We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Core-Caballo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa , thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

I would say it would have to be developing the DH7 education branding module. Myself and Rick Caballo (co-founder of Dead Horse Branding), developed it in 2021 and started lecturing it that same year at Universities across America and in colleges/government arts departments throughout Australia. Considering myself and Rick Caballo are both high school dropouts, I find it a spectacular point in my career and one of my most exciting turning points. To me, it means our industry credibility speaks for itself and being able to teach our branding module to students around the world has just made all the hard times worth it. If we can save just one student thousands of dollars and dead-end roads in their careers NOW, then it’s all worth it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I started out building a fashion brand called Corello Rock Fashion. The co-founder of the fashion label, Rick Caballo, is an incredible designer, artist, and overall creative innovator, and the brand was really based around his skill set, his design, and his vibe. I influenced a little bit of the bohemian aspect, which is where the boho and rock intersections met. The brand took off quite quickly, launching into over 100 wholesale and e-commerce stores in under 18 months. Fans would comment on the brand itself, from photography, PR, product development, social media, and graphic design. People would ask us who was doing all these different facets and our response was always the same: we are! However, we had also hired a PR firm at the time to give us a little lift: PLA Media with Pam Lewis and Mark Logsdon. Mark thought it would be great to pair Jep and Jessica Robertson from Duck Dynasty with Corello for No-Shave November and have them turn a little rock ‘n’ roll for that month. We sparked at the idea and caused a nice racket on the scene.

From that, Jep and Jessica were interested in having us create a label for them, as it was always a big dream for them. They are really awesome people, so we were excited to take their brand to another level! With a combination of all of that, people started coming to us, wanting their brands designed, built, promoted, and strategized. Thus, Dead Horse Branding was born. One thing we realized during the fashion building process was that there were many missing components to agencies that were aimed at helping startup brands actually start up properly. As I started looking into it further and expanding this research through the music business, I noticed the same thing. We developed the concept that Dead Horse would be a design, consulting, strategic planning, image building, marketing, and publicity firm all in-house. There are 7 primary formulas for branding, and we will do them all. I think what makes Dead Horse Branding stand out is that we are an all-in-house branding agency. It is very unique to be able to have a versatile set of staff that can multitask and wear several different hats, spreading across various industries on a day-to-day basis. Not only do we design and build the product or person, but we also promote, sell, and market it fearlessly.

You have one brand manager to one brand and a flawless and smooth strategy-building concept. A la carte services are still optional, but we are in the business of advising you on what steps and stages need to be attacked first, rather than just implementing a stage because the customer feels they need it. We have been named one of the top marketing and publicity firms in Nashville twice, just recently this year, and we are super excited to be able to claim that. We are even more excited to know that our system and methods WORK.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I think the most effective marketing tool Dead Horse Branding has used is honesty and respect of the brand. We are a very transparent team. We are all on the same page and will give you the same advice from each team member. We tell it how it is, we do not beat around the bush and worry too much about “feelings”, we want you to succeed; we want the best for you and your dollars spent; and we want you to have the best experience along the way. For us, it means getting it done the right way so you can excel.

We have worked with and continue to work with such iconic names like: Tony Brown (hit record producer and played keys for Elvis), The Bo Diddley Estate and the HENDRIX Family. We treat all levels of brands like Rockstars because, to us, they are, anyone going out on a limb and creating a brand, crafting a message and believing in themselves, being the biggest Rockstar on the planet.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

One of the hardest times for me was trying to find the right team members that understood our methods, the Australian mentality in the way we work (which is just a little more laid-back, relaxed, straight to the point, and very direct), and people that understood all aspects of branding. A great press piece is only a great press piece if the brand is flawless and it does its job. If the brand has cracks and it’s on an unsteady foundation, all the promotion in the world won’t make it successful.

I went through a point where I just took on everything myself because I wasn’t very successful at finding the right candidate. We had about 10 clients, and I just bunkered down 15 hours a day and worked all of them for a good 6 months straight. I proved to myself and to the clients that the concept worked and we were making strides, but I was just exhausted. It was just Rick and myself perfecting all of the design and visual branding components, but that didn’t really cross over onto my management, brand management, PR, and marketing social media side. I was completely exhausted, but the fact that I knew my contacts were working kept pushing me to find the right people and gave me the energy and strength to keep moving forward. I eventually found my people and the word “branding” became more and more used in everyday language. I saw it come on TV and in movies, and people were using it a lot more and referring to it a lot more. This helped open up the branding space. I am also a little hardheaded and I don’t like to give up, unless I want to give up. I don’t like outside forces making me make a decision that I don’t really want to make. Some days it was literally do-or-die.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.deadhorsebranding.com
• Instagram: deadhorsebranding
• Facebook: Dead Horse Branding
• Linkedin: Dead Horse Branding
• Youtube: Dead Horse Branding

Image Credits
Images include people: Tony Brown, Harris Goldberg, Melissa Core Caballo and Rick Caballo. Images owned by Dead Horse Branding.