#73
Building Influential Brands That Connect with Tessa Misiaszek
Tessa Misiaszek is a speaker, writer, and professor who, throughout her professional and academic experience, has examined the intersection between marketing strategy and workplace culture.
Misiaszek completed her PhD at Simmons University in Boston and taught in the Simmons School of Management and Hult International Business School for several years. She also holds a master’s degree in public health and a BSc in resource economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She spent nearly two decades developing human capital strategies to improve health care, with an emphasis on provider–patient communication.
Today, Misiaszek is the head of research for the Korn Ferry Institute, an Instructor with Harvard Division of Continuing Education, and cofounder of the Happy at Work podcast. She is also the co-author of the newly released book, ‘Branding that Means Business’.
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Summary
02:43 What drew Tessa to the world of brand marketing
- Tessa has worked in the healthcare and communications space
- She is very interested in how we can build a better culture and service for our customers
- She moved into academia a decade ago
06:32 Is weaving in marketing to all parts of the business more prevalent for US organizations?
- Many marketers have been promoted to c-suite level jobs
- We will experience a shift with new roles such as ‘Chief Experience Officer’
- A lot of training for CIO roles has been skills-orientated, which might be why they are at top-level positions
- It’s super powerful to experience a frontline role for a number of years then do an MBA
12:28 The Why Test
- It is structured around a means-end theory
- Asking why you do the things you do pushes you into more subconscious connections
- “Companies are like people, they have personalities”
- E.g. the core mission of Zappos was to deliver happiness but their means was through selling shoes
19:22 The relationship between branding and voting
- The Republican brand has been built around Trump over the last few years
- Trump had a brand personality and a core message
- The brand message behind the Democrats was more about the wider society and human rights
24:29 Regardless of the age profile of US politicians, how do Gen Z voters still resonate with brand messaging?
- They are the first post-digital generation and know how to navigate and access information online better than any other generation
- Gen Z are participants of a global society
33:05 How an organization can work with influencers
- It’s important to understand your marketing strategy and who you are serving
- Influencers have a lot of trust with their audience and its something companies can leverage from
36:49 The difference between celebrities and influencers
- It started first with the print and TV media having aspirational messages, then in the 90s it transitioned to celebrities, and now it is influencers born through social media
41:26 Brands taking a stance with issues
- Brand activism is a relatively new term
- Upwards of 85% of young consumers look to brands instead of governments to have a positive impact on the world
- Always be consistent, direct and transparent with your approach
50:19 How to rebrand
- Be transparent with your audience as to why you have chosen to rebrand
53:51 Where are we with eCommerce?
- The traditional non-digital organizations and industries (e.g. healthcare and hospitality) have done well with the eCommerce transformation as it has given them a chance to completely redefine their digital offerings
56:34 The biggest challenges and opportunities for brick and mortar moving to eCommerce
- It is an opportunity for companies to reinvent online offerings, so organizations that aren’t being innovative will be left behind
- We are able to personalize so much more online through social media and emerging technologies
01:01:07 Learning from disruptive brands like Uber
- Consumers may be buying your product but not for your primary reason
- Co-create with your consumer
01:03:45 What makes a long-standing brand
- Nike is a great example: their purpose has always been to enable athletes to compete at their best level – and if you have a body, you’re an athlete, which is a very inclusive message
- Their messaging as evolved and always speaks to their audience
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