Welcome to Marcel's lab.
Weekly articles. All paid content free. The only newsletter on character-driven brands powered by AI.
Hey there!
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for the past few months, you know it’s already evolved way past “general brand strategy podcast.” We’re deep in mascots, characters, and AI-powered brand universes.
So it’s time the name caught up with what I’m actually doing.
3 things are changing:
1. New Name: Marcel’s Lab
Let’s Talk Branding → Marcel’s Lab
Why? Because “Let’s Talk Branding” made sense when this was a podcast interviewing smart people about marketing science. But that’s not what this is anymore.
This newsletter is about one thing: building the strongest character-driven brands powered by AI.
2. New Rhythm: Weekly
I’m committing to weekly lab notes instead of the sporadic “whenever I finish a big piece” schedule.
More experiments. More behind-the-scenes. More tactical breakdowns of what’s working (and what’s failing spectacularly).
So expect to see Marcel in your inbox every week. Sometimes it’ll be a full breakdown. Sometimes it’ll be a quick “here’s what I’m testing this week.” But it’ll be consistent.
3. Everything’s Free Now
Remember The Buckle Up Briefing? Those paid-only issues with behind-the-scenes tutorials and AI workflows (that Marcel sometimes leaked)?
They’re all unlocked. Free. Forever.
Here are just some of my favorite articles that were previously subscribers-only:
How I built Marcel from scratch (Briefing #1)
The complete video workflow for short films (Briefing #7)
How I made a short film with AI (Briefing #4)
How to turn your mascot into an AI companion (Briefing #11)
Have fun! And of course, I’m not stopping here, I’ll keep sharing behind-the-scenes tutorials.
What Stays the Same
The focus: Mascots, characters, and how to build brand IP that scales in a generative AI world.
The bet: When content is infinite, creativity is your only moat.
What This Means for You
If you’ve been on the free plan, you just got access to everything.
And if you’re new here: welcome to Marcel’s lab. We’re figuring out how mascots become your unfair advantage when AI makes everything. It’s weird, it’s tactical, and it’s the only newsletter laser-focused on this strategy.
Buckle up.
Stef (and Marcel 🐾)