Brands In Action

What happens when the host becomes the guest? Today, David Baldwin sits on the other side of the microphone to talk with Mitch Bennett, the ECD who took over creative duties for David, and Ashley Yetman, Co-CEO and head of strategy at Baldwin&, who recently bought the agency. Join us for a fun discussion about what it was like building three purpose-based brands, the power of creativity, and what...

Mariah Eckhardt runs one of the coolest natural brands going, and one of the OG purpose brands at that. On today’s episode, we talk with Mariah about how running everything at Burt’s Bees – from PR and promotions to marketing and everything in between – has led her to know and live this brand, inside and out. She also talks about how their purpose drives everything they do, not just the communicat...

Bojangles is an iconic Southern brand with a storied past and some pretty famous fried chicken around these here parts. Today, Bojangles Restaurants CMO Jackie Woodward talks about what it’s like to market a brand that is entrenched in the South and to take it to greater heights than ever before. Give it a listen.   00:18 - Jackie Intro 01:21 - How Jackie got to Bojangles 04:20 - What is Bojangles...

Can you think of a brand with better unaided awareness than Butterball? Today, Christa Leupen talks about how the company uses their purpose to drive the entire organization. Join us for a lively discussion on what makes the brand tick and how they use their purpose to drive the use of turkey every day – not just on Thanksgiving. 00:18 - Christa Intro 01:22 - Director of Purpose and Consumer Commu...

Philip Freeman is a walk-the-talk kinda guy in every aspect of his life. As the founder of Murphy's Naturals, he's building a company that brings natural mosquito repellents to the world that are good for you and good for the environment at the same time. They call their philosophy DOG – Do Others Good. Philip uses the Murphy's brand and mission to drive everything they do, and they're growing lik...

We’re talking education this week with Quinn O’Brien, CMO at Carnegie Learning, which is the leading brand for education tools and methods. Quinn brings his experience working on mega brands like IBM, Volkswagen, and Lenovo to the space where Carnegie is dedicated to helping teachers create more “Aha!" moments” for students. Quinn has a lot of marketing wisdom, give him a listen.   00:18 - Quinn I...

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Christopher Symmes, Director of Marketing at Unilever where he manages their dressings line, including Hellmann’s, Sir Kensington’s, and Maille. Christopher is a living, breathing adherent to Brand Purpose and showing how it can drive your business – not just your advertising – to foster growth and create change. In fact, sometimes Brand Purpose isn’t par...

Brilliant decisions, a great culture, and really smart people are the reason Best Buy has thrived during the great migration to e-commerce. That and smart people like Bruce Bildsten. Bruce has built a world class in-house agency and now produces work as good as any you can find in the biz. In today’s episode, he talks about what makes a great in-house agency, creative person ,  and brand.   00:18...

How good are you when it comes to listening? Matty Wishnow believes it's one of the keys to growing a company and, in particular, to accelerating a startup's success and efficiency. Today I talk to Matty about his book, "Listening for Growth," it’s a great read about lessons he’s learned and the plan forward he developed for launching his three successful startups. A must-read for anyone thinking...

On this week’s episode, we take another look at excellence in B2B marketing with our guest Emma Powers, Executive Director of Enterprise Marketing at Comcast Business. Emma has had a ringside seat for some massive changes in technology over the years, including the BlackBerry and IBM's Watson. And, during our conversation, she talks about how to bring a human touch to B2B marketing. Give it a list...

On today’s episode, we welcome Amy Merrill. When it comes to brands leading the way in using what they do to create social change, Amy and her brand, Plan C, are the real deal. Amy talks about the opportunities and challenges Plan C has found in providing information and access to women who’ve been deprived of their personal choice. Branding, social mission, and creativity collide in a fascinating...

It's not often you get to talk to someone who is transforming the music industry but that’s exactly what Garland Brown, CEO and founder of Swaye for Music, is doing. Garland describes how his super cool company lets fans support the artists they love while putting musicians in charge of the music they create. Talk about a powerful mission – check it out! 00:18 - Garland Intro 01:15 - America's "Te...

Every now and then, we’re going to replay your favorite episodes. This one features Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death. Andy talks about how to grow a business using creativity as a fame builder and how to turn a startup into a category dominator.   00:32 - Andy Intro 01:39 - Andy's story 04:20 - Journey of Liquid Death 11:22 - Plastic in the environment 12:16 - Purpose Brand 14:52 - Tra...

Today’s episode is a doozy. We’re featuring Mike Watson: technologist, marketer, entrepreneur. The man was on the team that invented Bluetooth, of all things. Now he’s turning his acumen to the spirits category as president of Lonerider Spirits, which is new on the scene of spirits but sure to make noise with Mike in charge.   00:18 - Mike Intro 01:22 - How does a Tech and Bluetooth background lea...

Today we welcome Tara Sahu, VP, Head of Integrated Marketing at Varo Bank. Tara talks about Varo's mission to democratize financial power and create a world where that power is no longer a privilege – providing access for over 100 million underbanked people. When was the last time you were inspired by a bank? Today. Today is the answer. Give it a listen.   00:18 - Tara Intro 02:05 - Journey to whe...

Would you look at that, our 50th episode. While that ain’t nothing but a thing, we do have a doozy for you this time, an episode about the impact of AI. Few creative people in the ad industry know AI the way George Tannenbaum does. Considering his long stint working with Watson at IBM, who better to engage in a thoughtful discussion about the effects and ramifications of AI? As usual, George says...

In this episode of Brands In Action, we welcome Will Burns, CEO and Founder of Ideasicle X, to talk about creativity and, more specifically, how to generate a ton of ideas that will solve a problem for you. Ideasicle X’s philosophy is “Nothing is Unthinkable,” and Will tells you all about the platform and how it can transform your work.   00:18 - Will Intro 01:58 - Ghosts 2:57 - How your experienc...

Yeesh, when you talk about clients who understand how to build a brand through great work, you’ll undoubtedly bring up Melissa Waters, CMO of Upwork. Melissa talks about how Upwork is leading the way in the “new work awakening” and telling those stories with some of the best advertising of the year, their “This is how we work now” campaign…okay, the Zombie CEO campaign. If you haven’t seen it, you...

Welcome to the Best of Brands in Action. Today we’re replaying our most popular episode of 2022 with our guest Joey Manfre from Fender Guitars. Joey talks about keeping the flame alive to take one of America’s most iconic brands into the future. Happy holidays everyone.   00:33 - Joey Intro 01:45 - How did you get to Fender? 05:51 - Being mission driven 08:23 - Fender culture 11:43 - Intimidation...

Not everyone gets to climb a mountain twice. Almost 20 years ago, Chris Knott built a brand called Peter Millar working out of his closet, turning it into a global force in the process. And now he’s doing it again with his new partners at johnnie-O. Chris talks about how his merchandising knowledge and his sense of design come together to help him make very special things.   00:18 - Chris Intro 01...

You wanna talk grit? In our latest episode of Brands in Action, Brett McCoy, CEO and founder of Huck Cycles, talks about how his career in the Army, client-side marketing, and agency strategy has prepared him to become the founder of a hybrid electric motorcycle startup. Their mission is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and maybe change the way you get to work.   00:18 - Brett Intro 01:24 -...

Can you imagine having the guts to start a food company when you’re only 25? Ian Walker and a friend did just that to create Canada’s largest organic bulk foods distributor. And now they have an amazing brand called Hippie Snacks, a better-for-you, plant-based food that’s sold all over the place. In this BIA episode, Ian talks about how leading with their values has been a key ingredient in their...

Leah Day, CMO of Red Hat, joined the company over 20 years ago and has worked through many different roles on her way to the top. She talks about the company’s journey: From open source rebel-brand, dead set on bringing down the big players, to becoming the leader in the open source movement by making coopetition a superpower. Give it a listen.   00:18 - Leigh Intro 02:12 - Evolution of Red Hat 03...

Here’s part two of our interview with Melissa Katrincic, founder and CEO of Durham Distillery, known for producing one of the best gins anywhere. Don’t just take our word for it, their Conniption Gin’s win all the prizes everywhere they go. But building a world class Gin isn’t all Juniper and Coriander, it’s a tough business. Join us as Melissa talks about the rise of this great brand.   00:30 - K...

Today’s episode of Brands in Action is part one with our guest Melissa Katrincic from Durham Distillery. We hear how Melissa is building an empire from out of this little distillery in Durham, NC. She and her husband started from absolutely nothing and have built one of the finest gins in the world.   00:18 - Melissa Intro 02:06 - Origin Story 09:3 - Entrepreuners and actually doing it 15:42 - Cov...