We are excited to invite you to watch our August 17, 2022, Utah Digital Marketing Collective In-Person Event on-demand, for free.

Once logged in, you can also download the presentation deck, and check out some other resources as well. 

Our First Presenter: Austin Wilson

Presentation Title: Break Your Brand Out of the Noise --  Unite Your Organization Around Your Company's Unique Story.

Presentation Description: 

Key Takeaways Attendees Will Learn:

• How to ethically perform inception on your ideal customers so that they are demanding you to take their money.
• How to become the charismatic brand so that people will never substitute you for another product or offer.
• How to understand your customers better than they know themselves so that ​​you can become the solution they’ve been looking for in every way.
• How to consistently share your unique story across every customer touch point

Bio: Austin Wilson has gone from Video Producer and Director to Marketing and Product Executive. He has been the lead Video Producer for ZAGG, owned a branding and marketing agency, the Chief Product Officer for ParentPlaybook, and the fractional CMO for the new Smart Gym, Kokoro Fitness Studio.

Over the last decade, his primary focus has been discovering the best ways to develop and unify businesses around their unique story so they can break out of the noise and become the leader of their niche.

Connect with Austin: LinkedIn

Our Second Presenter: Chris Kneeland

Presentation Title:  The Anatomy of Cult Brands

Presentation Description:

What do the world’s most beloved brands believe, and how do they behave, that allows them to significantly – and consistently - outperform their mediocre peers?

To what do they attribute their success, especially since they typically spend far less dollars on mass media and markdowns? How do they get employees and customers to not just buy, but buy in? Chris and his team have been dissecting “cult brands” (i.e. businesses that enjoy above-average brand attachment and advocacy) for ten years, and they have discovered a handful of characteristics within the cult brand genome that are far less common within the DNA of their competitors. In this presentation, Chris will reveal the findings of his research, and present entertaining and educational examples of brand-building done so spectacularly well it results in cult-like followers.

Key Takeaways/What you Will Learn:

• Understand how to engage internal audiences instead of relying on mass media and paid promotions
• Audiences will learn how to turn customer awareness into customer advocacy
• How to build a brand strategy that relies less on mass media and markdowns and more on encouraging employees and customers to not just buy, but to buy in!

Presenter Bio: Chris Kneeland is the co-founder and CEO of Cult Collective. His professional passion is helping brand leaders master new ways of engaging customers, prospects, and staff. In particular, he’s committed to helping his clients embrace eight specific marketing beliefs and behaviors he’s discovered while researching the most beloved brands on the planet.

Chris held marketing roles at John Deere and The Home Depot and was also formerly the Head of Retail Marketing at RAPP, Omnicom’s preeminent CRM agency. He co-founded Cult in 2012, and has consulted with Harley Davidson, Canadian Tire, Zappos, Best Buy, Carter’s, Keurig, and dozens of other brands.

Chris speaks regularly at conferences like SouthbySouthwest, Global Shop, Inbound, NRF, CMA, Digiday and The Gathering (which he co-founded). He is the co-author of Fix: Break the Addictions That Are Killing Brands. Chris is an adjunct professor at Mt. Royal University, holds a master’s degree in Marketing Communications from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University. He moved to Calgary from Dallas in 2010 with his wife, three children, and obnoxious dog.