On Brand with Nick Westergaard

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed a fun story: a Twitter feud between Wendy’s and Burger King, which provided a good reminder on why it’s important to be human online. We also discussed the difference between what men and women search for on Pinterest. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, tren...

Today brands of all shapes and sizes are creating content. However, there are also brands known exclusively for the content they create. Such is the case of the Harvard Business Review, the separate publication arm of the Harvard Business School. How does a brand that’s over 90 years old and an extension of another brand that’s centuries old continue to innovate and evolve? I asked that very quest...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed a new report just released from software provider Domo and CEO.com stating that 61% of Fortune 500 CEOs aren’t active on social media. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this week’s show. Remember, the Social Sound Bite is just t...

“It’s too possible to be personable.” Live streaming video via platforms such as Periscope and Snapchat have presented marketers with an amazing opportunity to deepen the relationships they have with their customers. However, many brands are apprehensive about this very public, immediate form of content. How will we tell our story? How will we engage with our audience? This week video expert Amy S...

“The expression of your brand strategy should excite the customer.” For Mark Di Somma, brand strategy is as much a creative process as a logical one. It’s about making decisions that enable a brand to change how it’s valued by the people who buy its products and by those who work so hard from the inside to bring the brand to life. It’s about being interesting and staying interesting in a world whe...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed a topic we’ve been hearing a lot about over the past few months. Is Twitter really going to drop their signature 140-character limit in favor of longer tweets with a 10,000-character limit?! If so, what does this mean? Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, tren...

“I love storytelling. It builds trust faster than anything else.” Brian Fanzohelps brands of all shapes and sizes — from IBM to Applebee’s — tell their stories and build trust with their customers. As an early adopter of live-streaming social video like Meerkat and Periscope, Brian has fearlessly jumped in and quickly become a leading expert in this new and exciting media. I couldn’t wait to discu...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I got the new year started with a discussion of the 2016 digital marketing trends to watch. Specifically, creating more meaningful content, social video, and amplification through paid advertising. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this wee...

“A brand is a divining rod. It’s a filter to make big decisions.” Drew McLellan spends his time tackling brand from a few different angles. First, as the owner of McLellan Marketing Group, he helps B2B clients build better brands. As part of his work with the Agency Management Institute, he also helps agencies focus their brands as well. I couldn’t wait to talk to my fellow Iowan and agency owner...

“Our brand means many things to many people.” As we cheer from the sidelines and the comfort of our couch on game day, it can be easy to loose sight of the fact that great American sports teams like the Minnesota Vikings are some of our most prominent brands. One thing these mega-brands can’t loose sight of is their fans. “Fans first and foremost,” said Vikings CMO Steve LaCroix during our recent...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed some new data on social media sharing that Twitter will want to take note of. After discontinuing support for tweet counts on their share button last month, Shareaholic reports that sharing via Twitter is down 11%. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends,...

“Figure out what you’re doing right and do more of it.” This deceptively simple advice should come as a cautionary tale to brands of all shapes and sizes. As a best-selling author and leader of one of the Southwest’s top agencies, Steve McKee spends all of this time help stalled, stuck, and stale brands. I couldn’t wait to chat with him about all of this on this week’s episode of the On Brand podc...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed a new feature that’s finally on it’s way to Instagram. A constant struggle for community managers keeping their brand’s Instagram presence up to date is the current inability to easily toggle in and out of accounts. Sounds like this feature is on the way at last. Listen for the full sound bite a...

“If a picture paints a thousand words, then a video packs an even bigger punch. Being able to show versus telling is powerful.” As people consume more and more content online, video is one of the most useful tools for brands. When does video make sense and how can you use it to build a better brand online? As Director of Business Development at Wistia, Kristen Craft spends a lot of her time talkin...

“Every order sold is a story waiting to be told. Everyone has a story to tell.” You won’t meet a bigger advocate for story and its ability to move people than Bobby Lehew. As Chief Branding Officer at ROBYN, he employs story every day in redefining this growing business. While story is an exciting topic for marketers, it’s also misunderstood. I couldn’t wait to unpack story — why it matters and ho...

“Nothing is ever, ever going to challenge a good, solid, legible, readable, scalable, beautiful, crafted mark. It’s got the right DNA.” As one of the leading designers working today, Aaron Draplin has a thing or two to say about brands. This past week, Draplin was in Iowa City on his fall tour “Tall Tales from a Large Man,” which he presented at the University of Iowa. I was fortunate enough to be...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed some some new data on how we use social networks. In their most recent quarterly summary of the latest trends in social networking, GlobalWebIndex notes that we’re spending more time on social media — on average 1.77 hours per day! Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to t...

“Most brands don’t risk enough — there’s too much jargon and too little personality.” As a designer, brand builder, and agency president, Nathan Sinsabaugh has spent his career bringing design thinking and innovation to applications outside of a traditional design context. Along the way, he’s worked to infuse B2B brands with more personality and purpose. I couldn’t wait to discuss all of this with...

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed some some new data on Facebook use. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, most of us are lurking more and posting original content less. While this may not seem like a big deal it could lead to a less engaging social experience which could threaten Facebook’s emerging ad network. Listen for th...

“Your brand can’t just be a promise. It must be a promise delivered.” Denise Lee Yohn knows a thing or two about great brands. Specifically, What Great Brands Do — the title of her best-selling book. The follow-up Extraordinary Experiences examines the principles of her first book at work in the restaurant and retail industry. I couldn’t wait to discuss great brands, extraordinary experiences, and...

“Brands are not static anymore. They’re fluid.” As the Director of Transformation for Liquid Agency and the author of several books on branding including The Brand Gap and The Brand Flip, Marty Neumeierhas spent his career studying, speaking, and writing about the shifts in brand building, design thinking, and business strategy. I couldn’t wait to chat with Neumeier about all of this on this week’...

“You have to start the conversation by understanding who you’re having the conversation with.” As a professor and Dean at the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University, David D. Perlmutter spends a lot of his time studying, speaking, teaching, and writing about the inflection point we face in building brands and developing audience. Specifically, the relationship between the two....

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed some big changes in store on Twitter. Specifically their new CEO, stagnating use numbers, and possibly losing their 140-character limit. We also discussed the upcoming Social Brand Forum. Listen for the full sound bite and enjoy these useful links to the news, trends, and tips included in this w...

“Your employees can be the biggest advocates your brand has.” However, you have to engage and enable their advocacy. That’s what Greg Tiricospends his time working with brands on. As the Senior Manager of Advocacy Solutions and Services at Sprout Social, Greg is leading the development of the social engagement platform’s first stand-alone brand extension, Bambu. We discussed the power and potentia...

“So many marketers have never walked a mile in their user’s shoes.” While we joked about playing “buzzword BINGO,” Litmus’ Justine Jordanand I spent a lot of time talking about mapping the customer journey and designing intentional experiences. Before she joins us in Iowa next month at the Social Brand Forum, I wanted to take a few moments and chat with Justine about email, lists, landing pages, a...