Author Archives: Nick Westergaard

“The confused mind doesn’t buy.” As a psychology major — I know enough to be dangerous — I couldn’t wait to talk with Kaye Putnam. A psychology-driven brand strategist, she works with entrepreneurs from startup to high-growth. Creating a standout … Read More →

Does anyone really want to talk about crisis communication? It’s sort of like life insurance. You want to know you have a plan in place but it’s not something you want to dwell upon.

Early in my career, I spent my commute listening to audiobooks in my 1996 Ford Taurus. The tinny car speakers shook as Tom Peters spoke about excellence and management by walking around. Through landmark books such as In Search of … Read More →

On this week’s Social Sound Bite — recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City — Jerry and I discussed the latest data from the State of Branding 2018. The report breaks down the biggest challenges marketers face. Topping that list … Read More →

“Consumers are human beings first.” Duh. Who needs to be reminded of this? I mean, we’ve got our big data, customer analytics, loyalty metrics, key performance indicators, demographics, psychographic profiles, and … Oh yeah. That’s why we need to be … Read More →

“How we treat employees relates to how they become brand ambassadors.” Your employees — your people — are one of your biggest brand assets. However, they can only do this if they’re engaged. As the Chief Human Resources Officer at … Read More →

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. How often have you heard that classic turn of the phrase? When it comes to public speaking and presentation, “how you say it” introduces several factors like vocal tone and … Read More →

“People want brands to step in and solve things that government can’t.” With the latest news of #BoycottNRA and the #MeToo movement, it could seem that this is an idea plucked from recent headlines. But the role of business in … Read More →

On this week’s Social Sound Bite — recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City — Jerry and I discussed some new podcast listenership data courtesy of the Infinite Dial 2018 study from Edison Research and Triton Digital. Listen for the … Read More →

This week on the On Brand podcast presented by Twenty20, we have a special LIVE episode from SXSW 2018 in Austin. Recorded Saturday, March 10th, this episode featured a timely discussion of a big question that many brand builders are … Read More →