Marketing Today With Alan Hart

During this 198th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Reggie Walker, U.S. Chief Commercial Officer for PwC. We discuss Walker's background and his long career at PwC. Then Walker takes us through the digital transformation happening within PwC and the impact of technology on professional services today and in the future.Walker shares the importance of giving employees new skills and technology to transform the way you're running your business, which ultimately impacts client experience. He says, "When you focus on your people, and you build the right skills within them, those are your factors of production that you can then take out and use in multiple ways." When providing advice for peers in other large companies, Walker advises that training employees and setting very clear expectations is essential. As Walker reflects on the future of professional services, he remarks, "Creating more personalized experiences is really what's starting to win the day.” Walker's thoughts on the digit

During this 197th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Margaret Molloy, the global chief marketing officer and head of business development at Siegel+Gale. She has over twenty-five years of experience as a marketing executive.We discuss Molloy's background and what led her to Siegel+Gale. Then we have a wide-ranging discussion about rebranding and the potential benefits of a rebrand, as well as the value of brand simplicity.Molloy explains when a company should consider a rebrand. She says that when you choose to rebrand, "It should signal a strategic change, not just a cosmetic one." Then she shares some of Siegel+Gale's philosophy when she reflects, "When simplicity is done well, it brings productivity instead of paralysis. It brings confidence instead of confusion. And ultimately, customer trust instead of angst." Molloy also provides a valuable perspective on why brand matters to B2B now more than ever. Her insights into marketing trends and the surging emphasis on customer experie

During this 196th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Dave Gerhardt, the chief marketing officer of Privy. Gerhardt was formerly the vice president of marketing at Drift, has been featured in numerous national publications, and co-authored the book “Conversational Marketing.”We discuss how Gerhardt's early interest in working for a startup led him to join Privy at a previous point in his career. Then we learn how Gerhardt leveraged his podcast to land a job at Drift. He shares tons of insight into building out a highly efficient marketing team.Gerhardt has excellent advice for creating your personal brand and starting a podcast. "If you start with a show first, you can get all the other content with it." In his view, audio drives everything. He adds, "Even if nobody listens to our show, we're going to get enough content to feed our funnel for a year if we do it right and that alone is worth the investment."Gerhardt also shares why he went all-in on growing his following on Linked

During this 195th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Jeremy "JT" Tucker, the new CMO of Planet Fitness. Tucker has worked for world-renowned brands such as Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, Disney, and Nissan. We discuss JT's background and his first few weeks at Planet Fitness, including his strategy for jumping headfirst into big changes at a new company. Jeremy shares what changes he made quickly after arriving, the actions he saw others taking in the fitness space, and what inspired the successful "Bull Fit" campaign.Tucker also addresses the importance of approaching marketing from a human and emotive space. He remarks that as they collected research, "We really just wanted to understand the perceptions that kept people from actually coming into a club." When describing the exhilaration of kicking off their ad campaign in Times Square on New Year's Eve, he advises, "There are a lot of crowded big moments out there. It's so hard to breakthrough, but if you're authentic, and it makes

During this 194th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Kevin Frisch, who was recently the CMO of Wag and before that the head of performance marketing, and CRM for Uber. Before Uber, Frisch served as chief marketing officer of GSN Games and Snapfish. Frisch was named to Forbes' CMO Next List 2019: 50 Game-Changing Marketing Leaders.Frisch discusses the largest ever fraud case, a case between Uber and its suppliers of performance marketing and advertising. Frisch shares what happened, what was the trigger that launched the investigation, how they diagnosed what was going on, and several measurement challenges along the way.Frisch shares the revelations on ad fraud and the difficulty of finding it only after you have the detailed data, "Until you do that, if you're just relying on the higher-level reporting, you just don't catch it." He advises that "you should start by assuming that, half of what's on the display channels, is fraud." "You can't sort of out-source, an

During this 193rd episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Dr. Emmanuel Probst, the author of "Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Human Quest for Meaning." He holds a doctorate in consumer psychology and teaches market research at UCLA. He also works for Ipsos, advising clients on how to measure and optimize their marketing efforts.Probst has been studying "why people buy" for about 15 years and shares with us his definition of "meaning" and what he means when using that term. We discuss his book and the tools and tactics a brand manager has at their disposal.Probst shares that he got into the industry because he is "curious about people, and I like to understand why people do what they do, and how people make decisions as individuals, but also as a community, as a group, or as a society." He wrote the book because he "wanted to take a different stance at building brands... let's take a step back, understand what consumers, as people want to achieve as indivi

During this 192nd episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Lina Shields, the chief media officer for Lilly USA. Starting in sales and eventually moving into marketing, she's now one of Adage's "Women to Watch in 2019."Shields originally majored in political science with the intent to work in global policy to "change the world." She shares about the importance of mentoring and advice on how to improve your career and advocate for yourself. She also gives insight into the "next-generation" of the consumer landscape.Although Sheilds works in the commercial space now with Lilly, her job is to "give information that can help [people] lead healthier and longer lives." Shields quickly learned that doctors and she "had something in common, which was that we were both motivated by the best interest of the patient." "Great marketing is when you understand the core intention of your targeted audience."Highlights from this week's “Marketing Today”: Lina's background in Italy and he

During this 191st episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Rob Elder, the chief revenue officer at Genius. Genius is the world's largest encyclopedia of lyrics and music. It's a leading brand in music producing popular video series' like "Verified," "Deconstructed," "Genius News," and "Open Mic," reaching over 100 million people monthly across the globe.Elder started his career at agency Grey Direct as an assistant media planner, then moved into the "sales" side of the business with Sony. He's been with Genius for a little over two years and had the opportunity to drive growth and focus on developing processes to help the startup be successful.Elder shares his unique journey and the importance of mentors in that journey. He discusses what Genius brings to the music industry and bringing back the "deeper connection and message that the artist is trying to convey." He shares about the power of music, branding, and marketing legitimacy. "Brands are starting to recognize...that if they want somethi

Sky Zone's Josh Cole on marketing and brand partnershipsDuring this 190th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Josh Cole, the chief marketing officer at Sky Zone. Sky Zone is an active environment with gravity-defying aerial attractions with around 210 locations around the world.Cole began his career with a short stint in financial services before making a jump into the entertainment industry at Universal Studios parks and resorts division. He joined as the first team, specifically focused on internet marketing. He was involved in starting all of their social media and digital marketing from the beginning. Five years ago, he made the "jump" to Sky Zone to widen his responsibilities and oversee "all things marketing."Cole discusses his gratefulness that someone took a chance on him. "You got to hire for intangibles. You've got to find someone who is smart, curious, and has the right personality and dig in." He shares the importance and health benefits of "active" pla

During this 189th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Jim Geikie, one of the partners One Better Ventures. This recording took place before a live audience in Durham, NC. Jim spent 18 years Unilever, then joined Burt's Bees, where he led retail strategy, brand marketing, business development. He also led Cree's entry into consumer lighting and the commercial strategy for skincare maker, Lalumiere.One Better Ventures nurtures and develops consumer brands that have a positive impact on the world. They advise, invest in, and incubate mission-driven ventures with breakthrough sustainable business models.Jim shares the importance of purpose for the success of companies. "The world is full of problems, and there is nothing more powerful on the planet than business." He discusses the obligation for companies to leave the world a better place as they make profits. One Better Ventures has the ability to "play this nice balance of avoiding work we aren't good at, working a stage that

During this 188th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Jennifer Chase, senior vice president of global marketing and shared services for SAS. Chase has been with SAS for over 20 years and talks about the "secret sauce" that keeps her and other employees engaged and behind the company.  This episode was a part of a series of interviews conducted at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC.Chase shares with us how data is helping SAS with their customer experience. She shares her experience on topics of trust, security, and transparency. SAS is helping its customers see that "to do customer experience in a way that is meaningful, you have to start with customer obsession, and you have to learn and know your customer."Chase shares the importance of trust and "if you can't create a high level of trust with your customers, you are not going to create a high level of customer experience." She talks about the importance of instigating change before your customers are the ones to disrupt

During this 187th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Christi Olson, head of evangelism for Bing at Microsoft. Olson has led in-house digital marketing at teams at a number of companies for over a decade. This episode was a part of a series of interviews conducted at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC.Olson, a search practitioner for 15 years, was the first full-time employee at Microsoft to manage search.  She left the company to get some "outside" experience before rejoining Microsoft in her current role.Olson shares with us about Bing search marketing, accessibility and the impact on SEO, voice as a search method and user interface, and trust as it relates to customers.  "Most web developers and SEO's don't really think about accessibility first when they're developing a site and content."  Olson shares the importance of leveling the playing field for all people in search and "why we should start thinking about it first and foremost and not as an after-the-fac

During this 186th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Jared Gardner, from Qualtrics. Gardner has led search, conversion rate optimization, analytics, and content management programs across several vertical markets. This episode was a part of a series of interviews conducted at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC.At Qualtrics, Gardner focuses on scaling demand generation through unpaid channels. Before Qualtrics, he worked for Red Door Interactive, with clients such as Charles Schwab and Century Link.Gardner shares his journey from broadcast media to search and optimization.  He thought, "digital marketing and the internet is not getting any smaller, so that's gotta be an ok place to work."  Qualtrics focuses on an "action every day" mentality.  Jared shares the Qualtrics approach for scaling search and conversion.Highlights from this week's “Marketing Today”: Jared's background in broadcast media and journey into search and conversion optimization. 01:

During this 185th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Eli Schwartz, an SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience.  He has led SEO and growth programs for several leading B2B and B2C Companies. This episode was a part of a series of interviews conducted at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC.Schwartz has worked with clients such as Shutterstock, Blue Nile, Quora, Get Around, Mixpanel, and Zen Desk to help them build and execute global SEO strategies.  He led the SEO team at Survey Monkey, building organic search to one of the largest growth drivers at the company.Schwartz shares how he got into SEO by accident.  He talks about how basic SEO strategies aren't keeping up with the changes that Google is making and how "we need to think about Google as another user that can read content."  SEO is "a marketing channel," and companies are "wanting to have someone responsible for it, and they are wanting to have someone to grow that channel."Highligh

During this 184th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Jake Sorofman, the chief marketing officer at Pendo, in front of a live audience.  Before Pendo, Sorofman was the vice president and chief of research at Gartner.In October of 2019, Pendo became a newly minted "unicorn" with a valuation of over $1 billion, and a recent injection of $100 million in venture capital. Sorofman shares more about Pendo and what marketing looks like at scale and exceptionally high growth rates.The real goal for Pendo was to "build a billion-dollar company, a company that has lasting and enduring value in a community, creates lots of jobs, and delivers value to customers."   Pendo is an "integrated set of tools that help digital product teams make better decisions and create better experiences in web and mobile apps."  Learn from the incredible growth of Pendo and the experience of Sorofman through that fast growth and an expanding organization.Highlights from this week's “

During this 183rd episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews John Harrobin, chief marketing officer at Audible. Audible is an Amazon company, founded in the late 1990s out of an oral storytelling tradition. They began as an audiobook medium and have expanded to be a subscription service, including original programming, access to newspapers and magazines, and free short-form content. Harrobin's previous experience includes chief marketing officer at Verizon and working with NBC Universal.On the show today, Harrobin discusses the audio content market, how his professional background led him to marketing, mentorship, the future of his industry, and the future of marketing in general. He also discusses the importance of diversity in marketing departments and on boards.Harrobin views marketing as being “right in the center of the action. What I really love is driving growth and launching products. That's where you really get immediate gratification in the form of metrics and customer feedback. Is what

During this 182nd episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Soyoung Kang, the chief marketing officer at EOS Products. Soyoung brings a unique perspective and expertise in strategy and brand development.Kang shares her career journey, which started with a bachelor's degree in architecture from MIT. The journey continued with a transition from consulting at Boston Consulting to vice president at Bath & Body Works, leading to her current role at EOS.Since joining EOS, Kang's launched a reboot of the core brand, including the creative identity, strategic vision, product pipeline, messaging strategy, and content. She debuted a new campaign called "Make It Awesome," as well as the EOS flavor lab. When asked what the biggest challenge of driving so much change was, Kang said, “the toughest part of it was truly flying the plane while we were building it." Highlights from this week's “Marketing Today”: Soyoung's fascination with Architecture: "It's a personal passion of mine, and it

During this 181st episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Jackson Jeyanayagam, the vice president and general manager of direct to consumer businesses at The Clorox Company.  Jeyanayagam's experience spans agencies working with brands like Diageo, P&G, Jordan, and NASCAR to executive digital marketing roles at Chipotle and, most recently, as CMO of Boxed.Jeyanayagam shares about his career and moves from Chipotle to Boxed to Nutranext and the shift from CMO to general manager.  He shares about his approach to growing his teams, the tech stack they are building, and new product launches. “I look for curiosity, empathy, and versatility,” Jeyanayagam on criteria for marketers.Jeyanayagam shares the important role of digital and social in customer engagement and crisis management.  He dives into the critical nature of analytics and performance numbers. Jeyanayagam believes you should always be learning, growing, and working hard to stay ahead of the game.&nbs

During this 180th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Kim Feil, chief marketing and strategy officer at Aspire Healthy Energy Drinks.  She spent a number of years as a manufacturer, retailer, and consultant in the industry. Most notably, before turning to board service and fast growth start-ups, Feil served as CMO at OfficeMax, Walgreens, and Sara Lee.  Feil discusses the importance of key mentors in her life, specifically the influence her Dad had on her and the Network of Executive Women, an organization focused on empowering women executives and inclusion in the workplace. On the hard road to inclusion and diversity in the workplace, Feil shares, “it's 2019 and the last Fortune 500 company not to have a woman, finally, put a woman on its board.”Feil gives insight into the startup world through the story of Aspire, a healthy energy drink company that is quickly gaining traction in the industry. Their consumer passion is exceptionally high, and they have

During this 179th episode of “Marketing Today,” host Alan Hart interviews Tariq Hassan, chief marketing officer at Petco. Petco is a leading specialty retailer that's been serving pets and the people who love them for more than 50 years. Petco currently has about 1,500 locations throughout North America and employs approximately 26,000 people.On the show today, Tariq Hassan discusses the transformation that is taking place at Petco, the significant investments that they are making into nutrition, and how all of this impacts their employees, which they call their partners. Hassan shares advice for CMOs looking to get on the same page with their CEOs and organizations. "The line of trust around your leadership table is having shared accountability with your partners, and I think if you want to have aligned trust with your CEO, it starts with being aligned with your leadership team." How does Tariq view career risks? "Sometimes, what is a risk on paper, actually presents itself as the biggest opportunity yo