Episode 23

The Art of Impact-Driven Branding: Insights from Rich Kozak

🚀 Discover the Secrets of Impactful Branding with Expert Rich Kozak! 🚀

✅ Dive into the art of branding with clarity and vision.

✅ Rich Kozak joins Brett Deister on Digital Coffee: Marketing Brew to spill the beans on effective branding strategies.

✅ Learn essential tips to shape your brand's perception and reach your target audience effectively.

✅ Equip yourself with knowledge to elevate your branding game. Tune in now for invaluable insights! 🌟

🎧 Don't miss out on this enriching episode—Perfect your brand's impact today!

3 Fun Facts

1. Rich Kozak transitioned from being a coffee drinker to a tea enthusiast due to health and fitness reasons.

2. The conversation touches on the role of coffee and chocolate in fueling the branding industry.

3. Rich's company, Impact Driven Publishing, extends to marketing elements like book writing and PR to enhance brand strategy.

Timestamps:

00:00 Digital Coffee Marketing discusses PR, email, branding.

05:43 Empower change, define brand, make impactful contributions.

06:36 Impact Driven Branding: Attract people with heart.

10:03 Straight talk coaching for experienced professionals.

16:29 Define brand, craft messaging, time marketing decisions.

17:35 Consistent brand language shapes perception and success.

21:42 PR connects value with media outlets effectively.

27:00 Understanding audience perception leads to effective communication.

29:52 Understanding impacts feels like love, familiarities.

34:24 AI reuses content, offers great benefits. Language transformation.

36:00 Write, edit, align, and optimize for brand.

38:43 Align brand actions with desired impacts for success.

43:45 Schedule 30-minute talk with Rich at calendly.com/richbrands.

💬 Want to get involved? Leave us a comment, give us a 'like,' and follow us for more insights. Join our Locals for lively discussions, and if you've got questions, email us at bdeister@digitalcafe.media!

👕 Check out our mech: www.digitalcafe.store

🌟 Review the Podcast if you loved this episode and share it with fellow marketers who could benefit from a treasure trove of podcasting wisdom. Tune in to "Digital Coffee: Marketing Brew" and let's brew up some success together!

Transcript
Brett Deister:

Mm, that's good.

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And welcome to a new episode of

Digital Coffee Marketing Brew.

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I'm your host, Brett Deser.

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And this, we're gonna be talking about PR

and a little bit about email marketing,

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but mostly in that type of realm because.

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PR and email marketing actually goes

hand in hand 'cause of all the awareness

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that we have to do for our clients.

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But with me, I have Rich with me and he

is a person that does brand to impact.

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So he has impact driven branding

and he is very experienced in

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branding in all aspects of branding.

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So we'll talk a little bit about that too

'cause it's just as important and he's,

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it's just great to have him on the show.

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So welcome to the show, rich.

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Rich Kozak: Hey, thanks Brett.

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It's a right, it's a really

good place for me to be.

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And I'm I'm excited to deliver a

bunch of different values to the

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people listening here, so let's do it.

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Brett Deister: Alright, and the

first question is to all my guests

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is, are you coffee or a tea drinker?

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Rich Kozak: That's interesting.

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I make coffee for my wife every morning

and she usually asks me if I want to cuff,

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but I'm evolving to tea because I'm, I

have a beast mode coach who's helping

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me get into the best shape of my life.

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And the guideline is

drink lots of green tea.

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So I'm heading in that dark.

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I like minty too and other.

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Organic tea.

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So we grow our own some

of our own food here.

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I'm an organic gardener and organic chef

yeah, leaning toward tea now, but it

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was 12 cups of coffee a day at the ad

agency, so I've paid my dues on booths.

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Brett Deister: That's quite a bit.

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I top out at

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Rich Kozak: three.

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We didn't really keep count.

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I'm just saying it's 12 because

we were there usually 12 hours.

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You have at least one an hour.

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Brett Deister: Coffee can be good

too, as long as you don't put

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the sugar and the cream in it.

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The sugar and cream ruin it.

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Rich Kozak: I don't know, man.

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Coffee and chocolate were the fuel of the

industry that when I was in there anyway.

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Brett Deister: That's fair.

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And I gave a brief explanation

about your expertise.

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Can you give a little audience a

little bit more about what you do?

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Rich Kozak: Oh, absolutely.

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Going back to my degree, it's in

marketing and international business.

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Eventually I ended up for 17 and a half

years as the executive vice president

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of what I would call a high tech ad

agency and global branding firms.

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So we were partners with 21

other agencies worldwide.

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So I had partners in 21 countries

and we built global brand teams to

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move brands from country to country.

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Talk about a pinnacle of a career.

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That was an absolute blast.

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I was really good at it.

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Particularly sharing with target

customers what we saw clearly they

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could do in terms of shaping the

perception of their company in the

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eyes of their target constituencies.

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Being that passionate guy

that was beautiful, but also

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explaining to them that branding.

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The shaping of that

perception is a process.

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And they thought it was airy

fairy, marketing baloney.

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And we taught them it's steps.

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And that's one of those things that

people that are listening here right now

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probably are going, I never heard that.

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'cause they had never heard that

because people don't teach it.

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And I've been teaching it for, I'm

on my 47th year of defining and

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languaging brands and launching them.

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And that's.

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Here's a goal.

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Here's a rich strategy nugget.

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You're listening to this right now.

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You write this down, your

marketing, and that includes all

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those marketing, extens marketing

elements, including PR and anything.

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Market your marketing at its best.

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Is the execution of an

excellent branding strategy.

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So what the heck does that mean?

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And if it's a process, how do you do that

in a way that makes you the champion of

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your own brand and how you evolve that

crystal clear, consistent perception

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over time to move your strategically.

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It works.

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That thought process and the Step-by-step

process of doing what needs to be in

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place works for $14 billion companies.

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I know I've been doing it and it works

for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.

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That is all I've been doing

for the last 10 years.

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Today, the work at Rich Brands

literally evolves personal brands with.

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What we love to say, divine

purpose, because everyone has a pur.

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Everyone's here for a reason.

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They might be really good at

their business, but our businesses

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aren't necessarily why we're here.

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But if you do really branding the

right way, it gives you this marvelous

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platform that makes it easier for

you to step higher, to make higher

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impacts, to leave a legacy, to

step into really why you're here.

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So that's why I'm still in branding.

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After 47 years, hopefully that helps.

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And it feels like love Brett.

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It didn't feel like love at the agency.

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It felt like stress.

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I still was addicted to it, but

at 50, I literally resigned.

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My career and change my prayer

to I'm reshaping my life.

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Show me what you want me to do.

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I'm ready.

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And I end up back helping

individuals moving.

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They're shaping, defying the brands

they envision, but they were clear.

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They said, this is what I see.

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These are the impacts I see.

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And what we realize, and this

is a writer downer, when you.

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Ask your heart, Hey heart, I'm

doing this and I know I can really

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impact this kind of a person in

this way and I really want to.

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And you write that down.

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And there's levels of impacts.

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You can get 'em to change how they see

themselves and you can get teach 'em

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new skills and next thing the highest

level of impacts they're giving back

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to the community or to the world.

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So it's what you write that down,

I'm telling you, however big you

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are, one person, a big company.

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You can be, you can define in

language of the brand you must

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become to make those impacts.

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And that's when everything you say

and do aligns from that point on.

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And that is where you wanna be

no matter what you're doing.

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I don't care if you're a coach or you're

integrating software, or you have a

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manufacturing industry, or you know

you're a podcast host, it doesn't matter.

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Does that help?

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Brett Deister: And so is that

part of the impact driven branding

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is finding your impact in life?

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Is that what I'm like assuming

is what it's all about?

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Rich Kozak: It's not, there

was a lot of stuff during the

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self-development, a heyday a find

your purpose, all that kinda stuff.

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This is not a loosey goosey kind of thing.

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The process I'm talking about of the

book is coming out that I'm writing

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is called impact driven branding.

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Seven steps to ensure your brand

impacts people's lives and the world.

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So to really come alive and attract people

quickly and get faster to your impacts.

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Brands need to come from inside you.

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They need to come from your heart, not.

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Some, something slapped on the outside.

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So the name of my publishing company,

which you saw behind me maybe for a

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split second when I had my background

up, is Impact Driven Publishing.

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The name of my business is Rich Brands.

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It's my name is in what I do.

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Rich Brands.

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And at Rich Brands we.

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We obviously I teach and I speak

and I write, but I mentor and guide

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clients sometimes one-on-one if

that's the only way they can do it.

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And if somebody's really successful,

often the only way they can do

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it is one-On-one and in groups I.

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To define in language that next level of

their brand or if there's something new

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right from the start, so that they're

getting credit and using unique language

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that gives them exactly what they need.

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To be unique and to come alive

and to race to their impacts.

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It's a process, it's steps.

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There are seven and it's not a big deal.

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It's rigorous work, but most

people who talk about branding

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are selling marketing services and

they don't really know the process.

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Many people, even in the branding

industry, don't teach it or guide it.

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They just are doing creative ideation

and maybe their background's visual.

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And so they talk about colors and logos

and stuff, and maybe their background,

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maybe they were on the suit side.

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So their background's strategic,

but it's just a process and it

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works if you make it impact driven.

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In other words, write them down first.

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I.

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The whom you clearly see

impacting and the impacts all

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the way up to the highest level.

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You write a few of those down

and you can define a brand.

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And because of the foundation of clarity

that work gives it the brand resonate.

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People can feel how authentic it

is, and it's coming from the heart

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of the champion of the brand.

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It's not something that somebody like

me, threw on them or thought up for them.

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It's something that.

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Came from inside them.

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The impacts they clearly see the

impacts, the people they clearly see

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and really wanna help that really want

to impact, it doesn't matter whether

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it's a, I have one client who is

integrating software and their target

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was manufacturing and distribution firms.

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I have other clients who help people

get over the fact that they were.

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Sexually abused as a child or

somebody that has a software that

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increases the efficiency of business.

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It's it doesn't matter what

you're doing, if you're focused

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on impact, this can really help

the people who are impact driven.

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They don't have, they don't

know who to trust and they,

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they know they need a brand.

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Wait, don't they?

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It's like branding.

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The word is so misused

by people who sell stuff.

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This will help your brand.

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That people don't trust it and they

don't understand it, and they are leery

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of it or skeptical, but man, oh man.

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I'm telling you from, for the last

10 years actually going on tenure,

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individuals who hear me speak and

who realize it's straight talk,

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not jargon and deep experience.

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Know that there's a place that

they can literally plug in and

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they get it right the first time.

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They don't wanna get it wrong.

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Many times they've been working

for 20 years or 30 years, and they

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want to take it to another level.

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The last thing they wanna do is, muck

it up, make a mistake, or do it wrong.

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Or work with somebody who says they, you

know what they're doing, but they don't.

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There's a lot of them

in the, coaching world.

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I don't know if, I dunno, I don't

know how much you get out, but I

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keep going to all these, I just

literally got back from Las Vegas.

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I was in two back to back sessions

over five days and there were a lot

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of people on the stages and some

of 'em have been around a long time

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and some of them are just hit the

screen, about three years ago era.

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A lot of people that love to use the word

brand and they don't know jack squat.

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No, comparatively, they, if you

lit 'em on fire, they couldn't

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tell you the four things.

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A brand has to have to come

alive instead of fall flat.

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They would, have to wing

it, but it's just a process.

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It's steps.

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And man, oh man, it's like building

a pipeline to a jungle, or.

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Writing a course curriculum, it just

is steps writing a book we offer.

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The reason I have impact driven publishing

is that once a brand is clearly defined,

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one of those executional marketing

elements like pr, which is a huge one,

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and I love to talk to you about that.

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'cause I know that's your expertise area.

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Is book writing or article, literally

documenting your opinion or documenting

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your expertise or documenting your.

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Thinking in ways that you're leading

people's thinking instead of just

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regurgitating what everybody already knew.

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And we literally, once a brand

is clearly defined, it's easier.

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It's actually wayer to not only

name books, but title and subtitle.

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The chapters create the flow.

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Subchapter titles that are intriguing and

you haven't even written a book yet, but

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it's all congruent and it's in brand legs.

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It's it's a delight.

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I just finished two clients' books.

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One is already launched.

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We're gonna launch the other one early

next year, and there's lots more coming.

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I have one client who's on their second

book with impact driven in publishing,

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and he has a series of three books.

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The first was on his expertise and the

second is a bridge book, and the third is.

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Is clearly right in his

his purpose awesome.

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And that, and I get to do this work.

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It to me.

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I feel like the luckiest man in the world

and that's not, you don't always hear

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that kind of talk from a branding person.

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I can talk big boy branding and

I can use jargon all day long,

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but why there are millions, I.

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Of entrepreneurs, many deeply

experienced and know there's more,

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there's a higher level for them.

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They don't even know how to

articulate it, but I will.

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There's an umbrella brand.

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They think they're a specialist at

stress relatable, or they think they're

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a specialist at, book writing, or they

think they're a specialist at software

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integration or at Overcoming Abuse.

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They, that's what they think they are.

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That's what they think they're, but

there's a higher level why they're here.

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So those things I just mentioned,

those are just a spoke in the umbrella.

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The question is for everybody who

knows there's more and they wanna make

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bigger impacts, more impacts, higher

level impact is what's that umbrella?

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That is a fun area and a very.

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Authentic area of branding

the right way for individuals.

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And hey Brett, I don't

know if you can tell.

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I don't like this at all.

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Okay.

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I don't enjoy this at all.

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Is that coming across?

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It is a God blessing to

be able to, and I quit.

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I used to say, I don't

do branding anymore.

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That's what those words

are coming off my lips.

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It is a blessing to be doing this work.

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So I've made the decision a year ago

to put myself out there and put rich

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brands out there so that whomever is

supposed to hear this, here's it and

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knows there's a place that they can

get straight talk You can trust and

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deep experience you can count on in

the area of the brand you will become.

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How's that?

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Brett Deister: All right.

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That sounds good.

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So how do you start this process?

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You said there's a seven steps,

and how does PR get in with this?

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Because, I know a lot of PR people, they

talk about authenticity, they talk about

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authority, they talk about all this stuff,

but where do you get all that stuff?

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Because I see the PR industry is

very specific on what they want

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people to be authentic, which to

me isn't really authentic because.

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If you're one specific way and

you're only one specific way,

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that's not very authentic.

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Rich Kozak: It is a mar.

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Public relations is a

marketing execution element.

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So let's give it let's

give it a definition.

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A public relations technically

is an unpaid marketing channel.

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So someone who runs a magazine or someone

who runs a TV station or runs a radio

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show or runs a podcast, they're a media.

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Public relations is feeding them a voice

of an individual or the information from

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a company so that media outlet, if you

will, chooses to interview it or lift it

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up or tell a story about it or present it.

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And because they're only one person,

but media reaches, in some cases,

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hundreds, in some cases, millions.

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It is a marketing multiplication.

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Execution elements.

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So PR can be, PR can make,

PR is a game changer.

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Let's give it its highest level.

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You get one really good pickup, even if

it's local and it can move like wildfire.

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And so it is worthy to ask.

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When it's time, once the brand's

been defined in languaged and it's

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ready to open its mouth, you know its

messaging hierarchy has been drafted.

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The number one barrier that

won't let the brand in, that

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you gotta overcome right away.

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You've prioritize the top 10

characteristics that the brand

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must get credit for on first.

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Impression.

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All that work's been done.

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Now it's time to write a press release

or to say what do we lift up and

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when These are marketing decisions,

timing and what's the purpose.

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So if you need to be known for something

in order to make your impacts, PR

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is one huge way to be known, but you

better have that language crafted

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because if if you think, let's get back

to a real basic that we can all like.

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Use as the Bible.

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Your brand is a perception,

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but it's not your perception,

it's everybody else's.

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And your job branding is to

shape a consistent perception.

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So the language, the way you say

what you do, the way you describe

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what happens when someone.

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Takes the brand in the way you

describe simply the way you know,

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I describe for someone what I see

for them when they do this work.

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The way I describe, the way we all

say, here's what I see for you.

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Here's what we at our brand see for you

is very magnetic or it's very confusing.

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And most brands fall flat because they

create confusion or misinformation

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and the way they talk, the way they

show up and the clarity with which

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your brand speaks, says things,

shows up, looks, it's posture,

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it's attitude, it's passion or not.

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Whether it's listening or

whether it's just talking.

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The sh the clarity with which your

brand speaks shapes its impact.

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So having that.

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Foundational work done before the

marketing execution elements like

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advertising or social media or

public relations, or, trying to

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land a story or start a movement or

whatever the mission is is really.

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Let's just say dramatically

improves any individual brand's

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probability of succeeding.

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Otherwise, when there's.

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Inconsistency.

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You lose trust when there's, you

say something two different ways.

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It creates confusion.

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And these are very common human.

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These are very common human at.

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Look, we all have to raise our hands.

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We go to a pod, we go to a a networking

thing, and somebody says, what do you do?

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And you say it one way, and

then somebody else says, what

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do you, you say it another way.

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And the guy, the first person you talk

to, the woman says Hey, I thought wait a

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minute, I thought you did this, but you

do the, we're all guilty and brands get

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to clearly define and language themselves.

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It is, wait, that clarity is a magnet.

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It's a magnet, and so we all

should want it, but we don't know.

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I.

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We don't think about branding in that way.

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We think about it's a campaign or a

look, or a logo or a tagline or anything.

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We think that's it.

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But it's not it's the strategic and

branding is a strategic and ongoing

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crafting shaping of that perception

so that your brand strategically

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wins and gets where it needs to go.

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And that's an ongoing process.

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And if you don't know how to think

about it, you just beat anything old.

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Anything is good.

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And this process we love, we laugh

about the process, gives you the

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power of next, where somebody comes

in 'cause oh, hey, here's a good idea.

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Dumbo flies in and drops the leaflets,

and then we give the kids candy and then

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the big band, it's like whatever, an idea

and you look up at your desire, brand

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triangle that lists your characteristics

and priority order and you go.

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That's a pretty good idea.

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It gives us credit for three of our

top seven characteristics, two of

361

:

our expertises and competencies.

362

:

That's a pretty good idea.

363

:

Or you look up and you go next.

364

:

The power of next.

365

:

We'll save you so much time and money.

366

:

Okay, let's not kid around if you wanna.

367

:

You wanna be more successful,

doing the work in advance

368

:

will save you time and money.

369

:

And what's the value of blowing a year?

370

:

Confusing people or trying what works And

you end up crossing the credibility line.

371

:

'cause you were in the hands of

some marketer who said, do this.

372

:

This always works.

373

:

But it didn't feel congruent

and you didn't use that as a.

374

:

As a value and it's

'cause you didn't know.

375

:

So PR a phenomenal execution element

and there are people, and I, some

376

:

of them are my coaches who I.

377

:

Particularly media relations.

378

:

Knowing people who knowing people

in media outlets, who are looking

379

:

for voices, looking for good

interviews, looking for stories.

380

:

Those people are worth

their weight in gold.

381

:

They're facilitators 'cause they already

have the ear and the relationship with

382

:

the media and getting plugged into them

is a joy, particularly when you're real

383

:

and you really have something of value.

384

:

And PR is you don't.

385

:

You might pay the PR person,

but you don't pay the media.

386

:

It's not pay for play.

387

:

Advertising's pay for play.

388

:

So one good placement can

can multiply your success.

389

:

It's always a question.

390

:

Is it part of the meat of the

marketing execution elements list?

391

:

Always.

392

:

And it, the process of marketing, I

sat on the board of directors of the

393

:

American Marketing Association, just

so I don't know if you saw that on the

394

:

resume, but literally I was elected, I

was the president of Southern California's

395

:

American Marketing Association.

396

:

I got elected to the national board, and I

was with these big marketing pe you know.

397

:

Vice P of marketing from

big consumer products.

398

:

And then there were people

who were focusing on research.

399

:

So there're the people who

are the practitioners and

400

:

then the frontline people.

401

:

And the people who are the, they, they

used the word academicians, who are the

402

:

process people and the studying people

and the, they specialized in multivariate

403

:

statistical analysis and things like that.

404

:

What a mixed bag.

405

:

Absolutely.

406

:

Wonderful.

407

:

And I only use one word for marketing.

408

:

It's execution.

409

:

Of an excellent branding strategy, and

it's always the same question series.

410

:

Media is always one of 'em.

411

:

What media do we use?

412

:

Marketing doesn't change just

because there's new media.

413

:

Oh, but what about clubhouse?

414

:

It's just the media.

415

:

The question is my target audience there?

416

:

That's it.

417

:

We got it back to media analysis.

418

:

We were looking at

magazines back in my day.

419

:

Who's reading it?

420

:

Am I reaching electrical engineers

that are working on semiconductor

421

:

design or am I not, or am I reaching,

doctors who are working in psychology?

422

:

Who am I reaching?

423

:

It's the same process.

424

:

It's just, there's different media

and there'll be different, there'll

425

:

be new stuff popping up all the time.

426

:

But the process of.

427

:

Defining and languaging a brand.

428

:

And then the process of going

through the marketing questions

429

:

and asking where should we be, to

reach our target and are the same.

430

:

They don't change.

431

:

Sorry.

432

:

In case you're listening and you're

thinking, wow, it's so different now.

433

:

Not so much US different media.

434

:

Okay.

435

:

Been there, yeah.

436

:

We used to try to reach

people on their blackberries.

437

:

That's over.

438

:

Okay.

439

:

Heard I was one of these conference

that I was just this weekend I

440

:

heard, hey, the convert, the sorry.

441

:

The open rate for text

marketing text messages is 90%.

442

:

People open their text message.

443

:

The open rate for email is 10.

444

:

Note to self.

445

:

It's like when you learn stuff like

that, you're going know that's a change.

446

:

So people's behavior change.

447

:

I own an event called the Clarity Summit,

where I interview world class experts.

448

:

We did it in August this

year, and I interviewed.

449

:

The man who has written the book

on consumer behavior that is

450

:

in its 14th pressing worldwide.

451

:

It's and he knows more consumer behavior

and trends than anybody else in the

452

:

world, and he will tell you that certain

behaviors are shifting and certain

453

:

things are having more influence.

454

:

Than they ever have before,

including environment.

455

:

Many times people have marketers have,

let's say, put their expectations

456

:

in place for how a consumer will

behave based on demographics.

457

:

What was their education and

how much money do they make

458

:

and what's their zip code?

459

:

It's not, this is not a, it's not

a real working formula anymore.

460

:

It has more to do with the environment.

461

:

Where they make the decision and he

will explain that to you in spades.

462

:

So listening to world-class

experts about what's shifting,

463

:

futurists who are watching how.

464

:

People behave, how they change, what their

preferences are, the language they use.

465

:

These are the important things to keep

your, if you are a marketer, if you're

466

:

selling what you do, or presenting

what you do to your target audience

467

:

knowing what's on their mind, the

thoughts they have about, what you

468

:

do for, let's say you're a branding

consultant like me, and the thoughts

469

:

in my target mindset is I don't.

470

:

I don't, we need better ways to

say what we do, but I don't know.

471

:

I don't know how to get that.

472

:

I don't really trust branding.

473

:

It's just so fake.

474

:

It's like there's all these thoughts.

475

:

Even among experienced

entrepreneurs, they've been doing

476

:

something for 20 or 30 years.

477

:

They have their own perception and

their own, history and knowing what

478

:

those are, we get to speak to them.

479

:

So even in, let's say we're doing a public

relations interview on a topic that a

480

:

media person was interested in and hooked

them and they asked us to be on within

481

:

that interview, I literally can say, for

example, a person might think, this kind

482

:

of an entrepreneur might think, wow.

483

:

It's just, it.

484

:

We just are struggling with

how to position ourselves

485

:

to charge what we're worth.

486

:

That's actually a very

overcomeable challenge.

487

:

So what I did was just mention

a care about a thought in the

488

:

language of my target audience

that's in their head that repeats.

489

:

We're not positioning

ourselves to charge it worth.

490

:

We need to position ourselves

better to be able to charge it.

491

:

It's in their head, and I happen to let

it pop outta my mouth, and if my target

492

:

audience hears that it's a magnet.

493

:

Even though it was pr, and I'm there,

I am there to satisfy and serve the

494

:

interviewer, but I know as a mark

what my job is, it's to get credit

495

:

for that list of things that we must

get credit for to make our impacts,

496

:

categories of expertise, characteristics.

497

:

It's a process.

498

:

There's not a big list.

499

:

Those are the two big ones.

500

:

Categories of expertise

stated in a unique way.

501

:

So we get credit and characteristics,

those things that you must get credit for.

502

:

One of the things we really love about

'em, they're just so transparent.

503

:

Transparent on the top five

list you want to get credit for.

504

:

You want it in your testimonials.

505

:

I feel funny saying, thanks

for asking because I've been

506

:

talking all this time, but.

507

:

You can tell I'm at the top of the

umbrella in terms of branding and

508

:

marketing when you run an agency and

ours was B2B, but it doesn't matter.

509

:

It's the same process and we

had partners all over the world.

510

:

And then you have the international

dimension, which there's different

511

:

laws and stuff, which makes it

even more fun, but you only get

512

:

about five or 10% ma of the time

of a year to work on brand issues.

513

:

Of the time.

514

:

It's execution, it's marketing,

it's building market share.

515

:

It's, launching new products.

516

:

It's changing the perception

of a target audience.

517

:

It's getting credit for something people

don't know to give you credit for.

518

:

It's doing those, it's executing.

519

:

And so somebody like me, I'm either have

a gift of touching people's hearts and

520

:

being able to hear and see what their,

what is possible for them and their brand.

521

:

That's a gift.

522

:

And I love that I have it.

523

:

I'm so grateful that I have it.

524

:

And that's probably why I am

doing what I'm doing because

525

:

I believe it's God's work.

526

:

I believe God put the desire

for impacts in people's hearts.

527

:

So that's why it feels like love.

528

:

But the.

529

:

The the process of looking

at the whole overview.

530

:

It's a lot of moving parts,

but it's always the same parts.

531

:

So when you've done it for 47 years,

you're familiar with all the parts.

532

:

So if you said to me, Hey, do

you know what do people really

533

:

need to know about trademarks?

534

:

Or what do people need to know about

logos and taglines or about trade dress?

535

:

Nobody even knows what that is.

536

:

I could talk for weeks.

537

:

Don't get me started because I've been

through this a long time and I love

538

:

to, I've been teaching clients forever.

539

:

They're not specialists in branding.

540

:

It behooves the agency to makes, help them

know that we are, and the more experience

541

:

we have, we can even take from one

industry and use it in another industry.

542

:

What worked over here

that somebody's using?

543

:

No, somebody over here never heard of.

544

:

So all of that's in there.

545

:

And yeah.

546

:

And every one of the marketing execution

elements has its value for the client.

547

:

For the target audience, for

the time, for the objective.

548

:

It all starts with objectives.

549

:

And if your objective is to

sell, you gotta be doing that.

550

:

You gotta have a call

to action on everything.

551

:

If your objective is to change,

an industry's change a person's

552

:

mind, it's a different process.

553

:

So you gotta start with the objectives.

554

:

Even, no matter what the project is

into a brochure, you're gonna write a

555

:

book or you're gonna, write a press.

556

:

You start with the

objectives in priority order.

557

:

I'll tell.

558

:

I'll tell.

559

:

Okay.

560

:

PR firm adv, it doesn't matter.

561

:

One of the absolute most valuable tools

on the planet is a creative brief.

562

:

It's that document that the.

563

:

The head of, whoever owns the account

writes before they allow the creative

564

:

people to start brainstorming and it

says, okay, these are the objectives.

565

:

There's only three, and

here's priority order.

566

:

This one's 50%.

567

:

This is, here's the target.

568

:

This is what we want the result to be.

569

:

Here's the barrier.

570

:

If what we do creatively does

not overcome the barrier, I.

571

:

Everybody loses.

572

:

So do not bring me any, solutions that

do not overcome the barrier that, that

573

:

15 seconds right there will save you

time and money no matter what area

574

:

of marketing or branding you're in,

or any marketing excuse in public

575

:

relations or marketing or selling

sales promotion, it doesn't matter.

576

:

It's a, it's.

577

:

Write a brief, write a pro, a project

brief, and man, oh man, everybody gets to

578

:

refer to it and it keeps things on track.

579

:

And you'll be a more successful,

faster, there gotta be questions on

580

:

your mind about things that people

struggle with that maybe someone

581

:

like me might have a perspective on.

582

:

I would love.

583

:

Speak directly to any of those,

if any of 'em are coming to mind.

584

:

Brett Deister: Mostly it's just all

about the advent of AI and how it's

585

:

changing the landscape a little bit.

586

:

So how do you deal with that

while also trying to create

587

:

an impact driven branding?

588

:

Because anybody can now create a logo.

589

:

Anybody can now create.

590

:

Branding, anybody can now create low

taglines or anything, or a creative brief.

591

:

They can just use chat GPT or Bard

and they could make a generalized one.

592

:

It won't be good, but it'll be general.

593

:

Rich Kozak: It's a great

question and very timely.

594

:

Part of this, probably half of the

conference, the five days that I just

595

:

attended, was AI focused for that reason.

596

:

So first

597

:

my opinion doesn't really matter

here, but I will give it to you.

598

:

There will be phenomenal benefits

to marketers in using AI technology.

599

:

It will speed things up.

600

:

It will maybe depending on how it's

used, might help build consistency.

601

:

But it will not define and

language a unique brand.

602

:

It's not designed for that.

603

:

It's designed to take pieces of

stuff it already has and put 'em

604

:

together, and that said phenomenal

benefits coming down the road.

605

:

It was, it's like the TI

calculator was for engineers.

606

:

Holy crap.

607

:

I don't have to do any of these.

608

:

Cal, it's that's like back from the day.

609

:

Okay.

610

:

But we were all using TI calculators

when we got to college because they

611

:

created this chip that was a math

processor and holy olis, aI's kinda

612

:

like that when it comes to language.

613

:

People write promo, they pro write

proposals and they import their

614

:

thing and they say, talk like me.

615

:

I just saw something that said,

Hey, write an article in the that,

616

:

that is a sales promotion article

and make it in Dan Kennedy's work.

617

:

It's what?

618

:

Okay.

619

:

Anyway, it there is.

620

:

Tremendous opportunity to, let's

say, facilitate, in other words, make

621

:

easier some of the marketing execution

processes and sales promotion processes.

622

:

But the creation of a unique brand

that has unique language, that

623

:

transfers energy, that gets you

credit for what makes you outstanding.

624

:

Don't be looking to AI to do that.

625

:

I'm telling you, you wanna

look AI to execute it.

626

:

Okay, so let's say you've done the

foundational work, the language is there.

627

:

First of all, you don't feed it into AI

because now it has your unique language.

628

:

It's like giving away the corporate

jewels so time out on that one.

629

:

Please do not do that, but let's

see you have it Now you say, Hey,

630

:

we need to get credit for this.

631

:

Write me an article that, and you get it

back and you make sure that piece of copy,

632

:

whatever it is congruent with the brand.

633

:

The process that you'd

been through included?

634

:

This is a category of expertise.

635

:

Let's name one, a woman who

has a a bookkeeping studio

636

:

that she has for 20 years.

637

:

She has 15 people working for, but she

understands tech stack and how it will.

638

:

People mess it up and they have,

and it becomes, if it's clergy,

639

:

it's gonna keep you from growing

the company and it's gonna be a

640

:

drag on your growth and a problem.

641

:

And one of her categories of expertise

is, and the way we stated it, is the woman

642

:

speaking at the, rapid growth business

conference next year is an expert at,

643

:

I need to get in her zone.

644

:

Simplifying the critical tech

and accounting decisions for

645

:

your business to reach millions.

646

:

That's not a bookkeeper.

647

:

Okay.

648

:

It is not.

649

:

She is on it on technology.

650

:

She works with tech stack

assimilation, bookkeeper.

651

:

Oh yeah.

652

:

There's always a general journal.

653

:

It's at the hub of what's attached to it.

654

:

That's the, that's what it looked,

and you're gonna grow quick.

655

:

You better get that right

before you start, firing.

656

:

Yeah.

657

:

Under that category of expertise we

write, we create during the process

658

:

titles and subtitles of content for,

I think we did about 15 under that

659

:

header, and they, there's only two rules.

660

:

They have to be congruent with

the language of the brand.

661

:

Those characteristics

that we described earlier.

662

:

They're on step four.

663

:

This is.

664

:

Step five where we, and step six would

where we say the category's expertise

665

:

and the titles and subtitles of content.

666

:

So you have these words.

667

:

So if the brand is patient, you can't

have a title that sounds impatient.

668

:

If there's a certain attitude

from the brand, you can't write

669

:

with a different attitude.

670

:

So we're already doing

that in the process.

671

:

You are already really familiar with it.

672

:

Now when you get back your AI

generated article or blog post or

673

:

sales promotion tool or whatever

you're doing, you can apply the overlay

674

:

of what's not congruent, my brand.

675

:

Let's fix it.

676

:

We're in a headline to tagline and play.

677

:

It still speeds you up.

678

:

But you make sure that the brand is

always, that everything the brand says

679

:

and does is aligned with the impacts that

you wanna make and the things you must

680

:

get credit for to make those impacts.

681

:

It's, it always works.

682

:

It has to because it's a

precept, it's a prerequisite.

683

:

What are the impacts?

684

:

What do we need to become

to make those impacts?

685

:

We gotta get credit for

what we need to become.

686

:

I don't know if it feels, I'm trying

to make it sound simple because it

687

:

is rigorous work, but once done,

you benefit from it for a lifetime.

688

:

Your brand benefits from it for a

lifetime, and you have this foundation of

689

:

clarity that acts as a magnet who would

want that, but people will know it exists.

690

:

They think branding is tricks and,

and they, the ones that will feed,

691

:

will call fiber and make a logo

and think, and that's pretty good.

692

:

And they wonder why their brand's not

coming alive and why, it, it's a process.

693

:

I don't know how many logo evolutions

I've been through in developments, but

694

:

it's a process for logo development.

695

:

It starts in black and white.

696

:

If it doesn't work in black

and white, you never use it.

697

:

And logos do a lot of things.

698

:

They position, they can share messaging,

they can overcome a barrier, they can

699

:

create a first impression using colors.

700

:

It's like logos do a lot of

things and people don't know that

701

:

and they don't think about it.

702

:

They say, I need a logo.

703

:

Those people are dangerous to themselves.

704

:

It's like back in the back years and years

ago when the apple the Apple machines

705

:

were coming out and companies would buy

a, Macintosh or whatever, and they would,

706

:

and you'd say wow, we've been watching

what you're doing, and we'd like our

707

:

agency to come in and share with you.

708

:

Oh, no, we don't need an agency.

709

:

We have a Mac.

710

:

It's like the computer is gonna, you

can't get perspective from a computer.

711

:

Same thing.

712

:

It really is.

713

:

It's the same thing and we laugh about it.

714

:

It's just AI has tremendous power.

715

:

Just like the calculator.

716

:

It's tremendous, unbelievable.

717

:

And for productivity and, a

hundred times is amazing, but do

718

:

not, the responsibility to be

your, the champion of your brand.

719

:

Oh dear.

720

:

Not a good decision.

721

:

And if that decision is made out

of ignorance, I totally understand.

722

:

Or out of a misunderstanding or

not understanding what Brandon

723

:

can be, I totally understand that.

724

:

I.

725

:

My wish and prayer for people who

really wanna make an impact and they

726

:

have great work to do that will change

the lives and businesses and outcomes

727

:

of individuals and those who are their

target audiences, is that they, this

728

:

message reaches them and they go, wow.

729

:

Yeah.

730

:

That makes a lot of sense.

731

:

And and it does I, sorry if I'm

making your head spin, man, but

732

:

it's I'm gonna tell me you're doing

this 47 years, as you can tell.

733

:

I'm not, I don't think I'm

going anywhere anytime soon.

734

:

So it's I'm ki I'm not, I'm gonna keep

doing this because it feels like love.

735

:

The people who find me are remarkable.

736

:

I just came from this conference, I swear.

737

:

Probably 17 people came up to me and

said, oh my God, you touched my heart.

738

:

I really value what you're doing.

739

:

I can't, this is new to me.

740

:

Those are the ones, and this is very

high level kind of self-development area.

741

:

And it, yeah, it's a good thing.

742

:

So I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna

keep speaking regularly and I am.

743

:

I, I want to speak to any audience

that wants to talk about the importance

744

:

of defining clearly, and magnetically

defining in language your brand.

745

:

Whether it's a company or an individual.

746

:

I'm after individuals in a way

that makes you a magnet and

747

:

makes no one seem like you.

748

:

So that you can move more quickly, get

to the impacts faster, get to the money

749

:

faster, and step into your purpose sooner.

750

:

Praise God.

751

:

Does that help?

752

:

Brett Deister: Yes.

753

:

We talked about a lot of things, so

where can peop, where can people find

754

:

you aligned to find out more about Impact

Driven Mark Marketing, branding, and pr.

755

:

Rich Kozak: Thank you.

756

:

The website is Rich Brands,

R-I-C-H-B-R-A-N-D s.org.

757

:

Don't make the.com mistake,

you'll end up in Nigeria.

758

:

It's dot org Okay.

759

:

Rich brands.org and frankly.

760

:

I joke that with my experience,

I should be on a yacht or

761

:

on a beach, and I'm on Zoom.

762

:

So it's like you go to the website and

it says, talk to Rich for 30 minutes.

763

:

You can literally go to calendly.com/rich

brands and get on my calendar and talk

764

:

to me about you and let me listen to your

heart and talk briefly about possibilities

765

:

of the way your brand touches the world.

766

:

You might start seeing things differently.

767

:

I make myself available for anyone.

768

:

Don't be jumping on if you're

a, a vendor trying to sell

769

:

me stuff that's not for you.

770

:

That's for people that wanna talk

about what they're doing and the

771

:

impacts they see making when they

thrive and what's possible for them.

772

:

And what's their umbrella brand?

773

:

They're a specialist at this, but

what's the le what's the brand above it?

774

:

It's yeah.

775

:

A good example of that.

776

:

I have a really good example

that I'm right in the middle of.

777

:

So I go on a mastermind and there's

this gentleman, white hair has

778

:

some, he's, let's call him sure.

779

:

Okay.

780

:

It's my dear, and he's from the sa,

he's from Alabama, and he has this great

781

:

accent and he is explaining who he is.

782

:

'cause everybody's introducing himself.

783

:

And he says I've written, I wrote

a, I've written a few books.

784

:

20.

785

:

And you're like, okay.

786

:

And I did have a radio show for 14

years and I did a little pitching.

787

:

For the New York Yankees.

788

:

You're like, wait a minute.

789

:

Who is this guy?

790

:

So I private chatted him.

791

:

I went and I looked at all his book

covers and it looks like a hodgepodge.

792

:

From a banding perspective, it was like,

but every one of those books, Brett was

793

:

about a topic that he felt was important.

794

:

Face-to-face communication.

795

:

And these, in these days of social media,

lifting up your heritage, a book about

796

:

his Indian heritage in the southeast.

797

:

The, his best friend from rural Alabama,

being a colored boy, was a, had to be a

798

:

novel because there were legal issues back

then, winning the head game was for young

799

:

athletes, but it's really for anybody.

800

:

What happens between the ears determines

what happens at the plate, right?

801

:

It's these are all books that if you

strip it down and take the, the nuggets,

802

:

you have these bunch of golden nuggets,

let's call it generational wisdom.

803

:

And I said, Hey Lou I wanna talk to you.

804

:

When can we talk?

805

:

Let's talk tonight.

806

:

So we talk, and I told him,

this is the way I see you.

807

:

There's a level that you're not there

yet and you never got credit for it, and

808

:

you're not getting credit, but you can.

809

:

And he hired me.

810

:

And we've defined a brand that

stands for generational wisdom.

811

:

A brand told a wise word, activating

your best life, and he's a paid

812

:

speaker, Lou Vickery, and he'll

tell you, you need a good for ery.

813

:

What?

814

:

This guy's a hoot.

815

:

He's an absolute who, but he wasn't

getting credit for the highest

816

:

level impact that he can make.

817

:

The kind of generational wisdom

that you wanna give to your

818

:

children and your grandchildren.

819

:

This is Lou Vickery.

820

:

It's like he didn't know, and now we're

having fun sharing generational wisdom.

821

:

It all right?

822

:

Doesn't sound like branding does it.

823

:

Anyway, so that's a good example.

824

:

That's it.

825

:

It really is.

826

:

20 books, 20, and he's writing

one right now called The

827

:

Book of Generational Wisdom.

828

:

So we're, yeah.

829

:

Anyway.

830

:

It's gonna be a lot of fun.

831

:

All right, any

832

:

Brett Deister: final

thoughts for listeners?

833

:

Rich Kozak: Oh golly.

834

:

Don't let anyone steal your dream.

835

:

We're all here for a reason.

836

:

You have more power

than you think you are.

837

:

Made all powerful, a perfect child of God.

838

:

Take it to the highest level

you can and just close your mind

839

:

and use your imagination when

what you love to do thrives.

840

:

Whom do you know you can impact?

841

:

And what are the highest level impacts?

842

:

Just choose your imagination and think

about that and start right there.

843

:

'cause that's step one.

844

:

Brett Deister: All right.

845

:

Thank you Rich for joining Susan

Coffee marketing brand, sharing

846

:

knowledge on branding purpose or

impact driven branding, pr, and all

847

:

that other fun stuff that you shared.

848

:

Rich Kozak: My pleasure, Brett.

849

:

I'm really pleased to be your

guest today and thank you for

850

:

allowing me to share so much.

851

:

I hope that people who hear it allow

it to touch their hearts and give them

852

:

hope that they don't have to put some

superhero costume on 'cause somebody

853

:

thought their brand is a cool idea.

854

:

They can just be themselves

and let their authentic band

855

:

come out and there's a process.

856

:

So just do that

857

:

Brett Deister: and I

sure hope you guys do.

858

:

But as always, please subscribe

to this podcast and all your

859

:

favorite podcasting apps.

860

:

A five star review really does help.

861

:

And join us next time as we talk

to another great thought leader

862

:

in the PR and marketing industry.

863

:

Alright guys, stay safe.

864

:

Get to understanding your branding

and making an impact in the world

865

:

and see you next time later.

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Brett Deister