Keeping Score: 7 Tips from Women Leaders in Marketing and Media
Jessica Spaulding was one of a few women leaders in marketing speaking at the recent Modern Marketing Summit in Chicago.
The score was 32 to 14.
The recent Modern Marketing Summit 2016 in Chicago recently, a gathering of hundreds of digital marketing executives, creatives, agency leaders, retailers and mobile innovators, offered several all-male panels (see Take The Lead’s recent column on that issue here), with the roster of speakers featuring 32 men and 14 women leaders in marketing.
Even though the women leaders represented fewer than 30 percent of the speakers, it seemed the women owned the day. Gwen Morrison, CEO of The Americas and Australasia of The Store, WPP Global Retail, was the crescendo keynote who spoke about authenticity and declared, “You have to come back to the human aspect.”
“Women owned the day at the recent Modern Marketing Summit 2016.”
The most understanding and empathetic voice of the conference belonged to Lisa Giacosa, Global Senior Director Experience Planning and Integrated Media, Kimberly-Clark, with an eye on the needs of women customers.
“One in four people around the world interact with one of our brands every day,” Giacosa said.
She mapped out the timeline for women consumers who across their lifetimes use Cottonelle toilet paper, then Kotex feminine products, then Huggies diapers, then Depends incontinence products.
Speaking matter of factly, Giacosa asked, “How can we break the stigma of incontinence, as the average age for women is 42, and 1 in 4 people have incontinence?” She added, “True stories from real people break down the stigma.”
Here is a roundup of the latest lessons gathered from the top marketing minds and women leaders regionally and nationally about work, leadership, marketing and more:
Beth Reilly, Chief Media Officer, Worldwide for Motorola:
“Your phone is your most personal device,” Reilly said as she demonstrated the soon to be released Moto Mods, including a projector you can attach to your phone that will project your video images up to 70 inches wide on any surface from your mobile phone.
Jessica Spaulding, Director of Marketing, PepsiCo:
“You need to be true to the North Star of why and how you exist.”
“You need to be true to the North Star of why and how you exist. -Jessica Spaulding”
Gina Hardy, Senior Brand Management, Gatorade and Propel, PepsiCo.
“Ideas can come from anywhere, there is no dictator. We have to create an environment where that is expected and accepted.”
Susanna Earnest, Managing Director, OMD:
“The strongest brands allow creative and media to blur lines.”
Melissa Roth, Manager, Technology Portfolio Management, Kohl’s:
“Data isn’t the most important thing from the retailer’s perspective, it is about understanding the customer. We want to be targeted about connecting data points to give the best experience to the customer online or offline in store.
Katie Schavione, Senior Director, Shopper Marketing Programs, NAN Brands, PepsiCo.
“It is important when people recognize the universal emotional benefits to shopping; I don’t need a physical store for that.”
Sharon Love, CEO, TPN
“You have to understand the how better than the why. The combination of humanity and technology is interesting.”
While the day was a rush of information and insights from these women leaders in marketing, retail, media, creative and branding, the best visual came from a video of Ellen Brennan, world’s fastest flying woman in a wingsuit, as she flies through a mountain range in France to grab a donut. The video of her jumping off the summit playing at the summit was breathtaking.
The Dunkin Donuts campaign released this summer called, “What The Fast,” scored 14 million views in two weeks, according to Tony Weisman, CEO, Digitas North America, DigitasLBi. He confided that the grab of the pre-ordered donut order took several takes and Brennan nailed it on the last one.
Perhaps the gender parity of women in marketing is not moving quite as fast, but recent wins such as the Omnicom’s BBDO for the first time naming a woman to the chief creative post in the U.S. is a good sign. “Robin Fitzgerald was named executive vice president-chief creative officer of its Atlanta office,” Ann-Christine Diaz writes in Advertising Age.
“I hired her because she’s the best person,” BBDO Global Chief Creative Officer David Lubars told Diaz. “Talent is our first criteria. And she gets today’s world. She gets technology, analytics. She’s a native to what’s going on in the world right now, and I feel she has the gravitas and leadership to be a great partner.”
London-based brand consultant Otegha Uwagba understands the challenges of women in creative positions in marketing and media worldwide, and recently formed Women Who, a network of women helping each other, according to Meg Miller in Fast Company.
“Uwagba’s inaugural project is the Little Black Book, a “toolkit” for women in the creative industry that covers all the usual opportunities for instruction—negotiating for a raise, asserting yourself at work—but does it in a friendly, straightforward, non-pandering way, “ Miller writes.
She continues, “Uwagba dedicates a section of the book to asking for bits of wisdom from successful women. Linsey Young, a curator at Tate Britain, answered that she would advise other working women to take up space—don’t be apologetic about your ideas and opinions. Men aren’t.’”
About the Author
Michele Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, an award-winning author, journalist, emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. @micheleweldon www.micheleweldon.com