Your quality of engagement with customers hinges on how useful your customer data is. With deep insight into customer behaviors and thinking processes, you can make an impact on your core consumer base. However, getting this customer data isn’t as easy as it initially seems. The accuracy of data depends on how the business intends to collect it. The methodology shouldn’t be invasive and should encourage the consumer to trust the company with their data. That trust is built on a rapport that the brand needs to establish with its customers over time.
With better customer data, the insights that you generate to connect with your consumers would be more substantial. You’ll find that your marketing efforts have more direction and engagement with the audience. However, the success of these efforts still depends heavily on the quality of data used to obtain those insights. The principle of “Garbage In, Garbage Out” is as true for data analysis as it is for any other technical field.
The entrepreneurs from Ad Age Collective are well-versed in how good customer data can impact their business’s efforts in marketing, so we asked them their secrets when it comes to wrangling higher quality data from their consumers.
1. Start with the source.
More accurate customer data needs to start with the source. Assign the individual or the demographic cluster a unique customer ID. You can then input various strategies across different platforms, changing the creative, media and messaging, but targeting the same customer or demographic to see which elements of the campaign strategy are more effective and deliver the highest ROI. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
2. Go after the ‘why,’ not just the ‘what.’
Tons of data is available on what customers do, both at your brand and away. That data does not tell us why they do it. Accurate data comes from identifying insights into the core of a customer and unlocking the drivers of behavior. That insight makes it easy to connect with customers and make action inevitable. – Arjun Sen, ZenMango
3. Seek noninvasive, regular feedback.
The key to gaining new customers is understanding your existing ones. Tools like Retently allow regular customer data to be gathered without overburdening clients. Doing this will allow you to pick up on trends — similar pain points that caused clients to choose your business or best aspects of working with your business, all of which can be used for more targeted campaigns to attract new leads. – Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
4. Set up loyalty programs.
They are not new, but they have the strong benefit of being “opt-in” in a privacy-sensitive world. They also offer an explicit exchange of value, i.e. your company provides loyalty currency in exchange for certain actions or information from your customers. Sometimes, tried and true is just that. If you are seeking passive data collection, talk to companies that aggregate mobile data. – Dan Beltramo, Onclusive (formerly AirPR)
5. Connect data with other digital and offline points.
Brands rely on first-party data to understand customers, but it only tells half the story. It’s important for brands to connect data with other digital and offline data points. If brands can take the data available to them and connect it using innovative technology, such as AI and ML, they can achieve the elusive single customer view. That leads to more relevant messages and effective campaigns. – Kevin Dean, Experian
6. Say goodbye to siloed point solutions.
Today, the challenge is that each function of the revenue team has its own suite of applications. With disparate data, integration gaps and lack of tight coordination, you can kiss your dreams of accurate insights goodbye. To uncover, orchestrate and utilize valuable buyer data, the entire revenue team needs to utilize one cohesive account-based platform with AI and big data built into the core. – Latane Conant, 6sense
7. Be careful how you define your competitive arena.
Marketers tend to envision zero-sum games within product categories, and design research to report within that arena; meanwhile, customers may be shifting behavior to buy outside your defined arena. Design research that lets you discover if your true competition is entirely off your radar. Who gets a bigger slice of the pie doesn’t mean much if your customers have switched to cake. – Scott Montgomery, Bradley and Montgomery (BaM)
A brand is a promise that a business makes to its customers. You can find this definition littered across the internet, but it doesn’t tell you exactly what that promise should be. Brand promises are crafted through their stories. Brand stories try to communicate the brand’s worth to consumers in a noninvasive way, which allows the potential buyer to connect and form a relationship with the brand. Today, many brands see the brand story as a way to humanize their corporate face so that consumers feel more comfortable with them.
Building a brand story requires a professional to focus on the audience rather than the product. The company already knows in great detail what the product does and how it benefits the consumer. The brand story tries to communicate that to the buyer, while at the same time making the story focus on the customer. The process of changing a brand story from a business-centric model to a consumer-centric model requires a lot of skill.
These professionals from Ad Age Collective have learned how to present the brand story best to engage customers and build a rapport. We asked them what things a company should be mindful of when developing their brand story into a compelling narrative. Here’s what they had to say.
1. Be authentic and consistent.
Be authentic, period. A majority of consumers, especially the younger generations, demand it as they want to feel inspired, to have an honest connection and be part of a like-minded community. Avoid inconsistencies between your image of the brand and its reality, as it will have a material impact on brand perception and equity. – Kurt Kaufer, Ad Results Media
2. Think more about hearing it than saying it.
You want your brand story to say certain things about your company and you are going to put a lot of thought into that. Put a similar amount of energy into understanding how your target personas are going to hear the story and the emotions that it will elicit. The recent Peloton ad that raised some controversy is an example of a story that was heard differently by some than was anticipated. – Dan Beltramo, Onclusive (formerly AirPR)
3. Be honest about who you are.
Another way of putting it is to be genuine. Your brand should be an extension of the honest truth about who you are, what you stand for and your reason for being. And it should connect logically and emotionally with a need or value you and your constituents share. – Todd Morgano, Falls Communications
4. Humanize the brand.
A brand needs to have a personality and something to resonate with. If you can give your brand innate human characteristics that people can relate to, they will feel more drawn to the brand naturally without even knowing why it is so compelling. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
5. Find balance between what matters and what’s true.
A compelling brand story must converge on the epicenter of three components: It must be culturally relevant, emotionally compelling and built on something true to the brand and organization. Brands must balance stories that matter with their ability to be true to the story. -Reid Carr, Red Door Interactive
6. Elicit an emotional response.
A product doesn’t become a brand until it is connected with feelings, experiences, memories or utility in a person’s mind. A brand is an emotional connection built over time to which consumers default, especially when choosing among products with similar attributes. Your brand story must elicit emotion and be sustainable to create consumer connections that withstand the test of time. -Sean Cunningham, VAB
7. Know your brand’s natural persona.
Every brand has its own natural persona. Authenticity comes from knowing the persona clearly, being consistent and comfortable with it. Connecting to why a brand exists adds purpose that resonates with the customer emotions. The blending of authenticity and purposefulness creates long-term feeling equity, which is essential for meaningful connection. In the end, we are all in the feeling business. -Arjun Sen, ZenMango
8. Be relatable and purpose-driven.
It may be overused, but starting with the “why” is the foundation of a compelling brand story. No one cares about your products, what they do or what you’re selling until they care about you! A brand story that has a strong “why” will always win, because people like to do business with those that share their innate values. The more relatable you are, the more people will care. – Patrick Ward,Rootstrap
People enjoy it when others appreciate them. This little fact has resulted in a lot of companies doing customer appreciation campaigns that have attracted record amounts of leads. In an online setting, a thank you page is a perfect example of showing appreciation to clients. Yet, despite the usefulness of this recognition, many companies simply overlook the inclusion of a thank you page, much to their detriment. Businesses need to let consumers know how much they value their business.
In fact, a thank you page should form the core of a business’s post-conversion strategy. Customer engagement and satisfaction are crucial metrics here, and a well-designed thank you page might be able to sway a consumer to become a return customer. But what are the essential elements of a thank you page? What are the things that make this page stand out to a consumer and draw them in to buy from the company again?
These professionals from Ad Age Collective have experience with great customer service and offer their advice on the critical elements of a thank you page and how to incorporate them into a website design if companies want to retain happy customers.
1. Reflect the brand tone and respect the relationship.
There is never a more powerful moment in the customer life cycle than in the time when you get to show appreciation for their business. The thank you page (or any “thank you” moment) should reflect both the brand’s tonality, but also respect the relationship. Brands should recognize and customize a first-time purchase differently than extreme loyalty. – Reid Carr, Red Door Interactive
2. Personalize it to reflect each client’s experience.
A thank you page is often overlooked in the post-conversion strategy. But it can do as much harm as good if not done right. The page should be personalized, reflective of the consumer’s experience and ideally have a simple call to action to bring that person back. If the experience has been negative, give them a place to raise the issue. A misplaced “thank you” can be the last time you see them. – Maggie O’Neill, Peppercomm
3. Record a thank you video.
Many businesses struggle to build genuine relationships with their customers. An easy way to overcome this challenge is to record a thank you video as the company owner and place it on the thank you page. This works because it puts a face to a name, and it’s easier to build relationships with people. Also, it shows that you truly care about every customer, which separates you from the competition. – Maxwell Finn, Unicorn Innovations
4. Give them some value straight up.
Fatigue from filling out forms or signing a contract is no joke. When a customer completes this, it isn’t enough to merely say “thank you” — show how much they mean to your business by giving them some value. Chances are, if you’ve onboarded them, you know some of their business challenges. Give them a free e-book or tips for quick wins that could help them address some of those challenges now. – Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
5. Convey trustworthiness and likeability.
A creative way of saying “thank you,” gifting or following up has an art to it. While the best campaigns are managed by a large strategic campaign team, clients ultimately want to work with people they like and trust. Showing your thank you strategy is a good way of getting insight into how a potential client would feel when they become an actual client. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
When launching an ad campaign, one important decision you’ll have to make is choosing the appropriate platform. After all, you want to be sure that your ad successfully reaches your intended audience.
With a multitude of platforms out there, it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you, especially as social media advertising becomes more and more ubiquitous. To help you, we asked the members of Ad Age Collective for some key considerations to make when choosing an ad platform. Here’s what they had to say.
1. Intent
Intent is the most important thing when choosing an ad platform for your business. A platform like Google is used to pull people in because people are already searching for what you’re putting out there. A platform like Facebook or Instagram relies on “pushing” ads in front of people, and it requires a completely different strategy because users need to be convinced you’re worth their time. – Michael Lisovetsky, JUICE
2. Relevance
In such a cluttered world, relevance is paramount. Relevance is the right content and the right context. It’s the ideal balance between effectiveness and efficiency — producing the intended or expected result and performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort. – Marcello Magalhaes, Speakeasy – Knowledge Brokers
3. The audience you’re targeting
When a campaign is targeting a niche audience, we choose a platform with the ability to get in front of that specific segment. For a campaign targeting a broader audience, we use platforms that can scale and expand our reach through data collection and optimization. – Matt Smolenski, 90octane
4. Connection to key customer insights
Effective engagement is driven by insights about customers. If your ad platform is disconnected from critical insights like which accounts to target, personas on the buying team or where they are in their journey, you’re basically just putting up a ton of digital billboards — it’s a pretty picture and cool slogan, but likely will not generate a ton of results. – Latane Conant, 6sense
5. Potential for acceleration
When dealing with social media ads or PPC, it can be tempting to get lost in a metrics comparison game. The question marketers should be asking is about acceleration: Which platform will accelerate my growth fastest when compared to the same activities conducted organically? Organic efforts tend to have a far higher profit margin so the case for using paid efforts is when growth is needed now. – Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
6. Whether you can take a holistic approach
Choose an ad platform that analyzes all parts of the campaign holistically is key — not just one component. That’s why working with one agency who does all parts of a campaign, not just one segment, is the best approach. Otherwise, each separate agency will try to fight as to why their portion is working better instead of being truly agnostic to what the best working media is. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
As marketing needs expand by the year, an abundance of leadership roles, from SEO specialists to social media moguls, emerge. Anyone can be named as a manager, but what makes a great leader, particularly in the marketing sphere?
We asked the members of Ad Age Collective to share some necessary attributes for an effective marketing leader. Below, they share 15 characteristics that are vital to the marketing world, and how you can incorporate these attributes into your own leadership style.
1. A deep understanding of the customer
Marketing leaders who understand their avatar inside and out can effectively attract, convert and retain the perfect customer. Understanding current consumer behaviors and motivations while forecasting how future economic, social and tech trends will impact them is critical. Unlimited funds, incredible products, beautifully-designed stores and highly-optimized funnels won’t matter without it. – Maxwell Finn, Unicorn Innovations
2. Audience advocacy
A great marketing leader needs to be a champion for those their brand serves. We’ve heard of servant leaders — now it’s time for “servant marketers.” To do this, one must not only understand customers’ needs, but also offer solutions that are in their best interest over those in the interest of the bottom line. Consumers have many options. If your marketing isn’t a concierge service, you’ll lose them. – Holly Fearing, Filene Research Institute
3. Adaptability
To be a great leader in the marketing space, you have to be forward-thinking and a visionary, but most importantly you have to be adaptable and able to pivot strategy on a dime. While fast-changing strategic plans are needed, you need to be very stable financially and operationally and not allow the ebbs and flows of the business or clients affect the employees — they should be shielded from all. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
4. Curiosity
The best leaders I know ask more than they answer. They wonder why, let their minds wander at times and plunge into unfamiliar topics and experiences with a sense of wonder and humility. They’re okay not knowing everything. They’re comfortable with ambiguity. In short, they understand curiosity leads to growth and that gives them the courage to lead people down uncharted roads toward opportunity. – Todd Morgano, Falls Communications
5. Comfort with the uncomfortable
Marketing is an inherently disorientating field. One minute one platform is king, the next minute your tried-and-true tactics no longer work and you have to start from scratch. This can prove stressful for your team, but a stellar marketing leader knows how to steady the ship and remind their team to focus on the creativity that comes with the territory as a source of inspiration and motivation. – Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
6. Entrepreneurial spirit
New opportunities, data and platforms are constantly disrupting the marketing space. Customer behavior adapts to these changes in real-time. Given that, great leaders need to be open-minded, always looking for better ways to drive results. Success comes from unique approaches uncovered through innate curiosity and problem-solving, with a comfort for risk and testing boundaries. – Kerry Curran, Catalyst
7. Vision
Leaders need to know where the industry is headed and what their team needs to do to be successful. It requires creative thinking and a commitment to innovation. The way people consume information has evolved significantly, and organizations need to find ways to have more relevant conversations with them. Leaders need to point their teams in the right direction and set priorities. – Kevin Dean, Experian
8. Tech savvy
While the fundamentals of marketing remain the same, technology underpins marketing like never before. Today’s marketing leaders to be comfortable in knowing how to leverage technology to solve core marketing challenges, from making their team more efficient to helping drive measurable impact for their organizations. – Amrita Gurney, CrowdRiff
9. The ability to tap into gut feelings
Marketers must balance the quantifiable with a feeling. Some things just feel right, yet are difficult to put into a financial model. While marketers will spend time in performance marketing tweaking programs for incremental improvement, they must also spend time making buyers care. Making people care is a creative challenge that requires buy-in from financially-motivated internal stakeholders. – Reid Carr, Red Door Interactive
10. Drama
Many emphasize being steady, measured and credible in leadership. In marketing, however, given the importance of creativity, impact and an “out-of-the-ordinary” approach to the world, drama has an important place. Not negative drama, but rather a theatrical and emotional representation of ideas, concepts and the importance of what we do. Don’t just go to the meeting — take the stage! – Moira Vetter, Modo Modo Agency
11. An analytical mindset
It’s cliché, but marketing has truly become a sophisticated dance between art and science where data reigns supreme. With an overabundance of information being generated, marketing heads need to not only understand the four Ps, but also be well-versed in data analysis so they can figure out how to gracefully marry the left and right brain to build creative yet performance-first based campaigns. – Kurt Kaufer, Ad Results Media
12. Focus
As a leader, having all this innovation at your fingertips is generally a great thing. However, when you, or your team, start to chase those new trends and get caught up in all the noise, you can lose focus on your vision. It’s critical to think long term, develop a vision and stick to it. Don’t get sidetracked by short-term “shiny objects.” – Oz Etzioni, Clinch
13. The ability to understand ROI
Marketing is the most personal form of communication between a brand and a consumer. Success is defined by being adaptable to technological advances like AI and automation. It’s critical to strip away the jargon and hype around technology to understand what’s really driving ROI. Marketers must do homework, test options and make sure technology stacks translate to business value. – Ricky Ray Butler, Branded Entertainment Network
14. Left-brain and right-brain thinking
Marketing leaders must have the ability to switch from right-brain to left-brain thinking seamlessly. Great content is essential to advertising and that is generally a right-brain activity built on empathy and customer understanding. However, marketing is also a numerically-driven science that benefits from data-driven optimization. – Dan Beltramo, Onclusive (formerly AirPR)
15. An open mind and a hunger to learn
Finding just one attribute is challenging. If I had to share one it would be an open mind and a hunger to continue to learn. Marketing is continuously evolving, new technologies come into play and different generations sway what is relevant. Continuing to learn about what makes consumers tick and testing new ideas can help to expand your knowledge and, ultimately, the success of campaigns. – Issa Sawabini, Fuse
The main key to being “fully present” with my children is working smart while at work. I am highly organized, which allows me to get through all the important tasks of my day quickly. For example, even with all my meetings and various activities of the day, I get hundreds of emails, but I get my email inbox down to less than 30 total emails every day before I leave work and go home to my family. That allows me to leave work and be fully present with them. It also allows me to start every workday fresh and ready to tackle anything as I don’t have yesterday’s activities hanging over my head.
As a part of my series about “How extremely busy executives make time to be great parents” I had the pleasure to interview Jessica Hawthorne-Castro. Jessica Hawthorne-Castro is CEO of Hawthorne. Jessica has strategically positioned the agency to be at the forefront of advertising, where art meets science. She is committed to providing data-driven solutions and proprietary tools to help clients maximize their advertising investment dollars. From creative and production to strategy, media and analytics, Jessica ensures quality and innovation throughout all disciplines of the agency. As CEO of Hawthorne, Jessica has prioritized company culture and corporate social responsibility and is a Climate Change Reality Ambassador. Today, Hawthorne is a certified woman-owned business by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a Great Place to Work®, and on the Inc. 5000 list. In addition, Jessica has received many awards for her career accomplishments, including: Ernst & Young (EY) “Entrepreneur Of The Year” winner in the Transformational Leader category, Greater Los Angeles; the 2019 “Elite Marketer” in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Most Influential Marketers in Southern California; “Women to Watch” for the “Marketing Hall of Femme” Direct Marketing News; “Women’s Summit Awards Nomination” by Los Angeles Business Journal; “Woman of Influence” by L.A. Biz and Biz Women; “CEO of the Year in Technology-Based Advertising” for the 2019 Innovation & Excellence Awards; “Female CEO of the Year in Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations” & “Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year” from CEO World Awards; Marketing EDGE’s “Rising Star Award”; “Top 40 Under 40” by Direct Marketing News; Finance Monthly CEO Awards “Business Women of the Year” & “Monthly Game Changers Awards”; “CEO Global Award” CEO Today Magazine; and the and “Woman of the Year — Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations” & “ Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year” from the Stevie Awards. Hawthorne-Castro is an active member of her professional community. She is a member of the Forbes Agency Council and Ad Age’s Agency Collective, invitation-only organizations for senior-level executives in public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. In September 2017, she joined the ANA ECHO Board of Governors, the elite group behind one of the most coveted prizes in marketing and is the incoming Chair of the Board. Jessica is a participant in TED International, TED Women communities and Vistage International. She is also a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the global organization empowering more than 28,000 members in more than 130 countries and is the Chapter Chair for YPO Los Angeles and on the YPO Pacific U.S Regional Executive Board. When Jessica isn’t busy with the company, culture, and board participation, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and traveling the world (over 50 countries so far!). She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, son and daughter.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us your “childhood backstory”?
I was raised in a small town in Iowa where strong family values and work ethic are ingrained in you. I appreciated that very much as it has definitely defined who I am and how I approach my work: no nonsense and never a complaint, you just work and don’t expect shiny stars or accolades for doing hard work. I then went to university at UCLA, and in my sophomore year, I started numerous internships that allowed me to explore various jobs within the entertainment industry, which led to my first professional career of becoming a Hollywood talent agent before I transitioned to the advertising industry.
Can you share the story about what brought you to this specific point in your career?
Starting out as a television literary agent in Hollywood, the transition over to the advertising industry was actually a natural fit as I had experience managing individual writers, directors and producers, and in advertising, I started managing entire brands and their campaigns. There was then another seamless, natural transition to operations/managing the company, where employees were now my clients and I worked on behalf of their best interests. Whatever I have done or worked on, whether it was for clients or now my employees, it has always been to better their lives and careers.
Can you tell us a bit more about what your day to day schedule looks like?
It starts with an early rise as I get my son and daughter ready for their day and take them to school. Then, I have conference calls on the way to the office or attend early board meetings. My day consists of managing all aspects of the company, people, finances, strategy and planning, and meeting with people or clients all day or reviewing strategy or reports with my team members. I am also on several boards, so I am working on those strategic plans and events or attending industry conferences, board meetings and events as well during the day. Occasionally, I have an evening work event or travel but no matter what, I try to make them turn-around trips in 24–48 hours. It’s exhausting, but that is because I still try to be home every night to spend time with my children and husband and put my kids to bed.
OK, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the core of our discussion. This is probably intuitive to many, but it would be beneficial to spell it out. Based on your experience or research, can you flesh out why not spending time with your children can be detrimental to their development?
If you are gone too much, it can have a negative effect, and the child can feel neglected. On the flip side, if you are around but not fully present — on your phone or social media — or just generally burnt out so you take that negative attitude out on your children, that can have a long-term detrimental effect as well.
On the flip side, can you give a few reasons or examples about why it is so important to make time to spend with your children?
My 7-year-old son actually says he likes that my husband and I both work, and sometimes we joke if we should stay at home with him instead, but he says, “Oh no, you need to go to work!” He likes his lifestyle and understands the benefits a working household bring him. If we work from home one day, he gets worried about us and asks us why we aren’t working and if we’re still going back to the office! Making children understand that money doesn’t grow on trees is important. They can see that we work to provide them the life they enjoy and allows us the ability to vacation and do other things together. Even though my husband and I work hard, we work harder to still be with them in the morning and evenings. We also make sure to break away for all mid-day important school events or sporting events. Weekends have always been “family days” so he never really feels that we aren’t around enough.
According to this study cited in the Washington Post, the quality of time spent with children is more important than the quantity of time. Can you give a 3–5 stories or examples from your own life about what you do to spend quality time with your children?
When I am home, I am not checking my email or phone. I am fully engaged with my son and pay all my attention to him. I work hard during the day to get everything done so that I am clear and 100% attentive to him when I am home. Working makes me happy and makes me appreciate the time I spend with my kids and so I enjoy every moment.
Weekends are a special time for us, and we live them up! Whether we are traveling the world or spending time at home, running around to birthday parties, events or dinners, we cherish all time together.
Every morning I take my son to school and walk him to his school chapel. We hold hands and talk about each day’s upcoming activities. I usually have to leave chapel early to get to a meeting, but I strike a balance to walk him into his seat, kiss him goodbye and tell him to have a beautiful day. From the sidelines, I stand with the other parents and say the morning prayers, pledge allegiance and then I wave to him goodbye while most other parents stay for the whole chapel. I don’t feel bad because it’s a compromise that I stay as long as I can before I get to work, and my son appreciates the effort that I’m doing my part as a working parent.
We all live in a world with many deadlines and incessant demands for our time and attention. That inevitably makes us feel rushed and we may feel that we can’t spare the time to be “fully present” with our children. Can you share with our readers 5 strategies about how we can create more space in our lives in order to give our children more quality attention? Please include examples or stories for each, if you can.
The main key to being “fully present” with my children is working smart while at work. I am highly organized, which allows me to get through all the important tasks of my day quickly. For example, even with all my meetings and various activities of the day, I get hundreds of emails, but I get my email inbox down to less than 30 total emails every day before I leave work and go home to my family. That allows me to leave work and be fully present with them. It also allows me to start every workday fresh and ready to tackle anything as I don’t have yesterday’s activities hanging over my head.
Being fully present while at a sporting event, not checking my phone and bringing the team snack once in a while is a good parent win!
Vacations as a family and getting to nature support traveling together (where you really get to know each other 😊) and help make your child adapt to different environments seamlessly with the security of family.
Taking your child to school, as simple as it may sound, is a wonderful time to bond in the morning and talk about the upcoming day’s activities.
Putting your child to bed each night and telling them you love and support them as your last words will help them have sweet dreams and a deep sense of security.
How do you define a “good parent”? Can you give an example or story?
To me, being a good parent is making my children feel loved, that I will always be there for them no matter what and for them to have that security. For that reason, those are the last words I tell my son every night before he goes to bed — that I love him, and I will always be here to take care of him. He always smiles and goes to bed happy.
How do you inspire your child to “dream big”? Can you give an example or story?
My son likes magic, so taking his interests and translating them to fields of relevance like saying, “Science is like real life magic, and you could be a scientist and invent great things.” He also likes to help people so saying, “You could be a doctor and help lots of people,” gives him ideas that his interests can go in many directions to help humanity as a whole when he gets older.
How do you, a person who masterfully straddles the worlds of career and family, define “success”?
Success, to me, is having a great company that is a great place to work, is profitable and showing positive growth trends. If you’re not growing, you’re dying as a company. Then having your family happy and taken care of is a well-rounded picture of success.
What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a better parent? Can you explain why you like them?
How I Built This podcast on NPR shows great stories of inspiring CEOs and entrepreneurs that defied the odds and built great companies.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There will always be mistakes in life, business and even when you embark on a plan, but it doesn’t come to fruition. But it is not the mistakes that you should focus on, it is the solution to how you will fix or overcome it. Essentially a lesson in resilience that you need to find the solution, keep trying and never give up.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I am surrounded by CEOs of huge caliber, and I endeavor to continue to be a positive influence on how all these mammoth CEOs who, as a group, collectively represent GDPs larger than many countries. We can positively impact the world through corporate social responsibility, sustainability and making great companies that are positive work environments and affect the employees, which in turn better all those employees’ and families’ lives.
Thank you so much for these insights! This was so inspiring!
About the Author:
Dr. Ely Weinschneider is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist based in New Jersey. Dr. Ely specializes in adolescent and adult psychotherapy, parenting, couples therapy, geriatric therapy, and mood and anxiety disorders. He also has a strong clinical interest in Positive Psychology and Personal Growth and Achievement, and often makes that an integral focus of treatment. An authority on how to have successful relationships, Dr. Ely has written, lectured and presented nationally to audiences of parents, couples, educators, mental health professionals, clergy, businesses, physicians and healthcare policymakers on subjects such as: effective parenting, raising emotionally intelligent children, motivation, bullying prevention and education, managing loss and grief, spirituality, relationship building, stress management, and developing healthy living habits. Dr. Ely also writes a regular, nationally syndicated column about the importance of “being present with your children”. When not busy with all of the above, Dr. Ely works hard at practicing what he preaches, raising his adorable brood (which includes a set of twins and a set of triplets!) together with his wife in Toms River, New Jersey.
One of the hottest trends in advertising right now is the use of augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR). AR and VR can provide greater creative freedom for advertisers, resulting in a product that can reach customers in a way that traditional ad mediums can’t always do.
As leaders in their field, the members of Ad Age Collective keep on top of the latest marketing and advertising trends, as well as how to implement them successfully. Below, five of them tell us the most cutting-edge ways they’ve seen companies leverage augmented and virtual reality in their campaigns.
1. 3D visualization
Brainlab recently announced a partnership with Magic Leap, which leverages AR to help train brain surgeons via interaction with 3D visualizations. Given Magic Leap raised $2.6 billion off the back of a seriously creative communications strategy, this partnership shows the power of bringing together forward-thinking technology and out-of-the-box communications to make an enormous positive impact. -Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
2. Teasing product launches
An effective strategy I’ve seen companies leverage with a virtual reality experience is one that teases a new product or launch through hidden passageways or corners to show what is coming before giving away the entire secret prior to the official launch. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne Advertising
3. Adding dimension to a critical touchpoint
As we know, many consumers buy wine based on the label, and 19 Crimes has used augmented reality to take the label up a notch. The novelty and short videos became a centerpoint of conversation shared around the bottle. And then, via word of mouth, the experience can be perpetuated to friends who haven’t yet experienced the brand — the most efficient form of promotion. – Reid Carr, Red Door Interactive
4. Employee training and assessments
Walmart created “Walmart Academies,” a program using VR to improve the employee experience, deliver training and accurately assess workers’ skills. It recreates scenarios associates encounter on the floor but in a safe environment. This program is widely successful as it’s closely aligned with the business goal of delivering shoppers with the best customer experience possible. -Mason Page, Reflect Systems
5. Excitement about products and purchases
Porsche had a problem: How do you keep people excited about a car that they’ve put a deposit down for, but have never seen in person? For the Taycan, Porsche’s electric sports car, they created an augmented reality car app that superimposed a model car wherever you pointed your iPad or mobile phone camera. It was like a virtual RC car and it gave fans something to share with their friends and family. – Rex Briggs, Marketing Evolution
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Hawthorne, a creative, analytics and technology-driven advertising agency, announced today that it has won 12 creative and corporate awards in the second half of 2019 from 10 different organizations. The awards recognized everything from Hawthorne’s results-driven campaigns to the leadership of the agency’s CEO, Jessica Hawthorne-Castro. They are a testament to Hawthorne’s continued success and influence within the advertising industry, honoring both client work and how the company is run.
“Hawthorne’s top priority is to execute memorable campaigns that not only meet our client’s objectives, but surpass them,” said Hawthorne-Castro. “Our team works hard to deliver measurable results while also cultivating a workplace where employees are empowered to do their best work. These 12 awards are further validation that our approach is resonating, and we look forward to continuing that pattern in 2020.”
Hawthorne’s innovative approach combines the art of right-brain creativity with the science of left-brain data analytics and neuroscience to create meticulously crafted and expertly executed campaigns that deliver dramatic results for clients. Since the beginning of 2018, Hawthorne has won nearly 60 awards for its creative work and company culture, and Hawthorne-Castro has won dozens of awards for her leadership abilities and marketing influence.
Hawthorne won the following awards in the second half of 2019:
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awarded Hawthorne-Castro the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Award in the Transformational Leader category in Greater Los Angeles.
The Stevie® Awards for Women in Business awarded Hawthorne-Castro the Silver Stevie Winner for Woman of the Year in the category of Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations.
The Stevie® Awards for Great Employers awarded Hawthorne the Bronze Stevie Winner for Employer of the Year in the category of Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations.
The ASTRID Awards recognized Hawthorne as Gold Winner in the Advertisements category for the CHLA Integrated Campaign and Gold Winner in the Advertisements category for the iXpand Integrated Campaign.
The Digiday Worklife Awards named Hawthorne as a 2019 finalist in the “Most Dedicated to Employee Growth” category.
Hawthorne has successfully led thousands of major campaigns for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, managing billions of media billings that have delivered strong results for clients. To learn more about the company and how they deliver value by combining creative services with data science, visit hawthornedirect.com.
About Hawthorne: Hawthorne, a creative, analytics and technology-driven advertising agency, specializes in strategic planning, creative development, production, media planning, buying and analytics, and campaign management for integrated marketing campaigns. With nearly 30 years of proven excellence, the agency combines persuasive brand messaging with best-in-class analytic systems to create accountable, high performance advertising campaigns. Hawthorne helps brands efficiently target their consumers, improve cost per acquisition, optimize the lifetime value of a brand’s customers, and even drive consumer response to key retail outlets or corporate locations. As a leading analytic and data driven, accountable brand advertising agency, Hawthorne specializes in integrated campaign solutions. The company offers a full suite of integrated solutions with creative, media, digital and mobile services. Hawthorne maintains brand integrity and metrics to efficiently and effectively optimize the results of its clients’ integrated media budgets via leading edge and proven data analytics. Hawthorne has developed successful award-winning campaigns for countless Fortune 500 brands. Please visit www.hawthornedirect.com and http://www.linkedin.com/company/hawthorne-direct for more information.
Hawthorne Advertising was named a Most Influential Family-Owned Business by the Los Angeles Business Journal, awarded a Bronze Stevie Award for Great Employers, and shortlisted for the Digiday Worklife Awards in the “Most Dedicated to Employee Growth” category. Additionally, CEO Jessica Hawthorne-Castro has been named a finalist for the Stevie Awards for Women in Business Woman of the Year — Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations.
Marketing funnels are not always successful. If a business is struggling with inconsistent marketing efforts or sub-par results despite the time and work invested, it may consider an overhaul of its entire funnel.
However, a complete revamp may be easier said than done if the business does not know exactly what the issue was to begin with. Without proper consideration, any overhaul risks causing more damage than good.
To help navigate this situation, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council share some of the key items brands should check off when revamping their sales funnel to carry out the process successfully.
1. Identify Where Losses Happen
Rather than abandoning their entire strategy, brands should identify the step where customer losses are greatest and address this area specifically. For instance, if you’re successful in capturing attention but conversions aren’t happening, you may need to analyze why customers are choosing your competition over you and address their objections in your campaign. – Hannah Trivette, NUVEW Web Solutions
2. Insist On A Holistic Program
Company marketing efforts often happen in silos (marketing, PR, sales, etc.), each with its own plan, agenda, language, etc. This inconsistency can create confusion with customers and hurt sales. A marketing funnel overhaul is a good time for executive leadership to be brave and insist that department heads get aligned on corporate marketing priorities, messages, goals and successes. – David Fouse, Pinkston Group
3. Reflect On Your Ideal Customer Profile
Before throwing the entire marketing funnel out with the bathwater, I’d suggest taking a deep look at your ideal customer profile. Far too often, brands don’t really understand their customer and worse, aren’t spending money where their customers spend their time. Go back to the customer — really go back. Host a focus group and get their insights and opinions before you slather on a new concept. – Danica Kombol, Everywhere Agency
4. Start With The Pain Points
Rather than starting with a blank canvas, start with the biggest issue or pain point in your funnel. Where are the numbers bad or where is there a big drop-off? More than likely, this will lead to a ripple effect of solutions if you can pinpoint the source of the issue. – Jim Huffman, Growthhit
5. Consider The Domino Effect
A marketing funnel can be like a stack of dominoes — when one piece falls, the rest follow. So when “revamping” a marketing funnel, the first step is to analyze the funnel to uncover if the whole system is broken or if there are some specific parts that are broken. Attempt to “root-cause” the problem first before starting from scratch and reinventing the wheel when only one spoke is broken. – Bernard May, National Positions
6. Optimize One Stage At A Time
Don’t destroy the entire funnel without evaluating where the problem lies. Nail down the biggest barrier to action for each stage and then optimize your lead gen plan focusing on one stage at a time. And don’t forget that both marketing and sales must have a voice in the discussion. – Keri Witman, Cleriti
7. Revisit Your Audience Insights
The best way to identify the actual problem in your marketing funnel is to revisit your audience insights. When you address channels and tactics, without an understanding of your audience and their unique journey, you’re wasting your time and money. Instead, map the journey of your target audience. Identify outside factors and the role your brand plays in their lives. Then adjust accordingly. – Kevin Smith, Mighty Roar
8. Segment Your Audience
The most important aspect of a brand revamp is to segment your audience by demographics, and more importantly, psychographics such as reasons to buy, personal preferences or other selection criteria. After that, building detailed personas will be key. Make sure to prioritize the most desired segments and include those you may not have been targeting previously. After that, focus on messaging. – Francine Carb, Markitects, Inc.
9. Look For Changes In Your Audience
Sometimes, sagging results are just par for the course. But, if there’s genuinely a downward trend, looking at changes in your audience is critical. As consumers continue to gain more power and tools and techniques change rapidly, marketers are left holding the bag, and as the sand leaks out, they can panic. First, look at your customer — they’ll tell you what you need to know. – Bo Bothe, BrandExtract, LLC
10. Open Up Communication With Clients
The first step is to open up communication with your client. What we often see with smaller businesses is that there isn’t an agreement on what qualifies as a “response.” We can show them countless calls, clicks and impressions, but they still see “no results,” when really, it’s another cog in the wheel that’s broken, usually their website or landing page. – Joy Gendusa, PostcardMania
11. Understand Your Attribution Model
One of the first things a company should visit is their attribution model — where are they attributing the valued touch points within their customer journey. A deep understanding of your own attribution model is crucial in order to understand how clients are converting and why. Revisit your attribution model with solid analytics from your social and ad platforms to find if it warrants remodeling. – Michael Smith, MDS Media Inc.
12. Start With The Data
It all starts with data. If tracked properly, you should be able to determine exactly what parts of marketing are performing better than others. You’ll start to see a baseline to determine if it was the creative, messaging or media that supported the increased results. But if not tracked properly, you won’t be able to determine any of this. Make sure you find the right partner who can do this. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, HAWTHORNE LLC
13. Invest In Tools And Content
Marketers are quick to try lead generation pilots and find out nothing takes flight. To be successful with customer engagement at scale, you need two core things: 1) the right marketing automation tools that can deliver connected and personalized journeys, and 2) a runway of good content to drip out. Having one e-book, whitepaper or webinar won’t cut it. You need to continuously feed the funnel. – Andrew Au, Intercept Group
14. Don’t Forget Cross-Sell And Upsell
Many brands have departments that operate separately. Your best prospects may be current or lapsed customers from a “sister” brand. When you revisit your marketing funnel, pay special attention to the opportunity you may have missed to cross-sell or upsell or drive renewals previously. – Kieley Taylor, GroupM
15. Flip The Sales Funnel
Usually the funnel looks like a reversed cone, that narrows on the bottom. Instead, I flip the funnel 90 degrees, and turn it into a megaphone that narrows at the top. I speak through my most loyal customers to spread my message and you should do the same. If you can turn your funnel upside down, you’ll get results! – Fran Biderman-Gross, Advantages
