In the last Tuesdays With Coleman blog, John Boyne shared a unique example of how U-Haul gets away with what, on the surface, feels like a blatant brand violation. U-Haul splatters various messages all over its trucks, from being easy to load to its gentle ride suspension to its low cost. John points out this violation at the end of his blog, arguing that U-Haul may get away with it because the mini messages further an overarching perception about a well established brand. I’ll make the case that last part is the most important. U-Haul claims a dominant, greater than 50% share of the rental truck market in the United States. If it had greater competition, it would be forced to focus in order to differentiate. For most brands, focusing on one powerful brand message is the right move. For Jennifer Hudson, it’s an amazing move.

I’ve never watched an episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show. But I feel like I know exactly what it’s about. That’s because I watch JHud’s “Spirit Tunnel” almost every day.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Spirit Tunnel is the hallway where guests enter the show, greeted by staff members who sing, dance, clap, and cheer them on. The celebrities often join in, creating some genuinely entertaining moments. The videos are everywhere on social media. At least, they’re everywhere on my social media. And here’s what’s interesting: Despite never having watched the actual show, I have a pretty clear impression of The Jennifer Hudson Show. It’s fun. It’s upbeat. It’s positive. It’s a place where people are celebrated, and where you’re probably going to leave feeling better than when you arrived. Is that an accurate representation of the entire show? I have no idea.

But it’s the impression I have, and that’s the point.

One of the most common mistakes brands make is trying to communicate too many things at once. They want consumers to know they’re innovative, trustworthy, entertaining, authentic, community-focused, and different from the competition. They want to promote every feature, every personality, every benefit, and every reason someone might choose them. And when everything is important, nothing stands out. The Jennifer Hudson tunnel takes a different approach. It gives people one memorable, easily recognizable entry point into the brand. And that entry point communicates something much bigger than the actual content of the videos.

The tunnel isn’t the show. It’s a gateway to the show.

It gives potential viewers a reason to become interested. More importantly, it establishes an expectation about the experience they’ll have if they decide to watch. That’s effective branding.

EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winner Jennifer Hudson (Credit: DFree/Shutterstock.com)

Of course, there’s an important caveat. You can’t just find something entertaining, promote it relentlessly, and expect it to build your brand. The gateway has to connect to the broader brand experience. Imagine if the Jennifer Hudson tunnel were filled with singing, dancing, and laughter, but the actual show was a serious, confrontational interview program. The disconnect would be jarring. The tunnel works because the feeling it creates appears consistent with the show’s larger personality.

And that’s the lesson for brands: Find one thing that makes people curious about you, but make sure it represents what you actually deliver.

For a radio station, that gateway might be a particular music position, a morning show personality, or a distinctive attitude.

For a podcast, it might be a recurring segment or the unique perspective of its host.

For a streaming service, it might be a signature program that draws people into a much larger library of content.

The objective isn’t to reduce the entire brand to one thing. It’s to give consumers one compelling reason to take the first step.

This is where things get especially interesting in today’s fragmented media landscape.

I haven’t watched the show. I couldn’t tell you what time it’s on, what channel carries it, or even describe a typical episode. But I regularly consume content associated with the show. So, am I a viewer? Not in the traditional television ratings sense. But I am certainly part of the show’s broader audience, and I’ve developed a brand perception without ever consuming its core product. Consumers encounter brands in all kinds of ways before ever becoming customers, listeners, subscribers, or viewers. And those encounters shape expectations.

The Jennifer Hudson tunnel has accomplished the first critical step of building a relationship with me. It has made the brand recognizable, memorable, and appealing. Whether that eventually translates into watching the show is another question. But without that initial connection, there wouldn’t even be an opportunity. The less established your position, the more important it is to give consumers something specific to remember you for. You can expand the conversation once you’ve earned a place in their minds.

Here’s the question I’d encourage every brand to consider:

What’s the one thing you could consistently put in front of potential consumers that would make them curious enough to explore everything else you offer? Not the six things you want to be known for. Not the laundry list of product benefits. One thing.

It should be distinctive enough to capture attention, simple enough to remember, and authentic enough to represent the broader brand experience. The Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnel doesn’t attempt to explain everything about The Jennifer Hudson Show. It doesn’t need to. It gives me a reason to smile, a feeling to associate with the brand, and perhaps someday, a reason to tune in.

And considering I’ve never watched an episode, that’s a pretty impressive start.

The post The Power of One Brand Message appeared first on Coleman Insights.

Nearly three years after my writing was last inspired by brand messaging seen on the side of a commercial truck, here we go again. And this time my muse is U-Haul.

U-Haul? Yes, U-Haul.

On its home turf of the United States and Canada, U-Haul is a powerful brand. For those of you living in this part of the world, I’m willing to bet that you are familiar with U-Haul, that you know what primary services U-Haul provides, and that you can even close your eyes and picture a classic white-and-orange U-Haul truck.

A U-Haul truck in Raleigh, North Carolina

For those unaware, U-Haul is the long-time market leader in do-it-yourself moving truck and trailer rental, and it is also a major operator of self-storage facilities. When you need to haul your stuff from one place to another, U-Haul wants to help.

What’s interesting to me is the approach that U-Haul takes to decorating its moving trucks. Rather than presenting a clean, simple design, U-Haul vehicles are adorned with a smorgasbord of messages and imagery that can vary from truck to truck. I mean, yes, there’s a foundational base of white-and-orange coloring and the distinctive U-Haul logo, but beyond that, there’s a lot to take in. For example:

• Some messages describe how U-Haul trucks are easy to load, such as this back panel display: “Our Low Decks Make Your Move EASIER!” with a blue arrow pointing to the height of U-Haul’s “Lowest Decks” and their “E-Z Load Ramp” requiring “1/3 Less Work,” as compared to a red arrow pointing out the higher location of a competitor’s deck height
• Look elsewhere and you may learn about the comfort of the drive: “Gentle-Ride Van,” “Gentle-Ride Suspension,” “Drives Like A Van, Hauls Like A Truck”
• Other messages relate to U-Haul’s efforts to help its customers save gas money: “Trimline Fuel $aver – Saves You Money,” “Fuel $aver Chassis Skirts – Optimize Your Fuel Economy,” “Enhanced Aerodynamics”
• You may also come across other low-cost messages: “Now Only $19.95,” “Right Equipment, Lowest Cost”
• And then there’s my personal favorite: “Mom’s Attic,” a relatively small, italicized phrase pointing out additional storage space that extends above the cab of trucks (per the website, “another U-Haul exclusive!”)
• Beyond such product-benefit messages, more memorable to some of you may be the “Venture Across America & Canada” series that features eye-catching images and interesting factoids from the many states and territories served by U-Haul. The company calls these SuperGraphics^®, and as a proud North Carolinian, I am particularly fond of the one featuring the Venus Fly Trap. While U-Haul may of course be altruistically motivated to educate citizens, SuperGraphics also have the benefit of drawing the attention of drivers and passersby who may then take in the truck’s other messages about U-Haul’s services.

So what marketing lessons can we take away from U-Haul? I’ll give you three:

First, think of any consumer-facing situation as an opportunity to market your brand. Don’t have a fleet of trucks like U-Haul’s that can be used as mobile billboards? I get it. But consider if there are other potentially under-utilized assets—such as product packaging, a storefront, or a media appearance—that could be better optimized to help you develop and mold perceptions of your brand.

Second, promote your brand’s benefits; don’t assume that people will figure it out on their own. U-Haul recognizes that positive points of differentiation are only helpful if they are noticed. By using on-truck messaging to highlight benefits related to ease of use, comfort, and fuel economy, U-Haul educates consumers about benefits that are not otherwise apparent.

Third, consider the “1+1+1=3/4” test when developing and prioritizing marketing messaging. The idea here is that if you try to communicate too much at once, the conflicting messages and lack of focus will result in no single message strongly cutting through. Now, if you’re reading this and thinking, “Hey, wait a minute, might U-Haul actually be guilty of violating this rule?”, hats off to your astute observation! I mention “1+1+1=3/4” here because this U-Haul approach challenges us to consider if it is a rare exception to the rule. Yes, U-Haul trucks contain many different messages. But in this case, I’d argue that the strategy works if the marketing goal is to use the barrage of mini messages to further the overarching perception that U-Haul “Makes Moving Easier” (yes, another phrase on their trucks). In other words, the goal may not be to deeply imprint all the details, but rather for the ensemble of details to draw your attention and then communicate a larger story about an already well-established brand. Is “Mom’s Attic” such a critical selling point that it should be the singular message on all U-Haul trucks? Of course not. But as one of many details being absorbed by passing observers, “Mom’s Attic” may help establish the broader idea that U-Haul’s really got the do-it-yourself moving process all figured out for you.

So there you go – a few marketing lessons from the side of a U-Haul truck. Keep your eyes and ears open, and you might be surprised by what brings inspiration.

The post What U-Haul Trucks Can Teach Us About Brand Marketing appeared first on Coleman Insights.

As a big soccer fan, I was intrigued when I learned that Firefox had become the front-of-shirt sponsor for Wrexham AFC.

Yes, that Firefox. The web browser.

At first glance, a web browser sponsoring a Welsh football club seems like an odd pairing. But as I learned more about the partnership, I realized there’s an interesting branding lesson here, especially for anyone in the radio business.

For those who haven’t followed the story, Wrexham is one of the oldest professional football clubs in the world. After years of struggles in the lower reaches of English football, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac bought the club in 2021. Their ownership, combined with the enormous success of the television series Welcome to Wrexham, transformed what had largely been a local and regional brand into a global one.

Rob McElhenney, Ryan Reynolds at the FX’s “Welcome To Wrexham” FYC Event at Chloe’s at Golden Road Brewing on April 28, 2026 in Burbank, CA (Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com)

After an unprecedented three consecutive promotions, Wrexham now plays in the Championship, the second-highest level of English football. And beginning with the 2026-27 season, Firefox became the front-of-shirt sponsor for both Wrexham’s men’s and women’s teams.

So, why Firefox?

According to StatCounter, Google Chrome accounts for roughly two-thirds of worldwide web browser usage. Safari is a distant second, followed by Microsoft Edge. Firefox’s share is less than 3%.

In other words, Firefox is an underdog—and so is Wrexham.

Mozilla, the organization behind Firefox, clearly sees the connection. In announcing the partnership, Mozilla described Firefox and Wrexham as two “challenger brands” that have built passionate communities by doing things differently. That makes a lot of sense from a positioning standpoint, but I think there’s something even more interesting about this sponsorship.

Firefox may or may not have a product problem with some consumers. But it almost certainly has an awareness and consideration problem.

Editorial credit: Bangla press / Shutterstock.com

Think about what happens when you get a new computer or phone. There’s already a browser on it. Chrome dominates Android. Safari comes with Apple products. Edge comes with Windows. Most people probably don’t conduct an exhaustive evaluation of browsers before deciding which one to use. They use what’s already there or perhaps download the browser they already know and use elsewhere.

That means one of Firefox’s biggest challenges is simply getting into consumers’ consideration sets. And that’s something we think about all the time in the research we conduct for our radio clients.

We can ask listeners to rate a station’s music, personalities, morning show, or other content. We can help the station refine all those things. But none of that matters very much if, when someone decides, “I want to hear some Hip Hop,” your station never enters their mind.

That’s why we measure Awareness and association with brand images in our Plan Developer perceptual studies. What brands come to mind? A radio station, for example, can have a terrific product. It can conduct music research, improve its morning show, reduce commercial clutter, and make its app work beautifully. But if consumers aren’t thinking about the station, they can’t choose it.

Firefox appears to understand that. And that helps explain why putting its logo on a football shirt potentially makes more sense than spending the same money telling people about browser features.

Wrexham has something Firefox needs: attention.

And it isn’t just attention in Wales. Welcome to Wrexham has given the club a worldwide following that wildly exceeds what you would expect for a football club from a small city in North Wales. Wrexham now attracts interest throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Every match, every highlight, every social media post, and every photograph of Reynolds and Mac celebrating another milestone puts Firefox in front of people who might otherwise have little reason to think about a web browser.

Importantly, the partnership also reinforces an image Firefox wants to own. Firefox isn’t going to beat Chrome by claiming to be the biggest browser because, obviously, it isn’t. Instead, it can stand for something different: independence, privacy, user choice, and taking on the giants. Wrexham’s brand story fits that narrative remarkably well.

Here’s where I think the lesson becomes especially relevant to radio.

When budgets get tight, marketing is often evaluated almost entirely through short-term response. How many people clicked? How many people downloaded the app? How many people entered the contest? Did ratings go up?

Those are perfectly reasonable questions. But they can lead us to undervalue one of marketing’s most important jobs: building and maintaining mental availability. Sometimes marketing works because six months from now, when someone has a need your product can fulfill, they think of you.

That’s much harder to attribute. If Firefox’s market share increases over the next few years, nobody will be able to calculate precisely how much of that growth came from someone repeatedly seeing the logo on a Wrexham shirt. That doesn’t mean the exposure didn’t matter.

The same is true for radio. The billboard someone passes every morning may not cause them to listen at that moment. The television commercial featuring your morning show may not generate an immediately measurable streaming session. The sponsorship of a community event may not produce a detectable ratings spike. But each can help build an image and, perhaps most importantly, keep the brand mentally available.

Of course, awareness alone isn’t enough. Once consumers try Firefox, the product must deliver. Once someone samples your radio station, the content must deliver. That’s why we’ve long preached at Coleman Insights that successful radio brands need both brand strength and content strength.

But we shouldn’t confuse the two.

A better product doesn’t automatically create a stronger brand. Sometimes you must give people a reason to notice you in the first place.

For Firefox, apparently, that means putting its logo on the front of a football shirt in Wrexham, Wales.

The more I think about it, the less strange that seems.

The post What Firefox’s Wrexham Sponsorship Teaches Radio Brands appeared first on Coleman Insights.

Three questions inspired us to launch our latest research project, The Power of Community:

1. Despite being more digitally connected than ever, are Americans lonelier than ever?

2. Anecdotally, we believe podcasting has a superpower when it comes to connection. Is that true?

3. If it is, what can the podcasting industry do to build real engagement and create meaningful change?

The answer to the first question, sadly, is a resounding yes.

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans now report having no close friends. Those under 30 are spending nearly half their waking hours alone—a dramatic change from just a decade ago. And the perception that the elderly are the loneliest is a myth. Consistent with the time-spent-alone findings, it’s people under 30 who are most likely to say they feel isolated from others all or most of the time.

So, what does podcasting have to do with any of this?

Podcasts are fundamentally a one-way medium: you listen to or watch a podcast, and no one talks back to you. That’s different from social media, which is designed to be interactive. And yet, for many people, podcasting feels remarkably two-way.

Nearly half of all podcast consumers agree with each of these statements: “Podcasts keep me company when I don’t have people around,” “Podcasts help me feel connected to something bigger than myself,” and “Some podcast hosts feel like friends.”

Those are powerful statements of connection. And the feelings grow stronger with increased podcast consumption: more than two-thirds of daily podcast consumers agree with all three.

But the story goes beyond the relationship between listeners and hosts.

L-R: Carl Weinstein, COO/Locked On Podcast Network; Brittany Clevenger, Sr. Director of Growth Marketing/BetterHelp; Jay Nachlis, VP/Consultant, Coleman Insights

Podcasts often give fans opportunities to engage beyond listening or watching, whether through online chats with other listeners, dedicated communities, financial support, live shows, or meetups. We found that nearly half of podcast consumers have participated in at least one of these activities, rising to almost two-thirds among daily consumers.

Here’s where it gets especially interesting: people who participate in podcast-related community activities are also much more likely to participate in social activities outside of podcasting.

One finding particularly stood out: podcast consumers who participate in a podcast-related community activity are twice as likely to attend a support group or group therapy.

In other words, the connection associated with podcasting may not end when the episode does.

These are meaningful findings with implications across the podcasting ecosystem.

For advertisers and brands, the research demonstrates that podcasting isn’t just an effective medium for reach—it’s a medium built around connection. Instead of simply buying ads, what if brands helped fund listener meetups or live events? What if they supported causes that matter to the show and its listeners? There may be opportunities to become part of the community rather than simply advertise to it.

For creators, consider tangible ways to encourage listener-to-show and listener-to-listener participation. Use language that reinforces community—words like “we,” “us,” and “together.” Develop inviting, show-specific phrases, traditions, or rituals that regular listeners can latch onto and that help them feel like part of something.

Because if podcasting has a superpower, our research suggests connection may be it.

And we’re just getting started. We’ll be sharing many more findings from The Power of Community, along with details about an October webinar presented in conjunction with Sounds Profitable.

The post Podcasting’s Superpower: The Power of Connection appeared first on Coleman Insights.

There’s a familiar frustration in media:

You write what you think is a great tease. You create curiosity. You promise something compelling. You tell listeners or viewers when to come back.

And then… they don’t.

Not because the tease wasn’t good. Not because they weren’t interested. They simply weren’t there when the payoff happened. They were at work. They were talking to their kids. They were driving through a dead spot. They switched stations. They got distracted. They had to leave the car. Or, they simply had other things going on in their lives. This is an important distinction because it changes how we should think about teases.

What if the tease itself is part of the payoff?

Too often, we think about a tease as a tactical device with one job: get the listener or viewer to come back for the thing we’re teasing. That is certainly one of its jobs. But if that’s the only way we evaluate a tease, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. The reality is that your audience cannot always be there for the payoff. And that’s not necessarily a programming failure.

Our research consistently reinforces the importance of understanding radio from the listener’s perspective, a principle we refer to as Outside Thinking. People have busy, unpredictable lives. They dip in and out. They miss things. They join a show in the middle of a conversation. They hear a promo for something that already happened.

We can’t control that. What we can control is what listeners take away from the moments they do hear. That’s where teases become branding opportunities. I encourage you to think beyond the event and think about the image.

Imagine a radio morning show that has built a strong image around being funny and unpredictable.

Photo credit: Shutterstock/adriaticfoto

A tease might be: “You are not going to believe what happened when Producer Mike tried to help a listener this morning. It was completely unhinged. But who went off the rails? The listener…or Mike? We’ll tell you what happened at 8:15.”

If the listener comes back at 8:15, great. They get the payoff.

But what if they don’t?

They still heard something that reinforces an important idea about the show: you never know what to expect. The sense of FOMO is palpable.

Or imagine a personality whose brand is built around being connected to the community. A tease about an upcoming conversation with a local teacher, business owner, athlete, or listener isn’t just an invitation to tune in later. It can reinforce the idea that this show knows and cares about the people who live here.

A sports podcast known for where athletes reveal the most authentic things about themselves should consistently lean on those clips in the promos and short-form video, as if every single person is seeing or hearing the clip for the first time.

Photo credit: Shutterstock/Koldo Studio

The key is to ask a different question. Instead of “Will this tease get them to come back,” also ask “If this is the only thing they hear, what does it tell them about us?” That’s a branding question. The tease can be the commercial for the show.

Think about the strongest brands in any category. Their individual messages may change, but they continually reinforce the same fundamental associations.

If one of the most important images for your show is great chemistry, then teases should sound like a show with great chemistry. If the image is humor, the tease should be funny—not merely a description of something that will eventually be funny. If the image is surprise, give listeners a taste of the unexpected. If the image is emotion and connection, let them hear the emotional stakes. If the promise is being local, make the tease feel unmistakably local. In other words, don’t only tease the content. Tease the brand.

This is especially important in a fragmented listening environment. Old model = assumes listeners will be there for the setup, tease, payoff, and everything in between. New model = listeners/viewers enter and exit frequently.

This isn’t a call to abandon the tactical mission, it’s a call to expand it and make it more strategic. Appointment listening still matters. The payoff still matters. The best teases do two things at once. They give listeners and viewers a reason to stay or come back and reinforce why they should care about the show in the first place. We can’t control if they’ll be there for the payoff, but we can control whether the moments they do hear make our brand stronger.

That’s the opportunity.

Don’t just tease what’s coming. Tease who you are.

The post How Teases Can Build Your Brand appeared first on Coleman Insights.