Jeff Beer, Fast Company: The Best a Brand Can Be?

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Trend chasing does not make for great advertising. It’s not a business model, either. As Jeff Beer, staff editor at Fast Company sees it, advertising is everything a brand does — from creative execution to the CEO’s political donations. Recorded on location at the 2019 NRF Retail’s Big Show conference, Beer talks about what he’s learned from a career spent reporting on brand advertising and creativity, and what to look out for in the year ahead.

Listen to this episode to learn:

  • Purpose is as unique in a company as it is in humans; with examples from Salesforce, Unilever, Toms, and Patagonia
  • The customer value of utility versus purpose; and the business impact of scale versus intensity
  • Does Gillette’s toxic masculinity ad embody the best and worst of modern advertising?
  • Why Scott Galloway’s prediction of “woke” as a business strategy will dominate in 2019
  • Examples of great work from brands (they all use a mix of creativity, distribution, storytelling, and outside-in thinking)