Episode 38
Brand Story Podcast

The Value of Brand

featuring Michael Smith

Director of Brand and Creative Content at Fountain

Michael Smith, Director of Brand and Creative Content at Fountain, talks about brand purpose and what makes a strong brand with our president, Steve Gilman

How do you determine the value of your brand? Sometimes it’s hard to quantify. Things like brand affiliation, attributes, and awareness are metrics you can use to help measure, but even that can be hard for less-established businesses. So how do you add value and build a strong brand? You start with your brand’s purpose.

Creating that purpose, and in turn, experiences, that build trust with your audience is one of the key ways to add value to your brand. As an accomplished brand and creative director, Michael has helped businesses find the value of their brand and build it for the better. In this episode, we hear from Michael about the impact a brand’s purpose has on its value, as he reminds us that building your brand is a marathon, not a sprint.

About the Guest

Michael Smith

Director of Brand and Creative Content at Fountain

Michael is an accomplished brand and creative director whose career spans multiple Fortune 500 companies, including Unilever, Avon, and American Express. He launched one of American Express’ largest B2B campaigns, led Avon’s award-winning global product launch, and co-founded and managed a tech startup in social media advertising and data analytics. Currently, he serves as the Director of Brand & Creative Content at Fountain.

Quickfire Q&A

If you could give your younger self any advice, what advice would you give?

Michael: Just have fun. Don’t take things too serious. Mistakes happen. It’s not the end of the world, and lean into it really. I think one thing I’ve learned over the years is if you try to control your destiny too much, you tend to get disappointed or you tend to miss the opportunities that actually present themselves.

What would you recommend for other people that inspires you?

Michael: I’m a big Star Wars nerd, so I find a lot of inspiration from the storytelling to thinking, “if we were one of the figures as a brand, which figure would we be?” I’m just interested from a brand story perspective. Things like “Inventing Anna” on Netflix. It’s just the power of storytelling.

Related Links

Michael on LinkedIn

About The Host

Steve Gilman

As the President of Gravity Group, Steve is passionate about helping brands reach their goals through honest, creative marketing and powerful brand stories.

LinkedIn