Brands Have Heartbeats
People buy a brand because it has a heartbeat — and content is what gives it one.
Salter's thesis is that a brand is worth owning only if it 'has a heartbeat' — an emotional pull that makes people choose it over private label. That heartbeat is created and maintained through content (ads, film, social, anything that keeps the brand culturally alive). In the AI era, content gets ~20x cheaper to produce, so the cost of keeping a brand's heartbeat strong collapses — which is why even neglected 'legacy' brands can be revived.
- A brand without emotional pull is a commodity — don't own it.
- Content is the life-support system for brand equity.
- AI cuts content cost ~20x, so the math of reviving dormant brands changes.
Articulated at Reuters Momentum 2026 when asked why people buy brands at all in an AI/commodity world; he points to Costco's Kirkland as proof even private label becomes a brand once it 'stands for something.'
Source · VIDEO
Jamie Salter on Brand Strategy & AI — Reuters Momentum (AC15) editorial interview