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Interesting people, insightful points of view and incredible stories on what’s popping and not popping in marketing, tech, and culture you can use to win immediately. Brands, Beats and Bytes boldly stands at the intersection of brand, tech and culture. DC and Larry are fascinated with stories and people behind some of the best marketing in the business. No matter how dope your product, if your marketing sucks your company may suck too. #dontsuck
DC: Brand Nerds, Brand Nerds, Brand Nerds, back at you with another edition of Brands, Beats & Bytes. I got a story to tell, shout Big Poppa one time. You know, there are people in our lives that we will meet and we will wonder from afar, "Why have we not worked with this person?" We've all had this experience, and we will imagine to ourselves what it may be like to work with these folks.
We'll conjure these thoughts up, LT, of what it would be like to work in close proximity to these folks. And sometimes when you get the opportunity to work in close proximity with these folks, there'll be a technical definition for what that experience is like, and that technical definition is womp, womp.
'Cause, because you build up in your mind, Larry, what it would be like to work with these people.
LT: Right.
DC: But then on a rare occasion, when you work with these folks that you conjure in your mind what it would be like before you actually get the opportunity to work with them, where they exceed, they exceed what you thought their intelligence would be.
They exceed what you thought their skill level and talent would be. They exceed what you thought the inspiration level would be. And today, Brand Nerds, we have one of those folks in the building with us today. I often say, and Larry, you and I, um, say this together, that great marketing, like the, the best of the marketing minds, it can't be taught.
It's binary. You either got it or you don't. Mm-hmm. Now, can you c- can you go get an MBA from a really great school? Of course you can go get an MBA from a great school.
LT: And you can improve whatever level you're at, but-
DC: Y- y- yes, you c- you c- you can do that.
LT: Right.
DC: You, you, you can also go to a wonderful company that will teach you the fundamentals of brand management.
These things are both true, but I'm talking about the elite marketing.
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: Like, the elite marketing, particularly the few in the world that can do both commerce and culture at the highest levels. Brand Nerds, for some of you that would like for me to say that you can learn it, I'm talking at, at, at the highest level, I'm sorry.
No. You either can do it at the, at a world-class level and, or you cannot. And this next guest that we have in the building, Larry, this, this gentleman can do it at the highest level. Um, I have now had the opportunity to work, as have you, Larry, in close proximity to this brother. I have learned from this brother.
I've been inspired by this brother. And Brand Nerds, I don't know what you're doing as you're listening to my voice and then soon Larry's voice, but if you are running on your Peloton right now- ... focus Focus, y'all. You, you, you, you're about to be treated to something special. Larry, can you tell the peoples who we have in the building with us on this auspicious, that's an Ardsley word, Ardsley word- on this auspicious occasion?
LT: Uh, DC, that's a great setup. We have Brandon Butler in the house today. Welcome, Brandon.
Brandon Butler: Hey, thanks for having me, man. It's a, it's a honor and privilege to be here among you gentlemen.
LT: Yes. No, we're, we're thrilled to have you, honestly, Brandon. And, and okay, Brand Nerds, as DC really alluded to, another fantastic guest today who we have had, as DC said, the great experience of working side by side with, and we know firsthand the power of his great intelligence, creativity, and calm, charismatic presence.
Those are three things that usually don't come together. Mm-hmm. Brandon has it. So Brandon is currently a prominent Atlanta-based entrepreneur, marketing executive, creative strategist, media founder, and civic leader. Well, let's walk you through his path to getting here. All right. Brandon is an Atlanta native, and he attends Georgia Southern University, where he earns a computer science degree.
He starts his career off in digital and social marketing, works his way up to director of digital and social marketing at Warner Brothers Discovery, where he and his team, among many highlights, expand audience reach by a whopping 75%. All right. With this great success, Brandon gets a super opportunity to join global communications giant Edelman, becoming VP of Digital and Social Marketing, where he successfully leads multiple paid, earned, shared, and owned integrated strategies and narrative development for numerous global client brands.
Also while at Edelman, Brandon goes back to school, earning his MBA from Georgia Tech. Armed with his MBA and his five great years at Edelman, Accenture comes calling. Brandon joins them as senior solutions architect for digital and content strategy, where he manages $25 million in digital solutions revenue, designing content systems for Fortune 500 clients.
All right. So Brand Nerds, notice- Brandon is continually making it happen and is earning more responsibility and moving up the executive ranks accordingly. This next step is joining our friends at Dagger, becoming their SVP, and soon after takes another step up as partner and chief content officer for Majority.
All right, Brand Nerds. Brandon's next big and most pivotal move is as an entrepreneur, where he is the founder and CEO of Butter ATL. Of course, Butter ATL, with Brandon's stewardship, quickly becomes one of Atlanta's most influential digital culture platforms and widely recognized as Atlanta's culture channel.
With Butter ATL, Brandon has built a trusted media brand dedicated to documenting, celebrating, and advancing the people, neighborhoods, businesses, institutions, stories, language, and cultural movements defining Atlanta. Brandon eventually expands the Butter ATL ownership group to include Atlanta cultural icons Antoine Big Boy Patton and Michael Killer Mike Render, strengthening the platform's influence across media, music, business, civic life, and Black culture.
Today, Butter ATL serves as a powerb- powerful voice for the city and beyond, reaching hundreds of thousands of followers and readers while helping shape how Atlanta sees itself and how the world understands Atlanta. A big part of this voice is the podcast Butternomics, hosted by Brandon, focusing on the business of culture.
On Butternomics, Brandon interviews entrepreneurs, creators, s- executive civic leaders, and cultural innovators exploring how culture creates economic value, that's what DC was alluding to, shapes cities, builds ownership, and opens pathways for leadership and opportunity. Our very own DC has been a guest on this excellent podcast, and Brand Nerds, you should go check it out if you haven't already If this isn't enough, Brandon is also a founding partner of 404 Collective, the organization behind 404 Day, Atlanta's annual April 4th celebration of the city's culture, creativity, community, and civic pride.
For those not in the ATL, and Brandon, we have listeners in 100 countries, the 404 Day name comes from the Atlanta area code, which is 404. Through 404 Day and related programming, Brandon helps bring together local institutions, Black-owned organizations, cultural leaders, creators, entrepreneurs, and community partners to celebrate Atlanta while creating scholarship opportunities and platforms for future leaders.
All right. With all this great work, Brandon is constantly earning s- both significant regional and national recognition, including, one, Adweek's Creative 100 in 2021, Atlanta Magazine's 500 Most Powerful Leaders list every year from 2020 through 2025. A six-year recognition, recognition reflects sustained influence across Atlanta's business, media, creative, and civic communities.
And three, Community Impact Award recip- recipient for 100 Black Men of Atlanta. Beyond his many professional accomplishments, Brandon is actively involved with many meaningful community-based organizat- organizations, and here's the list. It's pretty lengthy. Trustee and board member of the Georgia Southern University Foundation, board and/or leadership position with A Pledge and Reimagine ATL, both supporting work connected to equity, opportunity, youth development, and Atlanta's creative future.
Active member of L- 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Georgia Tech Alumni Association, American Marketing Association Atlanta, and advisor to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens' 2023 Year of the Youth campaign. Across all of these many amazing roles, Brandon's passion is living brand nerds at the epicenter of youth development, Black creativity, civic engagement, entrepreneurship, economic opportunity, and the preservation and advancement of Atlanta culture while uplifting it all.
This is gonna be great. Welcome to Brands, Beats, and Bytes, Brandon Butler
Brandon Butler: Oh man, yeah, I gotta get y'all to read that every time I come in, man. I'm gonna start, starting off, uh- I'm start playing that on, on the beginning of like these conference calls and stuff like that, man.
DC: It's all yours brother. You, you, you just let us know. You're gonna get a copy. Just, just, just hit, just hit it on your phone.
LT: Yeah, just hit play.
DC: Here we go. Hit play on it.
LT: You did it all. Indeed. And, and, and are doing it all actually.
Brandon Butler: It, it's, it's been a, it's been a, uh, it's been a, it's been a fun journey, you know?
And it's far from over, but it's been a fun journey. Far from over. I'm very appreciative of it, man.
DC: I, I enjoy watching Larry talk about the experience and journey of our guest and watching the guest listen to it themselves because it's, it's a bit like, um, the, a, um, a converse of an ob- obituary. Most of the time these kind of things are mentioned when we're gone.
The flowers are not given when we're here. So to watch someone like you hear Larry, who does a phenomenal job of walking through this, many of the folks that I'm looking at on the screen, and for Brand Nerds who are not watching this in, uh, video form, it's like the guests are watching a movie narrated about themselves.
It's really interesting. So Larry, thank you for always doing a great job. Brandon, we're moving on to a Get Comfy sec- section, and this has to do with 404 Day. It, it, uh, I live right off the back of Piedmont Park, so we're here for One Midtown. Uh, we are here for, um, the, um, the annual, uh, race that happens.
It starts in Piedmont Park around the, uh, Fourth of July, um, um, weekend. All of the major events that happen around Piedmont Park, we're here so we see all of the people that matriculate in and around, uh, the park. 404 Day, Brandon, is one of these things that I think of and wonder, "Why has this not been happening for 20 years?"
Like, wh- why, why is this something that has just started happening recently? And here you are at the center of it- W- what made you begin to say, "This should be a thing"? What is it? How did this thing start? Where is it going?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, man. Um, you know, it's funny, I kinda got asked that question earlier this year.
Somebody made a post and they were like, "What's 404 Day? How come I don't remember 404 Day growing up?" And, you know, like, w- I was like, "Well, yeah, it wasn't a thing."
DC: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: Yeah. And, you know, like, growing up in Atlanta, um, specifically in Stone Mountain on the east side, you know, I- always knew, we would always have these, like, unofficial days for different parts of communities, right?
Like, growing up there was Glenwood Day, and there's, you know, Westside Day. There's, like, all these different days- Mm-hmm ... that just, it was kinda like an unofficial thing, but everybody always kinda knew to show up. And, um, you know, nobody ever really had a made 404 a thing, but it was definitely, it was almost kind of a, a, a joke, kind of like an underlying, you know, kind of just comment you made.
Like, "Oh, happy 404 Day," and it never really took off. Uh, you know, the funny thing that ended up happening was, I remember it was back in 2019, um, there was a, uh, event that happened in Atla- It was a small event that happened in Atlanta, and I had recently started Butter ATL.
LT: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And this brand had came in from out of town, and they kinda did, like, a 404 thing.
And, um, what happened was is I got upset. I was like- Oh ... "Wait a minute. How y'all gonna come and do 404 Day-
LT: From outside, from outside the ATL,
Brandon Butler: right? ... from, from outside Atlanta?" Oh, yeah. And, um, and, you know, and, and the thing about it was they didn't really, in my opinion, they didn't really connect with a lot of the people that were really tied to Atlanta culture.
And so when- Mm ... what ended up happening was I ended up reaching out to, um, some buddies of mine, the good guys from Atlanta Influences Everything, and I remember I literally, you know, called them up and I was like, "Did y'all hear about this thing?" They were like, "No, we didn't hear about it either." And I was like, "Okay, but that's crazy."
Like, Atlanta- Yeah ... Influences Everything hasn't heard about it. Butter ATL hasn't heard about it. So right then and right there we were like, "You know what? Like, next year we're gonna show folks how to do 404 Day the right way," because to your point- Right ... you know, brands coming in from outside of the culture and kinda doing it was, was, was something I wasn't a big fan of.
And so fast-forward to 2020, I know everybody remembers that was a great year. Um- Yeah. We were, uh... I remember we were doing the walkthrough at a venue. It was me and the guys from AIE, and we were, like, planning everything out, and there were these little rumblings about, "Oh, well, there's this, this thing going around and people are getting sick."
And I was like, "Man, it, that don't mean nothing. Nothing's happening out here." And literally a week later, the entire world shut down.
DC: Oh.
Brandon Butler: And so, you know, we took that opportunity, though, and said, "Well, you know what? We don't wanna cancel this." And so w- just, again, all... You know, and I will get into it more, but I remember even kinda, like, talking to the Butter ATL team and saying, with my tech background, saying, you know, "At this time, everybody's gonna definitely be on their phones, and so we gotta, like, really lean in, you know- Mm-hmm
while we're all at home and kinda keep Atlanta and the people connected." Um, enthusiasm and relationships, we were able to basically set up a situation where Jermaine Dupri went and did a Instagram Live to celebrate 404 Day for Atlanta. Oh, wow. And Butter put it on. We partnered with, uh, AIE and, at that time, uh, Choose ATL produced this event.
JD goes live. He's spinning, you know, Atlanta music for probably, like, three or four hours- I remember at one point there was like 40,000 plus people on the stream.
LT: Wow.
Brandon Butler: And this is like right at the very beginning of, of everything that was happening with COVID. Yeah. And we were like, and what we also did too is we built some stuff.
People were like sharing on social, we had all this content, people were like sharing content on social media. We made all this stuff for people to share and like con- c- comment with, and it just went crazy. And so I was like, "All right, well this is definitely a thing now." As the world opened up, we started leaning back in and doing more and more stuff.
The next year, um, at that point, Councilman Andre Dickens came out and gave us a proclamation for the work we were doing. It kind of got bigger and bigger. We added in the 404 Fund, which is our nonprofit arm, 'cause we wanna make sure we always kind of gave back, and 404 Day was never just all about the party.
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: Um, and it's again, continued to expand. And then, uh, about three years ago I had the great idea to say, "You know what we need is we need a parade." And we figured out how to produce a parade, and literally the next year we ended up producing the parade. This'll be our, this is our second year doing it.
It'll be our third year doing it next year. And I just think, like when I always talk about, like why I think Atlanta's a special place is because even with all the stuff with 404 Day, the parade really sticks out to me. Because if you think about it, we shut down Peachtree Street here in Atlanta. Mm-hmm.
Which is Atlanta's most iconic street, busiest street in downtown Atlanta. Yeah. You know, and we literally came up with that concept and did it all w- within one year.
LT: Wow.
Brandon Butler: I would ask people in New York In LA, in Chicago, what would it take in one year to shut down the busiest street in the city for a parade to celebrate the city, have the mayor in it, have celebrities, have over 4,000 people walking in it, and this was all organized by citizens.
DC: Mm.
Brandon Butler: And so I think that's when I say I think, I think Atlanta's special and 404 Day is special because you can really make anything happen out here. And to me, I kind of always use the parade as an example. It started with an idea. Literally the next year I was walking down Peachtree Street just in awe of like, wow, like people are outside, people are marching down the street celebrating all things Atlanta.
So that's why I think-
DC: Wow
Brandon Butler: ... Atlanta's such a special place.
DC: Wow.
LT: Thanks for telling that story. That's really cool. And the parade makes it a there there too, right, Brandon? You know what, you know, like, it gives it an epicenter for 404 Day for people to, to sort of come to and rally around, right? So I, I would imagine it takes it to another level.
Am, am I understanding that right?
Brandon Butler: Yeah. And you know, what I'll always want to be careful of is, you know, um, people have a tendency to, people need to put things in boxes.
LT: Right.
Brandon Butler: And I felt like a lot of times people would just see me and my partners in the 404 Collective, and the 404 Collective is four Black-owned businesses that all come together.
So that's Atlanta Influencers Everything, the Trap Music Museum, Finish First, and Buttery Tail. And we produced this, and I felt like there was a time in which people were just saying, "Oh, this is a Black thing," right? "This is a Black thing." And so we were like, "Well, no, this is an Atlanta thing."
LT: Right.
Brandon Butler: You know, obviously Atlanta is, you know, a mecca for Black people and an amazing place to live, but this is all still for all Atlantans.
Sure.
LT: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: And I don't really p- think people really fully saw that or understood it. And so also what the parade was able to do was help show the diversity and unity in the, in the city. Um, it's people from all walks in Atlanta that come out to the parade. Mm. When we first went to do it, a lot of people don't realize the biggest parade in the South, Southeast is Atlanta Pride or the Pride Parade.
LT: Right.
Brandon Butler: And so through some relationships that I had with the mayor's office, they were able to connect me literally with the Pride founders, and they literally gave us the playbook on how to organize a parade.
Wow.
Brandon Butler: And even from a collaboration standpoint- Yeah ... right, like figuring out who are the people that know, reaching out, getting that information, and figuring out ways to kind of bring that back.
And so to me, I think the parade represents all the best things about Atlanta. It represents, you know, diversity, it represents unique groups of people, it represents all types of people, places, and things that make Atlanta special, and it's all in one place, right? And so that's where I think the... And, and I want that to kind of also be what people see when they think about 404 Day, right?
Like, the unity and connection for all parts of Atlanta and Atlanta culture.
LT: And, and if I may add, D, uh, just, and I'll, I'll shut up in a minute, but f- April 4th too, if... I, I used to live in Atlanta. April in Atlanta is wonderful, right? Like, everything's blooming. Yeah. The weather's great. And so that's a, that's such a wonderful day to celebrate, you know, everything great about Atlanta too.
Brandon Butler: But, you know, what's, what's actually really interesting too is, um, April 4th was also the day that Martin Luther King was assassinated.
LT: Oh, that's true.
Brandon Butler: And so- Ah ... when you think about it, right, like, it's this day with all things about Atlanta, but then it, it's also the day that Atlanta lost its- Yeah ... you know, most influential son.
So for us, that's something that we always start the day off with, is a moment of silence, a moment of recognition. Um, no matter where we're at, no matter when we're doing it, we're saying, look, before all the party... And that's, again, that's why we always say we, we kind of lead with purpose and then we get into the other stuff, is we always bring that up.
We always lead with the scholarship gala. We always lead with ways of, like, giving back and pouring into the city versus just, you know, turning up and having a party, right? And so we wanna make sure that people always remember that as well. Um, that, and again, without people like Martin Luther King, none of this would even be possible, right?
And so we always wanna make sure that we kind of, you know, give a moment of silence and a moment of respect and recognition to- Mm ... to him, especially on the most Atlanta day ever.
DC: Yeah, uh, Brandon, your point about, uh, 404 Day and some of the original myopia of some thinking that, "Oh, this, this must be a Black thing since there's a couple of Black companies putting it on."
And your point rightfully made is, no, no, this is about Atlanta the city. Like, 404 is an area code. It's not the area code for the Black parts of Atlanta. Yeah. It is the area code for the city of Atlanta. Now, there are more area codes now, 678, 770, but 404 was the original area code for Atlanta. It reminds me of two things, a personal experience and then a- another that, another experience, not my own, but one that I think people will relate to.
So my own personal experience is that when I was at the Coca-Cola Company, also here based in Atlanta, and we were repositioning the Sprite brand, uh, the same things were said about that brand. Mm-hmm. "Oh, you all are trying to make this the bre- the Black brand." No, we are not. We are trying to maintain this, uh, and grow it as the green brand, which is money, but we are, we are, uh, connecting it to Black culture.
This is how two years ago Sprite displaced Pepsi, uh, became larger than Pepsi on its way to becoming the number three brand in this country behind number one Coca-Cola, number two Dr Pepper, and then, uh, number three, uh, Sprite. So Sprite became number three in this country because it leveraged and respected Black culture.
That's what happened. So when, un- unfortunately in this country, sometimes when things are connected to Black culture, they are myopically thought of as limiting. That is not, that is not true of other cultures, unfortunately. I'm reading a book, Larry knows this, I mentioned this, I also think, uh, to Jade, uh, our producers, of the show Seinfeld.
So I'm reading a book called Seinfeldia. Seinfeld right now, not debatable, the number one TV show, Brandon and Brand Nerds, of all time.
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: Like, unassailable. Five reasons. Writing, revolutionary. Nobody's going to debate that. Cultural, cultural influence. I talked about commerce and, uh, and culture. Uh, consistency, um, influence, and also money.
So what, what this show has made in, uh, in reruns over and over again, no other show has touched it. N- none. Syndication, none. It's a show about New York Jews, but no one is saying now, "Oh, this just a show about young New York Jews." No, it's a great show. It's a great show. When you do something that gets into, like, the root system of insights, it doesn't matter where it comes from.
That's what 404 Day was, and Atlanta has a lot of Black folk. Yeah. So that's what you're gonna get. Glad you did it, brother Yeah,
Brandon Butler: man, appreciate it. I, I definitely, there are definitely times when I kinda sit back and wonder what would exist if this didn't exist. Right. 'Cause I'm also a believer in, you know, laws of the universe, right?
And so they always say, like, nature pours a vacuum and stuff like that. And so I do wonder, especially if we weren't doing it, right, like what- Right ... would exist in its place. And again, it's just amazing to me at this point, um, the scale that it's even reached. You know? Yeah. Like, it's a thing. Um, you see it everywhere.
All the brands talk about it. Yeah. I'm trying to get more of the brands involved in it. That's a whole different conversation. Yeah. Right. But, like, all the brands talk about us on the radio, it's on the TV now. You know what I mean? And, um, and I'm just glad that we've, like, built something that's kind of at the center of that and, you know, we wanna kinda continue to keep, find ways to keep it going.
LT: And dare I say, you're just scratching the surface. You know?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, I think again, we've, we've been doing it now, I mean, this is, this was year six. Um, you know, I think these last couple of years I, I felt like, and I remember telling the team, like, we're, we're getting ready to gear up for a good run because it was gonna fall on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for three years in a row.
Mm-hmm. And so I'm glad that we were able to, you know, spend the first half kinda getting things in order and just building out kinda the programming so that when it hit, like this year on a Saturday, it went crazy. Yeah. And I think it's gonna do the same thing next year, um, on, on a Sunday, right? Yeah. And then we- but we've also got experience doing it during the week because- Right, yeah we could celebrate Atlanta at all those times. And so, um, yeah, I mean, I think we've done some amazing stuff, and I'm just really glad, again, that the city appreciates it. Like, when you ask people about 404 Day, the city appreciates it, and that's the most important thing.
DC: So I wanna do something. Uh, I wanna do it with, with a, uh, with a full throat, and as, uh, as some would say, uh, they say, "Say it with your chest."
In the early days, uh, folks would not, big brands would not, um, find themselves attached to hip-hop culture. Now every brand wants to be connected with hip-hop culture. I was, I'm looking at a Chipotle commercial. Yeah. Uh, and, and in the background they have, uh, "I wonder why they call me Big Poppa." That's in the, that's in the background of the Chipotle ad, like, right now.
Yeah. You, you ha- you have a, uh, a, uh, a Cologard ad with, with peop- with, uh, with someone with sunglasses on going, "Chicka, chicka, chicka, chicka, check," as they go get a colon check.
LT: Cologard.
DC: Like that's- Think of that ... that's Cologard. That, that's, that's, that's where we are right now with, uh, with that. Also, not very long ago, brands would not connect themselves with MMA.
They would not, they would not do anything with UFC.
Brandon Butler: Yeah.
DC: Atlanta brands, Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, UPS, I am saying to you all right now- With my chest, you all need to be connected to 404 Day.
LT: Yes.
DC: Check it out. Family event. How many family things are there to do for all the full families in Atlanta? Have your people do some research on this, 404 Day.
So I'm just saying it with my chest right now. Before we go to the next section, I also need to do something else, uh, since we're talking about area codes. I live in Atlanta. I lived in Atlanta longer than I lived anywhere, uh, anywhere else. I'm an adopted ATAlien. I'm not an, I'm not an original ATAlien.
I'm an adopted ATAlien. But I gotta call out something in, uh, in Detroit. Unfortunately, sad news, Brand Nerds that are from the D, area code 313, the passing of a legend. His name is Juan Atkins. He is the founder, the OG, and godfather of techno. It's a form of music that came out of Detroit. It brought together what we would consider, like, electronic music from, like, Kraftwerk, and funk from, like, George Clinton, and brought those together in techno music.
In Detroit, we used to call him The Juan, as in his name was spelled J-U-A-N, Juan. We used to call him The Juan. Go check out Clear, Cosmic Cars. There have been articles written about his death. Brother was 64 years old. He's a good friend of one of our, um, uh, business partners, Jeff Shirley, uh, Brandon. So I just wanna sh-
LT: And producer of this show
DC: And producer of this show, so I just wanna shout out, uh, Juan Atkins one time, 313, The Juan.
All right, we are moving to the next section of our podcast, Brandon. It is called Five Questions. Larry and I go back and forth until we arrive at five. I start this thing off. Take yourself back to a time where you experienced a brand or an experience with a brand where you got so into it, Brandon, that it just lit your soul afire.
You, you thought you would maybe engage with this brand for maybe 5, 10, 15 minutes, and you looked up, and you're like, "I've been thinking about this thing for, like, two hours. I didn't even realize it." A bit like a first love. What was this for you, Brandon?
Brandon Butler: Um, it was Nintendo.
DC: Nintendo, okay.
Brandon Butler: Okay. Yeah, it was Nintendo, man.
You know, growing up in the, in the, in the 1900s, as my kids say. Okay. Um, you know, in the '80s and '90s, man, um, you know, Nintendo video games were, you know, at home were becoming a thing. But, you know, it, it's funny. Like, I just think about there were moments, especially around the work that Nintendo did, that really stuck with me, and the one that kinda really jumps out the most, um, one is I remember when I got my first Nintendo, my parents made me, you know, buy it myself.
Okay. And I remember I had to save up my allowance for, like, almost a year.
DC: Right.
Brandon Butler: And, um, luckily my birthday fell in there, so I got, like, an extra probably 40 bucks or something like that. But I remember it cost $103.28 when I bought it. I still remember- You
DC: still remember that ... to this day, the numbers.
Brandon Butler: Still remember that to this day. Um, but you know, there was a moment, there was a, there was a movie that came out, and the movie was called The Wiz. And it was about- Mm-hmm ... these kids, and they were basically going to the Nintendo championship. Like, one of these kids, he was really good at video games. They, like, ran away from home, or they were like, they were like hitchhiking across the country to, like, get to the Nintendo championship.
And there's this one part where they meet this kid, and 'cause he's, like, playing people, you know, to prove he's, like, the best, and it's like the kid's, like, real young. And he meets this kid, he's, like, you know, a teenager, and he has the Nintendo Power Glove. And that was the first time anybody had seen the...
And even when I think back about it, like, the fact they, like, put this thing in a movie, and, like, the kid's, like, driving the car with his hand. And, like, you're like, "Oh my God, this is the future. Like, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life." Now I'ma say, when you got the Nintendo Power Glove, it wasn't quite the same experience as- Yeah
when you got it. But, um, again, just I remember growing up, man, like, you know, it was all about, you know, Nintendo and, you know, having the games. And I had all the magazines with all the, the codes and tips in them and all that stuff. And- Mm-hmm ... I was a only child, too, so you know what I mean? I'm an only child, so you know, I'm, I'm playing a game by myself.
And then I could beat my friends 'cause I practiced on it more, 'cause I play it, and I knew all the, kinda the ins and outs of it and stuff like that, right? So I think just watching, like being a, a kid of the, of the 1900s, you know what I mean? I think just, again, playing Nintendo growing up, which led to other video games, obviously.
Led into-
LT: Sure ...
Brandon Butler: Sega and PlayStation and everything else. But to me, I mean, I still have my Nintendo to this day. Um, you know what I mean? It's, it's, to me it's like the OG. And I mean, and, and the funny part about that is, is I was so into it I remember, um, the Nintendo championships came to Atlanta one time.
Mm-hmm. And my dad actually came and checked me out of school and surprised me and took me.
DC: Oh,
Brandon Butler: wow. And it was just like the movie. Like, literally you had to, like, go in, and you had to, like, play. They had these special Nintendos set up where they had... It was, you played three games in a row And like you had to play, um, it was, it was, uh, a, a racing game, it was Tetris, and it was like Mario Brothers.
That was also when Super Mario Brothers 3 came out, which I remember when they showed that in the movie, again, like you would've thought- Head explosion. You would've thought ChatGPT was out the way that people reacted to seeing Super Mario Brothers 3 the first time. Um, but I remember even going to that and like getting a chance to like play in the Nintendo championships and stuff, right?
But I mean, that was just a big part of my childhood. Uh, you know, I didn't leave home. Whenever I went to go to my cousin's house, they always loved me 'cause I would always bring all my Nintendo games with me. And you know, they didn't have that many games, right? And so again, just that for me was probably the first brand that I really, really fell in love with was Nintendo.
DC: What's good,
LT: Larry? I love this. I love this. D, what are you s- what are you saying to this?
DC: Um, I, I, I'm still, uh, chuckling over his children telling him he grew up in the 1900s.
Like- ... that, that, that's a, that's a, that's a bar.
Brandon Butler: I know, that's what they say all the time, man.
DC: That's a bar. That, that's all I got, Larry.
That's all I got.
LT: No, I, what, what I, what I think is so cool is that your dad took you out of school. Can you shout out your dad's name? Like, how great is that?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, man. Right? Shout to Pops, man. Shout to James Butler, man. He, uh, you know, he saw, again, he, he knew it was something I wanted to do. He surprised me.
I didn't even know it was here, obviously. You know, I don't know how he found out about it, but he found out about it and took me up there, and I got a chance to... I even, you know, made it to the semifinals. I got to go up on stage and, you know, there was a, there was a time, it was like, "Okay, like, this is, this is cool."
Again, like, it's just these experiences, and I just think about so much of, even the, you know, like, small things with childhood, right? Like, um, like renting video games, and like, it, just the things that were, like, around culture. You know what I mean? Like, people- Mm-hmm ... I think they kinda forget about it, but, you know, there was a time when there was no better place to be on a Friday night but Blockbuster Video.
DC: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: Right. You know, trying to, and trying to get that movie or trying to get that game. I remember, you know, again, like, being at my cousin's house in Alabama, and it was our, our big treat was, like, kind of like every weekend, you know, whenever all the adults would get home, they would take us to, uh, Movie Gallery, and we would get a chance to, like, go through there.
And it's like, okay, you can rent one game. We would rent one game and play it nonstop. And you know, it's funny, I was actually reading something about, uh, you know, about gaming and stuff in general, and it was kinda saying that a lot of the games that we played growing up taught us resilience because now- Mm
games are really built to kinda keep you on the screen, and it's kind of this continuous, um, dopamine hit where there's, you're not really playing to win, you just play to play. Right. But, like, these Nintendo games, or just games in general growing up, right? Like, there was a definitive you were trying to beat the game.
Right. And, you know, there weren't always, I mean, yeah, you'd find codes and stuff like that, but for the most part, you had to just figure out how to play and get from point A to the end. Mm-hmm. And if you lost, you had to start over, and you kept playing, you know? I mean, if you had to go, if you had to go somewhere, you had to pause it, and, like, hopefully the power didn't go out while you were gone, right?
Yeah. Yeah. And so, I, and it was funny, I just read something about that kinda talking about how, you know, kids that played those games kinda just built up this resilience and this kind of, you know, this drive to kinda learn, to kinda get to the end. Whereas now, games are just kind of this, you know, just feed your dopamine and just kinda keep you on it, but there's no end point.
You're not really playing for anything. You're just playing to acquire kinda, like, digital things. Um, folks can you, just, you know, make, even makes me think about, you know, the kind of the games my kids play right now, right? It's kind of even- Like
LT: Fortnite, you don't, you're just going to keep going.
Brandon Butler: Yeah, exactly.
And you- Like, you, you don't win Fortnite. Yeah. You know? Right. Like, you don't, you don't win- Yeah ... Roblox or Minecraft. You just play. Right.
LT: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: Um, and you know, it's kinda interesting, right? When you kinda think about, like, what that even might be doing or what that kinda means to- Mm-hmm ... you know, the, the psyche and mental of somebody that's, like, really playing and consuming that on a, on a nonstop basis.
LT: That's deep.
DC: That's interesting. Larry, you wanna hit the next question?
LT: Let's hit the next question. So Brandon, uh, who is having or has had the most influence on your career?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, I mean, again, you know, shout out to my dad, but I would say, um, you know, it's, it's a buddy of mine. It's a, a good friend of mine, a, a gentleman by the name of Conroy Boxill.
Um, Conroy is, uh, the North American president for, um, Porter Novelli at this point, but when I met him, he was a, uh, SVP at Edelman. And what was so unique to me about Conroy, I'll never forget when I walked by his office one day, I looked in and I see this Black guy in a corner office with dreads, locks like all the way down his back.
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And I remember going into his office, I didn't know him from a man on the moon. I remember going into his office and saying, "Bro, I don't know who you are or what you do, but I'm just letting you know I've never..." Like, I literally told him, "I've never seen somebody" You know, he had a Jamaican accent.
I was like, like, like, "You're me. You, you remind me of me," you know what I mean? Like, "You're, you're what I w- want to kind of aspire to. You've, you've built an amazing career with this company." And, you know, since then he has become one of my best friends. I mean, literally, we talk almost every day. Um, he's helped me through situ- I helped him through situations.
We've traveled together. You know, our families know each other. But like he's become one of my closest friends. Um, but you know, I always kind of tell him, like seeing and meeting him at that place was something that- Mm ... I didn't know that I needed, um, because it let me know that you could be your authentic self in a corporate environment and still succeed, you know?
Um, I kind of joke and say there was a time, you know, before, uh, uh, before George Floyd and some other things that kind of happened in, in the world where, you know, just being honest, as a, as a Black person in corporate America, you know, if you ever spoke up or said the wrong thing, it was like, oh, you know, you're passive aggressive or you're the angry Black guy or whatever, right?
And I, and I think, you know, what, even though that was a terrible situation, it, it kind of opened people up to some of the bias they might have had they didn't kind of realize. And so, but what I always loved about Conroy was he was always himself, and he's super smart. He was, at that time, he was the, um, he b- grew to become the, um, the, the, the, the global lead for crisis at Edelman.
He's like, literally like the, the, the male version of Olivia Pope from Scandal. You know what I'm saying?
DC: Wow. Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And, um, even since then, now he's gone to be the North American president for Porter Novelli and doing all this other amazing work. Um, but again, just like seeing somebody like that, I think at that point in my career it was something that I needed, especially as I was like moving into the agency world and like trying to figure out what my identity was gonna be.
Like seeing somebody like him that could be successful while being themself, while looking like himself, while respecting his Jamaican heritage, um, and being respected among his peers was something that, you know... Again, I literally, when I first met him, I remember walking to his office and being like, "Man," like, "I don't know who you are, but you seem cool and like we should be friends," you know?
And he definitely took me under, took me under his arm, and the whole time I was there- You know, supported me, looked out for me. Um, and then I did the same thing as other people came into the organization. Uh, but I mean, he's somebody I think that I really give a lot of credit to, especially in my career, by just letting me know that, you know, I could be myself and be successful in, in corporate America
LT: Love this.
D
DC: What made you walk into Conroy's office?
Brandon Butler: Bro, yeah, I'm honest. It was just, it was seeing a, a, a Black man behind a desk, uh, like I said, with, with, with dreads, you know, just being his authentic self. I had never, I had literally never seen anything like that before.
LT: Um- Had you just joined Edelman?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, I'd maybe been there, I don't know, but a couple days.
Okay. And I was just walking around the office and, you know, I didn't- Right ... I didn't meet him during the interview process. I didn't, I didn't know him from the man on the moon. Um, but he just looked different than everybody else kind of in the office. And he was, again, he was, he was, he brought his full self to work and he was respected.
You know, he was a leader in the organization. He was somebody that people kinda came to. And, um, again, one thing that I really love about just our relationship is even to this day, like now, there are certain situations that I go through, I can pick up the phone and call him and we'll game it out, but there's other things that he deals with that he calls me for advice on.
Like, we're really, we're like, we're really friends in real life, you know what I mean? And so- Right ... um, but yeah, that's what stopped me, is just seeing somebody I had never... I remember saying I had never seen... I remember I told my mom about it. Like, I was like, "Mom," like, "I m- I met a brother at work," and like, "This brother got dreads," and like, "He's, like, running the show in there," you know what I mean?
Like, that was the only thing you would kind of maybe seen on TV. Um, and just seeing- Right ... it in real life, like, I didn't know any Black executives, you know? I didn't know any people that were, like, really leading business like that, and that was the first person that I really got a chance to meet and, and interact with just even on a personal level, right?
And so I, I've always appreciated that about Conroy.
DC: Y- uh, Larry, give m- give me a second on this, man. Please. Thank you. So I, so I, I, I wanna go back just a j- just a bit. You walk into this brother's office, okay? And you say whatever you say to him What does he say back to you?
Brandon Butler: What did he say back? He-
DC: What, what, what, what's his response?
Brandon Butler: I mean, I, I don't remember his exact response, but
DC: I definitely know that he was- Give, just, just give, give, give me, give me a rough feeling ... he,
Brandon Butler: he definitely was like, "Hey, man, it was great to meet you." You know, um, he kinda told me a little about himself and his career, and kinda how he ended up there. He started off in New York and ended up down in Atlanta.
And, um, you know, he just was like, "You know, whatever you need, let me know." He just ma- he made it a point, though, to, like, again, find me, to make sure he went to lunch, if I ever had questions, to make sure that his office door was always open for me to come in and-
DC: Yeah ...
Brandon Butler: talk to him about different situations.
But I mean, he was just... He, Conroy's just a very... Like, some people are just, like, people people.
DC: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: And Conroy's one of those people people, right? And again, I didn't know this about him at all. He could have been the exact opposite when I walked in, right? Could have been, yeah.
He could have, he could've said like- He could've been the exact opposite, but
DC: "Yeah, don't, don't waste my time, kid."
Brandon Butler: Yeah. Or, you know, or, yeah, or, you know, be very protective or, like, yeah, you know what I mean, like, kinda shooing me off. But he was the exact opposite. He was welcoming. He was warm. He was-
DC: Yeah ...
Brandon Butler: said he wanted to be a resource. And, you know, for me, again, it became, you know, I, I, I feel like between him and myself, there were kinda some people that were like the, you know, the unofficial, like, make sure you kinda talk to Conroy and Brandon if you start over here for a while.
I feel like, you know, between him and I, you know, he was, we were the people that the people just always wanted to kinda interact with in the office. Um, and even for me as I got a chance to kinda move in through Edelman, 'cause originally, again, I came in, um, as a project manager and left as a senior vice president.
You know what I mean? Wow. And so just even moving myself up through the ranks- Yeah ... he was somebody that, again, helped me, um, you know, you know, game... Again, we would always say, "Let's, let's, let's kinda game it out. Let's plan it out." You know, 'cause he's, he's a very, he has a crisis mindset, so, you know, when he had a issue, he would talk to me about it 'cause he always liked how I kinda came at things from a different perspective.
When I had, I would talk to him about it, and just I think, again, we've, we've been able to kinda help each other out through our careers.
DC: All right. Uh, Larry, uh, I just wanna do this one, one thing and then- You're good. Keep going. Okay. So Brandon- People who are unique in environments like that, it could be race, it could be gender, , it could be anything.
If you notice something that is different, you could either be like you and go, "I'm just gonna go and talk to this person." You could also go, "Ooh, I'm not so sure I should go talk to this person." You were the former, not the latter. Had you been the latter, you would've missed the opportunity to build and connect with Conroy.
Now you all, as you said, are friends in real life. What would you say to people, no matter, um, uh, who they are, who would not go into an office to go talk to someone? What would you say to them to, to muster up what they need to muster up to just walk in and go, "Hey, I need to say something to you"? What would you say to these people?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, I mean, I, I think that e- especially when it comes to your career and, you know, working in corporate environments, you gotta speak up. And if you want something, it's okay to say it. Uh, you obviously, I think you need to read the room and find the right times to say it. I don't think you should just blurt things out.
And I think that's something that people that are younger in their careers really need to- Yeah ... kind of work on, is-
DC: Mm ...
Brandon Butler: the ability to read the room. I think a lot of times people get so caught up in what they wanna say, they can't read the context of what's going on. Ah, yeah.
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: Um, but at the same time, you know, the people that are around you, especially, you know, in work, you think about the amount of time that you spend with those people, like in a corporate office.
I know everybody's kind of virtual and remote right now, but you never know what, what might be on the other side of that conversation, what kind of connection might be on the other side of that conversation, what kind of support might be on the other side of that conversation. And in general, yeah, you will meet some people that, you know, might not wanna necessarily connect with you.
But especially if you all are like in a office, y'all are working together, y'all at the same company, if you have the opportunity, especially, um, if you see somebody that reminds you of yourself or that you wanna aspire to be to, I think it only makes sense to find a way to, to go connect with that person.
Um, and I kind of say, like I, I was glad I did that then because at Accenture, when you work at Accenture, that's really how Accenture works, and it took me a, it took me a moment to kind of figure it out, but I'm glad I built that skill. What I mean is, you know, Accenture, um, you kind of work based on pr- It's, like it's, it's management consulting, so you work based on projects.
But here's the thing, the quality of the projects that you get really comes down to your network w- inside the organization.
LT: Mm.
Brandon Butler: And that was something that I... Nobody told you that in the interview, right? Right. What I mean is, is that, you know, if you wanna work on a certain type of project, because I was a solution architect, our job was to basically gather all the pieces to figure out how to build something, right?
So I would have to talk to people on the tech side, on the UX side, on the marketing side, like all these different teams.
DC: Mm.
Brandon Butler: But I was also building relationships with them. So- Mm-hmm ... then I could also say, "Hey, look, I'm getting ready to be done with this project soon. Hey Larry, I see what you're doing on your team's really interesting.
If you ever need a solution architect, holler at me." And like you- Right ... you literally have to find your next opportunity sometimes, and a lot of that would- Ah ... come through your network. And so again, in that kind of environment, I'm glad I got the, the, the, the chops and then the experience of learning how to kind of go after what I wanted, because that's literally how Accenture runs, is yeah, you, you can get just assigned to things, and that's cool, but if you want to work on the stuff you want to work on, you need to build relationships in the Accenture network- Mm
so that people see your work, they see what you can contribute. So if they get a cool pro- or something interesting, they're saying, "No, no, no, no. I want Brandon on my team. I want DC on my team." And that's how you really- Yeah ... get to work on the stuff that you want to work on as well.
DC: That's good. Larry, thank, thanks for giving me the space on that.
LT: Oh, no, that's all good. That was a great conversation. Should we go to the next question?
DC: Let's do it. Brandon, you've had many accomplishments. This next question, I don't want to know about any of those. What I want to know about here is what's your biggest F-up, and most importantly, what you learned from it?
Brandon Butler: Um, you know, my biggest, uh, F-up was-
Oof. Um, you know, I was thinking about this question too. You know, I, I th- I think it was, um
There was a, there was a young lady that I used to work with, and we were cool And she was on my team, and, um, one day, uh, she was working on something and it was late.
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And, I don't know, I think I was having a bad day or something like that, but I literally just, like, went off on her. Like, I went off, I told her manager, and I just was like, I was like, "You know what?
It just is what it is." You know? And, um, and I never want, I never was that. I was always, like, the cool manager, the cool boss, so for me that was, like, a lot to kinda just... And I think I was fed up with some other things too. I mean, there were some things that were, that she was doing that I wasn't happy about, but I definitely kinda just went off on her, and- It was
LT: there for your boil, it sounds like.
Brandon Butler: Yeah. You know, and, you know, not that... I, I definitely wasn't wrong in being frustrated, but I was wrong in how I communicated it.
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And I feel like I was wrong in how I handled it, because- Mm ... I kinda said, "You know what? I'm just gonna keep it business, and, like, I'ma talk to your manager and I'ma do this."
And, you know, I can think about... I mean, there've been times where I've, like, you know, I've messed up on projects or whatever, but that was a time in which I was learning how to be a leader, and I think I failed at leadership right then, but I also think it taught me how to be a better leader in that process.
Like- Mm-hmm ... you know, what, what it, what, what I, I do admit, what I think it sacrificed, it definitely sacrificed, I feel like, a relationship with somebody that was very talented. Mm-hmm. And that person, I feel like, just needed some coaching and some support also.
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: Um, but it was something that, for me, I feel like in that moment, I, I lost the plot a little bit, and I became the, the manager or the boss that I hated.
DC: Mm.
Brandon Butler: And I realized then that I never wanted to be that type of person again. And so even though, again, I wasn't disrespectful. I don't, I wasn't, like, cussing at her or anything like that, but I literally, I, I, I definitely read her the Riot Act, you know what I'm saying? And, um, and I, and I feel like I, you know, I went to her manager and just did all this stuff.
But again, I felt like just at the end of the day, that's not who I am or who I want to be. And the, the good part about it is, what it actually led me to do was spend a lot more time learning how to be a better leader. Um, and this wasn't because I got, like, some coaching or somebody was like, "Hey, Brandon, I don't like how you handled that."
It was purely a moment of, like, self-reflection to let me know that, you know, I don't wanna be like that. Um, I don't wanna be a person that leads with title and leads with all these things and, you know what I mean? And especially in the agency world, 'cause I've, I've definitely seen it get kinda toxic, um, over, over the years.
And so I feel like that was probably one of the biggest ones. And, and one, again, because I just know that's not me. Two, because I felt like- It ruined a friendship and a relationship with somebody that I did have respect for. To even to this day, like, I, I do not communicate with this person, and I, you know, it's all cool, I get it.
And I, but I think this person's amazingly talented, but at the same time, I do think that it took me down this path of learning how to be a better leader, like for real, for real. Learning, you know, like getting resources, taking training classes, and for me, ultimately, I feel like on the back end, that probably helped me more in the long run because had I not, I don't know if I would've gone down that same path.
DC: Hmm. Hmm.
Brandon Butler: It's deep. And also, and again, like I don't, I'm not... You see, I've, I've had some, some terrible bosses. Like, I've had some really, really bad bosses in my career. Um, and yeah, I felt like in that moment, like I was like, "This isn't, this isn't me. Like, this, this is not me." And, um- You know, again, I'm, I'm glad it happened from the standpoint of what I was able to learn from it.
I'm sad about the, uh, the, the impact that it might have had in, in ruining a friendship with somebody. Um, but like I said, I think in the big picture of things, what I'm appreciative is, is it took me down a path of really, really learning, one, how to be a leader, but then also, um, how to build relationships with my teams, which I think have also helped me in the future.
Like one of the things that actually led to me doing was reading, um, Radical Candor, which I always feel like is-
DC: Mm-hmm ...
Brandon Butler: one of the best books on management and leadership I've ever met. Mm. And it let me understand, like I do wanna have radically candid relationships with people that I work with so that we can accomplish goals.
But again, at the, at the core of that, there's mutual respect. At the core of that, there's, um, you know, good communication. And at the core of that, you know, in order to have that level of candor with people, you have to do the work to build those relationships up so that you can be honest and transparent with people.
And so again, like when I think about what happened down the path from that, I'm, I'm, I'm glad that it took me down that path. But again, in that moment, I would say I feel like honestly, like again, I've messed up projects. I've, you know, I've, I've, I've gotten fired from a job before. I've had all kind of stuff.
But like, when I really think about it, like I've, I've never been a person to really like ruin a relationship and just go off on somebody. Um, you know, and I really haven't really done it since then . You know what I mean? I've, I've found much better ways to communicate with people since then.
LT: But that says everything, that you haven't, that, you know, y- that you haven't...
That was a one and only, like, you know, right? That you learned from that. Did you know it, Brandon, like, you know, you've described the situation really well. End of long day, frustration overall, frustration with this, with this team member, and it boils over. Did you know it in the moment? Or did you realize like when you were going home, like, "Oh shit, that wasn't me"?
Like, when, when w- when was that realization, uh, for you?
Brandon Butler: It was probably as soon as I got done saying what I was saying. Yeah. Like it was probably like it was- Ah,
DC: okay.
Brandon Butler: That's a great way to put it ... it was probably as soon as I got done, like I was like, "That ain't me." You know what I mean? Yeah. And like, and even just, I remember even like talking to the person's manager, and even they were like, "Wow, I've never seen you this upset before."
Like Yeah. You know what I mean? It was just so far outta character. And again, not, not to sit here and say that I haven't been frustrated or had moments I've been upset about.
DC: Of course.
Brandon Butler: We all have. But just the way that I handled it in that moment- Right ... was, was very much outside of my, my character. And I realized it, um, very, very immediately afterwards.
LT: So dare I say you should send this episode to this person and, and- ... maybe this could, uh, serve as a, a, a way for this person to understand that this wasn't you, and this is your olive branch? Might be
Brandon Butler: Yeah, you know, I, you know, as you, as I was talking about it, I was actually thinking about it, you know what I mean?
Yeah. I, I was definitely actually even thinking about it, and I think, um, you know, the, the person I am right now, like I've had a couple moments like that just in my care- over my life to where you and a person kind of fall out, and-
DC: Mm-hmm ...
Brandon Butler: I've... When it makes sense, again, there are some situations that you can't come back from, but-
DC: Yep
Brandon Butler: I do believe that a lot of times it just comes down from just a pure misunderstanding. Um, and you know, I think that I know I'm in a much better place, uh, from a maturity standpoint, from an emotional standpoint- Yep ... from a leadership standpoint to kind of reopen those conversations, and even admit when I was wrong.
You know, I think that's one thing, um, even as a, you know, as an only child, right? Like I, uh, you know, I, I, I, I'm very good at, I think, taking accountability for things.
LT: Mm.
Brandon Butler: Because there wasn't nobody else to blame growing up. Right. You know what I mean? So it's like, "Yeah, I did it. It was me." You know, you gotta kinda own it.
So, um, you know, potentially, potentially. I definitely, you know, as I was just even talking about the situation, it, it, it kind of made me, you know, think about like this might be a relationship that I definitely need to, you know, work on. If, if for nothing else, just to, you know, just again kinda like-
LT: Yeah
Brandon Butler: mend that bridge.
LT: Yeah.
DC: Mm.
LT: D, anything to add before, uh, we head to the next question?
DC: Uh, just one. Um, I, I've found something that can appear to be elusive, Brandon, but that makes a really big difference, and it's, um-
Hard to do in close proximity to an event. And I have found personally in my life the reason why it's hard to do is because it's embarrassing. And that's simply to say, and this is in close proximity to the event, "I'm sorry."
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: I've also found that the further away from the event, that it becomes the I'm sorry becomes more difficult.
Brandon Butler: Yeah.
DC: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: Yeah, you gotta own it on both ends, man. Yeah. I def- I definitely think, uh, you gotta own it on both ends and-
DC: Yeah ...
Brandon Butler: again, I just think that's a sign of... I think that's, like I said, like I said before, I, I just, for me, I've, I've had a lot of not great bosses, I think, over the years for lots of different reasons.
I mean, again, like-
LT: Yep ...
Brandon Butler: I, I think even just in general, kind of the idea around, like, bias and training and all those things, they weren't really things that a lot of organizations prioritized over the years. But, and through all those experiences, I've definitely learned what kind of leader I don't wanna be.
LT: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: Um, uh, you know, and so, uh, you know, I try to implement that, especially now with Butter. You know what I mean? I try to implement- Yeah ... the kind of leader that I wanna be and, and, and, and learn from who I don't wanna be, and do not carry those traits- Yeah ... at all where, where I can avoid them.
LT: And we can say firsthand, you, you actually do what you say you're gonna do.
You are that person that you aspire to be.
DC: Yeah. And, and before we move to the, uh, to the next question here, Larry, uh, the fallacy, Brandon, that many people have in the business world is that somehow we're old great bosses. We're not. We're, we're not old great bosses. Mm-hmm. We're going to have more, as Charles Barkley would say, terrible bosses-
than we're gonna have great bosses. And the reason why is what you, uh, to what you've alluded. You need to be taught how to be a great boss and a great leader. That is something you can be taught.
LT: That's right.
DC: And most are not taught to do that, and the reason why is we become bosses because we are great individual contributors, and individual contributors do not necessarily make great bosses.
Mm-hmm. That's why most folks end up with bad bosses and end up being bad bosses.
LT: Absolutely.
DC: All right, Larry. It's true. Let's hit the next one.
LT: All right, Brandon. So th- love this question for you with, uh, you've, you've really been at the epicenter of tech and marketing. So, uh, re- and regarding tech and marketing, you've seen a lot.
Can you tell us where you think marketers should lean in or best leverage tech, or you can walk us through an area or areas they should be leery or simply avoid?
Brandon Butler: Yeah, I mean, look, the, the, the, the, the, the, the catch-all right now is, you know, AI and, and, and, and how you kind of use it. I think, I think it's a real game changer for marketers.
Um, I mean, obviously I understand, I think there could be, there's obviously gonna be impacts on the job market and all that kind of stuff, but at the same time, it, it's gonna give, create new opportunities, opportunities for you to reinvent yourself, opportunities that you wouldn't have had before. And I know for me, I mean, I have a small team, so the ability that I can, you know, kind of use AI to help us be more efficient, I think is just, it's a, it's a game changer for us.
What I am, I always say, is I'm a big fan of augmentation, not automation when it comes to AI. Mm. So what I mean is I'm not looking at it as, you know, how can I just... Like I, I, even though I understand it, I, I, I still believe that humans need to be in the loop for a lot of things. I still think that, you know, creativity cannot be replaced with machines.
I think that, you know, again, 'cause even when you think about how AI works, it's, it's just trained on everything that exists, right? So it can't really, like, create, like, net new ideas, or is it just- Right ... like, kind of a washed around idea? But from an augmentation standpoint, I think what's really interesting is the ability just to make you 10 times more efficient.
And I know for me personally, the amount of stuff that I do on a daily basis, and that I, the way I can extend that through the use of AI and AI tools is, is amazing. And the crazy part about it is a year from now, the stuff I'm probably using is gonna be-
LT: Yeah ...
Brandon Butler: you know, the Stone Age, right?
LT: Right.
Brandon Butler: But there are some amazing things right now.
I mean, again, just to kind of get prescriptive, the one that I'm really big on right now is, is, uh, Muse by Facebook. Facebook launched a, a, a personal AI assistant called Muse. I use it literally every day, and what's so interesting about it is it's finally doing the thing that I think a lot of AI and a lot of agents don't do well, which is actually it's proactive.
See, when it comes down to it, the, the, the issue with- You know, so it's almost like, so, so it's almost like, um, I, I was having this conversation with somebody the other day. It's like, it's almost like if you get an assistant. The hardest part about getting an assistant is onboarding. The hardest part about...
You know, because when you onboard somebody, you have to literally give them the information. You gotta walk them through it, you gotta give them access to your stuff. And the reality is people don't necessarily wanna give their assistant access to their email and their calendar and all these things. But you also recognize that the more access you give them, the more they can help you.
And I think that's the place that a lot of people are at right now when it comes to all these different tools, right? There's a trade-off in what I always say security and freedom. Um, that's why maximum security prisons are maximum security, 'cause there's no freedom. And that's why entrepreneurship is the most freedom, but no security, right?
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And, but the thing is is that especially a tool like Muse, the way I love it is because if you give it access to different things, I mean, a lot of our business is on Instagram. A lot of our stuff is on, through our email and all this stuff. The way they can just kinda connect everything for me- Mm-hmm
right on my phone and I can see things, it's, it's just a complete game changer. Um, like literally just something as simple as before I got on this call, you know, my, uh, one of my team members called me and said, "Hey, we need you to go pin these posts on Instagram because we wanna do X, Y, and Z, and we're gonna promote the page.
And we want... These are our most popular interviews on Butternomics." Well, Muse, which is created by Facebook, is connected to my Instagram. So I literally say, "Hey, Muse, find these three posts and pin them to the top of my profile." It's done.
DC: Wow. Mm.
Brandon Butler: It's done. Wow. Like, again, and I know that's a small task, but like the alternative would've been me scrolling to find them.
Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, here it is. Like, I don't know when it was like, 'cause there's no easy way to find that stuff. Mm. I literally say, "Find it, pin it," it's done. That's awesome. Wow. You know what I mean? Um, organizing your information. You know, if I wanna run an ad campaign, I can literally give it the creative and say, "Launch an optimized ad campaign."
It'll just do it. And so again, I think just when it comes to the ability... But then also I have it also helping me manage my life. Like, I've given it rules. It has a thing called soul.md, which is like the file behind it, but I've given it rules and say, "This is who I am. This is my life. This is how things are set up.
Also, make sure this is also protecting the personal side of my life." Mm-hmm. "Make sure this is making sure that, you know, if, if my kids have something, it has my kids' schedule." It just, it proactively gives me information to help me stay ahead of things. Um, it's, it's like a- Yeah ... it's what I kinda call, like, waking up like the president some days.
And I think that's something that when you just look at what technology has done in general, it's allowed the everyday person to get access to things that typically were only reserved for the elite or the wealthy, right? You think about, um, Lyft or Uber. Now I can get a black car whenever I want a black car, right?
Like, you think about Instacart, now you can get your groceries delivered. But now with these AI tools, for me, even just being able to say, "I wanna wake up and have my whole day laid out. I wanna know who I need to email back, who I'm waiting on, who owe me money. Did the money hit the bank account yet?" And it's just, boom, it's all right there.
And with that information- Mm ... I'm just that much more efficient, right? And so again, I'm, I'm very Big on how these tools can be used, but also just the way that it can just comb through huge amounts of information.
I literally just told it, "Hey, go back and look at every single call that we've ever had, look at all the notes, look at all the notes that are on my computer. Like, look at everything. Look at every conversation we've ever had, and help me just think about how to respond back to this." It's like, okay, it goes, wait for a minute.
It comes back, like, boom, here's everything. So just, like, the, to have all that at your fingertips for me is- Yeah ... extremely helpful because the ability to connect those dots that sometimes you just might miss, I think is- Oh, yeah ... where the real power in some of this stuff is, that I think the people kind of, like, overlook that part of it.
So I'm always, I'm always interested to see how other people use it, but that's personally h- how I kind of use some of these different tools.
LT: Yeah, that's awesome. D, you have anything to add?
DC: I do not.
LT: Let's hit the next question.
DC: Brandon, what are you most proud of?
Brandon Butler: Uh, I mean, when it comes to, you know, just everything we've done, I think I'm just most proud of, um, Butter becoming something that is important to Atlanta.
DC: Mm.
Brandon Butler: Uh, you know, when Butter started, um, we started at Dagger Mode Agency, and it was literally just kind of a little side project, and it kind of grew to become a thing. When I left, I was able to, you know, negotiate, you know, ownership of it. And, um, since then I've been kinda running it, and I think even that right there is just a whole unique situation, right?
Like, the ability to build something inside of an organization, then find a way to, you know, leave with it, I think is a very unique thing that people should definitely look at, 'cause that was a whole thing in and within itself. But, you know, like, even right now, just, like, at the... When things in Atlanta happen- We are in consideration.
You know, I remember saying years ago, like, I just always wanted to kind of be somebody that made an impact on the city. And so, like, 404 Day is great 'cause it's something people come out for, but again, it leads back to Butter. Like, Butter Dynamics is great, but it leads back to Butter. But, like, even when things happen, you know, we just had the, the, the, the election.
You know, the fact that I got gubernatorial candidates reaching out, Mm-hmm ... saying that they wanna connect and be on the podcast or whatever, you know what I mean? Like, just these, these, the doors that this has been able to open have been amazing, and it also helps open up opportunities to say, like, "What's the next thing?
What can we do?" Like, I literally feel like Butter is kind of my key to Atlanta, and I take that with a lot of responsibility, and I try to open up doors for myself, but also for other people. Um, and again, like, even just some of the questions people reach out to me too, it's like, you know, people are like, "Hey, can I get... can you connect me with this person and that person?" Just I'm, I'm so amazed. I, I've said this in the first part of my career, which was very tech-focused, I always said I'm amazed at the places that being able to type into a keyboard has taken me. Yeah. Now I am very much amazed at the places that what we built with Butter has, has taken me, and has taken people around me, and, you know, has allowed us to do.
And so, um, just in general, like, creating something that matters to Atlanta, that people respect in Atlanta, that people see. Like, I go places now and people are like, "Hey, there's Butter ATL." Like, that's like, it's cool. Wow. You know? Like, when, when I go out with my kids, they have a game they play now where, um, they, they count how many people are gonna know Dad or does Dad know every time we go somewhere.
The, the- Wow ... the record is 14. You know what I mean? But it's like, it's like, well, yeah, but I've also am glad that they've seen me do this, they've been a part of me doing this. Because what I want them to also see is what's possible when you do good work, why relationships matter, and you know, I've always told them, "If, if you all see me doing this, my only goal is to make sure you all exceed what I've built."
And so I hope they also see this and it puts a battery in their back to wanna do great and amazing things.
DC: Yeah. That's, that's great, Brandon. Great.
LT: That's awes- That's so much to be proud of.
Brandon Butler: Yeah.
LT: And, you know, you come, it came out in your intro, and you live it, man. You, you just do.
Brandon Butler: And I'll, like, I always just joke and say, "I'm just happy to be here."
It could be, it could be a whole lot different. Life could be a whole lot different, you know? Mm-hmm. So I'm just happy to be here, and just trying to take full advantage of the opportunities, man.
LT: Yep. Y- And you are D, anything to add?
DC: None from me.
LT: Let's hit the next segment. What's poppin'? What's poppin', D?
DC: What's poppin'?
LT: So Brandon, uh, this is our chance to shout out, shout down, or simply air something happening in and around marketing that we think is good fodder for discussion, and this is like the perfect segue. Atlanta's poppin'. So let me give a little sort of intro to the conversation I think w- will be wonderful for us to have.
Atlanta, also known as the ATL, has an outside influence, outsized influence on the nation and the world. There's even an apparel brand, Brand Nerds, and Brandon alluded to it before, called Atlanta Influences Everything. Shout out Bem Joyner, who, uh, Brandon, uh, is, is, knows and, and is great friends with and, and, uh, does a lot of things in, uh, in the ATL.
DC: Hey Larry- So the A- ... just a, just a quick, quick name thing. Bame. Bame.
LT: Oh, thank you for, thank you for checking me on the, on the pronunciation, D. Thank you.
DC: Yep.
LT: Yep. Sorry, Bame So the ATL really does have a huge influence on the culture well past the 404 area code. Brand Nerds, here are some interesting facts for you to take in before we get into this conversation.
So great- the Greater Atlanta DMA, um, and that's the region, the At- the Greater Atlanta Metro, metropolitan area, has a population of more than 5 million, ranking as the number seven metropolitan area in the country. The city of Atlanta has a population of just over a half a million people, and actually has 245 neighborhoods.
And for context, my hometown, New York City, has a population of 8.3 million, b- uh, and has 263 neighborhoods, and New York is always known for neighborhoods, but think about that as it relates to Atlanta and the neighborhoods. So Atlanta Metro, and we alluded to this before, has 15 Fortune 500 company headquarters, and that includes the well-known companies, again, Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, and UPS.
Atlanta has the second-largest Black population in America, with 230,000, uh, African Americans in the city and more than 1.8 million in the, in the metropolitan area. Nearly a third of Metro Atlanta Black adults hold at least a bachelor's degree, about 31% compared with 22% of Black Americans nationally.
Metro Atlanta has the highest share of Black-owned businesses in the nation, at 11.3% versus 2.4% natural- nationally. Metro Atlanta has f- has a 55, 55% share of Black homeownership, which is the largest among big four Black metros, which in- which is Atlanta, Washington, DC, Dallas, and Houston. And of course, it's the home of the WNBA finals team, the Atlanta Dream.
So Brandon, these are stats. You live this. W- I think that's come out in a big way, and DC does, too. Would love to hear all of us talk about what this all means, and for the Brand Nerds to understand more in detail about Atlanta and the impact that Atlanta has on the culture nationally and globally
Brandon Butler: Yeah, absolutely, man. Like, like, a- as my good friend Bame says, uh, uh, Atlanta influences everything. And, um, you know, he, he does kind of think back to the, what I was saying about the 440 parade, right? I think what's special about Atlanta is there's, there's still an ability to, you know, build and create things that matter and make impact.
And, you know, the line between the average citizen and, you know, the, the political structure, the corporate structure, is very blurry, you know, 'cause we, as we always say in Atlanta, we outside. And so what I mean by that is, like, even the type of events that you go to, right? Like, the people that run these companies, the people that are directors and SVPs of these organizations, this is the same person you'll see at- Yep
Skip day at West Side Motor Lounge on a Friday at 2:00 in the afternoon, right? And the same person that you'll see at Holiday Bar. Same person that you'll see, you know, at some restaurant or some lounge or something like that. Like, so there, there's still people at the end of the day, and they're connectable.
And, like, that's one thing that, you know, even for me over this journey with Butter ATL, right, is a lot of the relationships that, the people that I've built relationships with, they happen not during 9:00 to 5:00, but from 5:00 to 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:00 AM- Right ... sometimes, right? And I think that's what's so special about Atlanta, um, is that you just have people that are doing stuff, but they're at all walks, and you can connect with them in all different kind of areas.
And the other thing I think that's unique about Atlanta is, um, when it comes to connection, is, you know, we're all connected to somebody in some kind of way. Like, when I... What I mean by that is, it's, it's funny. It's like, you know, the, the, the, the, you know, again, like take Andre Dickens, for example, right?
Like, I mean, I knew Dre through The Gathering Spot, which is a members only, Black members only club out here for entrepreneurs. I knew him when he was literally just Dre from the West Side and, you know, he had a furniture store, and that's what he was doing, right? But I knew him from there. Now he's the mayor of the city.
You know what I mean? Um, but there's a lot of people that know Dre. And again, I, I have a pro- I'm, I was supposed to say Mayor Dickens, but I know Dre. You know, Mayor Dickens. Right. But there are a lot of people that know him from high school. There are a lot of people that know him from just the neighborhoods, right?
And I think- Yeah ... that's what's unique is that there are so many people, and even I'm one of those people now, which is crazy to me, is, you know, I'm, I'm on the news every week now on, on WSB, the number one news station here in Atlanta, where I cover the weekend events, but I know so many people from church and the barbershop and growing up in all these different areas, right?
It's like these people, they're just so intertwined, and now all of a sudden they're doing something big. But you're like, but I still knew that person, and I- Right ... know their background, and they, they have that kind of built-in credibility. And so I think that's one of the things that kind of makes Atlanta unique as opposed to some other places, especially with, you know, again, just the overarching connection of everybody with the Blackness and all the amazing things that happen around that too.
DC: Larry, you, you've lived here.
LT: Yeah.
DC: Yeah, you w- you were here for a number of years, and you're also a native New Yorker. What, what's your take on this city?
LT: And also I've lived half my life now in the, in the, in the Bay Area too, so I think-
DC: In the, in the Yay Area.
LT: Yeah. And so I think I do... I, I mean, I love Atlanta.
And you know what it just occurred to me, guys? It also is, with all the facts that I read, it's one of the few places that is also, it's the state capital. Like- Mm ... most big cities, big influential cities are not state capitals. So California, Sacramento; New York, Albany, right? Yeah. Chicago... Or, or what's Champaign in Illinois.
But with, with the state capital being in Atlanta, that's al- also another small thing- Mm-hmm ... but yet a big thing that I think i- is part of the whole flavor of what Atlanta has. Um, and, and that's what Brandon was talking about. All these influential people, I didn't use the word influencers, influential people, some of them are influencers, right, are sort of in the cauldron, in the mix.
And it's it... And, and you get a flavor of Atlanta because the culture of Atlanta is, I think we've talked about it a lot, is very, uh, much emanating from the Black community. And- Mm ... it's a community that i- is on the forefront of all these things. But yet we also know not everything's also, while it's thriving on one hand, there's issues on the other hand.
So i- it's, it's really a special place that's not replicated elsewhere. And with all the music and the sports and the culture that emanate from it, there's nothing else like it
DC: Yeah, I, I agree with that. Um I'm gonna go meta and then micro in my love for Atlanta, and I'm going to quote, um, a son of Atlanta, and that's MLK.
We're gonna connect this to 404 Day and unfortunately the passing of, uh, MLK on April 4th. And a quote of, uh, MLK is, um, from the I Have a Dream speech, which was, uh, August 28th of 1963. And, um, a segment from that speech is, uh, "I have a dream that my four little children," he's talking about his own, his own children, "will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I love being a Black man, but I'm first a man. And there are two places in the world where I walk around and I feel like a man first One is Africa and the second is Atlanta
I don't feel like first a Black man, I feel like a man. Mm. I can go anywhere in Africa and anywhere in Atlanta, and I am treated like a man. That's a meta point, micro point. I won't get into the specifics of where I go, but I was at a, uh, at a location, uh, recently, and, uh, I was going there to, uh, to have a, uh, a sip of scotch and a Montecristo cigar.
I tried to have the cigar when I was with Brandon- ... but I was not, I was not able to take a puff. That's okay, I found another place to, to have a puff. Uh, Brandon knows what I'm talking about, that's why he's, that's why he's chuckling. And I pull up at the, at the valet, and there was a gentleman who I had not met before that met me at the, uh, valet.
So I get out of my car, we have a quick conversation, and I hear a gentleman from afar come over and said, "Hey, hey, hey, hey." He's talking to the valet I'm in front of. And he says, "This gentleman's car right here goes right to the front." I look over, I say his name, I'll keep it private. We dap each other up, hug each other, and I say, "Man, how you been?"
He says, "I've been great." He says, "How have you been? You look great." He says, "You... I'm here now," 'cause I, I'm used to seeing him at another place where I go. He says, "I got you. I got you." That's Atlanta.
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: That's not happening in LA. That's not happening in New York. That's happening in Atlanta and in Africa, and I love that about Atlanta, just love it.
Th- th- this is what Martin Luther King was talking about. The person who came to greet me, I have treated him well for years. He has treated me well for years. That's why when he sees me roll up, wherever he sees me roll up- Right ... he's gonna make sure I'm taken care of. This is what I love about Atlanta, y'all.
It's just different here. It's, it's different here. When Brandon says, "Yo, that's Dre from the West Side. He used to have the furniture store." And here's the thing. I've never met Dre, Mayor Dickens. I've never met him, but here's what I do know about him. Mayor Dickens is never gonna forget he from the West Side.
LT: Mm-hmm.
DC: Never gonna forget that. I love that about Atlanta. Love it.
Brandon Butler: Yeah, man. I think, uh, it's always interesting too, you know, I, I tell people, um, when you fly into Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the world, um, look around.
LT: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: Because... And then when wherever you go, wherever you're going, look around.
LT: Yep.
Brandon Butler: Mm. From the moment you step off the plane at Hartsfield-
DC: Mm ...
Brandon Butler: You see all types of people, but specifically you see Black people at scale at all walks of life.
LT: Yep.
Brandon Butler: Everywhere. From, from the, from the pilots to the-
LT: Yep
Brandon Butler: ... janitor to, I mean, a friend of mine is the director of marketing at Hartsfield. Uh, the, the president CEO is a Black man, to the people that are traveling through the airport.
And to me, that's just, and that's just like a, a, a, a, a, a snippet of what you'll see when you get into the city.
DC: That's right.
Brandon Butler: And, you know, again, as I've traveled quite a bit, as, as I know you gentlemen as well, I know when I go to other cities, I don't see that.
DC: No.
Brandon Butler: And a lot of times I'm like, "Where the Black folks at?"
DC: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: Like, "Where's the, where's the Black side of town at?"
DC: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: Like, I don't, you know, like, it, I'm, I'm not used to that. I'm just being honest. Yeah. Like, I'm not used to that. I know for me, uh, you know, it was interesting because I actually started off at, um, Morehouse, and like, again, I love Morehouse. I got a lot of amazing friends there.
But for me personally, that's not what I felt like I needed in college. I actually went to Georgia Southern 'cause I was visiting my best friend down there, and the thing I loved about it was it was a college town, but at the same time, for me, that was really the first time that I had been around people that weren't Black all the time.
LT: Right.
Brandon Butler: And it's so interesting when I have, when I talk to friends that did come to Atlanta for Morehouse and for the AUC, it's the exact opposite for them. Right. They're like, "Well, I've never been around..." So again, I'm not saying that it was a, it, I'm just, I think people need different things at different points in their life.
DC: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And I know for me, it just gave me a different type of experience that I definitely think was helpful. Um, but I always see people that are from other places that come here, they're like, "Man, I've never seen anything like this." And they love it, and they never wanna leave. And I mean, even for me, for a long time, you know, I, people would say, like, "Where would you...
If you ever moved from Atlanta, where would you go?" And, you know, honestly, I, it would probably be to an island somewhere. I can't think of- Yeah ... anywhere else that I would really wanna be at-
LT: Right ...
Brandon Butler: outside of Atlanta.
LT: Mm-hmm. Well, and I think that's the strength of the, you know, the fact that, again, I read the stats, it's basically 50% African American and, and, you know, pretty much, and that carries out at the little, the percentage a little less throughout the, the region.
But, you know, I think that's its strength, and I think that, you know... I read some other stats that the migration that, that Black folks in the country wanna come to Atlanta. That's a place, for the reasons that DC alluded to. Uh, D, I don't know if you remember, Sherry once asked... We were visiting, um, Atlanta.
This is years ago, Brandon. And, and my wife Sherry asked DC, "What, what do you like about Atlanta?" And his answer what he, what, is what he said before, you know? And, and that, that's something that is obviously not replicatable elsewhere. That's why you said you live on an island, Brandon, like... And, and, you know, the way places make you feel.
And I'll say this as a white person, though, there's, if you feel uncomfortable as a white person in Atlanta, that's on you. That's not, that's not the, you know, there's something up with you. 'Cause again, I lived in, uh, in, in the city and loved living there and, you know, I, I... Maybe that's just me, but I am, I embrace and love that part of what Atlanta is.
DC: Yeah. I just should've... Uh, no go ahead, Brandon.
Brandon Butler: I'll say, yeah. I mean, and look, like I, like I say, Atlanta got a mayor named Dre and now we got a governor named Keisha. Like you know?
LT: That's right. But again, in the same town. Again, there's no- Yeah ... right? Like Sacramento, Sacramento. Like, you know, the, the, it is pretty special.
Austin's probably the only other place that's similar-
DC: Oh, yeah.
LT: Yeah ... you know, as it, as it relates to a, a, a state capital that has a lot of business there, you know? Um, but that's also different. That's true. Still not the biggest city in the state, right?
DC: Yeah. It is not. And now Texas has Latina governor.
LT: That's right.
DC: Yeah. All right, that, that's great discussion
LT: Great discussion. Oh man, Brandon, w- this happens when, with our shows, they just go so fast. They feel like, uh, well, uh, you know, I know we've been talking for a while. They, they go really quickly. So we're gonna get to the learnings now. Uh, D, I have nine great ones, and they'll be quick, rapid fire.
All right. Number one, Brand Nerds, Brandon rightly says, "Nature abhors a vacuum." What is your 404 day that you can seize? Mm-hmm. That's number one. Number two, um, how can you build your brand, Brand Nerds, to connect with consumers like Nintendo did with Brandon? That's that highest emotional level. Yeah.
That's the bar is high there. Number three, you can be your authentic self like Conroy and thrive. People smell when you're authentic and when you are not. That's number three. Number four, when you can, go try and mentor others like Conroy did with Brandon. Number five, as Brandon says, in corporate environments, make sure you read the room, but you have to speak up and advocate for your business and your career as you're reading that room.
Number six, building relationships like Brandon did at Edelman and then Accenture will always serve you, no matter where you're going. Number seven, like Brandon, what is your not me moment, and what did you learn from it, and how is it helping you today? Mm-hmm. Number eight, AI for marketers, think augmentation, not automation.
And number nine, what is your Butter ATL for you to make an imprint on your, on your community like Brandon is doing with Atlanta? Those are my nine.
DC: Great, Larry. Those are great. Brandon, my brother, at the top of this podcast, I used the language of wanting to work with someone that you notice from afar and conjuring in one's mind what it might be like, and it has been a joy to work side by side with you.
So this is the part of the podcast where I make a valiant attempt to share with you, in my view, what it is that you are bringing to this planet that no one is, is bringing the way that you are doing it. Like, if we don't get it from you, we're not gonna get it. And listening to you over the course of our time together, I've come up with a couple of things that I'm gonna share with you now.
When we were in the five questions section and I asked the first one about the brand experience or brand that you fell in love with, you talked about Nintendo. It's kinda funny, you remembered how much you spent for it. Hundred and-
LT: I loved that ...
DC: $103.20.
LT: Yeah.
DC: You, you, you remember how much you spent. It was how you became good at it that I really focused on.
And you mentioned this before, but somehow it, it went by me that you, you're an only child. So here you are, where other folks are spending time with their siblings, you spending time with your Nintendo games and this Power Glove that wasn't quite working the same way in the movie. And you g- and you got really good at it.
So here you are with this Nintendo game, the actual game itself, and then the, the, the console, and then you got these games, and as an only child, you become really good at it I also like this notion of, this insight of difference between games then in the 1900s and the games today of playing to win versus playing to play.
Then when Larry asked you the question about who's had the most influence on your career, you talked about Conroy, and you look into this dude in his office and you notice his locks. So you walk in and talk to this brother, and then you hear him with his Jamaican accent. Once again, you, you put together this is the only brother like this in the entire company who is like him, looks like him, talks like him, and is at that level.
Y'all become fast friends. You enter as a project manager, you exit as an SVP, in part because of your own talents and efforts, but also because you have forged a relationship with him and you've learned how to network. So here on the first question of branding experience, Nintendo, there you become good 'cause you spend time with it as an only child.
And then on the second question of Larry of influence in your career, Conroy, 'cause he's the only brother that looks like him on the entire floor, maybe in the company. Then when we get to the, uh, first question of the get comfy and we talk about 404 Day, here is something that is in front of us for days.
Like, the area code for 404 in Atlanta, I don't know when it was started, Brandon, but it wasn't in 2020, okay? It was, it was, it was a long time before 2020. And now here you are with BAME and AIE and Ian and these other folks and the other organizations you mentioned. You all pop off 404 Day. COVID comes, this little thing called COVID.
You hook up with JD, y'all do y'all thing, and here you got 40,000 people streaming as, uh, as JD is doing his thing, and then boom, here we go. Now you got a parade one, one day later coming down Peachtree Street
Once again, only you and some folks did this. So we have three onlys, like bang, bang, bang, three onlys. There's a difference, Brandon, between a map and a territory. So I went to dinner last night, I was telling Larry, I actually had a little bit too much going on. I had a steak, uh, and I, and I, and I poured some béarnaise sauce over it.
It was a little rich for my stomach, brother. I, I woke up this morning, I was like, "Oh, I had a little too much going on last night." However, when I, when I was driving, it wasn't too far, uh, from the, uh, from the crib, I use my, uh, my Google Maps. And as I was driving, you know, I got this little thing in my, um, in my windshield.
It shows, like, it like, where I turn, and how much time it's gonna take to get there. And as I'm driving, Brandon and Larry, I'm driving on some nice roads, and there are like stripes, and all of these different things that show me how to get there. So I got GPS, I got maps, I got, I got concrete, somebody done painted.
All of these things are done for me to get to my dinner and back home. It's very convenient. But before somebody did that damn map, many, many years ago, Brandon, there was someone who was doing the territory. There wasn't no goddamn maps. Hmm. There was no concrete. There was nothing but dirt. No buildings, no ele- electricity, no nothing.
The people that did the territory, these are called pioneers. That's what you are, Brandon. You're a pioneer. You know? You were the one that said, "I need to figure out how to really get down with this Nintendo by myself in the 1900s." 1900s. Yeah. You were the one that were attracted to go into Conroy's office and say, "What's this dude in here with these locks?
First of all, what's, what's going on? Is he about to, like, spliff? What's go- where... I ain't never seen this." You were the one that did that. You were the one that said, "Hold on, wait a minute. There ain't no 404 day. What's the... Who are these people from outside?" Bang. "You ever heard of these people?" "No." Okay, we need to...
This is pioneer kind of stuff. Which leads me to this. What I think you are, Brandon, what I think you bring to this planet that nobody else brings, is I think you are a maker of cultural and commerce territories that moves business and brands.
Brandon Butler: I, I like that. I'm receiving that. I'm receiving that
DC: It's, it's yours, brother. It's yours.
LT: Yeah.
Brandon Butler: I'll now receive it. A tide
LT: praise from DC. The, you should receive that really well.
Brandon Butler: No, I, I appreciate it. I mean, yeah, just, you know, one thing that I, you know, I've been told this many times is a lot of times I'm ahead of my time.
DC: Right. Uh-huh.
Brandon Butler: You know what I mean? Like, I'll, you know, and that's, that's been something I've had to try to fine-tune over the years.
DC: Yep. '
Brandon Butler: Cause I hate to be that guy that's like, "I had that idea," but there's a lot of situations in which it's like, no, I actually really did have that idea and I really did think about it.
And like, so even now, one of the things that I try to do a lot is, um, envision kind of what Butter should be looking like or what we should be doing a year and a half from now. Yeah. Like, and trying to find ways to kinda create that future. Like, there's even something- Yeah ... that we're kinda working on right now.
I had a meeting with my team this morning, and it was like, this is one of those things where we're gonna, if we get this right, this will be the thing that everybody's just gonna figure out a year and a half from now.
LT: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: Yes. Yes. And, and I think that's one of my abilities, is to kinda like take in a lot of information-
LT: Mm-hmm
Brandon Butler: and kind of synthesize.
LT: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: I don't know if that's the only child in me or you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. But just, you know, I kinda feel like I can kinda see the future a little bit.
LT: Mm-hmm.
Brandon Butler: And, but then I think the, the, the most important part to your point is, is to like actually create it. One of my favorite sayings is that I think the, the ability of the human mind to come with thoughts and manifest those into reality is, is, is one of the most beautiful parts of existence.
There's nothing that exists that didn't start with a, a thought first.
LT: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Brandon Butler: You
LT: know?
Brandon Butler: Nothing, there's not a single thing that exists, as simple as it might sound. And so I, I feel like that's our responsibility, is to put those things to the world. And so yeah, man, I, I appreciate it, man.
Definitely at the intersection of commerce and culture, you know? I, I think, again, the most successful brands and the most successful people are the ones that find ways to authentically leverage culture in some capacity. And if Atlanta is the cultural epicenter and influences everything, that's what we've kinda built, you know, Butter around, is, you know, uh, leveraging Atlanta culture to help brands and people and opportunities kind of, you know, uh, authentically show up out here.
So- Mm-hmm ... much appreciated, man.
LT: Yeah. That's also, and the pioneering spirit that DC alluded to, you just solidified in what you said, that that's something that is really, uh, a part of you and, and something that you're always thinking and thinking ahead of. And, you know, you will manifest it as it, as it happens.
There, there's no question. All right. Brandon, anything else to share from this wonderful conversation before we sign off?
Brandon Butler: Hey man, look, just, you know, for any, uh, uh, uh, uh, brands that, that wanna do amazing work, definitely hire DC and Larry. And, and maybe me too, you know what I mean? Yes. You got some, you got some, some amazing minds on here.
Um, you know, but nah, man. No, this has been a great conversation. Appreciate y'all having me on. Again, it's, it's been an honor to be a part of this. Been an honor to work with you all and, and definitely looking forward to doing more amazing things together
LT: Here, here. Thank you Hey, Larry Yes
DC: Uh, can I do two things here before we- Please
move, move out? So, uh, one is I wanna shout... Uh, actually I'm gonna do three things. I wanna shout out, uh, Butternomics. That is, uh, Brandon's, uh- Yep ... podcast. So, uh, please do listen to, uh, Butternomics. He's got a lot of really great content.
LT: He does.
DC: So check it out and, uh, and subscribe. Uh, number two, I wanna shout out the, uh, the Gathering Spot and, uh, and Ryan, this is where Brandon mentioned he met, uh, Dre over there.
Well, Dre used to matriculate over there, still does. Uh, uh- Yeah ... Mayor Dickens. I don't know Dre like that, so I'll- ... respectfully Mayor Dickens. And then also, uh, congratulations to, uh, Governor-elect-
LT: Yes ...
DC: Keisha Lance Bottoms, uh, who just... We're not supposed to date these podcasts. Producers don't like that, but Larry, what, what happens?
LT: You do it anyway, so it's okay.
DC: I do it anyway. Here we are on the, uh, on the, uh, day after election day in 2026 on, um, on November 4th of 2026, and she is the, uh, governor-elect of Georgia, the first, uh, African-American female governor in the country. Mm. So, uh, not just of Georgia, but of the country, so we wanna shout her, shout her out.
And, uh, and also, um, the, the partnership and commitment that she, uh, uh, had and the support she received from the Gathering Spot. And also Senator, uh, John, uh, Ossoff, who also, uh, got support and partnership from the Gathering Spot, uh, as well. So I just wanna do all of those things in support of, uh, uh, the city of Atlanta and how connected things are.
And Brandon and, uh, Butter ATL, they were all, uh, there as well. So just respect to everybody, and congratulations.
LT: Perfect. Perfect dot on that, D. That's awesome. Um, and we're gonna go to the close now, so thanks, brand nerds, for listening to Brands, Beats, and Bytes. Executive producers of Brands, Beats, and Bytes are Jeff Shirley, Darryl "DC" Cobbin, Larry Taman Jade Tate, and Tom Dioro.
DC: The Podfather.
LT: That is he, and if you do like this podcast, please subscribe and share. And for those on Apple Podcasts, if you're so inclined, we love those excellent reviews, and we hope you enjoyed this podcast, and we look forward to next time where we will have more insightful and enlightening talk about marketing.