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

Happy New Year from the On Brand podcast! To celebrate this fresh start to an exciting new year, we have one of our favorite guests joining us once again—the one, the only Tom Peters! Tom is the “one and only” of many things when it comes to management thinkers but he’s the only guest who’s appeared four times on the On Brand podcast. Tom shared how to kick off a year of excellence this week on 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 (with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.), which is often cited as among the best business books ever written. His latest book is Tom Peters’ Compact

Jill Ong is Managing Director of ACE and has spent her career on the global advertising stage–working with iconic brands like Converse and Adidas. We talked about all of this and more—including brand building during a recession—this week on the On Brand podcast. About Jill Ong Jill has spent her whole career of 22 years in advertising working on iconic brands like Converse, Beats by Dre, and Sonos. She has deep expertise on global businesses and the APAC region, with work experience spanning China, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. She moved to New York in 2010 during the Big Recession and has been in the Anomaly/ACE family ever since. As Managing Director of ACE, she’s charged with inspiring and nurturing people and optimizing operations across ACE. On a sabbatical in Puerto Escondido 5 years ago, Jill decided to challenge her lack of sporting ability to learn surfing. Despite her poor swimming skills and getting a black eye after getting hit by a surfboard on her first day out, she has persevered and has

This week we have a special holiday episode of the On Brand podcast with the “Naughty and Nice Brands of 2022.” This seasonally appropriate snapshot of brand behavior was developed by the smart folks at Brand Federation. The consultancy’s Chief Growth Officer Matt Williams joined me to discuss which brands have been naughty and nice this year. About Matt Williams Matt Williams is Chief Growth Officer for Brand Federation, a brand strategy consultancy in Richmond, Virginia. Prior to joining Brand Federation in 2019, Williams was CEO of the Martin Agency, one of the world’s most recognized advertising agencies, where he managed strategy development for world-class brands like GEICO, OREO, UPS, Discover Financial, Walmart, and more. Williams also is a Clinical Professor in the marketing department at the Mason School of Business at William & Mary. He teaches in the MBA program and is the developer and Faculty Director of the school’s Online Masters in Marketing. The Naughty List 2022 was the year of billionaire

Tony Gnau is the founder of T60 Productions and author of the new book Light, Camera, Impact. His work is focused on helping brands of all shapes and sizes tell better stories through video. We discussed all of this and more, this week on the On Brand podcast. About Tony Gnau Tony Gnau is the Founder and Chief Storytelling Officer at T60 Productions. He’s a three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, has led T60 Productions to win 18 Telly Awards for its corporate videos, and is the author of the book Lights, Camera, Impact: Storytelling, Branding, and Production Tips for Engaging Corporate Videos. Finally, he is a former USC Trojan football player, Star Wars geek, and a devoted husband and father. Episode Highlights “There are a bunch of hurdles with video!” Tony laughed as we began. I confessed to being challenged by DIY video. Video is a part of everything. But how do we use it better? “Video is a tactic but it’s a tactic that needs its own strategy.” What brand videos does the video guy like? I couldn’t w

Katie McCleary is a storyteller, professor of leadership, and co-author of the book Bridge the Gap. As founder of the nonprofit 916 Ink, she helps transform underprivileged youth into confident authors. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Katie McCleary Katie McCleary is a storyteller, professor of leadership, and a lover of people. She is co-author of Bridge the Gap, which Inc. Magazine named 1 of 3 business books to read in 2022. Her work has been featured by Forbes, PBS, Shondaland, New York Post, and more. Katie hosts NPR CapRadio’s leadership podcast, “The Drive,” in partnership with The American Leadership Forum. She is also the founder of 916 Ink, a nonprofit that has transformed over 4,500 youth into confident authors who know the power of their voice and story. Mashable named her as a “Real Miss America” for her projects in low-income communities. She teaches leadership in the master’s program at Pacific University and is passionate about amplifying people’s pe

Mark DiCristina is the Vice President of Brand Experience at Mailchimp, where he focuses on ensuring that the brand shows up for customers in authentic and truthful ways. We covered everything from their famous sponsorship of the Serial podcast to their innovative and, again, authentic user experience during our conversation this week on the On Brand podcast. About Mark DiCristina Mark DiCristina is the Vice President of Brand Experience at Mailchimp. He and his team are responsible for ensuring that Mailchimp’s brand shows up in thoughtful and authentic ways. During his time at Mailchimp, Mark spearheaded many of the brand’s largest marketing initiatives such as the launch of Wink, Mailchimp’s in-house agency, and has been fundamental in the creation of Mailchimp’s creative ad campaigns; most recently Guess Less, Sell More. Mark was responsible for the company’s first major ad campaign, “Did You Mean Mailchimp?” which won the Cyber Grand Prix at the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival, and the legendary “MailKimp” a

Tom Suharto leads global strategy at Forsman & Bodenfors where his clients include Volvo, Crocs, Baileys, and H&M. Prior to that, he was at Wieden+Kennedy working on iconic brands like Nike and Disney. We discussed all of this and more, this week on the On Brand podcast. About Tom Suharto Tom Suharto leads global strategy at Forsman & Bodenfors, one of the most creatively awarded agencies of the past decade. His clients at Forsman include Volvo, Polestar, Crocs, Goldman Sachs, Baileys, and H&M, to name a few. Before joining Forsman, Tom spent a decade at Wieden+Kennedy, starting in their Shanghai office where he helped to launch Shanghai Disneyland and led strategy on Nike China. Then in Portland, Oregon, where he worked on Nike Women and Just Do It campaigns, helped launch Samsung flagship phones, and led strategy on Facebook Groups. Episode Highlights The Crocs brand is certainly having a moment … Following a recent trip to New York where my daughter was most excited about visiting the Crocs store (!), I

Lesley Bielby literally wrote the book on agency account planning—Super Strategist. A 30-year veteran of the world of advertising, she’s now Co-CEO of DiMassimo Goldstein, a leader in Positive-Behavior Change marketing. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Lesley Bielby Lesley Bielby is the Co-CEO of DiGo (DiMassimo Goldstein), the industry-leading agency in Positive Behavior Change marketing, and has authored the only modern guide in account planning, Super Strategist: The Art and Science of Modern Account Planning. A 30-year veteran in the world of advertising, she was one of the British account planners to cross the pond in the turn of the century, to bring the discipline to America. In addition to DiGo, Lesley has led and been a part of a number of agencies including Hill Holiday, McKinney and Silver, Digitas, and MMB. Episode Highlights What is Positive Behavior Change marketing? You know me—I love definitions. Turns out, Positive Behavior Change marketing is exact

Dr. Richard Winters is an emergency physician and director of leadership development at the Mayo Clinic. In addition to working with leaders internally at Mayo, Dr. Winters delivers programs that help healthcare leaders worldwide. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Dr. Richard Winters Dr. Richard Winters is an emergency physician at the Mayo Clinic. As director of leadership development for the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Dr. Winters delivers programs that train leaders at all levels of healthcare organizations worldwide. As an executive coach, Dr. Winters provides coaching for Mayo Clinic leaders. Winters graduated from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in 1994 and returned to Mayo Clinic in 2015. Previously, Winters served as managing partner of a democratic physician group, department chair of an emergency department, president of an 800-physician medical staff, and CEO/founder of a startup managed care organization that struggled to survive amidst the complex r

Beth A. Livingston is a professor, consultant, author, and speaker focused on human resources, gender & diversity, and the management of work & family—all in the service of the employee experience. She’s also a colleague of mine at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business and co-author of the new book Shared Sisterhood. We discussed all of this and more, this week on the On Brand podcast. About Beth A. Livingston Dr. Beth Livingston is the Ralph L. Sheets Associate Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. She’s also an internal advisor with the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest, a NIOSH Center of Excellence, and the faculty director of the Dore-Tippie Women's Leadership program. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, and her MBA from the University of Kentucky, she began her career at Cornell University in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations before moving to the Midwest. She studies and teaches human resource mana

Patrick Holly has worked for agencies like R/GA and brands like Apple, Uber, and Harley Davidson, where he served as brand director. Currently, he's Upwork’s Executive Creative Director leading a team of writers, art directors, designers, and strategists who are changing the way the world thinks about work. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Patrick Holly Patrick Holly is a multidisciplinary creative whose career has run the gamut from agencies like R/GA and AKQA, to brands like Apple and Uber, to building a content platform with Steph Curry. He currently serves as Upwork’s Executive Creative Director leading a team of writers, art directors, designers, and strategists who are changing the way the world thinks about work. Prior to joining Upwork, Patrick was the brand director at Harley Davidson, overseeing content, PR, social, and brand partnerships. When Patrick is not working, he spends most of his time on two wheels or watching Sex and the City reruns with his wife

Lee LeFever literally wrote the book on explanation. In addition to being the author of The Art of Explanation and Big Enough, he’s the co-founder of Common Craft where he helps leading organizations simplify their explanations through guides, videos, and visuals. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Lee LeFever Lee LeFever is the co-founder of Common Craft and the author of two books: The Art of Explanation and Big Enough. Since 2007, Common Craft has won numerous awards, worked with respected brands like LEGO, Google, Intel, and Ford, and created original explainer videos that have earned over 50 million online video views. Today, Common Craft produces educational guides, ready-made videos, and digital visuals that are used by educators in over 50 countries. Lee and his partner Sachi are Common Craft’s only employees and work from their home off the coast of Washington State. Episode Highlights Why is it so hard for us to explain things? “We do it every day and we can

Todd Irwin is the Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Fazer. The brand strategy agency has worked with Fortune 500 brands like Coca-Cola and Nike as well as SMBs and startups. Todd joined me this week on the On Brand podcast to discuss Fazer’s positioning-based brand strategy methodology. About Todd Irwin Todd Irwin is the Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Fazer, a brand strategy and creative agency. He has developed a compelling brand strategy methodology that delivers business-to-brand strategic alignment to position companies more competitively in markets. Todd brings 30+ years of brand strategy experience, helping big brands such as Coca-Cola, Nikon, Verizon, Walmart, Pepsi, Ann Taylor, Macy's, Olive Garden, and The New York Times, as well as a host of SMBs and early-stage funded growth companies.   Episode Highlights “Branding is a tangible asset,” Todd noted, defying the popular theory that brands are intangible—and thus not always seen as a valuable aspect of the business. “Brand is the product,

Cindy McGovern is the founder of Orange Leaf Consulting and author of the new book Sell Yourself, which helps people create authentic personal brands that they can live day in and day out. We discussed how to do this work and how it intersects with organizational brands this week on the On Brand podcast. About Dr. Cindy McGovern Dr. Cindy McGovern is the founder of Orange Leaf Consulting, which helps organizations, entrepreneurs, and individuals create dynamic and robust sales processes. Before launching her business, McGovern was a college professor of communication as well as a successful sales professional. She has worked with hundreds of organizations of all sizes and specialties across the globe and is now one of the most sought-after business and sales authorities.   Episode Highlights “Personal branding IS challenging,” Cindy clarified early on. “It’s holding up a mirror. A personal brand represents who you are, how you behave, what you say, how you react to others and how they react to you. A persona

Branding expert and author David Aaker returns for his third appearance on the On Brand podcast. While he thanked me for having him back, I thanked him for continuing to create interesting work. His latest book is The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding which we discussed this week on the show. About David Aaker David Aaker, is the author of over one hundred articles and 18 books on marketing, business strategy, and branding that have sold over one million copies. A recognized authority on branding, he has developed concepts and methods on brand building that are used by organizations around the world. His latest book is The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding.   Episode Highlights Purpose vs. mission. We jumped right in with a big question that David takes on in the first chapter of his book. What’s the difference between purpose and mission? “Purpose starts as a why question. Mission is a how question.” The two are related but different, which is why David addresses both in his book. Brand as a lens. I jokingl

Michelle Mazur is a messaging expert who helps brands of all shapes and sizes craft their own unique and powerful messages. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. But with her “3-Word Rebellion” approach—drawing on social movements and her background in market research—Michelle helps brand builders simplify and clarify. She shares how this week on the On Brand podcast. About Michelle Mazur Dr. Michelle Mazur is a messaging expert who works with brilliant business owners who are shaking things up but having trouble talking about it. She combines the tools of successful social movements with the qualitative research skills she earned in her Communications Ph.D. to help them craft their powerful, captivating message. The author of the 3 Word Rebellion, host of the Rebel Uprising podcast and featured in Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Inc., she knows that speaking about what you do in a clear and captivating way is the key to reaching the people you could help the most and making more money in your business.   Episode

Guillaume Wiatr is the author of Strategic Narrative and the Principal/Founder of MetaHelm, a strategy consulting firm specializing in helping business leaders unlock profit and energize their team with a shared narrative grounded in their organization's purpose. His work teaches leaders how to build a strategic narrative. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Guillaume Wiatr Guillaume Wiatr is the author of Strategic Narrative: A Simple Method That Business Leaders Can Use to Make Everyone Understand Their Business, Get Behind it and Believe In It. His company, MetaHelm, guides CEOs, founders, and business owners to align teams and accelerate innovation adoption. A former big-firm strategy consultant, Guillaume has founded four ventures. He is sought after by senior executives of companies like Alaska Airlines, the Gates Foundation, Generations For Peace, AIG, L'Oréal, Spencer Stuart, GAP, Google, Microsoft, and the US and French governments. Guillaume teaches and mentor

As Director of Strategy at Smashbrand, Siena Dexter helps both online and offline brands refine their point-of-sale positioning and packaging. Believe it or not, in 400+ episodes, we haven’t spent that much time talking about these incredibly important topics and touchpoints. Sienna and I discussed point of sale, packaging, and testing this week on the On Brand podcast. About Siena Dexter Siena Dexter is Director of Strategy and Associate Partner at Smashbrand, where she works with FMCG brands to create branding and packaging that’s proven to perform at point of sale through quantifiable data. Working internationally at agencies in London, Dusseldorf, and now Idaho, Siena has positioned brands from startup challengers to multi-brand enterprises for proven commercial success.   Episode Highlights We don’t talk about packaging and point of sale enough … Not to be confused with Encanto’s Bruno, we don’t talk about these important topics nearly enough as we’re distracted by the abundance of shiny new—often digit

Brett Hyman is the president, CEO, and founder of NVE Experience Agency, which was recently named Ad Age’s Experiential Small Agency of the Year. As an expert in building and activating meaningful brand experiences from consumer products to Comic-Con, I asked Brett to help us define some of the labels used (and misused) in experiential marketing during our conversation on the On Brand podcast. About Brett Hyman Brett Hyman is the president, CEO, and founder of NVE Experience Agency, a privately-owned brand experience and production company with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London. Guided by 16 years of global agency and brand leadership experience, along with the principle that the right moment will transform someone forever, Hyman leads NVE’s team of cross-industry experts to deliver culturally connected campaigns and transformative experiences for some of the world’s most iconic brands and Fortune 500 companies including Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, Apple, Pandora, Lincoln Motor Co., Hennessy, Tinder,

Gina is CEO/Chief Creative Officer of The Craftsman Agency, where she focuses on creating magical experiences and immersive stories for brands like Disney and Microsoft. Where does one start with experiential marketing and brand experience? We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Gina Michnowicz Gina Michnowicz is CEO and Chief Creative Officer of The Craftsman Agency, where she focuses on creating magical moments through custom experiential marketing and immersive storytelling for B2B and B2C brands. With past clients including Cisco, Disney, Paramount, and Microsoft, Gina has led projects from concept to delivery of immersive digital experiences, experiential installations, websites, and bespoke advertising campaigns. Gina’s work spans from marketing and sales within brands, to agencies, to management consulting. Her time in management consulting has strengthened her ability to think both strategically and creatively, leading teams to push the envelope with work that surp