“Everyone thinks that branding isn’t important today but branding is the new advertising.” Despite media and technology shifts, the brand behind your stories and status updates is more important than ever. We unpacked all of this and more on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast featuring brand strategist and author Fabian Geyrhalter.

About Fabian Geyrhalter

Fabian Geyrhalter is a renowned brand strategist and the founder and Principal of FINIEN, a Los Angeles-based consultancy specializing in turning ventures into brands. Geyrhalter is also a columnist for Inc and Forbes, and he has been published by the likes of The Washington Post, Mashable, Entrepreneur and The Huffington Post. He is an advisory board member of Santa Monica College and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California and Art Center College of Design. A frequent speaker and mentor to entrepreneurs worldwide, he is a “Global 100” mentor at the Founder Institute, and his book How to Launch a Brand is a #1 Amazon Bestseller. His newest book is Bigger Than This. He lives and works in Long Beach, California and is a graduate of Art Center College of Design.

Episode Highlights

Why is branding so important today? “Things have really changed. It’s so intrinsic today. Take Everlane, for example. It’s all about transparency.” In everything they say and do.

Branding is easier for startups. “Startup brands have it easy — all they have is the brand.” Due to their small size, they can also exert greater control over the various brand touchpoints.

Look at Shinola — The innovative watch company acquired an inactive brand name — Shinola — and established a sense of place around Detroit, endowing the new brand with meaning in the hearts and minds of their customers.

How can a brand that’s lost its way successfully rebrand? “Hire the next generation. You also have to find the secret sauce again. It all comes down to why the founders (of the business) did what they did.”

What brand has made Fabian smile recently? Fabian told us about Poppin — a company that’s disrupting the office supplies category by delighting customers through quirky touchpoints such as the order confirmation email.

To learn more, go to the website for Fabian’s new book Bigger Than This, follow him on Twitter, and connect with him on LinkedIn.

As We Wrap …

Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community …

Frequent listener Sean Carpenter gave On Brand a shout on Twitter in a roundup of his favorite podcasts. Thanks for listening!

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Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet!

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