The way customers find and choose their suppliers and distributors, and the way people interact with brands, is changing. Just as it was once Google that rewired everything from the buying journey to the career search, now AI is doing it again. While distribution companies have long recognized their decades of in-person relationships and reputation in the field as an asset, some others have found strategic business purpose in building that brand presence online.

In the latest episode of the MDM Podcast, MDM Senior Editor Vesna Brajkovic explores what it actually looks like when a distributor gets brand storytelling right — and why it matters more now than ever. Kevin Keigley, Marketing Manager at IPS Packaging and Automation, a South Carolina-based, veteran-owned packaging distributor, built the company’s brand presence from the ground up.

In this episode, Keigley gives a sneak peek into a conversation he’ll be leading at NAW’s SHIFT Conference in Denver on May 13, where he’ll present “The Power of Storytelling.”

Catch Kevin Keigley live at NAW’s SHIFT Conference in Denver on May 13. Register here.

The Story That Started It All

On his first day at IPS, Keigley grabbed a camera and wandered the warehouse looking for something worth capturing. What he found was a 20-year employee picking up a dime-sized piece of debris off the concrete floor with his fingernail. That moment became IPS’s first brand video (shown below). The message: the details matter.

The response from colleagues was immediate — and the budget request that followed got approved. He shares it as a small example of how to find the human story among the day-to-day.

Being Human Is Now a Differentiator

With AI-generated content flooding feeds, Keigley argues that authenticity isn’t a nice-to-have anymore; it’s a differentiator.

“Being human is going to be priceless going forward,” he said in the episode.

The distributors who figure out how to tell stories about their people rather than their products are the ones building trust with both existing and future customers and prospective hires.

Keigley shares that new employees consistently tell him IPS’s LinkedIn and YouTube content was their first impression of the company, and that it made them want to work there.

The full conversation covers what any distributor — regardless of budget or team size — can do to start today. Listen to the episode via the audio player above, or find our latest episodes on our MDM Podcast page.

Get more tactical advice for building an online brand presence during Keigley’s SHIFT session on May 13 in Denver.