YT11 | World’s #2 branding guru shares what it takes to build a global brand as an Asian

Meet Dr. Jerome Joseph. He’s ranked No. 2 in the world as Global Brand Guru, Global Speaking Fellow, a best-selling author of 8 books and a thought leader. He spoke in 37 countries and helped 1000+ brands to level up. But did you know he was laughed out of the room in one of his earliest job interviews?

From overcoming rejection to becoming a world-renowned branding expert, Dr. Jerome’s story is a testament to resilience and the power of strategic action. Discover the secrets of becoming world-class, from embracing the right mindset to defining your unique lane. Get inspired to level up your brand and your life in this episode of YanaTV!

Discussion Topics: World’s #2 branding guru shares what it takes to build a global brand as an Asian

• Asians can’t do branding
• Where are you going?
• Take action, but not that way
• The thing about becoming world class
• Sell the pain
• How to be a step ahead of everyone else
• How do you make people feel?

Transcript: World’s #2 branding guru shares what it takes to build a global brand as an Asian

Yana: Hello and welcome to another episode of YanaTV. Today our guest is Dr. Jerome Joseph, who is ranked number two in the world as global brand thought leader. He is the author of eight books and has spoken in 37 countries. He has more than 26 years of experience and has helped more than a thousand brands around the world. Dr. Jerome, such a pleasure to have you in the studio with us today.

Jerome:  I’m excited to be here.

Yana: My first question to you would be today, how did you get into the profession?

Jerome’s journey – Asians can’t do branding

Jerome: In the early 1990s, it was like 95, 94, I got my first job in Australia, worked in branding, got really excited, love of branding so much, and I progressed during there, and over the past 26 plus years, I’ve really immersed myself in the world of branding.

But there’s an interesting story there, by the way, my story. So I started my career in the early 90s and after about three, or four years of working in Singapore, I decided to apply for a job at one of the biggest global brand agencies in the world.

Now I go in with this vision, right? So my vision was to be the best when it came to branding, even at a young tender age.

I go in for an interview and I’m not going to mention his name. Let’s call him John. So I met John, who is the global CEO for Asia. Now, he wasn’t from Asia. He was from Europe and he had come here to manage and grow this So I went in for the interview. We’re having, he was asking me several questions.

And then he goes, what’s your dream? And I was excited. I was like, glad you asked. And with the enthusiasm of someone who is young and passionate, I said, I want to be the best in the world when it comes to rebranding.

I want to be the best. And I paused for dramatic effect. And at that moment, I thought he was going to smile, he was going to say something positive. his face changed, and then he went from something like, from disbelief to laughter.

So he went, ha! Seriously, I was looking at him and he was going crazy. And I recognized sarcasm. So I asked him, did I say something wrong? He looks at me, and goes you, Asian?

Yana: Ouch!

Jerome: Ouch! It’s never gonna happen. And he went back laughing. I gotta say, I was hurt.

Yana: I can imagine.

Jerome: I went back home and I cried because I truly believed that was a job that was meant for me. I truly believed in And when you had someone who’s senior and someone who, I thought, I look up to, right? Because as a global CEO, I thought that he would have been a lot more motivating. And it destroyed me for days. I lay in bed crying, and I said, that’s it.

I don’t want to do branding anymore. What’s the point? I think I’m useless. I’m Asian. But after a few days, something hit me though. Something told me, why are you letting one man’s opinion determine your future?

Why are you wallowing in self pity? Prove that guy wrong. Prove him wrong. The thing about me is that my whole life I’ve been obsessed with branding.

Even at seven years old I used to look at ad campaigns and I’ll be, and I immerse myself by looking at, when I read, when I buy a magazine, I’m interested in the ad. When I was 14, my internship was in an ad agency. So I’ve been obsessed with branding my entire life.

It’s in my DNA, right? And everything that I studied, my masters, everything has been in this. And it hurts.

But it was also something that I realised that I needed to prove him wrong. Not much to prove him wrong, but also to prove that I could do it. To yourself, all. To myself. And also to every Asian who has been put down. In the world, I’ve experienced many Asians who’ve been told they’re not good enough.

And so I went out there, and I worked really hard. I immersed myself in the world of branding, even more. I learned from the best thought leaders. And I started my own business, my own consulting firm, The Brand Theater. And I learned even more, and I started working with brands all around the world. I wrote books, I got a PhD, and my paper was on branding.

So it was just, that I immersed myself. But you know what, Yana? John. John was right. Do you know why was he right? Because I didn’t end up being the best in the world. I came in number two.

Yana: That’s a good one. That’s true. You rank globally number two. So you were young. You still have many years. Exactly. So who knows?

Jerome: Exactly. So I’m ranked number two in the world. So I’m not hitting my vision of being the best in the world. I’m working towards it. And here’s the lesson for brands. As you build your brand, you need to have a vision of where you want to go.

That’s the key. For brands, this is so important. And then you’ve got to work everything in your power. Towards achieving that vision. And I believe that I can be the best in the world. I’m number two, but comfort never produces greatness. I am uncomfortable and I want to achieve that.

Yana: You want to be this number one. I’m gonna be cheering you on, okay? I have been until now and I’m gonna continue doing that. that. 

Jerome: Yana. Can I tell you something though? I actually wrote John a letter to thank him.

Yana: That’s brave.

Jerome: The letter went something like this: Dearest John, thank you. Thank you for not believing in me. Thank you for telling me that I was never going to be the best in the world. I could not have done it without you. Sincerely yours, Dr. Jerome Joseph, ranked number two in the world.

But I wrote the letter and I stuck it in front of my wall and I said, that’s a reminder to let no one tell you that you’re not good enough. So I’ve never, I didn’t send the letter, but it was for you. It’s for me. It’s for me.

Yana: For me, what is interesting here is dealing with rejection has not been crushed. There are so many stories, especially when you’re at a young, vulnerable age. and if someone just slaps you and your dreams are out, how do you actually pick yourself?

The key is in strategic action

Jerome: It’s tough, but I wanna bring it to the context and the wall of branding. I go in, I work with brands. And I meet business owners, I meet CEOs, some of them successful, but some of them with challenges. In fact, the majority of them, when they come to see me, have these problems. They’ve had setbacks, they’ve had obstacles, they’ve had people telling them they’re not good enough.

The company will never make it. And I always tell them, everything is about taking action, right? But before you take action, you gotta have a clear strategy in place. Let’s take action. What do we need to do?

Maybe I need to put a media post. Woohoo! I’ve taken action. That’s not action. Action is about strategy. It’s about having a clear strategic path of where you want to go and how you’ll get there, and then you take action.

Yana: How far do you plan a strategic path?

Jerome: So for me, I’ve planned short-term, mid-term, and long-term. So I’ve set up goals and I look at the strategies to achieve those goals. Like I said to you, one of my strategies to be the best in the world, I had that strategy 24 years ago.

When I work with brands, be it a corporation or an individual, I tell them the same thing. What do you want to achieve in the next three years, in the next 10 years, in the next 20 years? Then let me help you work towards that. And it’s not about the action, right? About how you strategize action and that’s key.

Yana: So for companies or individuals who are watching us right now and wondering how I can level up my brand? Please tell us a few tips that we can all learn for people, again, all companies who want to become world number one.

How to level up your brand – start with the right mindset

Jerome: See, the mindset is important, right? Everything starts with a mindset. You have to first in your head believe that you can do it. Because the minute you stop believing in yourself, it’s not going to happen. I have another story for you one of the things that I did when I was in university was to DJ. So I even had a DJ name.

Yana: That is?

Jerome: Whoa. Okay. What happens on YanaTV stays on YanaTV, right? Close your ears now. So my DJ name was DJ Brown Sugar.

Yana: I like it. It’s Very sexy

Jerome: it! is, it is,

Yana: And very DJ,

Jerome: I love music, right? And I was playing, and so while I did my Masters while studying, I was DJing part-time. It helped pay for the bills. But I love what I did. But here’s the story, I was living in Australia. I moved back to Singapore. And then I was in the whole branding world and I was a consultant. But I remember I got a gig on the weekend to DJ at a New Year’s Eve party. So I’m there DJing. DJ Brown Sugar is in the house.

I got the brand guy, you’re the brand consultant. But then on the weekends, it’s DJ Brown Sugar. But I remember I know. Close your ears. So this is the thing, right? I finished the gig and I had an elderly lady, an Asian lady, come up to me and start talking. We have this really amazing intellectual conversation.

And this is what she says to me. She goes, young man. I was young then. Young man, I gotta tell you something. You’re quite smart. Why are you wasting your life as a DJ? Why didn’t you go to school? Why don’t you study? Maybe if you’re lucky, you may get a diploma.

Yana: What degree you already have by then, right? Masters when you were DJing.

Jerome: I got really offended.

Yana: It’s almost as bad as the first story with being offended.

Jerome: And I look at her, I go, excuse me, ma’am, do you know I’ve got a master? She was shocked. Did you get a master? I was like, yes. And I walked away and a young temperamental man. I was, but you know what? She was right. Because I’ll tell you why. And here’s the thing about being world-class. You got to have your lane.

You got to pick a lane and you got to focus and put all your energy in this lane. And that’s what I didn’t do. So that was my lesson, because there is Jerome, the brand guy, but there’s also DJ Brown Sugar. I love doing both of them, but I have to ask myself, what’s my lane?

What do I want to be known for? And that’s where the strategic part of branding comes in. So to be world-class, Yana is really about saying, here’s my lane. Here’s who I am, here’s what I’m going to do. I don’t let anything else distract me from that journey that I’m going towards, that lane. 

Yana: Did you sacrifice being a DJ?

Jerome: I did! But occasionally, my wife, in the privacy of her house, gets to see DJ Brown Sugar. But that’s it. I stopped, right? I stopped and I focused on just being the brand guy. And I said, that’s what I want to be, and in fact, right after that, I got that interview. With John. With John,

And it was me telling myself, I need to have focus. A big part of world-class branding is this, right? Have a clear strategy. Number two, be focused. You need to be top of mind with your clients. You must, when someone thinks of Yana what’s the word they use?

When someone thinks of Tiger Woods, what’s the word they use? When someone thinks of Jerome, I want them to think of the brand guy. So that’s it. Top of mind is key. So that’s lesson number two. But I like what you’re doing, right? Because you have these great interviews that you have with different eyes. That’s your lane. That’s who you are.

Yana: So then the next, you said two. right? Two. So strategy. Strategy, focus,

Jerome: Having clear focus. And I think the third thing is for world-class businesses, it’s really about connecting with your audiences. That’s key. You could have the best product in the world, the best brand in the world, but you, if you have the wrong audience, goodbye. Seriously you could have an average product. An average brand, but with the right audience, you’re going to be more successful than someone who’s got a great brand with the wrong audience.

Yana: I know, this is such an important point, actually, because I know many business owners and it’s probably one of the biggest pains they have. How do you find your right audience?

How to find the right audience for your business?

Jerome: In a nutshell, you gotta know who your audience is. You gotta know what makes them tick. You gotta know what their belief in what they want, what’s their need, what’s their pain point. Sometimes I tell the brands that I work with to find out their pain points.

And then when you do, you sell the pain, you sell the pain back to them saying if you don’t work with me, Here’s what’s going to happen to you, the pain, and here’s a solution that I have for you. What’s missing is people selling the product. So they go, here’s the product, buy my product. That’s the traditional marketing way. But what you need to be selling is you’re not selling the product. You’re selling the pain, you’re selling the emotion, you’re selling, what happens if you don’t have this.

That’s what you’re selling, you’ve got all these pains, let my product make a difference for your pain. That’s the future of branding, that’s what people need to be focused on. And that’s tip number three. Tip number three.

Yana: Number three.

Jerome: Okay.

Yana: So strategy, focus, right?

Jerome: And the Audience.

Visibility married to credibility – the key to build trust

Jerome: The fourth one is about visibility. Visibility married with credibility. What do I mean by that? I like what you’re doing, Yana. Because this is an example of how you create visibility. At the same time, you are also using a lot of credibility. So you pick the guest that you pick

Yana: Like him, Clearly.

Jerome: And then you have credibility by the conversations. And I’ve seen you, and I know what amazing guests that you have. So I’m privileged to be here. So it’s also impacting my credibility too, right? So it’s a thing, right? It’s visibility and credibility. You need to find ways to be as visible as you can in the marketplace. At the same time, be as credible.

And it boils down to one simple thing. The more you are seen, the more top of mind you become. And the more credible you are, the easier it is for people to trust you. I’ll give you a simple example. Last week, I got called in for a meeting. Now, when I stepped into the room, there were three people there to meet me.

They all have heard everything about me. Because they’ve Googled me, they’ve checked my profile, they’ve seen everything. So when I start up the meeting, this is a sales pitch. I already have a one-step advantage above anyone else. Because I’ve got high visibility and I’ve got high credibility. Meaning that the meeting now becomes so much easier. So credibility and visibility are tip number four.

Yana: We like round numbers. So there has to be five. So give us one more. Let’s make it five and we move on.

The power of emotions in marketing

Jerome: So the power of five. Let’s talk about the power of emotions. 

Yana: I like that. Yeah, that’s a great rounding.

Jerome: So emotions, so remember this, right? People buy based on emotion and justify with logic. Why do you wear this dress?

Yana: Emotions. it, attract it, and then justify, is it expensive, is it not, right?

Jerome: Or how right? Exactly. Or how it makes you feel when you’re, for example, I love golf. I was just telling you earlier how much I love golf, right? So there I am, checking out what clubs that Rory McIlroy is playing, and I’m going to buy these clubs because that’s what he’s playing.

I buy those brands and I wear them. Because it makes me feel like I can play like them. Now, I don’t play like them. Let’s be clear.

But here’s the thing, right? Emotion is a big part. And as an individual, if you’re selling as a personal brand, that’s even more powerful. How do you make people feel? What kind of emotion, if I meet a Yana, if I meet a Jerome, what is the emotion that you want to leave behind? So when people meet me, what is the emotion I want them to have? is that Jerome has added value to their life. Jerome has been inspiring. Jerome has helped them think about branding and that’s the emotion that

Yana: I’m feeling all of that right now during the interview.

Jerome: And that’s key, right? Emotion is key. And emotion could come from conversations, it could come from what you put out there in the social media world. It’s, again you read a story about a post that I wrote recently about how I fell down. And if you read the post, what did I say? So for context, for those of you that are listening in I slipped and I fell in the bathroom. Very painful. I broke my leg.

So I’ve got a cast, I’ve got a cut. But here’s the thing, right? In my post, I said, I’m grateful. If you remember reading my post, I said, I’m grateful. Why? It could have been a lot worse.

Yana: You’re alive and your head is fine. Exactly.

Jerome: And I’m here With a broken leg. I’m here for YanaTV. That’s commitment. But it’s also how I want my brand to be reflected in the world. That you show up. And your values that you, what you represent is translated. So when I wrote the post, for me, it’s about gratitude. We live in this amazing world, there’s so much that’s given to us.

There’s gratitude. I fell down, I broke my leg. I’m grateful that it’s not worse. I still can turn up and appear on YanaTV. And that is about emotions. So the emotional connection you want people to feel when interacting with you.

Closing

Yana: I feel that I definitely am. So That was Jerome Joseph on YanaTV. Jerome and I would like to hear from you guys and share with us in the comments.

Maybe there was something really unusual that happened in your life. Or if you don’t have such a story yet, then share with us what you would like to become in 5, 10, or 20 years from now. I promise we’re going to cheer you on.

And we also would like to say thank you to Muse Studio, our venue and videography partner. As you can see, we’re very comfortable and they’re hosting YanaTV here. And one more, the most important thing, if you’re watching it right now, please subscribe to our channel and share this video with friends.

And we’re going to see you next time.