a branded world: Branding made easy. A podcast where we explore great brands and learn how to build a powerful brand.

I don't think anyone was quite prepared for the COVID-19 crisis we're all facing right now.

Unfortunately, this crisis will likely severely affect many organizations, for profit and non-profit.

Today's episode is an encore episode first launched in March 2018. Although the examples shared are quite different in nature and scale (by a lot!) to the one we're experiencing now, the principles and best practices shared here, still apply.

It's my hope that the advice shared in this episode can help guide some organizations through this crisis.

In this episode, I speak to Brent Baldwin, head of brand marketing for the Harlem Globetrotters. Brent shares the history of the globetrotters, the evolution of the brand and how focusing on their purpose is helping the organization create clarity on who they are and attract the right audience and talent.

Many brands leave to chance that front facing staff will know how to interpret the brand and create the right interactions with external audiences. This is at best a missed opportunity to strengthen your brand and at worst a risk in ending up with wrong or detrimental brand experiences.

In this episode, I talk to Chris Wallace, Co-Founder and President of Innerview Group, a consulting firm that helps companies effectively transfer their brand strategy to their customer-facing staff. Chris shares the 3 steps to successfully engage and transfer the brand sentiment to staff and the 3 most effective tactics to do so.

In this episode, Usman shares with us in detail what the selection and training process is like for a potential MacDonald's owner and operator. This is a grueling process by which McDonald's is able to select the right people to represent the brand. McDonald's train them in how to become a successful operator while immersing them in the McDonald's brand.

According to a 2019 study by Statista, McDonald's brand value is estimated at over $130 billion dollars. Almost three times more than number two, Starbucks, on the "fast food" category. How does a brand who regularly receives harsh criticism have such high brand value? And how do they keep their brand integrity and consistency in over 37,000 restaurants in 120 countries?

Part of the YMCA success is their ability to change, but how does a massive global organization master the art of understanding audience needs, have the willingness to change and adapt while staying true to its brand essence? ken Lima-Coelho, VP of Community Engagement with the YMCA Calgary tells us how the YMCA does it and how they are investing in the brand.

This is the third and final episode of a three-part series where we go deeper on how to define and operationalize your purpose and core values and how to create and nourish the right culture.

Almost every organization has a set of values, but most don't know how to live by them. Operationalizing your values, translating them into actions and experiences is very hard to do. In this episode we pull the curtain to show you how Airbnb did it.

There is a lot of information about defining your purpose but there is not a lot on how to find your purpose and even less on how to implement it. This three-part series, will walk you through how to find your purpose and how to bring it to life. We'll give the behind the scenes details of how Airbnb did it, including the process and exercises they went through.

Events can be a great way to fully immerse your audience in your brand. Good food and a good venue are important but to achieve a memorable brand experience and meaningful connection with your audience you need to go beyond the basics.

In today's episode I'm speaking with Eryne Sarabin, founder of Tycoon Event Planning. Eryne shares with us some great tips and advice on how to create events that will attract and connect your audiences, internal or external, with your brand.