"We all have things that make us unique, and while they may create polarizing differences between peoples, these differences should be met with understanding, serenity, and compassion—and not divisiveness."
Kyle Börner, Owner, Chief Creative Marketer, and Strategist, has over 17 years of marketing experience in the marketing agency, test and measurement, digital advertising, marketing services, and inside sales industries. Well-traveled in the United States with an established business network, Kyle has shared his marketing insight and demonstrated his marketing abilities to client ownership and leadership at Fortune 500 and Inc. 5000 companies, developing a reputation as someone who is creative, analytical, and versatile.
Kyle has helped several companies in the past, most recognizably Veloxy, Crossfuze, Regus, Adobe, Cherwell Software, and Attachmate/Novell [now Micro Focus], with content marketing, market research, lead qualification, and demand generation. Kyle also brings years of experience in email marketing, copywriting, marketing strategy, CRM, internet marketing, event marketing, brand strategy, project management, graphic design, marketing automation, and business intelligence reporting. Kyle has a degree in Marketing fromCanisius College.
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Table of Contents
Thank you so much for giving us your time! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and take us through what exactly your company does and what your vision is for its future?
Kyle Börner: I’m Kyle Börner, Owner and Chief Creative Strategist at White Buffalo Creative. We help companies of all sizes truly differentiate their brand, marketing, and everything else, so as to stand out from the herd of sameness in their industry, and the growing marketing problem that is over-communication. Our vision for the future is one where more marketing firms actually lead with a differentiation strategy when serving clients, thereby demonstrating a true 100% commitment to their clients’ long-term success.
NO child ever says I want to be a CEO/entrepreneur when I grow up. What did you want to be and how did you get where you are today?
Kyle Börner: The earliest that I can remember wanting to “be something” at a young age was in fact entrepreneurial in spirit. First, I created a car brand advertisement with a friend of mine at age 9. We drew the advertisement in pencil, and it was a car in the middle of a jungle alongside a chimpanzee. The car company was called Azan. We followed up the drawing by writing what we referred to as a “company statement” on my family’s Apple IIe. Later on, I would also contemplate starting a clothing store, among other things, in high school.
Tell us something about yourself that others in your organization might be surprised to know.
Kyle Börner: I’m a shark fanatic. I’ve been reading about sharks since I was a kid, and I have a tattoo of two sharks on my left leg. Did you know they have more senses than humans?!
Many readers may wonder how to become an entrepreneur but what is an entrepreneur? How would you define it?
Kyle Börner: To me, an entrepreneur is a person who is one—unyielding in their passion for some “thing”, and two—aware that there is no true offering in the marketplace for this one “thing”. This “thing” can be anything from a belief or philosophy, to a discipline or product. The mere absence of this offering then drives the entrepreneur morning-day-night to create an offering and deliver it to the marketplace.
What is the importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture?
Kyle Börner: It’s always best to “meet people where they are”. It was a great statement made by Pope Francis, and it’s undeniable in truth and wisdom. We all have things that make us unique, and while they may create polarizing differences between peoples, these differences should be met with understanding, serenity, and compassion—and not divisiveness.
How can a leader be disruptive in the post covid world?
Kyle Börner: I’m glad you’re asking a person who specializes in differentiation :). I’d recommend a three-fold approach. One—you have to know your audience inside and out. Their struggles, successes, and especially the communication they consume on the daily. Second—you have to find where the gaps are in the communication they consume daily. Where can you fill the void, and what voids match up with your specialty. This is important, because you do not want to act as a generalist in an overcommunicated world. Third—simplicity. Using technical words may have helped icons seem intelligent and enlightening in the past, but again, in our overcommunicated world you want to lead with simplicity. Short sentences. 8th-grade vocabulary. Questions. Relatable lead-ins such as, “as you already know.”
If a 5-year-old asked you to describe your job, what would you tell them?
Kyle Börner: I’d go to the cereal aisle in the grocery store with the 5-year-old. I’d ask the child, which of these cereals is your absolute favorite? After he/she chose the cereal, I would tell them, “What if I told you that the name of the cereal, the ingredients of the cereal, the colors and cartoon character on the cereal box, and even what shelf the cereal box is located, is made to get YOU to choose this box over all the rest?” That’s what I do. I help cereal companies sell more cereal.
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Kyle Börner: During Covid, my business partner broke our company’s fiduciary agreement, and in so doing, hurt the financial well-being of the company during that quarter. Knowing the business partner was already unpopular with clients and prospective clients, I chose to have my business partner removed from the company. The positive impacts were high customer satisfaction reviews from existing customers and customers who chose to sign with us only after knowing the one business partner was removed.
Leaders are usually asked about their most useful qualities but let’s change things up a bit. What is your most useless talent?
Kyle Börner: It’s hard to identify a “talent” that’s useless :). How about height? I’m 6’5″, and sometimes height can play a pivotal in-person role when leading conversations or meetings.
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, we do have one more question. If you wrote a book about your life until today, what would the title be?
Kyle Börner: ‘Hot Fires and One Strong Sword’
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Kyle Börner for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Kyle Börner or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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