Marketing Trends

Streaming services and connected television sets now dominate living rooms, but what influence has OTT programming had on brands when it comes to content development, strategy, and advertising? “If you can create content that appeals to the kid, but also the overall family and the parents, that's a win-win. You're going to get no pushback from the parents when everyone sits down and says, ‘Let's watch The LEGO Movie because it's fun, it's funny, it's exciting.’ Brands that want to create content, the reality is that some brands have afforded themselves the rights to be entertainment brands and some are just not there or will never be there.”While sitting down and picking a show has become easier, the ecosystem that on-demand services such as YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ offer is changing the game for advertisers looking to capitalize on the influx in inventory. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Charles Gabriel, Head of U.S. Advertising at WildBrain Spark, explores the intricacies of advertising on OTT services, including where advertisers go wrong in the space. Charles also covers major trends that he sees occurring within the industry, including why linear advertising continues to decrease. Enjoy this episode.Main Takeaways:Money Talks: What used to make TV an easy buy are now the same factors that are making it difficult for advertisers to invest in linear television. With more users cutting the cord than ever before, ratings are not only declining, but traditional media options that advertisers have are far fewer than their streaming counterparts.It’s All About Control: One of the biggest factors leading brands to invest in AVOD services is the level of control and frequency they have in picking where their ads are displayed and which audiences those advertisements are targeting. For example, if advertisers only want to reach families that watch children’s programming, AVOD offers better targeting and attribution for those particular audiences.It’s an Entire Ecosystem: Advertisers are now investing in more than just 15- and 30-second commercials. With streaming services, they can now invest in the entire ecosystem, from the actual content, to the advertisements that are played during the show. This is giving brands more influence in the overall product and the message they are able to send to the audience.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Every corner of the world is different, and that means the way consumers buy and absorb media  is different as well. In the U.S., email is a massive channel for brands to reach customers. But what about on continents such as Africa? With a population of more than 1.2 billion individuals, what drives the African consumer? What channels are businesses using to reach them, and where are some of the biggest differences between them and the western consumer?“Over the last five years, the start-up ecosystem has taken off aggressively. People are now building services, products, and services on top of the networks and on top of what the telcos have been able to achieve. The possibilities of what can happen with that sort of infrastructure has taken off. However, the depth of innovation we have seen is really five years-old, and the financial technological system has taken a lead there.”Elo Umeh is the Founder and CEO of Terragon Group, a predictive MarcTech service that is helping African companies connect and reach customers more thoughtfully and effectively. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Elo explains some key differences between the African and American consumer, why email marketing is not a big driver for his customers, and how Terragon is using data and analytics across all channels to help its customers effectively reach its desired audience.Main TakeawaysIt’s a Mobile World: Over the last five years, the startup ecosystem has grown significantly. With more developers building software that incorporates into a tech stack, there is now more of an opportunity for those companies to utilize data and analytics like never before to effectively reach their customers.  Massive Reach: On a continent of more than 1.2 billion people, combined with a landmass greater than other continents, reaching the customer is one of the biggest challenges for African companies. Companies that want to reach their audiences must have an effective data and analytics strategy that is designed to meet their consumers on the go. This means hype-targeting content to mobile devices and social platforms.Different Strokes for Different Folks: Just because a strategy works in the US does not mean that it will be effective for other consumers. In the U.S., email is an effective marketing strategy. But in Africa, you have to account for both web and non-web channels one thing remains true: your messaging must not only be relevant, but it has to solve a unique problem for the customer ---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Sports and brands are synonymous with one another. The Boston Red Sox are known for the famous Citgo signs that resides beyond the Green Monster. The University of Oregon goes hand-in-hand with apparel and shoe giant Nike, and the University of North Carolina is tightly associated with  the jump man himself and the Jordan Brand logo that graces its uniforms. There is no doubt that brands have made a lasting impact on fan bases everywhere thanks to sports.“Brands have a really interesting opportunity to actually create traditions around game day that are synonymous with the brands and finding things that are meaningful to the brands and become great traditions. A carpet company rolling out the carpet for a team to enter the field, or a particular sign being reminiscent of the kind of offering that a company can bring, or a sponsor of a particular segment or kind of content that becomes part of a game tradition.” But how brands become one with a university is a sticky topic. It requires identifying the right fit between brand and school or sport, implementing a proper strategy, and activating the sponsorship at the right time. With another year of collegiate athletics around the corner, Jennifer Davis, the CMO at Learfield, joined the show to discuss how the company brings big partnerships to life between brands and universities. Plus she explains how sports marketing has become a much more integral piece of the overall sales funnel. Enjoy this episode!Main TakeawaysBranding 101: Brands need to view sponsorship opportunities as a way to not only build gameday traditions with fan bases, but also as an opportunity to align your brand with the university and become synonymous with it. By building out these activations, whether it’s a highlight sponsorship, player of the game, or in-game sponsorship, you are creating memorable moments with fans, generating brand awareness, but most importantly, you are organically aligning your product with the university.Let’s Get Specific: As traditional broadcast mediums have changed, it’s afforded brands to take advantage of targeting specific markets with ad inventories. Instead of just placing a commercial spot across multiple networks, schools can now work with companies to identify specific markets outside of their home base to target, which could help lead to future conversions.You’re Now Free to Pre-Board: Any CMO who is about to take on a new role with a company should design their own pre-boarding/onboarding strategy. Rather than stick to the predetermined path a company has always used for onboarding, this could be an opportunity to take the initiative to meet with key stakeholders in the company to understand where you can best serve the company once you start.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing. Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Kimberly Storin strongly believes that culture beats strategy every day of the week and that you can be the best strategic marketer in the world, but if you fail to build a sustainable culture, your strategy is irrelevant. It’s one of the reasons why when she joined the Zayo Group, she made a plan for her first 100 days, during which she would be relentlessly focused on making sure that within her organization, the sales and marketing teams remain aligned in their vision.“The biggest impact that we're going to have is to get that sales alignment right off the bat so that we can see a great account-based marketing approach. The biggest win that we can have in the next six to 12 months will be to implement account-based marketing.”Kimberly has extensive experience in enterprise technology, having overseen brand refreshes and strategy implementation at some of the world’s biggest technology companies — including Dell, AMD, and IBM. Now, as the CMO of Zayo Group, she helped to implement similar strategies. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Kimberly explains why having a strong ABM strategy is integral to the growth of Zayo Group, she also dives into why every marketing department should devote resources to its own creative services department, and how every new CMO can earn quick wins.Main Takeaways:Building a Plan For a Plan: When you enter any new organization, you have to understand the values and benchmarks the organization needs to hit. A good practice is to start by meeting with all the internal stakeholders of the business to best understand where you earn quick wins. Once you identify these, you can then gain a better understanding of what the key elements and goals of the business are.What Makes for a Good ABM Strategy: A good account-based marketing plan starts with a strong alignment between sales and marketing departments. When both sales and marketing have the ability to leverage market data, combined with the internal data the organization has, it makes for an incredibly streamlined process for identifying the proper prospects to target.Let’s Get Creative: Brand consistency is key, but in order to make sure you are building a strong and consistent message, marketing teams should invest in having their own internal creative agency. When creative services are in-house, it allows you to highlight elements of the brand that matter while building a strong and consistent approach.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Every company has a secret sauce —it’s the differentiator that  separates one company from the rest of the pack and keeps it successful long-term. For Juniper Networks, CMO Mike Marcellin says that secret sauce centers around how the company is getting its customers to actively engage with its product.“How someone engages with a brand, with a company, is hugely important. 84% of [consumers] said that experience that a company provides is as important as its products and services. If you're a startup going into a completely new space and you're the only game in town, then the features and capabilities are there. But if you're in a mature industry where it's competitive, the customer experience must be there.”On this episode of Marketing Trends, Mike explains how his team has evolved over the last few years to take a more data-centric approach to its marketing efforts. He also dives into how marketers can effectively use A.I. in their decision-making, and how organizations can reduce operational costs to improve their customer experience. Enjoy!Main TakeawaysYou Want a Holistic View of Your Customers: The best way to gain an entire understanding of who your customers are — what their buying habits are, how they like to be communicated with, and what their preferences are— the first step is to make sure all the first-party data you have on-hand about your customers resides in a single place that is clear and easy to read. This will help in organizing customer portfolios while also giving you a better idea of customer trends in real-time.Good A.I. Starts with Good Data: When using A.I. as a tool, whether that is personalizing certain experiences for customers or in your messaging efforts, you have to start with a solid understanding of where your data is coming from. Without good, clean data, your algorithms will give you unreliable results and skew your customer insights.Are you Hearing Feedback? It’s important to create consistent feedback opportunities for your customers to engage with your company, but it’s equally important to make sure you are not chasing your clients to participate in these conversations. When you have active and willing participants, that means you have stakeholders that are invested in the overall product and want to see you succeed.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

In 2021, data flows from multiple pathways to a marketer's desk, and the insights generated from those datasets feels endless. But one thing is becoming increasingly apparent; despite the information you have on hand, it’s still never enough.“33% of marketers say they are completely satisfied with their ability to use data and to create more relevant customer experiences. A third of marketers feel like they have the ability to use data, to create a customer experience that's relevant. Think about all the relevancy that we now have with the brand, to think that only a third of marketers think that they're able to do it. To me, that's the opportunity for marketers to figure out how to go from not just using data, but making it relevant to customer experience.”On this episode of Marketing Trends, Edward McDonnell, the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for Marketing Cloud at Salesforce, returns to discuss the future of marketing. Plus, he explains how remote work is enabling marketers to build the most talented teams possible thanks to software that allows them to succeed from anywhere. Ed also explains why it's time to focus on reskilling the modern-day marketer.Main Takeaways:More Control, Please: Two-thirds of marketers in a recent survey stated the data that they receive is not painting a clear enough picture for them when it comes to their customers. Marketers in 2021 want more control of their data — where it’s coming from and how it is used so that they can create a more agile and elastic marketing strategy.Hit that Subscribe Button: Subscription marketing is a growing channel for marketers, but it goes far beyond the technology that enables it. Subscription marketing consistently challenges marketers not just from a sales and retention perspective, but it’s forcing them to rethink how they produce content, and how that content keeps users connected and engaged with a brand.Upleveling Your Skillset: Marketers are not lacking creativity, but the way companies engage with them from a remote perspective must change. Businesses need to rethink how marketers can be successful in a remote-first world. This means putting more of a focus on creating workflows that can enable an efficient creative process regardless of where team members are.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

For years, college athletes have racked up Twitter and Instagram followers due to their on-the-field fame, but despite these large followings, a quarterback known for slinging touchdowns was prohibited from slinging endorsements thanks to a system that prohibited athletes from profiting off of their image or performance. But this summer that changed, and with college athletes now able to profit off their name, image, and likeness, it’s left companies such as Captiv8, an influencer marketing platform, ready to hit the ground running with a new pool of talent. “Scale for creators or athletes within specific verticals is pretty tough. It's hard to snap your fingers and get a hundred college athletes activated in minutes. Platforms like Captiv8 have made it easier to do that in the digital creator space. With creators that have been around for a while, you can go through specific verticals. With college athletes, it's a green field right now.”Krishna Subramanian, is the Co-founder of Captiv8, and on this episode of Marketing Trends, Krishna goes deep into the weeds of influencer marketing and how these new opportunities with college athletes can help brands. Plus Krishna provides some dos and don’t for brands that are looking to partner with influences. Enjoy!Main TakeawaysInfluencers are an Extension of the Brand: Over the last year, brands have leaned more and more on influencer marketing. But despite how loyal an influencer’s audience might be, that audience might not be a match with your brand. Make sure the values of your brand align with that of the creator and with the people who make up their pool of followers.Fighting for Control: How much creative control the brand and the creator requires is one of the main things to consider when partnering with an influencer. If a brand wants more control, don’t partner with top influencers. Instead, partner with lower-level creators that are looking to grow their audience.Going Further Down the Funnel: Right now, influencer marketing is specifically focused on branding and building awareness, but there are far more areas for marketers to derive value from it, including measuring a product viability and the ability to scale content across multiple channels.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

End-of-life planning is something we often put off. After all, nobody actually enjoys thinking about what happens after they die or where their personal belongings will end up. But the truth is, you have to consider your options at some point. That’s one of the things that makes things tricky for Luke Sheehan, the CMO at Willful.co, a Canadian company that guides users through making their legal will online.“What we really try to do [at Willful] is understand the life stages behind when people are most likely to need something like a will in their life. What we then do is try and understand what the consumers are going through in their mind as they make their decisions.”On this episode of Marketing Trends, Luke explains why that process is challenging, and he talks about some of the ways he uses marketing tools to help ease the minds of consumers and gain their trust along the way. Luke also explains how a good public relations strategy can feed into effective marketing, and why it’s important to understand who your key stakeholders are in order to leverage their influence.Main TakeawaysTapping into the Right Audience: Online services are consistently fighting for legitimacy, which makes it increasingly important for marketers to be able to leverage power users of the product who can help raise brand awareness.You’re in Good Hands with All-State: Partnerships can not only be a driver for brand awareness but they can also be used as an effective avenue to build customer trust. When consumers see online services associated with brands, it removes some of the ambiguity and fears they might have of dealing with a service they can not physically interact with.Doubling Down on What Matters: It may sound simple, but your campaigns need to pack a powerful punch and resonate with your audience. If your marketing message is down the middle, your message is not going to stick. Know your companies strengths and weaknesses, and double double down on the strengths that matter to your consumers.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.   Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Sometimes the best marketing campaign is the one you never expected. In an age when every shareable moment matters, and getting consumers to engage with your product can feel tiresome, Ring has built an empire of smart-home devices off those shareable moments.“Our marketing teams are very performance-driven in terms of where we're spending our dollars and certainly paying attention to things. [We pay a lot of attention to] shared voice and earned media engagement and we have teams that are really aware of what's happening and how those videos are really powerful in terms of delivering context behind our products and what they're doing.”Founded in 2014, Ring has grown from its humble origins as a video doorbell into a full-fledged line of products and services that includes security cameras, smart lights and security systems. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Mimi Swain, the Chief Revenue Officer at Ring, offers up examples of how Ring uses the shareable moments to build a community of loyal users and also expands on how Ring expanded its product line from a modest doorbell to a robust offering and the importance of showing up where your customers are.Main TakeawaysShowing Up Matters: In order to drive product growth, it’s important to think about the areas your product is showing up — whether that’s on an ecommerce website or at stores such as Home Depot and Best Buy, your product needs to be visible in the channels that consumers expect them to be in and also wherever your target consumers typically shop.Customer Feedback is More Important than Customer Data: Data is important to create a clear view of your customers, but data alone will not paint a full picture of what your customer likes and dislikes about the product. The feedback you receive from your customers is far more valuable in building a memorable and seamless customer experience. Make sure you are consistently engaging with your customers to understand the areas of the product they love, but also their pain points so that you can continue to innovate.Teachable Moments Lead to Product Innovation: When product teams have the freedom to openly innovate and try new things, those moments of experimentation can lead to real opportunities to drive deeper engagement with the products because they are able to freely learn about the products and understand where they fit best.--- Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Taking a customer-centric approach is difficult. It requires not only thinking differently, but also ignoring your own personal agenda for the greater good of the company. But putting the customer first also requires trust and it requires a top-down effort from everyone involved. That’s why PwC’s remodeling of its business strategy is different. “The New Equation” as it’s called, is not just a motto, it’s an entire strategy based on the principles of building trust and helping PwC customers keep up with the pace of change. And the key to any successful marketing strategy begins with a top-down approach and a relentless focus on implementation.“I don't think any strategy is perfect, nor do I think any strategy needs to be perfect. What needs to be far better is the execution of that strategy… All of our people fundamentally understand what we're doing, but it's the getting the confidence in that story and making sure that they really feel supported, bolstered and have everything that they need in order to bring that with confidence.”On this episode of Marketing Trends, we caught up with J.C. Lapierre, Chief Strategy and Communications Officer at PwC, who offered up some insight into the steps PwC went through to implement its new three-pronged services model. Plus, J.C. explains why successful implementation means everything when you’re rolling out a new strategy, and how PwC is forging ahead with a customer-first approach.Main TakeawaysSuccessful Strategies Start with Successful Installations: The best marketing strategies are ultimately the ones that have the best implementation from beginning to end and from the top down. This will help your marketers not only have a strong understanding of the values of your new strategy, but it will give them the confidence to relay that message to the company's clients.The Days of A Siloed Marketing Approach are Over: Siloed approaches to marketing no longer work, especially if you want to have an efficient, cross-functional business. When you eliminate silos, you’re able to effectively and efficiently push your message and your purpose across all your channels without confusion.Don’t Be Scared to Play in New Channels: Even when you’re a legacy company, it’s important to try new channels and continuously evaluate your marketing mix to understand where your message is resonating and where it’s not. Don’t get comfortable with the same strategy that’s worked in the past. For a company like PwC, that meant advertising on OTT platforms, a channel the company had never participated in before.---Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.  Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.