At this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, more than 2,000 marketing professionals applauded impressive success stories and oohed over the inspiring work shared during the gathering Oct. 24-27 in Orlando.
Then they got something extra.
As each speaker concluded their presentation, Bob Liodice, ANA president and CEO, asked the same question: What was one insight marketing professionals should take back to their workplace?
Here’s a recap of insights shared by a dozen marketing executives from prominent brands. Hint — knowing your brand, having customer insights, and bringing the two together are core. At Brunner, we think so, too.
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Marc S. Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, Proctor & Gamble:
Focus on insights into the unique needs of whoever you are serving to find the problem they want to solve.
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Gabrielle Wesley, CMO, Mars Wrigley North America:
Be obsessed with your consumer and authentic to your brand to find your story.
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Victoria Lozano, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Crayola:
Have your brand mean something and galvanize everyone around it.
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Mark Weinstein, CMO, Hilton:
Know yourself better than anyone else so you can stand for what you believe in better than anyone else. Know the market well enough to know how to tell that story.
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Tony Ezell, Executive Vice President, North America, and CMO, Becton Dickinson:
Inspire the next generation of marketers by investing in them.
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Adrienne Hayes, Vice President Marketing, Global Devices and Services, Google:
Know your brand purpose and use it as your North Star to find the issues you are going to tackle and get people excited around.
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Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Mastercard:
Recognize that there is an unprecedented level of disruption and that the practices of yesterday are not going to work today.
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Alia Kemet, CMO, Shipt:
It’s important for smaller companies to play their own game and anchor in knowing who you are.
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Brad Audet, CMO, Mazda North American Operations:
We have to put people at the center of everything we do, think about their needs, and everything will fall into place.
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Heather Malenshek, Senior Vice President and CMO, Land O’ Lakes:
Remember why you do what you do, and who you do it for.
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Tabata Gomez, CMO Tools &B Outdoor, Stanley Black and Decker:
Trust the data and uncover the insights that allow you to push the brand in unexpected ways.
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Jocelyn Johnson, CMO, Girl Scouts of the USA:
Always go back to, why am I doing this.
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Christy Hoskins, CMO, La-Z-Boy:
Be real, be relevant, be unexpected.
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Looking to find your brand purpose?
At Brunner, we help clients from The Home Depot Rental to Church’s Texas Chicken understand their customers and their brand. Those insights are vital to marketing success and business growth.
If you feel your brand lacks purpose, we can help. Please reach out for a conversation — we’d love to chat.
Patrick Culhane, director of business strategy and development, has 21 years of agency experience in brand strategy, planning, and development. He has a BA in Marketing and the Psychology of Communication from De Montfort University and recently completed the ANA’s Integrated Marketing Certificate. Patrick advocates for diversity marketing as a brand growth source and co-presented at the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Brunner co-sponsored event, “Growth Through Diversity.” He’s a proud juror at the 2023 ANA REGGIE Awards.