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

“People put a lot of value in brands. When you are at home or are limited (because of the pandemic) you tend to go with the first one you think of. But there are brands that have to think differently, especially brands in retail.” Jeff Lotman has an iconic career both as a brand strategist at his firm Global Icons and as a retailer as the owner of Fred Segal. He’s also the author of the book Invisible Marketing. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Jeff Lotman Jeff Lotman is the driving force behind Global Icons, the world’s leading brand-focused agency with over $5 billion in retail sales and a client roster that includes Kleenex, Hostess, Lamborghini, NOKIA, and USPS, among others. He is also the owner of Fred Segal, LA's iconic fashion brand, and author of the best selling book, Invisible Marketing: A Hidden Tool For Connecting With Consumers Through Licensing. Episode Highlights Why is licensing “invisible marketing” as Jeff’s book of the same name suggests? “Because

“I don’t think enough thought goes into how to translate brand style guides into visual videos.” As the founder and CEO of Tectonic Video with a background in brand strategy, Doug Scott helps nonprofit brands worldwide unlock the power of video storytelling. We discussed video, social media, brand style guides, and more this week on the On Brand podcast.  About Doug Scott Doug Scott is the founder and CEO of Tectonic Video, a leading video agency for nonprofits. His team works with nonprofits across the US and around the world to create award-winning videos that drive results. His work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, CNN and AdWeek and he is a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University on the power of storytelling for nonprofit organizations. Episode Highlights Why is video so effective and engaging? “Video continues to be ascendant in all brand communication because video is extremely efficient. It can show in seconds what it takes thousands of words to say.” Video by the numbers. Doug shar

“The marketplace has changed so much—there are so many brands on the retail shelf—the packaging is all there is. We turn the traditional brand development world upside down.” As a partner and leader of the research team at brand strategy firm SmashBrand, Michael Keplinger has a bold new approach for inventing and reinventing CPG brands. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Michael Keplinger Michael Keplinger is a partner at SmashBrand, an agile brand strategy agency for consumer packaged goods that specializes in a complete approach to market research, product design, and testing. After earning a degree and early career in computer engineering, Michael’s entrepreneurial drive took hold and he soon found himself developing market strategies for his own consumer product business. There, he quickly found a talent for connecting seemingly unrelated dots to discover room for innovation and opportunity. At SmashBrand, Michael makes ample use of his philosophy regar

“We have to put aside our personal preference and put in the time to figure out what really works for what the client needs.” This is a challenge for marketers on a variety of topics but is especially critical to the vital task of naming. Luckily, Brad Flowers wrote the book on naming—aptly titled The Naming Book—and he’s joined us this week on the On Brand podcast to discuss just that. About Brad Flowers Brad Flowers co-founded Bullhorn in 2008. Brad’s degree in Literature serves him well in his strategy, language, and naming work. It only helps a little in his operational work, which is primarily informed by 10 years of on-the-job training. Brad is also an avid bicyclist – for commuting and for competition. He co-founded and currently serves on the board of the non-profit community bike shop, Broke Spoke. He’s also the author of The Naming Book from Entrepreneur Press. Episode Highlights First of all, was it hard to name a book about naming? “It was awful,” Brad confessed. But he ultimately came up with a t

“All companies and all brands should be working toward being the best version of themselves that they can be across all lenses of their impact on the world.” Eric Ressler knows a thing or two about brands making at impact. That’s the focus of his work as Founder and Creative Director at Cosmic, an agency helping brands build their awareness by having a strong social impact in the world. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Eric Ressler Eric Ressler is the Founder and Creative Director at Cosmic, a Social Impact Creative Agency. Cosmic empowers social impact organizations to catalyze real-world change by helping them nail their impact story, build brand awareness, and inspire action. By and large, the traditional strategies and approaches in the social impact space are still based on what worked well in the pre-digital era. This leaves many organizations under-resourced, siloed, and struggling to reach their full impact potential—because they are not leveraging the power o

“You always have to look inside to really understand. Because all design at the end of the day falls flat if it doesn’t connect with customers—if it doesn’t understand the market that you’re in, if it doesn’t understand the problem that your specific customers are trying to solve.” Daniel Scrivner has led a unique and design-centric career that’s taken him from Apple to Square to the C-suite at Flow. We discussed how this focus has explored his work as a brand builder this week on the On Brand podcast. About Daniel Scrivener From college dropout to Head of Design at Square to CEO of Flow, a simple project management software used by teams like Apple, Shopify, TED and Harvard to manage projects and tasks, collaborate and stay productive, Daniel Scrivner's path to success has been anything but typical. Today he’s considered a leader in his field, with numerous design awards and accolades under his belt and a client roster that includes household names like Nike and Disney. Episode Highlights The trouble with de

“When you talk about brand you immediately go to marketing. But brand is how something from a company makes you feel. That transcends marketing.” Ryan Hogan would know. As a serial entrepreneur who’s built several brands, he now helps thousands hunt serial killers with his fast-growing Hunt a Killer gaming company. We discussed Ryan’s unique backstory, business, and brand this week on the On Brand podcast. About Ryan Hogan Ryan Hogan is the Co-founder and CEO of Hunt A Killer, an innovative gaming company that delivers clues, items, and correspondence to your doorstep that creates an interactive and immersive story for its Members. Ryan enlisted in the United States Navy in 2002 and was selected for the Seaman to Admiral commissioning program in 2008. He commissioned and graduated from the University of Maryland with a business degree focused on marketing and management in 2013. Ryan separated from active service in 2017 and entered the US Navy Reserves when he decided to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. He

“We can shake our fist at it or we can ride the wave. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scenario where someone’s shaken their fist at what’s developing and won. It doesn’t solve anything.” David Bates has built a career doing creative work for dynamic clients and adapting to significant shifts in the industry along the way. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About David Bates David Bates is the Managing Director of ATK PLN, a design-driven creative studio. He combines a background in brand strategy, design, and marketing for top brands including FOSSIL, Shinola, and Filson with the artistic vision of Executive Creative Director Jose Gomez to create engaging campaigns for clients such as Frito-Lay, Paramount Pictures, Mercedes, AT&T, Cinemark, and Warner Bros. Episode Highlights What does it mean to be design-driven? “Our business has evolved dramatically. In some cases, our clients became competitors.” How can agencies adapt to challenges like clients taking work in-house and sh

“You can start with a catchy tagline but you can’t stop there.” Margie Agin helps B2B technology companies discover what makes them unique and find the words to say it. She is the founder and chief strategist of Centerboard Marketing, a DC-based marketing agency, and author of Brand Breakthrough: How to Go Beyond a Catchy Tagline to Build an Authentic, Influential and Sustainable Brand Personality. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s On Brand podcast. About Margie Again Award-winning marketer Margie Agin helps B2B technology companies discover what makes them unique and find the words to say it. She is the founder and chief strategist of Centerboard Marketing, a marketing agency based in the Washington, DC area, and author of Brand Breakthrough: How to Go Beyond a Catchy Tagline to Build an Authentic, Influential and Sustainable Brand Personality. As both an external strategist and an in-house marketing leader, Margie has helped companies in the cybersecurity, communications, EdTech, and software

“The key is not to create unique content for all of these different places. The key is to create one really good, deep piece of content that’s going to work for your brand.” Brad Smith is the founder and CEO of Codeless, a content production company for the best SaaS sites on the planet. Their articles have been featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, TheNextWeb, and more. At Codeless, content is not simply created, it is produced, and that makes all the difference. We discussed what this means on this week's show. About Brad Smith Brad Smith is the founder and CEO of Codeless, a content production company who’s content has been highlighted by The New York Times, Business Insider, The Next Web, and thousands more. He is also the co- founder of uSERP, a digital PR company that helps connect its clients with leading SaaS, eCommerce, SEO, tech, business, and marketing sites to boost brand authority. Brad has been an in-the-trenches marketer for over a decade, rolling his sleeves up and doing all the di

“This is the moment that people will remember for a much longer time—the brands and how they react and how they help to create a mutually beneficial relationship is something that people will remember for the long term.” As a strategist, Margaret Rogers spends a lot of her time focusing on consumer behavior. That’s gotten even more challenging in the face of both COVID-19 and social unrest. But, as Margaret notes, people will remember what you as a brand do right now. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s show. About Margaret Rogers Margaret Rogers is a Vice President and Customer Experience Strategist at consulting firm Pariveda Solutions. She has over 20 years of experience in digital consulting services and a passion for coaching organizations through their digital transformation. Margaret appreciates the natural tension between business wants and customer needs. Using business, technical, and user-centered design methods, Margaret creates forward-thinking solutions to evolve and stretch current

“Until you have decent consumer intelligence and some competitive market information from the cash register, you don’t have the basis for what I would call a tight strategic plan.” With extensive experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, James Richardson brings his background as a cultural anthropologist to understanding the social science and symbology that goes into brand building. He’s also the author of the new book Ramping Your Brand. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About James Richardson Dr. Richardson is the founder of Premium Growth Solutions, a strategic planning consultancy for early-stage consumer-packaged-goods brands. As a professionally trained cultural anthropologist turned business strategist, he has helped more than 75 CPG brands with their strategic planning, including brands owned by Coca-Cola Venturing and Emerging Brands, The Hershey Company, General Mills, Kraft Foods, ConAgra Brands, and Frito-Lay as well as emerging brands suc

“The old world of branding is falling away and it’s being replaced by intrinsic branding—this idea that if you get your inner world right, then how you show up in the outer world will be sincere, authentic, and interesting.” Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster have an “iron-sharpens-iron” relationship that they bring to bear, sharpening brands as co-founders of Root + River. We discussed their work together and the unique challenges brands face today this week on the On Brand podcast. Enjoy This Episode Now Download Episode Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify About Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster Like chicken and waffles, branding strategists and Root + River co-founders Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster are a speaking duo who have the it-just-works factor. The two each have their own acoustic sound as presenters, but together, they make music they couldn’t alone. Their speeches play out like a compelling dialogue unfolding in real-time. With more than 50 speaking engagements and podcast interviews un

“When new technology comes out, we use it in the old ways that we know. With the internet, it was free publication. So we made websites. We didn’t see this as a way of connecting better.” Better connections—meeting someone at their moment of need—is what context is all about. That’s the focus of Mathew Sweezey’s new book, The Context Marketing Revolution. We discussed this along with his work at Salesforce this week on the On Brand podcast. About Mathew Sweezey Mathew Sweezey is Director of Market Strategy for Salesforce. A researcher, thinker, award-winning marketer, and writer, he is the author of Marketing Automation for Dummies and the new book The Context Marketing Revolution. When not behind a podium at conferences around the world or sifting through data, he routinely works with the world’s largest and most well-respected brands, including UPS, Home Depot, AT&T, and Dell. Episode Highlights What are the key traits in high-performing marketing organizations? In studying the future of marketing at Salesf

“The most important part of any brand is the team.” Matt Barnett would know. A serial entrepreneur, Matt’s latest venture is Bonjoro, a B2B asynchronous video platform helping organizations connect with their customers. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Matt Barnett A British designer & Artist, Matt Barnett moved to Australia where Bonjoro was born from a sales hack for his first business. Matt and the team decided to go all-in on the idea, and 3 years later Bonjoro has snowballed into a startup success story with a fully remote team across 6 countries and 5 continents. Matt’s love of building great products is only surpassed by his total commitment to building great business culture, and his goal is to be the next Zappos, to be the most-loved brand in the world.” Episode Highlights How to build your startup brand as a team? We talked a lot about the intersection of brand origins and team origins and how often, these two intersect. Matt says that you need

“Any subscription brand needs to know—what problem am I solving for my customers? What’s our forever promise?” With a career building subscriptions for brands like Netflix and Electronic Arts, Robbie Kellman Baxter knows what it takes to build lasting customer relationships. That’s been the focus of her books including her latest, The Forever Transaction. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Robbie Kellman Baxter Robbie Kellman Baxter is a bestselling author, speaker, and consultant with more than 20 years of experience providing strategic business advice to major organizations including Netflix, the Wall Street Journal, and Electronic Arts. In the past ten years, her company Peninsula Strategies has advised over 100 organizations on subscription and growth strategy. Her first book, The Membership Economy was an international best seller. Her new book, The Forever Transaction, was released in April 2020. It has been described as a true game-changer taking rea

“Duration is the perfect proxy for attention.” Marc Guldimann has spent his career at the intersection of two scientific fields—human decision making and technology. He’s the founder of several startups including his latest, Adelaide, which sells ads based on duration or time spent. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Marc Guldimann Marc Guldimann is the Co-Founder and CEO of Parsec Media, the first marketplace to sell media based on time spent. Parsec Media is the owner and operator of Adelaide, the first performance tool for brand builders. A longtime entrepreneur, Marc is experienced in synthesizing his experience across digital media, computer security, and decision sciences to develop simple yet powerful solutions. Prior to created Sled and Parsec, Marc was the founding CEO of Enliken and Spongecell Inc spending two decades at Internet and technology firms. Before digital media, he worked in the wireless network security industry, where he developed the

“It’s about getting people to create less content but also more meaningful content.” Amen. This week’s guests aren’t just content marketing professionals. As leaders at Upland Software and co-authors of Mastering One Voice, Toby Murdock and Zoë Randolph are on a mission to help content marketers create better content with a more cohesive, meaningful brand voice. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Toby Murdock & Zoë Randolph Toby Murdock, General Manager, Upland Software — Toby co-founded Kapost in 2009 and served as CEO through its 2019 acquisition by Upland Software. When he’s not sharing his vision for the future of marketing. Toby is biking, hiking, or skiing in Boulder, CO with his wife and three daughters. Zoë Randolph, Content Architect, Upland Kapost — Zoë brings her love of writing and business strategy to her work leading strategic messaging and content creation. When she’s off the clock, Zoë can be found immersed in a book, talking politics, or ag

“There’s a shift that’s taking place that’s requiring a response. Now people are saying—action.” Ashley Shuler is a business strategist who helps busy solopreneurs operate their businesses efficiently and effectively. Recently, she replied to one of my ICYMI email newsletters on how brands need to do better on race. We discussed this along with productivity and missed brand touchpoints, this week on the On Brand podcast. About Ashley Shuler Ashley Shuler doesn't believe in quick fixes and seeks to create the transformative solutions for busy solopreneurs so they can operate more efficiently in their business. Her superpower is the ability to take big picture ideas and create business systems and recipes so entrepreneurs can generate leads, increase productivity, and enhance their client experience. Ashley is the Chief Strategist of Shuler Strategies Group where she offers two signature services: the client engagement experience and online virtual summit intensive. The Client Engagement Experience intensive is

“When it comes to HBO it’s really about quality, distinction, and uniqueness. And looking for stories that haven’t been told before.” As Senior Vice President at Warner Media, Jason Mulderig is responsible for everything related to the HBO brand—from advertising to promotion—including the new HBO Max streaming service. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Jason Mulderig Jason Mulderig is SVP, Brand Marketing for WarnerMedia Entertainment & Direct-to-Consumer, responsible for the branding, positioning, advertising, prosocial, and promotional efforts for the HBO Max brand, as well as the HBO brand and streaming platforms, HBO GO and HBO NOW. Mulderig joined HBO in 1999 as a marketing assistant in the Affiliate Marketing group. In 2011, he added product marketing to his responsibilities with the launch of HBO’s first streaming app, HBO GO, and in 2013, he was promoted to VP, assuming responsibility for the HBO master brand strategy and advertising for all brand