David Delcourt calls himself Chief of Flavor and CEO for the hot sauce brand Seed Ranch Flavor, and now the plant-based Mac and Cheese brand GrownAs*. He means it. His brands start in his own kitchen, and in the case of GrownAs* with his own kids and whether they actually clean their plates of what he tries on them. In short order, the GrownAs* mac and cheese recipe went from clean plates to over 700 stores. But only five or six years ago, David and his co-founder were selling homemade hot sauce to friends at farmers' markets and on Amazon. …

Can a major brand embrace a typically triggering issue like gun violence in America and even make it part of its brand message? As Northwell Health's CMO Ramon Soto told our Brand Insider Summit: Pharma and Health last month, they grabbed that third rail of American culture to impressive effect. Their "it Doesn't Kill to Ask" campaign is a master class in creative messaging as well as genuinely purposeful marketing and branding.