Swagger: How to Keep It Real and Why Brand Authenticity Matters

Being real and authentic helps you become more confident and enables you to unlock your full potential

Marketers and business owners are always concerned about how people perceive their business. After all, customer perception can either make or break a business. However, this obsession to create a positive image for our brands causes a problem in brand authenticity. You only put out an image of perfection and people cannot know who you really are and therefore cannot relate or trust you.

If you want to establish trust with your customer, you must show your true self and keep it real. Businesses are composed of people, and B2B is actually Human-to-Human (H2H) or People-to-People (P2P). Yes, you might lose some followers in the beginning, but later down the line, you’ll gain more followers who actually resonate with your brand and your real and authentic self.

That’s why, in this episode, I have Leslie Ehm joining me to talk about Swagger and what it really means to be real and authentic and how brand authenticity can actually help you and your business be more confident, thereby unlocking your full potential.

Leslie Ehm is a former TV host and advertising Creative Director turned training guru. 

She’s spent decades travelling the globe with her award-winning company Combustion, working with executives and teams from top organizations like Google, Disney, Pepsico, Lenovo, TD Bank, FBC, Uber, and so many more. She’s turned technologists into creative forces, bankers into storytellers, and has brought a serious dose of badass-ness to boardrooms everywhere. 

Fueled by her unrelenting passion to unleash true human potential and based on her experience working with thousands of professionals from CEOs down to new grads, Leslie is the WSJ, USA Today, and Amazon #1 bestselling author 

Swagger: Unleash Everything You Are and Become Everything You Want . She now devotes much of her time working as a Swagger Coach and speaker. She’s also a passionate amateur boxer and fighter for good. 

Leslie’s been called “better than therapy”, “a rock star”,“ass-kicking”, “a force of nature” and even “a witch”. 

And she’s there for ALL of it.

Podcast Timestamps/Outline

01:18 – Introduction

02:13 – What is Swagger?

03:34 – What is the connection between Swagger and B2B digital marketing?

06:54 – Swagger blockers

14:26 – How to achieve Swagger

22:01 – How Swagger enables B2B companies develop their brand identity and marketing opportunities

26:46 – Growth and acquisition

31:05 – How to know that Swagger is working

35:55 – What B2B digital marketers should be asking themselves right now

42:10 – Budget reallocation

46:07 – Connect with Leslie Ehm

Memorable Quotes

“Swagger is the ability to manifest who you really are and hold on to it in the face of all the psychological crap that’s going to come forth, regardless of the situation or environment.”

“You have one face, one truth, one heart, and you show up with it no matter where you are, no matter who you’re with, and no matter what’s happening around you.”

“The thing that creates the most connection in this life is authenticity and trust.”

“When you try to be for everyone, you are by definition for no one.”

“Authenticity is the alignment of what you think and feel with what you say and do.”

Episode Links and Resources

Combustion website: https://combustionco.com/ 

Swagger book at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vwZXi6 

Leslie’s website: https://www.leslieehm.com/ 

Leslie’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeslieEhm 

Leslie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslieehm/ 

Digital activity ROI assessment: https://b2bdm.com/digital-activity-roi/

More episodes related to authenticity and identity: https://b2bdm.com/personal-identity/ 

More episodes related to why B2B marketing is actually Human-to-Human or People-to-People: https://b2bdm.com/frank-somma/