Larry Gulko

Brand Architect & Strategist, Strategic Growth Advisor, CEO Whisperer, Media Personality, Founder & Moderator of the annual CEO Brand Leadership Roundtable at the Harvard Business School

Larry Gulko

Brand Architect & Strategist, Strategic Growth Advisor, CEO Whisperer, Media Personality, Founder & Moderator of the annual CEO Brand Leadership Roundtable at the Harvard Business School

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Biography

Larry is a brand architect and strategist, executive coach, keynote speaker, and growth advisor with a track record for positioning an eclectic range of brands to compete more effectively in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. He collaborates with clients looking to take their brand to the next level in terms of driving brand performance, customer affection/loyalty, and business growth to a level of success they envision.

He founded and moderates the annual CEO Brand Leadership Roundtable and CEO Fireside Chats at the Harvard Business School. These popular programs have showcased over 50 CEOs of iconic and leading brands including Delta Air Lines, Dunkin’ Brands, Ritz-Carlton, NBC Sports, Greg Norman, Harley-Davidson, PGA of America, Converse, Newman’s Own, TaylorMade Golf, Birkenstock, Wheels Up, TB12, Keurig, Donna Karan, Bose, Polar Beverages, Foxwoods, Talbots.

Larry created BRAND: NEW DAY, a one-of-a-kind brand-building and thought leadership Retreat designed exclusively for an individual company’s management team determined to take a fresh look at their brand and drive success to the next level. This deep-dive, collaborative program was originally created in tandem with the Disney Institute. Under the BRAND: NEW DAY umbrella is the thought leadership Roundtable that emulates an open enrollment, interactive idea exchange with like-minded peers, business leaders. Each program is delivered virtually and in-person.

He is the co-host of Name Brands, CBS Boston. This insightful and entertaining brand leadership podcast show features in-studio conversations with iconic brands and CEOs who share their vision and leadership perspective to create and build best-selling brands, dominate product categories, enhance consumer affection, and drive brand performance.

In partnership with the Harvard Business School Association of Boston, Larry created and produces the CEO Lounge. This online communications platform features up-close-and-personal interviews with dynamic business leaders spanning numerous industries and market sectors.

For 20 years, his advertising and brand consultancy agency Gulko & Company launched and positioned brands for the Fortune 1000, middle-market companies, entrepreneurial ventures, and non-profit organizations.

A sought-after thought leader, Larry has delivered numerous keynotes, general session speeches, commencement addresses, is a MassChallenge business mentor, produces a series of CEO Fireside Chats at Babson College and has lectured at the Babson Graduate School of Business and Executive Education Program.

Larry is an advisor to the C-level community and has served on boards and councils including Babson Advisory Council, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership, The American Marketing Association, Gifting Brands, The George Washington University, Jordan Alliance Group.

Speaker Videos

Specialize, Don't Generalize

Highlights Video

Promo Video

Larry Gulko and Ed Bastion, CEO Delta Air Lines at Harvard Club of Boston

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Speech Topics

Write The Book You Want To Read

7 Amazingly Powerful Brand-Building Strategies to Drive Brand Performance and Business Growth to the Next Level.

Larry has a track record positioning an eclectic range of brands to compete more effectively in today’s rapidly evolving global business landscape. A recognized branding expert and sought-after thought leader, Larry doesn’t take himself very seriously, but he takes what he does very seriously. In his entertaining, storytelling, and engaging keynote style he inspires audiences to take a ‘deep dive’ - a fresh look - to focus their brand, shares bold and disruptive innovative ideas to build best-selling brands, create an authentic brand voice, unlock new markets, break through the marketing noise, define what your brand is ‘really selling’ to emotionally connect, dominate product categories, choreograph a remarkable customer experience to ensure consumers love and respect your brand...and strategically position brands to drive brand performance and business growth to the next level.

Takeaways from Larry’s Keynote include:

• Vision: create an authentic Brand Voice that resonates and emotionally connects
• Focus you brand to own something special in the consumer’s mind.
• Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
• Don’t try to be the best. Just be the ONLY.
• Name brand vs brand name
• Define what you’re ‘really’ selling.
• Dominate your product category.
• Create brand ambassadors and a culture that embodies bold and disruptive innovation.
• The importance of being a specialist vs a generalist.
• Build your brand’s reputational capital & equity.
• Don’t be afraid of being hit by a pitch.
• Break through the ‘marketing noise’.
• Strengthen your brand leadership position.
• Choreograph a remarkable customer experience to enhance brand loyalty and drive legions of raving fans.
• The importance of creating strategic partnerships vs organic growth.
• Brand citizenship. Purpose-driven brands win hearts and minds.

CEO Brand Leadership Roundtable

This is an individual program or is presented as a 90-minute add-on program (no additional fee) following Larry’s Keynote.

Larry will moderate a panel of your industry’s high-profile CEO’s and thought leaders in an engaging conversation venue similar in style to his Harvard Business School Roundtable. This popular program is designed to educate, inspire, and entertain your audience while featuring dynamic business visionaries sharing their ‘secret sauce’ to building leading brands and creating great business stories. Your audience will leave energized to share with their colleague’s new breakaway ideas to build their brand and amaze and delight customers in today’s rapidly evolving competitive landscape. Larry and his panel will also participate in a Q&A session with attendees.

Build Your Personal Brand To Make It More Authentic, Relevant, Appealing & Powerful

The single most important differentiator you have of ‘you’ is your personal brand, your brand voice, your reputational capital.

In today’s world, more than ever before, everyone is your competition. Personally and professionally. It’s of paramount importance for you to recognized as a best-selling brand and create an aspirational brand that people love and respect.

There’s a big difference between a name brand versus simply having a brand name. You can’t afford to be stuck on the muck, lost in the ‘sea of sameness‘ with no unique value proposition. Just like the 50,000 products in the supermarket…we’re brands that people browse, shop, love to buy.

To enrich your life and capitalize on opportunities to drive success to the next level, focus your personal brand to embrace authenticity and engage in a deep-dive exploration designed to capture mindshare…ensuring those around you know definitively what your brand stands for.

Keynote Takeaways

Creating a personal brand that showcases your focus, passion, commitment, and unique value proposition
Creating a brand voice that’s authentic, resonates and sparks an emotional connection
Delivering the unexpected
Don’t just be the best. Be the ‘only’
Engaging in meaningful conversations to drive loyalty
Identifying what people should think and feel about your brand
Why should people buy you? What’s so special?
Likeability factor
Building your reputational capital
Unlocking your potential to propel the success you envision
Brand umbrella showcasing your portfolio
Leadership style to engage those around you to believe in your vision and become your brand ambassadors
The importance of being recognized as a purpose-driven brand

Brand New Day Club Retreat

Are you looking to reenergize your business? Enhance customer loyalty? Elevate your brand image? And take your brand to the next level? BRAND: NEW DAY is the first and only one-day, brand-building thought leadership retreat designed for a company’s leadership team like yours. And it can be held at your location, on your schedule.

This immersive, collaborative idea exchange is based on a proven concept created by Brand Strategist and Strategic Growth Advisor Larry Gulko in tandem with the Disney Institute.

In today’s rapidly evolving competitive landscape, it’s critical to continually transform your brand to make it more appealing, authentic, personal, and powerful. During the retreat, Larry will work with you to harness the knowledge and experience of your leadership team to unleash the power of your brand and drive success to the next level.

You’ll take part in dynamic, strategic discussions, where passion runs high, and breakaway ideas flow faster than you can imagine. Everyone on your team will be engaged and stimulated by the spirited, interactive discussions that take place – openly sharing their insights in a relaxed, guided forum.

Testimonials

"BRAND: NEW DAY has been designed as a unique opportunity for any organization who wants to take a fresh look at their brand and bring it to the next level of success. During the one day retreat, attendees will be engaged and stimulated by the interactive nature and open discussions that take place. It is intended that they leave the journey refreshed, energized, and inspired to act. For those participating in this experience, it shows the possibilities of indeed a Brand: New Day."

- Len Schlesinger - Baker Foundation Professor Harvard Business School. Former President of Babson College and Vice Chairman of Limited Brands.

“The way you think about brands is amazing! How you focused and positioned our new brand of products, created a messaging platform and communications strategies that emotionally moved our customers achieved phenomenal impact. Overall, you created, or shall we say invented a new brand strategy that resulted in a successful product launch that moved the needle to drive demand beyond what we ever envisioned . You’re not just a trusted resource for our product marketing groups, but a real marketing partner.”

- AGFA

“Larry Gulko is an outstanding, creative brand strategist whose vision and expertise consists of helping companies drive new sales success by leveraging their brands in multiple ways within their own particular market segments. Talk about delivering new ways to break through the marketing noise and win the marketing battle – he’s the real deal.”

- IHRSA

“We were in awe of your engaging style in presenting and interacting with our audience. You’re spot on in that ‘focus’ is the key to building brand equity, enhancing customer loyalty, and propelling business growth. Your sharing of ideas and the passion you have for driving success is admirable. Your vast experience and the talent you have in creating break-through marketing successes is inspiring. We look forward to engaging you again in our executive education programs.”

- Babson College

“Your dynamic presentation receives rave reviews, year after year! Our attendees came away with your savvy ideas focusing on creating bold and disruptive strategies to build their brands and drive growth. Your engaging style and enthusiasm is contagious…is much appreciated and we look forward to having you speak again at our PGA events. We highly recommend you to collaborate with and inspire any organization’s senior team who truly wants to raise the bar.”

- PGA of America

“We enjoyed having you speak at our event. It was an exciting, enlightening, and educational experience for our members as they learned a new thought process and takeaway ideas to more effectively position and market their organizations. Thank you for contributing to our success.”

- U.S. Chamber of Commerce

“Larry brings together the whole package in terms of strategic marketing, big ideas, vision and passion. He shared with us his thoughts and a laser beam creative approach to uniquely position brands and drive success to a new level. He always exceeds our expectations by inspiring and entertaining our audiences and delivering a wonderful, memorable experience with great and practical takeaways.”

- The Center for Association Leadership

“The cornerstone of any conference is the quality of the speakers. Your Brand Marketing presentation is still being talked about – members feel it was one of the top speeches they heard. In fact, comments we received include “Larry was the perfect topic and speaker to lead off our Annual Conference – “excellent and truly remarkable. An experience we’ve never experienced.”

- NGCOA

“Your speech and program enlightened our group. We were thrilled to have a speaker who has both the marketing know-how and an exciting way to communicate to our members. Your executive marketing roundtable session in the afternoon was amazing as it enabled our management teams to learn first-hand new ideas to compete and grow their associations.”

- National School Boards Association

“Thank you for an awe inspiring presentation which really moved the way we traditionally think about marketing brands . Your keynote was very well received by everyone and contributed to the overall success of our Annual Meeting. Your branding strategy retreat with several bank presidents was quite an eye opening experience. We give you a strong recommendation for not only your inspiring presentations and professionalism, but you were a delight to work with.”

- Minnesota Bankers Association

“Larry is an absolute inspiration. He moved our minds in directions we’ve never experienced before. His passion, insight and abundance of new ideas to building brands is incredible. With his participation, he added a new level of enthusiasm and interaction to our event.”

- Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals

“It was a fascinating Global Business Leadership Forum featuring branding expert Larry Gulko. His DNA is all about the brand. As a visionary and leader, Larry’s passion inspired our business community to not only focus on building best-selling brands but also creating great business stories with a purpose. Quite the memorable evening. BRAND ON!”

- University of California, San Diego