TurboTax is perceived by most consumers as a do-it-yourself tax service, while its live full-service product, which enlists experts to assist users with doing their taxes, is less familiar to the public. Associating TurboTax with the latter is the brand’s primary marketing focus this year, and it’s amplifying that message through campaigns timed to tentpole events during tax season, including the Super Bowl and, most recently, the NCAA March Madness tournaments.

For new filers who are also student athletes—some of whom profited off of the NCAA’s updated “Name, Image and Likeness” policy—the brand has a new pitch. “This is the first full year that student athletes can make money off of their name, image and likeness,” Cathleen Ryan, SVP of Marketing at Intuit TurboTax, told Chief Marketer this week. “It’s a new reality for them. It just didn’t exist before.”

“Some of them are making a whole lot of money, and some of them are making a few hundred dollars here and there,” she added. “But either way, those NIL deals create tax implications. And it’s not just for the students. In many cases, the parents need to rethink their tax strategy as well.” Following is our conversation with Ryan about TurboTax’s March Madness campaign, how the brand is reaching Gen Z audiences on colleges campuses and through social media, new market opportunities, and more.

Chief Marketer: How is the messaging of the NCAA campaign different from previous years?

Cathleen Ryan, SVP of Marketing, Intuit TurboTax: We’ve been an advertiser in and around March Madness for years, but this is the first time we’re taking a collective approach to college athletes and students, inclusive of the NCAA partnership. But much beyond that, we’re going bigger with activating in new spaces, specifically where Gen Z and college students are natively, both physically and digitally.

Our entire program is rooted in education and empowering young adults who are just figuring out how to do life on their own, and providing them with the tools and resources they need to file their taxes with confidence, and know that they’re getting every possible dollar they deserve on their return. The NCAA sponsorship is a part of that, but we have college ambassador programs, a really big activation, and working with Influencer the platform that supports young student athletes.

CM: How are you incorporating the NCAA’s Name, Image, Likeness policy? That’s new for you, right?

CR: This is the first full year that student athletes can make money off of their name, image and likeness. Some of them are making a whole lot of money, and some of them are making a few hundred dollars here and there. But either way, those NIL deals create tax implications. And not just for the students, but for the parents. The big reason we’re so active in this space is that they need to be educated on what it means for their taxes and where to get help. And in many cases the parents need to rethink their tax strategy as well.

Student athletes are especially busy, given classes, practices and games. The last thing they want to talk or think about is doing their taxes. For us, it’s all about bringing help and resources directly to them, whether that’s on campus, working in partnership with the NCAA or with influencers. And then we have five or so individual university relationships where we’re reaching out through athletic departments, through student groups, et cetera, to ensure that the help and support is there. NIL is a new reality for student athletes. It just didn’t exist before. We want to make sure that they have the education and tools available to them so they’re not surprised at tax time.

 

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CM: Beyond the messaging of this campaign, what are the strategic marketing goals?

CR: We are looking to market full funnel through this effort, so everything from awareness, consideration, trial and purchase, ideally. We’ve experimented with a number of on-campus activations where students and student athletes can engage with our tax experts, ask questions and get expert answers. We’re providing a ton of content and resources for NIL athletes who need to do things like estimate their expenses, learn how to track expenses, things like that. It’s both awareness and consideration, but also engagement and education.

CM: Beyond this campaign, what are the other ways are you marketing to Gen Z?

CR: In addition to the NIL and influencer campaigns, we’re very active in the media channels and spaces with high Gen Z concentration. So, lots of TikTok, Twitter and social media in general. Media consumption has changed, so there’s streaming, OTT, Netflix. We were one of the first partners to sign on with Netflix ad-supported. We’re thinking about all the places and spaces where Gen Z spends their time, and where we can have a conversation, engage and hopefully entertain, too.

CM: In your research, have you noticed anything different about how younger consumers approach finance and taxes today?

CR: We have done some unique research around Gen Z—and they’re even less likely to want to talk about money and finances than previous generations. Unfortunately, it’s just a part of our culture. But where we can really make a difference is allowing people access to experts and tools, where they can find answers that they’re maybe not comfortable getting from friends or family.

One of the interesting things that we’ve seen with Gen Z in particular is a new way of working and living your life that is different than previous generations. You see a lot of side hustles or side jobs, and an entrepreneurial spirit. And that has tax implications. So it’s important for us, as TurboTax, to ensure that this generation understands the opportunities in and the implications of how they’re making a living, which does look materially different than previous generations.

CM: Where are you looking for growth and new markets this year?

CR: Ultimately, we want people to understand that TurboTax has a full suite of offerings. We have calcified brand perceptions of TurboTax as a DIY software product. But the reality is we are so much more than that. We have a growing full service business, where in a few easy clicks you can share your documents with a tax expert and they will prepare and file your return for you. We have an assisted product where you prepare your taxes with the help of an expert and it even includes a final review of your return, if you want that extra level of confidence before you hit the file button.

When you think about who that applies to, it applies to everyone. There is a huge opportunity, certainly for new-to-the-category filers such as student athletes, but also people that are overpaying a legacy tax pro who maybe doesn’t have the breadth of experience that TurboTax has. As an example, we prepare hundreds of thousands of returns with crypto expenses, gains and losses in them every year. Your local person down the street maybe has seen one of those. We’ve seen it all, and the expertise that comes with that ensures you get your best outcome. That’s the piece that we’re trying to get out in market this year: Come to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes. Let one of our experts do them for you. We are so much more than DIY and have been for years, but we need to get that message out there.

The post Brands on Fire: TurboTax Marketing SVP on Courting Student Athletes During March Madness appeared first on Chief Marketer.

The detrimental effects caused by years of pandemic-related quarantines and subsequent social isolation—a phenomenon experienced in solitude and yet shared globally—has shed new light on the importance of mental health and wellness practices. And naturally, that cultural shift has permeated marketing campaigns, even in cases where a brand’s connection to mental health issues isn’t endemic.

Among them is LG’s video series “Game 4 Good,” a partnership with NCAA’s March Madness college basketball tournament that elevates and supports the work of four student athletes committed to mental health and wellness causes.

“During the pandemic, we saw that there was an increased need for mental health support and awareness among college students, but especially among college student athletes,” according to Jeannie Lee, Director of Corporate Brand Marketing at LG Electronics. “One of the things that’s really important for us, as we work around mental health, wellness and mindfulness, is that LG doesn’t ever come to the table as an expert on mental health, per se.”

The goal, rather, is to help the athletes tell their own stories. “What we can do,” she continued, “is use our resources to provide space for dialogues to happen, to provide a platform for various initiatives that can help break down some of the stigma around mental health.” Following is an excerpt of our conversation with Lee about the Game 4 Good series, its connection to LG’s broader “Love the Game” platform, and how the brand is tapping new channels to spread the word.

Chief Marketer: How did the idea for the Game 4 Good series come about?

Jeannie Lee, Director of Corporate Brand Marketing at LG: Game 4 Good is something we launched specifically for March Madness, and “Love the Game” is our partnership as a whole. That can be interpreted in various ways, whether it’s from the student athlete perspective, the communities, the teams or fans’ love of the game. We wanted to show up in a way that was consistent with some of the other work that we were doing.

We partnered with some of the student athletes playing in the March Madness tournaments to highlight the importance of mental health and wellness from their own perspective, so that they can share their work around it as well as be a voice among their peers. One of the things that’s really important for us, as we work around mental health, wellness and mindfulness, is that LG doesn’t ever come to the table as an expert on mental health, per se. What we can do is use our resources to provide space for dialogues to happen, to provide a platform for various initiatives that can help break down some of the stigma around mental health.

CM: How did you choose the student athletes?

JL: They have already been active their support and raising awareness for mental health. It was important for us to partner with student athletes who are already doing the work in this space so that we can bring an authentic voice. Part of that is they’re helping us provide a message of support for their teammates and their peers who are competing during this time of intense pressure. We worked with them to select four charities so that we can make donations and help them do more of the work that they’re doing in this space.

CM: How long has LG been working on health and wellness programs?

JL: It’s not something new for LG. Our previous CSR initiative was called “Experience Happiness,” and it was around mental health wellness, the science of happiness and how to tap into that. It was focused on a younger audience—high school and middle school students. That initiative exceeded the goals that it set out to do, so we connected all the different dots and refocused. During the pandemic, we saw that there was an increased need for mental health support and awareness among college students, but especially among college student athletes. So that’s where we’ve shifted our focus.

CM: How does experiential factor into the program?

JL: Experiential is a big part of the NCAA partnership, because March Madness and the Final Four are tentpole events. We will be activating at the Final Four, both men’s and women’s. It will highlight some of our home entertainment and appliance products and initiatives. Another part of the experiential marketing during Final Four is an extension of Game 4 Good. We’ll be doing an episode of our “Transparent Conversations” podcast with the student athletes. It’s a live-to-tape podcast hosted by Prim Siripipat, a former D1 Duke tennis player and former sports reporter with ESPN. She’s very active in the sports world, but her focus now is also around athlete mental health. We launched it last year during the fall, and its goal is similar. LG doesn’t necessarily want to come across as an expert in mental health, but what we can do is power platforms that allow for dialogues to happen and increase awareness.

CM: What other marketing channels are you tapping for this partnership?

JL: It’s provided a way for us to do things in new channels. We’re partnering with the NCAA and Warner Brothers Discovery Sports on creating a NCAA Championships channel available exclusively on LG Smart TVs. We launched an original content series called “The Rivalries.” Fans get really passionate about rivalries, even people who aren’t necessarily diehard sports fans. A lot of people know the big sports ones, like Duke and UNC or UCLA and USC, but there’s also a lot of excitement and intensity around unknown rivalries. This content series highlights those in the Division 2 and Division 3 schools. So we’re trying to get into new territories, with podcasts and original content. That’s something that’s new for us and it’s working well.

The post LG’s March Madness ‘Game 4 Good’ Series Elevates Athletes’ Conversations on Mental Health appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Grassroots marketing is all about getting “brand in hand, in the context that makes sense,” Mark Kirkham, SVP and CMO of PepsiCo International Beverages, told Chief Marketer this week. But in sports marketing, including the work he’s doing for Gatorade’s 5V5 international girls soccer tournament, there is the potential to create a personalized, formative experience.

“It’s about starting young, working your way up, and providing both education and opportunity along the way,” he says. “Generically, some people just think grassroots is about sampling, or the lowest-level activation. But actually, grassroots should be seen as the base on which you build your funnel. It’s the base in which you create experiences. For some consumers, it’s the first time they interact with your brand or your product. That moment of truth is really important.”

Following is our conversation with Kirkham about recent campaigns for Gatorade and 7UP; the challenges facing global marketers today; how to achieve balance between global scale and local relevance; and the intricacies of restaging an iconic brand—in this case 7UP—through its new visual identity.

Chief Marketer: What are some of the challenges you face as a global marketer specifically?

Mark Kirkham, SVP and CMO of PepsiCo International Beverages: When you work in international, your portfolio is much more diverse. So, how do you build consistent brands that are locally relevant? One of the biggest challenges any global marketer has is finding that perfect balance between globally-scaled brands and locally-relevant brands and locally-relevant culture.

A best practice is putting the consumer at the center of it, and understanding that the consumer is different. There are also our universal truths, and they are what bind brands together, particularly as you think about how we bring the brand tone, expression and ethos to life. You really need to anchor it in something that’s universal. But locally, we’ll have nuances. In the past, there was more of a top-down approach to brand building when it came to global or international. Different cultures are a bit more homogeneous [today] because we have access to learn about different cultures and category dynamics. It requires marketers to think a little bit differently.

It requires us to think about how to be truly be scalable and true to what the brand stands for, but also be authentic and relevant at a local level, whether it’s talent or situation, occasion or cultural behaviors. All of those things have to come into play. You have to be comfortable with the fact that a truly global consumer isn’t one consumer. It’s actually lots of different consumers with a shared belief, a shared need, and ultimately being served by great global brands.

CM: Let’s talk about your Gatorade soccer initiative, 5V5. In 2022, the tournament for 14- to 16-year-olds was tied to the UEFA Women’s Champions League and was all-women for the first time. What was the strategy behind that choice?

MK: It’s been 26 years since Gatorade featured a female soccer player, in a Gatorade ad in 1997 featuring Mia Hamm in a Michael Jordan spot in the U.S. This was way before the momentum that came out of the World Cup in the U.S. around the women’s game. Gatorade was built in the U.S. and has expanded internationally over the last 20 or so years. The sport may be different, but the brand is the same. The focus on athletes is the same. But some of the things the U.S. may have done domestically have become more authentic to the world of sport and the world of brands.

And that is the women’s game. Gatorade 5V5 is an example. Gatorade outside the U.S. has been very focused on soccer for decades, as has been the case with Pepsi and others, because globally soccer is one of the biggest sports in the world, if not the biggest. The success of the U.S. women’s team and the investment being made in women’s football and women’s sports internationally has created this opportunity for brands to celebrate that.

The 5V5 program started out as a male-only program in many markets, but we have taken it to a whole different level. We’ve anchored it in our Champions League partnership, which also includes the Women’s Champions League. The last time we had a large-scale event pre-Covid, we had over 250 kids go to the UCL final and 56,000 kids involved in the program. And half of them were women’s teams. With 5V5, we extend our grassroots football programming and our passion for sport and ensure that we’re reinforcing that it’s an equal game.

CM: What are the other aspects of the campaign that surround the 5V5 tournament itself?

MK: The thing about 5V5, and any grassroots sport program, is that you’re going to have to reach consumers differently. We do a lot with social, particularly now with TikTok, and other platforms like Facebook prior to that. We recruit the players through general messaging, but we also leverage a lot of our sponsored athletes as well as the club partnerships we have. We are using talent and partnerships not just for traditional sponsorship and awareness, but actually recruitment, almost as ambassadors to get people involved in sport. And that’s something we’ve done for years. Brands that play in this space have to use talented athletes not just as ambassadors, but also as advocates and influencers to get people active into sport.

CM: How are you defining a grassroots marketing campaign? Do you have any best practices?

MK: Grassroots as a generic word is all about getting brand in hand, and in the context where it makes sense. So whether you’re sampling potato chips or soft drinks, or actually in our case Gatorade, trying to bring the benefits of a Gatorade for hydration and athletic performance onto a pitch or a sideline, the base principle is you’ve got to find a way to authentically and relevantly put your product into their hands. When you think about formative experience in sport, it’s a very different thing. It’s about starting young, working your way up, and providing both education and opportunity along the way. So for marketers thinking about grassroots, generically some people just think it’s about sampling, or the lowest-level activation.

But actually, grassroots should be seen as the base on which you build your funnel. It’s the base on which you create experiences. For some consumers, it’s the first time they interact with your brand or your product. That moment of truth is really important. And if you do it in a super authentic way, tied to something someone’s passionate about, you can actually create a fan for life. Grassroots is about branding and sampling—all of those table stakes—but it’s actually about the experience. And in sport, the experience is everything.

Grassroots is in many ways about a personal experience. It’s about a chance to try something new in some cases, but it’s also a chance for brands to reaffirm their role in a consumer’s life, or in the case of sport, it’s almost part of that formative experience, from being a young athlete to ultimately being a competitive and maybe a professional athlete in some cases.

CM: That’s a great point. Personally, my first memories of Gatorade were from when I played soccer as a kid.

MK: I’ll just build on that: I grew up in the U.S., and when I was a kid, if I didn’t show up on the pitch or on the sidelines or at practice with a Gatorade, I felt like I wasn’t like wearing my cleats, or I wasn’t prepared for the game. In other parts of the world, that behavior that was endemic to the sports drink market in the U.S. didn’t exist. So at the same time, we also have to educate people about the importance of hydration and the role that products like Gatorade play. That’s why we use the GSSI, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. We actually bring some of our GSSI scientists and PhDs to our 5V5 program to help them understand the importance of nutrition and hydration.

So not only are they there to participate in a tournament, but they’re actually [learning] valuable lessons on young athletes. It’s different for sport; it’s all about the experience. And like you said, when you first experience certain brands at certain times in your life, it actually leaves a mark. And our goal is to leave a mark that has meaning.

CM: Switching gears a bit, let’s talk about the 7UP rebrand you just launched, which is the first in seven years.

MK: We operate 7UP in about a hundred markets around the world, and this is an iconic brand for so many people. So when you restage your brand, you’ve got to be really thoughtful. I’d go as far as to say careful. Because it’s not just about design and aesthetic and packaging. It’s about what a visual identity means to an individual and how they’ve grown up with it.

For 7UP, this was a really important moment, because brands that have stature and really rich, deep roots with their fans as well as in culture need to have certain things that stay the same—but you also need to grow and evolve. This rebrand was about upliftment, so we spent a lot of time and thought about what makes 7UP great. You can talk about product characteristics, like bubbles and amazing lemon-lime flavor, but actually it’s that feeling of, physically and emotionally, being uplifted when you have a refreshing drink.

Then we worked with our design team and took inspiration from the existing category, but also looking other categories. What are the visual cues that can take you to an uplifted place? We’ve done that through design aesthetic, through color, through broader imagery. If you look at the packaging itself, it feels more modern. It brings to life movement, upward motion and ultimately upliftment visually. But at the same time, it’s still got that iconic 7 and that red UP, which will let anyone—old or young—look at that and say, that’s their 7UP.

In our category, it’s about bringing new users in and also making the existing users feel really excited about what we’re doing with the brand. That’s at the core. The more iconic the brand, the more important it is to actually look at your consumer and understand its role in different markets—and not lose the essence.

CM: How are you communicating the rebrand to the public?

MK: We’re going to continue to leverage digital as a major channel. We’re using our visual identity to refresh the visual experience. Sometimes over time, your packaging, graphics, identity—people just get used to it, and it becomes commonplace. And the moment you bring something new and different, it actually changes perception. So, bringing that visual identity through life, through digital, through out-of-home home, through campaigns, is going to be really important. And then the tone and the manner in which that will come across. We’re going to be in over 76 markets this year with this rebrand, and that’s going to come to life in locally-relevant ways, and moments where you’re uplifted amongst friends and family.

CM: In terms of marketing trends, what are you keeping an eye on this year? What should other marketers be paying attention to?

MK: First and foremost, you should always be looking at your consumer. I would warn all of us not to get too focused on shiny objects, and this includes technologies and other trends like that. That being said, if you can see how our consumers are evolving through new technologies and new tools, you [can] make sure you’re relevant. The role of technology, the role of Web3, the role of AI—it matters. The bigger question is, what do you do with it? The role of technology is enabling more personalized relationships with consumers where they’re having an impact on your brand and guiding you on how to tell your story and how to bring them into it.

I’m not a big fan of the word metaverse, because I don’t think anyone can really tell you what it is. I am a fan of how people embracing the technology will change how brands engage consumers. So whether it’s putting your brand into a gaming environment or a ROBLOX environment or a streaming environment that’s got augmented reality, it’s the evolution of the media that we had 20, 30 years ago, but in an entirely new context. Ultimately, it’s just a new way of marketing. It gives you data and it gives you the ability to do transactions of commerce.

And I think that at the end of the day, AI can make us smarter. It can make us more creative and it can make us challenge ourselves, because data is now at the point where it can help us almost predict or respond to things that are happening in real life. And as marketers, we need to see that as just one other input into the creative process. The risk is that people see it as the creative process. You’ve seen examples of brands who have used ChatGPT to tell their own stories. It’s amazing. But what that technology can’t do is bring the emotive heart, soul and the overall purpose of a brand to life.

The post Marketers on Fire: Mark Kirkham, SVP and CMO of PepsiCo International Beverages appeared first on Chief Marketer.

The fashion and apparel brand Esprit, known throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s for its colorful, oversized sweatshirts and ubiquitous three-striped logo, is seeking a revival on U.S. soil. And it brought on Ana Andjelic, former Chief Brand Officer of Banana Republic, to lead the charge.

Esprit’s new Global Chief Brand Officer is leaning into the brand’s heritage while modernizing it for the cultural moment, Andjelic told Chief Marketer. “There was a very innovative, creative undercurrent that propelled the brand to become what it became in the ‘80s and the ‘90s,” she says, “an unbelievable branding primer, in terms of graphic design, images, photography, our direction and store design… It was something that we now consider table stakes, but that was never done before.”

Her goal is two-fold: to remind Gen Xers and Boomers that Esprit is back after falling off the map, and to attract Gen Z through the signature Esprit “look.” We spoke with Andjelic about her vision and strategy for the brand’s comeback, the art and science of global brand-building, insights gleaned from previous marketing gigs and what it takes to succeed as a modern CMO.

Chief Marketer: What is your vision for Esprit from a brand perspective?

Ana Andjelic, Global Chief Brand Officer of Esprit: In terms of brand vision, it’s almost a dream gig in a sense that this is one of the iconic American—and then global—brands. Most people don’t even know that it was founded in California in 1968 in San Francisco, the same year the Gap was founded. There was a very innovative, creative undercurrent that propelled that brand to become what it became in the ’80s and the ’90s—an unbelievable branding primer, in terms of graphic design, images, photography, our direction, store design… That was something that we now consider table stakes, but that was never done before. They had Ettore Sottsass, the founder of Memphis Group, design their store. We still have the cues of Memphis design everywhere now. People are crazy about it. And that was 40 years ago. Then there is Oliviero Toscani, the legendary photographer who used real people in campaigns.

That’s what I doubled down on, that irreverence of the brand. We are playful, mischievous, we don’t take ourselves seriously. We do everything with a wink. That mischievous brand DNA is very relevant for 2023 and beyond. You see what Marni, Hermes and Gucci are doing… Even in luxury fashion; you have the pigeon bag now. There are memes, there are luxury items that are toys. You have playful Hermes windows. Everything is about that riff on “not ordinary.” So that’s where I see Esprit going. That sense of wonder, that sense of playfulness, that sense of game. And that is very relevant with how Gen Z is shopping: Everything is gamified. That is where I see the bridge between the future and the heritage.

CM: Following up on that, how are you leveraging the brand’s past?

AA: We have a two-fold goal, which is to remind people, like Gen X and Boomers, that we are back, because we went off the map. And then attract Gen Z through the Esprit look. Gen Z already has that look without even knowing it—very layered, oversized, unisex, metropolitan outdoor—which means hiking boots with a suit. That already exists. And then the colorful Esprit logo. They’ve seen it on Depop, on Thread, in marketplaces on TikTok. It’s familiar, but they’ve never heard of Esprit.

And then for our new retail popup, we honed in on the concept of the original brand, how it approached fashion advertising, marketing, merchandising, and so on. It’s also where a lot of current trends originated. If you [analyze] emerging trends, you go back to Esprit styling. When you look at all the advertising, their styling is unbelievably modern.

CM: The role entails leading Esprit’s global creative and design hub in New York. Can you talk about its purpose and direction?

AA: We’re building a brand marketing design office in New York right now. The whole idea is to lead Esprit design, from the Esprit look to seven signature items we are developing. Like the Fendi Baguette, for example, or the Gucci belt, or the Big Mac for McDonald’s. We want to be known and recognized on the street for seven signature items. That’s on the design side. On the marketing side, the vision is to have the latest and the greatest, the most cutting-edge marketing approach. That is a mix of always-on and campaign work, but very heavy on activating the cultural communities, the micro-influencers, and getting that cultural credibility.

And then the third one is the brand. It’s the brand creative, which is the aesthetics we are putting forward. And that aesthetics is very aligned the way we approach pop-ups. So this first spring campaign that we just shot is about what Esprit would look like if it was created now in 2023. So, a lot of mischief, a lot of movement, a lot of color—but in 2023. I don’t want to copy ourselves. I want to evolve. We took all the cues and the DNA and made it reborn in ’23.

CM: What are some lessons learned from your previous marketing roles that you’ve brought to your new gig?

AA: At Banana Republic, I came into a marketing and design organization that already had 200 people. And here, I’m building that 200 people from the first hire. We have 96 to go. It’s a completely different approach when you’re building something from the ground up than when you’re trying to change an already existing organization.

What I do know is that the window of opportunity is only so big, and with any rebrand, you have to move fast and be unbelievably decisive. You need to be brave, you need to be bold, and you need to take risks. And you need to have a clear aesthetic point of view. It’s not going to be for everyone, but that’s fine. So, a clarity of aesthetic, point of view, design approach, merchandising selection, the “look,” and the clarity of that world. Without that, you can’t even start.

CM: So you’re rebuilding Esprit’s U.S. presence from the ground up.

AA: Esprit was away from U.S. market for more than a decade. And this is a global role. Esprit exists in Europe under very different value propositions. It exists in Asia and is already similar to U.S. in certain markets like Taiwan and Hong Kong: They have been there, but they left. In South America and China, they never been there. So it’s a different challenge globally, but at the same time, the priority is to build the markets where Esprit has not been present and to reposition it in the markets where it has.

CM: How did you go about forming your brand vision? What was that process like?

AA: You look at four things. You look at what is happening culturally right now. I don’t look at trends; I look at culture. So that means the undercurrents, the deeper things that are at the cusp of happening. That’s number one. The second one is, who is your customer? Who are the personas? What is the geographic? What is the demographic? Who are we designing for? You’re not designing for a monolith. It’s not a mass audience. It’s like four different audiences at scale.

The third one is the company itself. You look at the assets. What are the company resources? And you look at the gap of where we need to be and where we are now, and who and what we need to get us there. The fourth one is competition. For me, it’s more in terms of price point. You compete with a certain set in terms of aesthetics. You compete with another set in terms of customer. You can compete in terms of culture. It’s a mishmash. I’m informed by the competition, but culture, customer and company informs me more.

CM: What trends in the marketplace should marketers be focusing on right now?

AA: I would recommend a strategic and holistic approach, which means looking at where the marketing connects with merchandising, where merchandise connects with design, where brand connects with the product, and where all of the above connects with physical retail and the experience. Look at the entire brand experience. That’s your job. Sure, you can use data, but why? To connect better with merchandising, to give direction to design the product better, to set the price. I recommend a holistic view in this role.

CM: For those marketers with aspirations toward the C-suite, what qualities and skills should they be honing?

AA: Left brain and right brain. It’s better if you have both. That means both creative and strategic thinking, and then scenario planning and system thinking because of what I said earlier. Rather than have a narrow focus and specialization, I would say the chief marketers for 2023 beyond are generalists. They need to speak the language of everyone, from CRM to performance marketing retargeting to our direction. And then not lose sight of the big picture.

The post Marketers on Fire: Esprit Global Chief Brand Officer Ana Andjelic appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Big brands—even those with household name recognition—require awareness campaigns, too. Take PepsiCo, whose recent brand campaigns have focused on reaching consumers on streaming services and social media platforms through video. AdExchanger looks at how the beverage brand is adjusting to shifting consumer behaviors, leveraging programmatic and tapping into cultural moments to remain relevant.

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Unilever brand Liquid I.V. has launched its first-ever national branding campaign across TV, OTT and out-of-home media channels to drive awareness and educate consumers about its hydration product. AdExchanger explores the company’s new approach to measurement, which taps media mix modeling, and its unique marketing journey from a Facebook and Instagram-based company to a successful business now primed to achieve scale.

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Statistics about the importance of brand purpose and its impact on purchasing behavior abound in the marketing industry. Here’s one: 66 percent of online respondents would consider a company’s purpose when deciding to make a purchase, according to Porter Novelli’s 2021 Purpose Perception Study And the numbers increase when considering trust, loyalty and even forgiving a company if it slips up.

So, when Elizabeth Drori joined as CMO of Sperry footwear last November, she begin establishing a purpose platform—grounded in its 87-year history—designed to break through beyond the boat shoe. Following is our conversation with Drori about the evolution of the Sperry brand, fashion merchandising strategies tapped from her Walmart days, how the company uses data from product launches to optimize consumer messaging, and more.

Chief Marketer: For your new “Make Waves” brand campaign, who is the target audience and what are the strategic marketing goals?

Elizabeth Drori, CMO of Sperry: We launched our brand campaign “Make Waves” with the goal of driving brand awareness and desire for Sperry. It’s the first time in a few years that we’re really investing behind the brand and not just product stories. It speaks to a lot of what we stand for, but it’s also a rallying cry for our consumers and encourages people to make the most of every moment, make your own path, make a difference. From a targeting perspective, we’re serving it to households ages 18 to 34.

CM: Is this target a shift for you?

ED: It’s a shift from where our current customer is. We had this audience 10 years ago and now we’re looking to get there again. Brands often reach a cycle where they have a target audience and they grow with that audience. And now that audience is the next generation and you need to reach a younger consumer again. That’s where we are. Our current customers are a bit older, so we’re looking to drive that resonance with younger consumers in the next generation today.

CM: How are you accomplishing that through specific channels?

ED: From the media standpoint, the brand campaign is running on YouTube, for the demographic targets we talked about, as well as interest segments. But then we also market on other channels that resonate. We have been experimenting on TikTok. We do a lot on Instagram. We use influencer marketing.

CM: How are you evolving the brand to recruit those younger consumers once again?

ED: We’re doing a few things differently. First we updated our visual look and feel, which ranges from modernizing our logo, which we refreshed at the beginning of the year, to colors, fonts, the topography as well as styling. We’re trying to portray a younger, more fashion-forward audience just through our creatives and how you visualize the brand, no matter of the channel. We’re also partnering with brands and people of influence. As I mentioned, we work with influencers and style leaders.

We’re also doing a lot of product collaborations. One example is a collaboration with Warm and Wonderful, which is the British brand known for the sheep sweater Princess Diana made famous. That collaboration’s coming up later this summer; we shot a campaign with them and Madelaine Petsch of “Riverdale.” We have some of that creative out in the marketplace right now. And then finally, investing in the brand through the Make Waves campaign and also through a new purpose platform that we call “All for water, water for all.” We’re trying to create a desirable brand by making it more purpose-driven and more of a lifestyle brand.

CM: What are the challenges of marketing to a younger audience with a brand that has an 87-year history? How do you tap into its history while also refreshing it for new customers?

ED: Sperry has an incredible heritage and backstory. We were founded by Paul Sperry who had a passion for sailing and yet a problem with slipping on boat decks. Our story is that he noticed one winter day how easily his dog was able to walk across an icy pond without slipping, and after looking at the groves in his paws, he decided to invent boat shoes and sneakers that have those grooves cut out as traction. We have this powerful story, and it is still the foundation of our brand in terms of being innovators, adventurous, explorers.

We’re a brand that gets passed down from generation to generation, so we have a lot to build on. How do we stay close to our roots, but then make the brand feel relevant for today? This story gives us is a connection to the water. We’ve done a lot of research and exploration on what an association with the water means for consumers today. How do we unlock that power of water and harness the joy and associated emotional well being to the water for consumers today?

The second aspect of it is our role in fashion. Post-World War II, Sperry became known for an association with nautical, preppy-style. JFK wore us, Paul Newman wore us. We have these amazing associations, but we still need to modernize how to stay relevant in fashion and culture today. What’s wonderful for us is that preppy fashion is returning in a more modern aesthetic–more diverse, more open… we’re trying to hone in on that. How do we take this amazing legacy and focus on what it means to be connected to the water, and how do we unlock that? And then how do we continue to lean into the preppy trend in a way that feels current?

CM: You’ve had experience launching new brands at Walmart in the past. What did you learn that you’re applying at Sperry?

ED: At Walmart, we were focused on building fashion credibility. We had a strategy that we called “borrowing fashion credibility.” You can advertise yourself, but it’s even more impactful when other people talk about your brand and your product. At Walmart, we leaned heavily on influencers and content partners to change perception. At Sperry, to the extent that people perceive the brand as something only for the elite, there’s still a perception challenge to address. We’re leaning into partners and influencers in a similar way.

And then we’re also paying very careful attention to how we show up. We want to portray the brand in a relatable, youthful, approachable way, but we still love the water. We’re optimistic. We seek adventure. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’ve done a lot to portray ourselves as a much more open and democratic brand, and then also leaning into partners to drive that fashion credibility.

CM: How has Sperry’s brand purpose evolved?

ED: I mentioned that we have a new brand purpose platform, “All for water, water for all.” Before I got to the brand, we didn’t have a purpose platform. We were doing some things in the sustainability space. We supported the LGBTQ+ community, but we didn’t have anything that tied all that we were doing together. This platform was meant to create a purpose-driven strategy that’s grounded in our heritage. “All for water” is the sustainability piece. Water is the world’s biggest playground. How do we ensure we protect it? We have really great goals: By 2024, we want half of what we produce to be made from primarily recycled materials. We have a collection that we call “SeaCycled.” That’s growing more and more, and we’re very close to achieving that goal.

We work with Waterkeeper Alliance, which is the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to clean and drinkable water. We’re doing a lot with them this year and making the sustainability piece a bigger part of our brand. And then “water for all” is something we’re activating this year. It shapes our vision for a world where everyone, everywhere, has access to the water and feels welcome there. When we came up with this platform, we started digging into some of the reasons why people of color don’t have access to water. It’s complicated. They’ve been excluded because of discrimination. There’s fear that dates back to slavery. There are socioeconomic factors. There’s so many reasons.

What we started to learn is that the solve is very grassroots. There isn’t one national or global organization that’s doing anything here. So we partnered with a media organization to create documentaries telling stories of entrepreneurs that are making a difference in the space in their own way and in their own communities. We’re starting to roll that content out this summer and will look to amplify their stories, and we’re really excited about having this conversation, learning ourselves, and then having that conversation more publicly later this summer.

CM: How does Sperry use data to achieve marketing goals?

ED: One of the biggest ways is through our product launches. We are launching new products regularly and we use data to assess their performance. We’ll track data that we get from Sperry.com to understand if we’re bringing in a new consumer. And if it’s an existing consumer, what are they cross-shopping? What’s their demographic information? And then we’ll also be tracking how fast product is selling through across all points of market, whether it’s Sperry.com or through our wholesale partners. Those pieces of information give us a solid feedback loop for how we can optimize our advertising and how to lean into what’s working and understand for future launches.

CM: Lastly, what are some marketing trends that the industry should be watching right now?

ED: One, for fashion in particular, continues to be influencer marketing. We see that evolve as new channels like TikTok come up and content changes. It’s an important validation mechanism and it can also drive sales. And it requires a lot of test-and-learn. There’s really no one-size-fits-all approach. The metaverse and everything that’s happening there is also a trend that people need to pay attention to and figure out if there’s a way in or not.

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Marketing departments increasingly rely on measurement and metrics to support and drive business goals. But according to Ben Webley, CMO of game developer Scopely, who recently spoke with CM sister pub AdExchanger, performance marketing is about more than mathematics. It should also include engaging user communities and encouraging them to stick around.

“If we can understand people and their motivations, we can build better gaming and marketing experiences for them,” Webley says. “Mathematical performance drives the mobile gaming industry today to the point where it’s losing sight of the players.” In order to reach a wide audience, Scopely combines story-driven creative, from titles with rich IP such as “Star Trek Fleet Command,” “WWE Champions” and “Marvel Strike Force,” and media mix modeling. He also stresses that it’s important to focus on engaging existing players and communities in order to keep players in the game.

It’s about marketing holistically, in his view, which entails focusing on growth and metrics but also looking at users as people and determining what makes tick, what they play and how they spend money. “As CMO, my role incorporates marketing, growth and monetization, so I don’t just care about bringing players into games, but also about how to keep them connected and engaged,” he says.

For more on Scopely’s human approach to performance marketing, read on in AdExchanger.

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Small luxury cruise line Lindblad Expeditions had paused ad spend in March and focused on a content program to entertain customers in lockdown. It had planned to ramp up spending in July, but the recent rise in COVID-19 cases forced the company to postpone promotions until 2021. Now, it’s running webinars that highlight safety and cleaning procedures to consumers and also using data on consumer sentiment to gauge when people are ready to travel.

Other brands, including Bayer and Pandora, have focused heavily on ecommerce sales and direct-to-consumer tactics to reach consumers while at home. And Pandora is shifting spending on advertising across the country depending on particular states’ reopening policies. For more on the shift in brand marketing strategies during the pandemic, check out AdExchanger.

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Maybe.

U.S.-based Walmart discovered this in 1998 when it opened its first German store. Germans, it turns out, don’t appreciate being greeted in the front lobby by a friendly staffer in a blue waistcoat. They also don’t know how to react when employees smile at them. What are standard practices in the U.S. actually alienate German consumers. Walmart eventually scrapped these policies in Germany.

Say hullo/hola/bonjour to glocalization

Smart brands are learning Walmart’s lesson by using the concept of “glocalization” to grow their market share in foreign markets.

First coined in 1980 by sociologist and theorist Roland Robertson, glocalization is “the simultaneity—the co-presence—of both universalizing and particularizing tendencies.” In other words, “glocal” companies adjust their global brands to suit the language, customs, laws, shopping habits and preferences of local markets.

Looking to bring glocalization to your international strategy? Here are five ways to help your global brand succeed in diverse local markets.

1. Stay flexible, but establish guardrails.

Balance is key with glocalization. Teams need the flexibility to be able to broadly adapt the global brand to fit local opportunities—but they also need guardrails to ensure the global brand doesn’t get lost in the process.

For example, American fast-food chains that aim to penetrate the Asia-Pacific region will need to consider that dietary preferences vary widely from market to market. In India, many consumers choose not to eat beef for religious reasons. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has the highest per-capita combined meat and seafood consumption in the world. A single strategy applied equally to both markets will be doomed to fail.

To meet these realities, companies must adapt their menus, product offerings and services to match local customs and preferences. And yet, the customer experience must still represent the unique global brand. Apple, after all, must still be recognizable as Apple.

2. Understand customer segments.

True glocalization involves understanding how to segment customers in every market. Consumers in foreign markets respond best when global brands customize their products and services to reflect their local languages and customs.

A good example of this is Lays potato chips. While the brand is immediately recognizable whether you’re in Cairo or Calgary, the brand has kept its finger on the pulse of local flavor preferences: Magic Masala in India, Ketchup in Canada, Red Caviar in Russia and Pickle in Romania. Even the venerable Walkers brand in England, which is now owned by Lays, shares an almost-identical logo and packaging but still offers classic British flavors like Cheese and Onion or Prawn.

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3. Be careful with translation technology.

To make a global brand local, think through how technology will impact that strategy.

For example, most websites in the U.S. display in English and possibly Spanish. Websites in Europe, however, need to be accessible by customers who speak 24 official languages in more than 44 countries. As if that weren’t challenging enough, 40 languages in Europe have one million speakers or more.

Localizing brand messages across dozens of languages requires a robust technology platform capable of auditing and maintaining this complex language structure.

4. Create the right org structure.

It’s helpful to assign brand interpreters, to coin a phrase, who will manage the localization of the brand in each market. Picture glocalization as a bicycle wheel, with the global brand in the middle and the local markets at the end of the spokes. Someone in the hub must be responsible for the global brand, and someone must own the spoke. With the right organizational structure, managing the confluence of brand management, technology and operations will make glocalization seamless.

Companies frequently opt for either a brand-based structure or a service-line-based structure. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, typically centralize their technology platforms, but they organize their sales and marketing teams around branded products. This structure ensures the company can drive maximum innovation and efficiencies, while also enabling the “boots on the ground” staff to quickly adjust product go-to-market strategies as needed.

5. Focus on customer experience.

Ultimately, glocalization is all about delivering an amazing customer experience, no matter where in the world the customer happens to be.

Whirlpool has done a marvelous job expanding into foreign markets, primarily because they have taken careful note of these markets’ needs. In India, they completely re-engineered the design of their washing machines’ agitators. Why? So that Indian women could wash saris without the lengthy piece of fabric getting tangled and ruined. By being thoughtful and delivering an experience that made customers’ lives easier, Whirlpool helped build brand loyalty in this market.

Clearly, succeeding in diverse markets has never been more challenging. And yet, companies have never been more prepared to tackle this challenge head on. The secret lies in taking the time to understand the nuances of each individual market, and then making more informed decisions to create and deliver the most amazing customer experience possible. Do glocalization well, and the world is yours.

Bibhakar Pandey is vp, customer experience, marketing services at Capgemini.

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