Brands, Beats & Bytes

It’s nearly Fri-yay Brand Nerds! On occasion, ironically, words are rendered utterly inadequate in capturing the essence of a cosmically elevated conversation. The following quote ‘nearly’ sums up our chat with the inimitable Jason Mayden. “Genius... is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one” (shout Ezra Pound

Pause the action in your insanely busy lives and listen to true BAWSE Carol Kruse as she spits gold bar after gold bar of straight knowledge. Here’s a taste of what Carol blesses us with: Are you marketing BRAVE? Are you driving business value AND brand love? Are you afraid to make the tough and unpopular calls (like for real, for real)? Are you giving people room to make mistakes? Do you ignore your Spidey senses? That’s dumb. Really dumb. Is your Brand trapped in the land of Speeds and Feeds? Have you EARNED the right to lead? And finally, in the spirit of keeping it 100, some marketers are not good business people (sorry, not sorry). In the world of Hollywood, they celebrate and shower the best with awards such as Oscars and Golden Globes. In the marketing world, Carol is one of our best and has been equally celebrated and showered with myriad awards (too many to name Brand Nerds). But it’s not her awards that impress per sé, it’s her mind and her ability to effectively lead and drive results.

Brands, Beats & Bytes is honored to welcome its first lady in the building (yep, we know some of y’all have been thinking what’s up with all the dudes). No worries, there are many more industry leaders on deck who happen to be women. We got you (#trust). How many people have worked in tech during the early days, held multiple senior level marketing positions, launched an entrepreneurial firm and spent time chopping it up with Gabrielle Union on the epically real BET show Being Mary Jane? We only know one person who’s done this and it’s Goldie Taylor with her multifaceted career journey. She covers a broad spectrum of subjects such as, do your mentors give you courage and cover? And ‘bring your full self to the job.’ Said another way, are you keeping it 100 on the work front? Soak up some knowledge from Goldie as you ease into the weekend.

Chasing a bigger audience while disrespecting your core audience comes at hefty price. Laz, as we call him, eloquently breaks down this classic marketing conundrum and mistake. He learned an invaluable lesson in this domain, and so should you! This dude followed a legend at NBC in Dick Ebersol and you will quickly understand why. Listen and learn about why relationships in business are crazy important, get great advice for when to leave the office (#nofacetime) and a lot more. This is what we call a Marketing PLUS episode. Co-host Larry Taman and Laz go way back like four flats on a Cadillac and we benefit from these good friends, along with other co-host Darryl “DC” Cobbin, chopping up heady marketing and business subjects with blissful ease (shout Mrs. Snegroff RIP).

Quick question: What do Puff, Steve Jobs, Brahms, Clive Davis, Run DMC, Funkmaster Flex, Biggie, Jim Valvano (RIP), Pharrell, KRS-One, and Guinness World Records have in common? Epic stories, well told by Rob Stone. There as those who follow culture, those who enjoy experiencing culture and those who create culture. Rob Stone, Jon Cohen and The Cornerstone Agency and The FADAR team CREATE culture. Period. This week’s show is about far more than marketing. It’s about what happens when life intertwines with work and they make a beautiful baby. In this case, twins (you’ll get the joke after listening). Full disclosure: This dude is one of DC’s best friends. Rob happens to be an ICON on the low. You Must Learn! (shout The Teacher).

Off the rip, gotta admit Marvin Davis, or MD2020 as we call him, is our boy. Jeff Shirley (our show producer), and I attended Clark Atlanta University B-School with Marvin. He was one who would go to the party until late and crush the test in the morning, that was Marvin. Hated him! Ha. 

On this show MD2020 showcases his razor sharp wit and his marketing depth with equal dexterity. He spits killer lines with ease belying the profundity of the thought, such as: ‘agencies can’t make bad advertising without the clients help,’ or ‘people believe they know marketing because they are consumers,’ or ‘the best tech does not win.’ 

Simply put, Marvin Davis may be the best marketer you’ve never heard of because he doesn’t seek the limelight, he seeks RESULTS!

Pop in those AirPods, head to your Bikram yoga class, and invite the sweet sound of Marvin’s marketing wisdom to caress your cranium.

Daryl ‘DB’ Butler, Head of Marketing for US Consumer Personal Systems @HP, beats, Brand Jordan, Nike, Boost Mobile, Sprint.

Is your brand tone deaf and you don’t even realize it (Prada and Gucci are you listening)? Is your brand accountable to the CONSUMER? These are just a taste of the questions explored with the thoughtful Daryl ‘DB’ Butler. 

There are typically two kinds of business people in the world, those who follow maps and those who discover territories. One is not better than the other, but they are very different. DB discovers territories! In this show he drops pure gold with quotes like ‘culture doesn’t sleep.’ Whoa. Please enjoy this sip of branding wisdom to cleanse your marketing palette with our dude DB.

Seth Greenberg, Left Brain/Right Brain Marketing ‘Badass’ and proud Clippers fan formerly at Alteryx, LifeLock, Intuit, eHobbies.

‘Sit down comedian’ Seth Greenberg turned his passion of being a self-proclaimed radio promotion ‘prize pig’ into one of the most insightful, data based, creative and entertaining careers and stories about marketing we’ve ever heard. Seth IS the poster child for the benefits of being a balanced left brain, right brain marketer.  Simply put, this dude is a genius on the low. You will forever remember this marketing conversation. Forever…forever, ever, forever, ever...

Scott Hargrove, EVP and CMO @ California Pizza Kitchen, formerly at Snap, World Surf League, Coca-Cola

Many highly accomplished, smart marketers confuse ‘volume’ with ‘positioning.’ These terms are related but are not the same thing. Scott eloquently and honestly recounts a valuable lesson where he learned a NARROW positioning can result in HUGE sales volume and a huge, diverse customer base. A counter intuitive principle when not understood and respected kills brands and businesses. Scott is the ultimate marketing decathlete who drops jewel after jewel to your brains delight.

Geoff Cottrill, SVP Strategic Marketing @ The Coca-Cola Company

Wanna know how Converse became the number two brand on social media. Geoff Cottrill knows cuz he and his team were responsible for re-building the iconic brand leveraging music and soul at its core. G$, as we affectionately call him, drops jewels of wisdom that will up your game, and your brand.