Algorhythms for Marketing Transformation

We all understand that digital media, data, and analytics are driving transformations in society and business. Most marketers are now armed with case studies of what can be done differently, but many are still challenged with how to truly develop new ideas and execute new strategies to grow their business.

Mitch Joel, President of Mirum Agency and successful author of CRTL-ALT-Delete and Six Pixels of Separation, spoke to our BRITE ’16 audience about the “three little piggies” he sees as necessary for marketers to stay ahead:

• Transform – your internal processes and strategies
• Innovate – not just communicating in new channels, but creating new revenue streams
• Transact – measuring and attending to all of the little interactions a person has with your brand

In order to execute on these three pigs, Joel notes that marketers must be constantly paying attention to the small changes that consumers are making in their interactions with the world. Think, for example, of Snapchat, which created an ‘impermanent internet‘ that is much more closely aligned with how we historically socially communicated; where every detail of every interaction isn’t recorded in perpetuity. Another example are changing consumer expectations to pay merely for access rather than ownership, e.g. streaming video and streaming music.

Joel stressed that we are at an inflection point where, “technology has removed technology from technology.” It sounds confusingly circuitous, but then Joel asks, “Where do you keep your instruction manual for your smart phone?” and it is clear that he means that technology and design have allowed our digital experiences to become intuitive and marketers must craft their communications and initiatives to feed such an experience.

As Joel concludes, “The true opportunity you have in digital is not just to pump out impressions, but to make an impression.”

Watch Joel’s talk at BRITE ’16.

BY MATTHEW QUINT

 

Thinking with AND: Insights from KIND’s story

“I’m a confused Mexican Jew.” So says Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and CEO of KIND Snack, in his very personal interview with Columbia faculty member David Rogers at BRITE ’16. Their discussion touched on the many ideas behind KIND Snacks, from the beginnings of the company, to the strategic thinking that forces Lubetzky to stay away from false compromises, to his thoughts on brands and purpose.

After studying law at Stanford, Lubetzky had planned to become a Mid-East Peace negotiator, “That was my path and that was my dream and I ended up feeling that the power of business to drive change may potentially be more impactful in bringing neighbors to work together than diplomacy.” As the son of a Holocaust survivor, the common threat in everything he does is, “building bridges between people because that’s my commitment: to prevent what happened to my dad from happening again.”

It was precisely his intention to create business opportunities for neighbors in conflict regions what brought him into the natural food industry. Ten years after his first attempts, he identified the need for a healthy and tasty snack, and KIND was born.

Lubetzky went on to share some insights on how to maintain creativity when bringing ideas to life: “To challenge conventional wisdom, which says you have to choose between this or that, think creatively and try to do this and that, and make a business that’s both socially impactful and economically sustainable or a product that’s both healthy and tasty. In any such venture there is a tension and you need to use creativity to generate that extra value.”

When asked about KIND’s purpose, Lubetzky explained that he was looking “to have a company that was going to have a social impact and that was going to be economically impactful and successful, combining the social and the business objectives. The social impact [being] inspiring kindness, celebrating kindness, finding a way to increase kindness in society, while also selling healthy snack foods.”

He also warned entrepreneurs that having a social mission doesn’t guarantee success, the product has to shine through for the social mission to be relevant, Lubetzky said. “We need to be careful about assuming that because you have a social mission suddenly things work. Ninety-nine percent of the people [who] have tried KIND bars -or maybe 90%- don’t even know about our social mission. […] It is by design that we lead with our product and our taste. The social mission adds loyalty and meaning to [me] and to [my] team, and hopefully passion to [the] consumers. But the fundamentals have to be there, they’re really what drive the business.”

Watch the full interview with Daniel Lubetzky.

BY GABRIELA TORRES PATIÑO