TOTEM Times
At TOTEM Branding we believe in the fundamental importance of knowledge and sharing it. Knowledge acquired in the real world, in the market, in the trenches of the front line of the creation, construction or transformation of brands. Sharing is knowledge, sharing creates community, sharing makes growth.
We share branding insights as a tool for positive transformation.
We believe our job and commitment is to improve the world of brands today and for those who will come after. Building a sense of connection, pride and belonging is at the core of what we do. One of the goals of this Blog is precisely to share.
September is often sold as a fresh start
In business, it often simply means returning to the list: pending meetings, paused campaigns, resurfacing objectives, and calendars filling up again far too quickly. But a brand doesn’t improve by resuming activity. It improves when it regains its purpose. After summer, there’s a common temptation: to act before thinking. To publish more. To launch more. […]
Brands don’t just collaborate. They create new worlds
For years, many brands viewed each other as enemy territory. My category, my audience, my tone, my space, my market. But something is changing. We’re seeing more and more brands collaborating to appear in places they couldn’t reach on their own. Fashion with food. Beauty with beverages. Luxury with urban culture. Retail with entertainment. Technology […]
The first half of 2026 left a clear impression
AI is no longer news. It’s already integrated into how we work, search, buy, compare, produce, and make decisions. For a while, many brands viewed it as a novelty. Then as an advantage. Now another stage begins: understanding what to do with it without becoming just another brand amidst the noise. And that’s the uncomfortable […]
Every time a brand says it wants to connect with young people, something needs to be examined
Not because wanting to understand them is wrong. On the contrary. The problem arises when they are treated like a decorative tribe: an aesthetic, a tone, a list of words, a campaign with fast-paced music and brighter colors. New generations don’t need brands to seem young. They need them to stop treating them like naive […]
August has a strange way of creating distance
Some people leave. Some people return. Families reunite after months apart. Friends meet up for a few days. Conversations linger because there’s no rush. Silences also find rest. And in the midst of this slower, sunnier, more suspended month, the 8th arrives once again. At TOTEM, we celebrate it with #8Hugs. Not as a pretty […]
For a while, productivity was an advantage
Today, it’s becoming the opposite. A brand can request twenty headlines in a minute, a hundred images in an afternoon, and a complete campaign before a meeting is over. The surprising thing is no longer that something appears at all. The worrying thing is that almost everything appears with a similar level of polish. That’s […]
Vacations don’t begin when you leave
They begin with how you leave behind what you’ve built. At the end of July, many brands enter transition mode. Cycles are closed, tasks are delegated, automation is implemented, and the pace slows. Everything seems under control. But it’s precisely at this moment that a key question arises: what happens to the brand when it’s […]
The pork industry in the Americas is opening up to the world
And branding has a lot to say. From tomorrow, July 22nd, until July 24th, Andy Stalman, CEO of TOTEM Branding, will participate in Porkaméricas 2026, one of the most important gatherings in the pork industry of the continent, which will bring together international leaders, producers, entrepreneurs, technicians, and experts from across the entire value chain […]
Knowledge as a true engine of transformation
The evolution of the sector doesn’t depend solely on infrastructure, investments, or campaigns. It depends on how brands are understood and built. Because today, more than ever, the value of a destination, an organization, or a project is directly linked to its ability to generate meaning. Developing open and accessible training initiatives isn’t a one-off […]
The World Cup offers more than just matches. It offers identity.
For 39 days, the world did something quite extraordinary: stop, look, and feel the same thing all at once. A ball. A jersey. A flag. An anthem. A country. A promise. There wasn’t much to explain. The World Cup is understood more through the body than the mind. The 2026 World Cup has ended on […]
