S06.E13 - Branding in an Age of Autocracy: Marty Neumeier on Trust, Truth & Power
- S6E13
- 1:04:49
- July 30th 2025
As democracy fractures and trust erodes, branding enters unfamiliar territory. What happens to brand building when truth becomes optional and power consolidates?
Learn more at www. justcreative.com/podcast
In this episode, we’re joined by Marty Neumeier—one of the most influential voices in branding—to explore what it means to design brands in a world increasingly shaped by autocracy, AI, and cultural volatility.
We unpack:
• Why branding depends on openness, trust, and shared meaning
• What AI, media, and power shifts are doing to perception
• The risks of brand neutrality—and the cost of staying silent
• The role of brand builders as educators, sense-makers, and cultural participants
• Why Level C is pushing brand education into new territory
• How business can remain human in an increasingly controlled landscape
This is a timely, wide-ranging conversation about branding’s responsibility, relevance, and future. If you’re a strategist, creative, or leader—this one asks more of you.
JUST Branding
The JUST Branding Podcast, hosted by Jacob Cass & Matt Davies, is the only podcast dedicated to helping designers & entrepreneurs grow brands.
Each episode goes deep into the details of the brand building process, with professional insights, actionable tips and resources to help you build better brands.
The focus is on helping designers & entrepreneurs bridge the gap between strategy and design. Branding professionals from around the world join Jacob & Matt in discussing the benefits of brand strategy, top tools, how to sell strategy, brand purpose, brand positioning, neuroscience, brand personality, messaging, storytelling, brand naming, tag lines, logo design, brand identity design and brand experience.
ABOUT JACOB CASS
Jacob Cass is a Sydney-based designer & strategist who runs JUST Creative, an award-winning branding & design firm that doubles as an industry leading blog. Jacob helps brands grow & get results by crafting distinctive logos & brand identities that are backed by a solid brand strategy.
He recently rebranded San Francisco and Puerto Rico, and also branded New York's Digital District. Other clients have included the likes of Disney, Nintendo and Jerry Seinfeld. Jacob has spoken at TEDx, been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur and has been awarded LinkedIn’s “Best of” for branding.
For him, design is a lifelong journey of continuously honing his craft, as well as educating other fellow designers & business owners to build on theirs, which has allowed him to build a large and loyal following, including his website which has been been viewed over 50 million times. Jacob is an avid traveler and has traveled to 87 countries.
ABOUT MATT DAVIES
Matt is a brand strategy specialist working with leaders to align around their brand and get it ready to connect deeply with those inside and outside of their organisations. His work enables you to grow your business faster and easier. Matt solves a variety of brand challenges, from strategy and positioning to naming and identity right through to company culture and product innovation.