How Leaders Create Culture Virtually with David Burkus
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
Release Date: 01/26/2021
What to Do If Your Brand Sucks with Ernie Harker
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“If you start off on the wrong foot and your brand isn't in line with the attitudes or personality of the brand, there's confusion.” Or, to put it bluntly, your brand sucks. That's the title of strategist Ernie Harker's new book. We discuss how to ... not build a brand that sucks this week on the On Brand podcast. About Ernie Harker is a creative branding mastermind. He recently published Your Brand Sucks, a book that reveals why most companies get branding wrong and reveals the secrets he has used to assist dozens of companies define a clear image and personality for their brands. One...
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Measuring Brand Dominance with Jonathan Tuttle
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“Good things take time to build.” In his work as Founding Director of the digital marketing agency Revenue Ascend, Jonathan Tuttle helps brands of all shapes and sizes build good things. How do you know if something in marketing is good? Measurement and ROI—and we spent a lot of time talking about best practices and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Jonathan Tuttle Jonathan Tuttle is the Founding Director of Revenue Ascend, a leading digital marketing agency based in Chicago. The firm is focused on driving new growth and generating measurable ROI. The agency was designed to...
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Building a Social-First Brand with David Brickley
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“People want to interact with people—not brands.” David Brickley has been helping brands interact with their people through his agency STN Digital and his two podcasts Business of Social and Entrepreneur Wrap. This week he joined me as a guest on my podcast to talk about how to build a social-first brand. About David Brickley After working with his first-ever client, Kobe Bryant, David Brickley used that as motivation to launch STN Digital in 2013, and has since grown an award-winning team of some of the best talent in the industry. STN Digital is an expert at launching brands and...
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The Art of Visual Storytelling with Dan Roam
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“We are profoundly visual creatures. We respond to what we see more than anything else.” Dan Roam has spent his career helping people master the art of visual communication and storytelling. His books from Back of the Napkin to his latest, The Pop-Up Pitch, help organizations and individuals put this system into action. I couldn't wait to discuss all of this with him this week on the On Brand podcast. About Dan Roam Dan Roam is the author of five international bestselling books on business-visualization and communication clarity. The Back of the Napkin was named by Fast Company, The...
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Choosing Your Customer with Jonathan Byrnes
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“In the old days, branding was a very broad thing. Today it's picking your spot.” Jonathan Byrnes knows a thing or two about building a profitable brand for the long haul. He's a Senior Lecturer at MIT, founding partner of Profit Isle, and the author of two books and numerous HBR articles. He's also my guest this week on the On Brand podcast. Enjoy! About Jonathan Byrnes Jonathan Byrnes is founding partner and chairman of Profit Isle, a highly successful MIT spin-off SaaS software company that helps organizations increase profits by 10–30 percent using its profitability analytics and...
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Qualitative Research in Branding with Duane Varan
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“A lot of the assumptions we make are bad assumptions.” When it comes to making assumptions, sometimes we marketers can't help ourselves. To avoid this, we need to ensure that we have a good mix of both quantitive and qualitative research. Dr. Duane Varan is a leader in the field of qualitative research and was my guest this week on the On Brand podcast. About Duane Varan is CEO of both MediaScience and HarkConnect. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Australian Prime Minister’s Award for University Teacher of the Year, and is a global pioneer in developing new...
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How Native Ads Build Better Brands with Dan Greenberg
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“If you can design triggers into the thing someone’s already doing, you make advertising even more impactful.” Expanding the definition of advertising to include more human-centric and respectful ideas has been at the heart of Dan Greenberg’s work as CEO and founder of Sharethrough and as a leader in the native advertising movement. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Dan Greenberg is the CEO and Founder of Sharethrough, the largest independent native advertising platform that powers in-feed native ads for publishers...
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What the Pandemic Means for Brands with Emmanuel Probst
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“The pandemic has forced brands to change the way they communicate and the way they operate.” As a research professor, author, and VP at Ipsos, Emmanuel Probst spends a lot of time studying, teaching, and writing about consumer behavior. His latest update to Brand Hacks provides brand builders with a useful compass for navigating the increasingly challenging world we find ourselves in. We discussed all of this and more this week on the On Brand podcast. About Emmanuel Probst background combines over 15 years of market research and marketing experience with strong academic achievements....
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Why Conflict Is Critical in Storytelling with Norman Bell
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“Storytelling is in the air for business but why is that? Why is it so important?” These questions and more were at the very heart of my interview with Norman Bell, author of The Story Powered Speaker, this week on the On Brand podcast! About Norman Bell is a storytelling and presentation coach, award-winning speaker, theater and film actor, and author of the book, The Story Powered Speaker: How to Own the Stage, Enchant your Audience, and Grow Your Business Using the Magical Power of Storytelling. Norman is passionate about helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs and organizations...
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Branding Through Science and Story with Jenna Arkin
On Brand with Nick Westergaard
“Consumers seek authenticity and they’re getting better at weeding out the greenwashing the brands that don’t have the people, story, and heritage behind them.” As the Vice President of Innovation at green cleaning brand ECOS, Jenna Arkin’s work sits at the intersection between science and creativity. This week on the On Brand podcast, she joined us for a discussion on this innovative brand’s story, differentiation, communicating science, and more. About Jenna Arkin , Vice President of Innovation at ECOS, uses her unique background in both chemistry and design to innovate safer,...
info_outlineAfter a brief holiday hiatus, the On Brand podcast is back for 2021! And we're kicking things off with an exciting new topic and guest. As we've discussed in various episodes through the years, leadership is critical in the development of standout brands. Already a challenging pursuit, leadership got a whole lot harder this past year. This week on the show, I was joined by David Burkus, author of the new book Leading from Anywhere.
About David Burkus
One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David Burkus’ forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders and teams do their best work ever.
He is the best-selling author of four books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USAToday, Fast Company, the Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS This Morning. Since 2017, Burkus has been ranked as one of the world’s top business thought leaders by Thinkers50. As a sought-after international speaker, his TED Talk has been viewed over 2 million times. He’s worked with leaders from organizations across all industries including Google, Stryker, Fidelity, Viacom, and even the US Naval Academy.
A former business school professor, Burkus holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from the University of Oklahoma, and a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University.
Episode Highlights
So, what's David's new book Leading from Anywhere all about? Written in just six months, Leading from Anywhere looks at the characteristics of managing successful remote teams today.
“We often talk about leaders and we think of the grandiose speeches, the charismatic presence, and those sorts of things. And none of that really matters when you're one little digital square in a Brady Bunch on Zoom. But there's still a lot that leaders do around culture that really matters.”
“Leaders have to be deliberate about building culture.” David walked us through what leaders need to remember to be successful today. “It's less of a tools thing and more about how we use them. Remember—meetings sucked before this!”
What's one thing leaders need to watch in the year ahead? “Many aren't thinking enough about the fact that a large percentage of the workforce won't want to come back in the same way that they were before.” This issue alone raises several additional questions around salary, employee geography, benefits, and more.
What brand has made David smile recently? David shared the story of Pela—compostable phone cases made from sustainable materials.
To learn more, go to davidburkus.com.
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.
On Brand is sponsored by my book Brand Now. Discover the seven dynamics to help your brand stand out in our crowded, distracted world. Order now and get special digital extras. Learn more.
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