’s strongest brands start as people, not companies. Ben Kaplan (Founder + CEO, Top Agency) breaks down why trust, identity, and community have become the new moat in marketing—and why the next decade of brand power won’t come from logos, ads, or campaigns, but from belief systems. Featuring: • LeBron x Hennessy emotional clickbait • China’s degree-verified influencer crackdown • Cheetos & the Seattle superstition • Prime Hydration + Feastables as belief-driven brands • The Stanley Cup identity movement • Why attention isn’t enough anymore—belief is the strategy

November 17, 20256 min

IKEA, Whole Foods & VW: How Brands Rewired Human Habits

IKEA made a bed for your phone. Whole Foods turned a grocery list into a cultural forecast. Volkswagen’s top-selling product isn’t a car—it’s sausage. This week on BRANDED Weekly , Ben Kaplan (Founder + CEO, Top Agency) breaks down how brands stopped reacting to culture and started writing it . From IKEA’s behavioral design experiments to Whole Foods’ 2026 trend report and Volkswagen’s nostalgia-driven empire, today’s most powerful brands aren’t selling products—they’re engineering habits, identity, and emotion. We unpack: IKEA’s Phone Bed — gamifying guilt and designing digital discipline. Whole Foods’ Trend Report — transforming food into status and self-expression. Volkswagen’s Currywurst — turning nostalgia into profit. The Death of Millennial Brands — why aesthetic polish stopped working. Because branding in 2025 isn’t about storytelling anymore—it’s about habit formation, desire curation, and emotional anchoring.

November 10, 20258 min

Marketing Just Hit a New Level of Self-Awareness

Cheetos sold the mess. Domino’s engineered a sound. The Ordinary called beauty a scam while selling it. This week on BRANDED , Ben Kaplan (Founder + CEO, Top Agency) breaks down how brands turned irony into influence and self-awareness into strategy. He breaks down how emotion, irony, and algorithmic storytelling are reshaping the attention economy. From absurd stunts to sensory branding, these campaigns prove that authenticity now means admitting the performance . We unpack: Cheetos & Vogel’s — turning snacks and bread into fashion statements. Ramp — B2B marketing that made pain a spectacle (literally). Domino’s — rebranding taste through sound design. The Ordinary — exposing beauty’s biggest lie while cashing in on it. OpenAI — redefining category ownership as ChatGPT becomes shorthand for AI. Plus, a deep dive into how nostalgia, dopamine, and self-awareness became the ultimate growth hacks in 2025’s marketing landscape.

October 31, 202510 min

Ferrari Went Electric. Doritos Went Viral. What’s Next?

In 2025, emotion is the business model. From Ferrari’s Apple-designed EV to Doritos’ cheese-pull spectacle — Ben Kaplan breaks down how outrage, nostalgia, and virality became strategy.

October 27, 20258 min

Inside the Attention Economy: MTV, Build-A-Bear & the Price of Feeling

MTV didn’t die — we killed it by scrolling. In this week’s episode of BRANDED Weekly , Ben Kaplan breaks down how nostalgia, dopamine, and brand emotion are reshaping business. From MTV’s collapse to Build-A-Bear’s 2,000% stock surge , Chili’s viral mozzarella moment , and Michael Jordan’s $70M jet , we explore the one metric that now decides who wins: attention . The real question? In 2025, how much is your brand’s emotion worth?