Author Archives: Nick Westergaard

“You are the steward of the cluster that’s drawn to your brand.” Today, we’re simultaneously in control of our brands and not in control, as we build an increasingly diverse audience across diffused media platforms and touch points. It’s this … Read More →

“Brands that we look to, that are charismatic, know their audience. They know who they are.” Stories, personality, and experiences are the building blocks of modern brands of all shapes and sizes. This week, Carla Johnson of Type A Communications … Read More →

“All advice is bad advice unless it’s contextualized to you.” As marketers and brand builders, we get advice left and right. Do this, not that. Send this many emails. Write this many blog posts. This week, Jay Acunzo of the … Read More →

On this week’s Social Sound Bite – recorded live at the KXIC studios in Iowa City – Jay and I discussed a recent Twitter exchange between fast food giant Wendy’s and a social media troll. Instead of following conventional wisdom … Read More →

In 100 episodes we’ve had a lot of our expert guests define what branding is. Today we add a new definition to that list. Seth Godin joined me to celebrate, as he said, “showing up 100 times.” I’m happy to … Read More →

With another year behind us and a new year on the horizon, digital marketers are looking ahead with excitement. As new technology, tools, and trends emerge, we thought it might be useful to ask some of the industry’s brightest thought … Read More →

This week we have a very special episode of the On Brand podcast! Actually, it’s Part 1 of a two-episode special commemorating 100 interviews with industry-leading brand builders. To kick off Part 1, we go back to the beginning. Our … Read More →

Let me start by saying I don’t want to get political. Yes, Donald Trump won the presidential election. Honestly, I wish him well. To do otherwise would be to hope that the pilot crashes the plane you’re on. What I take … Read More →

“I don’t look far enough ahead to call myself a futurist.” Instead, Rohit Bhargava focuses on being a “non-obvious” trend curator, to the benefit of brands big and small. Each year since 2011, he has curated the digital trends businesses … Read More →

“Most content marketing is stuck in the ‘meh’ gear.” Robert Rose knows a thing or two about content marketing. He literally co-wrote the book on it. As Chief Strategist for the Content Advisory Group with the Content Marketing Institute and … Read More →