Marketing Today With Alan Hart

This week's episode of “Marketing Today” is déjà vu all over again. Alan talks with Bob Hoffman, the first-ever return guest on the “Marketing Today” podcast. Hoffman, famously known as the Ad Contrarian, is an advertising veteran, best-selling author, and sought-after speaker and advisor. His latest book, “BadMen: How Advertising Went from a Minor Annoyance to a Major Menace,” provides Hoffman's view on the state of online advertising.Hoffman casts an unflinching eye on today's marketers, and he doesn't mince words in discussing what he sees as the inherent evil in today's online marketing and the changes that are necessary: “We have to find a new model of online advertising that's not based on tracking, that's not based on surveillance and does not subvert our right to privacy.” He goes on to add, “We've turned the web into a nonstop marketing machine. And advertising used to be about imparting information, but now it's equally about collec

In this week's episode of “Marketing Today,” Alan talks with Davis Smith, the founder and CEO of Cotopaxi, and outdoor gear company with a humanitarian mission at its core. It was his experience growing up and later serving missions in countries like the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Bolivia — where he witnessed extreme poverty firsthand — that planted the seeds for his career path, and the eventual founding of Cotopaxi.In describing Cotopaxi, Smith says, “We're a brand. We're a brand that is about inspiring people to go out and do good. We're a brand that believes that capitalism can be a force for good in the world. A brand that believes that businesses need to look beyond their bottom lines to try find ways they can impact their communities and people around the world.”About his values-driven approach, Smith adds, “I'm still learning…but I think if all of us start making these efforts, man, what a wonderful world we'll live in.”Highlights from this wee

In this week's episode of “Marketing Today,” Alan talks with Douglas Zarkin, who's been vice president and CMO at Pearle Vision since 2012. Under Zarkin's leadership, Pearle won Effies in the Health Care Services category in 2015 and 2016. And in 2017, Zarkin and his team took home a Silver Clio for Pearle's “Small Moments” equity campaign.During his conversation with Alan, Zarkin touches on his drive to make an impact on the trajectory of the companies he works for, the difference between the “need to haves” and the “nice to haves,” and that while he admires the transformative power of Apple, he wonders if they've started to drink their own Kool-Aid (there's a marketing metaphor for you).And despite the fact Amazon has a lot of retailers shaking in their boots, according to Zarkin, it's the marketers willing to face that acid test who will succeed. “Amazon is not a retail killer,” says Zarkin. “What Amazon is, is basically a mirror that any br

In this week's episode of “Marketing Today,” Alan talks with Horst Stipp. Presently, Stipp is the Executive Vice President of Research and Innovation: Global and Ad Effectiveness at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF). Prior to his time at ARF, Stipp enjoyed a 40-year career in consumer research for NBC, where his insatiable curiosity found him doing everything from finding ways to optimize the Smurfs to helping the network understand the broad appeal of the Olympics.His years of experience have helped Stipp glean many insights from today's fragmented media landscape, not the least of which is particularly pertinent in the way consumers today enjoy entertainment programming: “On the one hand, it makes it harder to reach a mass audience. But on the other hand, it also makes it easier to target specific audiences because now there are programs directed at smaller segments of the audience, and they can be targeted better.”Highlights from this week's “Marketing Today” pod

For his “Marketing Today” podcast, Alan has interviewed people from across the country and around the world. In this episode, though, he talks with someone who works in the same building — McKinney Chief Creative Officer Jonathan Cude.Cude got his start in advertising as a secretary at an Atlanta ad agency. Then, after a stop at portfolio school, he made his way to Portland and Wieden+Kennedy before arriving at McKinney. He's been awarded just about every industry accolade while working on clients such as Nike, Diet Coke, Audi, and Samsung. In 2015, Adweek named him one of the 50 Vital Leaders in Tech, Media and Marketing.For Cude, the two most important qualities for creatives to possess in advertising are fearlessness and resiliency. Talking about fearlessness, Cude says, “I do believe that the creative people in our industry are artists. But we don't so much get paid for the artistry as we do the ability to withstand the critiquing and pulling apart of ‘our babies.'” As

Lincoln Bjorkman is the global chief creative officer for Wunderman — a network that has more than 170 offices in over 60 countries. During the course of his conversation with Alan Hart, he discusses the challenges, opportunities and constant change inherent in leading over 2,000 creatives worldwide. And he talks at length about the impact of the digital transformation on the creative role: “It's now the air we breathe,” says Bjorkman. “If you want to be a successful creative…you have to change and grow and learn all the time. You cannot ever be set in your ways — you have to master new tools and new disciplines.”And he believes the future of marketing is about creatives constantly challenging themselves and raising the bar. “The changes are going to be profound…I don't want marketing to go away. And I want agencies to add a lot of value. It (marketing) will only do that if we have someone saying, ‘That's great. What's next? Let's do more. Let's ma

Paul Smith is the CMO for Tangram, a Los Angeles-based company that designs and creates well-considered, efficient and effective workplaces with the core belief that collaboration and a people-focused approach are the fuel for innovation.During this podcast, Smith talks about what he believes are the keys for success: authenticity and being true to a company's culture. Both of which, for him, go hand in hand.“More and more brands are culture based,” says Smith. “They're a direct reflection of who we hire, how we work, and who we want to recruit. So, when you build your space, it's not just about putting your colors on the wall…it's about creating an environment that enables your people to live and breathe the message and the mission of your organization — and making sure you're authentically living the brand and culture you're trying to promote.”And he touches on something that has defined his approach and fuels him to this day: “The constant desire to keep learning,

This is the third and final installment of Alan's back-to-school podcast master class in marketing. This week, his conversation is with Byron Sharp, professor of marketing science at the University of South Australia. There, he is also director of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, the world's largest research institute studying marketing. Sharp's book, “How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know,” first published in 2011, continues to grow in popularity with marketers and academicians alike. And in this podcast, he and Alan discuss many aspects of the book in detail, including all things brand: from brand growth to brand building and brand loyalty. Their conversation is far ranging, with Sharp touching on such topics as the scientific revolution — “It's a wonderful thing, but it's still got a long way to go.” — and the future of marketing — “The future belongs to the thinking marketers, rather than just the doers.”Highlights from this week's “Marketing Today” podcast include:The reluctant academic: Sharp tra

This is the second installment of Alan's back-to-school podcast master class in marketing. He's been providing great insight through his conversations with some of the greatest academic minds in the discipline. Today, his conversation is with Kevin Lane Keller. Keller is the E.B. Osborn professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Considered to be one of the best business school professors today, he's the author of “Strategic Brand Management,” which is referred to by many as the “branding bible,” and he is co-author of the classic textbook, “Marketing Management.”Keller's passion for marketing comes through in many of the observations he makes during the podcast, and two aspects of that passion are empathy and curiosity. Growing up, he developed that empathy, which, for him, boils down to “being able to really understand how other people think.” And his curiosity bleeds through when he talks about marketing itself: “If you love marketing, there's always something happening that

Over the next three weeks, Alan takes us back to school with a podcast master class in marketing. To do this, he'll be talking to some of the greatest academic minds in the discipline. And today his conversation is with Philip Kotler. Considered by many as both “The Marketing Guru” and “The Most Influential Marketer of All Time,” Kotler discusses just a few of the many books he's written on marketing, from “Marketing Management” (now in its 15th edition) to his most recent effort, “Confronting Capitalism.”In speaking about “Confronting Capitalism,” Kotler touches on the danger he foresees in the growing inequality of income that forces many to live paycheck to paycheck and rely on going into debt to purchase the things they need to survive: “There is such high indebtedness of the working class, and that is going to be fatal to the economy.”Highlights from this week's “Marketing Today” podcast include:Kotler talks about why he chose marketing as his profession. (2:26)From a foundational idea to the social impa

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with Bill Blubaugh, senior brand director of sweets and refreshments at The Hershey Company. In this podcast, they discuss the Jolly Rancher brand and its “A New Media Model to Transform a Brand that Sucks” campaign.In his conversation with Hart, Blubaugh talked about how effective marketing is more than hitting your marks and checking off boxes, it has to connect viscerally. “You have to market to consumers in a way that motivates them,” said Blubaugh. “Because just showing up is only part of the game.” The campaign was personal in a lot of ways for Blubaugh, especially in the way it's impacted his career. “Looking back 18 months after the campaign, it was really kind of a career-defining moment,” said Blubaugh. “For me, now, I feel like these brave new channels, this brave new media model is really not that difficult and not that different, it just requi

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with Bill Beck, vice president of brand marketing at Whirlpool. In this podcast, they discuss the “Care Counts” campaign.In his conversation with Hart, Beck touches on the factors that combined to create Whirlpool's successful “Care Counts” campaign, but he also talked about the thrill of working on the well-known brands of the Whirlpool family: “These are iconic brands, and you get to work with them and do really, really neat things…whether it's product innovations or new ways to talk about it in-market, it's a lot of fun.”Beck also analyzed both sides of the coin in talking about what he views as one of the biggest challenges and opportunities for marketers today: big data. “Big data is one of the coolest and scariest things out there,” says Beck. “As our world becomes more connected, there's just a ton of data out there. And we as marketers really hav

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, I spoke with Angela Gusse, marketing director for Pop-Tarts at The Kellogg Company. In this podcast, we discuss the “Pop-Tarts Soda-Mazing” campaign.During the conversation, Gusse talks about her definition of marketing success, which she breaks down quite simply: “For me, marketing is effective when it helps you sell more product, that's fundamentally what we're trying to do.” But, as with most things, there's more to it than that. And, for Gusse, that means a brand also has to overcome barriers prevalent in today's fragmented marketing universe: “Our message has to be interesting and relevant enough to break through the clutter.” In the midst of that clutter, Gusse sees great opportunity, especially in creating ways for consumers to connect with brands they love. “The opportunity for us is to figure out how to advertise in way that breaks through but doesn't feel intrusive,”

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with George Felix, director of brand communications at KFC. In this podcast, they discuss KFC's “The Return of Colonel Sanders” campaign.Felix describes the North Star of the campaign as a return to what the brand stood for when it was great: Finger lickin' good chicken, red-and-white buckets and the Colonel himself — whether it's the Extra Crispy Colonel or the Colonel intent on launching chicken sandwiches into space.Interestingly, this isn't the first time Felix has played a part in the renaissance of a brand. He discusses his work on the Old Spice “Smell Like a Man” campaign and how what he learned there about decision making played a defining role in his career: “You need to have conviction. You need to trust your instincts — trust your gut. There's not always a silver bullet or a number that's going to answer your question.” Highlights from this week's &ld

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with Jeff Wurtzel, senior brand manager at Mars/Wrigley, who oversees the Extra Gum brand. They discuss Extra Gum's “Unwrapping A Love Story” campaign — everything from the key insight, music choice, and the steps and surprises Wurtzel's team faced along the way.In the course of the interview, Wurtzel identifies two elements that are critical to the success of a brand: The ability to entertain and an eye ever-focused on the future. Speaking about brands, Wurtzel says: “There are so many ways they can entertain and reach and inform…and the opportunity to connect is huge. When you do it right, you can be so highly effective.” As for his eye on the future, Wurtzel opines, “I think the marketplace (consumers) will reward the companies that have the smartest vision and mission, and level of transparency…and I think that consumers, with the power that they have, wil

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with Kristina Duncan who, as vice president for global marketing communications at Mattel, oversees all global branding, advertising, retail merchandising and digital creative for the Barbie brand.Duncan and Hart discuss the “Imagine the Possibilities” campaign, an effort that aimed to accomplish two objectives for the Barbie brand: Drive business and change perception. In doing this they had to orchestrate a seismic shift to reintroduce and recommunicate the brand to consumers. The campaign lived into its purpose using this succinct statement as a guide: “The brand exists to inspire and nurture the limitless potential in all girls.” You can witness the delight the campaign delivered here.Duncan also identifies and discusses the key trait responsible for her success — she's the ultimate collaborator: “I've always seen myself as someone who loves to be a great partner and loves t

As Adobe's head of travel and hospitality strategy, Julie Hoffmann leaves no stone — and certainly no piece of data — unturned. After spending 18 years in the Las Vegas trenches working for the likes of MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, Hoffmann now spends her time at Adobe elevating brands like Marriott, Southwest and Hyatt.Hoffmann possesses an unswerving belief in the power of data. It's that belief, combined with a journey she took to Texas as an 8-year-old and a thirst for innovation, that informs her unique marketing acumen.In this podcast, she talks about accompanying her father to Austin, Texas, where he was developing rehabilitation programs for the blind, helping them to navigate in a sighted world to improve their life. Their shared journey shaped the way she works today, causing her to filter her actions through this lens: “How do you make someone's life better? How do you make the world better?”And Hoffmann's take on how brands need to evolve also serves

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with Ryan Davis, global marketing communications director for Overwatch, a first-person shooter game developed by Blizzard Entertainment.In this podcast, Davis discusses the thinking behind the launch of Overwatch, the critically acclaimed and commercially successful game that debuted in May of last year. For the main focus of their marketing, Davis and Blizzard went over the top, creating 15-foot-tall action figures, complete with packaging, to promote the game.While thinking big, Davis also believes in the power of the relationships Blizzard builds with their players and fans. After all, they share a mindset: “We're all gamers. Everybody's really enthusiastic about doing stuff that we really think is cool and the players will love.” He goes on to add, “We're building a relationship with our players and with our fans that we want to be long lasting. We want to be really genuine with them, listen

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with 2017 Effie-winning marketers, Alan Hart talks with Pete Carter who, as marketing director at Procter & Gamble, heads up the Pantene business.Carter talks in detail about Pantene's “#DadDo” campaign. The 2016 campaign was unveiled, somewhat unconventionally, leading up to and during Super Bowl 50 (the league eschewed the use of a Roman numerals that year to highlight the game's golden anniversary). The campaign utilized a series of how-to videos and in-store activations before culminating in a 30-second spot that did not air during the game. Carter describes it as a Super Bowl spot without the Super Bowl buy.One aspect of the campaign Carter touches on is that they knew they had a powerful idea but were faced with logistical challenges in getting it in front of people during the advertising industry's highest-profile extravaganza. Ultimately, Carter and Pantene went for it. Carter summed up how they arrived at their decision: “You know wh

Kathleen Dunlop is global marketing director for the Unilever brand, Vaseline. In this week's “Marketing Today” podcast, she talks about “The Vaseline Healing Project,” a social-mission initiative created and developed in collaboration with BBH and the nonprofit organization, Direct Relief. That effort was recognized with a 2017 Effie Award in the Personal Care category. In her discussion with Alan Hart, she also touches on experiences that have shaped her, particularly her mission to Jordan as part of “The Vaseline Healing Project,” and how efforts there were “literally helping people get back on their feet.” And she talks about brands connecting with consumers through purposeful storytelling with a conscience: “The most powerful stories today, the ones that seem to be connecting the most with the people who buy our products, are the ones about purpose, the ones that take a stand…If you don't take a stand, and people can be indifferent to you,