NerdBrand: Recent Episodes

Jason Davis

The NerdBrand podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and advertising. Nerd culture is no longer an isolated subculture; it’s THE culture of the day and makes its way into our daily lives through the entertainment we seek and the technology we rely upon. Listen as we discuss our views on visual design, branding, and advertising for movies, comics and novels, video games, technology, and other nerdy passions. Visit us to learn more about the podcast and our branding agency services.

Sure, using a fancy AI tool like ChatGPT to write your LinkedIn bio might sound like a fun idea, but it may not be best to rely on it entirely.

Mostly because it's probably not going to show off your personality or unique tone. Plus, it might use incorrect language about your industry or under/over sell your experience and qualifications.

We're fans of using it for brainstorming and idea generation, or for getting a rough draft. But be careful putting all your faith in a robot beep boop

While it may be tempting to use a tool like ChatGPT to generate a LinkedIn profile quickly, it's essential to understand the potential drawbacks and why you should avoid relying on these tools.

More about that on this episode of The NerdBrand Podcast.

Listen to other episodes in the LinkedIn series.

EP142: LinkedIn Series Pt. 1: Why your byline and description matter.
EP144: LinkedIn Series Pt. 3: Who is your friend? Correction. Connection?

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

Have you ever scrolled through LinkedIn and come across a profile that immediately caught your attention?

Listen up on this episode of the NerdBrand podcast as we talk more about LinkedIn in this 3 part series,.

In part one we talk about your byline and description are important elements of your LinkedIn profile that can help you stand out and effectively communicate your brand and value to potential connections and employers.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

Happy new year! On our last episode of the NerdBrand podcast for 2022, you’ll learn there are rules to advertising, and why we say, Everythings an ad.

Welcome to the NerdBrand podcast, on this episode we’re discussing rules of advertising. If you have Netflix, go watch Pepsi, where’s my jet? But not now.

First, let’s talk about the rules. not philosophical ones. The ACTUAL ones.

Not all content is an advertisement for a product. A brand’s name used in a film, TV, or SNL skit, doesn’t mean that’s an ad. But you have to treat it like one. Because the audience assumes it’s an ad.

A Paleton product appeared on a Sex and City episode. A beloved character died shortly after riding it. The character's death led to a 4% drop in stock value. But it was not an ad. But because it was PLACED in the shot, it was assumed to be. Not even Ryan Reynolds could save the situation with a new ad showing the actor and product.

America doesn't have strict guidelines. This leads to consequences of not doing an Ads. Now, let’s look at Pepsi and the fighter jet fiasco.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

New year, new you? On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we’re discussing who the hell types a search anymore? It’s the rise of voice search.

Welcome to the NerdBrand podcast, on this episode we’re talking about new year promises we aren’t keeping. But we want to take a look at voice search and how to prepare for it.

Google reports that 41% of adults and 55% of teens now use voice search daily.

Voice search is Siri, and all the scary Skynet bots that you have in your home and on your phone. More people are using voice search to search the internet for what they need. So much advice for this is out there, but the biggest one is your audience. Do you know who you are wanting to sell to?

Target question keywords and other long-tail keywords.
Use conversational language in your content. If you need help with this you are not human.
Prioritize local SEO. Cause what is near me??
Try to capture Google featured snippets. You must have GOOD content.
Use schema markup, yeah, it’s for the bots.
Optimize for mobile, we really have to say this in 2023?

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we’re discussing why brand influences on this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast!

Welcome to the NerdBrand podcast, on this episode we’re talking about why brand influences using FTX and some online social media influencers as an example.

Attention is Currency.

For your brand, you have to have a strategy to capture attention. With emphasis being getting people to “look over there”, it’s crucial to have something for them to look over there and see. Not just fancy or fun content, but quality and memorable content.

FTX and Influencers.

This is the example and focus of this episode. FTX was a crypto exchange that failed - due to blatant criminal activity. This is not about blame. But how a brand attracted billions of investment because it was perceived as “trustworthy” and fresh. Moreover backed by social media influencers taking sponsorships, producing content pushing that message out to an audience.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we’re talking about your LinkedIn profile. Are you scared… we were. We’re sharing some things we’ve noticed on this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast!

When was the last time you updated your photo? Experience? Organize your skills? Do you have a certificate? Volunteer?

In a world where business happens more online, LinkedIn has been the first place people go to for two things. Verify the persons they’ve met and their skill. Two: Look for a job.

Tips for optimizing LinkedIn.

Update your photo - but post others.
Don’t post what I should do, but can (that you know not what you read).
Keep past jobs brief. 2-3 at most relevant to what you do, or want to do.
Headline that is clear of what you do, and services or products you provide.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

This week on the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about all the steps involved in starting a business and the start-up cash required, turnkey websites seem like a no-brainer. But don’t be a turkey! Cause it’s thanksgiving.

The term turnkey, in this context, refers to a business you can start immediately by just “turning the key” and beginning. Turnkey websites follow a similar concept. They’re websites you “adopt” from the previous owner, with the expectation that all the gears are set up for smooth functioning.

But it’s not true.

There are too many variables from the business owner (which) will affect the brand and its attractiveness to clientele. It also needs to be accounted for where the customers live, and demographics matter. An adopted business could have a client base pissed, so just “turning the key” isn’t true because you’re going to have to rebuild trust first. The idea is: Fast, Affordable, Easy, and Passive is dangerous as “easy money” that always burns you.

Read more at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/turnkey-websites/

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

OTT is hot right now, especially with the news that Netflix is offering an ad based subscription version of its platform. It’s likely Disney+ will follow. So like it or not, here comes the ads.

Now let’s try to help with understanding some rules about ads.

Don’t be boring
Stay on brand
Have a clear message or the message be clear.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

This week on the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about planning for a holiday sale, or event must start farther ahead than you think.

A marketing timeline allows your entire marketing team to see all projects, events, campaigns, and sales that will be happening throughout the year.

POP QUIZ! - Which is the best to begin to plan?

3 weeks?
3 months?
1 year?

Have we seen things fail due to poor planning? How was your black Friday shopping or marketing experience recently?

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

This week on the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about fundraising but in a new light. Let’s reframe this as BRAND-raising, and discuss why brand is important for raising funds.

We’ll start with Dave introducing himself, and VOA, then we move to the question for the show and define brand-raising (see link below for reference).

From Sarah Durham at Big Duck. https://bigduck.com/insights/brandraising/

What you need to consider:

How communications connect to other channels. People are not just using Facebook, they use many other mediums to get information about you and discuss your brand.
Positioning and personality is important in your work. People donate to people they trust. Those in your organization are key to the brand’s voice and tone to remain relevant to the culture.
Speak with a unified organizational voice across all channels!

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we’re talking about that time you stretched too far and pulled your back out… oh wait different podcast. Don’t extend your brand too fast on this episode!

If you rush to plaster your Brand everywhere too quickly you may lose its potency. Be careful with where you place your brand because potential fans will make associations and assumptions based on where they see your marketing.

Take your time. There is the initial thought that once you have your brand established you want to get it out to as many places as quickly as possible to saturate the market. Where you brand yourself is a brand signal. You don’t typically see ads for Tiffany & Co on the side of city buses. Where you show up, will influence your reach and success.

So that means that your brand should market itself in places that make the most sense for it and will also compliment the messaging you are trying to communicate. That is your “why”.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast which is it? Customer support? Customer Success? Account Management? All are different, and we’re talking about it. Up next.

This week on the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about Customer Success experts vs account management vs customer support. Working with an agency is not like working with a solo-penuer or freelancer, or even a friend.

Client Success…

is not customer support.
is not tickets submitted to complete for tasks.
is not us doing tasks in a queue hourly.
is not customer service, (we don’t know anything more about your router than you).

It's a business and brand strategy to fix revenue, and solve problems.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a branding, design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

Hear more of the podcast at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

BOO! On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast it’s our annual Nerd-O-Ween show! Stay tuned for something scary, lost time!

This week on the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about lost time. This episode brought to you by Mikayla, you all asked for more of her, so here you go.

Mikayla - explain your love of time management:

Mikayla presents this: “It's quite an analogy. Puzzles are all about aligning the pieces to see the full picture. Scheduling is the same. You're aligning yours and other peoples schedules to get to present a masterpiece.”

For everyone: What is the biggest waste of time ever you’ve experienced?

Rules: never mention names, people, or places.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency
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C’mon ma FOCUS! On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we’re focusing on how often we can say FOCUS!

This week on the NerdBrand Podcast we’re with Chris Bonbright of Curiosity Consulting. Chris has a passion for learning and helping other businesses figure things out by finding the right information and making sense of it for them.

Before we discuss, or debate with Mitch about focus groups, one of the most memorable interactions I’ve had with Chris was where he discussed “pivoting” and how historically businesses during the Spanish flu had to pivot, so it’s not a new concept.

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency
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So here’s an episode that is totally on brand for us. When you have success with something. Can you duplicate that success again?

We’re still here and nerdy. Can you capture lighting in a bottle again MITCH?

This is a jab at the attempt to repeat a success that was wildly popular.

How do you relate that to a brand?
We’ll discuss strategy and how you can fall into that “let’s try that again” trap.
You got a website, ad, marketing?? Did it work?
Let's look at Disney trying to capture lighting in a bottle again with its live action versions of its animated classics. But them not being as successful as the original?!
What went wrong?

By the way, do people realize that these stories were first told by the brothers Grimm and were not happily ever after ending?

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency
Insta...

This episode we have a guest Greg Mosley from Simpli.fi and Nick Sheppard from CinchIT.

Welcome to the NerdBrand Podcast! In this episode it’s the bots! Allll the bots!

Thank you for listening in on the episode today. We’re talking with Greg Mosely from simpli.fi, a programmatic advertising firm.

Simpli.fi is a leader in programmatic advertising and agency management software delivering integrated omni-channel workflow that helps media buying organizations perform more effectively and efficiently.

We also have Nick Sheppard, an Army Veteran who has been awarded a Bronze Star for combat operations in Iraq. Now, Nick is the Dark web spy for Cinch I.T. as well as The Regional Account Manager for the Louisville office.

Some thought questions we sort of tackled:

What are Simpli.fi’s primary offerings?
How many active daily campaigns are typically run by one client?
Can you explain Geo-fencing vs Targeting (radial vs polygon)?
The CIA has a podcast!
Can you read my emails? Or hear my conversations in my house? (Nick)

Support the showABOUT NERDBRAND
NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency
Insta...

Welcome to another episode of the NerdBrand podcast.

I like to swallow skittles and then chase them down with a rootbeer. Too
personal? Stay tuned as we talk about how brands need to personalize
themselves for a better customer experience!

People want to interact with brands in a more personal way.

I’m tired of AI and bots too. I do prefer a personal touch to my account if I’m
paying monthly for a high level service.

How can brands do this that are not a small team?
What are some brands we can share that do this?
What are some tools to consider?
Who do we get personal with?
What visuals (design) should be used?

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Welcome to the NerdBrand Podcast! Do you have 12345 as your password? Well, I have a movie you need to watch.

This episode has a passive aggressive title because it is dealing with awful passwords, and yes, 12345 was a password someone had once.

I hear complaining about this all the time - but we are in an unprecedented time with internet security. Websites usually get hacked because of its owners. 59% of Americans use a person's name or a family member's birthday as a password.

Two out of every five people have had their identities hacked, passwords compromised, or sensitive information breached because of duplicate and outdated passwords. In the end, YOU ARE A VICTIM. While there’s times when “really? That's your password?!” moments happen, the person hacked is not always at fault. Stop yelling, stay calm, and breathe.

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Welcome to the NerdBrand Podcast! Do you sell toothpaste? Well how am I supposed to know what you do!? Stay tuned as we discuss how some websites just confuse us with messaging.

This episode is dealing with the first thing you see on a website! We have been to some confusing websites. It’s easy to see a DIY or lack of content when visiting these.

Thin Content - Google hates content that says nothing of value, or not what should be behind the link users clicked.
- Examples of sites that confuse you.
- Wayfair had a lack of visual hierarchy and some sites have a unconventional navigation.

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Welcome to the NerdBrand podcast. We have Savannah Cherry back again from Slingshot.

Let's share some hilarious TALES FROM MARKETING stories, and hide the names of the guilty and innocent while we are at it.

What’s a business-first CMO?

CMO’s see what solutions and costs are needed to move a brand forward. These marketing professionals should have coffee with key company members to better understand priorities, because they are responsible for budgets.

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we welcome Savannah Cherry back from Slingshot!Before we get into it, What do you get when you cast Leslie Grace as Batgirl, alongside J. K. Simmons, Jacob Scipio, Brendan Fraser, and Michael Keaton?

A HBOMax never to be seen in a Batgirl Film. WITH MICHAEL KEATON reprising as Batman!? WTF DC?

When a brand is in crisis.

You’ve probably heard in comics and movies “Crisis on Infinite Earths?” Well, on this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re discussing what a brand in crisis looks like in our universe.
Welcome back to the show, we’re discussing what a brand in crisis looks like in our universe.

Why did I mention DC? Well that’s the brand I love, but man, they’re making it harder. If you did not know DC and HBO Max are intertwined. But now under new ownership from the people who own Discovery. The network that brought you Naked and Afraid, and Shark Week now own HBOMax and the fate of DC Streaming has been determined, but what about the CW? Comics? Feature films? (BatGirl and other streaming shows were cancelled.)

Kevin Smith actually had something to say about this at length on Hollywood Babylon Podcast, I’ll leave a link below to the YouTube clip.

So… Main topic - What defines a brand in crisis, and what should you do?

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about ADA Compliance again for the web. Remember the web is for everyone.

So this episode it’s a discussion about ADA compliance for the web, but we’re not talking about “code”, we’re talking colors. ADA for the web is a big world, so let’s start with what we all see before we read

Why is design important?

Color contrast
Font legibility
Images and Video (Closed Caption)

Let’s address how color can look great on print ads, but in digital not be ADA compliant. Google fonts are also a point of contention when designers pick paid licensed fonts over free open source ones.

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast Mikayla Meek is driving!

We turned over the hosting duties to Mikayla and on the spot she came up with this episode topic. Jason flat out out her on the spot, no notes, no prep.

While we were at it, we found a friend with Kristen Frarey from The Chamber of Saint Matthews. We were after in there office recording this (Kristen photo bombed us on her social media).

But anyway...

Branding happens EVERYWHERE, because everything is an ad.

Go on a trip, get a souvenir, and boom, there's a t-shirt for memories of the experience, and an ad with that locations name and event. Yes, even tourists attractions and cities are "brands" that need you to visit to keep their economy moving.

Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about that time we saw someone drop their brand, yes it’s a thing.

So listen in on this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast . On this episode we’re discussing brand launches and how it sounds fun. But it’s a ton of work. But a lot of fun.

Think about event planning, or party planning. The things you’re paying for you do not see, because in the age of obsession of deliverables, it’s time to think and energy to work being sold.

Things to consider for a brand launch to think on:

Giveaways - More than pens, and cups please.
Venue - Easy to find, and PARK!
Actually name it, and make some ads!
It's not Dunch, it's Linner.

Find out more about Branding and Marketing at https://nerdbrandagency.com/

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re discussing how you get to step one in branding.

Business owners are busy and consumed by to-do lists that have lists. Step one is lost all the time in the excitement of the pitch or sale.

Examples:

I need a website, can you help?
Do you do SEO?
Can you make an ad?

YES, tell me, why you need that, and what does that mean to you. For sales people, stick close to the initial needs so your deal doesn’t stall.

Get me to step one! As a business owner, I need steps to start my journey towards change or success. It’s great that the problem can be observed at a distance, but what is the first step to fix it?

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we welcome Mitch Pangallo from Forecastr a local startup in Louisville Kentucky making waves.

Forecast your revenue, expenses, new hires, your exit, your runway with confidence. Be prepared to impress investors & grow faster.

We met Mitch over a year ago telling us about startups, and then I passed out a bit cause he’s way smarter than me.

First query for the day to you sir is -

What’s a TOFU? Moreover, a BOFU? Is that when something is really fancy? Or when you are reviewing a P&L and need a drink?

With all the sales training offers going on, what’s your advice to someone starting in sales?

Do you have a process for sales that you recommend or a tool online?

Ask the internet, and you shall receive. I struggled with this episode. What to talk about…. Hmm…. then a news article came up.

Google’s AI retained a lawyer.

Yep, you read that right. On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re discussing how Google has succeeded in creating the terminator.

According to Google,

https://blog.google/technology/ai/lamda/

We've always had a soft spot for language at Google. Early on, we set out to translate the web. More recently, we’ve invented machine learning techniques that help us better grasp the intent of Search queries. Over time, our advances in these and other areas have made it easier and easier to organize and access the heaps of information conveyed by the written and spoken word.

But there’s always room for improvement. Language is remarkably nuanced and adaptable. It can be literal or figurative, flowery or plain, inventive or informational. That versatility makes language one of humanity’s greatest tools — and one of computer science’s most difficult puzzles.

LaMDA, our latest research breakthrough, adds pieces to one of the most tantalizing sections of that puzzle: conversation.”

Well. Thanks Google, but your robot hired an attorney.

People see your brand first NOT on your website. People ask me if we do SEO often. But look at the search results pages on Google. Your site results are not at the top on most searches for terms anymore.

It’s all google products and social media.

Making your brand social is easier said than done. This DOES NOT mean ignore the website. Or ignore other things like SEO and on we could go.

It means you’re likely not evenly distributing your brand message across multiple channels. Or strategically on social media to lead the user to your website content later. Thus your SEO sucks.

A social brand is hackable. People support that which they help build. If they can interact with it, personalize it and feel some ownership, they are more likely to get behind you. The idea is to tell a story creatively.

We’re going to play a game called Genericization!!!

If you sneezed, you would go to the bathroom and get a _____________ to blow your nose.2. If you were thirsty, you’d go to the vending machine and buy a _____________.
A tool that is a non-lethal means to stop someone is a __________________. 4. I keep my coffee in a _________________ when I go camping.5. I need to use _________________ for my lips in the winter.
If I needed (what you’re selling) I’d pick up the phone and call ________________.

We hope that you can understand how amazing it can be to have your brand name synonymous with the product or service that people think of. Imagine being a Pepsi rep, going into a place, and they keep saying the generic name, coke. Not Coca Cola, but coke.

It’s spelled: C-o-c-a C-o-l-a not C-o-k-e by the way.

A discussion on Brand Attributes

Attributes: a single word used to describe something or a person. You can write more than one down. Let's get real and not write what we think someone wants to hear or is marketable. Imagine your brand is at a party and got a little carried away with the drinks.

How would your brand act differently?
Funnier?
Talking louder?
More confrontational?
How does he/she approach competitors and customers now?

First, what is DTC? Direct To Consumer. This cuts the middleman out. That's the case in Drop Shipping. DTC is placing an order, and then you get it at your door.

Did Google get it right?A DTC brand controls all parts of the selling experience. From manufacturing

the product, marketing, and then selling it online directly to their target end-users. NOTE: Marketing is not BEFORE Brand here.DTC Examples:

Dollar Shave Club
Allbirds
Moft
Glossier

DTC Branding is not marketing. It’s about name recognition. I’ll buy from a trusted store long before one that I’ve just discovered. Questions that some consumers are asking are things like “is it a good product?” “Will I get what I ordered?” If these are not true, you are not going to develop a trusted PROFITABLE DTC Brand.

NO ONE cares about your story if your product sucks and the experience with your brand is terrible. There are over a thousand other choices, and you're never again it.How you start a DTC Brand is simple. Inspiration! This is the best I can explain. If you are going to sell T-shirts, that’s not good enough. Go niche. Then develop your branding. This is all visual, audio, and olfactory elements of your brand. When I see, touch, and smell, what could make me think of your brand?

Supply, Pricing, and Production is final.

Logo adaptability is a new term, but not really. “The Coca-Cola brand remains one of the most valuable brands in the world, valued at 80 billion dollars in 2018.”

Logo Adaptability and marks

What’s recognizable that it’s Coke? Well, it’s not always the logo

E.g. Coke, Coca-Cola, The Bears, Santa, what else?

Pt 2: Brands that may disappear soon:

I heard someone say that a brand can burn white-hot and then goes out.

1. What are the circumstances for that?2. What brands do we know that burned white-hot and are gone?

Examples:1) Diet Pepsi - 20’s and 30’s prefer sparkling water over a diet soda drink. Healthy conscious consumers also may lead to the end of Campell’s soup.2) Crocs - Not even KFC can save. But possibly bad for your feet, easy to copy on the market, and frankly too many butts of jokes to be serious footwear.3) Apple iPod - Kinda obvious.

Here’s a helpful link:

https://moneywise.com/life/lifestyle/brands-you-love-that-may-disappear-for ever

I've talked to people about how we try to develop brands and ad campaigns that hit people in the heart and then the mind. Relevance of your brand is really what I'm talking about.

But my word, I really hate to use more perceived jargon. But it is getting to where 1) it's not avoidable and 2) without using it, anything said is left ambiguous and therefore exacerbates the problem I want to fix.

That is proper meaning and use of terms for services.

Let’s start with this follow up to the most valuable brands of 2021-22:

Apple - $355.08 Billion

Amazon - $350.27

Google - $263.43

Microsoft -$184.25

Walmart - $111.92

On to the Top 5 Brands that are relevant of 2022:

Apple
Peloton

3. Spotify

Bose
Android

https://www.prophet.com/relevantbrands-2022/

So here's what happened... We booked Matt Jones & Matthew Thomas for two different episodes, schedules got mixed up, and now they are both in the studio at the same time. Don't worry though, it turns out they liked each other and we were able to create a great conversation out of the mishap. What did we discuss? A few things:

Matt Jones makes some cool wooden games, check them out in the guest links.
Matthew Thomas talks about the biggest differences between biz coaching & biz consulting.
The group discusses DISC Assessments, and why you should look into them.
Did you know that Google's original name was BackRub? Weird, right?

That only scratches the surface of this episode, so make sure to find a comfy spot and enjoy the show. .Highland Timbers - https://www.facebook.com/Highland-Timbers-LLC-103980915573763 .Free DISC Assessment - https://discpersonalitytesting.com/free-disc-test/

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, we’re discussing brands that have simplified their look. Some may call it De-branding.

The meaning is about how mobile devices have forced designers to change how brands are presented. Particularly their logos. With less space, comes greater priority. (yes, that’s a joke.)

Examples:

● Dunkin’● Dominos● LittleCaesars

Also - BONUS:

Brands you’ve never heard of because they’re not b2c. So think conglomerate. Not a single corporation. Shell’s 9 Billion is pennies compared to these guys.

McKesson (healthcare) Revenues: $66.1 billion

McKesson is the seventh-largest company in the U.S. in terms of annual revenue, but it’s one you might overlook unless you’re in the healthcare field or visit the pharmacy frequently.

Marathon Petroleum Revenues: $38.26 billion

Marathon Petroleum is a massive integrated energy company based in Findlay, Ohio. Across its 16 refineries, the company has the capacity to produce more than 3 million barrels of crude oil per day, making it the largest refining system in the nation.

Exelon (power) Revenues: $36.35 billionExelon is one of the largest power generators in the U.S., operating in 48 states;

CHS (farming) Revenues: $38.4 billionCHS is a massive agribusiness cooperative owned by farmers and local

cooperatives across the U.S.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we've heard the term nurture your leads a lot. This has disappeared from vocabulary lately. It's just "get MOAR sales!"

But you could be sitting on top of that big win under your nose. Today let’s discuss a couple of things about sales as we wrap up our two-part series.

If you liked this series and want us to cover more ground on sales such as cold calling, prospecting on social, in-person events to attend that drive sales. Just let us know in the comments.

Don't place high expectations on anyone, treat your contacts as your lead sources, not your actual leads. If they want to work directly with you, they’ll ask. You’re in front of them already.
Your current customers are your brand advocates. Ask them for a referral. We're all friends aren't we? Curiosity is a powerful tool for sales. It is not invasive or high pressure. Merely gives the person a moment to ponder, “Is that the need John Doe really needs, or should I just introduce them?”

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we’re starting a new series on sales. But first, let’s start with marketing. Because when sales are not meeting quota - marketing gets yelled at.

Challenges for marketers for 2022:

Maximizing performance across channels–38%
Ability to change/adapt to circumstances as they rise–36%
Delivering exceptional customer experiences–35%
Aligning marketing and sales efforts – 32%
Segmenting and targeting audiences – 32%
Ability to scale programs, content, and personalization – 31%
Proving marketing attribution and ROI–31%

Success for businesses in 2022 will require business owners who are willing to take risks, invest in their branding, and listen more intently than ever before when engaging with customers online or face failure. Coke makes 70%+ revenue on the BRAND, not on their ads or marketing. Because there is a strong brand that is recognized.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we’re talking about ad fatigue. Whether it’s a banner ad (Google), Facebook or Social media ad, TV or Radio commercial. These ads cannot be left running without either pausing or retiring from the internet or public view.

Without managing your ads, the messages (ads) will be ignored. Or even be or negatively thought of by your audience overshadowing your message or intent. Therefore, you're better off just burning your money.

This episode of the NerdBrand podcast is about being careful about your network - who are you trying to talk to? This is where you discover your business network (referrals), not your clientele. 80% will be referrals, and 20%, well these %’s are made up. Point is, stop selling, asking, and start focusing on them, the audience, and other members. You’ll see things change for you.Chamber of Commerce Stereotypes:

Do you like meeting insurance agents?
New financial planners from companies you may not have heard of?
New real estate agents?
A guy who manages a pressure washer rental shop?
Several video producers
Other confused people wondering why they did this?
5 or 6 people in a group eating together that give you death stares if you try to introduce yourself?

Chamber are evolving to get out of these stereotypes.

Chambers of commerce provide businesses with access to resources, discounts, and relationships that enable them to save money, market themselves and streamline their processes.
Businesses internal to membership bring their own benefits to the total body. Meaning that leaving value up to the chamber alone is not realistic.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we are following up from part 1 with the question: “Does business networking work?”

There are a lot of opinions out there on this one. Some strongly say NO, Others say yes, and firmly believe in it. Then there are the few that say “meh”.

We dive into these pros and cons or opinions and discuss -

Does it work?

Not for "sales" or as a business strategy for revenue growth. Why or why not?

Protip: Use networking to build rapport and enhance relationships by having conversations with like minded contacts, sharing ideas and finding common interests. Then if they are curious, you have an invitation for discussing your services.

Review your time, and where you are financially. But if you do it right, and pick your events, contacts you want to talk to will show up to hire you, and not drain you seeking a referral.

Protip: If the prospect says, “This reminds me of .... “ Jump ship. Not a prospect. You do not fit something new into something that is old. Zero Curiosity.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we revisit some basics about networking. What networking is for and not for. Brand Awareness locally should be a priority. Not selling.

When you meet someone, you have to remember. They are thinking:

“What are you going to ask to take something away from me, or give to me?”

Suggestions before you go out to an event:

Arrive in a good mood and well-rested.
Do not arrive with any expectations other than meeting people and learning what they do.
Do not offer a card unless asked.
Do not"pitch" unless invited to(hopefullyyou'reengagingenoughthatthey are curious to ask). And if you do, try to get a coffee meeting later or find a more private spot.Pro-tip: work hard on your pitch BEFORE the event. Read the room, and find ways to discuss yourself as briefly as possible.

During the pandemic, the topic of ADA compliance for web cooled off. There wasn't much room in the news cycle.

ADA requirements can be confusing waters legally.

But it’s morally clear the web is to be accessible for all, and it’s just plain smart business to join in.

NerdBrand strives to create websites that are accessible to all disabled, partially disabled, and temporarily disabled users.

In March 2022, the Justice Department issued updated ADA guidelines for the web:

>> Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA

Penalties and Analogies...Our Favorites! ADA for web is like detecting mold in your home.

Catching it while it’s early and making appropriate fixes is an expense that nobody wants, sure.

But ignoring a mold problem and waiting until you’re forced to remediate it is far, far more expensive.

Plus, lawyers…

Would you rather work with a bunch of Nerds to prevent a problem or a team of lawyers to clean up the problem?

If sued for violations, ADA infractions can badly cripple a business or end an organization entirely.

I've seen remediation costs from $20,000 to upwards of $100,000.

NerdBrand's ADA Web Design Services We’ve made it a regular habit for years to check websites for ADA compliance. So, we're fine and absolutely do have the capability to meet these needs. Our current site builds are within 80-90% compliance, or formally, Level AA Compliance.

At NerdBrand, we can and do build websites with ADA guidelines front and center, from design through development.

WordPress and many plugins in the WordPress community have been updated to meet ADA Guidelines.

Worth a strong warning: getting an ADA WordPress plugin does not make a website ADA compliant. In fact, it can put a target on your back for lawyers.

Need some help? If you are concerned about your website's ADA compliance, you can find tools online to start identifying problems. But remediation should be handled by an agency or professional development team.

Get in touch with Jonathan at hello@nerdbrandagency.com or visit https://nerdbrandagency.com/lander/ada-accessible-web-design/

DISCLAIMER: NerdBrand is not a legal firm, and the content of this episode is not to be considered legal advice.

Listen in this week as we talk about the sales discovery process, how that sales process aligns with your branding strategy, and ways to onboard new clients.

Think of some discovery questions for your prospect or new clients. These aren't real suggestions; the point is that sometimes you have to get a little off-the-wall to really break through the discovery phase.

Why are nickels bigger than dimes?
Why does Hawaii have an interstate highway?
Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?
Why do the Flintstones celebrate Christmas?

Do you have a process to onboard clients?

Automated email flows or manual onboarding communications
Gifts, welcome kits, brand swag
Getting qualified referrals

The worst thing you can do is send a referral that is a dead-end. It’s nice to make professional connections. But after three months of sales activity, what has been the result and where have you invested your time?

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we made it to 100 episodes YAY!

We’ve talked about how your brand looks, feels, and yes, smells, so we hope you can glimpse the importance of descriptive copy used in ads, websites, and more when you are raising your brand's awareness.

Ask people what words they think of when thinking about your business. You’ll discover these are your brand attributes. Or perhaps you’ll discover you are not communicating at all the correct tone, resulting in strange responses.

So let’s discuss what your brand sounds like. If I were to only describe your brand, product or service without imagery. Would I be able to associate it with you? Or at least your industry? Could it be done in 1 word or 4?

Each person on the show will start with a brand they are thinking of and we’ll each take a turn guessing. The winner gets 2oo points. Oh, the points don’t matter. YOU STILL HAVE TO PLAY JON!

Some Helpful Links

nerbrandagency.com

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, we’ve got Stacy Roof, President and CEO of the Kentucky Restaurant Association. Stacy also serves on the University of Louisville’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences Community Advisory Board.

Last fun fact: she's the big sister of Kristen Frarey, who some listeners will know from the Chamber of St. Matthews in Lousiville.

This episode is about how having a fully thought-out brand that encourages customers to feel positive about their experience in your restaurant.

Some Helpful Links

nerbrandagency.com

https://kyra.org/

A brand guide sets the standards of how your business looks and sounds, so all of your creative and marketing communications remain cohesive. It’s adhering to these standards that gives rise to a genuine brand experience.

Let’s break down the different parts of a basic brand guide and discuss the importance of each.

Logo
Colors
Typography
Imaging
Voice and tone
Promise
Attributes

Need help creating a brand guide or improving how your brand looks and sounds?

nerdbrandagency.com/contact

Learn more about creating a brand guide:

nerdbrandagency.com/brand-guidelines/

Diana Richardson from Semrush joins us again on the NerdBrand Podcast! And holds the title for most guest appearances!

Diana is a Social Media & Community Manager + on the Agency Team at Semrush. She’s an expert in SEO, PPC, social, email and now...she’s a Public Speaker!

Join us as we ask, “How far is too far?" in the context of brand differentiation.

Diana did her homework and shares a few real-world examples of brands that have done a great job differentiating themselves from their competitors.

Deliver a Unique Point-of-Purchase Experience
Distinctive Brand Collateral
Use a Mascot
Make it Convenient
Stand Out on Shelves
Appeal to Emotions
Shock
Personalize Your Product

Some Helpful Links

nerbrandagency.com

semrush.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/🍷-diana-richardson-8965a317/

Dr. Emmanuel Probst counsels brands on how to grow and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. In his book, Brand Hacks , he explains how to build brands by fulfilling people’s quest for meaning.

One of the most telling differences between a trend and a fad tends to be how fast something gains momentum. Fads fade away quickly after burning bright, but a trend often gains prominence and momentum over years and become a part of daily life.

For example:

1) Logo adaptability is a “trend” now in branding.

2) Eco-friendly branding

Eco-friendly brands are dropping earthy tones and images of nature. Instead, many are defining their brand with more personal, conceptual, and on-the-pulse artwork that will hook eco-friendly buyers.

3) Consumer Rights & Privacy

People are becoming more and more concerned with how their information is accessed and used. This has evolved into a strong trend that’s significantly altered public policy decisions in the EU, Canada, California, Virginia, etc.

Some Helpful Links

www.nerbrandagency.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuelprobst/

https://www.realfrenchboy.com

https://www.amazon.com/Brand-Hacks-Fulfilling-Consumer-Meaning-ebook/

Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Consumer Quest for Meaning

Why do we buy branded things? Does Dr. Pepper really need our money from tee-shirts? Or is it really important that we have that cup from Etsy that has some logo on it from a brand only we know?

No, and YES.

Brand Fandom is more than just a group of loyal customers; they are people who are emotionally and financially invested in a particular brand. As well as they are known to be particularly devoted. Fostering such a relationship with your own customers is advantageous to your brand’s strategy.

With us today is Savannah Cherry from Slingshot. Savannah is the marketing director at Slingshot a software and app development company based in Louisville, KY. Savannah has a favorite YouTube channel (Savannah will share her favs, but I have noted: Good Mythical Morning) and other brands she follows, so as an example she joins us to share about those with us nerds and our favorite brands we buy and invest in.

Let’s start with Savannah discussing Slingshot and their podcast Founders Fable.

Thoughtful question: What digital market channels work best for brands selling their swag?

Some Helpful Links:

nerdbrandagency.com

yslingshot.com

https://foundersfable.buzzsprout.com

Sales and Marketing are not the same. While these two business functions are different, they both share a common goal: to attract prospects and convert them to customers, ultimately generating revenue.

Sales needs marketing data, but not all data is good. Marketing needs to listen to what the sales teams' challenges are.

Both are not the same process or thinking, so combining these will burn out your marketing director quickly.

US Chamber of Commerce definition about sales vs marketing:

In the simplest of terms, marketing is building awareness of your organization and brand to potential customers. Sales is turning that viewership into a profit, by converting those potential customers into actual ones.

So why do businesses combine these roles internally all the time, resulting in high turnover? Listen to hear our take on it.

Some Helpful Links

nerbrandagency.com

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about brand management and Peleton’s value affected by a fictional character.

It’s also, worth noting, that we’ve never seen the show that the fictional character’s death occurred on. But for context, they were riding a Peloton machine and then died of a heart attack after his workout.

So why does the audience negatively respond to this? How is the brand managing a crisis?

Well. Fast-vertising was employed but didn’t help much from what we’ve seen in this instance and we discuss why.

What is your Brand Management playbook if ever you have a social media Peloton moment?Some Helpful Links

www.nerbrandagency.com/podcast

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, our guest is Lauren Coulter, Director of Franchise Sales & Development of Biscuit Belly! Biscuit Belly is a growing breakfast concept restaurant.

Aside from drooling over Biscuit Belly's "damn good biscuits," we're talking about one of NerdBrand’s favorite actors, Michael Keaton, and his role in the film "The Founder."

The Founder is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. Starring Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, the film portrays the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain.

In spite of Ray’s character, he did take an efficient business (delivering fast food) to new heights.

Some issues we saw highlighted in the film:

Lack of vision from the original founders of McDonald's and an unwillingness to scale
Unclear brand mission and purpose to initial franchisees - he just sold
Understanding the business - the foundation of the business was not food. It was real estate.
Your personal life can impact the business' success greatly.

Some Helpful Links

www.nerbrandagency.com/podcast

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-coulter-🍳-70053b2a/

https://www.biscuitbelly.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Founder

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we have Josh Suiter back! Josh serves as Director of Membership at the Chamber of St. Matthews, as well as President-Elect of the KY Chamber of Commerce Professionals.

Quote from Josh: “I've taken a liking lately to Space Jam and have been watching the OG version - the newer one was ok, but not as good as the original.”

Let’s discuss movies that place products in them.

New movie box office:

Budget - $150,000,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada - $70,528,072
Opening weekend US & Canada - $31,053,362
Gross worldwide - $162,828,072

So this movie was reviewed as a giant ad from beginning to end. When is it too far? Have you ever been taken out of the moment due to product placement? (I have Transformers 4-5 with a Bud Light Beer truck crash scene).

Some movies with heavy product placement:

Transformers - Air Force, Chevy, and beer

Pixar, Toy Story - Mattel, Barbie, and nostalgic brands like Mr. Potato Head

Marvel Studios - Acura and Burger King

Some Helpful Links:

www.nerbrandagency.com/podcast

https://www.stmatthewschamber.com

Welcome to a new year! As a result, many want to start fresh with better habits, new relationships, and a refresh of their brand.

But let’s discuss what a “brand refresh” actually is.

A brand refresh is simply a sharpening-up of your company's messaging and visuals, partly to avoid it becoming outdated, but more importantly so it reflects how your company and your customers are constantly growing and changing.

Let’s review the refreshes we saw in 2021. NOT re-naming.

The White House
CIA
Burger King
Pfizer
Paramount+
Adobe CC
Warner Bros
Papa Johns
GM

There are two guides to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (I’ll explain)

Gandalf the gray for Legolas and Aragorn
Gollum for the hobbits to mount doom

Which guide do you want?

An example of NerdBrand’s guidance:

Design for branding is not just design. It requires strategic thought. How is this going to be used? Graphics that are cost effective to print can be entirely useless in regards to postal regulations.

Pick your items to “design” in the strategic phase.

We're playing a fun game on this episode as we celebrate the holidays! Tune in for a laugh and maybe a little learning.

Aside from the holiday fun, we have NerdBrand's very own Coral Abood on the show to discuss brand imagery.

Brand imagery is much more than headshots. It is the tangible, or intangible, elements that consumers associate with a brand. It could be YOU, a package, an experience, a feeling, a taste, and so on. Brand imagery is visual, auditory, olfactory, or tactile. Anything that makes up the "feel" of your company.

Customers' perceptions of your brand come from their interactions with it. Communicate your brand's value with strategic photography and visual experiences. Original and creative content always markets better.

Coral specializes in concept development and growing brands using strategic, commercial imagery. These images are important to your content strategy for all sales & marketing efforts, press releases, websites, and social media, and advertising.

Because everything is an ad.

Coral is also a very energetic personality that you'll enjoy keeping up with on a shoot and collaborating with.

Ho Ho Ho! On this episode, we’re talking again to our fellow nerd and Industrial Designer, Matt Jones. Matt takes on a unique role this time of year. He knows someone who's pretty special around the holidays, and he's coming on the show to share it as well as celebrate Christmas with us.

Or if you're a Seinfeld fan, a Festivus for the rest of us.

Let's talk about how Seinfeld popularized this oddball holiday, and look at the merch that goes with it. Festivus is well branded -- there’s a website, books, videos, social media, and more.

https://festivusweb.com/

What does Festivus mean?

Festivus is the name of a secular and non-commercial holiday characterized by the raising of an aluminum pole, the serving of dinner, the airing of grievances, and the demonstration of feats of strength.

Let’s discuss the rules and see if we can practice them:

● Get a Festivus pole. Search your home for an aluminum pole.

● Prepare a Festivus dinner. Meatloaf is key to staying true to the “Seinfeld” episode.

● Air your grievances.

● Join in the Feats of Strength.

● Call all slightly non-routine events 'Festivus miracles.'

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast , we’re talking about how to approach your next website design. Every business sees a great website as a need. And it is, no argument. Your website is often one of your most prominent ads.

But is really fair to say, "I just need a website"?

Is the greatness of a website determined by the quality of its content or is it the outcome of the website design itself?

A few questions to ask yourself as you enter a new web design project...

First, what do you want people to do when they arrive? Where do you want them to go?

Second, think about structure. What’s in the primary navigation? Well, it should be important, of course. And it's not for every important thing. In this case, more isn't better.

Also, you likely have different audiences coming to your site. How do you properly drive those different audiences down their individual paths to conversion?

Lastly, don't view your website as a narrow funnel. It's not as if every visitor enters your home page and drills down to where they'd like to go.

Shockingly, we still forget that the largest front door to our websites is the search engine.

Lots of your individual web pages, even important ones, aren't navigated to directly from your home page. They're reached directly from Google. So each page needs to be an adequate experience that logically drives your visitor to the "next step."

As an example, our podcast page isn't linked on the home page, simply because very few people were navigating to it from the home page. The bulk of visitors were coming directly from Google or social. So, we were able to remove an item from our navigation, freeing up space for more important pages.

Fun Talk

What are some websites you’ve visited and hated the experience?

Jason will go first...

ANY NEWS SITE.

How many popups and agreements do I need to click to get them out of the way of what I’m trying to read? Stop pissing off your users!

https://nerdbrandagency.com

This episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we welcome our past guest, Jason Barnard from Kalicube Pro. Jason Barnard is The Brand SERP Guy - a digital marketer who specialises in Brand SERPs and knowledge panels.

Why “The Brand SERP Guy”?

A Brand SERP is what your audience sees when they Google your brand or personal name. Jason Barnard is a leading expert in this field - he has been studying, tracking, and analyzing Brand SERPs since 2013.

>> See Jason Barnard's first appearance in Episode 60.

>> Visit Jason's website.

On today's show, we're talking about Google My Business and how your business can best control the results.

Google My Business

Jason and the Nerds look at the different elements in a Google My Business search result (officially becoming Google Business Profiles soon).

Which fields are controlled by the algorithms and which can you, as the business owner, control yourself?

What's the best way to start getting proactive about managing your business details in Google?

Fun Links Mentioned

See all the projects and tools Google has built, then killed over the years.

https://killedbygoogle.com

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we are discussing brand positioning.

What is brand positioning? How do other brands do it?

We’ll talk about and share familiar brands, and what they make us think of when we hear their names.

● GE - do things come to life still?

● Doritos

● KFC - it's more than chicken, it’s food.

● Minute Maid - not a maid service

● Domino's dropped "pizza" from their name. Why? Because they want to differentiate themselves from competitors and reposition as more than a “pizza-only" restaurant.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we talk about avoiding your consumer's BS meter.

Authentic marketing actually requires you, the marketer, to be a fan of the services or product you are marketing. Without that connection, marketing efforts can be inauthentic in which the audience could pick up on, and ignore the brand entirely.

Branding sets the stage for creating that connection for the marketers because of how the brand looks, sounds, and feels to them. Therefore inspiring creative and effective marketing campaigns.

Also, as a bonus we discuss “fast-vertising” (a term Reynolds coined), which involves treating real-time cultural moments as a springboard, to build their own brand buzz. Rapid deployment of your ads is related to this method, which can create authentic moments, but be careful as not everything is humorous, or timely. Essentially READ THE ROOM.

For example: The Peloton ad (in response to the Me Too movement) was 72 hours from conception to production complete for distribution.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we have Merry-Reid Sheffer from Edge Employment. We talk about the concept of employer branding, The Great Resignation, customizing job roles, and more.

Merry-Reid is quoted:

"I am a nerd when it comes to employment. Helping people connect with their passion and get paid for it? What could be better! When it comes to making great employment matches, however, job descriptions can get in the way. As we face a "labor shortage" how will employers introduce flexibility into their workplaces? Customized Employment may be the key." So let's talk about that more and how employer branding can help retain and attract talent in your business.

About Merry-Reid Sheffer

Lead Employment Specialist, Merry-Reid Sheffer, earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School. She has worked in retail, food service, childcare, ministry to all ages, and prison abolition. And now, she shares her passion for employment representation and consultation with Edge Employment! Merry-Reid enjoys meeting new people, reading fiction, and spending time with her partner and their dog, Bear.

https://edgeemployment.org/

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we're discussing Legacy Brands. Some brands have been around for years, others decades, and a few for centuries. Let's discuss a few household names with notable legacies and some that have properties coming into public domain in 2024.

That last comment is a hint that on January 1, 2024, we’ll see the expiration of the copyright for Steamboat Willie — and with it Disney’s claim to the film’s star, Mickey Mouse. The copyrights to Superman, Batman, Disney’s Snow White, and early Looney Tunes characters will also fall into the public domain between 2031 and 2035.

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, it’s our annual all about halloween episode and all things scary in the nerd-verse. Shock advertising is made to deliberately startle and offend its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals.

Simply put: Ads made to Scare the crap out of you into remembering the brand in order to influence buying.

Listen as the nerds share what scares them, what shows they love, and why.

Also, we’re talking about how there’s an uptick in the interest in horror movies. But have advertisers gotten more aggressive or stepped up ads?

What’s your favorite horror movie?

What is the medium you enjoy horror the most? Books. Theater , or Streaming services?

What are your most memorable horror movie ads, or horror related ads?

e.g. https://twitter.com/horrorads or https://www.facebook.com/horrorads/

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we have Shane Shaps as our guest. Shane is the President, Founder, and Community Manager of 520 East Brands, a social media engagement firm.

This show focuses on Facebook's recent downtime and why it can be problematic to build your brand presence on “rented land." Other things we discuss are related to ad fatigue and how to keep your digital ads engaging.

We also comment on a couple of things Google just updated. Hint: watch those title tags!

On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we’ve got Shane Shaps from 520 East Brands and we’re talking about how to keep your brand "real" on social media.

What is a brand voice?

Brand voice is the distinct personality a brand takes on in its communications. Imagine you went to a dinner party and you're chatting with all the guests. One person stands out because they're great at storytelling in a distinctive, unique way.

It is to be noted that this is not the same as brand tone. The tone is informal vs. formal or educational vs. inspiring, for example. Always be as clear as you can, depending on the audience you are trying to engage.

Some facts:

Authenticity on social media can be a game-changer for any brand. According to the 2017 Cohn & Wolfe Authentic Brands Study shows that in 2017 91% of people “are willing to reward a brand for its authenticity via purchase, investment, endorsement or similar action”.

Link to the study:

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/309112/amazon-paypal-burt s-bees-top-in-authenticity.html

Talks center around these topics...

Define“authentic” or “real” and how that may sound or look on social channels
How can you do this on specific platforms, like Twitter?
Why is it important to be clear about what you are using social media for?
Use REAL imagery, not stock or unclear artwork. Let’s think Canva vs. a professionally created piece by a designer. A professional will consider the channel’s limitations and attention spans and will adhere to brand guidelines.

Employers struggle with WFH policies, should they or shouldn't they? What about the "blended" approach? Working from home has lead to the US workforce increasing time at work by 10% according to this study:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01196-4?fbclid=IwAR2LHtfF3u6WqwDIxV35cpBR_cdcaHclqs4v8gWt8I8OCYl4OFB3m_k6yl0

Technological challenges:

Internet is not meant for business bandwidth but rather entertainment and personal. Time management with family at home. Office supplies and devices (business vs personal) can be mixed leading to employers being unaware of employees' usage. Changes and challenges in HR policy for Asynchronous communication ethics.

Listen more at nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

In this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we’re discussing Shang Chi and purchase behavior targeting. If you like Marvel movies, well...they know it, and they probably also know what candy bar at the concession stand you buy all the time.

Creepy? A little.

In this episode, we discuss the different forms of marketing, with an emphasis on breaking down different digital marketing and distribution channels, like email marketing, social media, and SEO. At the same time, we know it's not all about Google and Facebook. We talk about a recent trend in advertising -- a slight push back toward advertising options like broadcast radio and out of home (billboards, bus signs, etc.).How are you reaching your audiences strategically? Is your marketing presence diversified or do you rely heavily on one channel?ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nerdbrand/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nerdbrand/support

This episode was done freestyle. With Jon on vacation and others on the NerdBrand team heading on vacations soon, we talk about why it’s important to take a break. We also recommend a vacation planner we know and trust - https://vacationsbytara.com/ ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

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It's confusing out there for the average business owner. What is marketing, IT, web, branding? Where are the lines drawn? What comes first? Last? We dive into this topic and explain a typical "order of operations" when it comes to building a brand presence. ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

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What is an Entrepreneurial Mindset? An entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills that enable people to identify and make the most of opportunities, overcome and learn from setbacks, and succeed in a variety of settings. Charlene Walters, MBA, PhD is a business and branding mentor and entrepreneurship coach on Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Ask an Expert" platform and through her own consulting business (charlenewalters.com) where she enjoys working one-on-one with a variety of entrepreneurs, businesses and professionals. She is also a speaker, corporate trainer, and author of Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur (McGraw Hill). Additionally, Charlene is a TV host on Launch with Charlene Walters (D B & A Television) now streaming on Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.

Find Charlene's book at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08JZFG31H/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 Charlene previously developed and led a Digital Entrepreneurship MBA program, writes a blog, is a frequent media contributor and guest (Entrepreneur, Forbes, Thrive Global, CNBC Make It, The LISTTV, etc.), and was identified as one of 150 Marketers to Follow by Rubicly. Connect with Charlene: https://twitter.com/CWaltersPhD https://www.instagram.com/charlenewaltersphd/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlenewaltersphd

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Launch Your Inner Entrepreneur: 10 Mindset Shifts for Women to Take Action, Unleash Creativity, and Achieve Financial Success

Join us as we talk about the philosophy and framework of the hero’s journey, specifically in a branding/marketing context.

For your business, who should be the hero and why? A lot of brands mistakenly make their product the hero. The customer should be the hero, in reality. Who is Joseph Campbell and will Jason watch the new Dune movie?

=== About Our Guest: Matt Jones For over 20 years, Matt was a designer, builder, creator, and problem solver at GE Appliances. He’s managed teams to develop new brand engagements & experiences from trade shows to corporate events to the showroom floor. In the late 90s, while attending the University of Cincinnati’s Design, Art, & Architecture program, he quickly realized he was in the right building but not the right department. He then stumbled on a group of folks doing Industrial Design, and the rest is history. === About The Podcast The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast === About NerdBrand NerdBrand is a national branding, web design, and marketing agency. We love helping businesses identify and better communicate their “why.” Because we believe everything is an ad, we’re passionate about creating holistic brand identities, website designs, and marketing campaigns

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What is industrial design? Industrial design is the professional practice of designing products, devices, objects, and services used by millions of people worldwide every day. In other words, just about every single thing you interact with on a daily basis was touched by an industrial designer. For over 20 years, Matt was a designer, builder, creator, and problem solver at GE Appliances. He’s managed teams to develop new brand engagements & experiences from trade shows to corporate events to the showroom floor. In the late 90s, while attending the University of Cincinnati’s Design, Art, & Architecture program, he quickly realized he was in the right building but not the right department. He then stumbled on a group of folks doing Industrial Design, and the rest is history. Let’s dive into some stories! Designing and developing toys for Lucas Film. Jay Leno - how Matt found himself in Jay's garage, installing a kitchen of all things.

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On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we’re discussing the marketing efforts behind the movie Black Widow. How much did Disney spend vs. make? What did the acting cost? What were the channels they used to advertise? Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

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So, you've built brand awareness, and your audience is sold. Now it’s up to you to not only deliver a great product but to deliver a great experience! Additionally, we discuss personal branding with some examples, including Ryan Reynolds and Steve Jobs. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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In this episode, we talk about the following points when working with a Branding Agency. As well as cover a few of our passions and the naming strategy of NerdBrand, not Nerd Brand: - Branding agencies function best on long-term partnerships. - Marketing without branding falls short. - You can't DIY your brand to the top. It would be best if you had professionals. - Branding requires far more than a logo and listing features/benefits. - Offers a strategic, objective perspective to identify problems and fill gaps.

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Andy is a successful agency founder and author, and has a new book titled “How to Start a Successful Creative Agency.” He writes about communications, freelancing, and the inner workings of starting an agency. Get his book online called: How to Start a Successful Creative Agency at https://www.creativeagencybook.com/ Listen in as we talk about professional clients and how the following will help your project go a lot smoother.

Have established marketing leadership and internal processes

Have a marketing team

Budget!

Find Andy and connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andystrote/?originalSubdomain=ca

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Should companies encourage and incentivize their employees to represent the brand on social media? That's the topic of discussion as we're joined by Social Media Manager, Jon-Stephen Stansel. Topics include Sherwin-Williams' employee TikTok fiasco, creating social media policies, how to balance benefits and risks of having employees represent your brand, and more. ABOUT OUR GUEST J.S. is a social media professional with almost a decade of experience managing and creating content for higher education, small business, and government social media accounts. He works closely with HyperRPG, Kyle Higgins and his comic Radiant Black, and Better Place Forest. J.S. is also a co-host of the Thought Feeder Podcast, a weekly podcast offering insights on digital marketing in higher education.

Twitter: @jsstansel Website: jsstansel.com Thought Feeder Podcast: https://thoughtfeederpod.com/

ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a national branding, web design, and marketing agency. We love helping businesses identify and better communicate their “why.” Because we believe everything is an ad, we’re passionate about creating holistic brand identities, website designs, and marketing campaigns. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

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Should you make yourself appear more capable than you actually are? Or should you do it, in order to achieve your goals when you are actually capable? Either way, people love the underdog. Find Diana on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8D%B7-diana-richardson-8965a317/ And on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaRich013 Check out Semrush: https://bit.ly/nb-semrush ===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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Carly is the brand manager of Gaming Source Network, news, reviews, and gameplay platform dedicated to positivity and inclusivity in gaming. By "interaction branding" for this episode, the way a brand handles communication with customers/followers. For example, Arby's is super sassy on social media. This interaction actually endears customers to the brand. Brandon Sanderson is extremely transparent and kind to his customers. This interaction gives a lot of goodwill back to him and instills trust. Find Carly on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/GamingSourceNetwork Twitter: https://twitter.com/GamingSourceNet And at: @scarlet_stream

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In this episode, we have one of our favorite guests returning! Diana Richardson from Semrush joins us again as we jump into fun conversations about Netflix's new online store, e-commerce SEO, and more. ABOUT OUR GUEST Diana Richardson is the Social Media & Community Manager for the SEO Unit at Semrush and has been a digital marketer for over 14 years.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8D%B7-diana-richardson-8965a317/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaRich013 Check out Semrush for all your SEO needs: https://bit.ly/nb-semrush

ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

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An age-old request in advertising, and especially in web design: "can you make the logo bigger?" Sure, but why? Is that really the priority? 1) Your brand is not your logo. 2) Bigger isn’t always better. It’s the internet. It must and will change size based on different screen sizes. 3) Your audience doesn’t care about your logo beyond simply recognizing it. They are interested in your products, message, and tone.

===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast

===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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Jason Barnard (the Brand SERP Guy) is a digital marketer who specializes in brand SERP optimization and knowledge panel management. SERP means search engine results page. Brand SERP refers to how your business or organization appears when someone Google's your brand name. Company: Jason Barnard is the founder and CEO at Kalicube – a groundbreaking digital marketing agency that, through the Kalicube Pro SaaS platform, helps clients optimize their Brand SERP and manage their knowledge panel. Author: Jason is a regular contributor to leading digital marketing publications such as Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land and regular guest on others such as Wordlift, SE Ranking, SEMrush, Search Engine Watch, Searchmetrics, and Trustpilot. Speaker: Jason regularly gives conferences at major marketing conferences worldwide including BrightonSEO, PubCon, SMX series, and YoastCon. Podcast Host: Spanning 3 seasons, "With Jason Barnard" has become a staple podcast for digital marketers. The conversations are always intelligent, always interesting, and always fun! Guests include Rand Fishkin, Barry Schwartz, Eric Enge, Joost de Valk, Aleyda Solis, Bill Slawski. Over 180 episodes are available!

If you are looking for help with your SEO strategy or need your brand refreshed, contact us at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/contact-us/ ===== About The NerdBrand Podcast The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== About NerdBrand NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com Connect with NerdBrand

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency

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Guest - Josh Suiter, Director of Membership and Business Relations at The Chamber of St. Matthews Your brand needs to engage in strategic storytelling & create organic experiences, as the costs of paid advertising continue to increase. Plus, the typical brochure copy doesn’t work for most brands; people expect more. Storytelling engages your audience at an emotional level to capture their attention. Pete Docter puts it perfectly: “What you're trying to do, when you tell a story, is to write about an event in your life that made you feel some particular way. And what you're trying to do, when you tell a story, is to get the audience to have that same feeling.” This can work in business. Think about the common question, “tell me about your business.” Being able to tell a compelling, engaging, and consistent story initiates that relationship and makes you & your brand memorable.

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Today we’re discussing Dave Carruther’s winding story of entrepreneurship, the difference between having an idea vs. an executable vision, and strategy vs. tactics. We’ll also touch on how Dave and his team at Voxpopme use data alongside video to help brands make better product development and marketing decisions. Dave is a passionate entrepreneur who’s focused on using video as the primary medium for collecting feedback. This feedback goes on to build great brands, products, and customer experiences. Check out Dave at https://site.voxpopme.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/voxpopme/ https://twitter.com/voxpopme https://www.instagram.com/voxpopme_official/

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Scott is a passionate entrepreneur who changed vocations from sales in the automotive industry to operating Jiu-Jitsu schools. He's now a black belt, and has two schools in two cities with over 100 students. Scott continues to show the characteristics of a self-starter; that is, to practice the discipline needed to succeed. Being an entrepreneur is hard. As hard as it is to spell it…seriously, try without autocorrect. Anyways, on this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, we’re discussing the characteristics of being an entrepreneur vs. being just an “idea” person. Scott has a great story of going from corporate sales to being a successful business owner -- starting with a mere $385. Visit Scott at: https://www.graciekentucky.com/ or online at - https://www.facebook.com/graciekentucky

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Copywriting is an overlooked art. It’s both persuasive and technical. At the heart, it has to strike an emotional chord with your potential customers, and it’s not something just anyone can do. ABOUT OUR GUEST: Dana Herra "Copywriting is the delicate blend of art and science that makes customers reach for their wallets. No need to bring out the hard sell; when the right people see the right copy, they want to work with you. - Dana Herra" Dana is an experienced marketer. Award-winning writer. Born storyteller. Dana’s favorite fandoms are Doctor Who and Tolkien, and is a fringe member of the Marvel, DC, and Star Wars fandoms as well. Find Dana at https://danaherra.com/ Connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/danaherra/

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Personal branding is intentionally creating a persona to influence how you as an individual are perceived. But what is that look or style that defines you? How do you figure that out? On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, listen as we discuss the return of Domino's NOID, how Joey Kilrain developed his personal style/brand as an accomplished designer, and the latest on ADA compliance with design. === About Joey Kilrain Find more about Joey Kilrain at - https://kilrain.com/ I am a passionate creative individual. My creative passions bolt up to my nerdiness which powers my mad skills as a designer. I design predominately in the AdTech & FinTech industries, however, I've frequented startups that are using big data for good causes. And I'll always make time to share and help others. Other passions include headsofsociety.com, warhollaatyourboy.com, and building classic cars. === The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast === NerdBrand is a branding agency that crafts unique branding, web design, and advertising to propel your business. On our channel, you'll find strategies for branding and marketing your business, WordPress tutorials, eCommerce strategy, and more. Visit us at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/

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Brandraising involves creating a system of communication about your brand to raise awareness. This fuels fundraising efforts, and helps you clearly communicate your mission and values to your audience. Kelsea was the founding member of GoFundMe's comms/marketing team and now leads as the Head of Brand Storytelling. “One of my proudest accomplishments is building out the GoFundMe Heroes program, which includes a podcast I host & produce that tells the stories of everyday heroes who use our platform to do good in the world.” https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsealittle/ https://www.gofundme.com/c/heroes ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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This episode, we're discussing what to expect if you're planning to invest in SEO for your brand, as well as how social media has evolved since the pandemic. About Our Guest Diana Richardson is the Social Media & Community Manager for the SEO Unit at Semrush and has been a digital marketer for over 14 years. Find Diana on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8D%B7-diana-richardson-8965a317/ Check out Semrush online: https://www.semrush.com/ ===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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This episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, we’re taking a trip back in time. We’ve invited an old friend and fellow podcaster Brandon Jones to the podcast. Brandon is the creator and host of the podcast Animation Destination, and has worked in marketing and design for the last decade. Animation Destination and where to listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/animation-destination/id937801824 We discuss DC's The New 52 in detail from a branding perspective. ===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, we’re chatting with Jordan Clemons, the Investor Development Manager at GLI. He’s also an avid community advocate and Young Professional of the Year. The BrandBit - Jon April Fool’s. Volkswagen runs a PR joke claiming they're rebranding to “Voltswagen.” It didn't go over well, journalists were lied to, and it was not timed well in light of Volkswagen's legitimate PR issues a few years ago. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56582567 Main Topic - LinkedIn and Your Brand Everyone is doing it, so you should too! How’s that for peer pressure? LinkedIn averages about 766 Million users. Of that, 310 million are active. 171 million are in the US alone. It’s owned by Microsoft and is the largest online business-focused social media channel. We discuss how we use it, and provide tips on how you can as well. ===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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On this episode, we’re talking with Delene Taylor, a fellow nerd who is passionate about connecting businesses. Delene is the Marketing Director at DMLO, as well as a Founding Board Member of Canopy (canopyky.org). Delene joined DMLO CPAs in 2013 as Marketing Director. She finds meaning and purpose in connecting people who are doing good things, facilitating important conversations and sharing resources, promoting the social enterprise movement in Kentucky, and working with early stage entrepreneurs, particularly in providing affordable solutions bundling the benefits of cloud-based accounting applications with the trusted services of a CPA-level business advisor. ===== Social commentary and making others aware of cultural issues is not just a non-profit thing. Comics have been doing it for years. The First Social Entrepreneur - Stan Lee Stan’s Soapbox Stan on social issues: The X-Men - a team made up of mutants who endured bigotry - were inspired by the civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X influencing pacifist Professor X and militant Holocaust survivor Magneto. Stan on Business ethics: With great power comes great responsibility. "While I don't stop muggers, I do try to use my modest success and intrinsic power (as an investor, a professor, and a columnist) to promote truth, justice, and the entrepreneurial way." A clear purpose helps bring focus to your priorities. Good connections create an environment for good business to thrive. Stan used his characters and Marvel to comment on cultural and social issues. But lived his life to help others see potential in themselves with his stories. ===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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Podcast Ep. 49 - 5 Ways to Better Have a Work/Life Balance If you're not able to take care of yourself, your relationships suffer, your mental health suffers, and your job performance suffers. Things like fatigue, poor time management, and detachment can negatively affect your personal and professional life in devastating ways. Our Social Media Strategist, Kamaria Campbell, joins us and we dive into five ways to improve your work/life balance. Us nerds think you need to start paying attention to these! What is a “work/life” balance? It’s having a set of healthy habits to reduce your stress, both in your personal and professional lives. These are a few key areas to pay attention to as you improve your balance.

Fatigue

Time management

Detach from work

Relax

Diet

===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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Jibly jarbed? Hey, it's a word if you can spell it. On Ep. 48 of the NerdBrand Podcast, we’re discussing Branded Sales Collateral and how you can best prep for upcoming networking and business events. Professionally-designed, branded sales collateral allows your sales team to confidently meet prospects and pitch your services effectively. ======= Visit https://nerdbrandagency.com/collateral/ for strategy and design support on sales presentations, flyers, brochures, catalogs, and more. ======= There’s nothing worse than having to pitch using outdated material, or worse, materials that aren't quite on brand. Why You Need Branded Sales Collateral Making a sale is an exceptional feeling. But making a sale without great materials is a gamble, at best. Especially if your materials are outdated, low design quality, and out of sync with your brand identity -- like improper use of the logo, colors, and fonts. At NerdBrand, we firmly believe everything is an ad. Your sales presentations and other sales materials certainly fall under the category of ads. Critical ads. Your sales reps or account managers need to genuinely understand why your brand exists, and they need to believe what they are saying about the brand is true. They need a "mental script" of some sort that maintains consistency from pitch to pitch. They should always be telling the same story, with small nuances to appeal to particular prospects. How you sound when you pitch is branding. Your sales presentation is often the first significant interaction a customer has with your brand. Based on that interaction, they'll expect your entire organization to carry out a similar experience from start to finish. So, are your sales efforts setting an accurate stage for your brand to deliver long-term?

Let’s discuss five important things to improve your sales and create branded sales collateral:

How articulate are your sales reps and account managers?

How well do they know the product?

Do they understand the typical prospect's needs?

Do they have proper sales materials for the different types of prospects or clients they're meeting? Are those materials on-brand (logos, colors, fonts, strategic messaging, tone)?

Does the rest of your marketing, especially your website, social media, and Google Ads, read similarly to how your rep sounded? Are there sales and marketing channels fighting each other?

If you are tripping on any of those points, we need to talk. Because it's not just the physical sales assets that you need; you need brand strategy first. We’ll help you identify what makes your brand compelling, and then craft those pitches in the form of flyers, sales presentations, investor decks, and more. Always with an understanding that what we create must translate well to print and web. Let's make your sales team more successful, instead of seeming like a pyramid scheme pitch.

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This episode of the podcast we’re discussing the top 10 relevant brands of 2021. Though it seems early, it’s a survey taken among 13,000 people who use brands daily by Prophet, a brand consultancy firm. So let's discuss the top 10. Are they important to us? Do you agree with the choices? Why or why not? What makes a brand relevant? It's staying valuable in the eye of the consumers that use them.

Apple - sixth year in a row.

Peloton

KitchenAid

Mayo Clinic

Lego

Costco

Honda

Johns Hopkins

Playstation

Amazon

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This podcast, we’re talking social media and posting techniques with Jon-Stephen Stansel. Jon-Stephen is the Twitter account manager for the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series, “INVINCIBLE.” This is the nerdiest show we’ve recorded to date. So tune in! About Jon-Stephen Stansel Jon-Stephen is a social media professional with almost a decade of experience managing and creating content for higher education, small business, and government social media accounts. He has worked for the University of Central Arkansas, Texas State University, the Texas Department of Transportation, as well as consulting for many small businesses. He is also a co-host of the Thought Feeder Podcast, a weekly podcast offering insights on digital marketing in higher education. In addition, he has taught courses in social media management and presented at many national and international conferences including HighEd Web, the International Congress of Technological Innovation in Buenos Aires, and the Association of International Educators. He is currently working as a freelance social media manager working with Amazon Prime Video on the Twitter account for their upcoming series, INVINCIBLE. Twitter: @jsstansel Website: jsstansel.com Thought Feeder Podcast: https://thoughtfeederpod.com/ INVINCIBLE on Amazon Prime Video We were excited to interview Jon-Stephen’s about his role in managing the Twitter account for INVINCIBLE. INVINCIBLE is an Amazon Original series based on the groundbreaking comic book from Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead. The story revolves around 17-year-old Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), who’s just like every other guy his age — except his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bfAVpuko5o The hour-per-episode series also stars Sandra Oh, Zazie Beetz, Gillian Jacobs, Zachary Quinto, Jason Mantzoukas, Melise, Mark Hamill, Mahershala Ali, Seth Rogen and more. The first three episodes hit Prime Video on March 26, with weekly releases through April 30 after that. The Anatomy of a Terrible Social Media Post Inspired by Jon-Stephen’s blog post, we break down the anatomy of what makes a good or bad social media post. Lots of stories were shared from Jon-Stephen’s days as a social media manager in public organizations and higher ed institutions. Other Topics Discussed

What’s your favorite brand to follow on social? Mentions included Nickelodeon, Wendy’s, Little Debbie, and more.

What’s the nerdiest thing you’ve ever bought, done, or participated in? We go around the table swapping stories about 6:30am trips to see a Star Wars release, buying Transformers toys at Walmart, Ultraman and Japanese sci-fi obsessions, and 2am dives into Google Analytics.

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Today’s show is about live streaming and marketing. Join us and Christoph Trappe as we discuss how to live stream, whether it's livestreaming or live-streaming, and how it can elevate your brand. Get Christoph Trappe's livestreaming book at: https://authenticstorytelling.net/going-live-book/ Connect With Christoph Trappe Website - https://authenticstorytelling.net/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophtrappe/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/CTrappe About Christoph Trappe A lot of companies are producing content and campaigns that happen but don’t perform. Christoph helps you move your marketing and communications from happening to performing by sharing unique stories more efficiently to reach prospects and retain existing customers. He has run integrated marketing campaigns across many industries, including healthcare, SaaS, information technology, nonprofits and publishing. In his career, he has led teams of journalists, content creators, strategists and designers to successfully drive results. Christoph has worked in B2B and B2C journalism and even launched a new successful news site with Eastern Iowa News in 2009. Christoph has worked in a variety of verticals and with a mix of businesses - including startups and established companies and his experience spans the full spectrum of digital strategy and implementation – including social media, SEO, UX collaborations, content strategies and production - to drive results. Today, he’s a global top 14 content marketer, top 40 B2B marketer, top 100 CX thought leader and top 24 digital marketer. His blog (www.authenticstorytelling.net) has been listed as a valuable resource in the marketing industry. He's a top 5 percent podcaster. His fourth book covers the topic of Going Live to get more out of your podcast and content strategy. The book publishes in March 2021. ===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s mainstream pop culture. Listen as we discuss our views on branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more. Find more at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast ===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com ===== CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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Here’s our best of the Super Bowl 2021 ads, rated on a scale of 1-10. We were not very generous with our rating, but that’s Jason’s fault. We narrowed it down to seven ads on the main list, Listen to the whole podcast to catch the honorable mentions and a few surprises Mitch and Jon brought up.

===== ABOUT THE PODCAST The NerdBrand Podcast is the intersection of nerd culture, branding, and marketing. Nerd culture is no longer a reserved sub-culture; it’s THE culture of the day. Listen as we discuss our views on visual design, branding and advertising, always with a touch of nerd — technology, movies, comics and novels, video games, and plenty more.

===== ABOUT NERDBRAND NerdBrand is a data-driven branding, web design, and advertising agency based in Louisville, KY. From establishing your brand identity to guiding your day-to-day marketing strategies, we bring the "why" of your business to life. Learn more at https://nerdbrandagency.com

CONNECT WITH NERDBRAND Facebook: https://facebook.com/nerdbrandagency Instagram: https://instagram.com/nerdbrandagency Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdbrandagency LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nerdbrandagency

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Why is networking beneficial? Networking is the lifeblood of your brand's reach. Without it you’ll experience stagnation and find yourself struggling to meet people. Businesses need connections for more than making money. They need it for support financially, emotionally, hiring, vendor searches, and when the synergy is right, having a strong network is fuel for creativity.

ABOUT OUR GUEST: JASON METZ I've spent the past 17 years driving growth for agencies and crafting strategy on behalf of clients ranging from larger brands like Porsche, Adidas, Procter & Gamble, Gatorade, and Anheuser-Busch to regional brands like Sparrow Health System, BCBS of Michigan and Vibe Credit Union, to startups like DermTech, The Elevate Prize and Whisper hearing aid system. Find Jason Metz at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mktgstrategist/

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Once you've managed to grab peoples' attention with your brand message, how do you maintain the passion, action, and momentum to build customer/brand loyalty?

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Once you establish your brand identity and message, there’s always the “now what?” On this episode, we talk about how to take action with your brand's message, implement a marketing strategy, and execute across the many digital and traditional marketing channels available today.

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Once you establish your brand identity and message, there’s always the “now what?” On this episode, we talk about how to take action with your brand's message, implement a marketing strategy, and execute across the many digital and traditional marketing channels available today.

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In this final episode of our three-part series about storytelling, we talk about the idea of creating Spectacle. Storytelling is instrumental to building a brand, but you must catch the attention of your customer first. Here on the podcast, we continue discussing our love of movies and all things in the “nerd culture," as we believe that is THE culture of the day. First up is Mitch with an internet tidbit. Google is unionizing and the only Batman in the DCEU is Michael Keaton. Now let's talk WW1984 a bit to set up how we’re relating to “spectacle” and brand strategy. What is Spectacle? Spectacle is simply creating shock and awe, or a “WOW moment.” It doesn't necessarily have to be controversial or applicable to all people -- only your customers. It's an event that is memorable, unexpected, and leaves the audience wondering. Creating a spectacle is a challenge to itself. And once you've gained attention, how do you maintain and further it? In a few short words, “Pretty is easy, smart is hard.” - Mitch’s Axiom #222

Creative Choices in WW1984 WW1984 made a spectacle of the poster for example - very Ragnarok and exciting. But nothing about the product was 1984-ish at all. Visual aesthetics are being used to support a Theme that has a certain look and feel (1984). But it seemed to lose that as they thought through creative choices, therefore creative was paramount over the purpose.

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In this second piece of our three-part series on brand storytelling, we’re discussing concepts of theme and dialogue. Often the term "brand message" is something that sounds philosophical, not tangible. Think of your “theme” as the message, and the dialogue is your ongoing conversation with your customers.

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NerdBrand Podcast - Episode 37 Elements of Storytelling - Part 1: Plot and Character Here on the podcast we love movies, and all things in the “nerd” culture as we believe that is THE culture of the day. Therefore, nothing is coincidence with advertising in movies, email, social media, and more. In this episode we’re discussing the elements of storytelling. Starting with the “why” tell it to begin with. Then your characters. How does this relate to business? Well, listen and find out. 1. Plot Plot is your WHY for doing what it is you do. The plot defines what the story is about and what the audience will experience. It sets up the motivations, challenges, the goals, and the road people are taking to fulfill it. Plot helps the audience empathize with the protagonist (that is you in this example). Here’s a list of movies that we feel like failed on the plot. As a result, they are typically forgotten. Movies that have been forgettable in 2020:

Bad Boys for Life - just shooting, sarcasm, and running.

Birds of Prey - ?

Fantasy Island - such a missed opportunity

(source) https://www.imdb.com/list/ls029217360/ So, for branding and design, plot helps our team to get a clear headspace on what to focus on and how to overcome the impending challenges. It sets the purpose for your users to take a look, and decide. 2. Character Reaching your customers (that is your Users). Without characters well defined the audience cannot believe what they are being told. Traits in the characters must be related to them. This helps them see the justification behind the character's actions. It builds trust. The movie Joker did this really well. You’re watching a character that is a killer. But the character is so well developed you begin to question yourself during the movie because you empathize with the bullying he is going through. Characters are your Users. Without them in the center of your design process there are no reasons or problems to justify their need to spend time learning and buying from you.

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Brand evolution occurs in response to customer feedback. This affects the brands designs, position in the marketplace, and often staff changes. This is not a re-branding. Design Evolution Not just logos. It’s the website, message, or any creative the brand makes shifts in this evolution. Design evolutions also can happen as design trends change. This can cause new talent to be introduced into the brands staff.

Visit https://nerdbrandagency.com/

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NerdBrand Podcast - Episode 35 How Brands Diversify - Part 2: Brand Dilution Brand Dilution Brand dilution is from trying to push too far on extensions is what we’re looking for though. Join us as we share some brands that have done this, and what products they made. Brand dilution is also when there is over use or brand perceptions are lost. Brands that have done this:

DC/WB with Batman.

Used too many times, and I think we’re getting fatigue. How many movies, video games, and animation series have we seen in the last 10 years?

Chasing the success of Christopher Nolans trilogy. (I only liked Begins and TDK. Batfleck (he’s baaack) Casting of new Batman films (not a fan so far) Placing Batman in 3 films Animation series produced (I loved the Batman Animated) Games - over 40+ video games made! Star Wars

In 2019: “I just think that we might’ve put a little bit too much in the marketplace too fast,” Disney CEO Iger told the New York Times.

Sony - Playstation

What is Sony known for? Most would answer Playstation or video game console. But has Playstation diluted the brand? Other Brands that had success at diversification (brand extension) and failure (brand dilution) at this, let’s discuss:

Amazon Fire Phone Harley Davidson Perfume Cadbury’s Instant Potatoes Crystal Pepsi Virgin Water Filtration System Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce Coca-Cola Clothing Windows Phone

Thank you for listening, and you can check out our podcast on the Top 5 most valuable brands in 2020 at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast for the latest episode. Keep your NerdBrand Strong!

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, we’re diving into how brands diversify. This episode kicks off a three-part series starting with Brand Extensions. A brand extension (sometimes called a category extension) is when a brand uses its established name or an established product line to launch a new product or category. The idea is of course to leverage the brand reputation and loyalty to catapult the new product. In other words, the existing brand is a low-cost marketing tool. Brand extensions are often introduced with the goal of opening a new revenue stream with a complementary product, improving the customer experience, or solidifying a competitive advantage in the market. Let’s look at some examples we talk about on the episode. Tesla Tequila: Yes, from space ships, electric cars, to now liquor. KFCFingernail polish: WUT? No seriously. Launched in the Hong Kong market. Fire Logs: Yes – this just gets weirder. Make your house smell like KFC when you do not have KFC.

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My story isn’t sexy. So do I TikTok it? Let’s talk about storytelling and your brand. Grabbing someone’s attention in today’s world is difficult. So telling your brands story is one way to capture their attention. But what if your story is mundane or just plain boring? It's not true, let's talk and help you tell it better. Not everything is sexy, but not everything is boring. For example: Boring Comic book characters made interesting:

Thor - transformation from first movie to recent. Ironman - drunk, playboy, and for years no one would touch it. Captain America - just in general. Too goody two shoes. Superman - has become boring due to focus on super powers.

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Lighten Up Your Marketing Marketing can sound so serious, but today advertising is not what it was 30 years ago. It’s informative, entertaining, and moves audiences emotionally to make purchase decisions. On this episode, we’re discussing ideas and ads that used creative humor to boost marketing and make their brand's more “interactive." What does this look like? Start with the pain points of your ideal customers. What drives customers in your space crazy? Relationships can be a great way to explore the comical truth. The "Clients from Hell" blog in our space is a great example to show the real humor of working in creative services. One caveat: there are cautions when applying humor to anything. So vet internally first. There’s nothing wrong with trying it out on yourselves to make sure you’re not being tone-deaf or insensitive.

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Would you like to play a game? Would you like to listen to a podcast? This Episode is on marketing lessons we can learn from horror movies! For this episode, we’re talking scary and spooky marketing strategy. How can you join the fun this season as a brand? The world can be a scary place, learn from these horror movies! There are movies we watched and remember that’s created franchises. Franchises are Brands. It’s a stretch maybe, but if you are making movies, selling Merchandise, and have a fan devotion. You’re a Brand. But what makes a great horror movie? People, Places, Things. Let's discuss some of the things that make up a horror movie strategy you'll need to create a brand around. Annabelle - People are scared of dolls. This taught us about viral marketing. The doll was placed in subways and other locations. (source: https://www.themarysue.com/dear-annabelle-creation-please-stop/) What ideas can you think of to creatively promote your brand? We can help brainstorm with you and make it happen. Hereditary - People are scared of old people. Marketing lesson: Teaches us to not TRICK our audiences. See what I did? Be honest about expectations. Your brand's story and product quality should shine through and be enough. Don't over promise and under deliver! (source: https://mashable.com/2018/06/11/hereditary-marketing-cinemascore/) IT - People still hate clowns. Marketing lesson: Merchandise, get yer Merch! Picking branded apparel or merchandise can be overwhelming. What do I buy? What would my prospects and customers like? We spend a lot of time discussing this and making suggestions. (source:https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/5-horror-movie-marketing-tactics-you-can-steal-for-your-brand/) Orphan - People are scared of children First of all, this is kind of a true story. The second, as a marketing lesson: Controversy isn’t a strategy. The old saying of "any press is free press" or whatever, is not true. The message is everything, and it's what we do. So careful what you say, and how you say it. (source: https://www.screengeek.net/2020/08/19/orphan-movie-real-life-horror-story-parallel/) The color BLUE and other tricks to scare you. Final marketing lesson: Color choices matter Everything is in most horror movies is a blue-ash hue color. Color makes us feel things. What do you see when looking at Blue, Greens, Yellows, or Reds placed on certain items? To sum up, a strategy is to pick out what you want to do, say, and then the visuals like colors, and art to support your efforts in promoting your brand. But make sure you first get down your why, because passion is contagious!

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Movie theaters have been around for over 100 years. But like all things, times change. First, problems at AMC, then Cineworld, and then Regal. But this started before the pandemic. Cineworld to announce the “temporary suspension” of over 600 locations in the U.S. and the U.K. It begged the question: which films are still slated to open in theaters in 2020? The audiences then went to online streaming. But it’s not proving cost-effective for their customers, and people are missing the experience of in-person viewing with others. Drive-ins saw a boom, but they’re seasonal. Let’s discuss how we got here. Is it the medium, or the stories? Are movie theaters going away like film cameras? Were there just not enough incentives? Have we gotten bored with comic heroes? Cinema Advertising Cinema advertising expenditures are going up, not down, according to this source. What is cinema advertising? Well, if you like arriving early to the theater before the trailers, it's ads that are shown for pre-roll entertainment. A resurgence is expected for theaters. Let’s talk about what got pushed and delayed. So far only one potential blockbuster comic book movie is still scheduled for 2020: Wonder Woman 1984 I think, depending on HBO Max's success, we'll see other DC Movies with Zack Snyder's cut, as many of the actors have moved onto other projects. Marvel disconnected TV series' from movies, but with the pandemic, it looks to not be the continued case. WandaVision and Loki may tie into Dr Strange 2. Spiderman 3 cast Dr Strange in its new film. The next phase of world-building has begun, while DC seems to still be figuring it out. Here’s their list:

Greenlatern Series (In Development) Will be on streaming or CW? Aquaman 2 The Batman Man of Steel 2 (trended on Twitter) no sign of being in development The Flash…. Everyone but your kid will be in it…. (Casting insane)

Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Ezra Miller. Yup, you read that correctly. MICHEAL F’n KEATON https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439572/fullcredits So are we in the phase of shock, not quality? I like nostalgia, but I want a good story. It’s getting more rare.

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Guest John Moore gets his “nerd” on and talk about their brand IQpack, and what else gets their nerd hearts pumping. The Marketing Secret TIME. The dirty little secret - marketing doesn’t have to be paid to advertise because marketing can be as simple as the one-on-one experience you have with a salesperson or the look and feel of your location. Many brands have been enormously successful without spending large amounts of money on marketing because of the thing you cannot buy, time. Example Brands

Trader Joe’s - Direct-from-supplier, uses funds to maintain a quality list of unique addictive products, dumps lesser performing products. The most prominent marketing they do is their flyer which is a print and online newsletter with a light quippy copy and lots of discounts. It’s a brand staple, and the only promotional materials they produce. Krispy Kreme - unique, highly visible locations, every Krispy Kreme employee attends training at Krispy Kreme University where their taught marketing. Consistent user experience. Costco - High quality “house brands,” in addition to select highly visible brands and a wide variety of categories. Frequent rotation of desirable and season products. Have industry-low turnover rates, low prices, and stocks that have nearly tripled in value, resulting in very happy investors. 90% customer renewal rate. Sriracha - Serious devotion to quality ingredients despite the cost. CEO David Tran says, “I don’t advertise, because I can’t advertise (because of commitment to ingredients).” GoPro - A brand that created its own niche. A steady stream of engaging content on social media has built a community of nearly 5 million subscribers. Tesla - Focused on disruption through innovation. Have a leader in Elon Musk who has a knack for leaving audiences wanting (and expecting) more. (In 2014 Tesla spent $48.9 million on marketing, General Motors spent $5.2 billion.)

Brand Visibility Reasons vary, but common similarities appear to be:

Preeminent quality Highly unique niche Membership Marketing Innovative mindset that keeps them ahead of competitors

Tips for building your brand: 1. Craft your brand strategy. Knowing who you are, what you’re trying to achieve, and how you’re going to do it. 2. Know your voice. Find and hone your brand voice in all communication 3. Share your brand story. Share how your brand was founded, or offer a view into you're manufacturing process. Bring people along for the ride. 4. Uncover the stories in your data. Data is one of the best sources of content. 5. Use your brand’s culture to make compelling content. Let the public look inside the curtain. 6. Lead with your beliefs. People support brands with shared same values. 7. Build a strong brand identity. Visual presence tells your brand story as much as your words.

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Personal Branding: Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson Marvel Movies are pushed to 2021, but the streaming shows competition is heating up. CW's shows are winding down it seems. Marvel Streaming: Wandavision - are we seeing the House of M? Easter eggs seem to show us hints (e.g. Wine Bottle). DC Streaming: HBO Max, and $70 million in reshoots for Zach Snyder Justice League. Personal Branding People don’t do business with companies. They do business with people they like. The Rock is producing this DC movie spin off from Shazam. We’re talking about a guy that does branding well... Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson. The Rock is playing Black Adam, and the first time on the big screen, we're going to see a Hawkman.

Will Black Adam appear on streaming? Has The Rock been commissioned to save the DCCU?

Let’s think about Dwayne Johnson’s career from the fanny pack to the monster brand he is today.

Using Dwayne Johnson’s example, how does personal branding work? What do you need to personally brand yourself?

Steps to personal Branding

Define your message and the media. How (or what) are you solving?

Your WHY.

Make that your focus.

You HOW, or belief (NerdBrand’s is We believe everything is an ad.)

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Don’t jettison any element of your brand that makes you recognizable, charming, or singular for the sake of fleeting fashion and trendiness.

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There are robots that can play chess. But no robot (or A.I.) exists to go to a bookshelf, take out the board, and set up the pieces, then play the game. On this episode we talk with Bruce Corwin from the Bourbon Brotherhood about Artificial Intelligence, his time as a hacker, and Bourbon. Oh, and thanks to Dave, some clowns, but none we're hurt recording this episode. There are 3 kinds of A.I. Machine Learning is an Artificial Intelligent robot that, without a programmer (human), it learns a behavior. We humans, have behaviors easily learned to replicate, then behave better.

Artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), which has a narrow range of abilities; Artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is on par with human capabilities; or Artificial super-intelligence (ASI), which is more capable than a human.

A.I. in movies: A.I., iRobot, Ex Machina, Terminator Artificial Intelligence increases our communication and influences what we read. Social media algorithms are a prime example of how A.I. can influence our thinking. Thus the evil of social media and these A.I. = fake news. Social Media has a machine, based on machine learning decides what gets shown 1st or at all.

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Hasbro Studios to Allspark: No one noticed that Hasbro RE-Branded their in-house television content production and distribution division to Allspark; formerly Hasbro Studios. “We are excited to refine our brand in the industry under the moniker ‘Allspark’, which is a fun homage to the life force in Transformers,” says Stephen Davis, Hasbro’s executive VP and chief content officer. What is a good reason to do a re-brand? Changing the publics perception can be one. The other is to launch a new product or service. Using Branding and PR you can get a launchpad for your Brand to gain traction. Things you did not know about Transformers Having been around for 30 years, and 6 movies, what fun facts do you know about Transformers? Examples:

Go-Bots are transformers now. Fans got to write some dialogue for the 2007 movie. The 2007 movie was supposed to be released In 2005 to celebrate the anniversary of the animated movie.

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NerdBrand Podcast Ep. 24 Deadpool 3 - Marketing Terminology Wrapping up our new series on Marketing. Using Deadpool, we talked about how guerrilla marketing can be used, then for the sequel, how social media marketing was used to advertising this movie sequel. For our third and final installment for the series, we talking about Deadpool 3, and Marketing terminology. Have you ever wondered what that marketing buzzword means What about Deadpool 3, will it happen? Listen in and find out!

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NerdBrand Podcast Ep. 23 - Deadpool 2 - Social Media Marketing Introducing our new series on Marketing. Starting with Deadpool, the first movie, and how social media marketing was used to advertising this movie sequel. Also, Domains, should you worry about how “long” it is? Remember to tune in on our website at https://nerdbrandagency.com or iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong!

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NerdBrand Podcast Ep. 22 Deadpool - Guerrilla Marketing Introducing our new series on Marketing. Starting with Deadpool, the first movie, and how guerrilla marketing was used to advertising this movie that almost never existed. Things Deadpool did:

Set a standard that rated-R comic films work. But wasn’t the first. Anyone remember Judge Dredd? NOT the Sly Stallone version! What about Blade 2? The one that was not terrible. Disagree? Fight me. Viral Social Media Campaigns. More about Social media marketing next episode. Rallied the fans to persuade a major studio to back, and release a rated-R comic-book movie. Fox had ZERO intentions of doing this, if not for leaked test footage.

source: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/07/deadpools-secret-weapon-a-viral-social-media-campaign.html Surpassed the “Force Awakens” on Twitter with most Tweets. (approx 90,000) “Social media is obviously very important in this day and age for any movie,” BoxOffice.com senior analyst Shawn Robbins said. “Fox has actually been really championing it for quite a while and they’ve taken it to the next level with ‘Deadpool.’ ” Ryan Reynolds - Creative Director WUT? Let’s talk about this trend… Celebrities that are creative directors now. Joining Mr. Alright Alright Alright, is now Ryan Reynolds for Aviation Gin. The Ladies got in on it too. Lady Gaga once served as Creative Director of Polaroid and Alicia Keys was named Creative Director at Blackberry (2013). Q: Why doesn’t it suffice anymore to have a celebrity as brand ambassador? A: Blame Social Media. For the podcast, let’s discuss your thoughts on why, other than celebrity sells. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/17/diageo-to-buy-ryan-reynolds-backed-aviation-gin-for-610-million.html Takeaway about Guerrilla Marketing: Do you agree or disagree on these points? Asking people to change their perception can be fun. But it may not actually lead to increased sales. Sometimes what works in one market won’t work in another. Analyze the laws and public sentiment before launching any plans. What was your favorite Guerrilla marketing stunt? Jason’s is AntMan with Ant-sized billboards. It’s hilarious, google it. Ok, that’s the show! Remember to tune in on our website at: https://nerdbrandagency.com or iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong! reference: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world/ Visit us at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast/

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NerdBrand Podcast Ep. 21

Join us on Ep. 21 of the NerdBrand podcast, where we talk about Brand Principles and Amazon. This is the final brand spotlight in our series on the Top 5 Most Valuable Brands. Amazon occupies the #1!

NerdNEWS We try to keep it happy around here, but unfortunately, that’s not always possible. We’re saddened to share the news about DC Comics, DC Collectibles aka DC Direct (Action figures), and DC Universe (streaming service) layoffs — “blood bath” — that occurred this week. DC Direct, the company’s in-house merchandise and collectibles manufacturer. The division has been shuttered after 22 years! The Hollywood Reporter has word that a shocking third of DC Comics’ editorial staff were part of Monday’s roughly 600 layoffs at WarnerMedia Editors:

Brian Cunningham Mark Doyle Andy Khouri

Andy formed a major part of DC’s complete rebranding and organization of its comics output in the establishment of the Black Label line a few years ago. Senior members of DC’s editorial operations:

Senior VP of publishing strategy and support services Hank Kanalz, VP of marketing and creative services Jonah Weiland (the founder of comics journalism site Comic Book Resources, who had only joined DC in 2019) VP global publishing initiatives and digital strategy Bobbie Chase, who has helped spearhead DC Comics’ hugely successful push into YA and kids-focused graphic novels

However, Jim Lee, DC’s chief commercial officer, remains in place. https://io9.gizmodo.com/massive-warner-layoffs-gut-dc-comics-dc-universe-1844684639

1 Amazon: Brand Principles

Previous episodes were: 5. Samsung - Brand Awareness 4. Microsoft - Brand Attributes 3. Apple - Brand Values 2. Google - Brand Philosophy 1. Amazon - Brand Principles What are Brand Principles? Brand Principles are Subjective. They are the “Brand Management” or “Brand Strategy” of your brand. Brand Principle are what are self-evident about a brand. Brand Values are in contrast, and are Objective. They are beliefs, and opinion of the Brand. See our episode on Apple for Values. Amazon is guided by four principles:

customer obsession rather than competitor focus passion for invention commitment to operational excellence long-term thinking

source: https://www.aboutamazon.com/our-company/about-amazon Amazon Products:

Amazon Web Services Prime Video Amazon Music Fire Tablets Fire TV Echo and Alexa Kindle E-readers and Books

More about Amazon: https://www.aboutamazon.com/ Remember to tune in on our website at: https://nerdbrandagency.com or iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong! reference: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world/ Visit us at: https://&a

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NerdBrand Podcast Ep. 20: The Top 5 Most Valuable Brands for 2020 - Google NerdNEWS https://nerdist.com/article/blue-bunny-outdoor-movie-theater-truck/ With cinema’s closed, and the pandemic still occurring. The movie culture has to start to reconsider outdoor entertainment. Once Drive-ins would close by the hundreds, now they could make a strong return. Blue Bunny is an ice cream truck that has transformed its truck into a mobile movie theater outdoors that could park in your driveway. It’s only a temporary promotion. But an idea we nerds love.

2 Google: Brand Philosophy

Google’s Brand Philosophy was written when the company was less than 10 years old. It is broken down into 10 things:

Focus on the user and all else will follow. It’s best to do one thing really, really well. Fast is better than slow. Democracy on the web works. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer. You can make money without doing evil. There’s always more information out there. The need for information crosses all borders. You can be serious without a suit. 10.Great just isn’t good enough.

What is your favorite and why? Under number 4 it says: “We assess the importance of every web page using more than 200 signals and a variety of techniques, including our patented PageRank™ algorithm, which analyzes which sites have been “voted” to be the best sources of information by other pages across the web.” There you have it. How many signals, and how search works summed up in a single sentence. Which Google Products have you used?

Search Glasses (remember these?) Laptop Phones Android OS

Others listed here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products Google Social Networks? Was it worth it?

Google Wave, Google Friend Connect, Google Buzz, then became Google+ Youtube Orkut Keen

Latest Release into Social is Keen, a PinterePinterest-like network. https://bgr.com/2020/06/19/google-social-network-keen-vs-pinterest/ https://www.google.com/about/philosophy.html Remember to tune in on our website at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast or iTunes or Spotify. Reference: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world/ Visit us at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast/

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Brand Vision: It's about inspiration not convincing. Some people buy from you because they believe what you believe. Just like there are those that work for you, not because of the money, but because they believe in the mission of the organization that they choose to work for. People buy iPhones, even though Microsoft and Samsung can make a good phone because they believe that Apple can make a better product for them. Online we find: According to a manifesto from Tim Cook in 2009: Apple’s mission is “to bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.” “We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that's not changing.” Remember to tune in on our website at https://nerdbrandagency.com or iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong! reference: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-valuable-brands-in-the-world/ Visit us at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast/

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The Top 5 Most Valuable Brands for 2020: #4 Microsoft and Brand Attributes The Brand’s role in the purchase decisions of consumers. Brand attributes are the functional and emotional associations that are assigned to a brand by its customers and prospects. They are the basic elements for establishing a brand identity. Brand Attributes - Today’s show. Microsofts Attributes: Human, Connected, Intelligent Jeff Hansen, GM of Microsoft Brand Strategy, gives you an EXCELLENT example and presentation of what a Brand should do, and can do, for your business. Watch the video here: https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en-us/insights/brand-leadership-in-the-digital-age Remember to tune in on our website at https://nerdbrandagency.com or on iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong!

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For this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast, our first of five episodes is about Samsung. Samsung is one of the top 5 most valuable brands in the world for 2020. What do you think of when you hear their name? Phones? Appliances? TVs? Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. Samsung means means “three stars” in English. There are 3 pillars to Brand Value 1) The Brands Financial Strength The financial return to an organization’s investors, or its profit, is a factor in a brand’s value. This is the “after-tax” profit of the brand. Not including any capital used to invest in it. 2) A Brand’s Role in purchase decisions of consumers Purchase decisions based on the brand as opposed to price structure, convenience, or product features. Comparing brands in the same industry, or doing a study among experts can weigh in on this. 3) Brand Equity (or Strength) How loyal are the people that buy your brand’s products or services? This is Brand Equity. Therefore, sustainable demand and profit for the future of the brand effects the Brands Value. Remember to tune in on our website at https://nerdbrandagency.com or iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong! Visit us at https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast/ for more episodes!

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This episode we're talking about Brands that launched that were awesome and review what they did, and how they launched publicly. As well as what Brand Extensions are plus how Corvette puts easter eggs in their cars. Not the candy kind. Key Brand Communication Points Brand launches are always a nervous matter, so let’s discuss the steps before we share the Brands that did it well:

Develop a launch communications plan. Define your key messages and tailor them to each audience. Talk to and train your internal staff FIRST. Be everywhere your audience is (social media). Be sure your creative is delivering the right message. Leverage key industry events. Sustain your communication efforts over time. Invest in identity standards.

Read more on this episode at https://nerdbrandagency.com/

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NerdBrand Podcast Episode 15 BatFleck Returns! and more on Google Core Web Vitals Visit us at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast/ This episode we're talking about Google Core Web Vitals with our Developer Lora Byrnside. Some of the things we'll share is how it's going to increase costs, time, for a quality site that meets Google standards. Plus, how will the WordPress community of theme and plugin developers handle it. NerdNews Segment BatFleck Returns! Yes, apparently he is inking a deal with WB and will return as the Batman we knew in Zack Snyders universe. You can read more here: https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/07/03/rumor-ben-afflecks-return-to-batman-is-imminent-with-contract-in-hand/ Now on to Google Core Web Vitals The amount of time to get Web Vitals corrected is how much you spend to pay a dev vs SEO benefits. Could strongly indicate, no more cheap Wix sites, or others that are not compliant with expectations if you want to "rank" for your key terms or be indexed at all. This is not to go into effect until 2021, but likely by May 2021 it will be 100% in effect for all websites. The Google Console already includes Core Web Vitals next to Mobile Readiness, and other important ranking signals. Remember to tune in on our website at: https://nerdbrandagency.com or iTunes or Spotify, and keep your NerdBrand Strong!

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NerdBrand Podcast Episode 14 The Last Starfighter and Nostalgic Marketing Visit us at: https://nerdbrandagency.com/podcast/ Greetings Starfighter! This episode we’re discussing The Last Star Fighter and how nostalgia marketing works. Essentially, nostalgia marketing aims to capture (or rather, re-capture) your audience's attention by tapping into older and more familiar trends from the past — and we know that it works. But first breaking news! Michael Keaton Returns is set to return as Bruce Wayne/Batman for Ezra Miller’s the Flash movie, and potentially more films in the DCEU, e.g. Batgirl or Nightwing. This is awesome for Batfans! He’s likely to be set up as the “Nick Fury” of the DCEU, much like Ben Afleck was supposed to. However, I believe he’ll be Thomas Wayne as Batman, as The Flash movie is based on Flashpoint. Where The Flash goes back in time, and saves his mom. Thus changing the timeline and creating a new reality. SDCC IS NOT CANCELED! Sort of. News is that Comicon 2020 will be online this year with panels for Bill and Ted 3. Yes Keanu Reeves online doing a panel… But I calm my nerd, and lets get to what we are here for kids. (play Greetings Starfighter mp3) Famous Quotes (MP3): https://www.soundboard.com/sb/the_last_starfighter

Why does nostalgia marketing work? What are your favorite ads that use it? hint: Super Bowl When does nostalgia marketing go too far and sell you the fad or trend, rather than the product or service?

Nostalgia helps you create more authentic campaigns. Nostalgia marketing is effective because it makes advertisements and marketing campaigns appear more down-to-earth and authentic to your audience. Cons to it? It narrows your audience. So if your brand is about Nerds, will it only attract “nerds”? Not necessarily - why? Because “nerd” is general, whereas The Last Starfighter is “generational” Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Starfighter https://www.autopilothq.com/blog/nolstagiainmarketing/ https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-nostalgia-marketing-ads

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This episode we’re discussing the year 2008. What happened, our movie recommendation, Video games (Zelda), and why it was the year of the nerd. Some say 1999 is when it started, but I disagree, I think it happened the moment most of us were unemployed, nerd, geek, and jock alike.

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On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we're revisiting the Cloverfield Conspiracy and Viral Marketing! What's that now all look like in 2020? Will there be more films?

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about Google Web Vitals, Retargeting your ads, and Director Cut's marketing!

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about Brand Blunders, My new sound effects, and the state of Podcasting.

On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about Brand Expansion, Social Signals, and the Zach Snyder Justice League cut! NerdTalk What is Brand Expansion? hint: I kinda made it up. But, essentially, pushing your brand into new realms. Tips to do that:

Take a look at where you are. Do you really know your audience and are you connecting? What is the overall cost now for your brand, and what are you prepared to spend to expand? Launch softly, and learn from what doesn’t work. Not all failures are things you can’t learn from.

Zach Snyder Justice League Cut

1 Did DC take a look at where they are?

2 – does DC really know their audience? TV and Cinema are not the same, so the success of CW can’t be used to define success or failure of Cinema.

3 What has it cost them? There’s more than money at stake.

4 How did they handle the launches (social media, video, ads)?

If you liked this episode please share it, and leave us a comment about your feelings about the Zach Snyder Justice League Cut. If you missed the previous episodes check it out here. If you want to catch the next episode you can listen to it here.

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On this episode of the NerdBrand podcast we’re talking about WordPress. Why we use it, how many use it, and who uses it. Also at the end of the show will give you our theories as to how Indiana Jones knew to look away when the Nazis open the ark.

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On this episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we talking about Youtube, the 2nd largest search engine in the world. Digital Reboot, our Branding Adventures, and old jokes. Digital Reboot your business for the re-opening of Covid-19. Many business were caught off guard, and we hope these packages will help get you a strong start to 2020. You can read more about the Digital Reboot here. Furthermore, watch for our Branding Adventures. Yes, we got pictures made. But more importantly we are slowing rolling out new content and practicing what we preach.

NerdTalk Here are some Youtube statistics for 2020. Youtube is still the 2nd largest search engine in the world. Being so you can go to https://www.youtube.com/about/press/ and read up on the latest stats about Youtube usage such as: 2+ billion users – meaning almost one-third of the internet. 18–34 year olds are watching – YouTube, on mobile alone, reaches more people in this US audience than any TV network. One billion hours watched daily – This is the number of hours of video viewed on YouTube every day, generating billions of views.

The number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube grew more than 40% y/y. Number of channels earning five figures per year on YouTube grew more than 50% y/y. Channels with more than one million subscribers grew by more than 65% y/y.

Trending Youtube videos being made for 2020

TikTok: Reaction videos. How to/DIY: Cooking Tutorials, Haircuts, Business Advice Videos Health and Beauty: Try on Hauls, make up, shopping Video Games

The best videos are ones you are entertained and learn something without realizing it. NerdMail We get comments and emails from people and want to take this part of the show and answer some of those questions here. If you have a question, comment, or want to send a email for us to answer on the show, go to nerdbrandagency.com/podcast and leave us a message and we will read it on the show.

(why) is it the hardest to write content for your own company?

Here’s a break down of some of our thoughts on this: Because writing about yourself for people who are honestly humble hate giving themselves praise. Some may think too much of themselves when writing (not being in an arrogant way), and not about the customers they want. So they’ve never thought too much how to communicate strictly by copy. It’s hard to write high level about what you do without jargon. If you like this episode please leave a comment below, and tell your friends about it! If you missed the previous episode you can click here to listen. Again, thank you for listening, and Keep your NerdBrand strong.

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In this episode, we’re discussing the news about Kentucky reopening in May, NSA. Browser extensions, and how to Digital Reboot your business! Are you ready to be open for business? NerdNews – Kentucky reopening Kentucky reopening May 11th through June 15th in stages. As of May 8th:

May 22 – Restaurants, with limited 33% capacity and outdoor seating. June 1 – Movie theaters, fitness centers. Also on June 11 – Campgrounds, public and private reopen As well as on June 15 – Child care, with reduced capacity. And low-touch and outdoor youth sports reopen.

source: https://www.lanereport.com/125466/2020/05/beshear-announces-next-phase-of-reopening-economy/ Video Conferencing tools to be careful of The US National Security Agency (NSA) published last week a security assessment. It’s of today’s most popular video conferencing, text chatting, and collaboration tools. The guidance contains a list of security criteria. That the NSA hopes companies take into consideration. When selecting which telework tool/service they want to deploy in their environments. The NSA document is not only meant for US government and military entities. The private sector as well. Some of the criteria are:

Does the service put in place end-to-end (E2E) encryption? Must use E2E encryption use strong, well-known, testable encryption standards? Can the NSA listen in whilst you meet online?

Security researchers have found what appears to be a more rare form of Android abuse. State-sponsored spies who repeatedly slipped their targeted hacking tools into the Play Store. As well as onto victims’ phones. Spies hid malware in the Play Store to target users in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India. Careful about your browser extensions Google announced this week new rules for the Chrome Web Store. All in an attempt to cut down the number of shady Chrome extensions submitted and listed on the site. Starting August 27, Google says it intends to enforce a new set of rules. The rules are meant to crack down on a series of practices extension developers. Flooding the Web Store with shady extensions or boost install counts for low-quality content. NerdTalk Segment Digital Reboot your business! A joint initiative is offered by NerdBrand and its partners. This is to help address the critical digital marketing needs of small businesses caught off guard by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown. Check it out here. If you enjoyed this podcast, please like and subscribe. Questions we get will be read on the next episode. If you missed the last one, you can listen to it here. Remember everyone, Keep your NerdBrand strong.

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This episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we want to remind you to wear pants! Google Advertising Changes, and about most states reopening. Let’s find out on this episode! NerdNews San Diego Comicon 2020 (SDCC 2020) is canceled - Yes, sad, listen as we lament. See the link below on what state are reopening: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/us/states-reopen-coronavirus-trnd/ Streaming Wars Disney plus programming and the streaming wars - will original programming win, or is this just another version of the cable wars? Oops Binged it Microsoft has shut down a feature in its Bing search engine that shows popular articles from major websites after Ars Technica reported that the feature was showing wildly inappropriate results from the stock photo site Shutterstock. How inappropriate? Well, you don’t want to know. Google Advertising Policy Change Google will soon require all advertisers to verify their identity, the company said in a blog post on Thursday. It's making the change to prevent advertisers from misrepresenting themselves and says it it should allow consumers to see who's running ads and which country they're located in. From a report on the Google Advertising update: Consumers have seen a proliferation of ads for products from dubious advertisers, like fake vaccines, in recent months. Fake businesses have also been an issue. Existing advertisers will have 30 days to complete the verification process, according to a spokeswoman. If they don't submit the documents by then, Google said it will suspend the account and the advertiser's ability to serve ads until they provide it. The company said consumers will start seeing disclosures that list this information on the advertiser when they click "Why this ad?" on placements beginning this summer. Google will begin by verifying advertisers in the U.S. and will expand globally, expecting that the process will take a few years to complete. Google began requiring political advertisers to verify their identity back in 2018 before running election ads. So there you have that, advertising on Google is about to get harder. NerdTalk Segment Put your pants on! We’re almost open! What states will be open and what do we think things will be like for:

Retail Barber shops and salons - OMG Restaurants Malls Parks Events

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This episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about our event and movie delays, myths about SEO, and how to not go mad while working from home. Entertainment News Even the entertainment industry has made changes to how it advertises its product we love. Some tried online streaming for $20 a movie, others said, “we’ll wait.” New Movies Delayed:

Black Widow James Bond number 4000 (I kid) A Quiet Place 2 Peter Rabbit 2 – did we not say all that was needed in 1? Jurassic World: Dominion – yes another one. The Batman – meh.

Myths about SEO WordPress SEO Plugins don’t work – False. Web designers should know SEO – False. a very smart person.The purpose of a web designer is to take information and lay it out in an easy to read way, to lead the user through an easy to navigate website and to get to the information as easily as possible in a clean and inviting way. I agree that a web designer should have basic awareness of SEO, but that is not a requirement.

What SEO does NOT do:

Sell – True, it won’t help you sell. Prove you have a good product – True Create Desire for your brand/product/service – True, that’s marketing. It’s a DIY thing – False and True, time vs money

How not to go mad while working at home!

Workout for 30 minutes Work in spurts Stay Connected Dress up Make yourself Laugh (but not like the Joker)

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This episode of the NerdBrand Podcast we’re talking about what is a re-brand! What it is and is not, what makes a nerd a nerd, SBA Loan madness, and eCommerce tips. Hint: Definition of a nerd = passion.

What is Re-brand?

It’s not a re-design of your logo or website, but can be. It’s a new message for a new audience that you need to reach. Need is the keyword.

Rebranding is often immediately assumed to be a do-over of what you have. Sometimes that absolutely not the case. Merely a tweak or color change elicit the response and attract the customers you actually want. Think about your logo, website, and your print materials. Are they all in sync? Are there major color differences? How do you look on the search engine? We’re not talking about SEO, but how you sound. Branding is something that is holistic, as Mitch says, and touches every medium you use to display yourself to the world. Therefore, making everything you put out there, an ad. NerdHelp Segment

eCommerce tips in the era of a pandemic What to sell on? A Template, Commercial, or Premium Theme? Why WordPress at all?

The number of eCommerce tips are numerous to list. But we want to cover some. If you want to know more, check out this post on the matter. What you sell on is important, whether WordPress of Shopify, but not having a presence at all has been costly to many businesses that have ignored it. We hope you liked the show! Did you miss episode 2? Click here to catch up! Or if you’re ready for episode 4 click here to listen! If you want to hear the latest episode, click here.

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This episode is about Remote Productivity, Staying Secure while working from home. As well as some tips on remote work apps we use. During Covid-19 we’re all aware of the impact this has on our families, friends, neighbors, and businesses. We all hope that very soon we will return to normal. But while we’re waiting on that, here’s some positive news, tips, and recommendations from our nerds.

Remote working and recommended tools

Slack Google Hangouts Evernote Clickup Microsoft Teams

Protect yourself

Zoom controversy - not encrypted end to end, try Google Hangouts or alternate Sophos - Malware Protection on Macs. Your wifi password while working from home

How are you marketing yourself online now? Working remotely with Google tools.

Recreate forms with Google Forms or form builder on WordPress website with Ninja Forms, or Gravity Forms. Redesign your website while there’s time, and get some remote help with that from a Nerd.

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In this episode, we discuss the difference between Nerds and Geeks. Referencing a study done using Twitter data, guitar collections, how businesses can overcome the challenges caused by COVID-19, and much more. Difference between Nerds and Geeks For determining the difference, it’s based on the vocabulary they use. Geeks love stuff, Nerds love ideas. Burrsettles wrote this about his Twitter research, https://bitrebels.com/geek/differences-geeks-nerds-twitter-research/“In broad strokes, it seems to me that geeky words are more about stuff, while nerdy words are more about ideas…Plus, they aren’t two distinct personalities as much as different aspects of personality.”

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE If you liked the show, please subscribe and share with your friends! Thank you for listening, and if you liked this episode, please leave a comment below or share this post. Click here if you want to read about some tools we use for remote working and management. If you want to hear the latest episode, click here. For a blast from the past, check out a episode from 2016 here.

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Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nerdbrand/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nerdbrand/support