Blog Archives


EP023 – Raquel Tavares, Founder & CEO, Fourth & Heart

Fabian sits down with Raquel Tavares, the founder and CEO of Fourth & Heart, an artisanal food brand based in Los Angeles, set on a mission to modernize ancient pantry food staples – starting with a line of grass-fed, flavored, pure spreadable butters known as ‘ghee.’
 

A fascinating story on how to make it in the food business while coming from a marketing background, how to utilize branding to introduce a product in a category unfamiliar to many shoppers, why crafting messaging from your heart is key, and how to juggle family and entrepreneurship.

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Why Instagram Is Your Brand’s True Homepage – And 3 Ways To Turn It Into A Lead Magnet

In my brand consultancy, we have a unique process of manifesting a brand’s newly crafted identity. Instead of rolling the design language out in great detail across every touchpoint of a client’s brand, we focus on only a few important pieces that will set the direction and thereby create the brand’s visual and verbal rules.

As part of this process (of showing how a brand can come to life), we recently started spending more time on creating newly branded Instagram accounts for our clients through an initial set of posts. We believe it is just as important, if not more important than the website. Why? Because when you see a company’s Instagram account, you get to know who they really are, what the company really cares about, and even more so, you get to meet the brand that exists today.

The beauty of Instagram is, quite obviously, the platform’s visual appeal. And Instagram for brands is exactly as the name implies: Instantaneous. That is also what most potential visitors seek: Instant gratification. 

As of March 2019, Instagram business pages get over 1.5 billion visits a week, “but many entrepreneurs and startups are still ignoring Instagram as a major acquisition channel, mostly because they can’t add links to each post” says Andrew Lee Miller (who I worked with when helping Tinder and Match Group launch a new app).

Andrew, more widely known as AndrewStartups, a startup marketing expert who has led growth for three startup exits, states “Simply put, millions more people are now discovering brands organically through their Instagram account than their website, yet many companies are still spending tens of thousands of dollars optimizing their website, and not a dollar on their Instagram. Hiring a designer, a copywriter and a content strategist for your Instagram will absolutely pay off,” he argues. “It is more important to drive inbound traffic to – and convert on – ‘your new homepage,’ your Instagram page, than almost anywhere else on the web.”

If you are worried about keeping up your account and posting like a true millennial, there is some good news, which should come as a relief: Having a beautifully designed and distinctly on-brand Instagram page that efficiently illustrates your brand, your values, your culture, and your value proposition is what matters to leave a brand impression. Not the forceful, half-hastily constant updates by your intern. Take a breath and start to think of your Instagram page as your up-to-date homepage.

Here are 3 tips from Andrew and myself on how to go about it:

 

1. Create a longterm, targeted outreach

…and “off-page” social media marketing initiatives that drive new followers to your page every day. 

 

2. Craft an impressive branding and design aesthetic

…coupled with a distinct brand voice, one that is more natural and tongue-in-cheek than currently found on your traditional channels (Those should adapt to your new, authentic voice, eventually).

 

3. Add a strong call to action

…in the bio with a link that converts. Share something valuable like an offer, a competition, or a free piece of content (white papers, anyone?) that will draw visitors further towards your brand.

 

It’s time to respect a channel that will instantaneously provide an up-to-date overview of your brand at its most authentic self. Not only that, but you will be able to sit back and watch leads come in from a source you least expected.

 


EP022 – Scott Harrison, Founder & CEO, charity: water

Fabian talks with Scott Harrison, the founder of charity: water, one of the most trusted and admired non-profits in the world.
 

Solving the water crisis one donation and one well at a time, Scott and his team created a brand that breaks the stereotypes of what a charity is and how a charity acts. He re-branded ‘charity’ while creating a beloved brand of his own.
 

Charity: water is a champion in brand messaging, design, and storytelling while leading with technology and innovation. A paramount episode not to be missed.

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EP021- Till Janczukowicz, Founder & CEO, IDAGIO

Fabian sits down with Till Janczukowicz, the founder of Berlin-based IDAGIO, which is often described as being the Spotify for classical music.
 

As the future of music listening is streaming and streaming services aren’t designed for classical music, Till is on a mission that is much bigger than his product: to save classical music from extinction in the digital age.
 

This fascinating conversation shines a light on how to craft exciting and compelling brand messaging and design that works flawlessly to attract audiences of all ages.

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EP020- Clement Kwan, Co-Founder, Beboe

In this 20th episode of Hitting The Mark, Fabian talks with the first founder of a ‘new green economy’ brand to make it on this show, Clement Kwan of bespoke lifestyle cannabis brand Beboe.

 

Clement comes from the world of high-end fashion. He helped reposition the Diesel brand for America, moved to Milan to take back the license for D&G (Dolce & Gabbana), and later became the president of Net-a-Porter, the biggest online luxury retailer on a global basis.

 

This episode shows what can happen when you follow your heart and how a brand is being built by adding one authentic layer of story, emotion, and design on top of another.

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EP018 – Stephen Sokoler, Founder & CEO, Journey Meditation

Fabian talks with Stephen Sokoler, the founder and CEO of Journey Meditation. Stephen runs a company on a mission: to help all people live happier, healthier, less stressed lives. Founded in 2015, Journey is building the world’s largest, most supportive meditation community both online and off. TechCrunch coined it ‘the Peloton of meditation.’ Journey also operates corporate programs with organizations ranging from Facebook, Disney, and Nike, to charter schools, hospitals, and non-profits.

 

Take a breather and let your mind wander, away from the Donald Trump and Boris Johnson world on the outside, to start looking within, because here’s a thing you don’t see mixed very often: meditation and branding. And on this episode, we see the two blend together effortlessly and authentically since Stephen listened to his friend Simon Sinek’s advice and asked the question ‘why?’ at the onset of his new venture, and a great brand foundation derived from it.

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Ep017 – Mike Cessario, Co-Founder & CEO, Liquid Death

In this episode, Fabian talks with Mike Cessario who founded Liquid Death, the first irreverent bottled water brand that can compete with the cool factor of unhealthy brands from beer to energy drinks. Inspired by the death metal and punk rock culture, Liquid Death takes an extreme approach to branding and marketing, in stark contrast to aspirational health and wellness brands.

 

Launching into the water business with a brand named Liquid Death, while getting $2.3 million in funding from the likes of Michael Dubin, of Dollar Shave Club fame, and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, is nothing but a genius brand move and the more you listen to Mike (who is an alumn of my alma mater, ArtCenter College Of Design), talk about his brand, the more you will adjust your own point of view on branding and marketing. So go ahead and go punk rock with us and ‘murder your thirst’ for an insanely inspiring episode.

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Ep016 – Michael Lastoria, Co-Founder, &pizza

Fabian sits down with creative extraordinaire Michael Lastoria, who, after selling his New-York-based agency to beauty powerhouse Shiseido in 2017, is now Co-Founder of the counter culture pizza brand ‘&pizza,’ which has 36 locations in the U.S. and is rapidly growing based on its inherent brand thinking and employee-first commitment.

 

When your employees and customers alike start tattooing your brand mark onto their bodies, you know that you’ve been growing a special kind of brand. Full of energy and wisdom, Michael is sharing the stories and recipes behind &pizza’s brand success with you on this whirlwind of inspiration we call Episode 16.

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Ep011 – Mark Wallace, Co-Founder, Parlor Skis

In this episode, Fabian is joined by Mark Wallace, Co-Founder of Parlor, a custom ski brand from New England that is taking the art of customization and personalization to new heights. We learn how Parlor skis are “customized for you, by you and with you, each one as individual as you are.”

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Ep009 – Raissa & Joyce de Haas, Co-Founders, Double Dutch

On this episode, Fabian talks with 26-year old Dutch identical twins Raissa and Joyce de Haas, who have built Double Dutch, a London-based brand of award-winning premium mixers that sold well over 10 million bottles to date. We dive into the story from idea to shelf while building a beloved brand along the way.

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FINIEN