Making the Fan

Similar to the passion fans have for Disney, young kids and adults alike have deep emotional connections with LEGO.  In this week’s episode, James Gregson, creative director for LEGO Group’s internal creative agency, breaks down the content strategies that elicits that fandom and helps “inspire the builders of tomorrow.”     The conversation covers the product partnerships and user-generated conte...

The terms “customer-focused” and “customer-centric” are often used interchangeably, but there are distinct differences from how an organization is culturally structured to how they serve their customers. In this week’s episode, Annette Franz joins David Millay to discuss her latest book, “Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business” and the 10 principles...

Nick Lawson, Co-Founder and CEO of SQWAD rejoins the podcast to discuss the current state of the digital space, sponsorship activations and fan engagement.  With much to cover, we split this conversation into two episodes.  Listen to the first episode here . In part two, we jump back into the conversation with David Millay and Nick discussing the problems with sponsorship and the deep dive that SQ...

Nick Lawson, Co-Founder and CEO of SQWAD, joined David Millay on Flip the Switch on March 1, 2020 to discuss the role of digital activations in sports sponsorship.  Just two weeks after, that episode became a playbook as sports leagues and teams turned to digital and virtual platforms to engage brands and fans throughout the pandemic.   Two years later, we invited Nick back to discuss the current...

In today’s episode, David is joined by Len Perna, Chairman and CEO of TurnkeyZRG.  Having managed more than 1,400 executive searches, from coaches to middle management to executive leaders, Len shares how his talent advisory firm aligns clients on strategy and cultural fit with the current marketplace, the key attributes they look for in leaders and the “Moneyball” methodology they use to evaluate...

Salary increases and rewards have their place, but to inspire connection and tenure with your employees requires more. In this episode, David Millay and Dr. Scott Rigby, Founder and CEO of Immersyve and MotivationWorks, dive into self-determination theory, employees’ three basic needs and the obstacles employers must overcome to motivate their teams long-term.   ----- Show Notes 2:41   Background...

The power of community emerges when companies embrace the directional relationship members form not just with their brand, but with other members.  In this episode, Christina Garnett, senior marketing manager for offline community and advocacy at HubSpot, joins David to talk about the magic of tapping into common passions and making your fans the hero of the story.  --- Show Notes 2:21  Community...

In the last two years, individuals have challenged the traditional scripts of career paths, a factor contributing to the Great Resignation. On today’s episode, we sit down with Paul Millerd, a solopreneur and author of “The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life.”  Since leaving his corporate consulting career, Paul has studied the concepts behind burnout, work-life balance and the...

In this episode, we are joined by Amie Kiehn, Social Leader and Head of Community for Gondola.  During Amie’s time with the Carolina Panthers, she cultivated a brand personality across their social media platforms with a voice known for its wit and snark.  Rather than just focusing on events, Amie and her team connected with fans by listening to the community and experimenting with creative conten...

It’s not every day we are turning to global debt collection companies for inspiration.  Today’s episode features InDebted CEO Josh Foreman.  Josh had a vision for creating a customer-centric debt collection agency and the organization has more than 2,000 5-star reviews on Google.  While we dig into some of the strategies and tactics that led to those reviews, this conversation largely focuses on t...

To become the digital leader and business disruptor Amazon is today, the company has firmly operated on 14 leadership principles.  First and foremost, they are driven by customer obsession. This week, we are joined by John Rossman, managing partner of Rossman Partners, author and keynote speaker.  John spent nearly four years as an Amazon executive, responsible for launching and scaling the mercha...

Recently, we hit 100 episodes of Flip the Switch.  In this bonus edition, David Millay and Katie Rudy issue superlative awards to their favorite takeaways and break down the trends, experiments, and leadership lessons that have influenced their work with EngageMint.  *We’re a little off on some numbers in the episode but we have them all linked here* Most Fun:  Jesse Cole - Ep. 14 Fans First | Ep....

When we think about the fan experience today, it’s not just about their experience at a live event but how they interact directly and indirectly, how they engage and connect with your brand emotionally 24/7.   This episode, we are joined by rising star Zhaneé Anderson from the University of Texas creative team.  Throughout the conversation, David and Zhaneé touch on creating for different brands a...

A perfect fit for our 100th episode, guest Joe Moglia brings best practices and leadership insights from a unique career in football and the private sector.  Joe spent 16 years as a coach, became a business leader for Merrill Lynch and TD Ameritrade and served as CEO of TD Ameritrade for 7 years, before heading back to the football field to be head coach at Coastal Carolina.  He currently holds th...

It’s Super Bowl week and 70,000 fans will fill SoFi Stadium for that “bucket list” experience. The average sports fan may not witness a World Series, College Football Playoff or Super Bowl in person.  In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy discuss some of their favorite sporting events and how a focus on hospitality, premium spaces, concessions offerings and pregame shows can turn an ordinar...

This College Leaders segment of Flip the Switch features Paris Buchanan, Assistant AD for Marketing and Fan Experience for Ole Miss Athletics. Through one football season with minimal crowds, Ole Miss realized not only how much they value their home field advantage, but how to connect with Rebel fans that aren’t viewing the games in person. Paris, David Millay and Katie Rudy dive into the data dri...

We’ve all been in those brainstorming sessions that consisted of more than a few blank stares or had a number of great ideas with no action steps to actually implement them.  In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy share some of their favorite resources and best practices to conduct an effective individual or team brainstorm session.   We cover: Myths of Brainstorming Setting the stage and fr...

The Great Resignation is affecting every industry and every organization.  In collaboration with our partners at Penn State, the EngageMint team recently led a management retreat to discuss the trends and solutions to turn the "Great Attrition" into the "Great Attraction".  A more unorthodox episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy host a round table discussion with Christina Gateh...

In this episode, Kathy Burrows, president and owner of Sold Out Seating, joins David to discuss strategies and tactics to shift from selling tickets to selling experiences.  Selling an experience doesn’t mean selling the pomp and circumstance and atmosphere around the game, but delivering a game day experience that fits each customer.  To implement that shift, Kathy and David dive into new benchma...

This episode is all about NFT's and why our host, David Millay , spent $13k on a single NFT. It's a much more casual episode than usual with holidays upon us, and we invited some of David's friends from his Disney days to unpack why the hell he would make such an investment.  We end up discussing the potential utility of an NFT, future potential use cases, and their potential role i...

Chief Experience Composer and Best-Selling Author Joey Coleman joins David to talk about how to “Never Lose a Customer Again.”  In this episode, Joey breaks down the 8 phases of the customer and employee experience from his book: Assess, Admit, Affirm, Activate, Acclimate, Accomplish, Adopt and Advocate.  Organizations often focus on a couple, but paying attention to all eight sequentially leads t...

The “Great Resignation” or “Great Migration” has incited a movement by employees to find roles where they feel valued and appreciated.  But not everyone wants to be recognized or shown appreciation in the same way.  In this episode, David sits down with Dr. Paul White, author of “The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace”, to talk about how to show appreciation for your staff in ways that a...

This week on Flip the Switch, we are joined by Paula Courtney, CEO of the Verde Group.  Partnering with many Fortune 100 companies, the Verde Group brings unique methods to studying consumer behavior and improving the customer experience.  Rather than asking “How was your experience?” Paula and her team probe for customer dissatisfaction.  Their research has demonstrated that  innovating off of po...

In this episode, David sits down with Shawn McIntosh, Charlotte FC’s Chief Fan Officer, the first role of its kind in any professional league.  Throughout the conversation, Shawn shares his strategies and tactics for building relationships with Charlotte FC supporters and community leaders and bringing that voice to the table in internal club meetings. Show Notes 3:06        What is a Chief Fan Of...

This College Leaders segment features Bryan Blair, Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer at Washington State University.  In the four years that Bryan and his team have been in Pullman, they’ve worked to build a culture that highlights and celebrates what is unique about Wazzou.  Bryan and David hit on hiring coaches and staff that are cultural fits, embracing your identity and taki...