From Meta to YouTube, Jacob Benbunan dives into how the world’s leading companies build meaning, measure value, and leverage AI without losing the human touch.

Experience, reality, and the AI frontier

What elevates a brand from a mere visual mark to an indelible global experience? In a recent episode of <a href="https://producthackers.com/es/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Product Hacker</a>’s Growth podcast, Jacob Benbunan shared his perspective on the fundamental mechanics of branding. Drawing from a career that has shaped the identities of giants such as Meta, YouTube and Repsol, Jacob shared a guiding philosophy in Saffron's work: that beauty may be relative, but experience is absolute. From rethinking YouTube’s ‘Play’ button to turning intangible assets into measurable business value, the conversation explored what it takes to create a modern brand identity.
As we all navigate the intersection of Artificial and Natural Intelligence, the conversation reflected on why the human element remains the ultimate arbiter of creativity. It’s a dialogue beyond aesthetics and into the discipline of turning a brand’s promise into a lived reality.

In this episode, Jacob deconstructs: 
<ul><li>The definition of brand as promise, experience and reality</li><li>Why experience is universal and aesthetics are relative</li><li>The inside story of the rebranding YouTube and the creating Meta</li><li>Measuring and communicating the value of intangible assets to stakeholders</li><li>The necessary balance between Artificial Intelligence and Natural Intelligence</li></ul>

00:00:00 – Introduction: Presenting Jacob Benbunan 00:03:28 – What is Saffron? 25 years of strategic consultancy 00:06:36 – Relative design vs. Absolute experience 00:09:49 – Defining brand in three key words 00:12:19 – Brand adaptability across different sectors 00:17:19 – Customer centricity: The secret to Apple's success 00:19:51 – The Ryanair case: Business success vs. visual aesthetics 00:25:00 – Consistency as a fundamental brand pillar 00:32:11 – Tangible vs. Intangible: How to measure brand value 00:41:00 – What makes a brand iconic and memorable? 00:52:10 – From Facebook to Meta: Shifts in brand architecture 00:57:50 – Rebranding YouTube: The power of owning the 'Play button' 01:06:40 – Artificial Intelligence vs. Natural Intelligence in creativity

Podcast: The Essence of Brand

Related work

Applying the 5Rs of brand experience

Culture has a new address

Beyond the network: Telco brands for tomorrow