brandRUSSO

She lost her job in February. By May, she had her first client. On this episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™, we talk with Michelle Krier, founder and fractional CMO of Foxbridge Consulting, about turning an unexpected layoff into a business - and choosing to build it in industries outside the one she spent 20 years in, because that's where the market was actually heading. We get into staying "in your lane" as a true fractional CMO, why sitting in agency, in-house, and freelance seats builds empathy that makes you better at all three, and how AI is changing marketing without replacing the strategist who still has to make sense of it all. If you're navigating a career transition, thinking about going fractional, or just need a reminder that the people who stay open to opportunity are the ones who find it - this one's for you. Listen now at https://lnkd.in/eKd9uike or wherever you get your podcasts. #brandRUSSO #HeSaidSheSaid #RazorBranding #ChangeTheConversation #FractionalCMO #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #CareerTransition #BrandStrategy #MarketingCareers

Happy Birthday to Molly Daigle, our President of Client Success. Molly knows that great client relationships take more than answering emails and keeping projects on schedule. They take listening, problem-solving, anticipating what comes next, and knowing when to pick up the phone instead of starting another 17-message email chain. She keeps our clients connected, our team moving, and plenty of plates spinning without letting any of them hit the floor. Which makes “Client Success” feel like a pretty accurate job description. Help us wish Molly a very happy birthday today!

Your leadership team is part of your brand, whether they think of themselves that way or not. Every decision, conversation, and interaction tells people something about your company. You can put “integrity” on the values page in a very nice font, but if leadership behaves differently when things get difficult, people tend to believe the behavior. Marketing can communicate what your company stands for. Leadership has to prove it. So, what is your leadership telling people about your brand? Click below to learn more. https://lnkd.in/epbraAvK

Why should your ideal buyer choose you over your biggest competitor? It sounds like a simple question. Yet it's one of the hardest for leadership teams to answer consistently. If your answer sounds like everyone else's, buyers won't see a meaningful difference either. Watch as Jaci Russo, PCM®, explains why this single question uncovers more positioning problems than almost any other, and why it should be the starting point for every brand strategy. Take the free Market Perception Scorecard: https://lnkd.in/ePn75BuS

thank you Stan Sorensen for an excellent discussion about the challenges around marketing and how to do the right things the right way.

It took seven years for customers to stop asking if Altabank had been acquired by an out-of-state bank. That's the real cost of a rebrand nobody talks about. Stan Sorensen, CMO at Altabank, joins Jaci Russo, PCM®, and Michael Russo on the latest episode of He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ to break down what it actually takes to unify five community bank names into one — and hold the trust of the communities that mourned the ones you retired. He gets into the sweet spot community banks occupy between the mega banks and the micro banks, how a team of five runs statewide marketing by knowing exactly where their lane ends, and why a new creative director unlocked a campaign idea they'd been sitting on for three years. This is a smart, honest conversation about brand evolution, outside perspective, and making the ROI case when some of your most important results can't be put in a spreadsheet. Listen now at https://lnkd.in/eYkhcPRf or wherever you get your podcasts. #brandRUSSO #HeSaidSheSaid #RazorBranding #B2BMarketing #BrandStrategy #ChangeTheConversation #Branding #B2BBranding #BrandBuilding #StrategicBranding

Happy Birthday to Morgan Bernard, MS, our Brand Planner. Every brand has a lot going on. Ideas, opinions, research, goals, competitors, customer feedback, and at least a few “we’ve always done it this way” conversations. Morgan has a way of sorting through all of it and finding what actually matters. She connects the dots, spots the opportunities, and helps turn a lot of information into a strategy people can actually use. Which is exactly the kind of person you want in the room when things get complicated. Today, we’re putting the planning aside and celebrating Morgan. Help us wish her a very happy birthday!

You can spend all day telling people who your brand is. Trusted. Experienced. Different. Customer-focused. Sounds great. But your brand isn't really defined by what you say about yourself. It's defined by what customers say when you're not there to explain it. Do they know what makes you different? Can they explain why they chose you? Would they recommend you without being asked? That's your real brand. Because you can control your messaging. You can shape the experience. But ultimately, your reputation lives in other people's conversations. Give them something worth talking about → brandrusso.com

Every company says it’s trustworthy. Your customers are looking for a reason to believe it. Trust isn’t built by adding “trusted partner” to your website. It’s built through proof, consistency, expertise, and an experience that actually matches what your marketing promised. The strongest brands don’t have to keep telling people they can be trusted. They give people enough evidence to reach that conclusion on their own. Click below to read more. https://lnkd.in/efbNPNxN

American Business Women’s Day is about recognizing the women who lead, build, create, and make things happen. At brandRUSSO, we don’t have to look far for an example. As Co-Founder and CEO, Jaci Russo, PCM®, has spent more than two decades building BrandRUSSO, challenging businesses to think differently about their brands, and proving that strong leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about asking the right questions and having the confidence to act on them. Today, we’re celebrating Jaci and all the women who bring their ideas, experience, and perspective to the table every day. Here’s to the women who mean business. #brandRUSSO #WomenInBusiness #AmericanBusinessWomensDay