On Brand with Nick Westergaard

On this week’s Social Sound Bite — recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City — Jerry and I discussed a new report from Radiocentre and Ebiquity that suggests that marketers are undervaluing the impact of traditional media channels and overvaluing digital media. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show.Beyond the Sound Bite Marketers undervalue the impact of traditional media channels (Marketing Week). Remember, the Social Sound Bite is just the appetizer! On Mondays, we serve up a fresh new episode of the On Brand podcast. Thanks again to our sponsor Twenty20. Your source for on brand photography for your brand. You can get five photos with Twenty20’s one-week free trial at Twenty20.com/OnBrand. Last but not least … Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Until next week, see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Most CEOs delegate culture to HR and brand to marketing. You need to prioritize a fusion of these areas.” For many organizations, this is a big shift. Thankfully, this big shift is the big focus of the latest book from brand leadership expert Denise Lee Yohn. We discussed the potential power of the fusion of brand and culture on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Denise Lee YohnDenise Lee Yohn is the go-to expert on brand leadership for national media outlets, an in-demand speaker and consultant, and an influential writer. In addition to FUSION, she is the author of the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest (Jossey-Bass) and the e-book Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do.News media including FOX Business TV, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR call on Denise when they want an expert point-of-view on hot business issues. She is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and Forbes, and has also written for Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Knowledge@Wharton, among others.Denise initially cultivated her brand-building approaches through several high-level positions in advertising and client-side marketing. She served as lead strategist at advertising agencies for Burger King and Land Rover and as the marketing leader and analyst for Jack in the Box restaurants and Spiegel catalogs. Denise went on to head Sony Electronic Inc.’s first ever brand office, where she was the vice president/general manager of brand and strategy and garnered major corporate awards. Consulting clients include Target, Oakley, and Dunkin’ Donuts.Episode Highlights“For a long time brand and culture have been managed separately but there’s great power when you bring them together.” Denise cited the example of Amazon, which surprises many but they’re able to channel the energy of employees who crave demanding work into innovation and service.How can you take steps toward connecting culture and brand?“You have to identify your over-arching purpose. Why you’re in business. This should apply internally and externally. From there, you assess gaps.”Aligning culture with brand comes down to four strategies: “(1) Organize and operate, (2) create cultural change and empower employees, (3) sweat the small stuff like rituals and artifacts, and (4) ignite employees in brand engagement.”What if you have culture but not brand? “You have to leverage your culture to differentiate your brand.” REI has used this approach.Why small brands struggle. As we were talking about what great brands do, we uncovered many ideas that can be useful for small brands. Specifically, Denise’s framing question from What Great Brands Do, “Ask yourself, what business are you really in?” If you’re Zappos, it’s not the shoe business.What brand has made Denise smile recently? As someone who talks brands all of the time, Denise had several choices. However, she went with the delight she gets from Bombas socks.To learn more, go to deniseleeyohn.com and follow her on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s Social Sound Bite — recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City — Jerry and I discussed a new report on how Twitter is cracking down on bot use. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show.Beyond the Sound Bite Twitter is (finally) cracking down on bots (TechCrunch). Remember, the Social Sound Bite is just the appetizer! On Mondays, we serve up a fresh new episode of the On Brand podcast. Thanks again to our sponsor Twenty20. Your source for on brand photography for your brand. You can get five photos with Twenty20’s one-week free trial at Twenty20.com/OnBrand. Last but not least … Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Until next week, see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The tactics have changed but the strategy of owning and building a brand hasn’t.” Laura Ries can share first hand how branding has stood the test of time. “It’s why some rise and others don’t — it’s the brand.” Together with her father, positioning pioneer Al Ries, Laura authored some of the seminal branding texts of our time including The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. We discussed positioning, visuals, slogans, and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Laura RiesLaura Ries is an internationally recognized branding expert, best-selling author and television personality. After graduating from Northwestern University in the top 2% of her class, she worked at TBWA Advertising before partnering with her father and positioning pioneer Al Ries. Al and Laura founded Ries & Ries consulting in New York in 1994.In 1997, Ries & Ries relocated to Atlanta, GA. Together the dynamic duo consults with companies around the globe including Disney, Ford, Frito-Lay, Papa John’s Pizza, Samsung and Unilever on branding and marketing strategy. Laura has co-authored five books with Al including The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR, The Origin of Brands, and War in the Boardroom.Laura’s first solo book, Visual Hammer has been translated into the Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Polish, and German languages. Words alone can’t build a brand, driving an idea into the mind is best done with the emotional power of a visual. Her latest book Battlecry complements Visual Hammer by outlining five strategies for improving the effectiveness of a company’s slogan or tagline.In addition to her consulting assignments and corporate speeches, Laura is a frequent guest on major television programs from the Today Show to Squawk Box. She appears regularly on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, CNN, and HLN.Episode HighlightsThe more things change, the more they stay the same. As co-author of a landmark book on branding, I was eager to ask Laura how her work has stood the test of time — and rapids media shifts. “Positioning is owning an idea in the mind of the customer. The tactics of how that happens have changed but the strategy of owning and building a brand hasn’t.”What startups and emerging brands have in common with airplanes. “Companies and brands are like airplanes. You spend 110% to get off the runway but once you’re in the air it’s not hard. Startups and small companies are like brands on the runway.”Using visuals to hammer home your brand’s big idea. From Coke’s iconic contoured bottles to Colonel Sanders, strong brands are built with icons, or visual hammers as Laura describes in her book of the same name. Why are visuals so appealing? “They appeal to both the left and right brain. You can further hammer that home with your advertising.”Words matter. From slogans to taglines, Laura admitted that brand strategists like us have muddied the lexicon of labels. That’s why in her book on brand language she focuses on the idea of a battlecry. “It has to get you up and excited.” It also has to say something relevant. She pointed us to Little Caesar’s whose battle cry, “Pizza! Pizza!” built upon their strategic positioning of two pizzas for the price of one.What brand has made Laura smile recently? First, Laura asked the million-dollar question. “Is it a good or a bad smile?” After a laugh, Laura noted that Tommy John, the underwear brand that promises “no adjustment needed,” has made her smile — particularly as a mother of teenage boys. I can relate!To learn more, go to ries.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s Social Sound Bite — recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City — Jerry and I discussed some new data from Edison Research’s Infinite Dial study showing that Facebook use is down for the first time in a decade! Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show. Beyond the Sound Bite Facebook Declines for the First Time in Infinite Dial History (Edison Research). Remember, the Social Sound Bite is just the appetizer! On Mondays, we serve up a fresh new episode of the On Brand podcast. Thanks again to our sponsor Twenty20. Your source for on brand photography for your brand. You can get five photos with Twenty20’s one-week free trial at Twenty20.com/OnBrand. Last but not least … Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Until next week, see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“You have to find people who like you but aren’t like you.” This is a mistake many brands make. They look for customers just like them — with their specific interests and characteristics — instead of people who like your brand and what it stands for. Melanie Spring is a speaker, facilitator, and brand strategist at Branded Confidence. We discussed community, culture, and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Melanie SpringWhen you ask a brand strategist how she defines her brand and she says “Approachable Badass”, you know you’ve found someone who can help you define your own brand. Melanie Spring was put here to get you outside of your box and firmly in your purpose – professionally and personally.Melanie runs Branded Confidence as an international speaker and facilitator – bringing her charisma and confidence to humans worldwide. She’s so dedicated to her purpose that she once drove 7,000 miles in 3 weeks to find out why great brands work.Episode HighlightsWait — 7,000 miles in 3 weeks? I had to ask Melanie about this first. “Five and a half years ago I was frustrated with my life so I took a road trip to learn about brands.” And being a brand practitioner herself, she gave it a name and branded it!“The Live Your Brand Tour” led Melanie from DC to California and back again, visiting a variety of brands from Timbuk2 and Chobani (check out our podcast episode featuring Chobani) to a jewelry store in San Luis Obispo. She documented her travels and the brand stories she uncovered in Entrepreneur magazine.Knowing your humans. Many of her stories focused on brands building community and culture. But what if you don’t know your humans? “Most haven’t asked. If you just ask them they’ll tell you everything.”Grandma’s still not sure … When being an “approachable badass” is part of you’re bound to raise some eyebrows. And sometimes they are your grandmother’s eyebrows! Melanie joked that her grandma said, “She’s still not okay with the ‘ass word.’ The ‘f-word’ is off limits because then mom can’t share it with her church friends! But brands need a bit of an edge.” Melanie specifically uses the word ‘badass’ to help screen potential clients. “If you can’t handle the word ‘ass’ you won’t like working with me!”What brand has made Melanie smile recently? “I just moved from DC to Denver and I love REI.” Melanie then shared their recent #OptOutside campaign. “If you can get an everyday human like me to giggle, I’m all over that kind of stuff.”To learn more, go to brandedconfidence.com and kickasshumansclub.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A lot of content being produced is not good. That's because it's not telling a great story." As Editor-in-Chief and Director of Content Strategy at Contently, Joe Lazauskas understands the interconnected relationship between content and story. It's the focus of his new book, The Storytelling Edge, and our discussion on this week's episode of the On Brand podcast.About Joe LazauskasJoe is the co-author of the Amazon #1 New Release The Storytelling Edge: How to Transform Your Business, Stop Screaming Into the Void, and Make People Love You with Contently co-founder Shane Snow. He’s also the head of Content Strategy for Contently and Executive Editor of The Content Strategist, winner of the 2016 Digiday Award for Best Brand Publication. A technology and marketing journalist, Joe is a regular contributor to Fast Company and has written for Mashable, Digiday, and Forbes, amongst other publications.Episode HighlightsWhy does story matter for brands? "When we hear a good story our brains react. It releases an empathy drug called oxytocin." This neurotransmitter is powerful as it helps us develop empathy for brands.The four elements of great storytelling. How can content marketers embrace story? Joe reminds brands to focus on the four elements most great stories have — (1) relatability, (2) novelty, (3) tension, and (4) fluency. Tension can be tricky as most businesses "don't want anything bad to happen."Who embraces these four elements? "American Express Open Forum and GE." The community AmEx created helped bring Small Business Saturday to life while GE Reports is a blog run by a former Forbes editor that reports on innovations inside GE.Why do marketers need to be better journalists? "Because journalists ask the right questions as they interview engineers, salespeople, even customers."How can marketers become better journalists and storytellers? Don't forget to look outside your bubble — Joe finds inspiration in New Yorker collections and the writing of David Sedaris. "If you want to reach Wall Street Journal readers, then study Wall Street Journal writing."A serving of content marketing vegetables. When I asked Joe what marketers need to be focused on in 2018, he surprised me by not pivoting to story. Rather, he served up some classic content marketing vegetables — audience (what do they really care about?), distribution (we have better tools than ever before), and leveling up the business impact of our content (it can't just be page views and impressions).What brand has made Joe smile recently? "Track Maven. At Content Marketing World a few months ago, they had people put on goggles and throw spaghetti at a wall." This powerful brand experience brings to life a story many marketers know all too well — throwing things/tactics at the wall and seeing what sticks.To learn more, go to The Storytelling Edge website and connect with Joe on LinkedIn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Everyone thinks that branding isn't important today but branding is the new advertising." Despite media and technology shifts, the brand behind your stories and status updates is more important than ever. We unpacked all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast featuring brand strategist and author Fabian Geyrhalter.About Fabian GeyrhalterFabian Geyrhalter is a renowned brand strategist and the founder and Principal of FINIEN, a Los Angeles-based consultancy specializing in turning ventures into brands. Geyrhalter is also a columnist for Inc and Forbes, and he has been published by the likes of The Washington Post, Mashable, Entrepreneur and The Huffington Post. He is an advisory board member of Santa Monica College and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California and Art Center College of Design. A frequent speaker and mentor to entrepreneurs worldwide, he is a “Global 100” mentor at the Founder Institute, and his book How to Launch a Brand is a #1 Amazon Bestseller. His newest book is Bigger Than This. He lives and works in Long Beach, California and is a graduate of Art Center College of Design.Episode HighlightsWhy is branding so important today? "Things have really changed. It's so intrinsic today. Take Everlane, for example. It's all about transparency." In everything they say and do.Branding is easier for startups. "Startup brands have it easy — all they have is the brand." Due to their small size, they can also exert greater control over the various brand touchpoints.Look at Shinola — The innovative watch company acquired an inactive brand name — Shinola — and established a sense of place around Detroit, endowing the new brand with meaning in the hearts and minds of their customers.How can a brand that's lost its way successfully rebrand? "Hire the next generation. You also have to find the secret sauce again. It all comes down to why the founders (of the business) did what they did."What brand has made Fabian smile recently? Fabian told us about Poppin — a company that's disrupting the office supplies category by delighting customers through quirky touchpoints such as the order confirmation email.To learn more, go to the website for Fabian's new book Bigger Than This, follow him on Twitter, and connect with him on LinkedIn.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community …Frequent listener Sean Carpenter gave On Brand a shout on Twitter in a roundup of his favorite podcasts. Thanks for listening!Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you’d like our guests to answer? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #OnBrandPodcast and you may just hear your thoughts here on the show. Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Remember – On Brand is brought to you by my new book — Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. Order now at Amazon and check out GetScrappyBook.com for special offers and extras. Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stories can be powerful tools for moving people and building brands. This isn’t as easy as it could sound. Storytelling is both an art and a science. We unpacked all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast with Patti Sanchez, Chief Strategy Officer at Duarte.About Patti SanchezPatti Sanchez, Duarte’s Chief Strategy Officer, creates IP and counsels clients to create authentic connections with their audiences through persuasive presentations and story-based communications. She is the co-author, along with Nancy Duarte, of the award-winning book, Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols. Patti leads an expert team of communication consultants and creative writers who help clients move their audiences in one powerful moment or in a movement over time.Applying insights from more than 25 years of communication experience, Patti helps leaders and persuaders understand the inner workings of the human mind and heart and then use that knowledge to craft engaging narratives that cut through the clutter and resonate on a deep level. Patti packages her expertise into inspiring and educational keynotes for executives, entrepreneurs, and marketing and communication professionals on how they can lead movements, use storytelling as a strategic tool, and harness the power of presentations as a persuasive communication platform.She has delivered highly rated presentations at conferences and events including Khosla Ventures CEO Summit, The CEO Alliance, Vital Speeches CEO Communications Summit and Leadership Communication Days, IABC World Conference, HBR, Marketing Profs, Salesforce ExactTarget Connections, Invent Your Future, WATT, CASRO, and Presentation Summit. Patti also delivers custom keynotes, addressing corporations such as Facebook and Google as well as higher-education institutions such as Stanford and Rice University. Her work has been honored by IABC, BMA, Vital Speeches of the Day, and Axiom.Episode HighlightsCo-author connections. This may be the first episode of the On Brand podcast where both co-authors were interviewed separately! I chatted with Patti’s Illuminate co-author, Nancy Duarte, last summer.The inciting incident. How did Illuminate come to be? “We noticed a changing nature of the questions coming from our clients. More and more were saying, ‘We want to use the power of stories.’”The Duarte storytelling methodology. “It follows the heroes journey — the 3 part story where we meet the hero, something happens, and the hero is changed.” We can use this archetype in moving ideas internally and building brands externally.What brand has made Patti smile recently? Mini! Talk about a brand full of smiles. Every part of the MINI experience has Patti grinning from ear to ear.To learn more, go to duarte.com and follow Patti on Twitter and LinkedIn.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community …Steve Hutt gave us a shout on Twitter for several of our recent episodes. Thanks for listening!Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you’d like our guests to answer? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #OnBrandPodcast and you may just hear your thoughts here on the show. Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Remember – On Brand is brought to you by my new book — Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. Order now at Amazon and check out GetScrappyBook.com for special offers and extras. Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I love looking at other industries and seeing what they’re doing.” As Director of Agency Marketing at TopRank Marketing, Ashley Zeckman has a lot on her plate working — both agency marketing and client marketing. In some organizations, these two pursuits don’t always play nicely with each other (see “the cobbler’s son has no shoes”). But Ashley makes it work. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s On Brand podcast.About Ashley ZeckmanAshley Zeckman is the Director of Agency Marketing for TopRank Marketing, a fully integrated digital marketing agency. In addition to finding innovative ways to showcase the exceptional work of her team, she is also responsible for creating digital marketing programs that drive customer acquisition and growth for the agency. Her background includes expertise in content strategy, branding, influencer marketing and social media.Episode HighlightsWhat about the “cobbler’s son” thing? “The cobbler’s son is something we talk about constantly internally. It’s fun to test out all of the cool things we do with our clients on the agency and vice versa.”TopRank specializes in influencer marketing. What’s their definition of this rising trend? “Basically, we’re co-creating content with influencers.” Like many marketing strategies, this was something that TopRank experimented with on their own first by doing influencer ebooks with Content Marketing Institute.Where does Ashely go for inspiration as a marketer? “I love looking at other industries and seeing what they’re doing. I also love the Social Media Masterminds group on Facebook and everything from Ann Handley.”What brand has made Ashley smile recently? “BarkBox —they have the perfect combo of humor and tugging at your heartstrings.” For more on BarkBox, listen to the On Brand episode with Stacie Grissom, Head of Content at Bark.To learn more, connect with Ashely on LinkedIn, check out the TopRank blog and agency website.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community …Recently, Don Stanley gave us a shout on Twitter for our episode featuring Andy Cunningham.Thanks for listening!Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you’d like our guests to answer? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #OnBrandPodcast and you may just hear your thoughts here on the show. Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Remember – On Brand is brought to you by my new book — Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. Order now at Amazon and check out GetScrappyBook.com for special offers and extras. Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices