OnBrand with Sarah Grace McCandless
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingOnBrand features a closer look at brands through the lens of the consumer, focusing on their desire for true connection with companies across all stages of the journey. Join host Sarah Grace McCandless for interviews and insights on which brands are getting it right and how other organizations can learn from these examples to strengthen, grow, and rise with authenticity.
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Episodes
Crafting a Customer-Centric Brand With Ryan Turner
September 13, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 48.5 MB"Brands that are doing social really well today are the ones that have mastered the art of listening really broadly — at scale — and listening beyond just what’s sort of ‘on-trend,’ or ‘trending,’ or kind of what the dumpster-fire-of-the-day is on social media and hear behind that the cultural trends that are driving attention and interest. And then, really understanding how the brand connects with it.” – Ryan Turner, Global Marketing Leader: Formerly Starbucks & Amazon; Startup CMO We...
Creating a “Wow” Brand Experience With Sit Still Kids
August 30, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 48.1 MB“As we have evolved the experience, [we] really looked at it as a dual experience. What happens to Mom and Dad when they walk in the door, and what happens to the child? And [we] create a holistic 360 experience in which everybody that walks through the door is feeling spoken to, seen, heard, and wowed.” –Amy Leclerc, Co-owner of Sit Still Kids Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she speaks with Amy Leclerc about the power of consistency and personaliz...
Creating Personalized CX via Content & Curation With MagellanTV
August 02, 2021 12:00 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MB“When we saw this VOD revolution taking place, it was kind of like a lightbulb went off. And we said, ‘Here it is. Now we can do this. We can bring people the programming that they’re passionate about.’ And that’s kind of really what the genesis of our whole company has been for the last 10+ years.” – Greg Diefenbach, Managing Director at MagellanTV Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she sits down with Greg Diefenbach, managing director of MagellanTV...
The Art of Creating Brand Advocates With Shep Hyken
July 26, 2021 12:00 - 40 minutes - 56.3 MB“I could turn that repeat business into loyal business. How do I do that? I have to create some kind of a connection. The way that’s done is through something emotional. … If somebody says, ‘I love doing business with them,’ well, love is an emotional word, and ‘like’ is not quite as emotional.” -Shep Hyken, Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she speaks with acclaimed customer service and experience expe...
How Brands Build Relationships Through Gaming With Tripleclix
June 28, 2021 12:00 - 36 minutes - 50.8 MB“How are we giving them value? The time they’re spending with your brand, how do you make it worthwhile for them? Those are the kinds of things we try to put at the forefront as we start to have conversations around Gen Z.” Chris Erb, Founder & CEO of Tripleclix Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she speaks with Chris Erb, chief executive officer and founder of Tripleclix, about how the gaming industry has grown and evolved and why all brands aiming ...
Infusing Science & Soul Into Building a Brand With TuMe
June 21, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 48.5 MB“That’s the biggest thing I would say. Just start. Really do it from inside of you. So really believe it, and feel it, and put everything that you have into it, and not be afraid of that. That’s the place of vulnerability I feel like people don’t like to go to, putting yourself out there. But the thought of ‘what if?’ is just so far greater than if you actually go for it.” Shaina Zaidi, Co-founder & CEO of TuMe Beverage Company Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace M...
Consciously Communicating Brand Values Through Action
June 14, 2021 12:00 - 39 minutes - 55.4 MB“A brand is more than just the products it sells, more than just the price it sells it for … A brand is an experience. And if you think about your brand as a total experience, then you’re going to build much greater loyalty and actually build a much stronger business as a result.” “Your values are what people say about you when you’re not in the room. Those are your values; because, unsolicited, it’s how they feel about you, how you make them feel, how you add value — those are your values...
Empowering Your CX Team Through a People-Centric Approach
June 07, 2021 12:00 - 45 minutes - 63.8 MB“You have to empower every single team. You have to empower them to know that their jobs matter, that they matter as people, that their insight and experience and wisdom matters for the entire company to glean from that. Customers and consumers rely on that wisdom and experience to give them thoughtful answers and responses.” - Sarah Hatter, Founder of CoSupport & ElevateCX Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she speaks with Sarah Hatter, founder of...
Transcending Traditional Thinking to Create & Innovate
June 01, 2021 12:00 - 39 minutes - 54.8 MB“It’s not that easy to ‘think differently,’ because unconsciously, we are filtering the world through what we expect to see and what we have seen in the past. So, much of my work is trying to get people to change that mindset.” – Nigel Barlow, Business Innovation Speaker & Trustee of the David Lynch Foundation UK Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless sits down with Nigel Barlow, a business innovation speaker, transcendental meditation (TM) teacher, and trustee ...
The Evolution of Digital Customer Care With Abbott
May 24, 2021 12:00 - 32 minutes - 45.4 MB"I think the digital care team was clearly one of our most valued assets … (knowing we always had a consistent) ability to stay connected through the social and messaging channels." – Karen Gillis, Director of U.S. Customer Service at Abbott’s Diabetes Care business Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she speaks with Karen Gillis, Director of U.S. Customer Service at Abbott’s Diabetes Care business. Through their in-depth conversation, you’ll learn mo...
Committing to Your Purpose as a Brand: Mind, Body, & Soul
May 03, 2021 12:00 - 40 minutes - 56.1 MB“You’ve got to be able to hand-on-heart believe in what you’re doing. It’s going to drive your whole team; it’s going to drive business results; it’s going to drive what we would consider impact. We’re always looking at ‘How can we create more impact in the world given our set of resources — our set of talents,’ and ‘How can we set light to your set of talents and your set of resources?’” – Emma Barry, Global Fitness Authority, and Co-founder & Chief Creative Soul at Good Soul Hunting We...
Harnessing Brand, Consumer, & Industry Insights With Brandwatch
April 26, 2021 12:00 - 36 minutes - 51.2 MB“What this data and analysis really provides is context around the conversation. … People are not shy when it comes to social media, and they let their opinions be known quite freely. So when they do that, we sort of try and put that all together, accumulate it, and really pull the insights out of it so we know what consumers would expect from a company and from their products, their services, and et cetera.” – Kellan Terry, Director of Communications at Brandwatch Welcome to OnBrand! I...
Revolutionizing B2B Via Data & Relevant Engagements With 6sense
April 22, 2021 12:16 - 37 minutes - 52.6 MB“Today, if you want to compete and win, your experience is what’s going to differentiate you — that’s what’s going to stand out.” – Latané Conant, Chief Market Officer at 6sense Insights Inc. Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Latané Conant, chief market officer at 6sense Insights Inc., to talk about the importance of relevance in B2B marketing and sales, why delivering data-driven, personalized experiences matters, and her new book, No Forms. ...
Engaging Digital Transformation, Community, & Connection With HP
April 12, 2021 11:00 - 40 minutes - 56.1 MB“People want to be engaged — they want to be excited — they see problems all around and they want to be part of the solution and to make things happen. … We all get so busy and caught up in our day-to-day lives, things we need to do, and outcomes that we’re going for, that we sometimes lose that sense of community — but it’s actually our community that carries us forward. It gives us our sense of identity, our purpose, and our place in the world.” – Kriti Kapoor, Worldwide Director of Inte...
Leveraging Your Passions to Build a Brand, With Seek & Swoon
March 29, 2021 20:00 - 34 minutes - 47.6 MB“My business fuels my passion and my passion fuels my business.” – Jala Smith-Huys, Founder & Chief Blanket Boss of Seek & Swoon Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless sits down with Jala Smith-Huys, founder and chief blanket boss of Seek & Swoon, to discuss what established companies can learn from emerging brands, how story can be the missing link when it comes to creating connection, and the value of building and growing your brand with passion as your roadma...
Developing Trust as the Bedrock of Connection
March 22, 2021 11:00 - 37 minutes - 52.3 MB“We spend so much time worrying about our SEO — how are you optimizing for trust? Before you post that thing, before you send out that email, how are you optimizing for trust?” “First of all, trust you can’t buy. I can’t just go out and spend X amount of dollars and end up with trust. … You can’t buy it, so how do we do this? How do we teach people, or cultivate trust, on purpose through our communications? That is something that is worth so much more time than any marketer is giv...
Understanding Brand Story DNA & Embracing Vulnerability
March 15, 2021 11:00 - 32 minutes - 44.7 MB“I like to demystify story and let people know this is not the purview of artists — this is not just for people who consider themselves to be writers, it’s for everybody. And basically, if you have a message that you’re trying to communicate — which pretty much everybody does — story is really just the delivery system for that message. It’s just a way of packaging it.” – David Nadelberg, Creator and Expert Storyteller Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCan...
Letting Purpose Guide Your Brand Architecture With Coolhaus
March 08, 2021 12:00 - 37 minutes - 52.8 MB"You don’t need to prove your self-worth to anyone ... if you believe in an idea, be empowered to put yourself as a priority.” – Natasha Case, Co-founder and CEO of Coolhaus In 2009, when Natasha Case was in her mid-20s working as an architect for Walt Disney Imagineering, she realized her passion for design went well beyond physical structures. Combining this with her love for creating delicious dairy and non-dairy desserts led to the idea that would become a women-led, women-run i...
New Season: OnBrand with Sarah Grace McCandless
March 05, 2021 17:55 - 1 minute - 2.44 MBPeople crave meaningful engagement and connection with companies now more than ever. Without customers, there IS no business. And it’s not about whether things are going right or wrong, it’s about the entire relationship – the convergence of marketing, sales, and service – and the expectation for organizations to show up with true purpose so customers feel seen, heard, valued, and understood. Join SYKES VP of Customer Engagement and Brand Advocacy Sarah Grace McCandless for OnBrand, featur...
The Elements & Impact of Positive Brand Experiences
February 22, 2021 12:00 - 31 minutes - 43.9 MB“The thing that we’ve got to take a step back and remember is: Without customers, we don’t have a business. You can’t look at the customer as the problem, or as an annoyance. The customer is why we’re in business. If you’re not in business for your customer, you probably should be doing something else.” – Dan Gingiss, Customer Experience Speaker & Coach Welcome to part two of our unique two-part episode of OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she returns with ...
The State of CX: What Now, What Next
February 15, 2021 15:42 - 29 minutes - 40.6 MB“We have to focus on our customers. And the mistake that so many companies have been making is they pour all this money into marketing and sales and they forget about the customers that are actually keeping the lights on.” – Dan Gingiss, Customer Experience Speaker & Coach Welcome to part one of a special two-part episode of OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she speaks with Dan Gingiss, a prolific speaker, author, coach, and expert at honing customer experi...
Setting Your Brand Apart Through Purpose with Prometheus
February 08, 2021 12:00 - 36 minutes - 50.5 MB“I don’t just work for a company, I work for a company that cares. I work for a company that really cares about not just about the Neighborhoods that we manage, but the neighborhoods beyond our Neighborhoods.” – Oscar Ayala, Senior Director of Learning & Development at Prometheus Apartments “’Good living for the greater good’ really reflects our give-back to the community. … We provide good living, and we provide greater good for our Neighbors, but we also do that for everyone el...
Innovating Communication to Create Connection With Slack
February 01, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 46.1 MB“Our expectations of how we connect with each other outside of work has completely changed, and I think that there’s an expectation now that people want that same sort of seamless, fun, and easy way of doing things that they have in their personal lives — they want that at work.” – Julie Liegl, Chief Marketing Officer, Slack Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Julie Liegl, the chief marketing officer for Slack, about how they designed a more huma...
Building Loyalty Via Social Engagement With Alaska Airlines
January 25, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 47.1 MB“How many times do guests have a one-on-one experience with a large brand? It’s very rare, so we take this as our opportunity to allow those one-on-one connections to be formed, and we believe this is what will create loyalty over the long run.” – Michael Roy, Social Care Program Manager at Alaska Airlines Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless sits down with Michael Roy, the Social Care program manager for Alaska Airlines, to learn more about how progressiv...
Developing Connections Through Brand Storytelling
January 18, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 51.5 MB“(Stories are) how we understand the world and our experience — and how we learn in a lot of ways — I think we can all agree that there’s vast opportunity to learn more, better, and in different ways.” – Melissa Grego, CEO of Hollywood Radio & Television Society Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Melissa Grego, the CEO of Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS), on how the entertainment industry has led by example in creating impactful ...
How Behavioral Data Can Unlock Hidden Opportunities
January 11, 2021 04:00 - 32 minutes - 45.1 MB"One day, I’m a purchaser — I just want to buy my thing — the next day, I could be looking at things, worried about, ‘should I be spending this money, because I might lose my job’ — I’m a different person every five minutes. Behavioral data allows you to acknowledge that fact in your marketing.” – Reggie Wideman, Director of Strategy & Execution for Lytics Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, join host Sarah Grace McCandless as she sits down with Reggie Wideman, director of strategy a...
Creating True Value Through Purpose-Driven Leadership
January 04, 2021 04:00 - 32 minutes - 44.9 MB“You cannot resist what is authentic. You cannot resist what is purposeful. And as a customer, you want that — you want a piece of that in your life to give you a little bit of that feeling. And that is a new kind of marketing.” – Mory Fontanez, Founder & CEO of 822 Group Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Mory Fontanez, founder and CEO of 822 Group, about her method of guiding leaders toward a higher purpose, and how fostering strong, uni...
The Origins of Brand Advocacy With Legendary Comics
December 28, 2020 04:00 - 32 minutes - 45.9 MB“We want to have an authentic communication with these fans. We have been these fans. We are these fans. For me, it’s about growing up and not seeing my face represented in what media was and having this opportunity to help change that is so big and so important. We’re really excited about that.” – Jann Jones, Manager of Brand Development & Publishing Operations for Legendary Comics In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Jann Jones, the manager of Brand Development ...
Crafting Brand Communities & Fostering Meaningful Engagement
December 21, 2020 04:00 - 33 minutes - 46.8 MB“Empty engagement is just engagement for engagement’s sake. And unfortunately, we have come to associate engagement with attention, and they are not the same thing. At least not when we’re building community. Just because you have someone’s eyeballs doesn’t mean you are meaningfully engaging them.” – Carrie Melissa Jones, Author and Community Strategist Welcome to OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless explores what it means to create communities around brands through ...
The Power of Listening for World Class CX at JBL
December 09, 2020 18:37 - 35 minutes - 49.6 MB“Customers are engaging with us — it would be a huge missed opportunity not to be listening actively, looking for trends, mining the data, and proactively getting that information back to the respective teams so that we can improve across the board.” – Brian Wolfe, Vice President of Global Customer Service, JBL In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless talks with Brian Wolfe, vice president of Global Customer Service for JBL, about why listening to consumers is critical for deliverin...
"Wise Friend & Fierce Defender”: The Heart of CX for AARP
November 26, 2020 00:02 - 27 minutes - 38.8 MB“That’s what all brands really should strive for – just heart. Heart, heart, heart. I think people know when you’re there just to sell them something versus really offering them something that makes a difference in their lives.” – Viviana Pagán-Muñiz, Senior Advisor, Help Network, AARP Welcome to a special #GivingTuesday edition of OnBrand! Tied to the spirit behind this movement, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Viviana Pagán-Muñiz, senior advisor at AARP, on how the organi...
Taking a Customer-First Approach to Holiday 2020
November 19, 2020 13:16 - 32 minutes - 45 MB“We don’t know what the first half — or much less, the second half — of 2021 is going to look like, but focusing on, ‘how can I create an experience for the consumer that might not be walking in my store’ and really investing in that and committing to what your brand represents there is going to pay dividends whether COVID continues to have us quarantined in Q3–Q4 of 2021 or not.” – Sean Ryan, vice president of Digital Strategy, The Informed Engagement Network, and former digital lead for ...
Driving Engagement & Improving CX with Hertz
November 12, 2020 13:21 - 29 minutes - 41.2 MB“Showing up for our customers in a way that makes a difference is really what Hertz is about. We think now more than ever customers are really looking for brands they can trust.” – Laura Smith Welcome to the premiere of OnBrand! In this episode, host Sarah Grace McCandless speaks with Laura Smith, executive vice president of Global Marketing and Customer Experience at Hertz. Learn more about how the brand continues to innovate and connect, including how they’ve responded during the pand...
Introducing OnBrand with Sarah Grace McCandless
October 30, 2020 14:59 - 1 minute - 2.49 MBOnBrand features a closer look at brands through the lens of the consumer, focusing on their desire for true connection with companies across all stages of the journey. Join host Sarah Grace McCandless for interviews and insights on which brands are getting it right and how other organizations can learn from these examples to strengthen, grow, and rise with authenticity.