Brand Builder

You know we're all about company culture on Brand Builder - because brand is culture and culture is brand.

In that vein we have a very special episode this week.

It's a conversation between two extraordinary leaders about a very specific cultural topic - one that will help you become a better leader, and build the team your business needs to level-up in 2019.

We're talking about Radical Candor.

To discuss it we've got Chelsie Lee, a culture expert and the SVP of Customer Strategy at SnackNation, speaking with SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly.

We love this conversation because it not only defines Radical Candor in a simple, usable way, but Chelsie does a great job of dispelling one of the biggest misconceptions about giving Radical Feedback… it's not license to be an asshole!

Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that the discussion here owes a lot to the ideas in Kim Scott's amazing book Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.

Links

• Radical Candor by Kim Scott
• Connect with Chelsie on LinkedIn
• Connect with Sean on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

This week on Brand Builder. Protes, the pea-protein infused chip that's pushing the envelope when it comes to functional food.

Co-founder and CEO Krik Angacian is a self described "no-B.S. guy" - and that trait actually shows up in the brand. Protes is all about transparency. They don't claim to be anything other than what they are - a great tasting, better-for-you functional product, packed with high quality protein.

It also showed up in this interview, in the form of practical, no-B.S. tips for growing your business - like Krik's low-budget tactic to learn exactly who your customer is. He also explains us why you should listen to everyone, but why success ultimately depends upon forging your own path.

And we can't forget the amazing true story about the time Protes would've gone out of business, if not for the company-saving actions of a food scientist named Marv...

and former athletes came up with an idea that's so smart and so simple, it's kind of a shock that no one else was really doing it yet - Greek Frozen Yogurt.

Amanda and Drew seized their moment in 2011, founding the brand and becoming the first mover in the category. Today Yasso has about 30 employees and closed out 2018 with north of $80M in revenue.

We got very tactical in this interview, learning their approach to R+D, how Yasso drove growth through experiential marketing, and why they favor IRL events over digital influencers. But mostly we learned how to create something that doesn't exist yet.

They also told us an epic story about some friendly(ish) trolling from one of the biggest ice cream brands around.

Links

• Yasso
• Game On! Foundation
• Connect with Amanda and Drew on LinkedIn
• Folow @yasso on Instagram, @yassofroyo on Twitter
• Ice Cream School

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of our founder's bootcamp mini series.

So far we've learned all about business law from lawyer Nick Giannuzzi, fundraising strategies from investor Andy Whitman, and organizational culture from engagement strategist Lisa Kane.

To round out our program we have Blake Cadwell, Vice President at Day One Agency.

Day One is a Creative Communications Agency with offices in New York and LA. They've done outstanding work for big name clients like Nike, YouTube, American Express, and Chipotle, and they were named the 2018 small agency of the year by the Holmes Report.

What Day One does best - and why we had to have them on this series - is find creative ways to make headlines.

Earned media matters for smaller brands. Because while you can't always compete when it comes to ad spend, you can get creative and leverage cultural trends to build real, organic buzz. And that translates to sales, distribution, and more.

We spoke to Blake about how smaller brands can drive growth through earned media, specifically by inserting themselves into consumer trends and cultural conversations. We also spoke about how brands can cultivate and engage those early adopters, and turn them into lifelong brand evangelists.

Links

• Day One Agency
• Chipotle + Hinge campaign
• Connect with Blake on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

Prepare to get really smart, because this week's Brand Builder is all about fueling your brain for peak performance.

Our guest is Will Nitze, the founder and CEO of IQ Bar. Based in Boston, IQ has the distinction of being the first and only "brain food bar" that leverages nutrition and neuroscience to boost everyday brain function.

Will has had cognition on the brain for a while. He first became obsessed with brain performance as an undergrad at Harvard, where he studied psychology and neuroscience, but the idea for IQ Bar didn't strike until 2017 while he was working in the software industry. After noticing his own focus and cognition flag during the workday, he started experimenting with ways to boost performance using nutrition. IQ Bar was born in his kitchen soon after.

The concept resonated immediately with consumers. A successful Kickstarter campaign saw $90,000 worth of orders... before Will and his team really had a fully dialed product.

We talked to Will about those early days of IQ, delved into the brand's current challenges, as well as the neuroscience behind the IQ formula. He also lays out why he thinks of the IQ brand as having two-layers - the surface level message, and the deeper meaning, and why that can be a powerful strategy for functional products.

Links

• IQ Bar
• Connect with Will on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

Here's a fact: when it comes to setting goals for the coming New Year, the odds are... you're doing it wrong.

The numbers don't lie. 92% of people who set goals, never achieve them. In fact, only 45% of people even set them to begin with.

So what separates the people who crush their goals from the rest? Turns out, it's just a few simple adjustments to your strategy and mindset that make all the difference.

Here to break down exactly what it takes to hit your 2019 goals is SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly. Sean isn't just passionate about goal setting, he has been refining his goal setting strategy for more than a decade and a half.

This is the Brand Builder Guide to Winning 2019.

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

Welcome to the third installment of our 4-part founder's bootcamp miniseries. If you haven't yet, go check part 1 with lawyer Nick Giannuzzi and part 2 with investor Andy Whitman.

Again, the idea with this series is to feature a different subject matter expert each episode to supplement your business knowledge and help you get your brand to that next level, faster.

This week we have a conversation with Lisa Kane from Siegel+Gale.

Siegel+Gale is a global brand strategy, design and experience firm. They're all about unlocking the power of simplicity to help organizations realize their full potential. Lisa is the firm's Group Director of Strategy, and her specialty is Employee Engagement - which is why we had to have her on this series.

Perhaps it's not surprising that Lisa has a refreshingly simple perspective on Employee Engagement, which tends to be a convoluted topic for a lot of founders. She explains how engagement connects back to your overarching brand story and mission.

Lisa also shares her top 3 tactics for creating an engaged team. If there's one thing we learned from this show, culture and engagement matters, no matter how big your team or what growth stage your company is in. Lisa gives us her best practical tips for ensuring that your brand has the right culture to support your goals.

Links

• Siegel+Gale
• Siegel+Gale Simplicity Index
• Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

Ghee is officially having a moment.

For those not yet in the know, Ghee is a filtered butter reduction, and a staple ingredient in traditional Indian cooking. It has a higher smoke point - which makes it great for cooking - is full of healthy fats like CLA, and boasts a nutty, delicious flavor that people just love.

When it comes to bringing Ghee to the mainstream, you'd be hard pressed to find a more influential brand and founder than Fourth & Heart's Raquel Tavares.

Raquel founded 4th & Heart in 2014 with $80,000 of her own savings. Today they are the category leader and are innovating with new SKUs like flavored Ghee oil and chocolate spreads.

We talked to Raquel about her first introduction to Ghee and her role in driving the growth of the category. Plus we dive into the Fourth & Heart brand and culture, and ultimately why running a business requires her to listen to both her head and her heart.

Links

• Fourth & Heart
• Connect with Raquel on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

This week on Brand Builder, we seek the answer to one question - what makes great chocolate?

After all, the ingredients are essentially the same for everyone. But all chocolate are certainly not created equal. So what separates phenomenal product from the rest?

To find out, we spoke to Brad van Dam, the president and CEO of Marich Confectionery Co.

Marich is known for premium product. They make all natural, fair trade certified, pan-crafted chocolates - that people just love.

Brad told us the fascinating history of Marich, which begins in war-torn 1940s Holland, and traced his own unlikely path from tech to CPG.

We also spent some time on the cultural side of things. One of the most interesting things about Marich is how much time and energy Brad spends cultivating just the right organizational culture. After all, it's culture that transmits the craft of candy making from one generation to the next.

Links

• Marich Confectionery
• Connect with Brad on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.

This is the second installment of our 4-part founder's bootcamp miniseries. If you haven't yet, go check the first episode featuring CPG super lawyer Nick Giannuzzi.

Our goal with this series is to feature a different subject matter expert in each episode to supplement your knowledge and help you get to that next level, faster.

This week we have investor Andy Whitman, a Managing Partner at 2X Partners.

In many ways, Andy and the 2X team paved the way for so much of what we see today in CPG. Virtually no one was investing in emerging natural food brands when 2X launched about 15 years ago. Today, that's obviously a much different story.

Andy got his start growing small to mid-sized brands at Kraft. He was the guy tasked with turning around smaller brands in the portfolio that weren't quite turning a profit. And it turns out he had a knack for it.

As you'll hear, Andy sees financials for more than 700 brands a year, yet typically only invest in two. He breaks down exactly what he's looking for when chooses which brands to put his money on.

Andy also explains what makes the 2X model unique, the difference between trends and fads (and how to spot them), and the ideal amount of money your brand should raise.

Links

• 2X Partners
• Connect with Andy on LinkedIn

Brand Builder is a co-production of SnackNation and ForceBrands.