What are the attributes clients look for in a marketing partner? How important is brand positioning to a marketing team? In this episode from April 2012, BrandingBusiness Founding Partner Ryan Rieches explores these topics and more with Tim Williams, the founder of Ignition – a consulting firm dedicated to helping marketing agencies create and capture more value for themselves and their clients. Williams is also a sought-after speaker, author and regular contributor to such reputable outlets as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, AdAge and many others.

For brands to remain top of mind, relevant, and increase sales, they must be innovative and create that “must have” factor. Brands that ignite a spirit of disruptive innovation place themselves at a huge advantage over their competition. BrandingBusiness Founding PartnerAlan Brew sits down with well-known author and branding guru, and Vice Chairman of Prophet, David Aaker, who shares examples of brands that have displayed such innovation and have left their competitors in the dust. Take for example Chrysler who in 1982 came out with the minivan. The brand invested 2/3 of a billion dollars into the minivan subcategory, sold 200,000 in the first year and went 16 years without any competition. Tune in to hear of other brands who have taken a risk to stand apart from the competition.

When it comes to branding, we need to look beyond design, logos and naming. We need to look at ways of continuously sensing people’s desires and rapidly delivering compelling value to satisfy those desires. In this episode of Expert Opinion from March 2012, BrandingBusiness Principal Alan Brew sits down with well-known author and brand strategist, Tom Asacker, who narrows it down for us. While a complicated discipline of sociology, psychology and behavioral economics, branding is really about how people make choices. The idea of creating something desirable – creating value – so people invest in your brand is what branding is all about. A brand in essence is an expectation of value, an experience customers are looking for.

The daughter of positioning pioneer, Al Ries, Laura Ries is President of Ries & Ries, a best-selling author and a sought after branding analyst for many prominent media outlets. Following the passion for branding held by her father, Laura Ries has helped many large corporations build their brand by narrowing their focus and owning a word in the customers mind. In this episode of Expert Opinion from February 2012, Ryan Rieches sits down with Laura Ries to explore the content of her latest book, Visual Hammer. Ries explains that in a world saturated with messages, it is often difficult getting the attention of your audience with words alone and a Visual Hammer is what ultimately gets remembered.

With an entrepreneurial spirit and serious determination and focus, Mark Moses started and successfully sold two businesses – one of which achieved more than $1Billion in annual revenue. Moses now coaches CEOs throughout North America – helping them to focus on their vision and drive success.  Ryan Rieches sits down with Moses to discuss the process he takes to help businesses realize success.

In recent years, many universities have taken the necessary steps to further define their brands in an effort to clarify who they are and prove the value they provide to their internal and external stakeholders. In this week’s episode of Expert Opinion from December, 2011, Ryan Rieches sits down with Gary Brahm, Chancellor and CEO of Brandman University, formerly Chapman University College, to discuss the process the educational institution took to differentiate itself amongst more nontraditional students yet still associate the brand with the established Chapman University system. From research to visual identity, Rieches and Brahm will talk to the steps the agency took to get Brandman University where it is today.

The social revolution and economic shifts have led many to review and determine their personal brands. Just like a corporate brand, your personal brand is there to make sure that you’re relevant and that you resonate with the marketplace. In this episode of Expert Opinion from December, 2011, Ryan Rieches sits down with Devin C. Hughes, a professional public speaker and leadership coach, to discuss the similarities between personal branding and corporate branding. Just like corporate brands, individuals too need to evolve their personal brands over time to stay top-of-mind and differentiate themselves from others. Tune in as Devin and Ryan also explore the importance culture plays in branding and how the personal brands associated with employees can impact the culture of an organization.

The leadership and stakeholders connected to The Volunteer Center of Orange County were confused as to what the non-profit organization stood for – they were unable to clearly articulate the purpose of their organization and the benefits they provided to the community. The organization knew they needed to take the necessary steps to undergo a transformation in order to express their story, vision and purpose effectively. In this episode of Expert Opinion from November, 2011, Ray Baird sits down with Dan McQuaid, CEO of OneOC, to discuss the critical steps the non-profit took to rebrand itself. From getting buy-off from their board to how the non-profit engaged their internal and external audiences, Dan and Ray explore the strategic process that helped to increase the awareness and perception of this valuable organization.

The digital frontier is ever-evolving and brands need a knowledgeable partner to help them navigate the channels and execute online marketing strategies while still maintaining brand consistency. In this episode, Ryan Rieches sits down with Peter Bohenek, Co-Founder and President of Rhythm Interactive, to discuss how the agency works with clients to ensure that the brand experience is preserved through various digital strategies. Peter explains the overall thought process behind digital campaigns — how the agency defines various engagement and convergence strategies — by first understanding the client’s business goals, brand guidelines, brand strategy and brand positioning.