Soul & Science: Fast Forward Your Marketing Mind

CAULIPOWER, the first to-market, cauliflower-crust frozen pizza is a major player in the growing “good for you” food category. Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Stuart Smith joined the nascent company in 2019, which was founded by his wife, Gail Becker. After baking countless cauliflower pizzas from scratch for their children, Gail noticed the need for a quality frozen cauliflower pizza. The brand was brilliantly launched leveraging the buzz-building skills of the pair - both Stuart and Gail had successful careers at global PR giant Edelman. Stuart uses his PR savvy to shape a broader marketing plan - such as elevating campaign ideas that prove memorable enough to earn their own media. Smith tells us his unique origin story- he is our first Oxford PhD scientist turned marketer - and shares how data brings clarity to decisions.In this episode you’ll learn: Good strategists create clarity out of noise, they recognize patterns in data A sales team will get you on the shelf, but you need marketing to get it off The next great CPG idea is being shared now on social media in the form of recipes, meal preps and healthy-eating hacks To think through something or seize a new idea, spend more time talking to people A big idea should be good enough to earn its own media placementBrought to you by Mekanism.

Tero Isokauppila grew up in a fairy-tale setting on land his ancestors settled on 13 generations ago in Finland. The family farm forms the roots of his company, Four Sigmatic, a highly functional foods business that helps people focus, gain energy and relax. But this Finnish nomad strayed far from home to build it. Through careers in consulting and online marketing, across continents, Isokauppila has made mushrooms, some native to Finland's deep forests, and other nutrient-packed ingredients, into a functional foods mainstay sold at behemoth retailers like Target and Walmart. He talks about marketing research on PubMed and Amazon reviews, his love for podcast advertising and a career journey befitting a storybook.In this episode you’ll learn: If it’s good enough for a Viking, it’s good enough for a banker Read your 3-star reviews on Amazon, they wish you were better No one cares about the mushrooms or the coffee, it’s how it makes them feel You don’t tattoo Harley Davidson on your arm after your first ride Basic nutrition is the white belt, sleep the purple, mind health the black The Four Sigmatic name is part of an ethos of nerdy and geeky Brought to you by Mekanism.

Shira Feuer is the CMO of Trinny London, the social-media driven beauty brand founded by entrepreneur, CEO, and style icon Trinny Woodall that generated $72m by December 2021. For the last four years, Feuer has helped build the global brand and its passionate following, the Trinny Tribe, overseeing revenue growth, customer acquisition and retention, brand and product marketing and prolific, highly engaging digital content. After a career round 1 in banking, which served to establish the Canadian in London (Feuer could tell during the job interview finance wasn’t for her), she started over as an unpaid agency intern, graduating to social media and digital marketing positions at Burberry and Walt Disney.In this episode you’ll learn: Decisions start in the heart but are rationalized in the brain To market to women, understand what they want, then meet those needs Sell products that are good and worth it because people will talk Cross-platform marketing spots don’t have to be twins, but need to be siblings Sustainability is quickly moving from hook to table stakes Brought to you by Mekanism.

In a special live recording from New York’s Advertising Week, the week’s episode features Shake Shack CMO Jay Livingston. Livingston, who has held top marketing roles at Bank of America and BarkBox, is emulating Shake Shack’s foundational, high-low strategy of elevating basic fare and democratizing fine dining on a national and global scale. It was a pattern set by founder, New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer, whose first Shake Shack was a cart in a park across from his Michelin-starred restaurant. Now, Shake Shack is well on its way to becoming a billion dollar burger brand. Seeding each restaurant in local chef and art cultures, Livingston upholds Shake Shack’s emphasis on quality ingredients and premium experiences. He’s also venturing toward a mass advertising test, morphing Instagram fame to TikTok and putting a virtual Shake Shack in Sims 4.In this episode you’ll learn: It’s tempting to stick with what works, but dabble in what’s new. Great companies build marketing and product development side-by-side. Listen to what focus groups tell you, but don’t let them run the company. Think before you quit, you might be leaving a good network and foundation. Shake Shack’s new drive-throughs prove the adage, never say never. Brought to you by Mekanism.

There’s an alchemy to relationships, including the ones between co-founders. David Lester, co-founder at good-for-you-soda company, OLIPOP, first heard about his future business partner, Ben Goodwin, while he was quitting his 10-year job at global beverage giant Diageo. His then boss thought they’d work well together. The first meeting between entrepreneurs was memorable as Ben showed up with a bag of home-made soda. The pair went on to run a kefir beverage startup, followed by OLIPOP. Packed with healthy prebiotics and a tenth the sugar of regular, OLIPOP brilliantly markets taste, health and nostalgia while drawing 50% of revenues through online channels, just a few of Lester’s marketing feats.In this episode you’ll learn: Soda psychology is grounded in our earliest memories. Three-quarters of the population is trying to make healthy adjustments. When something seems stupid, that’s your cue to figure out a better way. That humility will take you from knowing nothing to expertise. Data science surrounds us, but your soul processes the insights Brought to you by Mekanism.

Shoestring marketing budgets are common at startups and create an environment of innovation. Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at the water brand Liquid Death jokes he was given a $0 initial ad budget to launch. He knew the name, along with the arresting skull-festooned cans, would have to do most of the talking. When the marketing money began to flow, Liquid Death bought Tony Hawk’s blood and his soul (and maybe yours) online. In this episode, Pearson, an ultra-marathoner and ad agency veteran, explains his process, where he takes a favorite playlist, and pen to paper to grasp an idea, which grow more on creativity than money.In this episode you’ll learn: If your 6th grade teacher says advertising is evil, it must be good. To trust your own sensibilities to know the right answer. The more you do, the more confident you’ll feel. A brand is a character, the protagonist of your business. Everybody takes everything so seriously, the moment you don't, you stand out. Brought to you by Mekanism.

Everette Taylor, the CMO of the online art-collector’s marketplace, Artsy, is “just a kid from the hood,” which is not the typical profile of a global art dealer. His fast-track career is not based on connections but on something far more valuable–inner drive, creative risk-taking and listening to mom. Taylor grew up in a neighborhood where many were trapped by a cycle of street life, drugs and prison, so his mom nudged him to interview for a marketing job, which he got at the age of 14, despite wanting to work at Chick-fil-A with his friends. A natural marketer was born and Taylor’s career has been ascendant ever since.In this episode you’ll learn: A first job is humbling, you learn you don’t know what you don’t know. It’s good business to democratize spaces for everyone. A CMO’s job is to build a team that is the shit. Stay at the job that gives you the most opportunities to grow. Ultimately, there will come a time for CMOs to go for CEO. Brought to you by Mekanism.

The creator economy has been valued at $100 billion, so it is easy to forget that a decade ago, it was dismissed by many as people listening to themselves talk on YouTube. Jim Louderback recognized what video technology and expression could become. He helped build VidCon, the professional conference and fan fest, into global preeminence and now chronicles it all through his weekly newsletter, Inside the Creator Economy. Louderback’s vision was evident early on, as he left a consulting career to capture the PC revolution at Ziff Davis, eventually putting “geeks like me” on camera for ZDTV/TechTV. He’s been ahead of the internet ever since.In this episode you’ll learn: To go on and answer the help-wanted ad. At start-ups, you spend 90% of your time building outward; big companies mean more managing inward. The metaverse is a new canvas for storytelling Like silents to talkies, not every creator will translate to the metaverse Brought to you by Mekanism.

Is Selena Gomez the next beauty billionaire, gliding along a path set by Rihanna, Kim and Kylie? That’s what Skinnygirl mogul turned TikTok beauty influencer, Bethenny Frankel, believes. Katie Welch, CMO at Gomez’s Rare Beauty, is helping build the brand along a purpose-driven platform that welcomes all and supports good mental health. Welch, who has marketed Bliss, Burt’s Bees and Hourglass Cosmetics, discovered beauty could be a career when she met a college classmate’s stepmother, who was an Estee Lauder exec. She moonlights as a TikTok influencer herself, with 80,000 following her marketing/career advice.In this episode you’ll learn: A brand narrative can shift a business forward. If you wake up at 5 a.m. to do something, you love it. It’s very easy to sell lipstick the same way over and over again, so don’t. Create a space where people feel welcome. Brought to you by Mekanism.

Lander Otegui, CMO of Proximo Spirits, discusses marketing Jose Cuervo tequila in the metaverse, sustainability efforts, and the evolution of the tequila market. He shares insights on transitioning from engineering to marketing, personalized tech-savvy approaches, and the importance of embracing intuition and convictions in marketing and creativity.