When Grandma gave me this jar of pickled walnuts in July it made me think about branding and how powerful and emotive it can be. Perhaps in her haste she had accidentally labelled this jar ‘Peter’s Pickled Walnuts’ and quite by chance Grandma had created her own global walnuts brand.

‘Peter’s Pickled Walnuts’ resonates like a strong established brand, it feels like it has some heritage and most importantly, that elusive ‘home-made trust’. That, I though was a lesson in how complicated brands really are, and that the best-fit ideas can sometimes be created by chance.

It’s like that story of John Lennon playing his guitar upside down to play cords accidentally on purpose and making the sounds he didn’t mean to make. Thinking outside yourself like that is the only way to truly be creative.

However I still haven’t eaten the walnuts and I don’t think I will. Nice gesture though.