One More Question

Leland Maschmeyer: Lessons from Chobani - How to revolutionise a brand in 4 years

Episode Summary

In Episode #41, Ross is joined by Leland Maschmeyer, co-founder of COLLINS, ex-Chief Brand Officer of Chobani, and a Young Global Leader as elected by the World Economic Forum. Leland is a designer and business executive fascinated with incredible innovation and incredible scale. In 2008, he co-founded and led as co-chief creative officer COLLINS, the globally renowned brand firm specialized in creating incredible innovation at incredible scale. In 2016, he joined Chobani as its first chief creative officer — then became its chief brand officer — where he transformed incredible scale to do incredible innovation. Ross and Leland discuss the changes that took place at Chobani during his time there, the difference between building a brand in a company versus at an agency, and the role that brands should play in society.

Episode Notes

Highlights from the conversation

When you're on the client side there are so many priorities to handle other than brand building
It's about encouraging a culture of not just being on repetition, but a culture that is about making things better and making things happen
The important thing is to know that a lot of people on the client side aren't brand builders
You just hope that senior leadership has enough vision, communication ability and consistency in the narrative that they're telling that everyone in the company starts thinking with a holistic mind
As a business owner, he's like, I can't do any of that. I can't be the best marketer for my brand because I don't have the money to do that
In an agency, you want to put a dent in the universe, you want to do something cool and breakthrough that people take notice. But when you're inside the company, you just want to survive to the next day and be a little better tomorrow

More about Leland

Leland is a designer and business executive fascinated with incredible innovation and incredible scale. In 2008, he co-founded and led as co-chief creative officer COLLINS, the globally renowned brand firm specialized in creating incredible innovation at incredible scale. In 2016, he joined Chobani as its first chief creative officer — then became its chief brand officer — where he transformed incredible scale to do incredible innovation. Today, he is the co-founder of two startups dedicated to incredible innovation that scales incredibly: River, an interest discovery engine, and Sway, a materials science company inventing seaweed-based plastic. In 2020, the World Economic Forum elected him a Young Global Leader. He is also a Board Member of the One Club for Creativity and Advisory Board Member of NOMI Networks – a global organization dedicated to ending modern slavery.

Leland has built organizations honored as the most creative in the world: “Company of the Year” finalist (Fast Co), “In-House Agency of the Year” (Ad Age), “Design Firm of Year” (Ad Age), ”30 Most Important Design Companies" (Fast Co), "A Cult Brand" (The Gathering), “Most Innovative Company in the World” (Fast Co) x4, "50 Best Places for Innovators" (Fast Co) “Agency Creatives Would Kill to Work At” (WNW Magazine), “Agency Inventing the Future of Brand Building” (Forbes), “Brand that Matters” (Fortune), “Brands Changing the World” (Forbes). They have created “the next big design trend” (AIGA Eye on Design), produced “the future of music videos” (Forbes), influenced federal climate legislation, federal childhood nutrition policy, presidential candidate platforms, and won every major global creative award. He co-authored “The Anti-CEO Playbook,” a TED talk enjoyed by millions of people. He has won recognition as "Global 30 under 30” (Campaign), “Young Influencer” (Ad Age), “Most Influential Designers Today” (HOW Magazine), “Design Thinking Leader” (IBM), “Master of Marketing” (Assoc. of National Advertisers), “Tastemaker” (PDN Magazine), and “Designer to Watch” (Graphic Design USA).

Find Leland here: LinkedIn | Instagram

Show Notes

People:

Milton Friedman

Companies and organisations:

Chobani

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One More Question is a podcast by Nicework, a purpose-driven company helping people who want to make a dent in the world by building brands people give a shit about.

One of the things we do best is ask our clients the right questions. This podcast came about because we want to share some of the best answers we have heard over the last 13 years. We talk to significant creators, experts and communicators we encounter and share useful insights, inspiration, and facts that make us stop and take note as we go about our work.

Hosted by our founder Ross Drakes.

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