ME52-57: Finding the Right Time and Place for Your Message

For the past year, Katy Rosati has been working as an Account Executive at Text 100 where she works on several IBM accounts. Prior to Text 100, she was a media planner working on CPG brands for several well known advertising agencies. In her opinion, people are looking for reality, not brand “reality.” Authenticity provides validation and cuts out the hype.

Katy Rosati

Account Executive

Text 100

What site(s) do you have to visit every day for Marketing news?
PR Week, MediaPost, eMarketer, AdAge

What site(s) do you go to at least once a day for fun and inspiration?
Mashable, Gawker, The Huffington Post and Facebook, of course.

Greatest skill a good Marketing professional requires?
Being able to think like your consumer is a huge benefit. Knowing where and how they consume their media gives you an edge.

What's the recent "it" Marketing phrase/trend of the moment that you hear almost everyday and what does it mean for the industry and the marketplace?
Social media is everywhere. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, iReporting on CNN, commenting on news stories, the consumer plays an increasing role in how your brand is perceived and, in some cases, whether it succeeds or flops. Just look at the fallout from the BP oil spill (or catastrophe, as I like to call it). By stonewalling the media and public, BP created the vacuum that allowed the brilliantly funny (though unofficial and disparaging) @BPGlobalPR Twitter handle to steal the spotlight and control the message.

There have been fads in the Marketing world. In your opinion, what are recent developments that are here to stay?
Mobile, mobile, mobile - everything is about mobile! But the hype is justified. With the rise of smartphones, iPads and mobile applications, consumers are spending more and more time accessing mobile sites and viewing content from mobile devices. Having a mobile presence can increase not only awareness for your brand, but sales as well. In fact, the other week I woke up in the middle of the night and bought a pair on sunglasses on RueLaLa, right from my iPhone. (I've heard of sleepwalking and sleep-eating, but I think sleep-shopping may be new!)

What is essential NOT to do when it comes to your area of Marketing specialty?
In PR, you really don’t want to force your news in places where it doesn’t fit. If your story is applicable to an audience, a reporter or an outlet, then fantastic. But don’t try and push your “10 Hot Tips to Keep Your Lawn Green” on the Elle editors. There’s a time and a place for everything.

What's an imminent hurdle in the Marketing world that you think will cause significant changes to the way we market to consumers or businesses?
The question of authenticity is always lingering in the background. People are often more receptive to real-life customer examples and experiences than hearing directly from a brand. The customer may be relaying the same message, but the perception is that their experience is more valid and “spin-free.”

Can Marketing ideas travel across continents and languages? Does globalization work or is localization more effective?
I certainly think Marketing ideas can travel across continents and languages, but to be effective, they must resonate locally as well. Keeping the “big idea” consistent, but tweaking the particulars for a given region can be very successful.

Best piece of advice you've ever received professionally or personally?
My dad is an eternal optimist and has, for as long as I can remember, encouraged me to smile and look at the glass as half full, not half empty. I can’t begin to tell you how many times this has come in handy. Having a positive outlook has been valuable in my professional life, but also has played a key role in maintaining my sanity in my personal life!

Growing up, what's the first thing you can remember wanting to be?
I was obsessed with horses and desperate to be a jockey when I was little. Unfortunately, there’s not much of a market for 5'6" jockeys these days…or ever.

To tweet or not to tweet?
I’m all for Tweeting, although it’s not something I do regularly. I’m more of a Tweet-voyeur. You can’t beat Twitter for real-time updates – in fact, it’s where I get most of my news before it hits the major outlets. Additionally, since the people who follow you (or your brand) on Twitter are actively selecting your updates as information they want to consume, they can be some of your most powerful advocates and influencers in their own right. 140 character updates fit with our increasingly shorter attention spans, so I think Twitter is most definitely here to stay.

Where are growth opportunities within the Marketing industry, as people are looking at their careers?
People who can position themselves as social media experts are in high demand. Since the social media landscape will only get bigger, developing social media skills and staying on top of changes in that area make you a highly-desirable candidate.

ME 52-51 The CosmoPolitician

Monica Danna - a social media scientist, PR enthusiast, marketer and a Houston advocate who runs her own creative agency, uses the creative and scientific formula & approach of diversity to collaborative marketing. As creative and out of the box her strategies are, her fundements are built on being consumer - centric ( listening to your audience) and using her education and knowledge from psychology and technology.


Monica Danna
Marketing and Public Relations Consultant
http://www.cosmopolitician.net/colab/
Twitter: CosmoPolitician

What site(s) do you have to visit everyday for Marketing news?
A great resource for marketers: http://www.marketingprofs.com/ For news: http://adage.com/

What site(s) do you go to at least once a day for fun and inspiration?
I've really been interested in photography lately and this is a site that gives me inspiration: http://hulaseventy.blogspot.com/

Greatest skill a good Marketing professional requires?
Listening to your audience.

What's the recent "it" Marketing phrase/trend of the moment that you hear almost everyday and what does it mean for the industry and marketplace?
Social Media - a form of media that digitially engages an audience rather than pushing out information.

There have been fads in the Marketing world. In your opinion, what are recent developments that are here to stay?
RSS feeds and syndication technology

What is essential NOT to do when it comes to your area of marketing specialty?
Applying traditional media practices (one-way communication) to a digitial media strategy (a two-way communication.) Know the difference between push information and push/pull information. Digital Media takes traditional media from a monologue to a dialogue. Don't preach to your audience. Engage.

What's an imminent hurdle in the Marketing world that you think will cause significant changes to the way we market to consumers or businesses?
The deluge of information we receive daily in a digital world. Our technology tools are adapting to help us dissiminate large amounts of information, such as email, blog posts, and life streams.

Can Marketing ideas travel across continents and languages? Does globalization work or is localization more effective?
In my international Marketing experience in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, it became evident to me that high level marketing strategies can cross continentents; however tactics and collateral need to be localized to be effective.

Best piece of advice you have received professionally or personally?
Listening is more important than speaking.

Growing up, what was the first thing you can remember wanting to be?
A Child Psychologist, i actually have a masters in Psychology.

To tweet or not to tweet?
Tweet - Some form of Micro-Blogging will be here to stay.

Where are growth opportunities within the Marketing industry, as people are looking at their careers?
In the down economy that we recently experienced, Marketing professionals had to become increasingly diverse in their skill set. I belive that a more integrated and collaborative approach to Maketing is where things are headed in the future.

ME 52-45: Natural Born Storytellers Seek to Capture Your Attention through Data Visualizaton

In addition to graphically representing her Diet Dr. Pepper obsession (2.8 cans a day), Kennedy Elliott is also a natural born storyteller, who's able to grab your attention (with the concentration to prove it) by way of data visualization, information architecture and web design. Elliot spends her time as a Carnegie Knight News21 fellow in Chicago*. She has a Master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, with a concentration in interacitve storytelling and media management from the Kellogg School of Business. This gives Elliott a very specialized area of expertise, but also making her invaluable to the qualitative and quantitative sides of Marketing.

*from a previously conducted interview

Kennedy Elliott
Carnegie Knight Fellow
News 21, Initiative on the Future of Journalism

What site(s) do you visit every day for Marketing news?
I read everything. I follow a lot of websites relating to media in any capacity: Mashable (of course), Nielsen Wire, Reuters technology news, the New York Times' Media Decoder, Wired (a favorite), TED online, even EFF and the list goes on and on. Since I am most interested in visual communication, I keep up with Smashing Magazine, Web Design Ledger, Flowing Data, A List Apart, and a few other design related blogs.

What site(s) do you go to at least once a day for fun and inspiration?
Again, since I'm more of a visual person, my favorite fun sites feature highly creative content. I love the photo website Un Jour a Paris--Cyril Genty, the photographer, is amazing. I like the New York Times' interactive content as well. A lot of innovative material that I'm interested in pops up on blogs and You Tube, so I have to be plugged into social media to keep up.

What's the recent "it" Marketing phrase/trend of the moment that you hear almost every day and what does it mean for the industry and the marketplace?
In my field, the buzzword is definitely "data visualization" and "infographics." They are oten used interchangeably, but to me, they mean very different things. In my exploration, there are many more bad infographics than good. It's a balance between meaningful content, a strong narrative, of course, design. But nowadays, any kind of informational design is deemed an infographic, which is not really how I view things. So in my opinion, "infographic" is a buzz word that has a much broader definition than I'm used to.

There have been fads in the Marketing world. In your opinion what are recent developments that are here to stay?
Twitter and Facebook are the obvious ones. I kind of cringe every time I hear a major corporation plugging its Facebook page, becasue I feel like Facebook is so unstable right now, in terms of reputation and useage. I'm really looking forward to what Diaspora turns into, and if it'll be better than Facebook and LinkedIn for businesses.

What is essential not to do when it comes to your area of Marketing speciality?
You can never forget your audience. What do they want to know? How do they want to consumer it? Never forget your audience. I was fortunate enough to have a professor drill that into my head.

Can Marketing ideas travel across continents and languages? Does globalization work or is localization more effective?
I don't have strong feelings either way. But I think that people, in genral, are deeply connected with their geographic location spiritually, culturally or otherwise, so I always factor that sort of sub-segmentation.

Best piece of advice you have received?
What everyone is told at a young age--do what you love doing and the rest will fall into place.

Growing up, what was the first thing you can remember wanting to be?
The answer to this is a little weird for me. Growing up in a small Southern town, I remember that the first thing I wanted to do was paint houses. I have no idea why! I think I didn't undertand that artistry reaches many profession, but at a young age, I just wanted to paint!

Is Marketing more of an art of science?
An art for sure! No one should use a formulaic approach to Marketing--the formula only gets you so far. The rest is creative.

What a recent campaign/presentation you admire?
Ever since I first saw posters for it in England in 2004, I've always admired Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. It's a little in-your-face, a little show-and-tell-y, but Marketing campaigns like this are paving the way for more honest Marketing for women in the future. Other companies have since caught on to showcasing the "real woman" (whatever that is), and it's become less of an issue to avoid using the carbon modeling copy.

ME 52-39: Slacktivism gone; Engagement to stay; a Philosophic Philanthropic POV

With the speed, weight and hunger to succeed in the philanthropy space, Hannah Wilson races deftly through the world of celebrity and cause related marketing. Whether it's a non-profit or a Fortune 500, or straddling the delicate balance between editorial and business in publishing, Wilson appears to have perfected the art of sustainability when it comes to her own marketing career. She takes and encourages others to take the long term, strategic view, rather than just focus on the short term gain that will end up costing the would-be philanthropist and the cause that needs help.

Hannah Wilson

Member Services Coordinator

Admiral Center

Twitter: admiral_center, howabout22

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahwilson

What site(s) do you have to visit every day for Marketing news?

New York Times, ESPN, HuffingtonPost (particularly the impact section) People (I know--life's rough when you have to read celebrity news), I also subscribe to PRDaily and Cynopsis.

What site(s) do you go to at least once a day for fun and inspiration?

Grooveshark--tunes to keep me upbeat; LKaeInteriors--for decorating inspiration for my imaginary future home; Doublex.com--women's perspective on news (more newsy, less snarky than Jezebel); Facebook.com--where I find the most links to interesting things from my friends; I get daily e-mails from Seth Godin, UrbanDaddy, VitalJuice.

Greatest skill a good Marketing professional requires?

The ability to ask the good questions. Good questions to me are not only solid content-wise, but are also timely. Asking them at the right moment in the conversation is almost as important as what you ask because you can really open people up and get not just a direct answer but additional insight and information that you weren't counting on.

What is the recent "it" phrase/trend of the moment that you hear almost every day and what does it mean for the industry and the marketplace?

Sustainability. Celebrities want to do the "it" thing in terms of causes and how they support them. We talk about sustainability because popularity can be fleeting, and for athletes especially, the ability to rally fan support decreases over time. When deciding to create a program, celebrities have to think about how long the cause will hold their interest and how much they want to invest in it. You don't want to be known as the person who withdrew support from a struggling and deserving organization. What that means for my work is that we encourage our clients to partner with existing organizations so that the long-term success of a program isn't dependent on winning championships and having blockbuster hits. It's simply enhanced by broader awareness and financial support from their celebrity brand. If you create a great program, it will attract others' interest and ultimately the funding to make it sustainable. Celebrity branded programs with established partners make more sense than a pet project du jour.

There have been fads in the Marketing world. In your opinion, what are recent developments that are here to stay?

Slacktivism. I say this without judgement even though the word is inherently negative. Slacker-activism is alive and well on Facebook, Twitter, through ribbons, bracelets and (my least favorite) pledging people for various runs and walks. Though with the latter at least people are responding to a call-to-action and actually giving money to help you reach your personal best time in the name of charity. Slacktivism is a passive way of giving your support to something that you don't always care a lot about through the power of word-of-mouth, persistence on social media, and ease of transaction, you might say you "like" or support, or at best click or text-to-give. Social and mobile media campaigns have made it easy for people to donate but not truly engage in a cause. Because at the heart of every non-profit is the need for money I see nothing wrong with getting a quick $5. We in the field need to work harder on the engagement piece to make these slacktivists, true evangelists.

What is essential NOT to do when it comes to your area of Marketing speciality?

It's essential not to underestimate the value of a good personality. You can't be fake and you can't get caught up in the glow of a big name. Celebrities may seem like they live in a superficial world at times, but they aren't superficial people. You will also spend a lot of time working with their agents, managers, PR reps, family and friends and you'll do much better with all of them if you're authentic and if you treat people with equal respect and deference. This is an industry of relationships and relationship building, without good ones, you can't get anything done.

What is an imminent hurdle in the Marketing world that you think will cause significant changes to the way we market to consumers or businesses?

Privacy is and will continue to be a major hurdle and is an evolving issue. Consumers want customization and appreciate a message that will reach them on a personal level, while at the same time they get angry and quite simply freaked out when they feel that companies know too much about the. Perhaps we as consumers would be happier if companies knew more about us so we could really get what we want, but we're unwilling to allow that. There is so much data collection going on but getting the consumer's buy-in to use it without the feeling of violation is going to continue to be difficult.

Can Marketing ideas travel across continents and languages? Does globalization work or is localization more effective?

Globalization definitely works--there are products, ideas and messages that resonate universally. I do think that localization is most effective. It's easy to understand that there are differences in the way things are done in other countries, but I've recently learned a lot about our differences domestically and can never assume that what works in Seattle will work in New Orleans. It's important to understand that success will mean something different everywhere.

Best piece of advice you have received professionally or personally?

Our CEO once asked me to evaluate some people based on the criteria "speed, weight and hunger." I didn't understand what that meant at first, but now I know it's a measure of how successful a working relationship will be. Speed: you need someone who is going to be a quick learner, thinker and doer. Weight: You want someone who has a strong presence in the room and has good ideas. Hunger: You want people who are passionate about the work that you are doing and the way that they do the work. I now use that as criteria for self evaluation.

Growing up, what was the first thing you can remember wanting to be?

A teacher. I thought teachers probably loved spending their days with kids like me. Who doesn't love a know-it-all, sassy, six-year old?

To tweet or not to tweet?

I say tweet! I'm far more interested in reading other people's tweets than maintaining my own Twitter presence and even with the applications to do so, I struggle to maintain our organization's account and my personal account, but I'm trying to get better at it. By the time I do, Twitter will probably be out. Sorry, I think it's a fad.

Is Marketing more of an art or more of a science?

It's a little of both. Science will tell you who to reach and how, but art is ultimately going to do the work and make the difference.

ME 52-28: Two Sides to Every Good Marketer

At ME52 we wanted the perspective of those in all industries and across all marketing expertise. That includes those in the professional and academic worlds. Ifeolu Babatunde, fits both molds, having gained professional work experience in the digital advertising world she now finds herself in the academic world of business school. Her perspective is not only strategic, but also tactical, and allows us to take a peek into both the 40,000 ft. deep and 4-mile wide view of marketing.

Ifeolu Babatunde

Kellogg School of Management MBA Candidate

Marketing Concentration, Class of 2011

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ifeolubabatunde

What site(s) do you have to visit every day for Marketing news?

I get most of my news via podcasts and RSS feeds, but make sure to always check Brandchannel, PSFK and AgencySpy.

What site(s) do you go to at least once a day for fun and inspiration?

I recently got back from a two-week trip to Japan and have become obsessed with Harajuku district street-fashion. If I feel like I need some creative inspiration I'll check TokyoFashion.com or JapaneseStreets.com – the creativity and style of Japanese urban youth is just bursting at the seams and I’m surprised more of it has not caught on in the Western hemisphere. I'm also into independent music so I'll check Fader, Pitchfork, XLR8R, Big Stereo, and The Tripwire for the latest music news.

Greatest skill a good Marketing professional requires?

Empathy. In order to be a good marketer you need to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the target consumer that you are trying to reach. This becomes difficult when you cannot truly sympathize with the thoughts, feelings and emotions of another person.

What’s the recent “it” marketing phrase/trend of the moment that you hear almost every day and what does it mean for the industry and marketplace?

Augmented Reality. As consumers attention spans continue to diminish marketers will seize upon any opportunity that promises engagement. Augmented reality provides engagement by enhancing what consumers see, feel or touch. However, augmented reality is most helpful when it truly adds value to the consumer experience outside of pure entertainment. A great example is the Ray Ban Virtual Mirror which allows consumers to virtually “try on” glasses that best fit the shape of their face without having to make a trip to a physical Ray Ban store. This is augmented reality done right.

There have been fads in the Marketing world. In your opinion, what are recent developments that are here to stay?

Twitter. Whether you like it or not, Twitter is here to stay. Now that the company is looking to unveil its new ad system of “Promoted Tweets” to more advertisers, we’re going to see more marketing companies using Twitter as not just an education tool, but also a promotional one.

What is essential NOT to do when it comes to your area of Marketing speciality?

I am a first-year business school student studying alongside former bankers, consultants and engineers. What I have found is essential NOT to do while working with others with non-marketing backgrounds is to assume that their viewpoint is less valuable. This could not be farther from the truth. Sometimes it takes an untrained eye to uncover the insight that can help “crack” the marketing business cases that we study.

What's an imminent hurdle in the Marketing world that you think will cause significant changes to the way we market to consumers or businesses?

Privacy. During the rise of blogging and social networking in the late 90s and early 00s, consumers gladly posted pictures of their vacations and shared information about their lifestyles and interests for the whole world to see. All was fine, until it became known that these blogging and social networking communities were selling this information to advertisers. Now, consumers have decided that they want their privacy back, and marketers must adjust to this change.

Can Marketing ideas travel across continents and languages?

Marketing ideas can travel across continents and languages as long as the theme is global, but it’s the execution that must be localized. A great example of this “glocal” approach is Visa’s “Go” campaign as well as McDonald’s “I’m lovin it” campaign. Both of these marketers launched global campaigns with universal themes that could transcend country borders, but made sure to allow their regional offices to execute the message in a way that resonated best with the local market.

Best piece of advice you have received professionally or personally?

The best piece of professional advice I received was from a manager that I reported to at my first job out of college, and was something along the lines of “Spend more time building your strengths than trying to compensate for your weaknesses”.

Growing up, what was the first thing you can remember wanting to be?

A teacher, a writer or a journalist.

Recent campaign you liked and why?

I love OgilvyOne’s “World’s Greatest Salesperson” campaign because it brilliantly reinforces Ogilvy’s brand equity as an agency of superior salesmanship and truly get’s to the heart of founder David Ogilvy’s credo “We sell, or else”. Plus, it’s fun – who wouldn’t want to follow a contest where contests upload videos on YouTube displaying their best sales pitch for something as mundane as a red brick?

Is Marketing more of an art or more of a science?

If marketing were just created to dazzle and entertain the masses, it would be purely an art form, but marketing also has an obligation to sell a product or a service, which makes it a science as well. Good marketing is a blend of the two where you can’t tell which form –art or science – is leading.