On Brand with Nick Westergaard

“Something that disruptors bring to the table is the personal relationship with the customer.” And Brand Hacks author Emmanuel Probst knows a thing or two about disruptors. With a background in academia and working with several Fortune 500 clients at Ipsos, he brings a consumer behavior focused mindset to the world of branding and marketing. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode...

“Getting people to change habits and try new things is an exciting challenge for any marketer.” And Jessica Jensen knows a thing or two about marketing challenges. In a career that has taken her from Yahoo to Apple to Facebook, she’s tackled some big challenges including B2B marketing, platform development, and more. As CMO of Sun Basket, she’s driving growth by building the brand and connecting w...

“Entrepreneurs have always been the voice of good.” As the author of bootstrapping bibles Duct Tape Marketing, The Referral Engine, and Duct Tape Selling, John Jantsch has also been a voice of good for many entrepreneurs. He’s brought this insight and experience to his latest book The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, designed to help entrepreneurs feed their souls while building brands with purpose. We...

“Brands today have to create a memory.” In over 200 episodes of the On Brand podcast, we’ve had a lot of definitions of branding. However, I’m a big fan of how this week’s guest defined what we all do. Inge Overtoom is partner and operations director for BrandBase. In creating bold experiences for big brands it all comes down to creating a standout memory. About Inge Overtoom Inge Overtoom has 15...

“As an entrepreneur, it’s our job to make something that wasn’t there.” And that’s exactly what New Orleans based entrepreneur Scott Wolfe did in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. With a boom in rebuilding and restoration construction, Wolfe quickly saw that it was challenging for contractors to get paid. In founding Levelset, Wolfe worked to address this head-on. We talked about the zigs and zags of...

“Story doesn’t start with a 40-page deck. It starts with a founder with a vision.” And yet, there are quite a few 40-page branding decks floating around out there. This week on the podcast I was joined by Ellen Utrecht, a branding, film, and storytelling expert and founder of creative agency MikeTeeVee for a conversation about how brand stories really start. About Ellen Utrecht Ellen Utrecht is an...

“Be an outlier. Play a game no one else is playing.” With success in developing both corporate marketing and political campaigns, Phillips Stutts knows how to win big. As founder of Win BIG Media and Go BIG Media he helps clients across the board do just that. Recently, he’s trained his focus on fighting his own rare, incurable disease. We talked about overcoming obstacles, innovating, and winning...

“What we do in life is we solve what’s in front of us instead of what’s next.” That’s exactly how most brands have approached content marketing. The initial challenge was creating all of this content. So we focused on content creation. Now there’s too much content and people aren’t engaging with it. As CMO and Co-Founder of Uberflip, Randy Frisch helps marketers create engaging content experiences...

“There are fifteen accepted definitions of a brand. My favorite definition is that a brand is a sum of all experiences a customer has.” As the name of the popular online platform he founded suggests, Derrick Daye is the ultimate Branding Strategy Insider. He’s worked on brand strategy for everything from EA Sports to the Statue of Liberty. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Bran...

“A challenger brand is defined by an ethos — a mindset. They have ambitions that outweigh their internal marketing resources. They have to outthink. They can’t outspend.” So how do you punch above your weight class? We talked about this with Door Number 3’s Prentice Howe, author of The Empowered Challenger Playbook. About Prentice Howe Prentice Howe has always believed in underdogs. Now, as Owner...

“Every company can be broken into three parts — marketing, operations, and product.” Raul Hernandez is an expert at helping business break down their marketing processes to boost both scale and impact. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Raul Hernandez Raul Hernandez helps businesses build evergreen workflows so they can scale up their business while scaling...

“The brand has changed from goods and services to a building block of personal identity.” David Lemley knows this first hand. Twenty years ago he led the team that helped Starbucks grow from a boutique coffee shop to a brand many have cited on this show as one that makes them smile consistently. Today, at his company Retail Voodoo, he helps food and beverage brands stand out while also standing fo...

“Brand creates focus. It helps you prioritize. Because it’s a North Star in can help the leader allocate resources, determine how he or she should spend his or her time.” This week on the On Brand podcast, I was joined by Lindsay Pedersen, brand strategist and author of the book Forging an Ironclad Brand. About Lindsay Pedersen Lindsay Pedersen is the author of Forging An Ironclad Brand: A Leader’...

“Excel at what you can’t control. A lot of people say ‘control what you can control.’ But I think you excel at those things that you can’t control because those are the things that are gonna keep you until you get your breakthrough.” As an “undersized and overmatched” NFL running back, Justin Forsett became an underdog fan favorite. He’s brought this same scrappiness to his work as an entrepreneur...

“It’s not a marketing veneer. It’s not a marketing campaign. It’s embedded in our values, our behaviors, and how we show up in the world.” Rebranding is a challenge many struggle with. But what if you’re a 75-year old category creator like ADP? This week on the On Brand podcast, I was joined by ADP Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Barber-Miller who took us behind the scen...

“A lot of Wall Street people think that profit is the reason for business. I say profit is the applause you get for creating a motivating environment for your people so they'll take good care of your customers.” This week, for the 200th episode of the On Brand podcast, I had the honor of interviewing another business legend. Ken Blanchard is the coauthor of 65 books from The One Minute Manager to...

“A brand story should be built on a good narrative.” Jeff Swystun has built his career helping brands tell their stories. His career alone is storied with time at DDB and Interbrand. He’s also author fo the new book Why Marketing Works. We talked about why branding, marketing, and stories work this week on the On Brand podcast. About Jeff Swystun Jeff Swystun is a consulting CMO working with leadi...

“I started out struggling with doing business and doing good. It’s always presented as this zero-sum game. And it doesn’t have to be.” Alexandra Dimiziani has spent her career building iconic brands such as Coca-Cola and Airbnb. Today she’s co-founder/managing partner of TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, where she helps build, well — brands for the 21st century! We discussed what this means and more on thi...

“Someone’s story is what gets us most.” With a background in improvisational comedy and marketing, Judi Holler is an expert at crafting and remixing fearless stories. She’s also author of the new book Fear Is My Homeboy. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Judi Holler Judi Holler is a professionally trained improviser and alumna of the Second Cit...

“Marketing doesn’t always have one right answer.” As both a branding expert and instructor at NYU Stern School of Business, Allen Adamson knows how the world of branding has changed and what’s important for students and brand builders alike to understand. We discussed all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Allen Adamson Allen Adamson is a noted industry expert i...

"Experience design is the suite of emotions that you deliver over time.” This clear and concise answer came from this week’s guest on the On Brand podcast, Karin Soukup. As Brand Experience Director at Collins San Francisco, she spends her time answering this question with clients and helping them develop innovative solutions. We discussed all of this and more this week on the show. About Karin So...

“Brand and culture are two weird words that are getting put together more and more.” This week on the On Brand podcast, we explore these two words—brand and culture—and how to activate them in the creation of meaningful brand experiences with Dennis Hahn, chief strategy officer at Liquid. About Dennis Hahn As chief strategy officer at Liquid, Dennis Hahn is responsible for the methodologies that L...

“Everyone has an important role to play in the big vision.” This week on the On Brand podcast, I was joined by Stephanie Nivinskus, CEO of SizzleForce Marketing. We talked about the impact of effective copywriting, creating brands with heart, leadership and culture, and more. About Stephanie Nivinskus Stephanie Nivinskus is CEO of SizzleForce Marketing, a strategic copywriting agency. Since 1995,...

“If your brand was to go away tomorrow, would anyone miss it?” Awkward silence. That’s because, for the most part, very few brands today are truly indispensable. Mitch Duckler is out to change that. The author of the new book The Indispensable Brand and founder of Full Surge was my guest this week on the On Brand podcast. About Mitch Duckler Mitch Duckler is author of The Indispensable Brand, and...

“Leading with the who is something people want to jump right past.” No, my guest this week wasn’t talking about the band The Who. We were talking about why it’s so important to start with the customer—the who—in mind. This seems easy enough and yet … I discussed being a generalist, naming, and customer-journey mapping with Nancie McDonnell Ruder, fonder of Noetic Consultants, this week on the On B...