ZACK DARLING
Marketing Strategist
Brand Accelerator
Creative Designer | Fabricator
Festival & Event Producer
International DJ
Years of experience
Primary OFFERING
Other specialties
Other specialties
Other specialties
Other specialties
Other specialties
“Define your authentic purpose… Place it in the sky as your North Star… Now confidently hold your hand on the rudder of your ship, never losing sight of that star.” – Zack
BIO
Zack is an award-winning brand builder with decades of experience in strategy and development for high-growth industries such as cannabis, wellness, luxury goods, lifestyle products, hospitality, apparel, photography, solar power, beer & wine, beverage, food products, hydroponics, festivals, restaurants, venues, artists & musicians, architects, authors and nonprofits.
Zack has served in executive leadership positions for fifteen years, working directly with founders, board members and investors. He is an awarded designer and board member of trade, industry and nonprofit organizations.
INSTRUCTOR
Editor In Chief
SRJC GRAPHIC DESIGN ADVISORY BOARD
Education
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN / BEST OF THE NORTH BAY 2014 // 2019 - ZDCA DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
US CONGRESSIONAL RECOGNITION / GREEN BUSINESS AWARD 2016 - ZDCA DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL / 40 Under 40 2012
NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN / NORBAY AWARDS / BEST DJ 2005 & 2009 - DJ ZACK DARLING
Tech Experience
✓ Adobe Suite
✓ Google Suite
✓ Marketing Platforms
✓ CRM
✓ Project Management Systems
✓ Fabrication prototyping
✓ Design and Production
Skills
✓ Marketing Strategy
✓ Sales Strategy
✓ Leadership
✓ Business Development
✓ Graphic Design
✓ Creative Direction
✓ Project Management
BE • DO • SAY
Number one: Be. Be something meaningfully different. As Austin McGhie of Sterling Brands said in the same Roundtable, “You need to be willing to be truly different.” There’s that challenge, to not only pretend to have a purpose, but actually inhabit a meaningful reason for being. A brand must be, really and truly, what it claims.
Number two: Do. Start with brand actions, then whip out the fancy words. Brand bluster has been turning consumers off for years. Rather than create your brand promise and positioning and then start talking about it, first bring the promise to self-evident life. Think of concrete ways you can demonstrate, rather than describe, what makes your brand different and better. This may mean innovation in product design or features, or an investment in special customer service. But when you do good things, people say good things about you (first and foremost to themselves, a key aspect of loyalty-building). And it’s much better to have the “saying” begin with the most important third-party experts, your customers.
Number three: Say. Only start brand communications when your brand can honestly be what it says it is. Even then, it’s best to only say what is necessary, so as not to drown out other, more credible voices (to see whose words consumers truly trust, take a look at this recent survey).
Be. Do. Say. Three little words. One big brand impact. (I only wish that I had originated the phrase.)
~Bob Domenz