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\u201cIt\u2019s brand or be branded.\u201d That\u2019s the ultimatum that Deb Gabor presented this week on the On Brand podcast. The founder and CEO of Sol Marketing and author of the new bestselling book\xa0Branding Is Sex explained that if you aren\u2019t talking to your customers, finding out what\u2019s important to them, and making that a part of your brand story, you run the risk of being branded by them. She discussed all of this on\xa0the On Brand podcast.\nAbout\xa0Deb Gabor\nDeb Gabor is the founder and CEO of Sol Marketing. Deb Gabor was born to brand. Deb is a brand dominatrix and investor pitch whisperer with legendarily bad travel karma. In her capacity as Sol\u2019s strategic and spiritual leader, Deb has led research engagements and brand strategy development for organizations ranging from international household names like Dell, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and NBC Universal, to digital winners like Allrecipes, Cheezburger and Rentpath, to well-loved Austin icons like Austin Ventures, KUT/KUTX, ZACH Theatre, HomeAway, RetailMeNot, The University of Texas at Austin and St. Edward\u2019s University. Deb is author of the bestselling book, Branding is Sex. Get Your Customer Laid and Sell the Hell Out of Anything.\nBefore starting Sol Marketing in 2003, Deb was Senior Vice President at Citigate Cunningham, a strategic communication firm serving technology digital media and financial brands around the world. Prior to that, Deb was the managing director of brand research and strategy at IntelliQuest. Before crossing the chasm to agency work, Deb worked in house as a brand manager and marketing manager at several high tech companies in the Chicago area. Deb is a proud member of the Austin chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization and serves on the board as Learning Chair. Additionally, she has served on the board of directors of the Jewish Community Association of Austin and Austin Children\u2019s Theatre, and on the ZACH Theater board\u2019s marketing committee.\nEpisode Highlights\nSo what does it mean to be \u2018born to brand.\u2019\xa0\u201cThe legendary basketball coach John Wooden said that he was \u2018born to coach.\u2019 He \u2018couldn\u2019t not coach.\u2019 That\u2019s how he sees the world. Brands are how I see the world. They exist in the hearts and minds of our customers.\u201d\nDeb\u2019s definition of a brand?\xa0\u201cIt\u2019s the sum total of all relationships, connections, and emotions around a person or organization.\u201d\nThe Deb Gabor Mini MBA in Branding. \u201cIt comes down to three questions \u2014 (1) What does using your brand or your product allow the customer to say about themselves? (2) What single thing do you do better than anyone else? (3) How do you make your customer the hero of your story? Brands that do this \u2014 that make people feel \u2014 will win today.\u201d\nBrand storytelling vs. the story of your brand.\xa0Deb reminded us that while brand storytelling \u2014 an extension of content marketing \u2014 is very big right now, it\u2019s not the same thing as telling the story of your brand. \u201cThe story of your brand is one that your customer is the hero of.\u201d Deb shared how Zappos does this masterfully.\nBeware of the \u2018-ers\u2019 and \u2018-ity.\u2019\xa0These word extensions can be dangerous as they focus less on emotions and more on attributes that can ultimately be copied. Smaller, faster, lighter. You have to be more than this as a brand.\nWhat brand has made Deb\xa0smile recently?\xa0As someone with \u201clegendarily bad travel karma,\u201d Deb notes that her recent experiences with Jet Blue have made her smile recently.\nTo learn more about Deb,\xa0check out Sol Marketing, Branding Is Sex (the book\u2019s website), andfollow Deb on Twitter.\n\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices