When it comes to marketing a luxury brand, the brand is queen and storytelling is king.

This week, I spoke with Carolyn Dawkins, CMO at David Yurman, where she leads marketing and content strategies with a focus on user experience, brand storytelling, and innovation. Before David Yurman, she spent time in leadership roles at Estée Lauder, L’Oréal and Google.

In today’s episode you’ll learn:

• Why storytelling and understanding a brand’s heritage is so valuable when it comes to marketing luxury
• Agility becomes a superpower during high-growth periods
• How curiosity helps keep the balance between leading with instinct and leading with data

Brought to you by Mekanism.

This week on the podcast, we’re talking about a sensitive subject, but after seeing Ido Aharoni speak at the Harvard Club recently, it felt like the right time to have a difficult conversation.

Ido is a 25-year veteran of Israel’s Foreign service. He is a public diplomacy specialist, founder of the Brand Israel Program and a well-known nation branding practitioner.

Today’s conversation is not a history lesson on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Instead, here’s what you’ll learn in today’s episode:

• How black and white thinking has led to a dramatic increase in anti-semitism around the world
• The simple marketing principles used on social media with ill intent that have helped spread misinformation and hate speech
• How information overload exhausts our brains and makes us more susceptible to that misinformation

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Authenticity can drastically transform your life. But what if it means stepping away from what you thought was your dream job?

Shelley Paxton is a thought leader, speaker, and author of the bestselling book Soulbattical. Formerly the CMO at Harley-Davidson, Shelley took a courageous leap to redefine success on her own terms, and has since emerged as a sought-after expert in culture transformation and personal development.

On today’s episode you’ll learn:

• How to live authentically and allow it to be a catalyst for both personal and professional transformation
• How to redefine success beyond societal norms
• What it means to be your own Chief Soul Officer
• The keys to living a “Hell Yes” life

Brought to you by Mekanism.

A few years ago, the Mekanism team worked with David Dancer and the brilliant Spike Jonze to help Medmen create the first ever cannabis commercial. Today on the show, I’m speaking with David, who is the Founder of D2 Marketing Strategies, and also an accomplished CEO and six-time CMO.

Since coming out in his first job, David has been committed to the fight for LGBTQ+ workplace equality. And he recently started a new bi-weekly podcast called Clout for Good, that showcases prominent LGBTQ+ identified executives who are out in the workplace.

On today’s episode you’ll learn:

• How the Medmen campaign helped David learn a valuable lesson about risk-taking and open-mindedness
• Being connected to the people around you is about much more than networking
• The important role that inclusivity plays in business growth and innovation

Brought to you by Mekanism.

A few weeks ago the Soul & Science podcast won three Signal Awards. And two of those awards were for this episode featuring Andy Pearson, the VP of Creative at the water brand Liquid Death that we first aired last year.

Shoestring marketing budgets are common at startups and create an environment of innovation. Andy jokes he was given a $0 initial ad budget to launch. He knew the name, along with the arresting skull-festooned cans, would have to do most of the talking. When the marketing money began to flow, Liquid Death bought Tony Hawk’s blood and his soul (and maybe yours) online. In this episode, Pearson, an ultra-marathoner and ad agency veteran, explains his process, where he takes a favorite playlist, and pen to paper to grasp an idea, which grow more on creativity than money.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• If your 6th grade teacher says advertising is evil, it must be good.
• To trust your own sensibilities to know the right answer.
• The more you do, the more confident you’ll feel.
• A brand is a character, the protagonist of your business.
• Everybody takes everything so seriously, the moment you don't, you stand out.

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Today, I’m speaking with John Sullivan. He’s the Senior Vice President of Marketing at WHOOP, which is a wearable fitness tracker with a devoted fan base and an impressive list of celebrity ambassadors.

John is a proponent of brand durability and he has helped re-center WHOOP from a niche software utilized by sports organizations like the New York Yankees to a wildly popular personal performance coach that you wear on your wrist. He joined me LIVE at Advertising Week New York to talk about how to build a durable brand and today, we’re sharing that conversation with all of you, our podcast listeners.

On today’s episode you’ll learn:

• What two pillars constitute a “durable brand”
• How storytelling can help sell a product that you don’t always see
• How WHOOP is incorporating AI into their user experience

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Today on the show, I’m speaking with Douglas Martin, Chief Brand and Disruptive Growth Officer at General Mills.

As his title suggests, Doug is a disruptive marketer and brand growth champion with over 22 years of experience. In his role at General Mills, he’s worked on marketing initiatives for Cheerios and Yoplait, and his experience spans across household names in addition to General Mills, with roles at Gap and Walt Disney Studios.

On today’s episode you’ll learn:

• How a company that’s not only a household name, but 167 years old – can still disrupt their categories.
• What makes an idea not only great, but scalable as a $50 million business idea.
• The value of good old fashioned pen and paper when framing and solving big picture problems.
• There’s no company so big that it shouldn’t keep finding new opportunities for growth.

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Today on the show, I’m talking with Andrew Myerson and Julie Anne Kelly, Co-founders of Haymakers for Hope.

In 2009, Andrew and Julie participated in the New York City Golden Gloves. They decided that competing against the city’s best boxers wasn’t enough, and decided to raise money for cancer research. This planted the seeds for Haymakers for Hope. Today, their non-profit gives everyday people the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in their first sanctioned boxing event. The experience is impactful, challenging, and life-changing, and the march towards a cure will continue long after the last match of the night.

Julie is a cancer survivor herself and Andrew is an expert businessman, with an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and experience working for Goldman Sachs.Through Haymakers for Hope, Andrew & Julie are helping to connect communities, local businesses and boxing fans together against a common cause.

On today’s episode you’ll learn:

• Mental stamina is just as powerful as physical stamina, and this is true in the boxing ring and in the boardroom.
• Make the most of your complementary business styles when running a company in a partnership
• Marketing a non-profit is as complex, if not more so, than any for-profit enterprise

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Today on the show, I’m talking with Heidi Andersen, Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer at Nextdoor.

Heidi is a corporate athlete with two decades of Business Leadership. She is Nextdoor’s CMO and CRO, where she oversees the global revenue team, revenue streams, and marketing.

On today’s episode you’ll learn:

• Service is a powerful business style
• Do the right things for the right reasons
• Observe and then solve

Brought to you by Mekanism.

Today on the show, I’m talking with Ben Mand. He’s the CEO of Harmless Harvest, a pioneer in U.S. refrigerated premium coconut water and plant-based dairy products. And if you’ve had Harmless Harvest’s coconut water, you know it’s the best.

Since joining the company as CEO in 2018, Ben has expanded the brand beyond coconut water, more than doubled its business, and radically streamlined its supply chain.

In today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• How Ben uses solution-based thinking to help his team run efficiently

• How to build up a brand as a multidimensional persona that meets people where they are

• The number one rule when it comes to impact marketing? You’ve got to have a great product

Brought to you by Mekanism.