In a world—often in constant flux and disruptive upheaval—Bruce Turkel sees clarity and possibilities. His creative and innovative advertising, marketing and media solutions have helped futureproof brands—like; Nike, HBO, Bacardi, Hasbro and AmEx. Yet, his strategies can work for any business.

Bruce and I have been buddies a long time. He's a fellow Hall of Fame speaker and bestselling author; Building Brand Value, All About Them and Is That All There Is? Plus, he's a frequent guest on CNN and MSNBC. And as you'll soon see, Bruce will challenge you.

He reinforces, what I often encourage my clients to do, "Reconsider, reexamine and rethink—how they do, what they do and why they do it!"

Jeff Blackman: How do you help clients discover, how to get what they want?

Bruce Turkel: When we were building the agency, we figured out quickly—while new client acquisition was fun, existing client retention was where our incremental profits were. Based on this, it was more beneficial (profitable) to spend time figuring out how to keep clients.

We discovered when we lost business, we may have thought we were doing a good job, but we didn't really know what clients wanted. While working hard, we weren't delivering on their wants and needs.

The big surprise—was why this was happening. We didn't know what our clients wanted because they didn't know what they wanted. To overcome this problem, we developed a series of exercises that helped all of us understand what success looked like and how we could reach agreement on what clients wanted.

These exercises are the right tools to help current clients figure out what they want—personally and professionally. I've also learned to share the why—yet sell the how.

JB: You believe, "Good brands make people feel good. Great brands make people feel good about themselves." Tell us more...

BT: For years Volvo has told us their cars are safer. While safety is important, it isn't an asset that makes a car better at its function—getting the driver from A to B. What a safety brand does do, is it allows and empowers a Volvo owner to feel better about themselves. Because driving a safe car means being a better parent, spouse, friend or citizen.

Understanding your client or customer is the key to creating an All About Them brand. Once you know who your customer is and what they care about, then you show them why your brand helps them reach their aspirations and self-expression.

JB: You say, in a world of constant disruption, there are proven creative solutions and messaging strategies that work. Like...?

BT: The most important and consistent solution is to make sure your messaging is always, "All About Them." That means you must understand who your audience is, what they care about, and how you add value to their businesses and lives. Here are the first seven:

   1. All About Them

   2. Hearts Then Minds

   3. Make It Simple

   4. Make It Quick

   5. Make It Yours

   6. All Five Senses

   7. Repeat Repeat Repeat

When your messaging fulfills these seven points, (or most of them), you're on your way to building a compelling brand.

JB: How can one strengthen their creativity?

BT: Here are four strategies:

   1. Great creative thinkers stand on the shoulders of giants. Constantly expose yourself to great music, art and architecture. Develop a voracious curiosity, so you have resources to draw on.

   2. Understand that great ideas are ephemeral and fragile. When you're thinking, creating—take off your critical thinking cap and write down every thought. There's always time to cull out the bad ideas, but you never know when a bad idea is the impetus for a great idea.

   3. Create lots of ideas. Quitting when you think of one or two good solutions—often stops the process, long before the best idea arises.

   4. Creativity must be "exercised." If you want to write great prose, write. If you want to paint great paintings, paint. Talent matters, but potential without effort equals nothing.

JB: What world changes will be the most impactful in the future? How do we prep for them now?

BT: Now that digital technology has taken over most industries, consumers can access anything, anywhere, anytime, at virtually any price. Because of that, we all need to be absolutely positive about what we offer and why it matters. The most essential skillset to accomplish this, is knowing yourself, knowing your business, what you offer, and why it matters to the people you want to serve.

JB: Explain CC2CC...

BT: CC2CC is a simple messaging algorithm. It stands for Company-Centric to Consumer-Centric. It means you need to stop focusing on yourself and your business, (the "company" in "company-centric"). And instead, focus relentlessly on your consumer or decision-maker.

Interestingly enough, depending on whom you do business with, the "C" in "Consumer-Centric" can also stand for:

Customer | Client | Community | County | City |Country | Church | Congregation | Class | Chamber |  Clan | Coalition | Cooperative | Crowd | Circle |  Council | Committee | Colony | Campus | Club |  Citizens | Crew | Caravan | Collective | Commune |  Confederation | Culture | Caucus | Cadre | Cartel | Consortium | Circuit | Corps | Choir | Circle | Cluster | Colony | Cohort

JB: To drive growth, what do folks need to know and do?

BT: People don't choose what you do, they choose who you are. Customers can purchase the "products"  you're selling from lots of sources. If you haven't built a relationship that helps your customers achieve their own aspirations, you're already out of business. You just haven't realized it yet!

JB: As a musician, what instruments do you play? And what lessons has music taught you, about life and business?

BT: Harmonica, guitar, and trumpet. Because music has been a lifelong passion, it has taught me many lessons. One of the most important, is learning to be happy with where I am, while still striving to improve.

Each time I play with other people or watch and listen to others play, I realize we're all on a continuum of talent and ability with people better than me and people who aren't quite as good. What matters, is we all present who we are and what we can do in the best light possible, not trying to compete with others or be someone we're not.

JB: You stress, "think about others." What are the best ways to do that?

BT: People will listen, when what you say benefits them: Entertain. Educate. Enlighten. Best of all, do all three. Create a message that's truly, all about them!

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In January, 2016—Bruce sold his Miami-based agency, Turkel Brands. It's now known as Relebrand.

Bruce remains incredibly busy. Perfecting his musical skills on harmonica, guitar and trumpet. Plus, writing and speaking—as he shows you how to: Build Your Own Brand. Live Your Own Life. And Get What You Want—personally and professioally.

To discover more ways, Bruce can help you craft meaningful and memorable messages for all aspects of your life, please take a peek at bruceturkel.com

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