1890 – Create Personalized Brand Stories with G. Kofi Annan

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0:58with us right now it is g kofi anand kofi it's great to have you you are aka the brand sensei and you are found on the web at the brand sensei.com kofi thank you so much for joining us josh thanks for having me i'm excited to have a conversation so lest uh someone who has stumbled upon this episode and they were doing some searching and and now they started listening let's just clear things up are you the kofi anon former un what was his position he was a secretary secretary general yes he was that guy at the un not that kofi anon no no not that kofi anon though we were born in the same country which is ghana in west africa but you know i'm not that kofi anon but i have been you know here kind of helping i guess doing a similar work in my opinion, kind of helping spread the, bring people together, make people, brands, and audiences understand each other and able to work together for a better future.

1:59Well, you have worked with Puma, you've worked with Pfizer, Six Flags, Ogilvy, Prada, Bayer, you've worked with some really big brands. So I'm really excited to learn a little bit more about your work today, who you typically serve today, and what that looks like. Yeah. So as you mentioned, yeah, I have worked with a lot of big brands, some well-known brands in different industries. But I also have been working with, at least within the past 10 years, really working with growing brands, which is really where I find my passion. I really find a place for me to provide input. With a lot of the bigger brands, when I'm working with them, we're really trying to build their, they have their established brands, right?

2:41People know them already. They understand the brand. But with the change in market and how things are changing rapidly with the advances of technology and consumer behaviors, even a brand as big as those need to reinvent themselves, re-understand audiences, reconnect with audiences. So I've been working with those kinds of those larger companies with large budgets and a lot of time and a lot of established and also working with smaller emerging brands to really understand the tips and tricks that some of those large brands where I've learned and I've helped enable them. Some tips and tricks that smaller emerging brands can also use, particularly with the with the advances of technology.

3:21A lot of those strategies and those resources are readily available to growing brands. So those growing brands that I work with now to really understand those nuances, to help them leverage the resources that they have and really make that impact in the world that they're really looking forward to do. Yeah. So, Kofi, you know, this is what you do. This is what you do professionally. You've been doing this for quite a while. Give us a bit of a state of the union for branding in 2024. Yeah, the State of the Union and branding in 2024 is that it changes every three to six months. You know, I think a lot of companies, you know, again, regardless of how big budget you have or how many people you have on your team, you're feeling that, you know, things are taking off their new platforms every day.

4:08There are new opportunities, there are new people entering your market. So you're competing with a lot of different areas. And that's where I come in, right? You know, someone like myself, I come in to help a growing brand to understand, okay, where do I need to put my time and energy? What are the resources that are available to me? And then how do I make that impact where I need to and be more focused? With brands that are growing, while they're not readily known, we know that a lot of consumers these days, a lot of audiences really want to be like, they want to discover those brands. They want to discover things that maybe somebody else in the broader market doesn't know, so they could turn there, so they could introduce that to their friends.

4:48And this is where smaller brands have an opportunity to make that impact. So state of the union, things are changing rapidly, but there's a lot of opportunity, particularly with the advances of AI. If you're able to incorporate that into your workflow, you can optimize, accelerate, and even transform your market in short time. So it's an exciting time to be able to run a business. Yeah. Tell me more about the advent of AI. How is AI impacting branding right now? Well, I mean, in short, it's making things a lot more accessible. Now, the downside of that is that many more people who don't, who are not as invested into a market or invested into a process or audience that are entering.

5:32So that's a downside. But the advantages for a lot of brands that have been in the market for a while, have been doing their thing, have really been making that impact and forming those relationships, is that it accelerates things and allows people to connect faster. And really, that's where the opportunity is. So AI definitely is scary because it's a new technology and just like crypto was and metaverse and, you know, you hear all these buzzwords. But really, AI, it's not a magic bullet, but it is a tool that when leveraged with the expertise that a founder and an owner has and the relationships could definitely accelerate things.

6:10So that's where I see the opportunity for AI and the different ways to approach it. You know, folks shouldn't definitely shouldn't just kind of start doing that. You could try out a few tools, but when it comes to your core business, you really need to have a strategy that is sound and secure. some of those strategies which I learned in my past experience, which I used to apply with my current customers as well. So and that helps balance what you're doing now. And it helps you grow in a different market if you need to, or get bigger in the market that you're staying in. Yeah, yeah, you know, and everything is branding, right.

6:42And so I would just, you know, I'd caution my fellow business leaders, make sure you know what your teams are doing in regards to your branding, your copy, like your language on social media. Kofi, I've been seeing a lot of this very generic AI speak out there. And that's, you know, again, I look at, you know, there's a lot of uses for, I mean, I probably am in chat GPT about two hours a day at this stage, you know, for higher level leadership type stuff, strategic, you know, decision making, that sort of thing. I'm certainly laying out some bigger things. But yeah, but I'll tell you, that's one of the areas where I'd really caution leaders.

7:27Don't just spit out garbage. And Kofi, I'm sure you have some ideas. So more is not better. Not at all. Can you share maybe just a little bit your thoughts on that topic? Yeah, I 100 % agree with you, Josh. You know, more is not better. It's just like if you've been around long enough, like myself, you know, at the advent of websites or even email marketing or any of these new technologies, you have a lot of people that are using it and, like you said, spitting on garbage, right? And then after a while, the hype dies down and those who have really solid strategies. And at the end of the day, these are tools that are built upon the strategies and the processes that you have internally, the core, what makes your business compete in the market.

8:14So if you don't have that, no tool is going to solve that. And that's why you see a lot of these spam type content and these generic things, because behind those are not really, people don't have the values, they don't understand the market. All the core things that branding and marketing and business growth really is the foundations for that, those things aren't solid. So you will see a lot of generic stuff, but to your point, you know, business owners should definitely not just jump in and start putting things externally out there, but really take on a watch and learn, test and learn with your processes.

8:48What can you do internally to optimize your processes internally with your team to start seeing how these tools work for your business internally? And then, yes, as you mentioned, Josh, you can now start to look at that externally for your customers and how you're communicating. okay, now how can we now transform? Now that we've optimized internally, how can we accelerate what we're doing outside in the market? And then of course, if we really want to go in a different direction, we want to transform. So it's about optimizing internally, accelerating what you have externally, and then in the future, maybe transform yourself, your customer, or your market.

9:24Yeah. Kofi, I'd love to maybe to our listener right now, give them something that they could do. What's something actionable that you generally advocate for of something that they can, you know, gather the team together, take them through some sort of a practice or exercise, or maybe looking at one's own, you know, content and branding and, you know, language and everything else through a certain lens. Any practical exercise that you love telling leaders to participate in? Yes, I would say, you know, it's not as sexy, but, you know, like we're a business for the long term, right? So we don't really want to jump, like I said, to both feet.

10:01And one of the main things that leaders can do right now with their teams is to figure out what is the gap between who they are internally and how they're talking to their customer and how are they listening to their customer, right? So how can we use these tools like AI to start looking at our sales process, our sales conversations, the content that we're putting out live and use that AI to analyze that and see the gaps in there, right? Something as simple as having, calling up your best customers, your best customers and your worst customers, having a recorded conversation with them, get their authorization as you want, have that conversation with, record that conversation, and then extract some of those insights to see where you're doing the best and where you need to buckle down, but then also where the gaps are.

10:49And those things used to take months and weeks and and sometimes years for companies to really understand. And these days with the tools that we have, once you start that conversation with an internal stakeholder partner or your best or worst customers, record those. And then you're able to get those gems that really help you shine in the market. Yeah. Kofi, your website is the brand Sensei. Tell me a little bit more about who you work with, what that typically looks like. What is that process like of working with a client? Yeah, with the clients that we come, we have clients that coming and they've been around for maybe five, maybe six, sometimes even 10 years.

11:29Maybe they're not a huge player in the market, but they have some momentum and maybe they're losing or they want to do bigger. Or maybe some brands that are launching and they still have a new team with venture backing and probably five to 10 customers really understanding that product market fit. And where we come in is for the companies that are launching, we help them refine their brand processes, right? What does their brand mean? What are the stories that they're trying to tell externally? What is the experience that they're trying to create? Because a lot of times, particularly with tech and software as a service companies, they're so product focused.

12:06And even a lot of business, they're so focused on their product. But what is the experience around the product that you're trying to bring forward? So we work, we have our four-step process, which we call the smarter brand process, which we work through four areas, both from your experience, the storytelling, the essence of who you are, but then also the impact, the effect that you're trying to make in the market. So we, our four-step process is how we work with all those different companies to accelerate them based on where they need. And then we also, you know, help bring them to market and make them stronger.

12:39Yeah. So again, your website, thebrandsensei.com. When somebody goes there, what would you recommend they do? When you go there, you're going to see that, you know, and I'll give access here. You know, you're going to understand where we come in and what our ethos is. And really one of the tools that, and I'll give you for your listeners, you could go to thebrandsensei.co forward slash thoughtful, and you could see more about what we do. But more importantly, we have a free tool there that helps you evaluate where you are and how ready you are for AI in your marketing. So again, looking at internally, it's a quick five-minute free tool that you could kind of go in, answer a few questions.

13:16It can help you both understand where you need to start. Again, if you need to optimize, accelerate, or transform, but then also what are the key areas within your business that you could start using AI, start focusing. And that's at thebrandsensei.co slash thoughtful. And you can have some information there as well. Yeah. So an answer to your earlier conversation about, you know, how you're using AI. I'm just going through the quiz right now. And, you know, what's helpful about this quiz, Kofi, is it's already stimulating a lot of ideas. I think most of us really, like the number one thing I think, you know, that we struggle with with AI is just not thinking about what else is possible.

13:58There are so many uses and so many great applications available. A lot of times it's like, oh, my gosh, customer segmentation. There we go. There's another thing, you know, analytics on, you know, customer feedback. It's like, well, there we go. We can do that as well. So I appreciate that. Well, again, G. Kofi Annan, your website is, again, the brand sensei. It's been great having you as a guest, Kofi. I appreciate our conversation. Thank you, Josh. It's a pleasure having this conversation. Thanks for the chat.

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