24 episodes
The Brandsmiths Podcast Amy Swift Crosby & Hilary Laffer
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- Business
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5.0 • 35 Ratings
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Brand Strategists Hilary Laffer and Amy Swift Crosby tackle business questions with candid, (mostly) serious and definitely unscripted workshopping sessions. Guests – from small business owners to CEOs, executive directors and founders – bring their head-scratchers, hunches and conundrums to Hilary, the owner of a boutique creative agency in Los Angeles, and Amy, a copy writer.
“We recognize that each challenge is different and quality thinking doesn’t come in one size.”
Steering clear of prescriptions or templates, the hosts approach each 30-minute conversation with the benefit of a couple decades of experience helping brands express themselves with originality and authenticity. As entrepreneurs themselves, the pair shares honest and practical advice as to how a brand can best support a business.
This lively show features one business owner or team with a specific question. The hosts’ mission is to unpack the situation quickly and deliver real-time insight, feedback and recommendations designed to help move the needle, while also guiding listeners to better leverage their own brands for better business outcomes.
Audiences benefit from hearing about how real businesses of all sizes in different industries avoid pitfalls, navigate challenges and make informed decisions.
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The Brandsmiths – Season 2 – Ep.6 – Cool Name or My Own Name?
Many consultants wonder if their own name, or a symbolic name, is better when starting their own practice. This week Hilary and Amy give a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion executive the do's and don'ts of picking a name. Ideal for any individual considering branding themselves versus using a broader name to imply a "group" behind the individual.
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The Brandsmiths – Season 2 – Ep.5 – Trade Show Triage
This week, Hilary and Amy offer a caller ways to create a "cool trade show booth," using "brand strategy thinking." But wait! If you're like "Uh, trade shows have nothing to do with my life," think again. Amy reveals the (highly effective) marketing technique she uses with her husband, which can be applied to any business with an email marketing strategy (listeners, feel free to borrow for your domestic needs.) Consider this a 101 on how to think about any medium, platform or audience. Strong takeaways for those in marketing, sales or players in a category with a clear lead time, event time and post-event timeframe. It's all the same strategy.
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The Brandsmiths – Season 2 E.4 – The Art of Business Cards
When you're a person, not a brand, how do you create a meaningful, memorable business card? Brand strategists Amy Swift Crosby and Hilary Laffer help a visual artist who fumbled her first round of business cards (rightly so), figure out the best way to promote her art in a way that truly represents her work. A great example of how to apply brand strategy to anything people see, feel, touch or experience.
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The Brandsmiths – Season 2 Ep.3 – Yoga Woes
Yoga and pretty much all fitness studios are experiencing a new normal. People aren't coming back for in-person training the way they did pre-pandemic. Amy and Hilary give counsel to a New York City Yoga studio owner who is wisely trying to crack the code of customer attraction and retention - a complex recipe in 2022. This episode is ideal for anyone who may be struggling with the head-scratcher of "we have a great product and experience - so why aren't they showing up or staying?" This is especially useful for those with brick and mortar - but it really applies to any service business.
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The Brandsmiths – Season 2 Ep.2 – Building a database while raising capital
Like so many, Caitlyn is asking about building a subscriber database for her fintech (financial tech) app for women. But how do you build it...starting from zero... at the same time you are raising the money to complete the app? As tactical and digital-marketing-ish as this question sounds, Amy and Hilary take a brand-centric approach to helping this founder utilize her pre-launch phase in a different way. On this episode of The Brandsmiths, Amy + Hilary talk about 'magnetizing' a brand, even at this early stage.
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The Brandsmiths – Season 2 Ep.1 – Qool Socks
Introducing a product to market is a big moment for a small business. This sock brand founder contemplates what to sacrifice in her manufacturing challenge while Amy and Hilary weigh the options for how to get the product to market outside of the conventional manufacturing and distribution channels. In this episode: manufacturing, brand strategy, customers, trade shows, partnerships, US versus overseas production, supply chain.
Customer Reviews
Most Effective Brand Therapy Ever!
Amy & Hilary are brilliant thinkers, compassionate listeners and radically generous mentors. They are super thorough and extremely thoughtful in their feedback. They will never spit out a canned response. Instead, every business owner/founder facing challenges will receive methodical and incredible support from these two fierce women. It’s a game changer and absolutely revolutionary. One never stops learning. This podcast is about growth, problem solving and the willingness to face one’s business obstacles. It’s an invitation to work woh rather than struggle against. The Brandsmiths Poscast is a gem and the most effective Brand Therapy Ever. I am in awe!
My New Obsession
Amy and Hilary rock.
They bring branding sessions out from behind closed doors to the rest of us!!
As a relatively young brand, I am super grateful for access to their work, and the opportunity to hear from other founders.
In a refreshingly honest and thought-provoking workshop approach, they really nail the branding challenges that are brought to them by their guests.
Logical and concise
How Amy and Hilary manage to come up with a mission statement that works in both English and Spanish in addition to a direction for the logo with it all making sense is incredible. So easy to follow and love their reasoning and explanations without feeling daunting. Wish all communication could be this easy to follow.