Brands, Beats & Bytes

Quick question: What do Puff, Steve Jobs, Brahms, Clive Davis, Run DMC, Funkmaster Flex, Biggie, Jim Valvano (RIP), Pharrell, KRS-One, and Guinness World Records have in common? Epic stories, well told by Rob Stone. There as those who follow culture, those who enjoy experiencing culture and those who create culture. Rob Stone, Jon Cohen and The Cornerstone Agency and The FADAR team CREATE culture. Period. This week’s show is about far more than marketing. It’s about what happens when life intertwines with work and they make a beautiful baby. In this case, twins (you’ll get the joke after listening). Full disclosure: This dude is one of DC’s best friends. Rob happens to be an ICON on the low. You Must Learn! (shout The Teacher).

Off the rip, gotta admit Marvin Davis, or MD2020 as we call him, is our boy. Jeff Shirley (our show producer), and I attended Clark Atlanta University B-School with Marvin. He was one who would go to the party until late and crush the test in the morning, that was Marvin. Hated him! Ha. On this show MD2020 showcases his razor sharp wit and his marketing depth with equal dexterity. He spits killer lines with ease belying the profundity of the thought, such as: ‘agencies can’t make bad advertising without the clients help,’ or ‘people believe they know marketing because they are consumers,’ or ‘the best tech does not win.’ Simply put, Marvin Davis may be the best marketer you’ve never heard of because he doesn’t seek the limelight, he seeks RESULTS! Pop in those AirPods, head to your Bikram yoga class, and invite the sweet sound of Marvin’s marketing wisdom to caress your cranium.

Daryl ‘DB’ Butler, Head of Marketing for US Consumer Personal Systems @HP, beats, Brand Jordan, Nike, Boost Mobile, Sprint. Is your brand tone deaf and you don’t even realize it (Prada and Gucci are you listening)? Is your brand accountable to the CONSUMER? These are just a taste of the questions explored with the thoughtful Daryl ‘DB’ Butler. There are typically two kinds of business people in the world, those who follow maps and those who discover territories. One is not better than the other, but they are very different. DB discovers territories! In this show he drops pure gold with quotes like ‘culture doesn’t sleep.’ Whoa. Please enjoy this sip of branding wisdom to cleanse your marketing palette with our dude DB.

Seth Greenberg, Left Brain/Right Brain Marketing ‘Badass’ and proud Clippers fan formerly at Alteryx, LifeLock, Intuit, eHobbies.‘Sit down comedian’ Seth Greenberg turned his passion of being a self-proclaimed radio promotion ‘prize pig’ into one of the most insightful, data based, creative and entertaining careers and stories about marketing we’ve ever heard. Seth IS the poster child for the benefits of being a balanced left brain, right brain marketer. Simply put, this dude is a genius on the low. You will forever remember this marketing conversation. Forever…forever, ever, forever, ever...

Scott Hargrove, EVP and CMO @ California Pizza Kitchen, formerly at Snap, World Surf League, Coca-Cola Many highly accomplished, smart marketers confuse ‘volume’ with ‘positioning.’ These terms are related but are not the same thing. Scott eloquently and honestly recounts a valuable lesson where he learned a NARROW positioning can result in HUGE sales volume and a huge, diverse customer base. A counter intuitive principle when not understood and respected kills brands and businesses. Scott is the ultimate marketing decathlete who drops jewel after jewel to your brains delight.

Geoff Cottrill, SVP Strategic Marketing @ The Coca-Cola Company Wanna know how Converse became the number two brand on social media. Geoff Cottrill knows cuz he and his team were responsible for re-building the iconic brand leveraging music and soul at its core. G$, as we affectionately call him, drops jewels of wisdom that will up your game, and your brand.