On Brand: A Podcast About Branding For Brand Builders, By Brand Builders

“When you used to think about branding, you’d be thinking about advertising. Now it’s about building trust.” This week on the On Brand podcast, I welcomed back Aimee Irwin from Experian Marketing Services. Since we last spoke way back in 2019, the world has been dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic. As a result, consumer behavior has changed in ways marketers need to know about. Aimee breaks it down this week on the show. Enjoy! About Aimee Irwin Aimee Irwin serves as VP of Strategy and Partnerships at Experian Marketing Services. Aimee is a skilled strategy and corporate development executive with deep experience in digital marketing and advertising and track record of success in developing and building profitable new digital and mobile businesses at both early-stage and public companies. Aimee led strategic partnerships and strategic initiatives for Nielsen’s Marketing Cloud where she negotiated and managed strategic data and identity management partnerships supporting Nielsen’s data targ

“Agile marketing is all about speed, transparency, and iteration.” In the face of a global pandemic, brand builders and marketers have relied increasingly on eCommerce partners like Amazon. This can make it challenging to build seamless experiences and brand trust. That's where Scrum50 comes in. I talked to Director of Product Strategy Brian Gioia about all of this and more on this week's episode of the On Brand podcast. About Brian Gioia Brian Gioia is the Director of Product Strategy on the E-Business team at Scrum50, the first born-agile agency. Brian’s career has been focused on connecting dots for his clients and helping them solve their greatest digital marketing and eCommerce challenges. Prior to joining Scrum50, Brian worked for Accenture in its Digital Marketing practice, where he helped his clients transform themselves in order to communicate and transact with consumers through new, digital channels. So, when the opportunity arose to join Scrum50’s e-business practice in 2019, he jumped on it. Brian

“As branders, the word soup is absolutely unbelievable.” Words matter. And if you like words as much as Katie Burkhart and I both do, you’ll love this week’s episode. We discuss defining, refining, and developing your brand’s purpose, mission, vision, and more. What do all of these labels mean and how can they help you and your brand? Listen to Katie and learn. Enjoy This Episode Now Download Episode Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify About Katie Burkhart Katie Burkhart is on a mission to move purpose from aspirational messaging to tangible business practice by making the purpose-driven model more accessible and actionable. She started by founding Matter 7, which has built purpose-driven brands for almost a decade. More recently, she launched MatterPulse, which helps organizations run and grow against the double bottom line. Her latest project, MatterLogic, outlines what it means to be purpose-driven and how to operationalize your purpose, solidly moving purpose from brand to business strategy. Ep

“Every day we spend with our fellow human beings, we can contribute to making their life a little bit better—making them a little bit smarter, a little bit more thoughtful, and so on—or not.” It’s rare that a single guest has appeared three times on the On Brand podcast. However, when Tom Peters calls and wants to talk about empathy and extreme humanism in the middle of one of the most challenging times in work and life, you answer the call. I’m thrilled to share my most recent conversation with Tom Peters on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Tom Peters Called “the Red Bull of management consultants,” Tom Peters is a leading business management guru and founder of the Tom Peters Company. He continues to be in constant demand for lectures and seminars. In 2017, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Thinkers50 and the Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry from 800-CEO-READ. Peters is the bestselling author of seventeen books, including In Search of Excellence

“There’s been a big change in how businesses went to market.” Through a storied career that has taken her from Netscape to Salesforce to Oracle, Bonnie Crater gave use some important context in how brand building for B2B tech brands has evolved in the valley and beyond. She also stressed the ongoing importance of experimentation and optimization. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Bonnie Crater Prior to joining Full Circle Insights, Bonnie Crater was a five-time vice president of marketing and executive at many software companies in Silicon Valley. Bonnie held vice president and senior vice president roles at Genesys, Netscape, Network Computer Inc., salesforce.com, Stratify, Realization, and VoiceObjects (now Voxeo). A ten-year veteran of Oracle Corporation and its various subsidiaries, Bonnie was vice president, Compaq Products Division, and Vice President, Workgroup Products Division. In 2013, Bonnie was named one of the “100 Most Influential Women” by the Silicon Va

“I’m constantly coaching my team on how we market the marketing.” As CMO of FreshBooks, Paul Cowan has a lot on his plate—even marketing the marketing! However, this is important as it helps everyone internally find the brand’s “true north.” We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Paul Cowan Paul Cowan is the CMO at FreshBooks, leading its global marketing team. Over the past 20 years, Paul has marketed phones, food, alcohol, toys, and SaaS products at big companies and start-ups, with an expertise in driving sustainable customer growth and retention strategies. He’s built brands through the appropriate application of data and insights and is always focused on driving results. He’s even won some awards that sit on a shelf somewhere and has written things for various publications that his mom is extremely proud of.  Episode Highlights What drew Paul to FreshBooks? After a storied career on the agency side of things, Paul was drawn to the iconic global SaaS brand by their grow

"I've always considered public relations to be influencer marketing—you're trying to find a third party to borrow some trust from." When it comes to trust, there's no one I trust more on the subject of digital marketing strategy than Jason Falls. As an agency marketer, podcast host, and author of three books including his latest—Winfluence—I couldn't wait to talk with him on this week's episode of the On Brand podcast. About Jason Falls Jason Falls solves problems. Most of the time they have to do with digital marketing for Cornett, a full-service advertising agency based in Lexington, Ky., where he leads digital strategy and hosts two marketing podcasts (Digging Deeper and Winfluence). His work has touched a number of major brands and has been recognized with several national and many regional awards including a 2020 Shorty Award for his influencer marketing work. He has worked with a number of the world’s most iconic brands including Buffalo Trace, Weller, 1792, Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbons, GE Applia

“I think you could have gotten away with mediocre branding before platforms like Amazon and Facebook came along.” However, today, the bar is set incredibly high. The modern consumer is savvy and expects exceptional branding from any company entering the market. That’s why we need to apply the latest in brain science and consumer behavior to our branding and marketing. Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman, co-authors of Blindsight, are here to help us do just that. About Matt Johnson & Prince Ghuman Prince Ghuman is the co-author of the definitive neuromarketing book, Blindsight, CEO & founder of the Neuromarketing Certification at PopNeuro.com, and professor at Hult Intl. Business School. Previously, he held dual roles as the U.S. Director of Consumer Marketing and the Global Director of B2B Marketing for OFX, a publicly-traded FinTech company handling over $100B in international payments. A contributor to major news outlets including Forbes, Refinery29, Entrepreneur, & The Washington Post, he was named one of the

“When we stumbled into this, we didn’t know anything about branding. We just knew it was important.” ‘Stumbled into it’ is putting it mildly. As the CEO of StoreBound and creator of the Dash brand of kitchen tools, Evan Dash has built a big brand with a lot of heart. Literally. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand About Evan Dash Evan Dash is the Founder and CEO of StoreBound and creator of the Dash brand of kitchen electrics. He previously was the SVP & General Merchandise Manager for the Home business at Macy's and served two terms on the board of directors of the International Housewares Association. He has two teenage sons and lives in New York City with his wife, Rachel. Episode Highlights The story behind the Dash brand name. I had to ask Evan about the company’s brand name—which is also his last name. He was reluctant to put his name on his at first as many entrepreneurs are. However, his team brought him and his wife around by sharing everything they could do with this powerful

“First, amplify what you’re doing really well and consider new channels. Second, if things aren’t going well you’ll need new channels!” This was Steve Pockross’s answer to my question about how marketers can know when new channels make sense to add. As CEO at Verblio, helping marketers focus their content marketing is the focus of his work. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Steve Pockross Steve Pockross brings more than 20 years of startup, Fortune 500, and nonprofit experience to his role at Verblio. As CEO, he applies leading marketplace and SaaS principles to provide a high-quality, fast and flexible content creation platform. Steve was part of the early management team at gig economy pioneer LiveOps, growing the company into the largest crowdsourced contact center in the world. At LiveOps, Pockross served as vice president of business development and strategy, and also spearheaded the creation of the award-winning LiveOps Foundation. He also served in

“I start with the transformation and work backward. What happens when the customer experiences your brand?” Allie Martin has a holistic approach to brand building that she’s refined over the last decade. Through her work, she helps brands find “fame and fortune” and entrepreneurs get a little “selfish” with self-care. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Allie Martin Allie Hembree Martin is a veteran brand and communication strategist with 10+ years of experience and owns Fame and Fortune. Fame and Fortune helps brands share their messages through a host of public relations and marketing tools. Allie received her bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University in Broadcast Journalism and her Master’s in Business Administration from Midway University. In 2019, she was named Public Relations Society of America’s Rising Star. She formerly worked in public relations for Amazon, Alltech, Kendra Scott, and the International SPA Association. Allie produces and ho

“Planning is the most important part of everything we do.” And Benjamin Shapiro does a lot of things. He’s producer and host of the top-rated MarTech Podcast as well as the Voices of Search Podcast. Managing two daily shows and running a consulting business takes a lot of planning—especially this year. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Benjamin Shapiro Benjamin Shapiro is a brand development & marketing strategy consultant. He left a successful career in business development at eBay to become an entrepreneur that has run a bootstrapped startup, multiple marketing teams at early-stage VC-backed companies, and an independent consulting & content business. Benjamin specializes in helping growth-stage companies understand how to identify the overlap between corporate identity and customer needs to build an effective marketing strategy. He is also the producer & host of the top-rated MarTech Podcast. Episode Highlights “You can’t get bogged down with all of the

“The best marketers never lose sight of their customers.” As a brand builder with years of agency leadership experience, Peter Wilken has seen it all. From global brands to bootstrap basics, we discussed it all on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Peter Wilken Allie Hembree Martin is a veteran brand and communication strategist with 10+ years of experience and owns Fame and Fortune. Fame and Fortune helps brands share their messages through a host of public relations and marketing tools. Allie received her bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University in Broadcast Journalism and her Master’s in Business Administration from Midway University. In 2019, she was named Public Relations Society of America’s Rising Star. She formerly worked in public relations for Amazon, Alltech, Kendra Scott, and the International SPA Association. Allie produces and hosts a podcast called Selfish, a show dedicated to self-care for entrepreneurs. You can find her at IWantFameFortune.com. Episode Highlights In

“There’s the story and there’s the story behind the story …” And Joseph Jaffe certainly has both to share as he has managed to rebrand himself during a global pandemic through his innovative web series CoronaTV. And he’s quick to add that, “You can too!” We discussed branding in the midst of a pandemic, streaming, and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Joseph Jaffe Joseph Jaffe is an author, entrepreneur, and as of March 2020, the host of CoronaTV, a daily streaming interview-based show about hope, positivity, and optimism…and if there’s time left over…a little bit of marketing! To date, he has done just under 200 interviews, including Seth Godin, James Rollins, Jamal Mashburn, Philip Kotler…but by far, the highlight was Nick Westergaard. (NOTE: Here at the On Brand podcast, we run with the bios our guests provide and this is what was provided.) As a speaker, Joseph delivers a brilliant, high impact message with innovative and practical advice for movement towards growth. Jaffe has written 5 books

After a brief holiday hiatus, the On Brand podcast is back for 2021! And we're kicking things off with an exciting new topic and guest. As we've discussed in various episodes through the years, leadership is critical in the development of standout brands. Already a challenging pursuit, leadership got a whole lot harder this past year. This week on the show, I was joined by David Burkus, author of the new book Leading from Anywhere.  About David Burkus One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David Burkus’ forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders and teams do their best work ever. He is the best-selling author of four books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USAToday, Fast Company, the Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS This Morning. Since 2017, Burkus has be

“What we're finding in nonprofit marketing today is that it's really about helping people see the impact they're having.” As co-owner of Puzzle Pieces Marketing, Angel Mason Broadus has built her career at the intersection of social impact and social good. However, she was quick to note that this takes a lot of work—often accomplished in what she calls “small bites.” We discussed all of this and more on this week's episode of the On Brand podcast. About Angel Mason Broadus Angel Mason Broadus, along with her wife, Kristine, is the co-owner of the fabulous, do-gooding, creative and colorful marketing and PR agency, Puzzle Pieces Marketing. Founded in 2009, PPM focuses on social good and providing services that benefit their community, working primarily with nonprofits and mission-driven businesses to develop strategies that inspire action. In the spirit of giving back, Angel also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for North County Philanthropy Council, Moonlight Cultural Foundation, and Point Loma Na

“The people that can parse out what to do—that can figure out the best media mix are going to win in this game because there’s just too much.” Peter Levitan has spent his career leading advertising, marketing, and PR agencies worldwide. A lifelong believer in the art and science of building brands, he spends his time these days advising agencies on business development. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Peter Levitan Peter Levitan brings years of experience to his work as an agency consultant and CEO coach. After graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute and co-founding a successful photography company, Peter entered the world of advertising in 1980. During his 16 years at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide, he ran business development across Europe and the US, was EVP Management Director in London and New York, and was GM of the Minneapolis office. In 1995, Peter discovered early-stage digital marketing and left the agency to invent the online

Using AI to simplify logo design? How would that even work? Richard Lau is a serial entrepreneur who's launched several helpful businesses that he's eventually exited. His latest venture, Logo.com, answers this very question. We discussed logo design, AI, and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Richard Lau Richard Lau has generated millions of dollars in revenue in the internet industry. NamesCon, his in-person conference focused on domain names, began as an idea in the fall of 2013 and is now part of the GoDaddy family. Resume.com is an online resume builder for millions of job seekers and is another of Richard’s recent successful exits, this time to Indeed.com. His current project is Logo.com - an AI-powered logo maker that has the ability to design a unique logo for your company in just a few minutes. Episode Highlights Is Logo.com trying to replace human designers? Not at all! As Richard notes, Logo.com is a complimentary service. It's to help those who “have an idea and need a logo

“Empathy is something that every human has but our empathy muscle has atrophied.” This week on the On Brand podcast, we talked about a timely, relevant topic—empathy. Now more than ever, people want empathy from brands. Yet, collectively, we’ve never been less empathetic. How do we fix this and how can we use these tools to better connect with our customers? Rob Volpe of insight strategy firm Ignite 360 explains on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Rob Volpe Rob Volpe is an astute observer of life and a master storyteller who brings empathy and compassion to the human experience. As CEO of insight strategy firm Ignite 360, he leads a team of insights, strategy and creative professionals serving the world’s leading brands across a range of industries. As a thought leader in the role of empathy in marketing and the workplace, he frequently talks on the topic, is cited in media, and writes about building and applying empathy. He’s finishing his first book, Everyday Americans, which explores his

My guest this week is … me, Nick Westergaard! Specifically, I’m sharing a recent interview I did with Joseph Jaffe for his innovative web series CoronaTV. I’m calling this our Thanksgiving Special because to me this was a very special conversation. We talked about some of my favorite things like branding and Star Trek and the communication secrets of the U.S. presidents. It was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy it and please be sure to check out Joseph Jaffe’s CoronaTV on your favorite social networks. I’ll be back next week with another great interview. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving! About Joseph Jaffe and Corona TV CoronaTV happens every weekday(and sometimes on weekends) at 12noon EST at www.JaffeJuice.TV. During the week, there is an after-show on Zoom for 30 mins and you are all invited! To learn more, visit josephjaffe.com to learn more about booking Joseph for a keynote, workshop or event. As We Wrap … Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you’d like our