Ep. 1: Mike Ozan Talks Brand Pivot

On this episode of the Brand X Cleveland Podcast, host, Tyler Freeland zoomed (literally down the road) with Mike Ozan, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of TWIST Creative. The conversation, right out of the gate, centered around the topic of brand: what is it, what is it not, how do we use it, and why does it matter.

“It’s not an advertisement, it’s not a website, it’s not a logo, it’s not any of the tactics. It’s a guiding spirit.” — Mike Ozan

After defining Brand, Mike Ozan then turned the conversation toward the importance of Pivot and why it’s important for brands to do so. During the time this podcast was recorded, Mike and his team of Fearless Thinkers had recently created and published the My Pandemic Workbook: a free tool for businesses and causes to use in order to pivot, survive and ultimately thrive during a crisis.

“…And that’s what a pivot is: your customers’ needs change, the landscape changes, you change. It’s more of a reaction to something that’s happening in a proactive way.” — Mike Ozan

As the conversation came to close, host, Tyler Freeland, went back to the beginning of the conversation to pull up a question that had been turning in his head since the topic of brand and advertising came up: what do you say to people that say advertising doesn’t work?

“Advertising is part of how human beings socialize. It’s just a modern exaggerated version of a cave drawing. It’s a communication.” — Mike Ozan

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