Marketing Today with Alan Hart

Mark Viden is a wine lover with an English degree who never expected to end up in healthcare but always had an interest in marketing and advertising. After graduating from college, working client-side, managing a small marketing team, and moving to San Francisco, Mark had the opportunity to join Dignity Health, part of CommonSpirit Health, where he stayed for 18 years. In 2019, he was hired as Senior Vice President of Brand for CommonSpirit Health, where he now drives brand development, advertising, and digital strategies that promote growth, awareness, and consumer preference across the organization.

CommonSpirit Health is a healthcare company you probably have never heard of, but with a house of brands serving over 20 million patients in 23 states, they are the 7th largest healthcare organization in the country. CommonSpirit Health was created in 2019 when two legacy healthcare systems merged. Since then, they have acquired other organizations and developed partnerships with renowned research institutions. Mark tells us his job is to connect all of these consumer-facing brands through a single brand promise, “Hello Humankindness," which communicates the organization’s approach to care through kindness and connection. He is currently leading the platform’s national expansion by showcasing touching moments and ensuring patients, physicians, and employees are intrinsically aware of an unyielding commitment to humanity.

In this episode, Alan and Mark discuss the “Hello humankindness” brand platform, how it came about, and how it comes to life across people, practices, and communications. Mark reminds us that people enter healthcare because they have a calling, a passion, and a purpose. No one wants to think about healthcare until they need it, so CommonSpirit Health's strategy is to stay present in the subconscious, so when you do need them, they come to mind first. By focusing on the emotional connections, Mark and his team are sowing the seeds of values alignment, awareness, and trust to create category differentiation. After patents are in the door, their experience is top of mind. They have to feel like the promise that they have been served up is coming to life through the interactions and the visual cues they see.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How “Hello humankindness” encourages connection and improves health outcomes
• How to deliver on the brand promise through in-person patient experience
• How to create category differentiation by keeping alignment of values, awareness, and trust top of mind
• Use cases associated with making Gen Ai more empathetic

Key Highlights:

• [02:00] Forget Napa, we’re going to Anderson Valley.
• [03:30] How an English major got into marketing healthcare
• [06:00] The 7th largest healthcare company you’ve probably never heard of
• [07:10] “Hello humankindness”
• [11:00] Human connection impacts health outcomes.
• [12:30] How the humankindness sausage is made
• [15:00] Found footage and real connections
• [15:55] The role emotion and connection play in a patient's selection of care
• [18:10] Technology in human connection
• [22:50] Working for and with smart, creative people
• [23:40] Advice to his younger self
• [24:05] Understanding and defining GenAI
• [24:35] Music is an important component of advertising.
• [27:05] The answer really is Gen Ai.

Looking for more?

Visit our website for links to resources mentioned in this episode and ways to connect with the guest!

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355: Brand at its Best and Focusing on Fundamentals with Heather Stern, CMO at Lippincott

In this episode, Alan and Heather discuss Brand, the role of the CMO, and why focusing on the fundamentals will never go out of style. As an 80-year-old company, Lippincott has a unique perspective on how to balance the cutting edge with longevity. They have seen trends come and go and even shaped some of them along the way. Heather talks in depth about the role Brand has played historically, the huge impact it can have when viewed holistically, and why a siloed CMO is not as effective as it can be if they are given a seat at the table. She also discusses the fundamental shifts happening in the industry as things move from an institutional era of branding to a human era of branding but also stresses that the underlying fundamentals of deeply understanding your consumer and your brand are just as important now as ever before.

Heather Stern is the CMO at Lippincott and host of the podcast Icons in the Making. She wears many hats at Lippincott by managing all aspects of marketing, PR, and digital for their brand, as well as business development and sales. She oversees the entire funnel, from best-in-class brand activations to industry partnerships in collaboration with companies such as eBay, Google, IBM, Samsung, and Southwest Airlines. She has been at Lippincott for 10 years and serves as a trusted advisor to top clients across industries.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The ways Heather’s specific CMO role at Lippincott has evolved over the past 10 years.
• How Lippincott stays relevant despite turning 80 this year.
• What has changed in the industry and what has stayed the same.

Key Highlights

• [01:40] It all started with Janet Jackson
• [03:10] Heather's career path
• [06:30] Why Heather’s CMO role is unique and a little meta
• [08:20] How Heather's role has evolved over the past 10 years
• [11:55] What has changed and what has stayed the same for CMOs overall?
• [16:00] The importance of being partnership oriented
• [18:10] How Lippencot is defining brand today
• [21:20] How Lippincott is trying to take the “squishiness” out of branding
• [21:55] How has building and managing a brand changed and stayed the same?
• [25:00] It’s all about agility and experimentation
• [27:10] How gymnastics and a special Barbie inspired Heather's career ambition and work ethic
• [30:40] Find the joy in making mistakes and embrace the gray zone
• [31:40] Experimenting with AI and how brands are focusing on sustainability
• [34:40] Brands to watch
• [38:20] Icons in the Making Podcast
• [39:15] The risk of missing the forest for the trees

Resources Mentioned:

• Heather Stern
• Lippincott
• Icons in the Making (podcast from Lippincott)
• Brands mentioned: Depop, HousePlant (Seth Rogen founder), and Roblox

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In this episode, Alan and John discuss what Narrative Economics is, how it works, and why marketers may need to reevaluate their use of Brand Management theory. John tells us how Boathouse uses data and AI to empower brands to understand their true narrative and evaluate how it aligns with their desired narrative. Boathouse employs strategies like “newsjacking” and “socialjacking” to manage and leverage their client's stories in a way that drives engagement and aligns with their goals and values.

John Connors has spent his entire career in the advertising industry and founded Boathouse in 2001 after serving as CEO of Zentropy Partners and being part of the McCann World Group Management team. At Boathouse, John and his team use Narrative Economics to help brands manage and leverage stories by overseeing both the strategy and execution.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How narrative economics works in practice
• What tesla and the catholic church narratives have in common
• How narrative economics can help CMOs reestablish power

Key Highlights

• [01:30] On the farm and off the grid
• [02:50] The path to Boathouse
• [04:00] Boathouse overview and national scaling plans
• [08:15] What is Narrative Economics
• [11:20] Remembering a conversation with Phil Kotler
• [14:00] How Boathouse tested its tools before talking to clients
• [16:20] Using AI to monitor what is catching on and what isn’t
• [18:25] Artificial Intelligence + Human Intelligence
• [20:30] The lifecycle of a narrative
• [22:30] Why Narrative Economics should matter to the CMO
• [25:20] Use cases
• [27:00] A hard lesson that taught John what matters in life
• [28:20] Don’t chase other stars. Lean into your own strengths
• [29:20] Think about why and how marketers embrace brand management
• [30:00] Brands to watch
• [31:30] Rethinking how marketers approach the c-suite

Resources Mentioned:

• John Connors
• Boathouse
• Narrative Economics (book)
• Robert Schiller, Nobel-winning economist
• Phil Kotler on Marketing Today
• Signal AI
• Netbase Quid

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In this episode, Alan and Nick discuss Nick’s thoughts on the future of Brand Experience, how he is approaching e-commerce and digital marketing challenges at a fast-moving consumer goods company, and the importance of physical experiences to the overall brand experience. Nick notes that brands are expected to take a stand on larger social issues and tells how Vanish is purposefully rebuilding a brand experience that encourages conversations and fosters a community around shared values and views.

Nick Horan is the Global Brand Experience Lead for Vanish at Reckitt. He is passionate about using design as a tool to drive intentional brand experiences and understanding the consumption habits of consumers to identify the touch point that will have the most impact. Nicks's role is to craft the full brand experience framework from first exposure to becoming an advocate and repurchaser and translate this vision into a cohesive experience across various touchpoints in over 70 countries.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What is Brand Experience
• How Nick approaches physical design for brand experience
• Why marketers cannot personalize an experience without truly knowing the individual

Key Highlights

• [01:30] Nuclear Submarines and Product design
• [03:05] Nick's path to Reckitt
• [05:20] How product design plays into Nick's role as Global Brand Experience Lead
• [05:50] What does it mean to be Global Brand Experience Lead for Vanish at Reckitt
• [07:40] How Nick thinks about the function of brand experience overall
• [09:55] How does brand experience translate to Fast-Moving Consumer Goods
• [11:35] What Vanish is doing to decrease waste in the fashion industry
• [12:50] How Nick is helping FMCG catch up with the deconstruction and reconfiguration of the historical business models
• [14:00] How is Nick approaching e-commerce and digital marketing with an FMCG brand
• [18:50] Examples of how physical experiences play into the overall brand experience
• [20:05] Bridging the gap between physical and digital experiences
• [20:55] QR codes and how to utilize them effectively
• [22:45] The future of brand experience
• [24:30] Why personalization doesn't always equate to the richness in engagement
• [25:50] Why Nick is so observant of how people interact with the world
• [28:15] What advice would Nick give his younger self
• [29:15] Marketers need to lean into creativity for the omnichannel world
• [30:15] Brands to watch
• [31:20] Opportunities and threats facing marketers today

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Jeff Biesman grew up in Texas with dreams of being an NFL GM. While those dreams didn't pan out, he learned a lot along the way and decided to heed the advice he received to separate his hobbies from his career and went on to grow his marketing skill set in a very purposeful way. His path started in CPG product marketing with Converse, LA Gear, and Disney, went on to learn digital and performance marketing at Sony, got deep into data with Bank of America, moved onto venture-backed startups ShoeDazzle and Little Black Bag, then pursued B2B at YP and Remoov. In 2021, he was offered a role that was a perfect fit for all the skills he’d gained throughout his career and aligned with his personal values, so he accepted and joined the NDR team as their new CMO. In this role, Jeff is responsible for all direct-to-consumer marketing activities for the company, including PR, partnership development, paid search, social media, and CRM.

The state of consumer debt is grim as we are coming out of COVID and battling inflation. NDR acts as an agent on behalf of qualified consumers, putting them on a budget and getting them into an escrow-like program payment that is less than their debt service. As those funds accumulate, NDR then works with creditors to negotiate down the debt owed. Jeff tells us most of their customers are out of debt within 24 to 48 months and see long-term changes in their credit behavior.

On the show today, Alan and Jeff talk about why NDR doesn't want repeat businesses, how that impacts their marketing efforts, and what they are doing to stimulate demand in the upper funnel and then capture and migrate those consumers. Many people need help, but unfortunately, most are unaware that there are options like NDR to help them with debt relief, so a large part of the work for Jeff and his team revolves around building awareness, education, performance marketing, and meeting the consumers where they are by layering marketing through paid search, organic search, broadcast TV, and earned media.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• How does debt relief work?
• Why does National Debt Relief NOT want repeat businesses, and how does that impact their marketing strategy?
• How can marketers maximize demand stimulation, capture, and migration when the pool is shrinking?

Key Highlights:

• [02:00] NFL Dreams
• [04:30] Purposeful steps in the career path
• [07:50] What drew Jeff to NDR?
• [09:40] The state of consumer debt
• [12:00] NDR's role and how it works
• [15:55] Qualifying to be a customer
• [18:40] Real human stories
• [20:00] NDR does NOT want repeat customers.
• [23:00] What marketing looks like at NDR
• [25:10] What CMOs need to know about demand capture
• [28:45] Learning grit, determination, and perseverance
• [31:15] The importance of patience
• [33:05] Neuromarketing just makes sense.
• [34:35] Nothing is set it and forget it.
• [35:55] We’re in the midst of an AI revolution.

Looking for more?

Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.