Marketing Leaders Discuss Branding for Personal and Business Success

The Business Council of Westchester hosted the first Power Breakfast of 2025 where marketing professionals explored strategies for building a strong business identity.

Sponsored by Tompkins Community Bank, Brand Builders: Crafting and Growing a Powerful Business Identity welcomed nine professionals to two expert panels that delved into brand building and growth, highlighting how a distinct brand fosters customer trust and drives revenue.

Local entrepreneurs shared their own experiences, emphasizing the critical role of personal branding in establishing client confidence. The message was clear: in today’s competitive market, a powerful brand isn’t just an asset, it’s essential for survival.

“A strong brand is more than just a logo or a tagline—it’s the foundation of a business’s reputation, customer loyalty and long-term success,” said BCW President and CEO Marsha Gordon, who moderated the March 19 event.

The panelists included Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson, Partner at Thompson & Bender; Filomena Fanelli, Founder & CEO of Impact PR & Communications; Jennifer King, Video Production Manager at Ashworth Creative; Mario Mirabella, Founder & Creative Director of MSM Digital; Lola Gazivoda, Founder & CEO of Bota Consulting Group; Ron Kamen, Founder of EarthKind Energy Consulting; Morgan McEwen, Founder & Director of MorDance; Carmelo Milio, Partner of The Taco Project; and Linda Tyler, Vice President of Membership and Programs at the Business Council of Westchester.

Bracken-Thompson said that whether a business offers a product or a service, establishing an identity is essential to build recognition and trust.

“An example is Apple. Think about their minimalist packaging, the quality, the scarcity of the brand, people standing in line waiting for the next iPhone to come out. You know that you’re going to have trust in Apple,” said Bracken-Thompson.

Fanelli referred to a term she coined, ROT—return on trust.

“You’re probably thinking of the word ‘rot.’ You might conjure up an image of a piece of fruit sitting on a table spoiling,” said Fanelli, emphasizing the need to put out consistent messages and news. “If you don’t consistently work on your brand, it will start to erode. It will spoil.”

King said that any brand excluding video from their marketing mix lacks a comprehensive strategy.

“Especially in this day and age when we are in the attention economy, what we’ve seen statistically across platforms is that video has an engagement that blows pretty much everything else out of the water,” said King. “When people are scrolling, they’re more likely to stop on a video and they are on text or an image.”

Mirabella urged attendees not to ignore their personal brands while promoting their companies.

“Are you out there, especially on social, consistently putting out content?” Mirabella asked. “Everybody in here is an expert in what you do, but you have to put that out there so you’re top of mind for that topic, for that industry, when the need arises.”

Gazivoda began the second panel by discussing how she builds confidence in her outsourcing service.

“Outsourcing is a little bit of a scary word for folks…. That means that you’re giving away control.” said Gazivoda, who leverages her past corporate profile and community work to assuage concerns. “I’m a big believer that people do business with folks who they like and trust.”

Kamen touted the value of speaking with a marketer who helped him refine his company’s name by adding the word consulting, while also offering other ideas.

“They came up with a marketing term: Go Clean, Save Green. That’s how (our name) evolved,” said Kamen.

McEwen described how her brand’s values face headwinds in the current political climate.

“The thing that is more challenging for us to comprehend as a brand right now is the government’s disengagement from the very values of our organization,” said McEwen of her organization’s DEI policies. “A lot of funders are reprioritizing what they’re interested in funding.”

Milio said that his challenge is keeping brand consistency as the chain opens more outlets. He emphasized that staff training is as important as social media.

“It’s nice for the branding to be consistent to the public when it comes to social media or even the appearance when you walk in, but you want that branding to be consistent even with the team,” said Milio.

Tyler said that she defines brand success as having a sizable number of new clients coming through word of mouth.

“That means what you’re doing is resonating. People are having a great customer experience. They value your expertise, and they really trust you,” said Tyler. “Two of the ways to do that is to figure out what lights you up, what do you want to be known for…and become known for your customer service.”