An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Include people who believe in you and your brand as part of your team. The most important attributes someone can have with their team are care and trust.
As part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Lillee Jean.
Lillee Jean is a well-known social media influencer who creates content on YouTube, Instagram, as well as owns her own corporation and two websites. Lillee Jean is a self-taught makeup artist, actress, model, director, writer, producer, and a strong advocate for climate change as well as pushing for stronger laws on online bullying. You can catch her web series Lillee Jean TALKS! Live on her YouTube, and her websites.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Even when I was very young, I enjoyed the arts. With a long line of artists in my family, it was just a natural fit for me to transition myself into the industry.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Although not the funniest, it is nonetheless a lesson in life. Over time, I’ve learned that no one is less valuable than anyone else in making things function. Everyone is an intricate part of the team and is valuable in their own way.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We stand out from the rest because of our sense of family and openness with one another. The things that happen in our personal lives are just as much a part of who we are together as a team as what is going on in our professional lives. I believe that listening to each other, as a team and supporting each other as individuals, has enabled us to stand out from other companies in general.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are! I am! Our team is creating a documentary that will include my past experiences about online bullying. As a result of the documentary and the press generated, we hope to influence federal laws protecting people against such attacks. I am excited to push this initiative forward and look forward to completing the filming by the Fall.
Ok let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
While brand marketing is an image you want to portray, product marketing translates that vision into reality using advertising as the medium.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
Brands remain in people’s minds for the rest of their lives. A good marketing strategy, while important, is a temporary blip on your brand marketing timeline. In order to succeed in marketing and advertising, it is best to focus on the brand’s message first.
Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.
- Define what the brand will be. It is important to decide what image you want to portray to the public, and then build on that image;
- After you have defined what your brand is, you need to consider how you will position yourself in the world. When people think of your brand, how do you want them to feel?
- Include people who believe in you and your brand as part of your team. The most important attributes someone can have with their team are care and trust;
- It is extremely important to communicate what your brand stands for. It pays off to take a few months to develop your brand strategy for positioning, even if it takes longer than you expected;
- There is always a niche where a brand can excel and help the community grow and benefit from others. As a company builds a brand, building positive relationships with the public is among the most valuable things it can do. Helping others will not only help your brand awareness, but it will also benefit the communities that you go into.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
Microsoft would be the company. Microsoft has been taken to a whole new level of social responsibility by Bill Gates; companies in his position should be in awe of his commitment. As one of the founders of a philanthropic foundation that helps non-profit organizations with grants, he has also achieved the global goal of ensuring that more and more people are starting to have access to digital media and skills. The support of economic inclusion, along with social responsibility, is heartfelt, and one that I believe any large corporation would want to endorse.
In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?
It is very different in many ways. The sales may come and go, but building a brand is a lifetime endeavor. It’s a reputation-builder, and one you should continue to nurture, cultivate, and advance.
What role does social media play in your branding efforts?
In terms of branding, social media is the king, as they say. In addition to staying relevant with the changing times, social media also provides us with the opportunity to reach so many people globally.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
In this digital age, you need to make sure you stay relevant. Take a breather if you are feeling drained, but you can’t really stay away from social media for too long, the world moves fast, and digital media even faster.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Ideally, I would like to see people working together to help each other prosper and be more productive towards each other.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Here’s a Disney girl here, so Grandmother Willow’s quote from Pocahontas has to be my favorite. She says, “Sometimes the right path is not the easiest path.” — the quote hits me every time.
We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
If I could talk to Lily Collins, that would be great. She’s so bright, full of life, and smart and creative. I would love to hear her take on how she deals with negativity, since she has received a lot of flack and criticism from people over the years.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilleejean/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQF-GZ2oWfgb1NN3QtJJlA
Websites: https://www.lilleejeanbeauty.com and https://www.lilleejean.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/REALlilleejean/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LilleeJean
Deviant Art: https://www.deviantart.com/lilleejean
Giphy: https://giphy.com/lilleejean
Tenor: https://tenor.com/official/lilleejean
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10479689/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Lillee Jean: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
