{"id":151731,"date":"2026-05-08T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151731"},"modified":"2026-05-08T08:00:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:00:59","slug":"most-brands-are-not-growing-they-are-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151731","title":{"rendered":"Most brands are not growing.They are spending."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"922\" height=\"922\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-May-7-2026-10_21_20-PM.png?resize=922%2C922&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-151732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-May-7-2026-10_21_20-PM.png?resize=922%2C922&amp;ssl=1 922w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-May-7-2026-10_21_20-PM.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-May-7-2026-10_21_20-PM.png?resize=920%2C920&amp;ssl=1 920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-May-7-2026-10_21_20-PM.png?w=1254&amp;ssl=1 1254w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 922px) 100vw, 922px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-amazon wp-block-embed-amazon\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THE TRUST LEDGER : Why Some Brands Compound While Others Quietly Disappear (The Compounding Advantage series Book 2)\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"922\" height=\"550\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"clipboard-write\" style=\"max-width:100%\" src=\"https:\/\/read.amazon.com\/kp\/card?asin=B0GX31YGXS\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The dashboard cannot tell the difference.<br \/>\u2014<br \/>The Trust Ledger. Out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The dashboard cannot tell the difference.\u2014The Trust Ledger. Out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[524,548,4274],"class_list":["post-151731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-other-stuff","tag-book","tag-charts","tag-mybook"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":151667,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151667","url_meta":{"origin":151731,"position":0},"title":"what we are reading","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"30\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0GX31YGXS There is a meeting that happens in every commercial organisation, in slightly different language, every quarter. Someone presents the numbers. The numbers are good \u2014 or at least good enough. Acquisition is up. The campaign delivered. The cost-per-acquisition is within target. The slide has green arrows. Somebody says solid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;all other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"all other stuff","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ledger.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151567,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151567","url_meta":{"origin":151731,"position":1},"title":"THE TRUST LEDGER: Why Some Brands Compound While Others Quietly Disappear","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"24\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Most brands are not growing. They are spending. The dashboard cannot tell the difference. Hit the target. Close the quarter. Green arrows on the slide. And somewhere in the data nobody looks at, something moved the other way \u2014 the customers who used to return without prompting, the ones who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;all other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"all other stuff","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-Apr-24-2026-03_39_16-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-Apr-24-2026-03_39_16-PM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-Apr-24-2026-03_39_16-PM.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ChatGPT-Image-Apr-24-2026-03_39_16-PM.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151704,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=151704","url_meta":{"origin":151731,"position":2},"title":"The Asymmetry Economy.","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"05\/05\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Your buyer has read the playbook. 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But enough to create\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;all other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"all other stuff","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/assymetry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/assymetry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/assymetry.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thecuriousbrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/assymetry.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48572,"url":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?p=48572","url_meta":{"origin":151731,"position":5},"title":"Autonomous Machines","author":"thebrainbehind","date":"28\/03\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/70364631 https:\/\/vimeo.com\/70363445 https:\/\/vimeo.com\/70361385 https:\/\/vimeo.com\/70357606 https:\/\/vimeo.com\/70360563 The art of echo yang","rel":"","context":"In &quot;all other stuff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"all other stuff","link":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151733,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151731\/revisions\/151733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecuriousbrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}