Brand people love novelty.

Buyers… not so much.

In this episode of Cover Brand, Ethan sits down with Sebastian Hidalgo, co-founder of Durindal, to talk about why some brands endure while others keep tripping over their own “fresh ideas.”

The conversation opens with AC/DC (as all serious brand conversations should), and the famous Angus Young quote about having 13 albums that sound exactly the same. Which, it turns out, is one of the clearest explanations of brand consistency you’ll ever hear.

From there, Ethan and Sebastian connect the dots between music, memory, and market reality—why brands that “stay in their lane” are easier to remember, easier to buy, and harder to replace. They also dig into defense tech, B2B branding, and why credibility is built through repetition, not reinvention.

This episode is a reminder that most branding mistakes don’t come from doing too little—they come from changing too much.

• Why AC/DC is secretly a branding masterclass
• Consistency vs. creativity (and why it’s a false tradeoff)
• What marketers misunderstand about “getting bored” with their own brand
• How credibility is built in defense tech and other high-stakes B2B categories
• Why brands don’t need to surprise people—they need to be recognizable
• The danger of confusing internal fatigue with external wear-out

• AC/DC — the accidental case study in brand consistency
• Coca-Cola — no one complains it tastes the same every year
• Durindal — Sebastian Hidalgo’s defense tech consulting firm - https://www.durindal.com/
• Cover Brand Covers Playlist (Spotify) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6h4QzTqrtn9DIAPvdn1iCI

• Brand leaders tempted to “refresh” things that are already working
• B2B and defense tech marketers navigating trust-driven categories
• Anyone who’s ever said, “We need something new” without being able to explain why

If people recognize your brand, you’re doing something right.

If they’re bored of it… that might just be you.

Descript used to create drafts and then edited with human eyes, ears and hands. Produced by BiCurean.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most brands spend a fortune polishing what customers see.

Very few think about what customers hear.

In this episode of Cover Brand, Ethan sits down with Shez Mehra—DJ turned multisensory troublemaker—to unpack why sound is one of the most overlooked (and most powerful) tools in branding.

From marble bathrooms with zero acoustic privacy to forgettable ads no one is watching, Shez and Ethan make the case that sound isn’t decoration. It’s strategy.

And spoiler alert: most brands are leaving massive value on the table.

Main Topics

• How a DJ career became brand strategy
• Sound is how brands make people feel
• The most neglected moments matter most
• Why most ads are technically “fine” and strategically invisible
• Category sameness can be a trap
• Standing out doesn’t mean being loud.
• Sonic branding isn’t just for ads

• Raina — multisensory sound and music design for physical spaces
• Honk Mobile — parking app example of thoughtful sound UX
• Nokia ringtone — proof that repetition + sound = memory
• Arby’s — “We have the meats” as sonic branding done right
• Domino’s — great ads, forgotten slogan (because silence)
• Disney — line design as part of the experience

If you want people to remember your brand when they’re not looking at it, you’d better think about how it sounds.

Castmagic and Descript used to create drafts and then edited with human eyes, ears and hands. Produced by BiCurean.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.