She Builds Buzz to Build Brands
“Branding success comes from being responsive, paying attention and storytelling.”
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– Suzy Wagner, president, Brand & Buzz
After 20 years working in public relations and advertising, Suzy Wagner launched Brand & Buzz, a boutique Washington, D.C.-based strategic communications consultancy, in 2013. A self-described high-energy, creative thinker, Wagner says, “I’m so lucky to have spent my career working in D.C. Everyone has a presence here. I’ve worked with virtually every industry and have been hands-on with so many issues.”
Throughout her career, including as the youngest manager at TIME magazine and top global advertising salesperson at The Wall Street Journal, Wagner has witnessed some of the most brilliant brand, advertising and communications campaigns—as well as some of the worst, which inspired her to start her own consultancy. As the company’s president and “chief problem solver,” Wagner recruited a team of experts to take on meaningful and interesting projects.
“Everything we do is about connecting with your audience and building relationships,” she says, referencing a 2018 Harvard University study revealing that 95 percent of all decision making is emotional. “Even in the face of logic, stats, data and research, we will find a way to do what we want to do,” Wagner says. “My number one rule in business is, people do business with people they like. Harvard proved it’s true.”
When former Director of National Intelligence Admiral Denny Blair left government in 2010, he became the head of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (SPFUSA). At the time, the organization primarily loaned out Japanese books and art—almost like a part-time library and art gallery. Wagner worked with Blair on achieving his vision of becoming a leading US-Japan think tank.
“In the United States, the initials SPF will never, ever mean anything but sunscreen,” she says. “I convinced Admiral Blair to change the organization’s name from SPFUSA to Sasakawa USA—we refreshed the logo, designed a new website and helped them focus on building the organization. There had been some pushback because Mr. Sasakawa had been pro-Japan during WWII. Instead of hiding it, we owned that story and used it to show how our countries went from being adversaries to allies.”
Wagner also helped Sasawaka with strategic operations and communications, focusing on content, white papers and adding key staff positions. She credits this strong brand foundation with helping to establish Sasakawa as a leader in this niche space.
“After one year, the Prime Minister of Japan spoke at the security conference we planned,” she says. “Brand is the foundation. It builds credibility, and that’s why one of the biggest leaders in the world came to our event.”
3 Foundational Branding Insights
Having an outside perspective, according to Wagner, helps organizations strengthen their communications activities. She always shares three foundational insights with her clients:
1. Inconsistent communication is the biggest mistake people make. Wagner often finds that if she asks a C-suite executive, “What do you do?” they say, “We do this." But when she poses the same question to an external-facing representative, they say, “We do that.” Websites or other marketing materials will frequently reference something else altogether. “Communications must be clear and consistent; if you make your inconsistent communications your customer’s problem, they’ll tune out,” she says.
2. Know your audience—and write and design for them. “People are driving devices with their thumbs; design for the phone first,” Wagner says. Keep videos short and sweet. Break up text with images and infographics. Use bold headlines that will grab their attention and keep them interested. Wagner advises clients to build effective communications by thinking in terms of “beautifully designed bumper stickers.”
3. Remember that perfect is the enemy of good. Don’t get bogged down trying to create the perfect website, logo, campaign, etc. Instead, think about your audience and what you want to say to them. To grow your business, write and design succinct messages that speak to an audience and their needs.
To illustrate these points, Wagner cites a consulting project Brand & Buzz completed for a regional wealth management firm. “They were so proud of their newly refreshed website, which featured some gorgeous video assets showing a mom and her child on a merry-go-round, a couple of guys playing golf and a young woman riding a horse,” she says. “The tagline said, ‘We help our clients live their best lives.’ I stated, ‘You only work with white people? And, you don’t want any more clients?’ They were horrified.”
Wagner convinced the firm to modify its materials to say, ‘We help you live your best life’ and to diversify the imagery so that potential customers could see themselves in the individuals featured.
She believes it’s an incredible time to work in communications. “You can literally reach people anywhere in the world at any moment,” she says. “It’s a challenging, fast-paced, constantly thinking career. There is nothing I’d rather do.”
When Wagner and her team aren’t creating campaigns for local, national or global clients, she enjoys “playing tennis badly” and writing children's books. In the summer, you can find her treading in the deep end of the pool, taking pictures of her husband going off the high dive. She also spends a lot of time with her three children, ages 20, 17, 14. “They just keep getting more interesting and fun to hang out with,” she says.
