The Real BS :: Brand Strategy for Business Growth

Brand Culture Association

Let’s get real: Brand isn’t just a logo, a campaign, or a marketing gimmick—it’s how your business actually grows. Welcome to The Real BS, the brand strategy podcast for business leaders who are ready to stop guessing, cut through the hype, and leverage brand as a growth engine. Hosted by brand strategist and fractional Chief Brand Officer Jaclyn Scrivens, this show pulls back the curtain on what brand really means—and how it drives revenue, influence, and market impact. Each episode delivers bold insights, practical strategies, and unfiltered truths about building brand from the inside out—through leadership, culture, and every touchpoint that shapes your business. No fluff. No sugarcoating. Just clarity, confidence, and actionable moves to grow your business, strengthen your team, and build a brand that actually delivers results. If you’re ready to turn brand from a buzzword into your competitive advantage, this is your playbook.

Episodes

  1. 10/23/2025

    Leaders, Employee Experience Is a Critical Part of Your Job

    What if every choice you make as a leader is a brand decision? We explore how the employee experience you shape day to day becomes the customer experience your company is known for, and why alignment—not slogans—drives real performance, retention, and trust. We start by reframing a common myth: employee experience isn’t just HR’s job. HR builds the framework and tools, but leaders bring the brand to life in meetings, decisions, recognition, and tradeoffs. Drawing on Gallup’s finding that 70% of engagement variance comes down to managers, we connect the dots between leadership behavior, team energy, and measurable outcomes. Then we zoom into a tangible model: Costco’s inside-out brand alignment. From competitive pay and promoting from within to small-group listening programs across the globe, their practices show how values become systems that sustain loyalty and profitability in a demanding retail environment. From there, we get practical. You’ll learn how to turn values into observable behaviors, close the say-do gap that erodes trust, and run a fast weekly “brand in action” check to keep your team moving in the right direction. We share simple signals—how you manage moments with your team, how you handle misses, how you link decisions to customer impact—that compound into a culture your people believe in and your customers can feel. Partner with HR as your strategic GPS, walk your team across the brand bridge with intention, and watch alignment power the results you’re measured on. If this conversation helps you lead with greater clarity and consistency, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review telling us one behavior you’ll change this week. Your insight could spark someone else’s next step. That’s a wrap on this week’s Real BS!  If you loved it, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a little brand boss energy. For more, visit BrandCulture.org or head over to LinkedIn and follow Brand Culture Association, or connect with me personally. I’d love to keep ~~~~~~~ Brand isn't just marketing—it's how your business grows. On The Real BS podcast, we cut through the fluff and get real about how leadership, culture, and experience drive brand and business results. Hosted by executive leader and brand strategist Jaclyn Scrivens, each episode delivers bold truths, practical strategies, and no-BS insights to help leaders turn brand into their ultimate growth engine. >>> Learn more at www.BrandCulture.org.

    8 min

  2. 10/14/2025

    Rethinking Employee Experience: The Brand Strategy You've Been Missing

    We talk about employee experience like it’s an HR project—something you roll out, measure once a year, and hope boosts engagement. But what if that’s exactly why it’s not working? In this episode, we challenge how employee experience is defined and show why it’s actually brand strategy in disguise because the way employees experience your company is the way customers experience your brand. You’ll discover how forward-thinking companies like Delta, Adobe, and Warby Parker are proving when you build your brand from the inside out, everything changes...trust rises, retention strengthens, and business performance skyrockets. We share: ✨ Why employee experience is your brand (and not just HR’s job) ✨ The real difference between engagement and alignment ✨ A 10-minute quick win to uncover hidden gaps in your brand culture If your brand looks great on the outside but feels disconnected on the inside, this episode will challenge how you lead, build culture, and define success. Because strong brands aren’t built through marketing, they’re lived through people. ~~~~~~~ Sources Mentioned: Gallup – State of the Global Workplace 2023Edelman Trust Barometer 2023Gartner ResearchIBM / Aon Hewitt StudyDelta Airlines & JD Power StudyAdobeWarby Parker~~~~~~~ That’s a wrap on this week’s Real BS!  If you loved it, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a little brand boss energy. For more, visit BrandCulture.org or head over to LinkedIn and follow Brand Culture Association, or connect with me personally. I’d love to keep ~~~~~~~ Brand isn't just marketing—it's how your business grows. On The Real BS podcast, we cut through the fluff and get real about how leadership, culture, and experience drive brand and business results. Hosted by executive leader and brand strategist Jaclyn Scrivens, each episode delivers bold truths, practical strategies, and no-BS insights to help leaders turn brand into their ultimate growth engine. >>> Learn more at www.BrandCulture.org.

    10 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

Let’s get real: Brand isn’t just a logo, a campaign, or a marketing gimmick—it’s how your business actually grows. Welcome to The Real BS, the brand strategy podcast for business leaders who are ready to stop guessing, cut through the hype, and leverage brand as a growth engine. Hosted by brand strategist and fractional Chief Brand Officer Jaclyn Scrivens, this show pulls back the curtain on what brand really means—and how it drives revenue, influence, and market impact. Each episode delivers bold insights, practical strategies, and unfiltered truths about building brand from the inside out—through leadership, culture, and every touchpoint that shapes your business. No fluff. No sugarcoating. Just clarity, confidence, and actionable moves to grow your business, strengthen your team, and build a brand that actually delivers results. If you’re ready to turn brand from a buzzword into your competitive advantage, this is your playbook.

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