On Brand with Nick Westergaard

“I love storytelling. It builds trust faster than anything else.” Brian Fanzohelps brands of all shapes and sizes — from IBM to Applebee’s — tell their stories and build trust with their customers. As an early adopter of live-streaming social video like Meerkat and Periscope, Brian has fearlessly jumped in and quickly become a leading expert in this new and exciting media. I couldn’t wait to discuss all of this with Brian on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast.About Brian FanzoBrian Fanzo is a leading voice of the millennial generation in digital media. He has 10+ years experience managing, deploying and training enterprises and small businesses on cyber security, community management, collaboration, digital marketing, video conferencing, and social business. As a technology and social media strategist, Brian’s presented at numerous technology conferences, as well as quarterly presentations for the Federal Government Joint Chiefs of Staff and on-site in Iraq and Afghanistan for the United States Army. His passion for change and people is evident as he delivers keynotes on topics ranging from employee advocacy and social selling to personal branding. He was recently awarded the Top 25 Social Business Leaders of 2014 by IBM & The Economist Intelligence Unit.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community …Dave Delaney gave us a shout on Twitter about our recent episode on culture’s impact on brand with Amber Naslund. 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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! 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 – Jay and I got the new year started with a discussion of the 2016 digital marketing trends to watch. Specifically, creating more meaningful content, social video, and amplification through paid advertising. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show.Remember, the Social Sound Bite is just the appetizer! On Monday morning we’ll serve up a fresh new episode of the On Brand Podcast. This week we’ll be talking to social video expert Brian Fanzo.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

“A brand is a divining rod. It’s a filter to make big decisions.” Drew McLellan spends his time tackling brand from a few different angles. First, as the owner of McLellan Marketing Group, he helps B2B clients build better brands. As part of his work with the Agency Management Institute, he also helps agencies focus their brands as well. I couldn’t wait to talk to my fellow Iowan and agency owner Drew McLellan on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast.About Drew McLellanDrew McLellan has worked in advertising for 25+ years and started his own agency, McLellan Marketing Group in 1995 after a five-year stint at Y&R. MMG will celebrate its 20th anniversary in the fall of 2015. The agency specializes in the B2B financial services industry.He also owns and runs Agency Management Institute (AMI), which offers agency management training, consulting, and facilitates agency owner peer networks for small- to mid-sized agencies (advertising, digital, marketing, media and PR) so they can increase their AGI by at least 25%, attract better clients and employees and best of all — exceed the agency owner’s life/financial goals.He launched his agency’s blog in 2006 and it has been on the AdAge Top 150 from the list’s inception. His first book, 99.3 Random Acts of Marketing, was published in 2003 and Drew and Australian marketer Gavin Heaton created the Age of Conversation series of crowdsourced books in 2007.Drew’s often interviewed and quoted in Entrepreneur Magazine, New York Times, CNN, BusinessWeek, and many others. The Wall Street Journal calls him “one of 10 bloggers every entrepreneur should read.” Publications like The Washington Post, Forbes, Entrepreneur and others have invited Drew to write for them as well.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … Our super-fan Sean Carpenter gave us a shout on Twitter about our recent episode on what to do if your brand is stuck featuring Steve McKee. 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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Our brand means many things to many people.” As we cheer from the sidelines and the comfort of our couch on game day, it can be easy to loose sight of the fact that great American sports teams like the Minnesota Vikings are some of our most prominent brands. One thing these mega-brands can’t loose sight of is their fans. “Fans first and foremost,” said Vikings CMO Steve LaCroix during our recent chat. If you’re a Vikings fan, a brand builder, or both, you won’t want to miss this week’s episode. Ready? BREAK!About Steve LaCroixNow in his 15th season with the Minnesota Vikings, Steve LaCroix serves as the team’s Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer. LaCroix oversees all aspects of Vikings-generated revenues. He also leads the team’s radio and television programming, websites, digital and social media initiatives, merchandise and e-commerce operations, community and special events, marketing partnerships, advertising, branding, promotions, graphic design, fan relations and game day activities. He also played a significant role in the recent stadium transition team.LaCroix has led a variety of additional new initiatives, including the team’s introduction of an enhanced Norseman logo and new uniforms in 2013, the second uniform change under LaCroix’s leadership. The club has also brought radio and television broadcast rights in-house and started year-round weekly television and radio programming. The Vikings have had multiple full re-designs of vikings.com and opened Vikings Locker Room official retail stores across the Twin Cities. Fans have been treated to the introduction of Viktor the Viking, the official team mascot, and the Skol Line drum line. Under LaCroix, the Vikings sellout streak reached 144 games at Mall of America Field.A fellow alum of the University of Iowa and board member for the Marketing Institute here on campus, I was excited to welcome Steve to the On Brand podcast.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … With two Iowa Hawkeyes on the podcast this week, we had to give a shout to the (then) undefeated Hawks who are now Rose Bowl bound! Go Hawks!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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! 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 – Jay and I discussed some new data on social media sharing that Twitter will want to take note of. After discontinuing support for tweet counts on their share button last month, Shareaholic reports that sharing via Twitter is down 11%. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show.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

“Figure out what you’re doing right and do more of it.” This deceptively simple advice should come as a cautionary tale to brands of all shapes and sizes. As a best-selling author and leader of one of the Southwest’s top agencies, Steve McKee spends all of this time help stalled, stuck, and stale brands. I couldn’t wait to chat with him about all of this on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast.About Steve McKeeSteve McKee is the president of McKee Wallwork + Company, Advertising Age’s 2015 Southwest Small Agency of the Year. He is the author of When Growth Stalls: How it Happens, Why You’re Stuck and What To Do About It, an award-winning business book now published in four languages, and Power Branding: Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands.MWC specializes in revitalizing stalled, stuck and stale brands across the U.S. A marketing strategist for nearly thirty years, Steve has held executive positions at notable international agencies including NW Ayer, Della Femina, and a division of McCann-Erickson Worldwide. He is also the co-founder of a successful Bay Area tech startup, a company that is redefining an entire industry as a result of insightful research into its “rationally irrational” consumers.Steve was a popular Businessweek.com columnist for more than a decade and has been published or quoted in The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes.com, Investor’s Business Daily, and The Los Angeles Times, among others. A popular speaker at corporate and association events, he has appeared on CNBC, ESPN2, CNNfn, Bloomberg, and network television affiliates across America.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … Angie Greinergave us a shout on Twitter about our recent episode on design featuring Aaron Draplin. 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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! 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 – Jay and I discussed a new feature that’s finally on it’s way to Instagram. A constant struggle for community managers keeping their brand’s Instagram presence up to date is the current inability to easily toggle in and out of accounts. Sounds like this feature is on the way at last. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show.Remember, the Social Sound Bite is just the appetizer! On Monday morning we’ll serve up a fresh new episode of the On Brand Podcast. This week we’ll be talking to Steve McKee, author of Power Branding.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

“If a picture paints a thousand words, then a video packs an even bigger punch. Being able to show versus telling is powerful.” As people consume more and more content online, video is one of the most useful tools for brands. When does video make sense and how can you use it to build a better brand online? As Director of Business Development at Wistia, Kristen Craft spends a lot of her time talking about branding with video. This week, she did so as my guest on the On Brand podcast.About Kristen CraftKristen is a big fan of technology, education, and business. As the Director of Business Development at Wistia, she enjoys helping people use video more effectively. She loves working with Wistia’s partner community, building connections with other companies that care about video marketing. Kristen holds advanced degrees in business and education from MIT and Harvard. In her spare time, she brews and drinks different varieties of beer.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … The Marketing Huddlegave us a shout on Twitter about our recent episode on what great brands do featuring Denise Lee Yohn. 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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Every order sold is a story waiting to be told. Everyone has a story to tell.” You won’t meet a bigger advocate for story and its ability to move people than Bobby Lehew. As Chief Branding Officer at ROBYN, he employs story every day in redefining this growing business. While story is an exciting topic for marketers, it’s also misunderstood. I couldn’t wait to unpack story — why it matters and how we can use it more — with Bobby on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Bobby LehewBobby Lehew is the Chief Branding Officer at ROBYN, a branded products fulfillment company that creates and distributes promotional products, corporate apparel, and printed materials through e-commerce company stores. Robyn’s achievements include being recognized three years in a row by Inc. magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the US, numerous industry awards, an Addy, and being featured twice in the $20 billion promotional industry as one of the top fifty “Best Places to Work.” Bobby is a national speaker on topics related to B2B marketing and, as an ardent bibliophile, loves a world where business marketing and storytelling make story-selling magic.As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … Erika Krukowski gave us a shout on Twitter about our recent episode focused on brand personality and purpose featuring Nathan Sinsabaugh. 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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Nothing is ever, ever going to challenge a good, solid, legible, readable, scalable, beautiful, crafted mark. It’s got the right DNA.” As one of the leading designers working today, Aaron Draplin has a thing or two to say about brands. This past week, Draplin was in Iowa City on his fall tour “Tall Tales from a Large Man,” which he presented at the University of Iowa. I was fortunate enough to be able to chat with him after his workshop and before his evening lecture about identity and the new dynamics at play today. About Aaron DraplinHailing from the mighty Pacific Northwest (but a Midwesterner at heart), Aaron Draplin is one of the most unique and outspoken designers working today. The Draplin Design Co. proudly rolls up its sleeves on print, identity, web development (or not web — if you listen to the first thing out of his mouth during the interview), illustration and Gocco muscle projects. They make stuff for Field Notes, Esquire, Nike, Wired, Timberline, Ford Motor Company, Woolrich and even the Obama Administration, among many others.The DDC motto is simple: “Work hard. Do good work. For good people.”As We Wrap …Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … This week I have to thank Bradley Dicharry at the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History for making this week’s interview possible. Fun fact: Brad’s a longtime collaborator who’s helped us visualize our own brand at Brand Driven Digital.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.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, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices