Rick Cesari has been a pioneer in Brand Response advertising since the early 1990s. He helped create the concept of 'sell while you brand' and has been the force behind the creation of many of today's top consumer brands such as, The Juiceman, Sonicare, The Breadman, The George Foreman Grill, OxiClean, Clarisonic, Rug Doctor, Momentus Golf and many others. Rick has helped take companies like GoPro from start-up to over a billion dollars in sales in just a few short years. He is the author of "Buy Now, Creative Marketing that gets Customers to Respond to You and Your Marketing," and his newest book, “Building Billion Dollar Brands,” is due out in Summer 2018.   Key Takeaways:   [0:22] Today’s episode features Rick Cesari, a brand guru and pioneer in brand-response advertising. [2:00] Josh welcomes Rick to Franchise Euphoria. [3:02] Rick has worked with several big-name companies, but they were not as large as they are today when Rick began working with them and using direct to consumer marketing. [4:18] Rick’s experience with DTC marketing started with his passion for health and nutrition where he conducted a live “infomercial” where there was a live audience listening to their presentation on juice; by the end of the 90-minute presentation, the audience was more than ready to buy. [6:30] His experience has shown that it is most effective to focus on the benefits of the product to the end user that you are trying to market to. [8:58] The difference between brand advertising and brand response is that there’s always some type of offer where you’re asking people to respond. You have to put out a promotion that gives them a reason to respond. [10:30] These concepts can be applied to service-based products as well, not just physical products. You can do this through authentic testimonials of happy customers. [17:26] There are some marketing basics Rick likes to implement such as starting and ending each ad with a brand logo. Also, advertising giveaways can help drive people towards your products. [19:23] Tactics for reaching and targeting consumers has changed somewhat over the years. While you can still reach a mass-audience through DTC marketing, there are many mediums that are cheaper and effective to reach directly to consumers. [21:51] The key to building any brand is finding your unique selling proposition and pushing it toward your audience. [23:10] Offering a very liberal money-back guarantee to get someone to try your product or service is a great way to grab the attention of your consumers. [25:18] The priority and lifeblood of any business is sales. Focusing on how you can get sales in the door will build your brand as your business is growing. [28:30] Most of your company’s branding happens after the sale which is formed based on the customer experience. [29:20] Rick’s book “Building Billion Dollar Brands” is coming out on August 1, which covers many of the topics discussed in today’s interview. [30:45] Now, Rick still works on “fun,” hands-on projects with companies to build their brand, but mostly focuses his time on writing and speaking about brand building. [34:11] Thanks for listening, and please, reach out to Josh anytime through email at josh@franchiseeuphoria.com. If you enjoyed this interview, please leave us a review on iTunes.   Mentioned in This Episode: josh@franchiseeuphoria.com www.franchiseeuphoria.com/franchise5 www.rickcesari.com