On Brand with Nick Westergaard

Early in my career, I spent my commute listening to audiobooks in my 1996 Ford Taurus. The tinny car speakers shook as Tom Peters spoke about excellence and management by walking around. Through landmark books such as In Search of Excellence, The Pursuit of Wow! and his latest, The Excellence Dividend, Tom challenges conventional wisdom with an unparalleled bias toward action. I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Tom Peters on this week’s On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Tom PetersTom 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. Arriving at an equally troubling time, his latest book, The Excellence Dividend, is a self-described “sequel of sorts” to this modern business classic.Episode HighlightsTom’s work has inspired me my entire career. But I had to ask … Why write another book? “There are significant consistencies,” Tom noted with what was happening when In Search of Excellence was first released and now. “And we still haven’t gotten it! Every 60 months or so, I’ve just had it up to my eyeballs and I sit down and write another damn book that says do your managing by walking around.”The Brand Called You at (Almost) 20. Tom’s landmark 1999 essay and book, A Brand Called You, offered the first-ever major work on personal branding. And it’s as true now as it was then. “Nineteen years later, it’s a survival necessity. You can no longer survive as #129 (on your employee badge). You have to be someone that stands for something.” We also spent some time talking about why personal branding is still misunderstood.“Hard is soft and soft is hard.” Tom offered his insights on the true nature of the key skills involved in business today. The hard stuff — numbers, for example — are really soft. And the soft stuff like culture is actually really hard.Business education today. Tom is on a quest. “I want the MBA to stand for a Masters of Business Arts.” Citing author and organizational effectiveness expert Henry Mintzberg, Tom noted that while MBAs are hired more and make more at graduation, 20 years later liberal arts grads have risen to more leadership roles. It was at this point that Tom complimented me for having a theatre arts degree!Tom and I may be sending Mark Zuckerberg a copy of The Darkest Hour. One of my favorite things about Tom’s writing and speaking, are the parallels he draws to great leaders in history. FDR and Churchill weren’t experts at economics and military strategy, but they inspired. They led. Zuck could learn a thing or two in navigating the current crisis at Facebook.What brand has made Tom smile recently? Like much of his thinking, Tom is in a class of his own when it comes to citing smile-worthy brands. While Apple, Nike, and Southwest Air are oft-cited, Tom provided the inaugural listing of Ziplock bags. They do everything — from keeping your iPhone safe to making a cool sound when you close them. You’ll never think of Ziplock bags the same way again!To learn more, go to tompeters.com or excellencenow.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 the latest data from the State of Branding 2018. The report breaks down the biggest challenges marketers face. Topping that list once again is customer experience. 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 CX is Still Marketers’ Top Opportunity, but Social Outperformed Expectations Last Year (Marketing Charts). 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

“Consumers are human beings first.” Duh. Who needs to be reminded of this? I mean, we’ve got our big data, customer analytics, loyalty metrics, key performance indicators, demographics, psychographic profiles, and … Oh yeah. That’s why we need to be reminded that our customers are living, breathing humans. Luckily, loyalty expert Barry Kirk joined us this week to discuss neuroscience, gamification, and the changing world of customer loyalty. Enjoy this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Barry KirkBarry Kirk brings a decade of experience in customer retention and digital marketing to his role as VP of Loyalty Strategy for Maritz Motivation Solutions. In this role, he serves as the leader of the Maritz US loyalty practice. A sought-after speaker, blogger, and workshop leader, he has led the introduction of new disciplines like neuroscience and gamification to the loyalty space, and champions the belief that “consumers are human beings first.” Prior to Maritz, Barry led the consumer loyalty practice for Bunchball, a silicon valley tech startup focused on customer and channel engagement.Episode HighlightsLoyalty today. “Loyalty really hasn’t changed much since the 1980s.” That’s when we began mercenary loyalty — rewarding loyalty, sometimes at great expense. It doesn’t work as well as it used to which is why we have to focus on …The modern forms of brand loyalty. “First there’s true loyalty — it’s literally the experience. Like Starbucks, there’s no reason to pay that much but you do.” The other form of loyalty is cult loyalty. This is based on connections to a group through your loyalty. Like Harley Davidson. “How easy does the brand make it for you to find other people? This is incredibly hard to disrupt.”The impact of neuroscience on marketing. Barry spends a lot of his time talking about the four-drive model of human behavior developed at Harvard. Basically, we have four main drives as consumers: (1) acquire, (2) bond, (3) create, and (4) defend.What’s one thing you can do to focus your own customer loyalty program? “Start with the consumer and what they want.” This too sounds simple, however, many businesses spend more time focusing on what they’re trying to sell instead of what their customers want.What brand has made Barry smile recently? It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that a loyalty expert pointed us to an airline — Southwest Air. “They’ve got me with cult loyalty — I have a personal alignment with them.”To learn more, go to the Maritz Motivation Solutions website and follow Barry on Twitter.As We Wrap …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.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. Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, 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

“How we treat employees relates to how they become brand ambassadors.” Your employees — your people — are one of your biggest brand assets. However, they can only do this if they’re engaged. As the Chief Human Resources Officer at an award-winning financial institution, Shawn Premer knows how organizations can harness their people power. We discussed employee engagement and culture on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Shawn PremerConsumers Credit Union has 300 employees, over $900 million in assets and is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Shawn Premer is responsible for providing leadership in establishing and implementing strategic human resource strategies. Shawn’s primary focus is on employee and member engagement. Consumers is proud of its 98% member satisfaction rate, it’s over 11 years of recognition as one of West Michigan’s 101 Best & Brightest Companies and 4 years of being recognized Nationally as a 101 Best & Brightest Company! In addition, Consumers has been honored as a 101 Best & Brightest in Wellness Employer in Michigan and a Healthiest 100 Employer Nationally.Shawn holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Northwood University and an MBA with a focus in Global Business Studies from Cornerstone University. Shawn also holds SPHR, SHRM-SCP, and Certified Corporate Wellness Specialist (CCWS) certifications.A wife of 24 years and a mother of three, Shawn is also an avid runner and yogi. In 2016 she was honored as Michigan’s Top HR Professional by the Michigan Council of SHRM. She also serves on the executive council for Michigan Chapter of Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the board of Southwest Michigan First, the board of Senior Services of Southwest Michigan where she chairs the Human Resource Executive Committee.In addition to the organizations listed above Shawn also founded and chairs the Kalamazoo Area Wellness Networking group, which includes 20 area organizations who come together to share wellness best practices.Episode HighlightsEmployee engagement is great but … aren’t people scary? Won’t they say or do something on behalf of our brand that we won’t like? Sure, “you’re going to have some bad employee interactions but you have to make sure that you have more good than bad.” That’s why consumers is focused on wellness and creating a family environment at work. What does that mean?No negative water cooler talk. One policy Shawn has put into place at Consumers is banning negative conversations about other people. Instead, employees are encouraged to talk through challenging issues. “This same philosophy applies to interacting with members.”How can an organization currently doing nothing get started with employee engagement? “Listen,” Shawn reminds us is the first step. From there, she encourages organizations to ask three questions: (1) What makes you excited to get out of bed every morning and come here to work? (2) Conversely, what makes you want to hit the snooze button in the morning? (3) What would keep you here forever?The worst thing you can do? “The worst thing you can do is to ask these questions (above) and do nothing. Be ready to act.” Form a small, cross-functional team to analyze and take action.What brand has made Shawn smile recently? Proctor and Gamble’s recent “moms ad” at the Winter Olympics made Shawn smile by connecting with her emotionally. To learn more, connect with Shawn on LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also visit the Consumers Credit Union website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“People want brands to step in and solve things that government can’t.” With the latest news of #BoycottNRA and the #MeToo movement, it could seem that this is an idea plucked from recent headlines. But the role of business in social issues has been a part of the conversation for centuries. Anne Bahr Thompson is a leading expert on this and author of the new book Do Good.We discussed corporate social responsibility, brand citizenship, and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.About Anne Bahr ThompsonWith more than 25 years of experience as a global brand strategist, Anne Bahr Thompson is an accomplished researcher, writer and speaker, the pioneer of the strategic framework of Brand Citizenship®, and a Trust Across America 2018 Top Thought Leader in Trust.A former executive director of strategy and planning and head of consulting at Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, Anne founded Onesixtyfourth, a boutique consultancy, to integrate cultural shifts & a social conscience into brand development. Her writings have appeared in Economist Books, hbr.org, The Guardian, Brand Quarterly, Bloomberg News, and many other publications.Anne’s new book, Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit, is available in stores and online now.Episode HighlightsICYMI: Do Good at SXSW. Last week, I mentioned Anne’s work and her new book Do Goodlive episode from SXSW during our where we discussed brands taking a stand socially and politically. Listen now.Did you know … Being a sucker for interesting brand names, I had to start the conversation with a question about the name of Anne’s consulting practice, Onesixtyfourth. I won’t paraphrase (I’m not sure I can paraphrase). It involves three Egyptian gods and an essential ingredient in taking things apart. Curious? You’ll have to listen to the episode for more. SPOILER: It involves leaving room for magic and exploration.Who excels at brand leadership? The usual CSR suspects always show up: TOMS, Warby Parker, Seventh Generation, Whole Foods, and Patagonia. But in 2011, Anne was surprised to see Apple leading the pack at a time when they were being lambasted for supplier relations. Why the disconnect? “Because Apple enriches people’s lives. It’s a huge ‘me’ proposition.”How brands can “do good” in five steps. Anne has broken this down into a five-step process: (1) You have to deliver on trust — have you done what you said you’ll do? (2) Enrichment — how are you enriching customers’ lives? To the previous point, Apple does this. (3) Responsibility — first to your employees and then the environment; this is where the pivot happens between being a “me brand” and a “we brand.” (4) Community — bringing people together through shared ideas. IBM did this with their values jam. (5) Contribution — this final step is when it’s part of the enterprise like Seventh Generation.Taking the first step. If this sounds scary, read Anne’s book for a step-by-step guide. When I asked Anne for a first step, she replied: “Courage. It takes courage to do something that doesn’t have a formula. It takes vulnerability.”Pouncing on a brand vs. giving a brand a chance. In today’s fast-moving media zeitgeist, many brands stumble and many are called out. “You have to punish companies behaving irresponsibly. But anyone who’s trying deserves a chance. We need to come together to solve problems.”What brand has made Anne smile recently? I was worried when Anne said she was going to deflect this question but her reason was insightful. “There’s no one brand. The ones that make me smile are the ones people city in my research.” A valid and data-driven answer.To learn more, go to brandcitizenship.com and connect with Anne on Twitter and LinkedIn. 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 podcast listenership data courtesy of the Infinite Dial 2018 study from Edison Research and Triton Digital. 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 Infinite Dial 2018 (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

This week, we have a special LIVE episode of the On Brand podcast — on stage from SXSW 2018. Recorded Saturday, March 10 in Austin, this episode featured a timely discussion of a big question that many brand builders are struggling with in these divisive times — should your brand take a stand socially and politically? Joining me were guests Heather Whaling of Geben Communication and Wendy Cohen of Picture Motion.Next week, I’ll be back with a full-length brand builder interview. In the meantime, enjoy this week’s special episode.About Heather Whaling and Wendy CohenHeather Whaling is the President of Geben Communication. After launching the company from her dining room in 2009, Heather’s fresh, data-driven approach to best practices has helped Geben evolve into a highly respected, sought-after, award-winning PR firm with operations in Columbus, Chicago, and Seattle.Heather prides herself on using Geben as a platform for doing good. She is a vocal advocate for issues impacting women and girls, especially paid parental leave. After rolling out a 10-week leave policy for new moms and new dads at Geben, her perspective on this issue has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and a variety of local and national media outlets.Follow Heather on Twitter.Wendy Cohen is the President of Picture Motion playing a leading role in business development, strategic planning, managing campaigns, and digital strategy. Prior to joining the Picture Motion family, Wendy was the Senior Director of Film Campaigns at Participant Media where she developed innovative online and mobile initiatives for Charlie Wilson’s War, The Visitor, Food, Inc, The Cove, Waiting for “Superman”, Lincoln, Middle of Nowhere, and A Place at the Table. Wendy was born and raised in Montreal and began her career in film in 2003 as the Programmer and Outreach Coordinator for the Media That Matters Film Festival and Media That Matters: Good Food project. In 2006, she became the first Community Manager for The Huffington Post in New York City. Wendy produced Every Third Bite in 2009, an award-winning short documentary about bees hailed as a “better bee movie” by New York Magazine, she produced the 2011 Sundance Institute trailer titled Light is Love and recently completed production on her second short narrative film titled All Exchanges Final.Wendy continues to be a guest lecturer and panelist at festivals and schools around the country and has been profiled in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Hollywood Reporter, and Mashable. She is a recipient of the 2010 New Leaders Council’s 40 Under 40 Leadership Award.Follow Wendy on Twitter.A Few Helpful Links to Things We DiscussedJeni's Splendid Ice Cream is threatening to stop doing business with FedEx if the company doesn't cut ties with the NRA. More at Business Insider.The new book Do Good by Anne Bahr Thompson on brand building through social good. Guess what? Anne is my guest on the podcast next week!"If you lie, you die." We talked a lot about authenticity and transparency. David Srere of Siegel+Gale said, "If you lie, you die" on this podcast back in 2015. Listen to David's episode. 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 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