“You have to find people who like you but aren’t like you.” This is a mistake many brands make. They look for customers just like them — with their specific interests and characteristics — instead of people who like your brand and what it stands for. Melanie Spring is a speaker, facilitator, and brand strategist at Branded Confidence. We discussed community, culture, and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20.

About Melanie Spring

When you ask a brand strategist how she defines her brand and she says “Approachable Badass”, you know you’ve found someone who can help you define your own brand. Melanie Spring was put here to get you outside of your box and firmly in your purpose – professionally and personally.

Melanie runs Branded Confidence as an international speaker and facilitator – bringing her charisma and confidence to humans worldwide. She’s so dedicated to her purpose that she once drove 7,000 miles in 3 weeks to find out why great brands work.

Episode Highlights

Wait — 7,000 miles in 3 weeks? I had to ask Melanie about this first. “Five and a half years ago I was frustrated with my life so I took a road trip to learn about brands.” And being a brand practitioner herself, she gave it a name and branded it!

“The Live Your Brand Tour” led Melanie from DC to California and back again, visiting a variety of brands from Timbuk2 and Chobani (check out our podcast episode featuring Chobani) to a jewelry store in San Luis Obispo. She documented her travels and the brand stories she uncovered in Entrepreneur magazine.

Knowing your humans. Many of her stories focused on brands building community and culture. But what if you don’t know your humans? “Most haven’t asked. If you just ask them they’ll tell you everything.”

Grandma’s still not sure … When being an “approachable badass” is part of you’re bound to raise some eyebrows. And sometimes they are your grandmother’s eyebrows! Melanie joked that her grandma said, “She’s still not okay with the ‘ass word.’ The ‘f-word’ is off limits because then mom can’t share it with her church friends! But brands need a bit of an edge.” Melanie specifically uses the word ‘badass’ to help screen potential clients. “If you can’t handle the word ‘ass’ you won’t like working with me!”

What brand has made Melanie smile recently? “I just moved from DC to Denver and I love REI.” Melanie then shared their recent #OptOutside campaign. “If you can get an everyday human like me to giggle, I’m all over that kind of stuff.”

To learn more, go to brandedconfidence.com and kickasshumansclub.com.

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