Building Trust, Not Just Brands: Gee Ranasinha on Leadership, Marketing, and the Power of Connection

On today’s McCoy Leadership Podcast, I sat down with Gee Ranasinha to unpack the real difference between marketing and promotion—and why so many businesses get it wrong. Gee dove deep into why emotional connection and understanding your customer beats chasing vanity metrics and empty ad spends every time. We talked about the role of behavioral science, the traps of AI in marketing, and how simply doing what you say you’ll do sets you apart as a leader. If you want to elevate your impact, connect with people, and truly grow your business, you won’t want to miss these insights!

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00:00 Boosting Sales Through Strategic Marketing

04:34 Leadership Meets Marketing & Psychology

07:56 "Marketing Misunderstood: Fundamentals Unchanged"

11:21 "Balancing Emotion and Logic in Marketing"

17:10 Misguided Marketing Assumptions

19:38 Shallow, Forgettable Marketing Woes

22:05 Children's Perception of Social Media

26:06 "Resurgence of Real Conversations Needed"

30:24 AI's Role in Auction Marketing

31:32 AI's Strengths and Misapplications

36:28 Automating Marketing with AI

39:54 "AI: A Tool, Not a Voice"

44:45 Marketing Fundamentals Unveiled

46:12 "Brand Awareness as Mental SEO"

51:04 "Commit to Your Promises"

53:06 "Balancing Business Freedom and Commitments"

56:30 "Love is the Killer App"

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Here are the top 3 takeaways you’ll want to consider for your own leadership or marketing journey:

🔑 Marketing ≠ Promotion
Promotion is just a small slice of marketing. The real value (and business impact) comes from the strategic work: understanding your customers, creating memorable brands, and building long-term relationships—not just cranking out ads or social posts.

🔑 Emotional Connection Still Wins
The most effective marketing taps into both logic and emotion. Facts, bullet points, and features won’t stick unless you’re also building memories, telling stories, and truly resonating with people on a human level.

🔑 Technology Is a Tool, Not a Substitute
Whether it’s AI, social media, or the latest MarTech, these should amplify your human creativity, not replace it. Gee reminds us: “No one has satisfactorily answered the fundamental question of why I should bother to read something that you couldn’t be bothered to write.” Use tech as a second brain, but let your message be authentically yours.

Are you leading your business (or your marketing) with genuine connection and purpose? What’s working for you—strategy, emotion, technology, or some combination?

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Links

Gee's Website

LinkedIn

Gee's Book Recommendations:

• How Brands Grow (Byron Sharp)

• Influence & Pre-Suasion (Robert Cialdini)

• Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)

• Nudge (Richard Thaler)

• Love is the Killer App (Tim Sanders)