Blog Archives


EP116 – Spring & Mulberry: Kathryn Shah, Co-Founder

Before starting chocolate brand Spring & Mulberry, Kathryn Shah was a brand strategy consultant who served as the Vice President of Global Marketing at Pantone and the Brand Manager for Veuve Clicquot Champagne, two brands 99% of us love and look up to.

 

It was a trip to India and a cancer diagnosis that led to her launching her startup Spring & Mulberry, a line of date-sweetened chocolate bars. After having Jeni Britton of Floura on the last episode, this is part 2 of another serendipitous series where I have two highly accomplished female founders of innovative health food brands on the show back-to-back.

 

This episode is filled with insights from Kathryn’s brand-building journey – from working at Unilever on building the Ragu Pasta Sauce brand, to driving brand growth at Veuve Cliquot to launching her own brand in a very poetic and decisive manner.

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EP115 – Floura: Jeni Britton, Founder

Many of you know Jeni Britton from episode 28, where we did a deep dive into Jeni’s Ice Creams, which she started at age 22 and now sells in 80 scoop shops and 12,500 retailers with an annual revenue north of 125 million.

 

Today, we dive into a new chapter of Jeni’s entrepreneurial journey with Floura. Floura is a next-generation fiber company that currently offers fiber bars, which she calls Fruit Crush Bars, in multiple flavors.

 

As was the case in my previous conversation with Jeni, this episode is us nerding out on all things branding, from focus groups to customer perception, from deriving your brand DNA to naming to organic branding. At the same time, you learn about the power of fiber. A delightful and inspiring conversation you do not want to miss.

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Brand Therapy?

Here is why I call it such, how it differentiates from typical agency processes, and why this approach taught me that founders are the best brand builders (most often with a bit of professional guidance).

My final outtake from the series of talks with Sean McGrath at the University of Michigan’s College of Business.

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How to follow trends without losing your brand’s soul

How should brands best navigate trends while keeping their brand authenticity?

[Another quick outtake from a lovely discussion with Sean McGrath for the marketing MBA program at the University of Michigan’s College of Business]

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A Journey Through All Things Brand

Join us as we browse through my professional journey and unravel many brand questions along the way, such as: The biggest branding mistakes businesses make, Why our opinions on the Jaguar and Walmart re-brands don’t matter, How to build a brand that connects and sells, Why branding is about shortening the journey from “maybe” to “definitely”

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EP114 – Hello Genius: Till Janczukowicz, Founder

This is the first time I get to say ‘welcome back’ on Hitting The Mark as I had Till Janczukowicz, the founder of Berlin-based IDAGIO, which is often described as ‘the Spotify for classical music,’ on episode 21.

 

But this is not a Let’s catch up with Till episode to check in on IDAGIO. Instead, I recently saw that he is preparing for an exciting brand launch that features none other than John Malkovich to kick things off.

 

The idea? Spend a month with John. Hello Genius is the brand’s name, and it fosters a whole new level of mentorship, access, and community.

 

On this episode, Till shares his vision for the brand in his typical intellectually stimulating and curiosity-evoking manner.

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What makes a brand a brand?

During a guest lecture with Sean McGrath I was pondering the age-old question: What makes a strong brand?

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Why branding is an insurance layer

Branding is not a nice to have; it is a necessity, a powerful layer of insurance around your product/service.

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The Power of Positioning

A simple exercise showing how positioning leads to sales on hand of 5 brand strategists/designers from my Hitting The Mark Circle group.

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EP113 – BEZI: Ilay Karateke, Co-Founder

Ilay Karateke is on a mission to bring Labneh to kitchens around the United States, or maybe this is more of a sprint than a mission because her brand, BEZI, is moving fast.

 

Product development started in the kitchen a year ago. Today, they’re in stores across New York City with e-commerce starting in December, and I can almost assure you that national distribution will follow shortly.

 

This is one of the very few super early-stage startup brands—BEZI has only been on the market for a few weeks—that I invited to this show. And very quickly, during this episode, you will understand why.

 

We talk about the power of design, data, photography, brand strategy, social media growth strategies, and so much in between. If you are a founder, a marketer, or someone working with brands, this is an episode not to be missed as it will leave you inspired and ready to push on all things ‘brand.’

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FINIEN