I’m excited to bring our Brand Story, Inc. community an in-depth chat with one of the most iconic brands on the planet – National Geographic – and discuss why and how they built the relatively new Planet Possible media property. Jill Lesser, National Geographic Partners’ Vice President of Integrated Communications and Brand Management, stepped up the mic to pull back the curtain on how Nat Geo worked across their entire organization and several continents to plan, launch, and maintain Planet Possible, an optimistic, purpose-driven, environmental media publisher.
We first came to know of Planet Possible and Nat Geo’s Super Bowl-ification of Earth Day when we recently hosted Exactly Agency CEO Svetlana Letegic on BSI (you can listen to that episode here). On this episode, Jill digs in to the fun challenges of managing a 100+ year old iconic brand and the risks, nuances and opportunities of leveraging the master brand to foster a new one. Few have the brand power and resources that Disney-owned Nat Geo does, but I’m confident whether you’re a marketing executive, media publisher, content studio, or agency executive, there are golden nuggets for all throughout this episode.
Here are some of the highlights of this episode:
- Origin Story. How and why National Geographic’s Planet Possible brand came to be.
- Sub-branded properties. Master brands, sub-brands, and the balancing act of connecting with content across platforms from the ground-up while creating advertising value.
- Content Community & Planet Possible Vision. We explore Planet Possible’s current content assets and platforms, and Jill shares how the brand is being considered to connect the community across many business units.
- Tentpole Events. Great brands have a north star to anchor the year and multiple spikes to continue audience engagement at many levels. Jill explains how Planet Possible staked Earth Day Eve as their signature event, how it worked and how it applies to you.
- Colleague Collaboration. Advice for endeavoring on the creation, launch and management of media properties under the umbrella of a master brand.
- Morning Musts. Jill fesses up on her sources for staying on top of marketing, content, and relevant business news.
- Bedside Bookstand. A weekly favorite, we learn Jill’s book recommendation. Aren’t you curious what a big-wig Nat Geo exec is reading? I was.
I invite you to connect with Jill Lesser on LinkedIn and follow Planet Possible here so you can get insights on content like we discussed today.
We want to hear from you. Share this podcast, give us your feedback and hit me up with topic suggestions and guest ideas. Brand Story, Inc. is for you, so let’s make it great together. You can ping me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter @_JaySharman. Thanks for listening. Enjoy!