Marketing News: August 2017 by Molly Soat

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

AMA.ORG

AUGUST 2017

the world is

shrinking WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEXT IN GLOBAL MARKETING PRACTICE?

AUGUST 2017 NO.

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table of contents AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

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SEEN ON AMA.ORG

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ANSWERS IN ACTION • Snapshot • Core Concepts

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AMA INTELLIGENCE • The Middle Market • MBA Perspectives

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EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS • Lawrence Crosby • Michael Krauss

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CAREER ADVANCEMENT • Strategy Setting • On the Record

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 Small World, Big Chances: Mapping the World’s Marketing Opportunities

A growing internet user base means a smaller world for marketers. How can marketers break into markets like Japan, China and Germany? Marketing News spoke with experts from across the world to find out.

24  How to Build a Global Campaign Sundae

Ben & Jerry’s values are baked (nay, frozen) into its culture and its ice cream, and the company has taken to exporting those beliefs by way of pints and petitions.

 Water Wars

Carbonated beverage maker SodaStream is an established brand with more than 100 years of history, yet it was recently perceived as a brand society had passed by—until a fire-spitting CEO brought a pugnacious approach to its marketing. Can an ecoshaming message help the brand finally conquer the American market?

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AUGUST 2017

VOL. 51 | NO. 7

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Mary Garrett Chairperson of the AMA Board 2017-2018 Russ Klein, AMA Chief Executive Officer rklein@ama.org

The World Is Shrinking

Andy Friedman, AMA Chief Content Officer afriedman@ama.org EDITORIAL STAFF

Phone (800) AMA-1150 • Fax (312) 542-9001 E-mail editor@ama.org

he world is a different place than it was 20 years ago. We’re able to speak to people across the globe instantaneously. We can get whatever we want, from wherever we want in the world, overnight. Anything you want to know, you can find out in seconds. Between planes and computer screens, we can see the other side of the world in a matter of moments. “The world felt larger when the internet was small,” writes staff writer Hal Conick. “Twenty years ago, 33% of internet users were in the U.S. while less than 1.5% of the world’s population was online. American marketers lived in solipsistic times; other countries barely mattered if they mattered at all. “Now, people from Cuenca, Ecuador, to Subang Jaya, Malaysia, to Chicago can reach into their pockets to instantly watch videos, read thoughts and order products from across the world. The internet’s population has watched the world shrink to a size small enough to fit perfectly in the palm of the marketer,” Conick writes.

Molly Soat, Editor in Chief msoat@ama.org Michelle Markelz, Managing Editor mmarkelz@ama.org Zach Brooke, Staff Writer zbrooke@ama.org Hal Conick, Staff Writer hconick@ama.org Sarah Steimer, Staff Writer ssteimer@ama.org Bill Murphy, Designer wmurphy@ama.org ADVERTISING STAFF

Fax (312) 922-3763 • E-mail ads@ama.org Sally Schmitz, Production Manager sschmitz@ama.org (312) 542-9038

Indeed, the smartphone has changed everything. What was once accessible to only a few—the internet—now connects us all. In this issue, we explore how globalization has influenced how we market everything across the globe—from live streaming and chat bot services to seltzer water and ice cream. How has the shrinking Earth affected your work? MOLLY SOAT Editor in Chief @MollySoat

Michael Gay, Account Executive mgay@yourmembership.com (727) 329-4421 Nicola Tate, Account Executive ntate@yourmembership.com (727) 329-4437 Jordan Berthiaume, Media Sales Representative jberthiaume@YourMembership.com (727) 497-6565 x3409 Marketing News (ISSN 0025-3790) is published monthly by the American Marketing Association, 130 E. Randolph St., 22nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60601. Circulation: (800) AMA-1150, (312) 542-9000 Tel: (800) AMA-1150, (312) 542-9000 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Marketing News, 130 E. Randolph St., 22nd Floor, Chicago, 60601-6320, USA. Periodical Postage paid at Chicago, Ill., and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Agreement Number 40030960. Opinions expressed are not necessarily endorsed by the AMA, its officers or staff. Marketing News welcomes expressions of all professional viewpoints on marketing and its related areas. These may be as letters to the editor, columns or articles. Letters should be brief and may be condensed by the editors. Please request a copy of the “Writers’ Guidelines” before submitting an article. Upon submission to the AMA, photographs and manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, adequately stamped envelope.

CONTRIBUTORS

Annual subscription rates: Marketing News is a benefit of membership for professional members of the American Marketing Association. Annual professional membership dues in the AMA are $220. Annual subscription rates: $35 members, $145 nonmembers and $190 libraries, corporations and institutions. International rates vary by country. Nonmembers: Order online at amaorders.com, call 1-800-633-4931 or e-mail amasubs@ebsco.com. Single copies $10 individual, $10 institutions; foreign add $5 per copy for air, printed matter. Payment must be in U.S. funds or the equivalent. Canadian residents add 13% GST (GST Registration #127478527). Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for all content (including text, representations and illustrations) of advertisements published, and also assume responsibility for any claims arising therefrom made against the publisher. The right is reserved to reject any advertisement. Copyright © 2017 by the American Marketing Association. All rights reserved.

MICHAEL C. KRAUSS

Krauss is a veteran strategic marketer, business advisor, organizational coach, board member and investor with more than 35 years of professional experience. He brings proven skills in strategic business planning, buyer insight analysis, change management and executive coaching.

DEBBIE QAQISH Qaqish is principal partner and chief strategy officer of The Pedowitz Group. She manages global client relationships and leads the firm’s thought leadership initiatives. She has been helping B-to-B companies drive revenue growth for more than 35 years.

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How to Take Your Web Ads from Interruptive to Engaging Brands should look to Pinterest for inspiration on digital ads that enhance the user experience

n 2016 there was a significant milestone for digital marketing: For the first time, digital advertising spend surpassed TV advertising spend in the U.S., representing 37% of U.S. media ad spending. And why wouldn’t digital advertising win? It has precise, micro-targeted relevancy, clearer measurable ROI and closed-loop analytics to continually optimize spending. This was an inevitable shift and is evidence of the power of digital marketing.

Yet the adoption of online ad blocking software continues to grow. Why does the click rate for display advertising consistently remain at one per 10,000 impressions? Will increased demand result in rate increases that negatively impact ROI? Digital advertising is winning because it is more cost-effective than TV advertising, which has relatively high cost, dwindling productivity and lacks a truly fulfilling and personalized consumer experience. The current state of digital advertising can be seen in the

duopoly of Google and Facebook. Google dominates and refines search while Facebook diversifies to grow its lead in display advertising. While Google search can be efficient and utilitarian, how aspirational can a single-line search box be? Even as Facebook finds creative ways to keep users engaged, will advertisements continue to feel distracting and intrusive to users? Both platforms leverage sophisticated science platforms to drive better targeting for their clients. However, for all of the benefits of advanced analytics and data in digital targeting, it still falls short of the consumer’s expectations. Amazon, although not comparable in advertising dollars to Google and Facebook, deserves an honorable mention for surpassing Google as

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the origin for most product searches. With the robust product information that Amazon has curated through attributes, recommendations and reviews, it is arguably the leading source of product information. Starting with Amazon, users find a path to discover a variety of products. It is getting closer to a discovery space and may be an indication of what consumers are seeking. Consumers are recognizing the benefit by which site they use to search. What are consumers getting through digital marketing and how does that compare to what they’re seeking? They may be getting function when they want emotion. They may be getting utility when they want discovery. They may be getting literal when they want inspirational. They may be getting analytics when they want indulgence. How can we solve the problem of reality versus expectations? The answer is happening in bricksand-mortar retail. Costco continues Launched in February of this year, Pinterest Lens is integrated into the mobile app and brings “virtual window shopping” to the Pinterest experience.

to thrive on a value proposition that includes an engaging discovery experience in store. Product-led grocer Trader Joe’s consistently delivers an on-target brand proposition. Nordstrom’s curated customer experience focuses on inspiration over function. The most notable company taking on this challenge at scale in the digital realm is Pinterest. Pinterest is well-positioned to be one of the largest potential IPOs on the horizon. Pinterest’s digital ad revenue this year is expected to make a fivefold increase since 2015, its first year of selling. It seems to be growing quickly into profitability and earning a $12 billion valuation from its existing investors. Pinterest grew a large-scale monthly user base at a rate that was 70% faster than Facebook and more than twice as fast as Twitter. While the active user base is 81% female (not a liability for advertising spend), new user sign-ups are a more balanced 40% male and 60% female mix. Their 175 million active “Pinners” browse through more than 75 billion ideas by their interest categories. The vast majority admit Pinterest

influences what they purchase. By the numbers, Pinterest appears to have caught fire and is addressing a consumer need. A key difference between Pinterest and the dominant players in digital advertising is Pinterest’s focus on its identity as a visual search platform. This has been reinforced in its public statements from its most recent round of funding. Communication and connection through images does open up that indulgent function more than utilitarian, text-based search. Visually focused idea pages on Pinterest create an immersive experience that can unobtrusively link sponsored product pins, which generate advertising revenue and don’t interrupt the discovery experience. Pinterest has taken that to the next level by adding functionality to seamlessly enable click-to-online purchase. Pinterest has established a social media proposition around ideas that is primed for advertising spend. Pinterest also understands that mobile will drive its growth and is creating capabilities to bridge a connection between the real and virtual worlds. Launched in February of this year, Pinterest Lens is integrated into the mobile app and brings virtual window shopping to the Pinterest experience. Anything you see can be captured in the Pinterest Lens and open new ideas powered by its visual search engine. You don’t have to translate or convert; you just have to capture the image. More so, for advertisers, Lens provides an opportunity to connect a brand to the discovery experience. This is a revenue opportunity that Pinterest will look to leverage. How much of a splash Pinterest makes in digital advertising, as it is tiny compared to the dominant players in this space, is yet to be seen. However, its offering may shape a model for how digital advertising will embrace online discovery with new capabilities. —MICHAEL WILHITE

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How the Digital Revolution Changed the Role of the CMO In today’s fast-paced digital world, marketing has become a critical growth driver, requiring CMOs to transform the structure of their marketing organizations and play a more prominent role in the C-suite

arketing News sat down with Diana O’Brien, CMO at Deloitte LLP, and Christine Moorman, professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and director of The CMO Survey, to see how the digital revolution has changed the role of the CMO.

more competition than ever for that attention. The digital age has created a world where customers and employees are always on, and with that unprecedented access to information, customers make decisions faster, turn off more quickly and listen to sources they don’t even know. The mobile, social, digital transformation gives every organization a unique opportunity to rethink its relationships with the customer.

O’Brien: Attention has become the scarcest resource, and there’s

Moorman: And yet CMO Survey results indicate that only 11.8% of

What changes are you seeing in the market?

company sales are occurring through the internet, and 51% of growth investments are dedicated to market penetration—targeting existing customers with existing offerings. Companies need to wake up to the opportunity that digital represents and grab more of that attention Diana mentioned.

What’s the impact for CMOs and marketing departments?

Moorman: Marketing organizations weren’t built to meet the demands of today’s fast-paced digital world, so they need to evolve their structure and capabilities. CMOs are planning to dramatically increase their marketing spend in the next three to five years in social (90%), mobile (127%) and analytics (375%). Marketers are planning to build customer experience and

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data capabilities in-house while outsourcing less-frequent, specialized activities. O’Brien: The control CMOs and marketers once had over their brands and messaging has moved into the hands of customers and employees. The focus is less on creating messages and more about empowering others to live your brand and to tell your story across every channel. We’re also seeing greater pressure on the customer experience. Expectations are much higher because customers and employees aren’t just comparing you against your competitors—they are interacting with you across multiple channels and comparing you against the best brands in the world.

How will CMOs need to evolve the way they work in the future?

Moorman: As the vanguard of the customer, marketing needs to perform an integrative role in how the company approaches the marketplace. This has not yet happened in integrating the firm’s social and traditional marketing activities—which tend to operate in silos. Second, marketing analytics will increasingly be the driver for marketing decisions. However, this won’t happen on its own. Marketing

leaders need to ensure that data is collected and embedded into how the company makes decisions. At the same time, marketers need to balance these quantitative drivers with deep human insight into the customers and the marketplace. O’Brien: CMOs need to represent the voice of the customer and integrate work across functions to ensure everything their organizations do is in service of the customer and their needs. This includes everything from empowering employees with the right capabilities to live the brand and pushing the boundaries of innovation.

What are the biggest challenges CMOs face in helping their companies grow? Moorman: Growth is too often driven by engineering or production advantages that are not adequately connected to customer benefits. If you look in most tech companies, the marketing department often plays a role only after the product has been developed. It’s important to begin and end with the customer. Second, market penetration (selling current offerings to current customers) dominates too much of firm growth budgets. Companies should also think about new offerings, new markets, new channels and even new business

models that could improve growth in more dramatic ways. Third, most companies are still growing using solo strategies (73%) instead of using partners, acquisitions or licensing activities. In fast-moving digital markets, using strategies that tap the expertise of outside firms will allow firms to make quick inroads into new markets or enter new categories—activities that would take much longer if they came to market alone. Finally, at 15.6% of sales, international markets remain a small part of most companies’ revenues. Across industries, the international markets that companies are not currently in that were reported to be the biggest opportunity for the future are China, Western Europe, Brazil and Canada. A first big step in pursuing international markets may be a hard look at marketing budgets spent on international markets, which is currently only 10.2% on average. O’Brien: One challenge that we hear our clients mention is that the multitude of customer data available today can overwhelm business leaders. The same can be said for the myriad of new technologies that appear every day; we become distracted by the shiny new things and forget to focus on the important questions: What am I trying to solve? Who am I trying to reach? What I am trying to tell them? Once you focus on those questions, everything else follows. A second issue is that CMOs and marketers are facing an internal perception challenge. Our C-suite colleagues often operate under the belief that marketers focus too much on the latest trends that don’t necessarily yield a strong return on investment. However, the CMO and marketing role has changed immensely. It is now a growth driver that owns the customer experience and activates employees as brand ambassadors. —MARKETING NEWS

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SNAPSHOT

of scientific jargon and the noise of the internet using a podcast and an engaging social media campaign. Goal “Our goal is always to educate our audience about the importance of crop nutrition, and we want to promote our company as the leader within that category,” Mosaic brand manager Mindy Dale says. “We wanted to do it in a more engaging and entertaining way to break through the clutter and see what traction we could get with a different approach.” The company knew one of the best times to reach out to its target audience is during harvest season, when social media usage spikes among farmers. They share photos of their harvest and other yieldrelated information online, plus they’re able to browse as they work: Ample time in tractors allows for some extra media consumption—especially when so many of these machines almost drive themselves. “At least 50% of farmers are on social media,” Dale says. “We also know that most farmers have a smartphone, and they use it to access the internet.” The time was right for a social media campaign, but the company needed something that could stand out in a sea of tweets and Facebook posts.

Solving a B-to-B Marketing Mystery Crop nutrition company Mosaic and marketing agency Broadhead created a podcast to engage and inform farmers BY SARAH STEIMER | STAFF WRITER

 ssteimer@ama.org

osaic sells products that aren’t very flashy. Descriptions of its crop nutrition products include phrases like “potassium oxide,” “nutrient removal” and “bushel per acre

average.” However, this doesn’t mean that the marketing of those products needs to be boring. Mosaic and marketing communications agency Broadhead chose to break through the monotony

Action Broadhead was tasked with creating the campaign, and Wayne Carlson, a partner in Broadhead’s strategy division, Rabbit Relevance, says the team came up with the podcast concept by brainstorming about what was popular at the time. Namely, the investigative journalism podcast “Serial.” “Somebody said, ‘It’s too bad there’s not a crime that needs solving, but the thing that was robbed was yield.’ Someone else said, ‘Why couldn’t we make that up?’ Like ‘Serial,’ but fiction,’ ” Carlson says. “One of us got up on a board and started writing things down and the last thing we wrote was ‘Twin Peaks’ meets ‘Serial’ meets ‘Prairie Home Companion.’ And that was the center of the brief.” Harvest time proved to be the ideal

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time frame to get into the farmer’s mindset. This period is when Mosaic’s consumer is looking at the yield monitor in the combine and thinking about what to do differently the following year. It’s a perfect opportunity for presenting a solution in an entertaining manner. Broadhead knew hiring voice actors for the podcast would become too expensive. Instead, the agency cast its own employees as the characters. Carlson says the creative director who devised the podcast story wrote key components of the staff ’s personalities into the fictional characters. The staff actors were placed in the sound booth with talking points, the script and agronomy experts on the other side of the glass to fact check. “The Great Yield Mystery” wound up sounding something like a throwback radio program, Carlson says. The podcast begins its tale with a death; however, it’s not who died, but what: one farmer’s crop yield. The community is introduced as the narrator tries to solve the mystery of the low yield, and characters wax poetic on everything from weather conditions to potluck salads. The audience was encouraged to react on social media and read the case files on the podcast’s website to help solve the mystery. Results For the October through December period during which the podcast ran, Mosaic exceeded its social media engagement goal by 379% and saw a 20% increase in Facebook likes. The podcast had more than 2,000 downloads and the campaign received almost 2 million media impressions. The campaign also won numerous industry awards. “As a marketer in the digital age, it’s becoming difficult to break through the clutter and find ways to leverage all the channels that are available to us,” Dale says. “This campaign was unlike anything that’s in our industry. The fact that we were able to stand out and still deliver the technical information in such a clever way made this campaign a success. Trying something new actually paid off.” The sort of highly technical information presented by Mosaic and

many other B-to-B organizations can make for dry marketing campaigns. Dale says “The Great Yield Mystery” was able to strike the right balance between technical content and entertaining storytelling. “Our research partners are highly

COMPANY

Mosaic HEADQUARTERS

Plymouth, Minnesota CAMPAIGN TIMELINE

October to December 2015 RESULTS

Exceeded social media engagement goal for the quarter by 379%; increased Facebook likes by 20%; generated more than 2,000 episode downloads and almost 2 million media impressions. Won multiple awards from The PR News Agency Elite Awards, The Killer Content Awards, American Agriculture Editor’s Association Awards and Ag Relations Council’s Golden ARC Awards.

answers in action

technical, skilled and trained Ph.D. researchers, so a lot of the information that they provide is technical. Our goal in marketing is to simplify that information and make it as easy as possible for our audience to understand,” Dale says. “This storytelling approach helped achieve that

goal by creating the compelling characters and the compelling storyline that the audience could actually relate to.” Relatability was a key component of how the podcast story was presented. The audience lives in rural America, Dale says, so the storyline was written in a way that tied the audience’s lifestyle together with aspects of the farming business. “There isn’t anything like it out there right now and definitely not with an agriculture focus,” Carlson says. “Plus we created a place for this community to thrive. It was more than just enjoying the audio. People who enjoyed the audio could also go to the microsite— GreatYieldMystery.com—and read case files. In those case files they could find information to solve the mystery. There was also a contest component to it. It had the ability to get the audience involved. When you add those two things together, that’s kind of the secret sauce that equals engagement in my mind.” Dale says that the response from farmers has been very positive (albeit simple: “It was pretty entertaining and informative.”), and the goal was met. Whether there’s another mystery in the future for Mosaic’s audience to solve remains to be seen. m AUGUST 2017 | MARKETING NEWS

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The Stealth Job Search: How to Find a Job While You Already Have One Marketers can take steps to stay ready for new career opportunities BY HAL CONICK | STAFF WRITER

 hconick@ama.org

one are the days of the corporate loyalist and the company man. Their stories of pensions and climbing the ladder now sound as quaint as an episode of “Leave it to Beaver.” The modern employee tells gritty, exigent tales of networking, résumé updates and stealth job searches to stay prepared for inevitable changes. “My dad worked for the same company for 35 years,” says Liz Ryan, Human Workplace CEO and a Forbes contributor. “But back then, it was all about pleasing your boss. That was not a bad deal because the company took really good care of its employees. [Today], pleasing your boss is like the booby prize. You could please your boss. He could be the happiest guy in the universe, but so what? He doesn’t control your job security. You and he could both be laid off.” Marketers, especially marketing executives, should know this well: The average CMO lasts only 3.5 years (42 months) at a company, according to

Spencer Stuart’s 13th annual CMO tenure study, and there has been a 13% decline in tenure in the past two years. Marketers increasingly find their jobs canceled more quickly than a bad sitcom. Marketing isn’t the only industry hit by job market changes. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2016 that the median wage and salary worker stays with their current employer for 4.2 years, down from 4.6 years in 2014. Looking back to 2010, the average worker stayed for 5.2 years. Other surveys mirror this anxiety: Pew Research finds that 63% of adults say the average worker has less job security than he or she did 20 or 30 years ago. Change is now a job market norm. The stealth job search, or searching for a new job in secret while still employed, has become a critical life skill to adapt to this change, according to Ryan. The average employee will go on at least one, likely multiple, stealth job searches in his or her career. Ryan says looking for a job while still employed gives workers

a better chance at landing a new job, but it also has the practical uses of avoiding lapses in health care coverage and gaps in employment history. However, the average stealth job hunter tends to have a hellishly long week: The average full-time employee in the U.S. works 47 hours each week, according to Gallup, with 18% working 60-plus hours per week, 21% working between 50 and 59 hours per week and a mere 8% working fewer than 40 hours per week. Long work week or not, a CareerBuilder survey found that 22% of employees plan to change jobs in 2017. “I say to people, ‘There are conversations going on in Hong Kong and Philadelphia right now that could put you out of a job next week,’ ” Ryan says. “In this new millennium, the idea of being ready to change is not a negative, that’s a positive, … but it’s a very big shift for working people to make.” Employees—CMO and entry-level marketing coordinator alike—must prepare for this shift by staying ready for a career change and becoming an expert stealth job hunter. Be the CEO of Your Own Career American employees are brainwashed into thinking they get the short end of the stick, Ryan says. The message that employees are simply workers, not the bosses of their own careers, is taught to children from a young age. “Schools raise employees, not businesspeople,” Ryan says. “We don’t teach people to date the same way we teach them to job hunt. [Imagine saying], ‘You have to like any dude or any girl that wants to date you, they’re good enough. Just do what they want you to do. Be who they want you to be. Go to the date and just please them.’ What?” Ryan says, her voice aghast. “With work, it’s all about, ‘Don’t do this. Don’t do that. You don’t want them to know what you’re really like. Don’t express your true opinions, they may not like it.’ Nobody grows a backbone, nobody finds their voice.” Voiceless workers reach out to Ryan and tell her they hate their job but are afraid to change roles or test the job market. Fear, she says, is the biggest

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challenge any employee will face when looking for a new role or finding their voice as a professional. Finding these victories in small nuggets of truth can build confidence, something Ryan says will help with a stealth job search. Being honest with others means being honest with yourself and being ready for the possibility of change. Most people aren’t ready, Ryan says, because they allow fear of what’s next to own them, even with what she calls “zero job security.” “Step through the fear,” Ryan says. “Every single mythic story has to do with finding that place inside you. I’m not saying, ‘Go into your boss’s office and smack ‘em in the face.’ But let a little bit of truth out.” Actively Network, Even When You’re Happy Amy Dunleavy has pushed past the fear. Like a young Teemu Selänne (the recordholder for most goals scored by a rookie in the NHL), Dunleavy scores big at each turn of her career. Dunleavy has always dreamed about working in sports in some capacity— specifically, she dreamed of working as a statistician, or the person who feeds commentators esoteric stats like the batting percentage of a left-handed hitter on nights where the temperature is under 60 degrees. After graduating with a degree in sports marketing from Ferris State University in 2014, Dunleavy found her numbers game; her career trajectory has looked like a minor-league pitcher throwing no-hitters in increasingly bigger cities. In the three years since she graduated, Dunleavy worked as a business analytics and database marketing intern with the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, a CRM coordinator with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and now serves as CRM and marketing analyst with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. She’s kept her impressive scoring streak alive with a strong networking game. In her 10th month at work for the Blue Jackets—a job Dunleavy says she enjoyed and learned a lot from, one she was not looking to leave—her boss sent her to the NHL league meetings. Sitting around a table were the Amy Dunleavys of every other team in the NHL: CRM managers,

data analysts and number crunchers. After a presentation from the CRM analyst for her hometown Red Wings, Dunleavy raced up to him to shake his hand and introduce herself. “He didn’t even stand up,” Dunleavy says with a laugh. “I’m good friends with him now but he was just continuing to work on his laptop and really didn’t pay much attention to what was said. All I said was, ‘Hey, I do CRM. We have the same job, but I do it for the Blue Jackets down in Ohio. I’m from Michigan. How’s it going?’ … A couple of months later, he called me and said ‘I’m leaving, do you want my job?’ ” Given an option to return to Michigan, Dunleavy quickly accepted. Now, she manages the Red Wings’ customer database, tracks metrics, has hired her own CRM coordinator and works with more than 60 sales and service representatives. Her next goal? A better understanding of the Red Wings’ website and each of its functions, just as an NBA point guard learns each teammate’s on-court movements. Her understanding of the CRM system is what got her this far; to move ahead again, she needs to expand her game. “The overall goal is obviously being the best,” Dunleavy says. “I don’t think you can move forward without having mastered what you are already on.” Patience Wins; Desperation Loses In a job search, desperation’s stink permeates slick suits and covers glossy résumés. During a stealth job search, workers must be cool, collected and patient. “Do not go from the frying pan into the fire,” Ryan says. “You hate your job. You hate your boss so much that you could write an opera about how disgusting your boss is—wait. Write the opera later.” A friend recently told Ryan she had just called three or four headhunters and told them that now she’s “really serious” about finding a new job. Her boss had just said something even more “wacked out” than anything before; she was mentally ready to leave. However, Ryan says her friend’s desperation only serves to let headhunters and potential employers know that she’s willing to jump into a bad situation or

accept less money. Desperation kills leverage. Instead of panicking, Ryan suggests keeping a calm countenance, which may mean telling potential employers that you’re ready for a new challenge, and selectively forgetting to say, “My boss is a micromanaging control freak.” “You have to get control of your own body before you can go on a stealth job search,” Ryan says. “Everyone’s been there. … The horrible job will become less horrible as you get into the job search because your energy will shift toward yourself and your future and away from trying to keep these maniacs happy at your current job.” Quick Tips for a Better Job Search • Have side gigs, Ryan says. This allows multiple groups of people to know you. • Don’t “just execute,” Dunleavy says; find ways to stay creative. It may help to have a to-do list of tasks, projects and brainstorms to “stay out of the cycle of just executing.” • Brand yourself for the job you want, even if it’s entirely unrelated to the job you have. You can find the connective tissue between your work history and the job you want, Ryan says. “What’s compelling about you is what you care about, not what you’ve been doing that you don’t care about,” Ryan says. • Alert your network that you’re on the hunt for a job. This should be done on a personal level—think coffee meetings, text messages or phone calls—so no one feels they can openly talk about your stealth job search, Ryan says. If you use LinkedIn Premium, you can toggle a switch that says recruiters may now contact you. Employers do not see that this switch has been flipped. • When a new offer comes, Dunleavy says, list pros and cons of the job. Answer the important questions: Is the job something you can handle? Is it right for your growth? Is it good for your family? • When a potential employer asks if they can contact your current employer, Ryan says the answer must always be “no.” “Run away from those people,” she says. “They’re living in 1945.” m

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ama intelligence

THE MIDDLE MARKET

Supply Chain Reactions New research suggests a personal touch pays for suppliers BY ZACH BROOKE | STAFF WRITER

 zbrooke@ama.org

upply chains. Monotonous? Maybe. Inhuman? Hardly. That’s according to a new report by the National Center for the Middle Market, which looks at supply chain management and casts doubt on the adage, “It’s not personal, it’s business.” The report identifies the human element as a key point of divergence in middle market supplier outcomes and concludes that suppliers who have strong personal relationships with clients are largely the fastest-growing. “It still comes down to a people sport,” says Ward Melhuish, principal and advisory services leader at Grant Thornton. “Even though it’s business and a transaction, it goes beyond just saying our IT systems are connected, and I can process things faster. It’s making the human effort and involvement and interest. That makes a difference when it comes to the middle market.” The human element is often easier said than done. Many companies are so focused on the big picture and strategy that they don’t have the bandwidth to focus on the intricacies of supply chains, especially if everything seems to be working. For the same reasons, many businesses are ignorant of the breadth of components that comprise the chain that leads to their loading docks. It’s not just the companies’ fault. Supply chains can be complex, especially for today’s smart products. Try to imagine what the supply chain of an iPhone looks like. According to the website CompareCamp.com, the chain for the iPhone 6 (Apple’s previous model), includes 349 different Chinese companies, 139 Japanese businesses, 60 American suppliers and others from 28 additional countries. “If we want to capture the entirety of the supply chain, we’re going to go back

to dirt,” says report co-author Thomas Goldsby, a logistics professor at The Ohio State University. “Everything starts from the raw material standpoint, and assuming we’re talking about virgin materials, then you would go back to your own extraction.” It’s not just iPhones that have unfathomably long global tentacles. Even food items can be traced back many steps if you try to identify the origin of each ingredient and all the packaging. Goldsby issues a semester-long assignment for supply chain students at The Ohio State University to map the supply chain of a simple product. “They might use a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola or a Papa John’s pizza and try to map as far up- and downstream as possible. If you just look at one ingredient in that pizza, you can realize Papa John’s is dealing with hundreds of different tomato farmers back at tier two, tier three. Things get complicated really fast.” The report found that relationship management is so critical to supplier success that it’s actually influencing outcomes many people would consider counterintuitive. It turns out the bestperforming middle market supply chains have fewer customers. Thirtynine percent of large middle market companies (defined as those with

annual revenue between $100 million and $1 billion) say their businesses are highly dependent on one or two critical customers. Roughly the same (40%) of the fastest-growing middle market suppliers report similar findings. The explanation, according to report authors, is in the strength of relationships. Successful suppliers focus on generating

[Your argument] has to go beyond any argument of volume or human efficiency. It has to be something else, making life not just cheaper but maybe better in some way for the supplier upstream or that customer downstream.

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THE MIDDLE MARKET

more business with existing partnerships rather than winning new customers. “Sometimes in supply chain management, the term is two and one. I don’t want to have a lot of suppliers, I want to have two good ones and then another one in reserve,” Melhuish says. The report focused on supply councils as one way to forge stronger relationships and get a better handle on issues that may arise during the acquisition process. Here, all members of a supply chain—from raw materials to consumer-facing storefronts—are invited to shed light on the idiosyncrasies within their particular link with the hope that developing a better understanding of the chain as a whole can lead to improved best practices. “The top performers were much more likely to employ these supplier councils, and frankly, it’s where the supply chain

is regarded as an area of emphasis,” Goldsby says. More important than “Kumbaya” moments at supply summits is unlocking the secret to becoming the strongest link in the chain for customers. Performance guarantees go a long way, but the reality is a supplier will never be considered indispensable if it only does the minimum asked of it. “Something that increasingly is on the table for a big tier-one supplier or big tier-one customer is to simply phase [suppliers] out, either through a takeover of production activities, logistics activities, distribution activities, consulting or whatever,” Goldsby says. “[Your argument] has to go beyond any argument of volume or human efficiency. It has to be something else, making life not just cheaper but maybe better in some way for the

ama intelligence

supplier upstream or that customer downstream.” Becoming indispensable is trickier for middle market companies, which often don’t command the attention and deferential treatment of major corporations. But it can be accomplished by meeting subtle demands not necessarily communicated by the customer during the normal course of business, but made knowable by taking the extra time to personalize the business relationship between buyer and supplier. “The perfect link doesn’t mean that you have one fixed set of capabilities or assets that are leveraged in the same way routinely,” Goldsby says. “Rather, you have a set of capabilities and the ability to flexibly accommodate whatever that supply chain is calling for. That’s really what middle market firms in particular have to be focused upon.” m AUGUST 2017 | MARKETING NEWS

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ama intelligence

MBA PERSPECTIVES

Redesigning Restaurants With the 5 Senses in Mind The most successful restaurants market themselves by heightening the customer’s sensory experience

BY KALYANI GOSWAMI, KAREN HUDLIKAR, SALLY PETER AND ADITI TODI

hat do individuals experience while having a glass of wine with their friends? The sound of the glasses clinking, the elevated aroma and the wine’s rich colors all add to the taste of the drink and set the ambience. The simple act of sipping wine has now become a holistic experience. These behaviors have prompted restaurateurs around the world to focus on providing their customers with enhanced multisensory experiences through their food,

beverage and atmospheric offerings. One of the most unique restaurant adventures currently available around the world is Dinner in the Sky in Belgium, which provides its customers with an unforgettable experience through the sense of elevation combined with an astounding view. At Ultraviolet in Shanghai, LED lights and sounds are used to create a gastronomic production catered to each course. O’Noir in Toronto offers “dining in the dark.” The authors of this article conducted participant observation to validate O’Noir’s appeal of providing the

enigmatic experience of eating in the dark, where consumers are restricted from seeing anything, especially their food. This interaction is used to promote a social message—all the waitstaff are blind—and also caters to a social position of its customers. When individuals visit a restaurant, all their senses contribute toward a memorable outing. Each sensory organ triggers different touch points for different customers. Food actually stimulates synesthesia, where one sensory reaction evokes other sensory experiences. Furthermore, research by Aradhna Krishna shows that, “sensory marketing can be used to create subconscious triggers that define consumer perceptions of abstract notions of the product (e.g., its sophistication, quality, elegance, innovativeness, modernity, interactivity)— the brand’s personality. It can also be used to affect the perceived quality of an abstract attribute like its color, taste, smell or shape.”

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Be practical. AMA’s white papers and e-books arm you with marketing knowledge that’s easy to access and easy to apply. Find these topics and more at AMA.org/whitepaper. • Your Ticket to High-Performing ABM &

Sales Enablement Highspot

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Communications Strategy Bambu

• How the Best Leaders Deliver a Compelling Presentation CEB

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• Curate Content Like A Boss: The Hands-On Guide Curata

• Beginner to Winner: Guide to Become a Better Trade

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• Essential Data to Launch Your Employee Engagement

& Advocacy Strategy Bambu | Aberdeen Group

For info on how to feature your white paper, contact Andrew Nelmes at anelmes@ama.org.

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executive insights

MBA PERSPECTIVES

Sight and smell are important senses because they are tightly tied to the sense of taste. Generally, anything that isn’t sensed as appealing to the eyes or nose will end up disrupting the entire experience; both these senses enhance customer satisfaction and the overall taste. Moreover, customers are biased to form their first opinion of a restaurant based on its atmosphere. Touch is not only limited to the food we consume, but also to the ambience a restaurant offers. In fine dining, the interiors need to be smoother and feel more luxurious. The food provides different textures, such as soft, creamy or crispy, which builds on the taste. Furthermore, the temperature within a restaurant may also result in an entirely different food experience. Many studies reveal that background music at a restaurant can directly affect the flavor of food. Thus, restaurateurs use all senses to complement the food and drinks they serve. Truly unique experiences are not born from a simple combination of all the senses as discussed, but from the true variations each can bring. The attraction to each of the restaurants mentioned isn’t the multi-sensory experiences they provide, but that they enhance one sense over another or, in the case of O’Noir, entirely eliminate one. The reason they remain successful is derived from their ability to create a unique experience that tells a story representing the essence of the restaurant while focusing on the star of the story or show: the customer. Thus, it is important for restaurants to convey their brand story through these senses. The multi-sensory dining experience impacts the customer journey in all stages. In the awareness phase these restaurants usually need little promotion and marketing to sell their experience. In some cases, the secrecy of the dining experience is maintained to increase interest and demand. In the second phase, the dining experience impacts the customer through multiple touch points using the multi-sensory experience. The experience creates an emotional reaction

Generally, anything that isn’t sensed as appealing to the eyes or nose will end up disrupting the entire experience; both these senses enhance customer satisfaction and the overall taste.

and memory for the customer. In the last phase, the customers act as brand ambassadors to promote the restaurant. Their memorable experience acts as a testimony to the community through their tweets, Instagram photos and Facebook posts, and as they continue to share their experience with friends, colleagues and family members. m

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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Why Not Here? What efficiencies and customer insights are American companies missing by not looking abroad?

BY LAWRENCE A. CROSBY

 lawrence.a.crosby@gmail.com

’ve been fortunate to have traveled the world, visiting about 55 countries to date. A standing joke early in my career was if you leave the borders of the U.S., you qualify as an “international marketer.” As a consultant, part of my job was helping multinational companies assess their effectiveness in meeting customer needs abroad. I learned the importance of “picking your spot” after watching successful U.S. companies stumble in international markets. One big-box home improvement retailer just couldn’t understand why Asian customers in an urban area weren’t

gravitating to its stores despite having no car to get there and no ability to transport items back to their high-rises.

I recently returned from the Iberian Peninsula, and I continue to be impressed by Starbucks’ ability to “find its spots.” As you may know, the consumption of coffee is culture-laden. In Portugal, locals belly-up to the coffee bar to drink espresso in small cups and chat with their neighbors. For visitors from the U.S., a key word is “abatanado,” which will get you weaker coffee in a somewhat larger cup. Leaving the shop with 20 ounces of coffee in a paper cup just doesn’t happen. The Starbucks model doesn’t fit those Portuguese neighborhoods. There is no “Starbuckanado.” In Barcelona, Spain, however, there are five Starbucks within walking distance along the Avinguda Diagonal, a busy thoroughfare housing a large shopping mall, a major hospital, university facilities and international offices. No problem finding your venti coffee there. While alert to effective marketing in foreign markets, I’ve also observed service processes that left me wondering “Why not in the U.S.?” Perhaps this sounds familiar. You are checking out at the supermarket and the cashier encounters an unmarked item. While the cashier requests a price check, the line backs up and you become the victim of numerous

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GLOBAL PERSECTIVE

dirty looks. Not so at the Jumbo in Portugal (a Walmart-like supermarket owned by Groupe Auchan). When an unmarked item is encountered, the cashier calls for assistance, rings up the remaining items, freezes the transaction, asks the customer to step aside and processes the next person in line. When the price check is returned, the transaction is completed with minimum delay. Another service process I’ve appreciated in Europe is paying your bill at a sit-down restaurant. When you flag the waiter and ask for the bill, the credit card machine is brought to your table. You insert the card, approve the amount, and you are done. The credit card never

leaves your hand with zero chance of being duplicated in a back room. Why haven’t these effective service processes, and probably many others, been imported to the U.S.? Maybe it’s technology or, in the case of restaurants, our tip culture. But these seem surmountable roadblocks. Part of the problem is lack of exposure, which brings me to my earlier point: Only about one-third of Americans own a passport, and most who do only cross the border into Canada or Mexico. It’s estimated that only 10% of U.S. citizens have traveled overseas. With limited exposure, customers are unlikely to demand a change in practice. More importantly, state-bound employees fail to detect ideas that could provide a marketing advantage at home. For this reason, I continue to encourage firms to broaden the population of employees they send overseas, if even for a quick trip. You’ll be surprised what they discover. m LAWRENCE A. CROSBY, PH.D. is the retired dean of the Drucker School of Management, a regular AMA columnist since 2000 and president of L.A. Crosby & Associates.

executive insights

It’s estimated that only 10% of U.S. citizens have traveled overseas. With limited exposure, customers are unlikely to demand a change in practice. More importantly, state-bound employees fail to detect ideas that could provide a marketing advantage at home.

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AT C-LEVEL

Option B Teaches Resilience in All Aspects of Life Sheryl Sandberg’s memoir on grieving her husband’s unexpected death teaches readers about resilience

BY MICHAEL KRAUSS

 michael.krauss@mkt-strat.com

here’s a lot they don’t teach you in college or in that first management training program. Resilience is one trait we marketers learn experientially on the job.

No one teaches you what to do with a personal or professional challenge. You don’t always get that promotion. Sometimes the raise or bonus is less than you expect. You may get fired. At school or work, no one talks about coping with loss—loss of a promotion, a job, or in Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s case, the loss of her beloved husband and life partner, David Goldberg. That’s why Sandberg’s latest book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, is a mustread for marketers. Sandberg, the author of the best-selling book, Lean In, was vacationing in Mexico with her husband and friends in May of 2015. Her parents were watching their two children back home in California, so Sandberg and Goldberg could have an adults-only weekend getaway. Sandberg writes, “We were hanging out by the pool playing Settlers of Catan on our iPads. For a refreshing change, I was actually winning, but my eyes kept drifting closed. “Once I realized that fatigue was

going to prevent me from securing Catan victory, I admitted, ‘I’m falling asleep.’ I gave in and curled up. At 3:41 p.m. someone snapped a picture of Dave holding his iPad, sitting next to his brother Rob and Phil. I’m asleep on a cushion on the floor in front of them. Dave is smiling,” she adds. A few hours later, Goldberg was found on the floor of the gym where he had gone to work out. Sandberg started CPR. A doctor arrived, but Sandberg’s husband of 11 years, the father of their two children, died at age 47 from an undiagnosed heart ailment. Sandberg and Goldberg had achieved everything two people might desire: professional success, global fame, family happiness. Suddenly, it was gone. Option B, co-authored with Wharton professor Adam Grant, is more than Sandberg’s story of personal tragedy, intense grief and recovery. Sandberg shares her experiences in a way that will help all of us anticipate and cope more effectively with the personal challenges we will inevitably face.

I admire the book because it is a compelling tale of a woman, a wife, a mother and arguably one of the most successful executives in American business today, opening herself candidly to the reader and sharing both her feelings and thoughts in a way that is authentic and instructive. Option B reminds us that no matter how successful we might be, life is unpredictable and the future is uncertain. I also like Option B because of Grant’s influence. As the author of Originals and Give and Take, Grant brings an academic and a psychological perspective to the book. Yet, as a personal friend of Sandberg’s, his contribution is subtle, personal and behind-the-scenes. Grant’s presence enhances the power of the narrative. Sandberg shares the personal experiences of others who have suffered loss, including those who have experienced rape, violence, physical disability and political ostracism to illustrate that these experiences can serve as guide posts to us all. Each of these stories are reminders to have more empathy and humility as leaders. For me, perhaps the most instructive segment of Option B was when Sandberg writes, “We plant seeds of resilience in the ways we process negative events. After spending decades studying how people deal with setbacks, psychologist Martin Seligman found that three P’s can stunt recovery. Personalization—the belief that we are at fault. Pervasiveness—the belief that an event will affect all areas of our life. And permanence—the belief that the aftershocks of the event will last forever.” Throughout Option B, Sandberg describes how she faced personalization, pervasiveness and permanence and how she once again began to find joy in her life. Option B is neither saccharine nor condescending. It is personal, intimate and real. Most of all, it is instructive without being preachy. To her credit as a

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AT C-LEVEL

Option B is neither saccharine nor condescending. It is personal, intimate and real. Most of all, it is instructive without being preachy.

executive insights

writer, Sandberg makes the reader feel her experiences with her. Says Sandberg, “Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside of us. It comes from gratitude for what’s good in our lives and from leaning in to the suck (the sadness). It comes from analyzing how we process grief and from simply accepting that grief. Sometimes we have less control than we think. Other times we have more.” She continues, “I learned that when life pulls you under, you can kick against the bottom, break the surface and breathe again.” Sandberg reminds us of the first noble truth of Buddhism: All life involves suffering. In its many forms, suffering is inevitable, and joyful moments too will dissolve. Sandberg isn’t advocating our conversion to Buddhism or any other religion; she is sharing how she coped with tragedy—by relying on family, friends, co-workers, psychologists, religion and philosophy—and how you might as well. Sandberg’s description of how it feels when colleagues and friends avoided her or approached her awkwardly in the aftermath of her husband’s death is powerful and sadly informative. Readers come away from Option B with a better sense of how to relate to a co-worker who is suffering a loss. But that’s just one of the many benefits of reading this book. Option B gives all of us a way of vicariously experiencing and sharing Sandberg’s loss in a way that prepares us for the future of our careers and our personal lives. Reading Option B will make us each better managers, coaches and leaders. It gives us a greater ability to avoid arrogance and hubris while maintaining the confidence and certainty to connect with one another and to experience the joys of our work. Sandberg is more than one of the world’s great corporate executives; she may be one of the world’s great teachers as well. m MICHAEL KRAUSS is president of Market Strategy Group based in Chicago.

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water

WARS Carbonated beverage maker SodaStream is an established brand with more than 100 years of history, yet it was recently perceived as a brand society had passed byâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;until a fire-spitting CEO brought a pugnacious approach to its marketing. Can an eco-shaming message help the brand finally conquer the American market?

BY ZACH BROOKE

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mericans are prone to raise a glass of bubbly as of late. Not champagne, but sparkling water.

Numbers from the Beverage Marketing Corporation show that domestic consumption of sparkling water has more than doubled in the past five years. Whereas Americans drank a scant 232 million gallons of fizzy aqua in 2011, by year end 2016 the country had guzzled 574 million gallons. A recent report from Technavio predicts the global sparkling water market will post an average annual growth rate of 3% from 2016 to 2020.

1.25%

of U.S. households own a SodaStream

In a bit of chicken-and-egg symbiosis, the demand for carbonated water is being matched by widespread availability of new channels and delivery systems. Whether up for grabs in the office fridge, extended eagerly to shoppers by a high-end clothier or invading supermarket endcaps and checkout lines, sparkling water is everywhere. Committed drinkers can actually forgo bottles altogether by purchasing a home carbonation system, more likely than not a SodaStream. Yet, even though this product seems tailor-made for the sparkling water zeitgeist and appears to have materialized on American retail shelves overnight, it’s actually a freshly reinvigorated brand with a 100-year history. SodaStream’s lineage can be traced back to Edwardian Era England, when London distiller Guy Hugh Gilbey invented a device for aerating liquids that his upper-class customers used

to carbonate their gin cocktails. The original 1914 patent describes a bulky contraption, replete with valves, pistons and plungers. Two decades later, the earliest flavored concentrates were introduced, which could be mixed with carbonated water to create instant soda. It wasn’t until 1955 that the home version of the SodaStream became available for the masses. Twenty years later, the brand reached its first golden age when it become a familiar fixture in European kitchens with a catchy tagline to match: Get Busy With the Fizzy. Though nobody knew it at the time, the second half of the 1980s marked the start of a decline in fortunes for the company. In 1985, SodaStream was purchased by British food and drink conglomerate Cadbury Schweppes, which promptly deemphasized the brand in favor of its titular Schweppes beverages, according to current SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum. By 1998, SodaStream had all but officially fallen out of fashion when it was purchased by an Israeli company and renamed Soda-Club. There, it languished until the next set of investors came over to kick the tires in 2007. “At the time, I was running Nike in Israel,” Birnbaum says. “I got a call from a business school friend of mine. His name was Yuval Cohen. He said, ‘Daniel, do me a favor. Come for a couple of hours to participate in due diligence for a company I’m looking to acquire.’ ” Cohen was reluctant to identify the company over the phone, but Birnbaum refused to come unless he was given the name. Cohen acquiesced. “He told me it was SodaStream, and I almost fell off my chair,” Birnbaum says. It didn’t make sense. Cohen was a techie, more interested in investing in the future than attempting to rekindle nostalgia for a dead brand. “SodaStream was such an old rusty company. It was like the Volkswagen Beetle before it came back,” Birnbaum says. Still, Birnbaum went. “The next day I found myself in a conference room of this company, and I was hearing all the excuses in the world [about] why not to enter this market and that market, why there’s no product development and why there’s no marketing department. It was run

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SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum

like a factory. Sales were declining, and they were losing money,” Birnbaum says. “Three weeks later, Yuval buys the company and says, ‘I want you to run it.’ ”

Carrying the Water Today SodaStream is ascendant. It’s sold 3 million units in the last 12 months and posted growth for the past five quarters that’s averaged 14% at the topline and triple digits on the bottom line. Germany is the company’s largest market; by the end of 2016 sales there grew by double digits for 19 straight quarters while only reaching 7% of households, suggesting a lot of room for continued improvement. In Sweden, the numbers are more firm: One in four Swedish households owns a SodaStream. The brand owes its European resurgence to savvy marketing that emphasizes a combination of convenience, value and environmentalism. There, SodaStream is billed as the solution to lugging home heavy bottles of water from the store every week while reducing the environmental impact of water consumption and saving consumers money. “It’s not a nostalgic brand. It’s a modern brand.

SodaStream realized that people in Europe consume gallons and gallons of sparkling water,” says Eli Peer, partner at Allenby Concept House, which was just named SodaStream’s agency of record after years of producing work for the brand. “It’s a beautiful machine that looks good on the countertop. It can be next to your espresso with pride.”

On the Bubble Through it all, however, the U.S. has proved a tougher nut to crack. Even today, Birnbaum says, only 1.25% of U.S. households own a SodaStream. While Peer and Birnbaum are adamant that SodaStream’s sales in Europe are based on today’s needs and not yesterday’s affinity, there’s no denying the lengthy history of the brand in the European market has at least familiarized consumers with the concept of home carbonation. For much of the period Europe was getting busy with the fizzy, there was no analogous home beverage maker in America. “In the United States, they needed to invent two categories that were nonexistent. One was a do-it-yourself sparkling beverage system,” Peer says. “Another was sparkling water because

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60%

of sparkling water drinkers don’t realize SodaStream can make sparkling water

people [in the U.S.] didn’t drink sparkling water, they drink seltzer. Seltzer was an old people drink, or it was added in bars to vodka or gin.” One of Birnbaum’s first strategies as CEO was to push into the U.S. He quickly reached agreements with high-end retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Williams Sonoma to stock the beverage makers. After the company went public on the Nasdaq exchange in 2010, the machines became nearly ubiquitous: Shoppers could find the beverage makers at Walmart and Target. Five years later, Birnbaum would call that move a mistake during a conference call with investors following a quarter that saw company revenue decline by more than 22%. “I thought early on that I [could] access the mass market out of the gate and that we [could] go very quickly to places like Sears, Kmart, Walmart, but really that doesn’t work that way,” he said at the time.

Water Works Birnbaum’s mea culpa came at nearly the exact time the company began to reverse its fortunes by tying the brand to the increasing popularity of sparkling water. Previously, the reason Americans bought a SodaStream was for ... soda. Pop enthusiasts were encouraged to try the brand’s flavored concentrates it sold separately or experiment with their own unusual flavors. The company struck a deal with Pepsi and Ocean Spray midway through Birnbaum’s tenure to co-market soda and juice flavors that could be made in the home device. That all changed after the bad performance in 2014 and 2015, which coincided with a larger and ongoing dip in soda sales overall. Birnbaum and company saw a life preserver in sparkling water and grabbed hold with full force. “Sixty percent of sparkling water drinkers don’t realize SodaStream can make sparkling water, and [they] only know it as a machine for making

[The IBWA] are sitting around the table talking not about how to promote their industry and the goodness of the planet and to humanity. … but coming up with ways to stop SodaStream.

cola or juice,” then-managing director Fiona Hope told Marketing Week in 2015. SodaStream, she said, “has a reasonably unhealthy and fizzyflavored heritage, and we have an opportunity to reposition against the backdrop of sparkling water to make the brand more functional and youthful.” Today, Birnbaum is proselytizing to anyone who will listen that SodaStream is an easier way for consumers to obtain carbonated water, a cheaper alternative to designer sparkling or still bottled water brands, and it might save the planet. “Worldwide, there’s a billion and half disposable bottles and cans used every single day. The recycling rate of PET bottles is tiny— about 23%. By the way, recycling barely reduces the carbon footprint of a bottle by only 15%,” Birnbaum says. “Water in a bottle at home? It’s ridiculous and it’s criminal. Especially if your tap water is of high quality. In America, tap water is good.”

Green Light It’s tough to say if the environmentalism angle will play in the U.S. Gary Hemphill, managing director and chief operating officer of research for the Beverage Marketing Corporation doesn’t think it will. “Bottled water marketers have worked hard to make their products more environmentally friendly,” Hemphill says. “Bottles have been lightweighted as have been closures. Beyond that, sales continue to grow and are projected to grow in the years ahead. This doesn’t appear to be a significant issue for most consumers today.” Even Peer and Birnbaum are upfront with the limitations of environmental messaging in the U.S. right now. “Americans … are not as green as the Europeans are. Americans consume more plastic. Americans don’t recycle as much,” Peer says. “I don’t hear enough American consumers who care about the environment. It almost seems like Americans don’t give a crap,” adds Birnbaum. But, if the recent advertising for the company is any indication, SodaStream is not shying away from eco-friendly messaging, just repackaging it. Last year, Allenby created “Shame or Glory,” which is probably SodaStream’s most memorable ad to date. It follows an average shopper as

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SODASTREAM’S LATEST

n July 12, SodaStream and Allenby unveiled their latest ad campaign “The Homoschlepiens.” It bears all the hallmarks of previous Allenby work for the brand: celebrities, storytelling, environmentalism and a product pitch late in the running time. Mayim Bialik, of “Big Bang Theory,” stars as a futuristic anthropologist who journeys deep into the jungle to live among the last existing tribe of Homoschlepiens, a remote society that still drinks water from plastic bottles. She

he is harangued while purchasing sparkling water at a supermarket. British actress Hannah Waddingham, reprising her Septa Unella character from HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” follows the man around the store ringing a bell and crying, “Shame!” in a parody of a famous scene from the show. The man leaves the 21st century store and walks into a medieval street market where he is pelted with produce by a populace inflamed over his purchase of allegedly wasteful plastic bottles. He ends his walk at a nearby film set where he delivers the bottles to another “Game of Thrones” actor, Icelandic bodybuilder Hafþór Björnsson, who chides the man further. “Why are you stupid?” he asks. “Why are you carrying shameful plastic bottles? Don’t you know you’re hurting Mother Earth?”

develops an attraction to one member of the tribe, Kristian Nairn (the third alum of “Game of Thrones” to appear in SodaStream spots). Later, she tries to explain the primitive concepts of disposable water bottles to students on a fieldtrip to the Museum of Unnatural History. They just don’t understand the purpose. “None of it makes any sense,” one cries. “Exactly,” Bialik responds. “With SodaStream, mankind evolved to make fresh sparkling water at home without carrying polluting plastic bottles.”

Two and half minutes in, it transitions to Björnsson walking to a new set and speaking directly to the camera about the environmental, convenience and flavor benefits afforded by SodaStream. In a two-part follow-up spot, Björnsson plays a pitchman not dissimilar from the Old Spice character in the long-running “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign. In it, he hawks a mock product called HeavyBubbles, sparkling water bottled in dumbbell-shaped containers weighing up to 10 kilos. The pitch is delivered nonchalantly amid surreal dramatics, such as walking through a glass door and witnessing a person rapidly dehydrating. Again, an abrupt switch to earnest pleas for SodaStream machines occurs late in the advertisement.

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The gag products angle proved to be so popular that Allenby revived the formula for the next installment. The studio posed Paris Hilton as a water tech mogul responsible for developing NanoDrop, a liquid that’s allegedly 5,000 times as hydrating as water and comes in finger-sized bottles. “Think how stupid and 2003 you look carrying your sparkling water home from the store,” Hilton says, circling back to the now-familiar theme of burdens and waste. Again, the plug for SodaStream doesn’t come until late in the ad, after Hilton is forced to apologize upon learning NanoDrop is just regular water. As a whole, the ads are quirky, not preachy. That’s by design. Allenby wants to convert smirking armchair activists to SodaStream users, not turn people off with emotional appeals to save the planet. “Humor is an amazing tool to speak about things,” says Ronen Harten, who helped develop the ads. “Even if you look at stand-up [comedy], for example, the ability to speak about things that are taboo, that hurt, that are concealed under the surface most of the time. We can use humor to open up on things that we may not be able to do with other messages.”

Soda Jerks If the humor fails to work, the ads are rife with another element that does tend to play well stateside: controversy. For years, SodaStream has cultivated an image of a brand that likes to push the envelope with its advertising. As far back as 2012, a SodaStream commercial was pulled by U.K. advertising authorities for “denigration of the bottled drinks market.” In response to the derailment of an £11 million campaign, the company ran a 30-second

spot featuring only the sentence, “If you love the bubbles, set them free.” The next two years saw Super Bowl ads blocked by the network that hosted the game. In 2013, the first ad depicted Coca-Cola and Pepsi deliverymen each breaking a dolly-load of bottles in a race to stock store shelves. The following year, Scarlett Johansson sipped SodaStream in front of the camera before purring, “Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.” “That was the first time an ad was banned in the United States for reasons other than pornography in 20 years,” Birnbaum says. “The Scarlett Johansson ad was banned by Fox because those guys were chicken to lose $50 million that Pepsi gave for the halftime show featuring Beyoncé.” Coke and Pepsi are less directly in the line of fire now that SodaStream has repositioned itself as a sparkling water brand. But their water products, Dasani and Aquafina respectively, are still very much the targets of the “Game of Thrones” and Paris Hilton spots, along with every other bottled water brand. “We’re all about pissing off people that should be pissed off,” Harten says. The recent commercials have prompted ceaseand-desist legal action by the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), which claims the “Shame or Glory” ad makes “false, misleading and disparaging” statements about bottled water. Birnbaum disagrees, calling the IBWA a water cartel. “These guys are sitting around the table talking not about how to promote their industry and the goodness of the planet and to humanity. … but coming up with ways to stop SodaStream,” he says. The IBWA declined to comment further for this article beyond reemphasizing its original statement, though it did point out that the SodaStream advertisements have been criticized by advertising standards bodies in France, Spain and the U.K.—the last of which went so far as to order the “Games of Thrones”-themed ads to be removed from YouTube, not for any particular claim, but because both ads include profanity at the end. “That was a gift of another few million views. Thank you,” Birnbaum says.

Charity Case It’s interesting that SodaStream would draft such demagogic messaging given how it has been cast by others in recent years. Until recently,

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The recycling rate of PET bottles is about

23%

SodaStream was on the receiving end of criticism for operating a factory within the disputed West Bank area near Israel. The factory, which predates Birnbaum’s tenure as CEO, was criticized by human rights groups for operating in occupied territory. Perhaps the most high-profile of these criticisms came from the global poverty charity collective, Oxfam International, which claimed that the factory furthered ongoing impoverishment and human rights issues in the region. Shortly after appearing in SodaStream’s banned Super Bowl advertisement, Scarlet Johansson resigned her position as an Oxfam ambassador amid the controversy, siding with SodaStream. The company maintained throughout the flap that it was a politically neutral entity that improved the lives of the hundreds of Palestinian employees at the plant. The controversial factory closed at the end of 2016. SodaStream is now manufactured in a location within the internationally recognized borders of Israel. Birnbaum maintains that the old factory, while “a pain in the ass,” was a force for good.” “The fact that we were criticized does not mean we are guilty or partially guilty,” he says. In fact, Oxfam has come away from the controversy in arguably worse position than SodaStream. In December, Oxfam CEO Mark Goldring told an audience of nonprofit professionals the conflict cost the charity thousands of donors and called the dispute “something of a PR disaster.” A spokesperson for Oxfam declined to comment further. Birnbaum clearly enjoys Oxfam’s public capitulation, but says he does not feel vindicated by the remarks. “If they really want to vindicate themselves, then they’re welcome to come visit our factory. I would invite Scarlett Johansson. Let’s talk about coexistence and feeding hungry people and bringing peace to this world because that is the business SodaStream is in, and I believe that is the intended business of Oxfam although they had a slip,” he says.

Next Steps “We’re just beginning,” Birnbaum says. “And the reason we’re just beginning is because only about 2% or 2.5% of households in the markets we are active in have a SodaStream.” The goal is to bring that number closer to 30%, especially in Germany. There’s also significant expansion underway in Canada and Japan. And, as has been the case for years, SodaStream remains committed to breaking through in the world’s largest beverage market: the U.S. Once a perennial target of buyout rumors, SodaStream is now rumored to be in acquisition mode. Birnbaum crows that the company has $100 million in reserves with no debt. “We’re able to now go on the offensive and either invest more in marketing or acquire some other brands, companies or technologies. That’s new for us,” he says. One thing that doesn’t appear to be on the horizon? Mellowing out. “We’re not in the business of slowing down, and we’re not in the business of being careful, and we’re not polite either,” Birnbaum says. “We are always honest. We’re not bullshitting. We’re not spinning. We are always telling the truth.” m

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SMALL WORLD

BIG CHANCES

MAPPING THE WORLDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES

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THE WORLD FELT LARGER WHEN THE INTERNET WAS SMALL. Twenty years ago, 33% of internet users were in the U.S. while less than 1.5% of the world’s population was online. American marketers lived in solipsistic times; other countries barely mattered if they mattered at all. Now, people from Cuenca, Ecuador, to Subang Jaya, Malaysia, to Chicago can reach into their pockets to instantly watch videos, read thoughts and order products from across the world. The internet’s population has watched the world shrink to a size small enough to fit perfectly in the palm of the marketer. The running count of internet users swells by more than 500 people per minute, according to Internet Live Stats. That number is clicking and ticking toward 3.7 billion people—nearly half of the world’s population. As of 2016, the 287 million U.S. users accounted for fewer than 8% of the internet’s population. This is all part of “Globalization 3.0,” author Thomas Friedman told Wired in a 2005 interview: “In Globalization 1.0, which began around 1492, the world went from size large to size medium. In Globalization 2.0, the era that introduced us to multinational companies, it went from size medium to size small. And then around 2000 came Globalization 3.0, in which the world went from being small to tiny.” If the world shrunk from small to tiny in 2000, it may now be the size of a quark. The internet reached its first billion users in 2005, its second billion in 2010 and its third billion in 2014. Global Goals for Sustainable Development has set a goal for everyone in the world—a predicted 8.5 billion people—to have access to the internet by 2030. Worldwide internet access is tantalizing

for U.S. marketers, and the spending power is there to take advantage of markets, whether inchoete or fully formed. The country has the world’s biggest GDP at $18 trillion and, per ZenithOptimedia, $182.6 billion in U.S. advertiser’s coffers. Where money exists, trade follows: The International Monetary Fund expects the global growth of trade activity to rise from 3.1% in 2016 to 3.6% in 2018. To take advantage of international markets, marketers must know each country’s top issues, rules and anxieties. Marketing News spoke with marketing experts in countries with the second- through sixth-largest GDPs— in order: China, Japan, Germany, the U.K. and France— to better understand the world’s marketing landscape.

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CHINA EXPERT: Val Kaplan, author of Doing Business in China Online

and marketing director at Chinese marketing consultancy Sampi with 21 years of experience in Asian markets.

CHINA GDP: $11 trillion CHINESE ADVERTISING SPENDING (PER ZENITHOPTIMEDIA):

$74.4 billion

What’s the top marketing challenge in China? The complexity of the entry requirements for marketers who are unfamiliar with the local market. This is especially true for online and digital marketing, where most of the action takes place. For example, if an American company wants to advertise its product with a search engine in a German market, all it would need are a Gmail account and a credit card. In China, that company would have to first register an overseas advertiser’s account with search engines such as Baidu (Google has near zero market share and is blocked here), pass verification that can take several weeks, pay fees and place a deposit. Other marketing channels—such as the hugely popular WeChat—do not accept foreign advertisers at all. Therefore, registering a legal entity in China is often the first step before one can take advantage of the tools used by marketers. These regulations have to do with the fact that the internet in China is tightly regulated by the government and the grip is getting tighter every year. What is the top trend in Chinese marketing? A general trend over the last few years has been continued domination of the mobile element of Chinese marketing. WeChat, the biggest social media platform with

more than 900 million active users, is exclusively mobile. Most internet searches are done via mobile. More products are sold from mobile e-commerce apps than PC-based browsers. In fact, the smartphone was the primary device people used to get online in China a few years before it happened in the West. There is no doubt that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future. As for the hottest trend in the past year, it would probably be live streaming. This market has grown at an astonishing rate, giving rise to an entirely new ecosystem of related technologies, services, platforms and an army of influencers who are called KOLs (key opinion leaders) in China. What’s the biggest difference between marketing in the U.S. and marketing in China? The most obvious difference would be a completely different set of tools. While Google and Facebook dominate the American digital advertising market, they are irrelevant in China. The largest search engine in China is Baidu, which holds about 60% market share, but there are others as well. In social media, WeChat dominates mobile space and Sina Weibo, a local hybrid of Facebook and Twitter, already has more users than Twitter. More than 70% of the e-commerce

market share is held by Alibaba, which sells more products from its Taobao and Tmall platforms than Amazon and eBay combined. JD.com, another e-commerce giant, holds 25% of that market. The Chinese marketing landscape is completely different from what American marketers are familiar with. What’s the hottest technology in China right now? How do marketers use it? WeChat is the hottest technology on the market right now. The sheer number of users, which now stands at about three times the entire U.S. population, is mindboggling. WeChat offers companies a possibility to connect with an enormous user base via official accounts and, most recently, with mini-apps. On the downside, acquiring followers on WeChat is not as straightforward as other channels due to the private nature of the platform and limited advertising options. The quality of followers tends to be higher on WeChat versus other social media networks, which is what makes WeChat marketing an essential element of overall strategy for Chinese marketing. Today, it is hard to find a single company in China that doesn’t have a WeChat channel. Some new companies even forgo setting up a website altogether in favor of a WeChat official account. What’s the one thing an American marketer looking to launch or market a campaign in China needs to know? The first thing to know is that the marketing tools at one’s disposal are going to be completely different: Baidu and Qihoo are the main search engines, Weibo is an

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the market is almost impossible on a bootstrap budget: There are no options to run a Facebook campaign on $50 per day to “test the waters” to decide whether the Chinese market holds enough potential. Unless a company is committed to spend up front to register a company, set up local marketing channels and find experts and consultants to run them, there aren’t many options. What does the short-term future hold for marketing in China? Any guesses for the long-term future?

If you are planning to sell directly to Chinese consumers, keep in mind that the payment systems are different, too. Practically no one in China has heard of PayPal, and very few use credit cards for online purchases. Localization takes a whole new meaning for the Chinese market compared to Europe or even Japan. equivalent of Facebook/Twitter, Youku is “Chinese YouTube,” and WeChat is a whole new beast without a direct equivalent in the U.S. market. In addition, none of those channels offers an English backend control, so unless you are fluent in Chinese and familiar with how they operate, you’d need to find experts to run them for you. If you are planning to sell directly to Chinese consumers, keep in mind that the payment systems are different, too. Alipay and WeChat Pay are the dominant payment methods online, on mobile and increasingly offline as well. Practically no one in China has heard of PayPal, and very few use credit cards for online

purchases. Localization takes a whole new meaning for the Chinese market compared to Europe or even Japan. Would it be easy for an American company to roll out in China? It won’t be as easy as entering other markets, but as long as they know what they are doing, they are going to be fine. Essentially, it comes down to committing a larger marketing budget up front. Setting up a local business entity would open marketing options that are unavailable to companies that are only registered overseas. Testing

Short-term, it’s safe to say that WeChat will continue on its path to dominate the market by expanding its capabilities. One such trend has become evident since the launch of WeChat’s enhanced search function, which set the platform on a collision course with traditional search engines like Baidu and Qihoo. New functions are being gradually integrated within the app that will offer more advertising and analytical tools to marketers. E-commerce powered primarily by Alibaba will probably see more integration with other online properties that it owns in video, social and entertainment spaces. It’s much harder to predict the long-term future. If I had to guess, I’d say that the competition within the notorious BAT—the name for three Chinese tech giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (the maker of WeChat)—is going to intensify. They would probably diversify into more areas, taking advantage of their unique strength: Baidu will start reaping benefits from its early investment in AI technology, Alibaba will consolidate its shopping and entertainment empire, and Tencent will connect people with technology through WeChat. One can only imagine what new marketing tools and possibilities we are going to see then.

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JAPAN EXPERT: Jeff Crawford, founder of JC Digital Consulting, has

lived in Tokyo since 2004 and worked for Adobe Systems Japan and Microsoft KK.

JAPAN GDP: $4.4 trillion JAPANESE ADVERTISING SPENDING (PER ZENITHOPTIMEDIA):

$41.8 billion

What’s the top marketing challenge in Japan? The top digital marketing issue in Japan right now is that too many companies, especially [small businesses], are not investing enough in digital marketing. Too many have dated websites with little or no effort to acquire customers online. E-commerce sites get it, but this is a major problem for traditional B-to-B services that rely on lead generation. What is the top trend in Japanese marketing? The biggest trend that will have worldwide impact is IoT. As you can guess, there are a lot of manufacturing and industrial companies in Japan, and many of them have embraced IoT and are investing accordingly. Companies like Hitachi, Panasonic and even the Japanese government are involved. I am seeing interesting stuff like smart sensors, connected instruments and factory automation. Another significant trend is the coming Tokyo Olympics in 2020. I see many Japanese companies preparing now for the Olympics. It’s going to be a big opportunity for the Japanese companies and digital marketers alike. What’s the biggest difference between marketing in the U.S. and marketing in Japan?

It’s hard to choose just one thing. Japan is a relationship-based business culture. Comparatively, the U.S. is task-based. Tasks are also important in Japan, but the Japanese will value their relationships with co-workers, partners and bosses over any given task. This fundamental business difference is reflected in their marketing approach. When seeking new business, Japanese will likely ask for introductions or referrals from someone they know rather than go online. I think this is a factor in why many Japanese companies are behind the curve with digital marketing today. What’s the hottest technology in Japan, and how do marketers use it? In the last year, it seems marketing automation has arrived in Japan. Companies like Marketo and HubSpot entered the market two or three years ago with localized services. Their efforts appear to be taking off. All of a sudden, everyone here wants marketing automation for their B-to-B business. What’s the one thing an American marketer looking to launch or market a campaign in Japan needs to know? For B-to-B, most American companies don’t factor in the

massively long lead time it takes to go from qualified lead to closing a sale. In Japan, decision-making is much slower than in the U.S. Your sales staff will need time to explain your product to all the decision makers to get them on board. Decisionmaking processes like “nemawashi” [consensus building] and “bottom up” take time. At very minimum, I would count on two- to threetime delay in closing a sale. [Sales] times measured in years are not uncommon here. On a positive point, once you have a deal closed, Japanese companies tend to be more loyal to their vendors, especially if you give good support. They will support you in bad times as well as good. Would it be easy for an American company to roll out in Japan? Nothing is ever easy in Japan. You need to consider language challenges, as well as business customs and consumer demands for a high level of service. If you execute well, you can dominate your market. Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Google and Facebook have been a raging success here. What does the short-term future hold for marketing in Japan? Any guesses for the long-term future? Per Robert E. Peterson’s Make It Happen, historically, Japanese companies have been good at sales or product development. Marketing has been kind of an afterthought. To be competitive in a global marketplace, Japanese companies need to be more aggressive about marketing— especially digital marketing. The need will facilitate the change in perception in Japan very soon, so I see some changes coming.

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GERMANY EXPERT: Dr. Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, professor of marketing

and media, University of Münster. He has been a professor or researcher since 1994.

GERMANY GDP: $3.4 trillion GERMAN ADVERTISING SPENDING (PER ZENITHOPTIMEDIA):

$25.8 billion

What’s the top marketing challenge in Germany? Digitization. This includes content marketing, how to create value through social media and how to do advertising on social media platforms such as Facebook. Many companies have little experience with how to do this and have a customer base that is divided between those who use digital media and those who still cling to the old media. What is the top trend in German marketing? Everything digital: content marketing, but maybe even more so artificial intelligence— [especially] on the product level and the communication and customer interaction level. For most companies it’s [a challenge] to combine both channels and compete—and sometimes cooperate with—the big platforms, predominantly Amazon. What’s the biggest difference between marketing in the U.S. and marketing in Germany? The similarities certainly dominate the differences, but that should not come as a surprise after 70 years of close collaboration. Differences result from the higher priority that German consumers assign to

certain issues, mostly privacy—lots of us are very concerned about our personal data—and green qualities. Sustainability is a major concern, and product lines that violate it are having a hard time with the mass market. Diesel engines are not here to stay, for example. What’s the hottest technology in Germany right now? How do marketers use it? There’s hardly a single “hot” technology. For B-to-C brands, influencer marketing is certainly considered valuable. Finding a way to make use of the unprecedented micro-targeting options of digital channels for communication is another, probably even hotter one. What’s the one thing an American marketer looking to launch or market a campaign in Germany needs to know? Where the target customers are, through which channels they can be reached and with what kind of message. When it comes to the right message, American marketers might note that America is not the sexy brand it has been in the past, so that would probably not be the strongest selling proposition now.

Would it be easy for an American company to roll out in Germany? Almost all markets are saturated and heavily competitive—or dominated by a powerful oligopoly—so rolling out in Germany is a challenge for everyone these days, and that includes U.S. firms. But like in the U.S., service standards and the level of customer focus in most industries leaves significant room for improvement, so if a new entrant finds innovative ways to use the marketing mix that increases customer centricity, there’s certainly a chance to succeed. Amazon is a great example of how to combine marketing skills and a customercentric culture in a way that enthuses a lot of customers and wins market share from national incumbents. What does the short-term future hold for marketing in Germany? Any guesses for the long-term future? In the short-term, it’s about getting acquainted with the options provided by the digital environment and finding effective ways to blend offline and online channels. Long-term predictions are notoriously difficult, but let me dare: If one finds a way to collect, exploit and combine data sources in ways that provide value for consumers, that will be the major source of competitive advantage. Use data to provide solutions, not products. In combination with a deep understanding of fundamental customer needs, that’s the route to market leadership.

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Marketers always need to understand people and their frustrations, plus the challenges and issues they face.

U.K.

can best take advantage of the opportunities.

EXPERT: Luan Wise, marketing consultant, speaker and author

of Relax! It’s Only Social Media. Wise is a chartered marketer in the U.K. with more than 15 years of experience.

U.K. GDP: $2.9 trillion U.K. ADVERTISING SPENDING (PER ZENITHOPTIMEDIA):

$26 billion

What’s the top marketing challenge in the U.K.? The top issue marketers are concerned about right now is general data protection regulation. Data privacy regulations [in the U.K.] will change in May 2018. There are still low levels of awareness and understanding with regard to what this means and the actions that need to take place to be ready. What is the top trend in British marketing? Customer experience is a hot topic. Marketers have recognized the importance of understanding the customer experience as critical to business success—particularly mapping customer journeys and content planning.

What’s the one thing an American marketer looking to launch or market a campaign in the U.K. needs to know? Understand the marketplace and understand the audience.

What’s the biggest difference between marketing in the U.S. and marketing in the U.K.? The answer to this must be culture, and that will vary widely across both the U.S. and within the U.K. Marketers always need to understand people and their frustrations, plus the challenges and issues they face. The process of marketing doesn’t differ, but audiences and tactics will. What’s the hottest technology in the U.K. right now? How do marketers use it? AI. Marketers in the U.K. are starting to talk about AI, what it means, what capabilities it can offer and how we

Would it be easy for an American company to roll out in the U.K.? It depends on the product or service. Only a market analysis and research can identify if there’s an opportunity for a rollout in the U.K. What does the short-term future hold for marketing in the U.K.? Any guesses for the long-term future? Short-term, U.K. marketers need to focus on data and prepare for the new data privacy laws. Data is the key to effective marketing, but until we understand the full requirements of the regulations, the future is somewhat uncertain. Brexit negotiations will also have an impact for marketing in the U.K.

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FRANCE EXPERT: Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, author of The Culture Code

and Seven Secrets of Marketing in a Multi-Cultural World. He is founder and CEO of marketing consultancy Archetype Discoveries Worldwide.

FRENCH GDP: $2.4 trillion FRENCH ADVERTISING SPENDING (PER ZENITHOPTIMEDIA):

$13.3 billion

What’s the top marketing challenge in France?

still a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

The big issue is fear of terrorists. When I go to take a coffee outside of a café, I cannot stop thinking about people driving by with a Kalashnikov and killing people. This is a big issue because it’s a tourist destination. The image of Paris is romance, but many of my American friends today say they are going to come to visit me in Normandy. They say, “We don’t want to go to Paris. We don’t want to go to London. We don’t want to go to any of the big cities. It’s too dangerous.” The big issue right now is security.

What’s the biggest difference between marketing in the U.S. and marketing in France?

What is the top trend in French marketing? There is a tension here. On one side, there is a trend of decline and depression in France; [people think] we’re never going to be what we used to be. The young people go to London or try to go to California. When [former French President François] Hollande said, “We’re going to tax everybody at 75%,” everybody else said, “OK, let’s leave.” On the other hand, there is the notion of some hope with [new French President Emmanuel] Macron. … There’s that dichotomy. When I speak with my friends in France today, they are surprisingly optimistic, which is very new. This is why there is

I want to say one word: sex. In French culture, sex is an art like food. There is no shame to have about it. If you are invited to a dinner in America, you can speak about money all the time, but you cannot speak about sex. In France, this is the opposite issue. If you speak about money, you’ll never be invited again. “You’re so vulgar.” But you speak about sex? “Hey, tell me more.” For example, if you have an advertisement in France with a beautiful naked woman running on the beach for a yogurt, well, you can’t do that in America. … This is the American Puritanism, but in France in terms of sensuousness, this is something that resonated very much with the culture. If you want to market a product in France, it has to be sexy. When I say sexy, it doesn’t mean sexist. I mean it’s appealing. It’s stimulating. It’s something you need to have. What’s the hottest technology in France right now? How do marketers use it?

The major force in France is hardware. We have many companies that are already quite successful. You have a company like Digifood, which sells hot dogs and hamburgers and they deliver to arenas, stadiums or on the beach. This is a brilliant idea. What’s the one thing an American marketer looking to launch or market a campaign in France needs to know? Again, I can go down to one word: pleasure. After a meal in France, we don’t say, “Thank you, I’m full.” I’m full? Is that like filling up the tank of a car? This is so vulgar. No, [in France] you say, “That was delicious. I really enjoyed it.” If what you’re selling doesn’t bring pleasure somewhere, you are out of the picture. Secondly, never speak about work. Work is vulgar in French culture. It’s illegal to work more than 35 hours a week [without earning overtime pay]. It’s illegal to send work-related e-mails after 5 p.m. … Your mission in the French culture—it could be regarding food or fashion or jewelry—is to bring sophistication to the world. You have to do it in a subtle way, but this is what works there. Would it be easy for an American company to roll out in France? No, it’s not easy. You are an American, and the relationship between America and France is that [the French] love to hate Americans and they hate to love Americans; but that goes to both sides. There is this tension that we have to understand. An American company should never come to Europe, especially in France, and say, “We’re going to educate you, we’re going to teach you, we’re going to bring something you don’t have.”

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Dr. Clotaire Rapaille

But if you say, “We learned from you,” then there is an interaction between you and I that [can work].

spend the rest of the money they have to enjoy it because they don’t know what the future is going to be.

What does the short-term future hold for marketing in France? Any guesses for the long-term future? I hate to be pessimistic, but I think it’s going to be more difficult. A lot of people have already left or are leaving. The people who had a lot of money left when Hollande said [there would be] a 75% tax. … So rich people are not there anymore. … I talk to many heads of major American companies, and when they try to do business in France, they say, “My God, this is so complicated. Let’s get out of it as soon as possible.” Unfortunately, this is not an ideal situation. … But I did work during the big depression in France, after the 1970s. We had the big oil crisis and Shell asked me to study how the French people will react if there is a big economic crisis. The answer I found was very surprising: When the French are desperate, they drink champagne and eat caviar. The attitude is, I might be dead tomorrow, this is maybe the end of the world, so let’s enjoy it. They’re ready to

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HOW TO BUILD A

GLOBAL CAMPAIGN SUNDAE Ben & Jerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s values are baked (nay, frozen) into its culture and its ice cream, and the company has taken to exporting those beliefs by way of pints and petitions BY SARAH STEIMER

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en & Jerry’s celebrated its entrance into the U.K. in 1994 in its trademark quirky manner: by creating a special flavor with a funky name. Cool Britannia, a strawberry ice cream with chocolate-covered shortbread cookies and a fudge swirl, has since been retired to the company’s famed Flavor Graveyard outside its Waterbury, Vermont, factory. The company’s leap across the pond and into new markets has, on the other hand, flourished.

By way of the U.K., Ben & Jerry’s entered other European countries, then Singapore in 2005, Australia in 2009, Japan in 2012, Brazil in 2014 and Thailand in 2016. In total, the brand’s ice cream can now be found in 35 countries. The company sometimes makes a few special tweaks to its marketing and flavors, depending on the location. Some countries get flavors not found in the U.S. (Minter Wonderland in the U.K. and Ireland, If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours in Canada, Maccha Made in Heaven in Japan), and Ben & Jerry’s will occasionally adjust the formulas if their pints are considered a bit large for a market such as Japan, or have names that are a bit too goofy for a serious food culture such as France. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield started the company in a renovated gas station.

By and large, though, much of what fans around the globe find in scoop shops and freezers stays true to the company’s funky, hippie culture that began in 1978. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield started the company in a renovated gas station in Vermont, a far cry from its shops in São Paulo, Brazil, or Auckland, New Zealand. The company introduces itself to new customers in much the same way the founders did in 1986 when they drove their “Cowmobile” across the U.S., handing out free ice cream. “When we enter a country, in year one, our focus is establishing ourselves as the best ice cream,” Ben & Jerry’s CMO Dave Stever says. “It’s all about the chunks, the swirls and then it’s about the ingredients and the valuesled sourcing of all those ingredients. As we continue, we’ll bring the activism along as well.” Entering a new market means bringing the Ben & Jerry’s mission along with the product, and when either is presented in tandem with the iconic green hills, spotted cows and blue skies, fans know it’s authentic Ben & Jerry’s.

Values-based Product Taking a stand has been part of the Ben & Jerry’s mission from the start. The Ben &

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Jerry’s Foundation was established in 1985 with a gift from Cohen, Greenfield and 7.5% of the company’s annual pre-tax profits to fund community-oriented projects. The company’s involvement in the community— global and local—has grown since. “We believe that the strongest bond you can build with your consumers is over shared values,” Stever says. “There was an interview once with Ben and he was talking about the social mission and the interviewer said, ‘Isn’t your social mission just good marketing?’ Ben kind of gruffed and said, ‘If having a social mission is good marketing then let’s hope more businesses do good marketing.’ ” David Horowitz, creative director at Mekanism, where Ben & Jerry’s moved its lead creative account in 2014, says the ice cream company’s values drive the business. It’s part of their marketing, he says, not a separate piece. Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t use the issues it promotes to sell ice cream, Horowitz says, but the ice cream is often used to amplify a message. For instance, the company launched Empower Mint to coincide with the 2016 election year and voter rights. “They see the ice cream as a vehicle that can shed light on these bigger social issues,” Horowitz says. Ben & Jerry’s knows product launches gain national and international attention, which provides a platform for messaging on values. Cause marketing isn’t unique to the company, but it can come across as opportunistic for many brands. For instance, Gucci’s “Chime for Change” concert garnered little attention, despite headliners such as Beyoncé, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez. Adam Kleinberg, CEO of advertising agency Traction, says Gucci’s efforts rang hollow: there was no obvious tie between the brand’s air of elitism and the campaign’s goal of raising women’s voices. “There are some brands that have really built a positioning around a core audience,” Kleinberg says. “You take Patagonia and its stance on environmental issues: Their customers are pretty much all environmentalists. It makes a lot of sense, and taking that moral position for them has been really effective. Often brands with the best intentions will pick a cause that they care about, and they’ll try to make a gimmicky attempt that doesn’t do much for their brand.” Horowitz says the way Ben & Jerry’s has

positioned itself throughout its history allows the company to talk with fans about its chosen causes. “In marketing, when it feels like a brand is trying to attach itself to a cause, it can ring false,” Horowitz says. “With Ben and Jerry’s, [social values are] integral to their mission. That’s always something that people have associated with Ben and Jerry’s. When [the brand] talks about climate change or talks about voting rights, it doesn’t feel opportunistic. It feels like a true expression of what the company believes, and that’s why it goes right.” Jay Curley, Ben & Jerry’s senior global marketing manager, told New York Magazine this spring that he considers one-third of his job to be an activist campaign manager.

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He told the magazine that the company’s employees get just as excited about brainstorming ways to further movements as they do about a new flavor.

Fair-trade, GMO-free Messaging Consumers in the U.S. know the Ben & Jerry’s model: ice cream flavors named after jam bands and musicians coupled with peace-loving and justiceseeking rhetoric. How this translates to countries less familiar with Jerry Garcia—let alone his namesake flavor, Cherry Garcia—is a little trickier. Yet Ben & Jerry’s has a built-in solution to introducing its values to new markets: the product itself. Look up any flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream online, and you’ll get a full listing of ingredients as well as a description of “valuesled sourcing.” For example, the product may be free of genetically modified organisms, include cage-free eggs and other fair-trade products, and it’s wrapped up in responsibly sourced packaging. “Their values are infused in their product to begin with,” Horowitz says. “How they source their ingredients, the removal of [genetically modified organisms] from their products, the Caring Dairy program. From a product standpoint, their values aren’t something separate. They’re part of the actual ice cream that they make.” The company’s “2015 Social &

Environmental Assessment Report” details milestones on reducing its carbon footprint (this includes placing a self-imposed price on carbon of $10 for every metric ton of greenhouse gas Ben & Jerry’s emits from its U.S. operations); rewriting its Caring Dairy program, which evaluates dairy farms against a set of economic, social and environmental criteria; completing the conversion of its sourced ingredients to those that are fairtrade and non-GMO; and boosting its Producer Development Initiative program. These programs are enacted globally—and sometimes even have more success overseas. For instance, 22.1% of chunks and swirls were purchased from values-led suppliers in North America in 2015, compared to 37.9% in Europe. The company also fully harmonized its Caring Dairy program over all its global regions. Ben & Jerry’s is one of about 2,000 certified B-Corp companies, a for-profit organizational designation bestowed on companies that meet standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Stever says the designation brings companies together that want to make a difference in the world, and Ben & Jerry’s has partnered with such companies as values-led sourcing suppliers. The collaborative approach has moved beyond the supply chain, as the company seeks out partners to help translate their values to new markets. “When we have a campaign, we build a relationship with a local partner,” Stever says. “That guides us as far as our approach, our tone, what consumers are expecting from us. We’re not experts on all these issues. We bring in experts to guide us through those waters. It’s been a great way for us to bring the ice cream and the fun to these issues, where the experts bring the knowledge and the deep understanding of how far we can go with consumers. We don’t want to be a cause marketer, we want to be at the front end of social issues.” One close connection, however—Unilever’s ownership of Ben & Jerry’s—has been a source of indirect conflict in the ice cream maker’s environmental stewardship work. Ben & Jerry’s worked with other Australian organizations to campaign against a $21 billion coal mine with the slogan, “Scoop ice

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cream, not coal!” The blowback against Ben & Jerry’s came hard and fast by way of Australian MP George Christensen, who called for a boycott of Ben & Jerry’s. Christensen accused the company of hypocrisy because of Unilever’s relationship with Wilmar, whose sugar mills are at the center of a dispute with Australian cane growers. Amnesty International found Wilmar’s Indonesian operations source palm oil directly supplied or in part from regions with severe labor rights abuses. “Sometimes we’ll be a little more progressive than our parent company, and that’s natural,” Stever says. “We’re able to coexist and understand that. There are certain things that we will be for that Unilever may not be for at this point in time. That’s natural and that’s a great tension to have. Along the way [Unilever has] made us better and I think we’ve made them better as well.”

Out of the Carton and Onto the Streets Ben & Jerry’s participation in movements hasn’t been confined to its ingredients, but includes almost any global or local issue it deems important. Its involvement escalated on a worldwide level ahead of the 2015 Paris climate talks. Part of the company’s climate change campaign included a new flavor, Save Our Swirled, made of raspberry ice cream, marshmallow and raspberry swirls and darkand-white fudge ice cream cones. The flavor itself had layers of symbolism: The name was abbreviated to S.O.S. on the lid to urge immediate action, and the tiny cones in each spoonful were meant to give the impression of melting ice cream. The campaign took to the road in an emissions-free, retro-fitted Tesla ice cream vehicle to spread the message, and the company partnered with the communitybased organization Avaaz to pull together signatures to be delivered to the United Nations. The flavor launched in 35 countries, 10 of which hosted climate marches with Ben & Jerry’s employees. On the campaign assets side, Horowitz says the agency created work that could be easily translated from country to country, including a melting ice cream video. Horowitz says

the various markets Ben & Jerry’s exists in have some autonomy as well, providing each market the opportunity to use the campaign in a way that fits their media landscape and local initiatives around an issue. Ben & Jerry’s delivered more than 10% of the 3 million signatures Avaaz presented to former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris. Its involvement in climate change conversations hasn’t dissipated; the company released a sarcastic statement after President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, titled “6 Reasons Pulling Out of the Paris

The Save Our Swirled campaign took to the road in an emissions-free, retrofitted Tesla ice cream vehicle to spread the message.

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stores until same-sex marriage is legalized. Their campaigns often have cheeky slogans (“Less waffle. More action.”) accompanied by their iconic cow mascot, Woody, and the Ben & Jerry’s font. Stever says a big reason for maintaining the company’s joyful image on serious topics is to make the topics more accessible. He quotes activist Emma Goldman, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be in your revolution.” “To me, that’s our mantra” Stever says. “We do know that these are serious issues, but we feel our role is to make the issues approachable and make them feel to consumers that they’re not so daunting. There are things they can do and they can get involved.”

A 2015 Cone Communications/ Ebiquity Global CSR study found 90% of U.S. shoppers are likely to switch to a cause-branded product when choosing between two brands of equal quality and price.

90%

Climate Agreement Was Totally, Definitely the Right Move.” Be it for new flavors or movements—Ben & Jerry’s isn’t campaigning by putting a message in a bottle and launching it into the ocean— or, rather, printing its missives on cartons to be skimmed through a frosted freezer door. Like many brands, the company has taken to the role of media creator. In his New York Magazine article, Jay Curley claims that if Ben & Jerry’s had not been involved in the April 2016 Democracy Awakening event in Washington, D.C., it may not have been covered at all. Ben & Jerry’s brought along two videographers, a photographer and a writer to the event. One of the resulting articles about the arrests of a couple Ben & Jerry’s board members, its social mission manager, and Cohen and Greenfield themselves went viral and crashed the Ben & Jerry’s website. “The trend in marketing is to move from being marketers to publishers,” Stever says. “Last year we produced 50 videos, we had 500 blog posts and year-to-date we’ve created 163 unique blogs, which is up 30% from last year. Our fans are connecting with us even more and it’s where we tell our stories. The beauty of Ben & Jerry’s is we’re not creating stories, we’re actually just telling our fans what the company is doing.” Even when tackling serious issues, the company keeps it playful. To promote marriage equality in Australia this spring, the company announced no same-flavor ice cream scoops will be served at their Australian

It’s Not Everyone’s Taste Regardless of how accessible Ben & Jerry’s tries to make its activist campaigns, it doesn’t take a long browse of their Facebook or Twitter pages to see not everyone thinks an ice cream company should take a stand on issues unrelated to frozen dessert. A link on the Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page referring to U.S. states that accept the most refugees resulted in a few comments calling for a boycott of the company and the topic’s irrelevance to ice cream. On the other hand, there were just as many or more comments supporting the company’s stance, along with one humorous reply of “[I]t’s time to stop pussyfooting around the real issues and talk about the cruel & unusual detention of the real, original Brownie Batter.” There is a monetary case to be made for marketing with a purpose: A 2015 Cone Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR study found 90% of U.S. shoppers are likely to switch to a cause-branded product when choosing between two brands of equal quality and price. Unilever CMO Keith Weed told an audience at his annual Cannes Lions talk in 2016 that brands focused on sustainability delivered nearly half the company’s growth in the previous year. Weed said that Unilever’s brands that have a purpose at the core of their marketing grow 30 times faster than others. Ben & Jerry’s knows that its messaging isn’t for everyone. It’s faced criticism over its products and stances from the likes

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“PISSING OFF SOME OF YOUR CUSTOMERS is one of the

SMARTEST DECISIONS you can make.”

of media morality advocate One Million Moms calling for a boycott of the “Saturday Night Live”-inspired flavor Schweddy Balls, and from pro-police movement Blue Lives Matter, which took issue with the company’s support of racial justice movement Black Lives Matter. The company isn’t slowing down on its involvement in movements, though. Christopher Miller, social mission activism manager at Ben & Jerry’s, told the Sustainable Brands conference this spring that “Pissing off some of your customers is one of the smartest decisions you can make.” At the conference Miller predicted that companies are becoming a more powerful force in society than some nation states and that corporations would need to address social issues. He cautioned companies against brand activism campaigns that focus on traditional ROI measures (á la Pepsi and Kendall Jenner). “If you do it in an authentic, credible way, it will ultimately be good for business,” Miller told the crowd. Unlike many cause marketing campaigns that pick up on what’s important to fans, he says Ben & Jerry’s starts with its own values. Greenfield has been quoted in this same vein: “The most powerful bond you can make with your consumers is around a shared set of values.” Ben & Jerry’s is embarking on, arguably, some of its most controversial work yet: equity. The global issue will have a localized angle that speaks to each specific market. In the U.S., Ben & Jerry’s is looking to tackle systemic racism, and in Europe it’s been focused on refugee justice. If nothing else, the topics are a sure-fire way of dividing the audience. “By Ben & Jerry’s taking a stand with something like immigrants’ rights, they may do it with the understanding that 50% of people will never buy their ice cream,” Kleinberg says. “If it makes the other 50% three times as likely, then they’re coming out ahead.”

Kleinberg says taking on coal or refugee rights may be a bit of a stretch for most companies, particularly those businesses not directly impacted by the matters. “What’s interesting about Ben & Jerry’s is that they’ve gone beyond being an ice cream brand to being a hippie brand,” Kleinberg says. “Their whole brand is emotionally about taking a stand on things. Not everyone is going to love them, but those who do love them a lot. That’s super important. We live in a day and age where this notion of corporate responsibility is greater than it’s ever been.” This history of activism seems to give the company an edge, whereas other brands that try to jump on hot topics fall short and come off as inauthentic. The company likes to think of its involvement in different issues like its flavors: There’s something for everyone. “There will always be people who feel an ice cream company should stick to ice cream,” Horowitz says. “But if you know Ben & Jerry’s, you know they’ve never been just an ice cream company. That’s why it comes off as authentic when they wade into these controversial issues.” Stever has been with the company since 1988 and has witnessed firsthand how ingrained values are in the brand and how the mission has translated from a tie-dyed, dog-friendly Vermont headquarters to the far reaches of the globe. “With all the phone calls I get at night and in the morning, it feels like a global company,” Stever laughs. “But the beauty of it is it still feels like a small company. A big part of that is that we’re all together over shared values and making sure that we basically continue to produce the best possible ice cream in the nicest possible way. We’re trying to create change in the world while having fun, and we believe in the greater good as much as we believe in the best ice cream.” m

50% “By Ben & Jerry’s taking a stand with something like immigrants’ rights, they may do it with the understanding that 50% of people will never buy their ice cream. If it makes the other 50% three times as likely, then they’re coming out ahead.”

50% x3

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career advancement

STRATEGY SETTING

Customer-driven B-to-B CMOs are Taking Over the Corner Office There are four phenomena making CMOs the likely heirs in the lineage of executive leadership

BY DEBBIE QAQISH

first heard the idea that customercentric B-to-B CMOs make the perfect CEOs when talking with Claudine Bianchi, CMO at Click Software. Led by her customer-centric CEO, her company had adopted a top-to-bottom customer-centric strategy and was experiencing record growth. Bianchi orchestrated the entire customer life cycle through the use of customer-facing systems, data and collaborative processes. Bianchi knows her customer and brings intimate knowledge to her company for better decision-making up and down the line. Because of her intense customer focus, she acts more like a B-to-C CMO than a B-to-B CMO. Her B-to-C approach fuels her successful career path. There are four phenomena guiding her and other CMOs to the corner office: the B-to-B legacy shift, customer demand for B-to-C experience, customer-centric strategy and marketing operations enabling CMO-led customer-centric strategy.

The B-to-B Legacy Shift Bianchi is not the norm. A common occurrence in the B-to-B marketing world is that marketers do not know the customer. Customer knowledge is tribal and largely held in sales. This is in marked contrast to B-to-C marketers, who have an intimate, data-driven understanding of their customer, as they should. Consumers have been in control of their buying process since the dawn of e-commerce.

B-to-C marketers have a breadth of experience in working with data to shape every aspect of the customer journey. You don’t see B-to-C marketers going to sales to get input about what the customer wants. In the B-to-C world you see a marketing organization and a CMO who are experts on all things related to the customer—not so much in the B-to-B world, but fortunately this legacy is beginning to change.

B-to-B Customers Demand a B-to-C Experience As consumers in a digital world, we are spoiled. We can get what we want, when we want it, from anywhere in the world. We can point, click, search and buy in about four seconds. In addition, we expect the product or service provider to know us and to treat us uniquely. Amazon recommends books for me based on what I buy. Apple updates me about the latest in iPhone technology. As consumers adopt these new buying behaviors based on customized and instantaneous B-to-C experiences, they begin to expect it in all of their interactions, including B-to-B interactions. Think about it: Isn’t your patience at an end for e-mails that know nothing about you? Aren’t you turned-off when an ad placement pops up and has nothing to do with you? Don’t you hate cold calls from reps who don’t know anything about you or your company? It’s archaic and a business relationship killer.

B-to-B Companies Are Adopting Broad Customer-centric Strategies The pressure of customer expectations is finally affecting the adoption of customer-centric strategies by B-to-B firms. It is becoming apparent that a customer-centric strategy is now required to win. Pivoting from a product-centric or operationalcentric strategy to a customer-centric strategy pays off. As early as the 1990s, research empirically demonstrated that companies with a customer-centric approach improve revenue growth, market share and profit margins as well as gain and retain more customers. In practical terms, the customer

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STRATEGY SETTING

career advancement

The Rise of Marketing Operations Enables a CMO-led Customer-centric Strategy Technology is at the center of all of this change. It enables customer control of the buying journey. It is creating the pressure to pivot to a customercentric strategy, and it is the answer to operationalizing that strategy. In this technology-rich environment, the marketing operations group has emerged to use technology and data to detail and provide relevant customer insights to the CMO and to the organization. It has taken the B-to-B CMO a while to realize how helpful this data is in driving business decisions. Now the CMO is the expert on the customer, not sales. It is this expertise and knowledge that is preparing the B-to-B CMO for the top spot in the firm.

Aren’t you turned-off when an ad placement has nothing to do with you? Don’t you hate cold calls? It’s archaic and a business relationship killer. focus must be pervasive and measured in a company to have the desired effect. It starts with the CEO and the executive team and trickles down to every person in the company. It has to move from “talk” to “walk.” KPIs and management by objectives (MBO) for every part of the company that

associates with customer delight are ways to measure the adoption. In this environment, the CMO is in the best position to operationalize this strategy because marketing operations now provide CMOs with the tools to adopt a B-to-C approach in working with B-to-B customers.

From CMO to CEO Forrester says we’re in the age of the customer, and I totally agree—for both B-to-C and B-to-B organizations. In this dynamic digital world, consumers and customers alike will continue to maintain control and be one click away from the competition. The customerfacing systems and the customer data are now coalescing to represent the holistic customer journey. This journey touches all parts of the organization. In this environment, companies that best know their customers will win. While few CMOs from B-to-C or B-to-B go on to become CEOs, the age of the customer is changing this dynamic. As companies win or lose based on the customer experience, who better to lead than your No. 1 customer advocate, the CMO? Your time has arrived. m DEBBIE QAQISH is principal partner and chief strategy officer of The Pedowitz Group. She has been helping B-to-B companies drive revenue growth for more than 35 years and is author of the award-winning book Rise of the Revenue Marketer.

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career advancement

ON THE RECORD

An Internal Success Story Molly Poppie, senior vice president at Nielsen, found her way to leadership the old-fashioned way: moving up from within BY ZACH BROOKE | STAFF WRITER

 zbrooke@ama.org In 2004, Molly Poppie entered graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a deep command of sociology but only vague notions of her forthcoming career. Poppie, now 35, is a senior vice president at Nielsen, one of the world’s leading market research firms. She spoke with Marketing News about how she joined the company and some of her biggest projects that helped her advance over the years.

You studied sociology in graduate school. What sort of job did you envision for yourself after graduation?

I wasn’t sure. I thought I would get my Ph.D. because a lot of the jobs I was aware of for sociology were in academia. A new faculty member came on the year I joined the master’s program. She opened me up to the possibility that you could get jobs in sociology without going into academia and steered me in the direction, based on my interest, that market research might be a really good fit for me.

Q A

Was Nielsen your first job out of college?

No, I worked at a company that had an office in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Basically, I predicted gas usage.

Q A

How did you end up here?

My husband also went to UWM. He was a year behind me. I worked in Waukesha for a year while he finished up school. At that point we did a national search. We were interested in finding jobs in market research. Nielsen reached out to him based on one of his applications. They said, “We have a couple of open roles. Do you know anyone else who has a similar background?” We came down one day about 10 years ago and both interviewed for two positions in data science. He got the offer for one and then I got the offer for the other.

Let’s talk about each of the roles you’ve performed at Nielsen. You started as a statistical analyst. What’s that about?

That was in what Nielsen calls the “buy side” of the business, which is measuring what people buy. Every time you go through a grocery store and they scan your items, Nielsen collects most of that data. That’s how we tell companies like Procter & Gamble and Unilever information about what people are purchasing, where they’re purchasing it, how much of their inventory is

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■ Display Classifieds: $150 per column inch; minimum one inch. Column widths for display ads: 1 column = 1 1/2˝; 2 columns = 3 1/4˝; 3 columns = 5˝ ORDER INFORMATION To place a classified ad in Marketing News, please contact Jordan Berthiaume at amaprint@ yourmembership.com or call Jordan at (727) 497-6565 x3409. To post your job on AMA's online job board, go to http://jobs.ama.org.

POSITIONS OPEN ACADEMIC FACULTY MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY — Advanced Assistant/Associate Professor of Marketing. The Department of Marketing in the Broad College of Business seeks an accomplished researcher who will exemplify leadership with a strong publishing reputation and mentorship of junior faculty and doctoral students. Applicants must have a PhD in a relevant area of scholarship and have a professional record consistent with an advanced Assistant Professor or Associate Professor. Applicants with research interests in any focal area of marketing management are welcome, although we have a preference for candidates with an expertise in applied consumer research. For additional information on the Department of Marketing, see: https:// marketing.broad.msu.edu/. Michigan State University is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Institution. Applications from women,

veterans, individuals with disabilities and people from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds are encouraged. Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation. To be considered for this position, please submit materials through the MSU Jobs website: http:// careers.msu.edu/cw/en-us/ job/496330/associateprofessortenure-system Contact Dr. Richard Spreng, Chair of the Search Committee, spreng@msu.edu, for additional information. Advertised: 07 Jul 2017 Eastern Daylight Time. Applications close: The position will remain open until filled. THE BOSTON COLLEGE CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT invites applications for a tenure-track position in the Department of Marketing. A Ph.D. / D.B.A. in marketing or related discipline (e.g., economics, statistics, information systems) is expected prior to appointment. Candidates should demonstrate excellence in research and teaching in marketing, and understand that university expectations encompass high research potential, top-tier journal publication and excellence in the classroom. Primary consideration will be given to those with a main scholarly focus on analytics. We will consider new doctoral recipients as well as advanced assistant professors. The appointment is expected to begin July 1, 2018. Boston College is a private Jesuit university. The Carroll School of Management has highly ranked undergraduate and MBA programs, with its undergraduate program ranked in the top ten nationally. Additional information about BC’s Marketing Department can be found at www.bc.edu. The Marketing Department faculty will be interviewing at

the Summer AMA Conference in San Francisco. We will begin accepting applications electronically on Monday, June 12, 2017. Interested candidates should upload their application packets (with CV, cover letter, 3 letters of recommendation, research papers, and teaching evaluations, if available) to the Interfolio online system link: https://apply.interfolio. com/42540. Boston College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected category including disability and protected veteran status. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at http://www. bc.edu/offices/diversity. FULL-TIME TENURE TRACK POSITIONS— KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY HAS ONE OR MORE FULL-TIME TENURE TRACK POSITIONS OPEN in the Marketing Department at the rank of Assistant Professor or above for academic year 2018-2019. The position requires being responsible for conducting advanced research in chosen areas of expertise and interest; supervising doctoral candidates; teaching basic and advanced courses in marketing at the Master’s Degree level; contributing to the research and teaching of other faculty members. Candidates must have a Ph.D. or D.B.A. in marketing or related fields (e.g., economics, management, psychology, sociology, statistics, cognitive sciences, etc.) in hand or expected by employment start date. Selection criteria include potential for (or record of) superior research, adaptability and creative interests in application to marketing problems, excellent teaching ability, and strong recommendations.

Applications should include a complete curriculum vita, copies of research papers and three letters of recommendation. Applicants in the process of completing a doctoral degree should include an approved dissertation proposal or a research paper that represents progress in the dissertation. In order to ensure interview consideration at the Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference in San Francisco, CA, applications must be received by June 23, 2017. Please apply at http://www. kellogg.northwestern.edu/ marketing/recruit/index.htm, where all required and relevant materials can be uploaded. Please direct questions to the Recruitment Coordinator, at recruit-mktg@kellogg. northwestern.edu. Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the United States.

MARKETING MARKETING SPECIALIST (Moonachie, NJ) Bach’s in Mktg req’d. Mail Res: Beauty Plus Trading Co., Inc., 210 W. Commercial Ave, Moonachie, NJ 07074

POSITIONS WANTED FREELANCERS AVAILABLE QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH SERVICES: Online Surveys, Survey Mailings (Discount Business Reply), Date Entry, Data Tabulations, SPSS & Quantum, MaxDiff, Conjoint, Opportunity Analysis, Comment Coding and PowerPoint Presentations. UGA graduate with 20 years experience. Quick turnaround. Please call Jeanne Eidex at 770.614.6334. AUGUST 2017 | MARKETING NEWS

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career advancement

ON THE RECORD

being sold, how it lines up with promotions and how it lines up against their competitive landscape. We do have some retailers who don’t cooperate with us, so we don’t get that scan data. My first role here was trying to develop a product that predicted sales for these stores that don’t cooperate with us.

Then you became a research statistician. How was that role different?

I still worked on the non-cooperator problem, but I also worked on our core buy business, which is projecting data to represent the total U.S. We collect some information from a subsample of stores within the U.S. and then we need to come up with a technique to make sure it’s representative of all stores in the U.S. We were trying to work on the process and the techniques in executing it.

Q A

After that came a lead research position?

Yes, at this point I switched over to a different part of our business for a group called the Nielsen Innovation Lab, and they were primarily focused on advertising effectiveness—trying to understand the value of different advertising and likelihood to buy if you’re exposed to something on a mobile phone twice and on TV once versus somebody who sees something on TV twice and not at all on their mobile phone. I worked in that group for a year. A lot of the focus was on mobile. It was a new space at that point, and [I was] trying to understand the value of mobile advertising.

Q A

And then you moved into statistical methods?

Yes. I was offered the opportunity to move to the “watch side” of our business and manage a small team. I started to leave methodology development for some of our enhancements to our product offerings. This was primarily in the TV side of the business, which is what Nielsen is most known for. Traditionally, when Nielsen measures a home, … we meter through hardware and wire into its TV and ask people to press buttons to indicate whether or not they’re viewing so we know who’s in the audience and what’s on the TV. However, in some of our smaller markets, we don’t have them push the buttons to say who’s in the audience. We developed a technique that, based on what they are watching and who is in the home, can predict who’s in the audience at any given time. A simple example of that would be if the Disney Channel is on, it’s most likely the kid, maybe co-viewing with a parent, versus if it’s the evening news, it’s most likely the adults.

Now you are a vice president. Do you still get to contribute to these projects?

To a certain extent. I make time. I love it. I love looking at the data and trying to find trends and patterns and understand what we’re doing and whether the data makes sense and has validity, but also understanding the client impact of the changes we’re making. I lead the methodology development for audio TV and digital business as well as some of our resonance and reaction products. That’s how people respond to advertising. A lot of that

When I joined Nielsen, I thought the same thing: I’ll be here for a few years, and I’ll learn some things. But ... it’s such a big company and there’re so many different things we do. 54

is survey-based research. Reaction is linking together watch and buy data to understand if people change their purchase behavior if they were exposed to an advertisement. I also work on some of the product enhancement on the buy side of our business. It’s a nice opportunity that I now have the ability to work on both the watch and the buy side and to look for ways we can bring those data sources together to provide more meaningful and richer insights for our clients.

When you look at your career, what you’ve done goes against a lot of the conversation about careers right now, which is that you need to move from company to company if you want to climb the ladder. Do you have any insights about how you did that here?

When I joined Nielsen, I thought the same thing: I’ll be here for a few years, and I’ll learn some things. But the thing I love about working for Nielsen is that it’s such a big company and there’re so many different things we do. What’s important to me is being able to learn and grow and face new challenges.

Now that you’re in charge of hiring for your team, what do you look for? A Nielsen marketing campaign you participated in highlighted the fact that you are interested in non-traditional résumés.

I look for work. Somebody who seems like they want to learn, who is very curious and wants to understand what we do, why we do it and thinks about ways that it could be done differently. People who bring different perspectives. Sometimes when we interview people, we’ll give them a research problem we’re working on now, and if they can come up with a different view or a different slant to how we’ve been approaching it, that’s really exciting for me. The more diversity of thought you can get when you’re developing something, the stronger your end solution will be. Those are really the things I look for: people who are curious are driven to find answers to research problems. m

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advertisers’index

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Quick source for contacting the suppliers in the August 2017 issue of Marketing News. 2017 AMA Calendar of Events ....................................................................... p. 19 URL: h ttp://ama.marketing/2017events

AMA Professional Certified Marketer,

2017 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education . ........................... p. 11 URL: h ttp://ama.marketing/highered2017

AMA Whitepapers ................................................... p. 17

Advanced School of Marketing Research ........................ inside back cover ttp://ama.marketing/ASMR17 URL: h AMA 2017 Annual Conference . ................................................. back cover ttp://ama.marketing/annual2017 URL: h AMA’s Marketing Resource Directory .................................................................... p. 5 Ph. 1-888-777-6578 ttp://marketingresourcedirectory.ama.org URL: h

Digital Marketing Program .................................... p. 13 URL: http://ama.marketing/PCMdigital

Email: anelmes@ama.org URL: http://www.ama.org/whitepaper Marketing News ...................................................... p. 55 Email: sales@ama.org URL: http://www.ama.org/mediakit Salesforce ........................................ inside front cover URL: http://www.sfdc.co/mc-overview Thank you to the 2017 AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference Sponsors and Supporters ......................................................... p. 7 URL: http://ama.marketing/nonprofit17

AUGUST 2017 | MARKETING NEWS

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#OfficeGoals A peek inside the marketers’ offices that make us drool

Martin Williams The brand story of advertising agency Martin Williams (MW) needed to be told with something bold, brave and unexpected. Moving from a multi-storied location with views of the Minneapolis skyline to a single-floor plate with half the square footage and limited views, MW needed to think differently about the space. The new office was laid out with principles of mobility in mind: employees armed with laptops, custom MW headphones and branded backpacks. Workstations were minimized to provide room for a variety of work settings: booths, huddle rooms and standing-height counters along the perimeter. The limited space meant nearly every surface became writable, tackable or housed technology. To improve project delivery, a wall of monitors adjacent to project managers referred to as “Grand Central Station” makes the constantly evolving project and staff list visible. Pulling walls away from the windows allows circulation along the perimeter while allowing daylight to penetrate the space, creating an interior focus where views are not desirable, and an outward focus at the curved ends with expansive views of the city. m

PHOTOS: PAUL CROSBY

Interiors: Perkins+Will

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