How to Rise Above the Noise to Differentiate Your Business with David Brier

My guest today is David Brier; the Founder and Chief Gravity Defier at DBD International; a branding agency that designs and transforms brands.

David is a Fast Company expert blogger and the subject of numerous articles in Forbes, ADWEEK, Huffington Post and Business Insider. He is the recipient of the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship medallion, which was presented to him by Shark Tank star and NY Times bestseller Daymond John.

He’s also an award-winning veteran and recipient of over 330 international industry recognitions in branding, rebrands, design and brand strategy.

And as if that’s not impressive enough, David is a best-selling author and his newest book “Brand Intervention, 33 Steps to Transform the Brand You Have into the Brand You Need" is an Amazon best-seller and regarded as THE “branding bible”.

I invited David to be a guest on my show to talk about how brands can rise above the noise and gain the attention of their audience. I wanted to know why certain brands take off when others are left in the dust. And I was curious to learn about his YouTube series called “One Minute Wednesday”

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating along with a brief review.

About Me
Hey there, I'm Joelly - the Branding Badass. My badass superpower is helping you build a brand that matters. From branded merch to brand consulting, when you work with me, you get results!

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Transcript

Joelly Goodson : 0:10

Hi, I'm Joelly, your Branding Badass, and welcome to season two of Branding Matters. My guest today is David Brier, the founder and chief gravity defier at DBD International, a branding agency that designs and transforms brands. David is a Fast Company expert blogger and the subject of numerous articles in Forbes, Adweek, Huffington Post and Business Insider. He's also the recipient of the president ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship medallion, which was presented to him by Shark Tank star and New York Times bestseller daymond. David is also an award winning veteran and recipient of over 330 International industry recognitions in branding, rebrands design and brand strategy. And as if that's not impressive enough, David is also a best selling author, and his newest book, brand intervention. 33 steps to transform the brand you have into the brand new need is an Amazon bestseller, and it's regarded as the branding Bible. I invited David to be guests on my show today to talk about how brands can rise above the noise and gain the attention of their audience. I want to know why certain brands take off while others are left in the dust. And I was curious to learn about his popular YouTube series called one minute Wednesday. David, I'm so so excited to have you here today. Welcome to Branding Matters.

David Brier: 1:43

Thank you so much. It's nice to have you here.

Joelly Goodson : 1:45

Where in the US are you?

David Brier: 1:46

I am in I'm in Wisconsin, Wisconsin.

Joelly Goodson : 1:49

Okay, so I'm in Calgary, but I'm originally from Montreal, and we have a Montreal connection. Your dad was born in Montreal, but you weren't. Is that correct?

David Brier: 1:57

He moved, I believe is his late teens that he moved to Brooklyn. And I've only been to Canada's I've been to Vancouver and I've been to Toronto.

Joelly Goodson : 2:07

So you've never been to Montreal?

David Brier: 2:09

Never. Never

Joelly Goodson : 2:10

Well, I want to talk about Montreal because that's where I'm from. And I have my heart there. So I want to talk about him because he seems like a really interesting character. And he was sort of famous in his day. So can you share a little bit about his name was Sam?

David Brier: 2:22

Yeah, yeah. So tell us about Sam. And he was born in Montreal? Yeah. So there are three sons of which I'm the youngest. And so by the time that I popped out to my mom, that was his history, you know, because my brothers are, you know, were 14 and 15 years older than myself. So I was the only planned one. And my mother and father about 35. When they had me, you know, he'd done this, he wrapped this up. I think the last he really got into it was, I think a couple years before I was born is that he was almost just done with it. He was kind of still dabbling with the different bits and pieces. So yeah, it wasn't a large I mean, it was stuff I knew of, but it wasn't stuff he was actively doing. A lot of by the time I came around,

Joelly Goodson : 3:05

Share what he did, we haven't even talked about because I think what he did was really interesting. I did a little bit of research on him. And so can you share a bit about what he did?

David Brier: 3:14

You mean as a cartoonist?

Joelly Goodson : 3:15

Yeah,

David Brier: 3:15

it was interesting for your listeners. It was an art to the way the drawings were done. And the stories were told he found family life to be something of an inspiration for what fueled is having little kids and adult clothing was sort of playing house.

Joelly Goodson : 3:31

What I thought was interesting when I did research about you and about your dad was just the whole so he I think he was a famous, famous back in Montreal, like in the 19, early 1950s. And a lot of people compared him to Charles Schulz, right. And so yeah, they were they started at the same time. Yeah. And that's, that's what I thought was really cool about it. He had this famous comic strip, and he was called Small world and I shops, I was looking at peanuts. And they trauma's shelves launch peanuts in 1952, and your dad 1954. And there was all this comparison. And I love the history about that, you know, and I thought that was really interesting. And so I was checking into that. Anyway, I just wanted to share that because he was in Montreal, and I'm from Montreal, and so I thought that was very cool. And I'm surprised you've never been,

David Brier: 4:15

You may you may be you may be a third or fourth cousin removed.

Joelly Goodson : 4:18

I mean, who knows? Right? Well, you have to make it there if you've never been because it's actually a really great city. So then would you say your dad had an influence on you as far as your career goes based on his artistic background, or was he you said he already retired by the time you came around?

David Brier: 4:35

Well, he retired from that he was still an entrepreneur, but he didn't retire. I don't think anybody in my in my family. I mean, I guess there are a few of them that retired. Retirement was never like a big part of the our family culture. I love what I do. I just posted something just last week, and I said someone said, When are you gonna retire? And my response was when I'm dead, because why would I stop? That's unfathomable. To me. That's like a bizarre concept.

Joelly Goodson : 4:58

It's interesting. You know, my dad was Same way he had his own business. And he worked literally up until the day he died. He was sick with cancer and he, you know, was in treatment and it was a secretary state. I don't know what the actual correct term now is called. And I remember him like ordering flowers for his secretary, you know, here he is dying. And you know, he just so passionate about his business and his work and yeah, so if you can find something you're passionate about, that's really great, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. So let's talk about what you're passionate about. perfect segue DB D. What does that stand for?

David Brier: 5:32

Initially, when I first started my started my career I created David Brier design works. That became a little bit of a thorn in my side, because when people would call, they would only ask for me. And also at the time as I was evolving, they were only asking for design and I'm like, I don't think of things singularly as just design. I looked at many more of the parts because to me, design is one piece. It's like the guitar solo. It's not the entire song. I was interested in the entire song I was interested in what made these collection of things a symphony where everything came together and you're like, Oh my God, I've never heard harmonies like that. I've never heard rhythm like that. I've never heard cadences like that and so that's my love and my passion has to do with that. And so that's where I really get super super excited. Do you

Joelly Goodson : 6:23

ever think of changing the name then from David Brier design once you evolved and add DB that's that DVD international was the evolution with that but I see okay,

David Brier: 6:32

when people hire me that's who they make checks out to that's who they pay. But it really remains like a like a legal name. It's kind of like Procter and Gamble. You know, not many people unless you're in business knows about Procter and Gamble we know about the products they make and that we buy. So I kind of got annoyed because DVD Okay, what was it David Brier design was an abbreviation, an acronym for that. But it kind of I didn't like it. Whenever I said DB D. People say, Do you mean DVD, like the DVD player, I said, and it was very frustrating. So I told him, I said, DVD, like, don't be dumb. Or dancing before dawn. Those are the two things that came up with and that that seemed to move it along. But obviously that brought out my new york Rep.

Joelly Goodson : 7:14

Yeah, no. Okay. I thought that's what it was for. But I just wasn't sure. So thank you for clearing that. So then what's the chief gravity defier? I love that name. By the way, how'd you come up with that?

David Brier: 7:23

Well, what happened was was, I don't know, probably 10 years into doing because I've been doing this for 41 years. So for 10 years into this

Joelly Goodson : 7:32

started when you were like, what? 1512? Yeah.

David Brier: 7:38

And so what happened was, I really liked the concept. There was something that I'd seen from Joe Jackson, the angry punk rocker, British punk rocker. And then he evolved musically over the years, I think he wrote a book called cure for gravity and always like, What an interesting concept, the cure for gravity. I thought that was brilliant. You know, it's like, you don't think of gravity as something to cure. You think of it as something that's inevitable. You hold something here, you let open your hand and it's gonna freakin fall. So the concept I love that juxtaposition. I love that. And so I started looking at the factor of what do I do I help clients defy gravity and rise above the noise. That's why my website is rising above the noise shift gravity to fire I love I love when people did smart plays on their names and one other business card. And so the idea of like a chief, something, you know, like, okay, chief executive officers, very common Chief Operating Officer, etc, etc. There's like, Chief chief Chief, so I was like, Chief gravity to fire. Ooh. And we always bring smiles to people's faces, then when they would read it.

Joelly Goodson : 8:40

I love that. That's great. Kind of like branding, badass, right? Absolutely. fiery defiance of it all. Exactly. Well, I love it. It's a great name. So I want to talk about branding, because that's what we're here for. So how did you go from being a graphic designer, getting into branding?

David Brier: 8:56

I start in the industry. So this is an ad when I start, and you have to understand there were no computers, no social media, no internet, no email, none of that stuff. So when you said you were a designer, the options were short. They were like, Okay, what type of design which was never a favorite direction for a conversation to go in. It's like a cheese. I always have to explain this all again and again and again. But the options were short, it was like either interior designer, fashion designer, graphic designer and say graphic designer, they still were like clueless. They're like, what does that mean? What is it? What is a fashion designer shirt? We got it. interior designer, totally room, great graphic designer, who are what to grab? What's, what's the Canvas? What's the thing that they're transforming? And so since it could apply to so many areas, it was an annoying conversation, actually, then a few years into my career, all of a sudden, there's this stuff without having to do with the computer and computers are coming into the scene. I'm like, What are these things? I mean, we mastered our skill and you know, you see little bits of pieces of artwork on the walls. I mean, tell me something you aren't drawn. I can draw it for you. So I have those skill sets. So the idea of a computer seemed to be like a real degrade, and then that we heard about these new species, a new category of designer lab design. And then I hear about these web designers. And still, you're considering this to be an alien invasion of some sort. It's like, so web designer, what? So what type of design? What do you design? So you know about color and typography? Oh, no, no, I'm a web designer. What does that mean? Oh, I do code. Why are you calling yourself a designer? So the whole thing of a designer was had a lot of landmines of frustration to just have a conversation. So that's what I started to, like, want to redefine that. And at the same time as that that's happening, My interest is expanding. Because again, what I started out in the beginning of my career, I was already an artist. So now I figured, how am I gonna make money, I'll be an illustrator. Then I was like, Huh, if I'm an illustrator, I can give something to somebody, they can make the worst choices of font and color and layout, and scale and relationships. And they can take something gorgeous that I created. It's kind of like probably how someone feels. If they bring an amazing piece of meat, or fish, or poultry, or vegetables to a lousy chef who then over cooks it and uses horrendous quality oils and over salts it and cooks it too long or cooks it too short and just like go, Ah, it just kills a part of you inside. And that to me was the idea. Like I think just give this one little piece and hope that our director is having a good day. I hated that. I hated leaving it up to fate. So that's when I started to just take more ownership. Okay, I love language. I love story. I started out very much from the editorial side of design, you know, for magazines, and that whole thing was more where I started as opposed to some designers. They started from packaging design. I approached packaging later in my career. And that's how it started to evolve where I started to really get into branding.

Joelly Goodson : 11:52

So branding, then how would you David brear. Is it brera Briar

David Brier: 11:57

is Briar is Brian hire and fire wire and gravity defier

Joelly Goodson : 12:03

gravity. Okay, David Brier? Well, I want to get it right up front. People call me Joelly all the time. So I always have to correct them right away that it's totally so David Brier? How do you define branding that because I've heard you say, branding is the art of differentiation, which I thought was really interesting. So can you elaborate on that?

David Brier: 12:21

Totally? Well, the basic thing is it introduced and made and made known in my bestseller,

Joelly Goodson : 12:25

okay, I just have to tell people that you just held up your book, because this is audio. So brand intervention, and we're going to talk about

David Brier: 12:30

your book just held my book and what what is my book sound like when you hit it? That's what it sounds like. It's so so so when you get your copy. And when you hit somebody, they really feel it.

Joelly Goodson : 12:43

Yeah, it's a big book, if they hit it, but if you hit it with a paperback, they will know that your heart's not in it. That will be bad. Okay, so let's talk about that. So the art of differentiation.

David Brier: 12:53

Yep. And so the art of differentiation, what I found was as I was doing stuff, and I was starting to really sort of experiment, I was like, why did certain design solutions and branding solutions hit it out of the ballpark, and others just die? Why they were there, sometimes ugly designs and ugly brands that were like really this ego II cringe, but yet they sold and yet much classier much tastier ones didn't sell. That was something that I was trying to really solve. First of all the premises This one is there's no shortage of choice, whether it's a blouse, whether it's some shoes, sneakers, or equipment of some sorts, type of car restaurant to choose, we have many, many, many choices, no shortage, what's going to get me to make a shift and go, Oh, I'm going to actually adopt that. Is it just going to be Oh, it has XYZ feature? Or Ooh, it has, you know, what's, what if that didn't make any sense that didn't add up? So that's where I started to really go. So what is it what's happening there, and it was this point of differentiation. And the way it came to that was by looking at the opposite, the opposite is what things see appear the same as one another. And when you have that, what happens? You actually have people reverting to price. Why? Because they're demanding, differentiate if, if the value is the same, if these two, these two brands have XYZ, whatever it is, take your pick of category are the same. I'm gonna go with the same in terms of look, feel features and deliver what am I going to get well than which one's cheaper, that'll be my default. It's not because we're cheap, but we demand a difference. So that was the kind of turning point for me realizing that we need to really, really understand and embrace, not use cliches, which put us as the same this is the same as that is the same as that as the same as that. And that's, that's where it came to.

Joelly Goodson : 14:38

Yeah, you know, interesting. Have you ever heard, I had a guest on and he talked about that, and he talked about the worst four words in business are Do you know what they are? How much does it cost? Most all things being equal,

David Brier: 14:50

right? Well, we're here to drive the point even more here. Here's the interesting thing. I know that there are people who are listening to this who say they might say that I'm crazy, but I'll tell you this You know, the one business I would never ever in a million years would ever want to have would be Walmart, if I had a choice of a company. Why? Because you know that Walmart actually has no loyal customers, no one is loyal to Walmart, the brand, what they are loyal to is that cheap price. If another company came along and says, You know what, whatever Walmart charges, we're going to do 5% cheaper, they would jump ship. So there's no loyalty, you stand for nothing other than cheap price. Because every brand, if you if you really understand branding, there's a qualitative side is a quantitative side. And that's really the thing there. So that is the most important thing. And if you're just on the quantitative side, like, Oh, they could do it for 10,000 bucks, we'll do it for 9250

Joelly Goodson : 15:42

No, it's the worst. I mean, to be a commodity, you're always going to be competing on price. And I totally agree with you. I mean, that is such a huge thing. I've heard you also talk about saying, you know, cookie cutters are made for baking and not branding, which was such a great quote, right? Because people are just, you know, you see something out there that you think is good. And you want to hop on the train and be do exactly the same thing versus seeing what you're, I always say, you know, find out what your competitors are doing, check them out, see what they're doing, and then do the complete opposite, and lean into what they're not offering and use that as your way to sort of promote your branding, right? So everything you're saying I love it. It's so true. So we mentioned a bit earlier about passion. And I love the way you talk about how passion is an overlooked ingredient in branding. So can you elaborate on that. And I think you were speaking more specifically, as far as the audience goes versus the brand itself. When you're when I'm thinking about passion. I think a lot of times business owners and entrepreneurs and someone who might be listening, they're so passionate about what they're doing and what their brand is. And not necessarily for example, I think of a brand like Yeti, okay, Yeti hit the nail on the head, right? They know what their audience is passionate about. That's why they can charge ridiculous amounts for their products. Right? I get demands for Yeti all the time. It's because the you know, it started off as you I don't know the story about Yeti, I'm sure you do. Right? Were they wrong? I would, I would love to know, I actually don't know the story of Yeti, I would love to know Really? Oh, yes,

David Brier: 17:11

I know, that isn't a very Allegiant audience. But I do not know the backstory

Joelly Goodson : 17:14

there. It's like a cult. I mean, they are they these were designed for these guys that the hardcore, you know, hunters and fishermen, and they have more having a they go out for hours and hours and hours into the wilderness. And you know, and there's their food or their drinks wouldn't stay cool. And so they developed this cooler, like thinking about their consumer and what they were passionate about, and then design something that they didn't even know they needed. And you know, and they did that. And then it became this very high end brand. Now, I mean, a Yeti cooler is I don't know what is in the US, but three $400, sometimes more $600. And it's a cooler, right? And there's never been a cooler out there or a brand that has been able to charge up, they tapped into the passion of their audience, and then use that as a way to brand themselves. And now it's become into the everyday ethos where people just want the Yeti brand because of the status of the tags. But that's where it started. You know,

David Brier: 18:09

it's Yeah, what they what they did is they basically tapped into it being a lifestyle brand. It's always interesting to me, I always have that question. Like, tell me what you're telling me. What business are you in? I always tell clients and it's fascinating, like, 8080 90%, they get an answer. Their answer is completely useless, and totally wrong. They think it's what they make. They think it's what they do. And it's like, no, it's like, you know, I mean, I tell them, I said, hey, look, Porsche makes a freakin car. Okay, but people by status of the passing lane, you know, and, you know, status and style of the passing lane. So, you know, it's like, what are people buying versus what are people you what are we selling? That's got to be clear.

Joelly Goodson : 18:51

Yeah, yeah, totally. I love that. Okay, so I want to talk about your book, not the one that we just talked about. We're gonna get to that. But you had another book out called lucky branding. And in that you mentioned the 10. Golden Rules of branding. Yeah. So can you share some of those maybe your top favorite rules of that book?

David Brier: 19:11

Well, I mean, as far as well, as far as the lucky brands, this is probably one of my favorites because of the fact that I use this all the time. That rules enable one to follow knowledge enables one to lead and that's how that I actually tie into my masterclass. I go over, I said, Guys, if you're looking for rules that you can blindly follow, forget about it. That's not going to happen.

Joelly Goodson : 19:29

You repeat that repeat that because you said it really fast.

David Brier: 19:31

Rules enable one to follow knowledge enables one to lead So the thing is, is that rules what a rule rules are like, Okay, oh, I should when that happens, I should do like, you know, it's removed from that entire equation was removed from that entire equation is you and being able to think for yourself. Anything that diminishes your ability to think or my ability to think is valueless. We have to be able to think for ourselves. So rules enable one to follow okay. learn the rules. Okay, do this, do that, do that. Do that. Do that now get it get those rules mastered to the point you can choose to do them or not. And that's where knowledge comes in. Because knowledge has judgment. Knowledge requires observation. Knowledge is vastly senior rules are that's like, Okay, if you want to be a robot, I still love Easter baby.

Joelly Goodson : 20:21

Okay, that's a good one. I like that. Can you give share one more? Only one more? Well, you can share more, if you want. I mean, I would say, um, you know, it's kind of interesting, as you're as you're thinking, sorry, I just have to I have to stop you for one second, because I just thought of that. So we're talking about this. But then the title is the 10. Golden Rules of branding. Yeah. You talking about rules and the subject?

David Brier: 20:44

Yeah, yeah. Well, I in that particular context, I'm using I'm using rules as guidelines as guideposts, not as something for you to mindlessly follow and adhere to that's my definition of rule. You know, so, which is probably breaking the rules, but by making up my own definition of a word, exactly. Okay. That's the way that's the way I roll. You know, I had a great laugh with my daughter once when we were riding in a car. And, and my, my daughter gave an opinion about something. And I was talking to her fiance. And I said something that you should know about the briars. And he goes, What is that? And I said, Well, we never let something as trivial as mere facts stand in the way of us being complete experts on a topic.

Joelly Goodson : 21:28

Oh, totally. Well, that's great. I've you know, I've heard this somewhere thing, we're never let facts get in the way of good story.

David Brier: 21:34

Exactly. But one but but Golden Rule Number eight is if you don't tell your customer, what the difference is, your customer will decide it for you. That is vitally important to know, it's basically if we don't define our story, the marketplace will define for us, no market loves a vacuum. Without that difference being established, we have to own that difference, come up with the innovation for us. No innovation never came from a marketplace. The innovations always came from an individual who's paying attention to the marketplace.

Joelly Goodson : 22:02

For me, an example of that is would be something like Steve Jobs where the marketplace didn't ask for mp3 players. But Steve Jobs said, Now you can have 500 songs in your pocket. So let's talk about one minute Wednesday, because I think that's such a fun, interesting initiative that you started. And I want to know how you started, why you started and how it's going

David Brier: 22:22

cool. Basically, as much as I like to think that I'm on top of, of really planning all my stuff out really, really, really well. There was something that escaped me when I was just about to release brand intervention. And I realized, if I don't have a regular presence, I could come out with this. And unless I'm doing some like grand book tour or something like that, I'll be seen as a one on one hit wonder, I just realized, there's a real potential downside, if you put out a book, all the eyeballs are on you, it's kind of like all of a sudden, your part in the play comes. And all the spotlight goes on you and you don't know your life. You're like, holy shit, this is really a problem. So that was that was my realization. And it was like, Oh, my God, I gotta start coming out with something with some regular thing. Because at that time, I wasn't coming out with regular content on YouTube or, or other social channels. I was spending, I was doing things. Yes, it's having a presence. But it wasn't adhering to anything in terms of giving you or me predictability, such as, hey, every week, I can know that I can get something from you. So I was like, What the heck can I do? What can I do? What can I do? And I was like, one minute, Wednesday. I like that. Because you know what day it is, and you know how long I was like, no ambiguity. So that was that was the impetus. And I was like, I had no idea how I was going to do that. I thought to myself, How the hell am I going to fill up one minute, every week? That was like, daunting.

Joelly Goodson : 23:56

Your mission was like, Okay, I'm gonna do a YouTube channel. And I'm going to go on every Wednesday, and I'm going to do one minute, you know, did you come up with the idea first, and then the content followed? Like, was that your intent?

David Brier: 24:07

Absolutely. I first came up with the vehicle first The vehicle was okay, one minute, Wednesday, every week, bang, after the after it comes out, you know, boom. So that was that was the thing. And then it was like, Okay, what what can I cover in a minute? And the interesting thing about the one minute Wednesday's is that usually I'll just pick a topic, at least is what it's evolved into is that I'll pick a topic and I'll go, Okay, I want to talk about the importance of using disruption to to elevate your brand. Okay, good. And I might talk about a project I've worked on or how I helped the company do this, or I might just talk about the concept in general, but I'll record between five to eight minutes. And then my my videographer, edits are down to 60 seconds, give or take,

Joelly Goodson : 24:52

yeah, they're great. I love them. And you know, I love it's a minute because you're right. I mean, we're so busy and our attention span isn't very long, and so it's just an enough that you can go on there. And, and there's like you said, there's so many different topics that you can just go on and click and then you just give a really powerful, I mean, your videographer editor does a great job because he gets right to the meat of it right. So that's so important. Okay, so let's talk about your book because I know you've been chomping at the bit, you keep pulling it up. So it's called brand.

Unknown: 25:21

Sounds like when you hit it with your knuckle, you need like two hands to pick up that book. So it's got brand intervention 33 steps to transform.

David Brier: 25:31

For though, for those who that cannot see this, see this, this may, this may be one of your things, you can tell him Wow, took up half the screen,

Joelly Goodson : 25:39

he took up half the screen. It's huge. And we're talking about his book. So brand intervention 33 steps to transform the brand new have into the brand new need. So great title, tell us about this book,

David Brier: 25:54

you know, I'm seeing other people write books, I think I've got I have some good content to share with people. And the other thing is that every one of my clients, if they all had the same blind spots, they all had the same speed bumps were there. And if I ever discounted one of them, it would always bite me in the ass every time. If I was like, Oh, they know it. Of course, they know what they've been doing. They've been in business 3040 years. And I'm because I have clients that are from startups. So they've been in business a few years to companies that have been in business 3040 or more years, and they all have the same blind spot. And I really can only attribute that to the fact that they're too close to it, they don't lack that ability to be objective enough. That coupled with experience knowing what to look for knowing what to dismiss. So that was that was inspiration that was like, you know, if I have found not a single exception to the rule, I literally had not found one person that didn't have me address these particular points. That was the thing that I basically wanted to now have accessible worldwide. That was my goal. I wanted to have this so that 20 473 65 anybody could have a bit of David Brier, you know, right at their fingertips

Joelly Goodson : 27:03

when you say blind spots were used, and everybody had them every single solitary person, is this the same blind spot? Or are they specific unique to the individual client?

David Brier: 27:11

No, they were the same things they skipped or missed or didn't realize were important. Can you share some of those? Well, sure. I mean, like what, like, for example, what is the factor that what's the enemy of branding? Let me ask you that. Me? Yeah.

Joelly Goodson : 27:26

Oh, now you're putting me on the spot? What's the 100%? What? Hey, what's the enemy of branding? That's good question. Um, I don't know.

David Brier: 27:34

I'll tell you. So what it comes down to is this, if branding is the art differentiation will be the antithesis of that things being the same as one another. So cookie

Joelly Goodson : 27:43

cutter concept,

David Brier: 27:44

right, exactly. What do we know those cookie cutters to be? What are those? Those are cliches, those are common, overused, they've lost their impact. They become diluted through overuse and repetitive. For example, if let's say there's 10 companies standing in front, me right now, and they're all pitching me on, I don't care, whatever, let's say use our printer. So I'm gonna go Okay, I got 10 of these guy. It's a guy that says they're standing here. us, us, us, us. And they got a best state of the art cutting edge technology, lightning fast response time, Wi Fi enabled, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And how many of those as I go down the line, how many of those are gonna say the same thing? Nine, if not all 10 of them. And they're gonna try and put it at what's different about us is and then you'll get something I guess, we care. It's like, please shoot me now. Okay, just shoot me. Now. Then. They didn't didn't say, but our differences, then they'll drop another cliche, because we're made in USA, or you know, or something. So it's like, just stop. So that's the enemy. So and when you know that it's unbelievably liberating. Because it's like a conversation that I have with every client, I'll sit down, and I'll say, so tell me why the consumer should care about you. And your product, like, Oh, well, well, well, we're the best. We've been in the business the longest, and then it cliche and cliche and cliche, cliche, cliche, cliche and cliche, and I let them get it all out of their system. And I say, thank you. Now, why do I know that if I went to any of your competitors, right now, I pretty much hear the same thing. And that's when their jaw drops, and they go, Oh, my God. I said, that's your problem. You might do that. Because otherwise prior to that, Oh, well, we've got to have a new logo or a new new tagline, or we need a new agency, or we need to do that. It's like, and they're just throwing darts, just hoping that something's gonna land and they don't even know what their problem is yet. The problem is, you haven't looked at your industry, you haven't looked at the amount of noise. You haven't looked at the amount of overused common promises, common pitches, common claims and common business models, and the only road out is ingenuity. Because if you are really smart, and if you are really innovative, and you're very, very top of your game, you're gonna come up with something brilliant and you Know what people are gonna notice that people are appreciating that level of brilliance, we must be our own worst enemy. If we are not willing to outperform our best, high, our highest high, then we have actually failed because someone else will come and do that for us. We've always got to be upping our game. So we have to be so I basically tell everybody, we have to be our own worst enemy and love that.

Joelly Goodson : 30:21

Yeah. So tell me some more steps about how to transform your brand. Because I'm really find this fascinating. And I think our listener will, too.

David Brier: 30:29

This is my favorite chapter. And the shortest chapter. This is absolutely as short the shortest chapter you've seen, you've seen how large the font is on the book, right? Yeah, so my favorite is chapter 26, is good versus great. And there's two sentences, one at the top of each page, that's the entire chapter. And they read, by the way, if you're not, for those of you that are listening, if you're not right now wrapped in a blanket, coseley sitting by a fire, you'll just you'll just feel all warm and fuzzy, you know, even if even without a blank, it says this a good brand makes us feel good about what they stand for a great brand makes us feel good about what we stand for. And the thing about that, is that too often brands levelwind brands like Hey, what do you think of our thing, and it's like we this we that we this, we that we say hate it, you're the most important thing in the room, there's not enough oxygen for your customer to even even have an aspiration? Why should I care about you, you're the most selfish brand I've ever encountered, and you want me to love you, that's the thing when it comes to brand is, is you've got to really know where the focus is. And it cannot be on yourself.

Joelly Goodson : 31:32

So that goes back to what we talked earlier about tapping into what your customer or what your audience is passionate about, and using that to help leverage and connect, right?

David Brier: 31:41

Yes. And then you know, and then the other thing is that not all ideas are of equal size, not all brands are of equal size, you got to know how big to get people are going to look to the companies, the organizations and the vision that is proactive enough to look at the actual problems of things and not just go the easy road. It's like, Well, why, you know, why is this? Why is this happening this way, and being in that level of proactivity, that will change your relationship dramatically, and your role in the lives of those that you serve. So you know, to me, most brands think way too small, they need to actually increase the scope of what they're serving. And again, it comes back to like what I was talking about earlier that like when I say what business you in perfect example, simple, is a company client of mine out in Massachusetts, and they make the most amazing premium dog food, it actually helps some of their dogs recover from cancer and other diseases. And so it was remarkable in its health, you know, you have products like puppy Chow, and Purina, and you have this stuff the other and I AMS and that's all crap. I mean, it's all highly processed junk is nothing good in it for the dog. It's convenient for the dog owner, but it's not good for dogs. Go back,

Joelly Goodson : 32:49

see how you really feel?

David Brier: 32:51

Well, the thing, the thing about it too, is that I'm asked to create this brand. And you know, these guys are a great a great couple that actually has this as I was like, Okay, let's let's really crush this. And just to paint the picture, it was so effective that even through the entirety of 2020, the whole pandemic they have over the last 24 months, forex their company in size and the deliverables and sales and they started out as high metal farms. That sounds nice. What does that mean to anybody? What does that do? So I looked at the values, I looked at their customer base, I looked at the values of their customers, I looked at the lifestyle things that they considered important and looking at all those things, I then proposed a brand new brand, a brand new brand and in terms of design name and everything. So I went from high Meadow farms, to Napa fresh food for dogs and when you hear Napa fresh, anybody hears that, but you think rolling hills, wine, cheese, you know, nice Tuscan vibe and feel and all of that, you know, and then the branding and the look just stunningly gorgeous. So that's just an example of knowing where to look and where to avoid.

Joelly Goodson : 33:57

That's amazing. And then you rebranded and then their business totally changed. 100% Thank you for sharing that because you hear a lot of times I had another guest on where he talked about how he did the same sort of thing. And you know, when he talks to companies it's like you know, you don't have a sales problem you have a branding problem. I don't think a lot of companies get that and they really need to go back and look at who they are and what they're saying and what their message is. Okay, so I'm really interested to know you are a self described chocolate whisper and you're talking to a self described chocolate lover over here. So how does one become a chocolate whisper and what

David Brier: 34:30

is a chocolate whisper it's important to be able to like go really low. Okay, so because that way you can say hello dark chocolate. How are you?

Joelly Goodson : 34:40

Or do you prefer dark to milk? What's your favorite?

David Brier: 34:42

Oh yes, well with a good chocolates here that knows how to really properly temper the chocolate. Not all chocolate cheers know that. But I learned to love dark chocolate because of one of my clients that wasn't chocolate here. When I rebranded their brand. Their sales went in one month, literally the first month after we released it was the softest launch of any Watch over, their sales of truffles tripled, 300% amazing in 30 days. And there's just because of like how it was talked about how was presented, but they had an ability, they had a 99% cacao chocolate truffle. It was unbelievable. There's no bitterness whatsoever. There's all these different percentages, and it was just astonishing. And so that's what I got to really appreciate that it wasn't dark chocolate that I disliked. It was actually poorly tempered dark chocolate, were they you know, because chocolate is kind of like coffee, you get a good grade bean and you could roast it poorly and they'll taste terrible. Like I have I have one of the best roasters in America that I you know, I have them every three weeks, they shipped me out two pounds of this coffee that they roast. They're one of the one of the best roasters in America, they are able to just get such a gorgeous flavor profile. And that's just an example. Go straight back to the chef's that I was talking about in the beginning. Food is obviously the subtext of this entire conversation, actually only been talking really about everything he said about branding today applies to food, please take note and eat wisely.

Joelly Goodson : 36:04

Exactly. Well, I mean, I love that you said that about chocolate and that you compare it to coffee because I totally agree to I'm a bit of a coffee snob and to be able I like drinking coffee block and you know, it's got to be good when it's really smooth and you don't have to add anything to it. Right? And so chocolate whisper just you just call yourself that because that's a name that you decided. Because I can talk in low whispery tones. I could say hello, hello dark chocolate. Where you you come here often? To. So yeah, so I can whisper. Exactly. To learn to whisper more. Okay, last question, David. Let's talk about the David Brier brand. How would you describe that after everything we've just talked about and all your different names, but really at the essence How would you describe the David Briar branch,

David Brier: 36:52

joyously? defiant and resiliently unstoppable.

Joelly Goodson : 36:57

joyously defiant and resiliently unstoppable? So are you consider yourself pretty resilient? Yes, I absolutely. You know, I

Unknown: 37:04

do too.

David Brier: 37:05

I think it's, I think it's a vital quality. If you're gonna, if you're going to be a creator of any type, you can be thrown off your game, like, Oh, I got a hater today because a blank blank, like, I mean, you know, every, every one of us has the choice, an option any day of the week, to go, dammit, I got less than enthusiastic response that I was that I wanted, or that I hope to, or I didn't, I didn't achieve XYZ and oh, I'm a, I hate myself. Or I put out this I put out this amazing content I spent, I spent hours putting this together and no one's appreciated it, etc, etc, etc. And if you don't have that your own resiliency, your own bounce back ability, you'll be crushed daily, if not hourly, easily,

Joelly Goodson : 37:48

I totally agree with you. And you know, when I think of resiliency, on top of all that, I also think about failures and obstacles that you overcome in life. That's actually where I count the name branding madness, because I've had, like, you know, a lot of shit happen in my life, especially in the last few years. And, you know, people have said to me, like, I don't know how you manage to keep going. And I think that you know, so when I think of a badass or a badass is someone who is resilient and who gets knocked down three times, but gets up four times, and you just keep going and I and it's hard to do, but I think if you can learn from that and be better and stronger. So you David Brier are a badass.

Unknown: 38:24

Because I think

Joelly Goodson : 38:24

resiliency is is I admire that I think I try to be resilient because you got to be a survivor, right? 100%

David Brier: 38:31

you know, the bottom line is, is every one of us has the opportunity and the ability to inspire and help and elevate others. If we are so mired into our own stuff. Where did I get traction? Where do I not get traction? mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mee, it's like, you know what, that is the weakest Foundation, because you are failing to rise up to your ability to actually help others. It may feel like, Oh, I'm devastated because something happened to me that I didn't like, but you know what, the thing that keeps me bouncing back is if I buy that for more than about three minutes, which I don't I happen to have an amazingly great wife, I always tell her always say, you know, you are the most stubborn person that I know outside of me, but we're stubborn for the right things for the right reasons, stubbornness to just be stubborn, or, or just be malicious, or, but it's like no, this can be better. This doesn't have to be this way. So that resilience, that persistence, that that just tenacity on that particular thing. Because that resilience is not just me being resilient because I want to continue on my path is me being resilient so I can continue to rise and help others rise.

Joelly Goodson : 39:40

That's a great note to finish on. And I think I said this to you when we first met I mean, that was why I started this podcast is to help people so when they listen to someone like you who they admire, and they learned and they walk away and then they can maybe do your class or your book. That's what it's all about. And I love when I get emails and messages from people telling me that it's helping them with their business or their brand. Or whatever I mean, you're absolutely right. So, thank you. So people want to learn more about the famous David Brier and more about your book or your masterclass How can they find you? Where are you?

David Brier: 40:12

Well, they can certainly go to my website which is rising above the noise calm it's r i s i n g rising above the noise calm. That's sort of like a central hub. But they could certainly hit me up on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, I do posts 365 days a year, great content, I'll always provide something original.

Joelly Goodson : 40:34

Okay, great. And your book is available your book brand intervention, three, three steps to transform the brand you have into the brand new need is available where on Amazon,

David Brier: 40:44

Amazon, Barnes and Noble books a million. It's any of those.

Joelly Goodson : 40:48

Okay, and congratulations, because it became like a best seller right away, didn't it? Yeah, within two days became a number one. That's amazing. Congrats. Well, I'm so thrilled and honored that you are guests on my podcast. So thank you again, I really appreciate it was such a pleasure talking to you. Absolutely. Same here. Same here. All right, well, we will stay in touch for sure. Okay, bye. And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the conversation. And maybe there are a few things to help you with your branding. But most of all, I really hope you had some fun. If you want to learn more about me and what I do to help my clients with their branding. Please feel free to reach out to me on any of the social channels under you guessed it, branding badass. And please remember to rate and review this podcast on whatever platform you listen to. Thanks again. And until next time, here's to all you badass is out there.