Decide & Go, 90 Days to Launch! With Kristy Krueger & Dave Keepper

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:00.250 Mhm. 2 00:00:03.340 --> 00:00:03.540 Yeah. 3 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.940 Hello and welcome in To be to be growth, I'm your host. Benji Block B two B 4 00:00:10.940 --> 00:00:14.550 growth host here at Sweet Fish Media. And today I'm joined by some new 5 00:00:14.550 --> 00:00:19.220 friends, Kristi Krueger and Dave Pepper. Guys, welcome in to be to be growth. 6 00:00:19.230 --> 00:00:23.280 Thank you. Great to be here. So I'm glad to have you guys both here. I 7 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.550 would love for each of you to just take a second. Christie, let's start with 8 00:00:26.550 --> 00:00:31.510 you. Explain where you work and kind of what you do. Sure. So, um, I lead the 9 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:35.680 marketing team at a cario. We help health plans to get their members to do 10 00:00:35.680 --> 00:00:39.810 things that are good for them. So I think of like going to your doctor for 11 00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:44.610 an office visit or getting your flu shot or more serious things, like, you 12 00:00:44.610 --> 00:00:47.310 know, if we know a condition that you might have, making sure you're getting 13 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:50.710 into the right program or doing the right things to stay healthy. Awesome. 14 00:00:50.720 --> 00:00:56.870 And Dave, what about you? I am a founder and creative director at Human 15 00:00:56.870 --> 00:01:02.700 Ideas, where a virtual ad agency that helps companies like, uh, Cario and 16 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:08.650 Christie do everything from branding to making explanation type videos to 17 00:01:08.660 --> 00:01:15.360 writing scripts to I'm Her Man Friday. I guess we do what needs to get done. I 18 00:01:15.360 --> 00:01:19.480 love that. And I'm excited to get to talk to you guys at the same time, 19 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:23.710 because you're each going to have such unique vantage points on a process that 20 00:01:23.710 --> 00:01:27.140 you just walked through. And what we're gonna talk about today is really 21 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:31.910 hitting fast forward on the branding process. I've been so impressed to hear 22 00:01:31.910 --> 00:01:35.600 parts of Christie and Dave's story and how they handled some really tight 23 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:40.070 timelines to pull off all that's needed from a branding perspective. When a 24 00:01:40.070 --> 00:01:45.960 merger happens and really a new brand is born from scratch. What typically 25 00:01:45.970 --> 00:01:51.190 would take six months? They did in three. So Christie paint for us. Just a 26 00:01:51.190 --> 00:01:56.380 picture of the task at hand. What were you tasked with? And then how did Dave 27 00:01:56.390 --> 00:02:01.710 become an asset in a key player in this process? Sure, So it basically was to 28 00:02:01.710 --> 00:02:06.390 companies coming together. Um, Novo and Rebel were in the same space do the 29 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:09.830 same thing, and so it made a lot of sense for us to come together and offer 30 00:02:09.830 --> 00:02:14.530 more to the market and So the task at hand was, you know, we don't want to 31 00:02:14.530 --> 00:02:18.120 stay. Revel, and we don't want to stay. No, but we want to come up with a brand 32 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:23.520 new brand so that people you know have some inspiration around us. They see 33 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.140 this and they think they have all positive thoughts coming in. So we 34 00:02:27.140 --> 00:02:31.370 really have this challenge then, of Okay, what should that be? And where do 35 00:02:31.370 --> 00:02:35.030 we start? And how do we make it even better than the brands that we were 36 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:39.830 before? Uh, and do that in 90 days. So not only are you joining teams together 37 00:02:39.830 --> 00:02:43.560 that have never worked together before that actually were competitors and 38 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.670 saying, Okay, you're on the same marketing team now let's let's create 39 00:02:46.670 --> 00:02:51.080 this brand where you know it unites us and creates this momentum that we are 40 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:55.020 doing something great for the market. And how do we package that up in a way 41 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:59.460 that people will understand it and be, you know, excited by it and have it be 42 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:03.750 inspiring? Three months? We're going to do that in 90 days. Like why? Why is it 43 00:03:03.750 --> 00:03:09.010 90 days like that's That's a very short term for a lot of the things that that 44 00:03:09.010 --> 00:03:12.950 would involve, like a new website, a new name that has to go through legal 45 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.450 new teams coming together, new collateral. You know, everything is new, 46 00:03:17.540 --> 00:03:22.700 which is exciting and fun, but in 90 days, that quite the challenge. So in 47 00:03:22.700 --> 00:03:25.920 that circumstance, you have to make sure you have the right partners and 48 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:30.380 people who are brave and ready to just, like, jump in and make this happen and 49 00:03:30.390 --> 00:03:34.490 have a similar approach to the work. And so that's why Dave is on this call 50 00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:38.220 because he was my first person to reach out to a human ideas. I've worked with 51 00:03:38.220 --> 00:03:42.210 him in the past, and I don't remember what the first Call was, but I remember 52 00:03:42.210 --> 00:03:47.440 the reaction to 90 days. Do you remember Dave? I don't think I I think 53 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:52.360 I used proper English. I don't think there was too much too much surprised. 54 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:57.470 Yeah, it was definitely an accelerate accelerated timeline. Oftentimes, 55 00:03:57.480 --> 00:04:01.180 agencies, I'm going to say two things about agencies. I came. I came up 56 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:06.880 through the advertising agency world, and I think agencies sometimes are 57 00:04:06.890 --> 00:04:10.600 capable of moving faster than clients, and that's simply because the clients 58 00:04:10.600 --> 00:04:13.880 their thing right, and you have to prove something in your It's easier for 59 00:04:13.880 --> 00:04:16.940 us to name to throw names at you. Then you just say, Yes, that's the name 60 00:04:16.950 --> 00:04:20.660 forever. I'm going to, you know, And then you have layers and different 61 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:24.610 people who who may or not be influencing that decision, who may or 62 00:04:24.610 --> 00:04:29.310 may not be in the meeting. So my first question was, Are we going to get 63 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:34.070 access to the decision makers? And Christy assured me of that. And so 64 00:04:34.080 --> 00:04:38.580 right away I was like that put me at ease. And then there's an efficiency 65 00:04:38.580 --> 00:04:44.710 that I have found post advertising agency life, that we are deciding to go 66 00:04:44.710 --> 00:04:49.850 kind of team as, well, big. So we've all been in. Let's let's be honest, 67 00:04:49.850 --> 00:04:53.230 we've all been in big, stupid meetings where we're like most of the people 68 00:04:53.230 --> 00:04:58.070 there are talking, don't have a big role. That's that's just corporate. We 69 00:04:58.070 --> 00:05:04.200 avoid those. We meet quickly. We I love a 15 minute meeting personally, so we 70 00:05:04.210 --> 00:05:10.200 at the start based on this 90 days that after I pick myself off the floor, when 71 00:05:10.200 --> 00:05:13.130 Christie said 90 days, we just knew that we were going to have to be 72 00:05:13.130 --> 00:05:16.610 efficient. And that means, you know, making just the stuff we need and 73 00:05:16.610 --> 00:05:20.280 nothing you know, nothing you don't need. So I think there was a was the ex 74 00:05:20.280 --> 00:05:23.060 chair, remember? That SUV was everything you need. Nothing. You don't. 75 00:05:23.640 --> 00:05:29.270 That was kind of our approach, and that served us well, Christie, on your end, 76 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:32.940 the decide and go approach was partially just because, man, this is a 77 00:05:32.940 --> 00:05:37.250 tight timeline. But you see a lot of benefits to that approach. Now post 78 00:05:37.250 --> 00:05:41.580 this whole situation right where deciding go becomes just a way that you 79 00:05:41.590 --> 00:05:46.510 function. Talk to me about that for your team and how it kind of added fuel 80 00:05:46.510 --> 00:05:50.860 and energy to you guys. Yeah, absolutely. I think it was really 81 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:54.850 important that we had a strong project plan going into this and everyone who 82 00:05:54.850 --> 00:05:59.260 was, you know, a stakeholder in this process. New. We're gonna decide and go 83 00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:03.630 situation. So, like Dave said, you know, we'd scheduled 30 minute meetings and 84 00:06:03.630 --> 00:06:07.540 we knew at the end of that meeting there needed to be a decision, and that 85 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.970 was going to be the decision. And then we move on because we knew if we didn't 86 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:15.220 hit that it was going to move everything back and we could not Have 87 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:20.540 that happen and still meet our January five deadline, our launch date. So it 88 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:23.950 means coming into meetings and being really prepared. And one thing I said 89 00:06:23.950 --> 00:06:29.260 to Dave was, Okay, so you know, you come in with three ideas, And all three 90 00:06:29.260 --> 00:06:33.390 ideas are great ideas. Like if they pick one of those three, we have to be 91 00:06:33.390 --> 00:06:37.290 happy with it because we're not going back and, you know, recreating it. Sure, 92 00:06:37.290 --> 00:06:40.830 we can tweak and do things like that, but it really means doing your homework 93 00:06:40.840 --> 00:06:45.380 up front. And so Dave and Team did an awesome job taking us through brand 94 00:06:45.380 --> 00:06:48.940 workshops and, you know, interviewing the leadership team, interviewing 95 00:06:48.940 --> 00:06:52.140 people who work with clients, interviewing people who should have a 96 00:06:52.140 --> 00:06:56.750 stake in the brand As you're building the structure so that it can grow, and 97 00:06:56.750 --> 00:07:01.480 that has really paid off. So now when we go into meetings, it's like we can 98 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:06.170 decide and go and be successful. We've proven that we did this in 90 days. I 99 00:07:06.170 --> 00:07:10.430 Never want to do something in 90 days again, but I'm sure it will happen. Yes, 100 00:07:10.430 --> 00:07:13.780 it's stressful, but there's also excitement that goes into it, and you 101 00:07:13.780 --> 00:07:17.790 do have to start making tough decisions quickly. But at least you're making 102 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:22.460 decisions from, like, three really good options. Dave, as you come in and you 103 00:07:22.460 --> 00:07:25.820 have to have these initial conversations with key stakeholders 104 00:07:25.820 --> 00:07:31.040 like you mentioned, you've got to get as clear of a picture as possible. So 105 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.800 how are you working to understand that vision and get that clear picture so 106 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:41.450 that you can help build? Yeah, You know what we start with Hopefully in every 107 00:07:41.450 --> 00:07:46.150 case and certainly in this one was doing a lot of listening before we come 108 00:07:46.150 --> 00:07:49.670 up with any kind of, you know, here's what we should do. We did quite a bit 109 00:07:49.670 --> 00:07:54.300 of research. We talked to a lot of people, joined hands with Cristian team 110 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:58.610 around the customer, so to speak, by really deeply understanding what they 111 00:07:58.610 --> 00:08:03.110 were looking, what customers need it, how we could help how this new entity, 112 00:08:03.110 --> 00:08:06.960 these two companies that came together could help. Uh, And if you start from 113 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:11.100 that and then do something that feels genuine for the company right that's 114 00:08:11.190 --> 00:08:15.930 relevant and engaging to the customer and unique in the competitive 115 00:08:15.930 --> 00:08:21.190 marketplace and you find that kind of middle ground. That was how we started 116 00:08:21.190 --> 00:08:26.550 the entire process. We kind of use that lens to guide us forward. And I think 117 00:08:26.550 --> 00:08:30.410 that's why we were one of the reasons that we were able to be as efficient 118 00:08:30.410 --> 00:08:34.500 and quick as we needed to be. Absolutely. One of the things I found 119 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:38.500 fascinating that you took the team through was this archetype system that 120 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:43.299 I think was a bit unique. Would you talk about that and what it clarified 121 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:47.660 for you? Yeah, well, starting with archetypes. We didn't obviously invent 122 00:08:47.660 --> 00:08:53.180 that. That's Carl Young and, you know, basically came up with that. That whole 123 00:08:53.180 --> 00:08:58.470 system of 12, there's 12 of them, and many of the brands that we all know you 124 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:03.110 know are associated with them. In fact, there was a study done That found an 125 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:08.150 increase of 66% of value in the marketplace, with brands that associate 126 00:09:08.150 --> 00:09:11.860 themselves tightly with one of these archetypes. So if you think of like if 127 00:09:11.860 --> 00:09:16.520 I said rugged what what brand would you have? A lot of people will right away, 128 00:09:16.520 --> 00:09:20.840 you know, Jeep, right? You think of rebel. You think of Harley Davidson. 129 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:26.260 You think of the Creator, for instance, Apple or Tesla so and on and on. Right 130 00:09:26.260 --> 00:09:30.850 at this stage, there's a sage archetype that's about wisdom. IBM would be one 131 00:09:30.850 --> 00:09:37.040 that would closely associate with that archetype. So in the days before 2020, 132 00:09:37.040 --> 00:09:41.690 when we all got virtualized, we would do this a lot of these exercises in the 133 00:09:41.690 --> 00:09:44.940 room, and we would do a lot of things standing up for the group of executives, 134 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.930 and we have post its and and, you know, big reams of paper, and we do it that 135 00:09:49.930 --> 00:09:56.150 way. What we had done previous to kind of lockdown in early 2020 was created 136 00:09:56.150 --> 00:10:00.010 some digital tools that allowed us to do this. And they were also part of the 137 00:10:00.010 --> 00:10:03.570 reason that this front end of the of the branding process happened as 138 00:10:03.570 --> 00:10:07.840 quickly as it as it did. We have a couple to digital tools. We have one 139 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:12.880 that helps, um, that asks questions to leadership that helps arrive at what 140 00:10:12.890 --> 00:10:18.010 the archetype has agreed to be and then personality as well. And they ask 141 00:10:18.010 --> 00:10:21.060 questions like, You know, what? What's your mission? And you drag little 142 00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:26.720 little endings to these questions into positions of one you know, priority 12 143 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:31.410 and three. What would the market miss most if you weren't there? And you, You 144 00:10:31.410 --> 00:10:35.320 know, but and triangulating all these things were able to pretty quickly get 145 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:42.050 to, uh, the archetype that was that was had a lot of agreement, and and, uh, 146 00:10:42.050 --> 00:10:46.140 and the personality that had a lot of agreement. And with that, we were able 147 00:10:46.140 --> 00:10:51.300 to get alignment far faster than usual. And and then I'll hand it to Christian 148 00:10:51.300 --> 00:10:55.830 team for being to decide and go, uh, culture, that just when they saw it, if 149 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:00.250 we gave them good reason for it and it made sense, they didn't They didn't 150 00:11:00.250 --> 00:11:05.300 Navel gaze. They said, yes. Let's go. I think the other thing, too, is that 151 00:11:05.300 --> 00:11:08.160 then they felt like they were, and they were a part of it. They were part of 152 00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:11.760 building this brand, you know, their voice was incorporated immediately. So 153 00:11:11.760 --> 00:11:15.440 when they saw those little pieces in there, they're like, Hey, that that was 154 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.440 for me. I like that like, Yeah, and there was a lot of alignment right away, 155 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.730 so we knew we were in a good spot for that. Decide and go approach. When we 156 00:11:24.730 --> 00:11:30.450 saw that everyone was aligning to that pioneer archetype. Mm. When you think 157 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:37.250 of what could have maybe gone wrong but didn't some common pitfalls that teams 158 00:11:37.250 --> 00:11:43.530 might have if they were to do this process again, sped up that again in 159 00:11:43.530 --> 00:11:47.170 the crunch that you guys were in. What are some of the things the pitfalls 160 00:11:47.170 --> 00:11:51.790 that you would say people should actively try to avoid? And Dave, let's 161 00:11:51.790 --> 00:11:55.430 start with you on this one. Don't make stuff you don't need. I've watched too 162 00:11:55.430 --> 00:12:00.720 many branding processes where you know we we we build the Acropolis or there's 163 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:04.840 a big pyramid and everything is you know, all this stuff is labeled and you 164 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.710 get, you know, you spend all the time. This column is labeled this and this is 165 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.680 a and for what? You know what do you use that forever? It goes into a drawer 166 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:18.260 and it never gets used. Every single thing that we did had had a use, and it 167 00:12:18.260 --> 00:12:23.670 was all in order that we have used so many times that we've got this system 168 00:12:23.670 --> 00:12:28.300 down this branding system down. Just it's highly efficient, and Christie is 169 00:12:28.300 --> 00:12:32.000 nodding because it was. You get your you get What's your vision? What's the 170 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.430 mission? What's the archetype? What's the personality? Um, what's the 171 00:12:36.430 --> 00:12:41.480 positioning? All that stuff and it all should inter relate. You don't Each one 172 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:44.400 of those things shouldn't be a different cluster of words. They should 173 00:12:44.410 --> 00:12:48.710 all fit together like an efficient puzzle. And when they do, I think that 174 00:12:48.710 --> 00:12:53.610 made it easier for people to buy. And then to Christie's point, this wasn't a 175 00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:57.860 coat of paint that we came in and just started slapping on the walls of the 176 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:03.280 near of marketing. Right? This this marketing this brand, which is another 177 00:13:03.280 --> 00:13:07.580 word for a promise to your customer, right? This brand was genuine to the 178 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:12.180 company because it had all the people whose hands need to be in it. We're in 179 00:13:12.180 --> 00:13:17.770 it, and then it feels it doesn't feel like more Kool Aid, you know? I mean, 180 00:13:17.780 --> 00:13:22.570 we're all kind of, Let's face it, people are cynical, they're distracted. 181 00:13:22.570 --> 00:13:25.520 They're looking at their phones. Everybody listening to this podcast 182 00:13:25.520 --> 00:13:29.860 right now is probably looking at their phones. Everybody's distracted and and 183 00:13:29.870 --> 00:13:34.800 they've they've all got other things to be doing. So if we're not interesting, 184 00:13:34.810 --> 00:13:40.840 fast and relevant immediately, we lose their attention. So, um, I think it's 185 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:44.770 as important for an internal group of people as it is for the external. 186 00:13:44.770 --> 00:13:48.280 People like that. Brands external, like you're talking to customers. You're 187 00:13:48.280 --> 00:13:52.390 talking about the marketplace. But internally, if people don't buy it, if 188 00:13:52.390 --> 00:13:56.190 people are like, yes, it's just, you know, whatever. I'm not This isn't for 189 00:13:56.190 --> 00:14:00.090 me. And this is just leaderships trying to get me to work harder for the same 190 00:14:00.090 --> 00:14:03.690 thing, kind of think. Then you lose them. And that's why I think the 191 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:07.670 process that we went through did bring people along and made them feel like 192 00:14:07.680 --> 00:14:11.560 this is their brand. It wasn't us coming in saying, you know, selling 193 00:14:11.560 --> 00:14:14.560 them something, and we were really helping them discover who they were. 194 00:14:15.140 --> 00:14:18.940 Yeah, Christy, what would you say? Yeah, I would add to that to just don't cut 195 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:23.980 corners. Even though you're in this 90 day period, just very a tight turn. 196 00:14:23.990 --> 00:14:28.020 Don't cut corners in the beginning. Really define your mission, your vision, 197 00:14:28.030 --> 00:14:31.980 your values because, like Dave was saying, a brand is a promise to your 198 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:36.510 customers. It's the soul of the company. If you don't define that and get buy in 199 00:14:36.510 --> 00:14:41.750 on that and have multiple people be a part of it. It will fail. So you really 200 00:14:41.750 --> 00:14:45.890 have to understand what the purpose of the company is and really build around 201 00:14:45.890 --> 00:14:50.930 that and create buying. And you cannot cut corners on that because that is the 202 00:14:50.930 --> 00:14:55.950 foundation. And everything good comes out of that when you get it right. 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Yeah, 220 00:16:12.210 --> 00:16:17.920 I totally agree. One of the things I found so interesting in the 90 day 221 00:16:17.930 --> 00:16:22.580 approach because obviously we're talking to marketers. Salespeople were 222 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:26.190 talking to be to be leaders, and we want to help them. Not everyone's going 223 00:16:26.190 --> 00:16:30.100 to be put in the situation you guys were in within the 90 day deadline. But 224 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:35.960 a big take away from me when I hear the story is deadlines, whether artificial 225 00:16:35.970 --> 00:16:41.180 or very real, are extremely helpful. And so I wonder if we could talk about 226 00:16:41.180 --> 00:16:46.070 that for a second and the value you saw specifically in having that deadline, 227 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:49.790 Maybe how people could use deadlines to their advantage, whether it's to create 228 00:16:49.790 --> 00:16:54.710 momentum in a team or how you've seen it really facilitate growth in your 229 00:16:54.710 --> 00:16:58.950 life and in your business is Christy. Let's start with you on that one. Yeah, 230 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:02.410 I had this slide that I used in every company presentation because we were 231 00:17:02.410 --> 00:17:05.060 very transparent about what we were doing and how we were going to get 232 00:17:05.060 --> 00:17:09.010 there and I had milestones on each one. We're going to hit this by this date. 233 00:17:09.010 --> 00:17:11.770 We're gonna hit this by the next state, and I think even just like 234 00:17:11.770 --> 00:17:16.260 communicating it to the company is saying we're going to do this. I have 235 00:17:16.260 --> 00:17:21.109 told 300 people now that I am committed to making this happen and then kind of 236 00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:25.250 the positivity flip of taking that terror of telling people you're going 237 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:28.000 to do something that's really, really hard, and you're not quite sure how 238 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.910 you're gonna do it for, You know, there's a lot of things that can happen 239 00:17:30.910 --> 00:17:35.300 is changing that flipping it to excitement and using it as fuel to be 240 00:17:35.300 --> 00:17:38.690 like this is going to be amazing. And each of these milestones is like a 241 00:17:38.690 --> 00:17:42.690 celebration until we get to that end. January 5th launch where it's like the 242 00:17:42.690 --> 00:17:46.540 fireworks go off and the shuttle launches. And, you know, we had, like, 243 00:17:46.540 --> 00:17:50.310 pictures of NASA and shuttles taking off and, you know, like how amazing 244 00:17:50.310 --> 00:17:54.090 this was going to be like all the work was going to pay off. But just like 245 00:17:54.090 --> 00:17:56.980 nasa, you know, you have to have a checklist and you have to have 246 00:17:56.980 --> 00:18:02.180 everything, everything ready, and and and think it through very strategically, 247 00:18:02.180 --> 00:18:06.280 or else your launch is going to be a disaster. So you know all that planning 248 00:18:06.290 --> 00:18:09.790 is very important and having those deadlines and all the things that you 249 00:18:09.790 --> 00:18:13.600 know, you're gonna you're gonna check off and get done. So it's just it's 250 00:18:13.600 --> 00:18:17.130 really important to have those milestones and to celebrate those 251 00:18:17.130 --> 00:18:20.440 milestones as you get there and get excited about. Look at that logo. It 252 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:24.490 looks amazing. Everyone loves the mission, the values, it's all coming 253 00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:28.880 together, and they start to build on each other. So I think just going into 254 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:32.630 any project, whether it's a brand launch or it could be something with 255 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:36.900 product or even accounting, build excitement into the plan and make sure 256 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:42.010 that you communicate those milestones and get the team. You know, build that 257 00:18:42.010 --> 00:18:46.760 momentum. Like you said, Benji, It's, like, so important to internally to 258 00:18:46.760 --> 00:18:52.260 build that that buy in and even inspire others by, you know, doing a huge 259 00:18:52.260 --> 00:18:55.860 project and bringing the team together and collaborating, bringing in partners 260 00:18:56.540 --> 00:19:00.560 and then sharing that success. Yeah, Dave, I wonder what your your thoughts 261 00:19:00.560 --> 00:19:05.910 are there. I love a deadline. I come from the creative community designers, 262 00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:09.100 writers. Nobody does anything without a deadline because they're doing 263 00:19:09.100 --> 00:19:13.990 everything else that has a deadline. So if you don't have a deadline Uh, yeah, 264 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.360 deadlines are what made this project happen. And the other thing I gotta say, 265 00:19:17.370 --> 00:19:22.680 hats off. And don't skimp on project management. Hire a project manager. 266 00:19:22.690 --> 00:19:26.790 They are worth their weight in gold. Have one. And and listen to them and 267 00:19:26.790 --> 00:19:30.890 let them guide you through the process. They are just focused on hitting those 268 00:19:30.890 --> 00:19:33.860 deadlines. We would not have done it, but my right, Christy, we wouldn't. We 269 00:19:33.860 --> 00:19:40.510 wouldn't be here without Gayle. She, uh anyway, uh, absolutely. Project manager. 270 00:19:40.520 --> 00:19:45.550 And then I really feel like we were able to move quickly because the people 271 00:19:45.550 --> 00:19:49.210 that needed to be in the room, knew they needed to be in the room and they 272 00:19:49.210 --> 00:19:54.690 made time for it. And so I think respecting the process and being there 273 00:19:54.690 --> 00:20:01.500 not just not just physically, but being there, Giving it your full attention 274 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:08.270 when the sea level people at a correo now correo. But then new co, um showed 275 00:20:08.270 --> 00:20:12.520 up to meetings. They were not on their phones, they were 100% there and they 276 00:20:12.520 --> 00:20:16.960 were present in every way. And in that way we were able to move quickly 277 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:21.200 because we got there consensus. We literally would go around and make sure 278 00:20:21.210 --> 00:20:26.660 everybody was heard and getting that alignment and then making sure they 279 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.720 understood where we were in the process. We start every meeting with we back up 280 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:34.220 two steps. Last time we were here, we did, and just those fundamental and, 281 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:36.730 you know, it's kind of blocking and tackling. I watch the football game 282 00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:40.560 last night, so those blocking and tackling things really make a 283 00:20:40.560 --> 00:20:44.640 difference. And, um, project managers are really good. When you get a good 284 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.930 one, Mail their feet to the floor because you'll you'll use them every 285 00:20:48.930 --> 00:20:53.730 time they make sure that stuff happens. And that's why I think we were able to 286 00:20:53.730 --> 00:20:59.810 deliver what we delivered in 90 days. Mm. You know, a big portion of Christy. 287 00:20:59.810 --> 00:21:06.750 What I hear you saying just a minute ago is the momentum that was created in 288 00:21:06.750 --> 00:21:10.220 this time period for your team. And it came from several things that you did 289 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:13.670 right came from the deadlines that came from celebrating those winds along the 290 00:21:13.670 --> 00:21:18.350 way. But also, you guys were very intentional about how you named things. 291 00:21:18.360 --> 00:21:21.870 Is that right? And making sure that team members felt like they were a part 292 00:21:21.870 --> 00:21:25.700 of something bigger than themselves. So talk me through that. And what you guys 293 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:30.090 did strategically there. Yeah. So, in building the brand, like I mentioned 294 00:21:30.090 --> 00:21:34.670 the mission, the values it's about getting by and internally first, um, 295 00:21:34.670 --> 00:21:37.960 not just from the people who were the stakeholders in, you know, some of the 296 00:21:37.970 --> 00:21:41.300 key decision making. But then all the people who are going to be a part of 297 00:21:41.300 --> 00:21:44.560 this brand who are delivering that promise and those are the employees. 298 00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:47.800 Nobody wants to be called an employee. I hate it when people call me an 299 00:21:47.800 --> 00:21:51.870 employee. You know, I'm a human. I want to be a part of something. And so just 300 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:56.330 name your community, right? And so we named ourselves the Islanders, and that 301 00:21:56.330 --> 00:21:59.670 was actually Dave's idea. I remember when he sent me the email, I was like, 302 00:21:59.670 --> 00:22:03.020 What can we call ourselves? And he's like a couple names and then Islanders, 303 00:22:03.020 --> 00:22:05.790 and I was like, Oh, that's risky. I don't know if they're going to go for 304 00:22:05.790 --> 00:22:09.760 that, but I think it's right because we're named after a Correa, which is a 305 00:22:09.770 --> 00:22:13.990 Greek island. And the reason why is because it's one of the blue zones and 306 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.000 our mission is all about making the world a healthier place, one person at 307 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:20.550 a time. There are Blue Zone where the people there live the longest, 308 00:22:20.550 --> 00:22:25.100 healthiest lives in in the world, right, so they're doing something right. And 309 00:22:25.100 --> 00:22:30.370 so we wanted to pattern ourselves after this island where people live healthy, 310 00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:35.810 meaningful, long lives. And so we thought, Why don't we become Islanders? 311 00:22:35.810 --> 00:22:39.280 And the first time I sent an email to everyone and called them Islanders, it 312 00:22:39.280 --> 00:22:43.660 took a deep breath like, Oh, this is this could blow up in my face or this 313 00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:48.500 could be really cool. And then Steve, our CEO, sent an email and he called 314 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:52.360 them Islanders. And then it's stuck. And from from there on out, we have 315 00:22:52.360 --> 00:22:56.580 been Islanders, and people have really lashed onto that. And it's our 316 00:22:56.580 --> 00:23:00.330 community now. And, you know, we have t shirts about it. We have all kinds of 317 00:23:00.330 --> 00:23:04.530 things we have. Our QB are with an Islander theme. Um, it's really worked 318 00:23:04.530 --> 00:23:08.990 out well. And I think whenever you want to bring people together, you if you 319 00:23:08.990 --> 00:23:14.660 can name it, it's very helpful. Yeah. What was the the initial conversation? 320 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:19.000 Was it just an ongoing thing between Dave between the two of you guys, or 321 00:23:19.010 --> 00:23:22.740 how did it come to like, we should name this, Dave, Was that something that 322 00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:28.180 maybe you would want to speak to? Sure. I think I'd back up and say all of this 323 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:31.210 comes from, you know, again, the mission, the vision, the values, the 324 00:23:31.210 --> 00:23:35.840 positioning, all of this. We ended up in a career. I'm calling with the name 325 00:23:35.840 --> 00:23:40.030 and the name of the company was Think we brought, like, five or six to that 326 00:23:40.040 --> 00:23:45.780 presentation. All you know, all that had been mostly vetted and came in with 327 00:23:45.780 --> 00:23:50.630 that one, and that was one of our leading candidates. And I think that 328 00:23:50.630 --> 00:23:58.020 when you do have something that is on what you've determined your brand to be 329 00:23:58.030 --> 00:24:02.950 exciting was the personality and pioneer was the brand archetype. When 330 00:24:02.950 --> 00:24:08.340 you get there, then you it just informs so many things. Like like the name of 331 00:24:08.350 --> 00:24:13.340 the company Ikaria. And then when you know, Christy reached out and said, You 332 00:24:13.340 --> 00:24:16.470 know, what should we call ourselves? And I think I threw over three or four 333 00:24:16.470 --> 00:24:20.300 ideas, but I was like, I really think you guys are just Islanders. I really 334 00:24:20.300 --> 00:24:23.670 thought, you know right away. It just felt like, yeah, it was a bit of a 335 00:24:23.670 --> 00:24:27.520 departure. And there's a leap of faith you take because, you know, everybody's 336 00:24:27.530 --> 00:24:31.950 be Excuse the expression, but there are B. S meters are just, you know, people 337 00:24:31.950 --> 00:24:36.030 are are a little cynical, you know, we're very marketing Saturday. We can 338 00:24:36.030 --> 00:24:41.260 see marketing coming at us, and that's as true internally as it is externally, 339 00:24:41.540 --> 00:24:46.100 you know? Um, yeah, I know marketing when I see it. And so if it feels like 340 00:24:46.100 --> 00:24:50.810 you're putting it on, um, then it doesn't work. But if it feels like it's 341 00:24:50.820 --> 00:24:57.460 it's completely and I an idea that's in line with what with what you know and 342 00:24:57.460 --> 00:25:02.170 what you are expecting of the brand and believe. And then it fits really nicely 343 00:25:02.540 --> 00:25:05.970 and an idea like that that may seem like it's a little out. There really 344 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:09.750 isn't and those those are the geeky little things that make it fun to go to 345 00:25:09.750 --> 00:25:15.020 work. And I'm really every time Christy Carlson says, we need a, you know, 346 00:25:15.020 --> 00:25:21.170 piece of swag, a name or a thing or, you know, a new name for our our annual, 347 00:25:21.180 --> 00:25:24.940 you know, thought leadership event or something, and it all flows from that. 348 00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:28.900 So that's when I think it's working well, is when it doesn't feel put on, 349 00:25:28.900 --> 00:25:32.440 and it really feels like a part of the company. Yeah, I think part of the 350 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:36.960 advantage you guys saw was in the fact that you were emerging two things right, 351 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.810 because there was this fresh start aspect which definitely takes on risk 352 00:25:40.820 --> 00:25:45.680 but also brought in this not only need for unity, but this ability to man. If 353 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:50.530 we had a name, we could kind of bring everybody in around this new thing you 354 00:25:50.540 --> 00:25:55.100 gave us something that we can kind of latch ourselves onto. So I love that. I 355 00:25:55.100 --> 00:25:59.120 think it would take a little bit more strategy if you have. You know, your 356 00:25:59.120 --> 00:26:02.580 organization's maybe more entrenched, you're not going through a rebrand and 357 00:26:02.580 --> 00:26:06.110 you're going to just bring in a new name. I think that's where Davis spot 358 00:26:06.110 --> 00:26:10.320 on. There will be a B s meter that people can read if it's just trying to 359 00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:14.130 force momentum. But it's not really tied to Mission or it's not really tied 360 00:26:14.130 --> 00:26:17.390 division. People will see straight through that, and you're not going to 361 00:26:17.390 --> 00:26:21.540 get the desired effect. So making sure it's extremely tied to mission and 362 00:26:21.540 --> 00:26:26.130 vision that there is intention behind it. And then there's strategy as to 363 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:29.630 even the fact that, I mean, when when you send out that email, you know 364 00:26:29.630 --> 00:26:32.730 people are going to look at and be like Oh, man, if they're calling it, you 365 00:26:32.730 --> 00:26:36.700 know, we're all Islanders now we're all bought into this now, So having the 366 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:41.500 right sort of communication strategy as to how you release that, I think is is 367 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:46.560 really important. Overall, I love this conversation. I love this idea of 368 00:26:46.560 --> 00:26:50.410 decide and go where we started and all the kind of ebbs and flows of this 369 00:26:50.410 --> 00:26:56.230 conversation. But Christy and then Dave, any follow up kind of last thoughts 370 00:26:56.230 --> 00:27:01.660 before we close this conversation? Sure. I think you know, I would just I just 371 00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:06.130 can't say enough that understanding the mission of your company, whether you're 372 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:11.100 rebranding or you have a mission currently like using that more often in 373 00:27:11.100 --> 00:27:14.930 what you're doing. So, for example, if you're starting a planning meeting, you 374 00:27:14.930 --> 00:27:17.690 know, we started ours and they were like, close your eyes and think about 375 00:27:17.700 --> 00:27:21.820 the members that we serve and what are they going through? What are you know, 376 00:27:21.820 --> 00:27:25.640 what are they experiencing? And then the slide came up of our mission is to 377 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:29.230 make the world a healthier place, one person at a time. Think about that 378 00:27:29.230 --> 00:27:34.030 person, you know, and really framing it up around the mission and the people 379 00:27:34.030 --> 00:27:38.270 that we serve, like Dave said, It's our promise to those members, too. You know, 380 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:43.480 two people to help them to be healthier and and thinking about that every time 381 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:47.230 you're doing some major decision making or you're even in an all company 382 00:27:47.230 --> 00:27:50.960 meeting and you're reminding your your Islanders or whatever you call 383 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:54.370 yourselves, reminding them why we're here and why we do this. You know, you 384 00:27:54.370 --> 00:27:58.420 come home at night to your kids, you want to be able, or your family, your 385 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:02.220 friends. You want to be able to be proud of where you work and what you do 386 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:07.620 every day. And if you don't know what your mission is at your company, try 387 00:28:07.620 --> 00:28:12.030 and find that just for yourself for your own good. Um, because it really 388 00:28:12.030 --> 00:28:16.500 does make a difference. And then when you do call people Islanders, they know 389 00:28:16.510 --> 00:28:21.030 an Islander has a mission. We are doing something good on this planet and we're 390 00:28:21.030 --> 00:28:23.790 doing it together, and that's why we work so hard. And that's why we're 391 00:28:23.790 --> 00:28:28.680 excited about what we do. So if you have your mission and you're committed 392 00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:31.430 to that, you know what it is. So many companies don't even know what their 393 00:28:31.430 --> 00:28:35.120 mission is, or it's like five sentences long, and you could never possibly 394 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:39.100 repeat it, work on your mission and make it so that people can remember 395 00:28:39.100 --> 00:28:42.740 what it is, and then it's actually meaningful, and then integrate that 396 00:28:42.740 --> 00:28:48.830 into more of what you do and you'll see amazing results. Yeah. You know, there 397 00:28:48.830 --> 00:28:53.320 was an old ad that featured this kind of man sitting in a chair like this and 398 00:28:53.320 --> 00:28:56.980 used to like looking like, you know, like, he was just kind of disgruntled. 399 00:28:56.980 --> 00:29:02.510 And the copy of the ad said, I don't know you. I don't know your company. I 400 00:29:02.510 --> 00:29:07.310 don't know your history. I don't know what you stand for. I don't know. Blah, 401 00:29:07.310 --> 00:29:10.750 blah, blah. And I was like, you know, 10 10 of these lines, and at the end, 402 00:29:10.750 --> 00:29:15.110 it says Now, what was it that you wanted to sell me? And ultimately 403 00:29:15.110 --> 00:29:19.690 Christy and I work in the marketing department. Our job in a B two b 404 00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:25.770 setting is to hand. Qualified leads are the best leads we can we can give to 405 00:29:25.770 --> 00:29:29.190 the sales people who are going to close the deals. We don't close deals. We're 406 00:29:29.190 --> 00:29:37.200 not. We don't sell stuff. So what is most important for us is integrity. Why 407 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:41.300 would they believe that? We can deliver what we say we can deliver. And the 408 00:29:41.300 --> 00:29:45.070 integrity comes from being the same. No matter where you are, whatever the 409 00:29:45.070 --> 00:29:49.590 touch point is and being authentic, companies love to talk that's always in 410 00:29:49.590 --> 00:29:55.090 the brand. Values were authentic, your authentic. If people experience the 411 00:29:55.090 --> 00:29:58.110 same you no matter where they experience you. And that's why 412 00:29:58.110 --> 00:30:02.150 connecting all this stuff is so important, actually, mission critical. 413 00:30:02.150 --> 00:30:07.460 If you think of it that because otherwise if I see or if you, if your 414 00:30:07.470 --> 00:30:10.940 actions are different than your words or your different online than you were, 415 00:30:10.950 --> 00:30:15.170 you know in person. Uh, then you know, and I go to your offices and I'm like, 416 00:30:15.170 --> 00:30:18.610 Well, this is you know, what's what's that on the wall? We're constantly 417 00:30:18.610 --> 00:30:22.290 learning. That's what people do, and you're going to either teach me to 418 00:30:22.290 --> 00:30:27.430 expect the same things from you or expect you to be different. And our job 419 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:31.650 is is to create that authenticity through integrity and making sure that 420 00:30:31.650 --> 00:30:37.110 the whole the whole company walks and talks as best we can in a way that's 421 00:30:37.110 --> 00:30:43.480 authentic to them and is consistent across all those touchpoints. And I 422 00:30:43.490 --> 00:30:46.410 think that's one of the reasons that this worked, as Christie has pointed 423 00:30:46.410 --> 00:30:51.900 out, is because of the teamwork that we have among our our team, but also not 424 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:57.760 skipping steps and staying true to the process, which, If sometimes compressed, 425 00:30:57.760 --> 00:31:03.310 can actually be fun. I mean, I know you, Christy, but I had a great time is not 426 00:31:03.310 --> 00:31:07.770 only my fate. One of my favorite case studies in a 25 plus year career, but 427 00:31:07.780 --> 00:31:12.340 we had a blast. Yeah, a lot of times the executives would say, I'm so 428 00:31:12.340 --> 00:31:14.850 looking forward to this meeting. This was, you know, or they'd be like, This 429 00:31:14.850 --> 00:31:18.120 was the best meeting of my day. Now I have to go to this boring meeting. But 430 00:31:18.120 --> 00:31:24.250 I loved this meeting. I love that. Well, Dave Christy, thank you so much for 431 00:31:24.250 --> 00:31:27.480 sharing your insights and what you learned through this process. I'll give 432 00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:30.820 a quick, round up three things that I'm taking away from this conversation. 433 00:31:30.820 --> 00:31:36.470 First off, meaning and meaning leads, right? Vision leads. You gotta start 434 00:31:36.470 --> 00:31:40.570 there. If you don't have clarity around, that's gonna be really hard to do. Any 435 00:31:40.570 --> 00:31:44.410 of the other stuff that we talked about in this conversation? 2nd names and 436 00:31:44.410 --> 00:31:49.240 themes build unity and momentum. So do so intentionally based on what the 437 00:31:49.240 --> 00:31:55.010 first thing meaning and vision and then three deadlines can be fun. Also, 438 00:31:55.010 --> 00:31:59.360 deadlines are momentum builders. They create a buzz and they helped fuel 439 00:31:59.370 --> 00:32:03.690 innovation. And, uh, those are practical things we can take away from 440 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:08.360 this conversation. And we can be better for it in whatever business. Wherever 441 00:32:08.360 --> 00:32:13.400 you are listening to this from today, Dave. Christy, can you quickly just 442 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:16.950 tell us where can people stay connected with you? How can people follow your 443 00:32:16.950 --> 00:32:21.190 work moving forward from here? For me, Lincoln is probably the best place to 444 00:32:21.190 --> 00:32:27.140 get a hold of me. Awesome, Dave. Yeah, Same Dave Cooper. It that linked in or 445 00:32:27.140 --> 00:32:34.260 human ideas. Human dash ideas dot com. Thanks for the plug. Absolutely. Thank 446 00:32:34.260 --> 00:32:38.840 you, guys, for being on B two b growth today. Listeners subscribe if you 447 00:32:38.840 --> 00:32:42.070 aren't already subscribed to be to be growth on whatever your favorite 448 00:32:42.070 --> 00:32:46.510 podcast platform is, we're always releasing content that will help fuel 449 00:32:46.510 --> 00:32:51.230 innovation in your business. And we'll be back soon with another episode. You 450 00:32:51.230 --> 00:32:55.120 can connect with me on LinkedIn as well. Just search Benji Block and keep doing 451 00:32:55.120 --> 00:32:57.170 work that matters. Mhm. 452 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:00.170 Yeah. 453 00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:05.850 Is your buyer at B two B marketer? If so, you should think about sponsoring 454 00:33:05.850 --> 00:33:10.150 this podcast. BDB growth gets downloaded over 130,000 times each 455 00:33:10.150 --> 00:33:13.700 month and our listeners are marketing decision makers. If it sounds 456 00:33:13.700 --> 00:33:18.460 interesting, send Logan and email Logan at sweet fish media dot com.