Something incredible happened recently.  Some of San Diego’s best marketing minds came together for a panel discussion hosted by San Diego SEO at the University of San Diego.  OYO was there to give and receive insight in the pre-panel mixer.  The main topics are related to brands and branding.  Not only did we drop knowledge, but also had knowledge dropped on us by some of the panelists and attendees as well.

Guests that joined us:

• 
  
• Andrew Begin, AG Begin Consulting
  
• Steven Picanza, EFM
  
• Frank Cowell, Elevator
  
• Daniel Miller, Benchmark Email
  
• Pamela Capiello, USD Continuing Education Program
  

Episode 039 Nugs of Knowledge

• 
  
• Owning Your Own’s first “live” on location episode!  Episode 039 is part of the pre-panel discussion mixer at University of San Diego.
  
• USD is the closest university to OYO.
  
• Andrew Begin a guest on the show previously, is part of the panel.
  
• Andrew set up the live DJ set at the mixer.
  
• The first question we got was from the bartender when we were setting up. “What is a podcast?”.  He was also the first person to receive our new OYO business cards!
  
• John Bertino organized the event and has a meetup group for future events.  Alan has worked with him directly on projects.  Thanks to John for inviting us to be part of the event.
  
• Gold foil OYO business cards!
  
• Benchmark is a company that co-sponsored the event and join us later in the show (8:20)
  
• Sterling is the moderator of the panel. (8:45)
  
• Alan and Andrew were at a pre-discussion meeting with the panelists a week prior.  Everyone is passionate and were told to save it for the panel! (9:20)
  
• Branding is somewhat of an ambiguous concept.  People think of it as a logo.  (10:10)
  
• The panelists are from different internet marketing perspectives, not just branding agents.  (10:35)
  
• What is a brand and what is the difference between a brand and branding? (11:20)
  
• Demographics between now and a legacy brand like Coca-cola likely have changed dramatically.  Brand communication, look and feel evolves and changes over time.  (12:30)
  
• Identity and thoughts on personal branding. (15:20)
  
• KnowYMarketing.com is the agency founded by Andrew! (17:20)
  
• Knowing the Why is now part of the brand. (18:20)
  
• Steven Picanza walked by and gave us pounds…he is also known as the Creative Hustler. (19:30)
  
• Andrew Begin joined us on the 3rd mic setup, and he’s the first guest we’ve had on more than one episode.  (21:00)
  
• We discovered the actual pronunciation is “Beige-een”.  But he prefers to go by “Begin”.  (21:30)
  
• Also the debut of the new 3rd Mic! (23:00)
  
• Brand and branding changes between 1994 and 2014. (25:00)
  
• Dramatic shift in branding mediums…not necessarily replacements. (27:00)
  
• What is the coolest business card you have seen? (27:30)
  
• Andrew’s DJ card is a good example of a great looking business card. (28:45)
  
• A business card made of vinyl; a piece of a record! (29:20)
  
• Alan previously created business cards out of magnet paper.  Go to parties and stick on their fridge. (30:00)
  
• Andrew and Alan are on blue “thrones”.  Throning Your Own. (31:05)
  
• SEO is product placement; shelf space for keywords.  (33:15)
  
• Users of Doritos…. (34:30)
  
• Panelist Steven Picanza from EFM Agency a San Diego branding agency, joins the 3rd Mic and discusses his Creative Hustler brand and his upcoming book!  (38:00)
  
• Differentiate yourself using creativity…we have historically progressed as a species due to creative use of tools and methodology. (41:00)
  
• The Man in the Blue Jacket – Frank Cowell, president of Elevator Agency a web development and branding agency.  He is the “James Brown” of the industry and also known as “The Machine”.  (46:20)
  
• Lifelong education process in establishing personal brand.  (48:00)
  
• All businesses are in the business of “service” or servicing.  This has been the case since the invention of business. (49:00)
  
• Developing the service mentality, even less “interesting” products can flourish. (51:00)
  
• Brand experiences lead to equity..how you emotionally connect with humans.  (51:30)
  
• In N Out – menu limited, barely any social media presence, yet they do the right thing for a very specific audience.  They do their thing for who they serve. (52:10)
  
• MyOffice, a company selling “boring products” actually has a good presence and engagement. (54:10)
  
• Get buy in from your internal team to effect change. (56:10)
  
• Understand your limitations and get the buy in as well as make decisions. (57:00)
  
• Progress is more important than perfection. (57:10)
  
• The formation of OYO logo – logo looks like boobs or other body parts. (59:00)
  
• Balls to look like balls. (59:30)
  
• Steve Jobs personal brand; jeans, turtleneck ‘average guy’ look was a good brand look.  (1:03:10)
  
• Brand authenticity for a premium brand like Louis Vuitton for example…keep your quality and products high, never de-value your products. (1:04:00)
  
• Representative from the co-sponsor Benchmark Email joins the 3rd Mic.  Daniel Miller, the customer service director for Benchmark Email, a do-it-yourself e-mail promotions for existing customer base set of tools. (1:07:00)
  
• Companies do not want to lose touch with their existing customer base.  Initial set of tools are free! (1:08:30)
  
• Non-profits or meetups for example, email marketing can be used to promote events and track the correlations on clicks as well as efficiency.
  
• Segmenting information and track interactions via email tools that Benchmark provides. (1:12:00)
  
• ESP = Email Service Provider. (1:13:30)
  
• Providing tips is the best way to use email marketing. (1:14:50)
  
• Mindset of customers at time they are viewing emails is not being sold to.  Engage with them at that moment. (1:16:00)
  
• Pamela Cipiello the program coordinator for the University of San Diego joins the 3rd Mic and explains their correlation with this event.  (1:20:00)
  
• Strategic Marketing program USD offers has John Bertino as the instructor for 2 courses related to SEO. (1:21:00)
  
• Course work has to evolve with the industry. (1:22:20)
  
• Instructors are consistent evolving the courses based on their experience.  Benefit to the university to have people that are actual marketers teaching courses. (1:22:30)
  
• pce.sandiego.edu is a place to find out more about continuing education.  (1:23:00)
  
• Panel starts now! (1:24:30)
  
• Sacajewea joins us! (1:27:00)