Power to Sell
Power to Sell is a student-led podcast focusing on mastering the underlying skills of persuasion, leadership, and sales. It's focused on how we transform these 'ordinary' human skills into the extraordinary and how we can differentiate ourselves based on how we sell versus the characteristics of what we sell.
Power to Sell
Lanelle Vasichek - Power of Brand
In this episode of Power to Sell, NDSU students sit down with Lanelle Vasichek, Senior Director of Global Brand for Bobcat Company. Lanelle shares her career journey and the path that led her to her current leadership role at Bobcat.
She reflects on the monumental challenge of building a global brand function in a company that had traditionally focused on “selling excavators and selling loaders” as independent products. One of her biggest hurdles, she explains, was influencing the internal team—“almost my hardest audience.” To overcome that, she embarked on a collaborative “road show” to inspire colleagues with a vision “bigger than what we were today” and to earn their buy-in.
Lanelle discusses the creation of a Global Brand Council and the ongoing balance between maintaining strong brand governance and staying “loose to market” to respect cultural differences. At the heart of her strategy is the power of authentic storytelling—highlighting real customers as the true “heroes” of Bobcat’s campaigns.
She closes with advice for students: be authentic, trust your instincts, and embrace opportunities that push you beyond your comfort zone.