436: How to Hack Culture, Pick Influencers, and Stay Relevant with Patrick Buchanan, SVP of Marketing at Lulus

09/11/24 • 33 min

Patrick Buchanan is from Lexington, Kentucky, and went to Western Kentucky University, where he studied journalism broadcasting with the dream of being a VJ. After graduation, Patrick moved to LA to pursue those dreams, but instead fell into marketing through a side hustle as an assistant at Creative Recreation. He found he had a knack for it, embraced his new path, and over the next 7 years, worked his way up to become Marketing Director at Creative Recreation before he moved on to Global Marketing Director at K-Swiss Global Brands, then Senior Director of Brand Marketing for Bravado at Universal Music Group. In 2021, Patrick became Vice President Marketing at GOOD AMERICAN, and today, he serves as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Lulu's, a women's fashion business with a mission to make women feel special and beautiful for all of their life's moments.

On the show today, Alan and Patrick talk about what Lulus does, who they serve, and the kinds of altruistic disruptive campaigns they are implementing to get organic attention. Patrick also tells us how brands should be thinking about the types of partners and influencers they invest in to most effectively and authentically speak to their target audience, as well as his lived experience being a young black head of marketing and what he hopes to do with his platform.

n this episode, you'll learn:

Examples of disruptive campaigns to get organic attention
How to pick and leverage the right influence partners
Patrick’s experience as a young black man and head of marketing

Key Highlights:

[01:40] A brush with fame alongside Kelly Clarkson
[03:10] Patrick’s career path
[08:30] What Lulus does and who they serve
[10:00] How to get your brand noticed
[12:30] Leveraging partnerships to bring brand missions to life
[17:35] How to engage with influencer marketing as it evolves
[20:10] Patrick’s experience as a young black man and head of marketing
[23:30] Learning to maneuver creatively and never accepting no as an answer
[25:20] Advice to his younger self
[26:55] Always be learning more about your customers and what they like.
[28:50] Trends and subcultures to watch
[30:30] Opportunities and challenges with AI

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.

n this episode, you'll learn:

Examples of disruptive campaigns to get organic attention
How to pick and leverage the right influence partners
Patrick’s experience as a young black man and head of marketing

Key Highlights:

[01:40] A brush with fame alongside Kelly Clarkson
[03:10] Patrick’s career path
[08:30] What Lulus does and who they serve
[10:00] How to get your brand noticed
[12:30] Leveraging partnerships to bring brand missions to life
[17:35] How to engage with influencer marketing as it evolves
[20:10] Patrick’s experience as a young black man and head of marketing
[23:30] Learning to maneuver creatively and never accepting no as an answer
[25:20] Advice to his younger self
[26:55] Always be learning more about your customers and what they like.
[28:50] Trends and subcultures to watch
[30:30] Opportunities and challenges with AI

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.

Previous Episode

435: Murder in HR and the Power of Branded Entertainment with Ryan Bonnici, CMO at Wellhub (formerly Gympass)

Ryan Bonnici is Chief Marketing Officer, Wellhub, previously known as Gympass. Ryan brings over 15 years of experience at places like Salesforce, HubSpot, G2, and Microsoft and was named one of the 2020 World’s Most Influential CMOs by Forbes. Ryan now leads a team of over 300 professionals at Wellhub, where his main goal is to make wellbeing a priority for employees globally.

Wellhub is the world's leading corporate wellness platform. They have over 15,000 clients globally who rely on Wellhub to provide their employees with access to the best wellness partners around the world across fitness, mindfulness, therapy, nutrition, and sleep. Their goal is to make every company a wellness company.

On the show today, Alan and Ryan talk about the reason behind the rebrand from Gympass to Wellhub, the logistics of making such a significant change, and differences in their B2B, B2C, and B2P marketing strategies. They also discussed the benefits of entertainment marketing tactics, why Ryan and his team ultimately settled on a fictional podcast called Murder in HR, and the impact it has had on their core businesses.

In this episode, you'll learn:

The reasoning and logistics behind rebranding from Gympass to Wellhub
The differences in B2B, B2C, and B2P marketing strategies
Why and how to leverage branded entertainment

Key Highlights:

[01:40] How Ryan gets wellness into his week
[05:55] Ryan’s career path
[10:45] Wellhub’s goal and mission
[12:15] Their product is their network.
[14:30] From Gympass to Wellhub
[19:10] What B2B, B2C, and B2P marketing looks like at Wellhub
[21:20] Leveraging branded entertainment
[30:00] How self-low esteem as a kid impacted Ryan as an adult
[32:10] Advice to his younger self
[33:15] Don’t write off social selling in B2B and follow your own behaviors.
[35:45] Trends and subcultures to watch
[37:15] Threats facing marketers today

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.

Next Episode

437: Bridging the Gap Between B2B Marketing and Sales with Jennifer McAdams CMO of Xactly

Jennifer (Jen) McAdams is a seasoned marketing veteran with more than 25 years of experience within the software industry. Jen went to Northeastern where she graduated with a resume and a business suite, and hit the ground running in her career. She worked closely with Xactly in an advisory CMO role initially as part of Vista Equity Partners’ Value Creation Team – and her partnership and execution of a comprehensive marketing plan that generated increased pipeline and higher quality leads led her to permanently join Xactly as a member of the senior leadership team and CMO. Before Xactly and Vista Equity Partners, she’s previously held senior roles with SAP, Cisco, Progress, Ixia, and Kaseya.

Xactly is a platform “for sales leaders founded by a sales leader”. Their main legacy product is for automating sales compensation and commissions. However, over the years, they have made acquisitions that have allowed them to extend their offerings into sales planning and forecasting tools that live in a single platform and are available as modular pieces that grow with their clients.

On the show today, Alan and Jen talk about how she is bridging the gap between marketing and sales at Xactly and what she has seen work across the different types of companies that she's worked for. Jen gives us practical tips to align around a common goal, how she thinks about organizing teams, and the importance of leading by example. Alan and Jen also discuss how marketing is organized within her group, how that relates to customer marketing as she builds that new function and how AI can be a resource for marketers.

In this episode, you'll learn: