In Part 2 of our interview, “CEO Whisperer” Cameron Herold shares his insights on what’s going right and wrong in marketing and why storytelling is one of the most powerful and versatile assets for entrepreneurial brands.

 

This is The 19. In 19 minutes or less, game-changing insights from Orange Label, the leading response marketing agency for established brands that are driven by a fearless entrepreneurial mindset.

 

Hi there, this is Rochelle Reiter, agency principal at Orange Label. Today on The 19, we’re continuing our entrepreneur special with part two of our Cameron Herold interview. Now, in part one, Cameron shared some incredible insights on how to lay the foundation and create alignment through a vivid vision. In part two of our interview, Cameron addresses what’s going right in marketing, and wrong for that matter, and tells us why storytelling is one of the most powerful and versatile assets for entrepreneurial brands. So without further ado, here’s Cameron Herold.

Cameron: Hey Rochelle, thanks for having me.

Rochelle: We’re switching gears over to the marketing side. You talked about how a vivid vision can help in marketing to employees, suppliers, and those types of audiences. What do you see in the world today, from your perspective, that’s going right in marketing?

Cameron: I think it’s truth, is one. Is where brands have to absolutely be sixty-minutes proofed, and tell the truth. The customer just won’t deal with being misled or lied to or having their arm twisted. So there’s this simplicity, that’s one. There’s definitely something around thought leadership and influencers. I think that a really powerful – I mean we’ve always had that spokesperson for our brand, but we always knew that they were being paid. Now it’s more looking for the thought leaders and the spokespeople who are actually fans. So its like seeing the person walk down the street wearing a piece of clothing, or I’ve seen it now where I walk onto a plane and see someone reading the book Vivid Vision or I see someone reading the book Double Double and I’m like, wow it’s actually rolling out. People are starting to catch this.

Rochelle: Sure.

Cameron: And then people sharing on social media. So I think that’s one. So I think that simplicity and then truth then just really working with influencers are key. And the last one I think is really truly understanding your demographic and psychographic that you’re going after. You know, we realized in the very early days of College Pro Painters and then later with 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Both companies were business to consumer. You know, both companies were rolled out North America wide. Both companies we were doing work at people’s homes. And in every case people thought that the male was the decision maker where in actual fact the female was the decision maker. And what we identified was that women made 85 percent of the household buying decisions between the age of 35 and 60. So the female was making all the decisions at her home, plus she was making all the decisions at her parent’s home, plus she was making all the decisions of his parent’s home. So why was any of our marketing materials geared at men? So we made all of our marketing materials female friendly. We used female copywriters we used female colors, we used female branding experts. Because they think differently, talk differently, and act differently than a male does. So I think that’s something that’s happening in marketing now is truly, truly understanding your demographic, what’s being called the avatar and really understanding that and marketing to it.

Rochelle: Are there any brands that come to mind that are doing this well in your opinion?

Cameron: Well, Apple, for sure. I mean it’s tiresome, but God, they are perfect. I just went to my team the other day and I said,