The Myth of Brand Control | Nikki Little On Brand with Nick Westergaard скачать в хорошем качестве

The Myth of Brand Control | Nikki Little On Brand with Nick Westergaard

The strongest brands don’t shout—they earn trust over time. That’s how Nikki Little approaches her work. She’s the CMO and co-owner at Franco, a women-owned, Detroit-based integrated communications agency with more than 60 years of history. After a full-circle career that took her from early agency life to leading social and communications teams, Nikki now helps shape Franco’s future with a purpose-driven, human-first approach to brand building, storytelling, and leadership. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why modern brand builders must accept that total control is a myth and focus on reputation monitoring instead The difference between consistent storytelling and repetitive messaging across integrated channels How to apply Brené Brown’s Strong Ground principles to build a solid brand foundation Why employee alignment is the first step in closing the authenticity gap with your customers How to treat AI as an overzealous intern rather than a replacement for strategic relationships Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro (01:34) Authenticity in the Age of Unpolished Content (03:37) Understanding Your Audience and the Brand Core (05:22) The Myth of Total Brand Control (07:25) Navigating Critics and the Crisis Plan (10:10) Storytelling as a Tool for Trust Building (12:45) Internal Culture and the Authenticity Gap (15:12) Leadership Examples: Brené Brown and Liz Plosser (19:51) Rumbling with AI in a Human Business (25:30) Brands That Make Us Smile (28:33) Where to Find Nikki Little About Nikki Little Nikki Little is the CMO and co-owner at Franco, a Detroit-based, women-owned integrated communications agency with a 60-year legacy. With a career spanning early agency life to leading complex social and communications teams, Nikki specializes in a purpose-driven, human-first approach to brand building and leadership. She is a recognized expert in navigating the intersection of PR, digital strategy, and authentic storytelling, helping brands find their "core" to build lasting trust in a critical and fast-moving digital environment. What Brand Has Made Nikki Smile Recently? Nikki shared two brands that recently stood out: Chevy, for their deeply authentic "Memory Lane" holiday commercial that mastered the art of non-cheesy storytelling, and Mabel’s Labels, for their proactive customer service that turned a lost shipment into a "customer for life" experience. Resources & Links Check out the Franco website. Connect with Nikki Little on LinkedIn. Listen & Support the Show Watch or listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2Hq9fjc... YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/onbra... Amazon/Audible → https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7f4... Google Play → https://play.google.com/music/listen#... Stitcher → https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-bran... TuneIn → https://tunein.com/radio/On-Brand-p96... iHeart → https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-on... Rate and review on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Rate and review on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2Hq9fjc... Share this episode — email a friend or colleague → mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20this%20podcast%20episode&body=I%20thought%20you%20might%20like%20this%20podcast Sign up for my free Story Strategies newsletter → https://www.nickwestergaard.com/email/