If you’re looking for insights on how to make your business more valuable, sustainable, inspirational and loved, you might need to look at it through a new lens.

Ryan Rieches speaks with Steven Morris about his latest book, The Beautiful Business, an actionable manifesto to evolve your business, brand and culture. He shares a thought-provoking perspective on how leaders can transform their businesses – and create a profound, positive impact on their employees and customers.

Many people think about writing a business book. Some attempt it, but very few actually get to the point of holding a copy in their hands. Our guest on this episode is Rob Meyerson – one of those few. Rob is a brand strategist, namer, podcaster, founder of Heirloom, the brand strategy and identity agency, and a best-selling author.

Rob spoke with Alan Brew about what it really takes to write a book, deciding how to get published, preparing for and promoting your work, and dealing with the comments from those you know, and most you don’t.

The differences and commonalities between B2B & B2C branding are endlessly debated. Opinions vary and views are constantly evolving. In this episode of Expert Opinion, Bob Kersten, managing director  of BrandingBusiness San Francisco, discusses the key distinctions between the two with Alan Brew. Bob joins BrandingBusiness with a unique perspective shaped by years of experience in both B2B branding as well as B2C branding.

In this episode, Bob shares with Alan how he believes the industry is changing based on client experiences that have stuck with him over the years.

Only strengthened by the recent civil unrest in the U.S. and across the globe, companies are taking a good look at their corporate cultures and hiring practices to promote a more equitable and diverse working environment while guarding against potential biases. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are all top of mind for executive teams, HR leaders, and boards of directors seeking to ensure their ongoing success—recruiting and retaining top talent as well as growing the bottom line.

In this episode we speak with Karen Lanning, VP of Human Resources at First American Financial Corporation, about how she and her team are building upon their award-winning culture and employer brand by incorporating their “For All” DEI initiative. First American has been featured on FORTUNE Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For® the last six years in a row. Karen talks with us about what it takes to be successful in the DEI arena and shares insights into how it’s being structured for the more than 13,000 employees at the company.

The evolution of Elsevier, one of the world’s most storied publishing brands, into a global information and analytics company that helps institutions and professionals to push the boundaries of knowledge in science and healthcare, has been duly acknowledged and celebrated.  However, to be truly enduring and convincing, the internal culture had to make a similar journey in order to attract and retain a different kind of employee.

The results are equally transformational. Elsevier ranks in the top 10 for Best Global Company Culture by Comparably, the global workplace culture and compensation monitoring site, and is also represented in the 2020 50 Best Companies to Work for List, both in Best Companies for Women and Best Companies for Diversity.

Data is the asset. Trust is the currency. Consumers have been sharing data with brands for years, but with greater access to more personal data, financial brands have both an opportunity and a responsibility as to how they use this information.

Hossein Rahnama is CEO of Flybits, one of the world’s top fintech companies. Hossein talked with Andrea Fabbri, Managing Director of BrandingBusiness’s New York office. The two talked about the need for financial institutions to apply context to data to deliver relevant recommendations for consumers and how fintech companies, like Flybits, and banks should work together to learn how to share data in a privacy preserving manner, and come up with new business models in which the end user owns the data, and they share it in exchange for value.

The culture in any organization has an enormous influence over everything that happens. How can company leaders be more purposeful in creating the kind of culture that would cause employees to perform at a higher level?

David Friedman, author and CEO of High Performing Culture, spoke to us about his experiences building one of the largest employee benefits and consulting firms in the country, and how its success was impacted by the strong culture he had established. David’s most recent book, Culture by Design, was initially written as a way of documenting what he had created while leading his firm, and then became the cornerstone and business model for his current company.

Even in the toughest of business climates, a clearly defined brand strategy gives leaders direction.

Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., C.S.P. has authored numerous books on business practices and productive workplaces with a focus on customer experience. In his latest book, Stronger Through Adversity, Dr. Michelli speaks with more than 140 business leaders of top brands (think Target, Southwest Airlines, Airbnb, Microsoft, and Siemens) who share their thoughts and experiences on leading through and beyond the most complicated business environment.

In this episode of Expert Opinion, Dr. Michelli shares some of the compelling stories told by these executives as they struggled, and led, through the storm of a global pandemic.

Whether you are an established company or in the early stages of growth, marketing is key and its rules have changed. Marketing must not only build a brand, but also contribute to the development of a long-term pipeline of new business.

George Ravich, President of Ravco Marketing, is a CMO veteran for a variety of companies in the FinTech and InsurTech industries. In this episode of Expert Opinion, George talks about the changing role of the CMO, how marketing and sales have evolved, and best practices for keeping up with must-have digital marketing tools.

Purpose. It has long been one of our foundational building blocks for developing a strong brand strategy. We are hearing the term more and more in corporate settings. But defining your story and finding your purpose is much easier than actually fulfilling it.

Roger Mader, former Global Chief Marketing Officer for Subway, and current Managing Partner at growth consultancy, Ampersand, spoke with us about this crucial element in a strong brand. He shares specific examples of how purpose is not just for philanthropic organizations, but why it is critical for corporate entities both internally and as a point of meaningful differentiation.