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Unlocking Digital Transformation Success in the Middle East: A Human-Centric Approach

Human-centered transformations are crucial globally, but in the Middle East they take on a distinctly different imperative, shifting from technology to empowering people.  

Digital transformation has come a long way from being a buzzword to becoming a fundamental for business success. But, digital transformation goes beyond technology; it’s an ongoing process where human issues and change management are just as central to a successful transformation process as the tech. And today, organizations are starting to understand that change comes from using technology to achieve human goals. They recognize that such change helps them to be more targeted in servicing customers, creating experiences and becoming more efficient, profitable and sustainable.  

While human-centered transformations are essential all over the world, they take on a distinctly different imperative in the Middle East. The relationship-based culture requires a very human approach – business here is all about the way people connect. 

The region has one of the world’s youngest populations, with about 60% under 25, which means most employees are digital natives. They run their lives using mobile technology and expect the companies they work for to do the same. They are more at ease with artificial intelligence and want all the entities in their lives, from government and employers to shopping and entertainment, to be convenient, automated and personalized. 

There’s no ignoring the need to be digital. It is simply expected in every aspect of life. Yet technology is only one part of the solution. It frees up and increases the demand for organizations to provide a human experience. This is becoming more important every day: Yes, there are plenty of tasks tech can do better than people, from booking airline tickets to delivering groceries. But when it’s time for people to interact with each other, whether with colleagues or customers, those interactions take on outsized importance.  

In the Middle East, this transition to a more human-centered business should foster the growth of the region’s relationship-driven culture by directing employees’ attention more toward the human elements of business. Organizations should allow their employees to use technology to help their customers and stakeholders achieve their goals.  

And this is the crucial distinction: recognizing that humans drive the change in business – not technology. 

Starting a Human-Centered Transformation 

For the last five years, Prophet’s global research has explored how companies can leap from outdated ideas of digital transformation to human-centered change. We’ve found that sustainable change, the kind that leads to uncommon growth, works best by comparing every organization to the makeup of a human being. Every enterprise has DNA, a mind, body and soul. We call it the Human Centered Transformation Model.

These transformation efforts are powered by purpose, values, brand and strategy, which we consider an organization’s ‘DNA’. All enterprises need a clear and compelling ‘why’. That ‘why’ is the North Star, illuminating every effort, so every part of the organization pulls in the same direction. This purpose must be meaningful, a shared ambition that can unite and inspire people to embrace change for a better future.  

Each organization also has a ‘mind’, including the talent, skills and capabilities to take it forward. The ‘body’ includes the organization’s shape, such as governance, processes and systems. And finally, each enterprise has a ‘soul’, the behaviors, beliefs and stories that motivate its people. These soul-based elements are especially important in the Middle East. They include symbols, rituals and a mindset that help ignite change and are deeply meaningful to younger workers.  

Leveraging the Middle East’s Unique Advantages and Addressing its Challenges 

Our research has identified the critical levers – fundamentals and accelerators – that can drive change. These are global findings. Yet there are some specific conditions in the Middle East that support rapid digital transformation and help bring people on the journey of change. 

First, there is speed, urgency and ambition. The race to achieve the national 2030 vision, even as it expands toward 2040, is an amazing driver for change. People who run enterprises feel this vital purpose and are eager to achieve it. Employees are even more impatient.  

Next, there’s a regional thirst for excellence, prestige and creativity, inspired by ambitious projects, whether it’s Dubai’s “20-minute city” goals, Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion bet on NEOM, or Egypt’s audacious plans for a new capital. These ambitious endeavors are not only shaping the future but also instilling a sense of collective national pride, fuelling the appetite for achievement and making people eager to join the journey towards a digital future.

The region also faces barriers. Similar to companies globally, some entities react reflexively in ways that are inconsistent or misaligned with their declared strategy, making it more challenging to coordinate and drive change. 

Organizations are maturing and evolving all the time. Yet, even in flux, it’s essential to connect the dots strategically. Every change should arise from the enterprise’s DNA, relating continuous improvement to a broader agenda. This clear purpose is the North Star, helping companies see how that purpose translates into every employee and customer experience. 

The region also faces workforce challenges due to the transient nature of talent, where professionals frequently change roles and locations. This dynamic environment contributes to fluctuations in productivity, as teams experience continuous turnover, impacting stability. This is why strategies that focus on talent retention, skill development and creating a workplace culture that aligns with the diverse expectations of the workforce are imperative.  

These unique advantages and challenges make taking a human-centered approach even more important, ensuring it is tailored to your organization’s characteristics and strengths.

Studying transformation success stories and digital leaders in the West can be tempting. But that’s a mistake. Only Google can be Google. While it’s fine to be inspired by what others have done, organizations in the Middle East (and everywhere else) must remain authentic to their core identity. They should be driven by and centered around the unique group of individuals within their organization and guided by the strategic purpose they aim to achieve.  

Cookie-cutter methods won’t create the far-reaching, long-lasting transformation required in modern marketplaces. But there are specific steps companies can take to begin this human-centered change in ways that build on what they do best, helping them create more robust, more agile organizations that better serve all stakeholders. 

The Power of Leadership Excellence 

Start by defining what good leadership looks like. Leadership values need to stem from the organization’s unique DNA. And while an enlightened CEO is required to initiate the transformation journey, the passion for the mission needs to be nurtured in leaders at all levels. Organizations in the Middle East need leaders who can work with many cultures and nationalities. They require the ability to co-create a dialogue about what the enterprise wants to achieve with this transformation, deciding how best to prepare employees for the changes ahead. 

Again, there are inherent regional advantages. Organizations can create close-knit, enterprise-focused leadership teams using the power of the relationship-based culture. We see this inherently in start-ups, steering away from traditional hierarchies and driven by innovation, the emphasis is on collaborative cultures that nurture a sense of belonging and shared purpose among team members. Similarly, government entities in the region have increasingly recognized the value of cultivating strong leadership teams to enhance organizational effectiveness and establish relationship-based cultures that resonate with the diverse populations they serve. 

While transformation efforts are still in the planning stage, leaders should remind themselves how much power they have over the outcome of any transformation effort. If leadership isn’t seen as fully on board with changes, efforts will never gain traction. Companies can increase the chance of transformational success by: 

  • Framing the transformation as a positive, modern journey. Make it clear that it helps build pride and furthers national goals, using context that is meaningful and relevant to all employees. 
  • Encouraging creative thinking. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes over more operational and administrative tasks, organizations should emphasize the human effort shaping these technological changes. AI can only predict. It can’t think or invent. Constantly seek out new ways to encourage human insight and innovation. 
  • Embracing diversity. Effective transformation in the Middle East requires working with locals, whose motivation and sense of purpose are linked to faith and cultural heritage. But it also requires international workers and customers. Organizations need to serve many segments, tailoring and personalizing every experience.  

Build the Right Employee Value Proposition 

As leadership teams coalesce around this pivotal transformation initiative, it’s crucial to sharpen every element of talent acquisition. That starts with updating the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – the deal you offer those who join your organization. While encompassing salary and benefits, an EVP transcends these essentials, delving into the fundamental reasons why people come to work each day. A robust EVP that vividly articulates the organization’s purpose unveils the unique, compelling and meaningful aspects of the employee experience. Beyond merely enhancing talent acquisition, this refined EVP serves as a linchpin for retention. Engaged employees, drawn to a purposeful workplace, contribute to the transformational journey, propelling the organization toward unparalleled growth.  

Given macroeconomic challenges, it’s a critical time for regional organizations to make sure these EVPs play across borders, attracting international talent. This can be time-consuming for companies not well-known in other parts of the world. And it often calls for new ways of thinking. For example, flexible schedules and work-life balance are now an expectation of many people in the West and must be addressed in recruiting efforts. 

You can’t skimp on developing an EVP. Successful transformation relies on building new capabilities. And while some of those needs will be addressed by upskilling current employees, attracting talent with new skills and background is essential. The rapid expansion of AI tools has dramatically accelerated the demand for new skills. 

Companies can’t afford to overlook local talent, either. The competition is intensifying as the Middle East region prospers and grows, especially relative to Western economies.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

To meet the needs of the Middle East today and tomorrow, organizations can no longer rely on outdated ideas of digital transformation. Instead, they need to find new and better ways to use human-centered transformation, putting the right technology into the hands of the many people they serve. When enterprises put people before technology, all stakeholders benefit – employees, customers, community members and investors.  

If you’d like to discuss your digital transformation effort, our expert team can help you in placing a human-centered focus at the heart of your approach.  

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How to Structure and Scale a Product Organization for Growth 

Transforming into a product-led business is imperative for sustained growth. Here, we break down the three common stages of maturation and offer strategic solutions for overcoming product delivery hurdles.    

Software transforms every industry, and many have enviously observed the impressive growth and returns that software companies have amassed over the past two decades. Think of a hugely successful software company and chances are it espouses a product-led model. Naturally, traditional companies are realizing that to compete and grow, they must look, think, and act like product-led, software companies themselves. But simply hiring product management experts is not enough. Functioning as a modern software company requires building the right kind of product ecosystems and teams in order to find new ways to engage with customers around existing offerings, cross-sell opportunities and to create new channels for revenue. For many of these companies, the ambition to innovate is there, but the capabilities often aren’t. Unclear strategy, siloed functions and multiple handoffs cripple the speed and effectiveness of product releases, subsequently ruining the end customer experience. It’s an extremely challenging shift to tackle.  

We frequently encounter organizations that struggle to advance beyond one of these three critical stages of maturation. Let’s break these steps down: 

  • Building cross-functional product teams – this is the first step, and is about connecting the requisite skill sets, ways of working and focus to successfully build and deliver a digital touchpoint.  
  • Build and support multiple products – second, it’s time to move past those baseline capabilities and explore how to build and support multiple products in-market. Many often do this inefficiently, without connection to a strategy, capabilities or in a way that effectively delivers ROI across segments. It’s important to ensure that expansion doesn’t come at the price of the business’ reputation or quality of products or services. It requires a shared understanding of product excellence, visionary leadership and an unrelenting customer focus.   
  • Scale – finally, when the capabilities are established and products are successfully sustained across a range of customer types and use cases, companies see this as the time to scale in market. However, often they are unable to build a connected approach that allows them to scale in line with the ambitions of the business and grow their customer base. 

Embracing a Software Company Mindset and Unlocking Success: Three Strategic Solutions for Product Delivery & Maturation Hurdles 

1. Embedding Product Fundamentals 

Let’s start with an example of what happens when you are learning a new capability for the first time. We were working with a physical medical device manufacturer who had deep-rooted relationships with physicians and hospital networks. They had data, clear use cases and insights aplenty. Despite some successful pilot projects that sales reps were able to bootstrap to support their doctors, the company lacked the methods and capabilities to scale these projects or monetize them consistently for realizable ROI. We worked with them to define clear strategic goals metrics and a documented strategy on what opportunities they would and wouldn’t spend time and effort on to deliver customer and business value. In support of this strategy, we set up product pods of cross-functional capabilities, enabling each pod to work without functional dependencies. Armed with our Hypothesis 2 Action methodology, the pods would work at pace to bring market-backed evidence on the critical assumptions allowing them to quickly discard concepts that weren’t viable and focus on delivering clear customer value.  

2. Developing a Product Based, Customer-Centric Organization 

Transitioning into a product-centric, agile organization requires strategic coordination of product pods and experiences to create efficiencies across people, processes, data and technology and in the important use cases across the customer journey. Organizations at this stage often have a myriad of products in market but lack the structure to manage them in a way that reduces redundancy and gains a clear ROI against strategic business goals. The challenge is twofold: internally, numerous pet-projects have emerged organically in response to market needs, while externally, there is a scattered approach to different customer requirements, often leading to confusion.  

We worked with an international digital real estate firm in Europe that had built several digital product pilots across a range of customer needs and countries. They had the upper hand in multiple European markets but operated disparately amongst the countries. The vision was clear: a consolidated European digital real estate platform, like Zillow’s dominance in North America. Using our Product Maturity Model, we worked with them on a three-pronged approach: assessing the current ability of their cross-functional product pods, strategy and products; identifying what their future ambition was for strategic use cases and ways of working; and delivering a phase-by-phase transformation plan, which led to the creation of a cohesive digital product platform, thereby maximizing economies of scale. 

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3. Scaling Product Management  

As businesses grow, scaling becomes inevitable. There’s a compelling need to deliver a consistent level of product excellence, build direct-to-consumer relationships and unlock new avenues for revenue. Yet, scalability often opens the doors to redundancies, lack of clarity in customer segmentation and the sunk cost and effort to support ‘zombie projects’ kept alive for continued customer relationships rather than for the strategic use of resources.  

Over the past few years, we’ve been working with a leading national hardware big-box retailer. With a clear aim of generating exponential new revenue in the next three years, they had acquired several e-commerce companies catering to a professional segment of their customer base. The path forward involved evaluating the existing landscape of competitors for this segment and simultaneously assessing existing operational capabilities and ways of working using our Product Maturity Model. With this grounding, we helped the retailer articulate a comprehensive North Star strategy on where to invest, where to sustain and where to exit in exponentially growing this software-led business. After doing a deep gap analysis of their capabilities internally alongside a build/partner/buy strategy, we developed a multi-year digital product transformation roadmap. This aligning of internal enablers with the desired customer experience outcomes provided clear guidance for training, resource allocation, product management, investment and metrics to track their growth strategy. 

In the evolving business landscape, the art of creating, developing and scaling products is paramount. Evolving to become more like a software company with strategic insights, well-structured approaches, empowered product management and a customer-centric mindset means organizations will be better equipped to rise to the challenge.  

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Through our years of collaboration with clients to develop, manage and mature their product capabilities, we have refined the core competencies needed to build successful product managers, product teams and businesses. Business leaders who identify with the three stages in this article can gain valuable insights by applying our Product Maturity framework to assess their company’s current status and growth opportunities. 

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CMO Focus: Four Trends to Watch in 2024

Marketing leaders must be everything, everywhere, all at once. Here’s how they’re prepping for the challenges ahead. 

Chief marketing officers are some of our favorite people, and as we were putting together our annual list of predictions for the year ahead, we got a fast reminder why. Despite an uncertain economy, changing expectations from CEOs, and fast-rising media rates, marketers remain as optimistic as ever.  

We spoke to more than 25 senior marketers to get their take on the challenges they’re facing and where they plan to prioritize in the coming year. Their belief in the power of creativity and new ideas keeps growing. And they’re continuing to beat the drum on the importance of testing and learning, innovating, and being at the forefront of leveraging AI to help them achieve uncommon growth. 

As CMOs settle into the expanding remit of their role, they’re increasingly confident about broader opportunities. Many now have ownership of growth initiatives and transformation efforts. They are overseeing efforts to drive both brand and demand and are responsible for orchestrating numerous, impactful touchpoints throughout the entire customer journey. One leader we interviewed told us it’s like that movie, “We have to be everything, everywhere, all at once.” 

These leaders see themselves as fully in the driver’s seat, organizational change-makers, providing the voice of the customer to advocate for new capabilities. They are connecting dots across more functions. They are operating at two speeds: balancing the need to deliver in-quarter results with setting up longer-term growth moves, all while navigating continued outside-in disruption. 

Here are four predictions we expect to see in 2024. 

Trend #1: Finding Uncommon Growth in the Storm 

It’s certainly not news to CMOs that they’re navigating turbulent markets. Yet they’re cautiously optimistic about what lies ahead, with 49% saying they are more upbeat about the U.S. economy than last quarter. According to a recent study by Deloitte, only 22% are less optimistic. According to Forrester, 80% expect a marketing budget increase, albeit a modest one, going into 2024. No wonder 75% of senior marketers in a recent Gartner survey say they’re expected to do more with less. 

They’re on a tightrope, juggling near-term tactics while planning long-term growth goals. A recent Salesforce survey of marketers finds that 76% say they feel more responsibility to drive growth – proof indeed that more enterprises are recognizing marketing’s power to increase revenue. 

As many marketing leaders have taken on more commercial responsibility, that pressure keeps building. “Previously, my role focused on communications and driving colleague engagement,” says the CMO of a leading advisory firm. “Now it’s shifted to driving topline growth while carving out greater differentiation.” 

“The world has gotten very complicated, yet organizations are facing pressure to grow at the same pace as when the world was less volatile,” agrees the CMO of a commercial real estate company. “All of this is making it even more difficult to get your message out.” 

“The big challenge now is not to overcompensate,” says a leading building supply company marketer. “We didn’t overspend when things were good. So let’s not underspend when things are bad.” 

But these leaders know their role is more significant than deciding where to dial back spending. “What got us here won’t get us there,” says a CMO at a top-tier financial company. And like 83% of respondents in the Gartner study, the marketing strategies her team has come to rely on in the last two years are markedly different than those of the past.  

Critical to this evolution –and any and all growth– is a greater-than-ever push toward customer centricity. “Do we really understand our customers? That’s what keeps me up at night,” says a top marketer at a financial advisory company. 

As marketers grapple with being asked to do more with less resources while simultaneously proving value from their marketing investments, it will become even more critical in 2024 to be able to prove ROI by translating business objectives into quantifiable customer goals. Actively defining and measuring against clear KPIs will be key to allowing marketers to quickly pivot to optimize their efforts to deliver better outcomes.  

Trend #2: Acing the Marketing Basics While Leaving Room for Experimentation 

Most of the CMOs we spoke to say that they are getting more comfortable operating in a post-pandemic marketing environment that is often turbulent and unpredictable. 

Finding better ways to integrate brand and demand strategies is at the top of that list. While there is a short-term swing towards demand, brand continues to play an essential role. Finding the right ratios remains critical, but the old-school separation no longer works. “Companies that separate budgets and teams between brand and demand do so at their disadvantage,” says the CMO of one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies. “Every touchpoint informs perception of the brand, and every brand touchpoint needs to deliver business.” 

“I want my budget all looked at through an integrated model,” agrees a top financial marketer. “I’m a big believer in brand and demand.”  

Generative AI, already critical to 56% of marketers, is taking on more importance, with 80% of those in the Forrester survey saying they intend to use generative AI in the next year. Blogs are the most common use, named by 65%, followed by website copy at 62%. 

Updated techniques to track ROI, with data and analytics emerging as the new rocket science, are also on top of CMOs’ “must-do” lists. Even as 63% of the marketers in Forrester’s research are amping up martech investments, Salesforce finds that 72% struggle to measure the impact, and 43% find it hard to track customers across the journey. CMOs are becoming increasingly vocal about these glaring blind spots. “Someone needs to figure out …” is a refrain constantly echoing throughout marketing departments when it comes to marketing measurement and attribution.  

Leaders are determined to remedy that problem in the coming year. “We look at marketing-attributed revenue, particularly inbound leads driven by digital or other channels,” says a senior financial services marketer. “We also look at how effectively we sell differentiated service bundles tied to our client needs. To measure the success of our business development enablement, we look at win rates and the service portfolio’s overall growth.” 

Other hot-button issues that were mentioned? More innovative ways to track the cost, benefits and risks of influencer marketing, and social issues, particularly in reaching Gen Z.  

What does this mean for marketers in 2024? Despite pressures from boards and executive teams to deliver near-term results, CMOs need to continue to support longer-term priorities that they know will be important over time. Allowing space for experimentation, whether it’s with new AI technology, martech or channel strategies, will help guide where to invest without over-indexing on long-term or short-term growth ambitions.  

Trend #3: Acting as Organizational Change-Makers 

Getting the foundational basics right is vital. But it’s not enough. To create transformational growth, CMOs are becoming digital leaders, stepping more forcefully into corporate grey areas. Although marketing leaders currently lead 70% of digital transformations, even more are grabbing the reins. “There is a void,” says a marketer at a large regional health organization. “No one owns the full digital transformation, so we are just taking it on.” 

As the role of marketing has expanded, they believe it’s time to shake up the operating model. In Gartner’s research, 86% of marketers agree that their organization must change how it works to achieve sustainable results. 

CMOs need to think about themselves as connectors and integrators. They should think cross-functionally across departments, linking channels and disciplines across products and experiences. This year, 37% say their teams are fully integrated, up from 19% a year ago according to Deloitte’s CMO study. 

For those lucky enough to work for C-suites who have fully bought into this level of collaboration, it’s easier to make progress. “Building strong relationships between functional leaders based on transparency, empathy, and mutual benefit, has been instrumental in breaking down silos and achieving better outcomes,” says a CMO from a large retailer, who now calls her bond with the head of product one of the tightest partnerships she’s ever had. “It’s been an absolute game changer.”’ 

As marketing’s responsibilities shift and expand, finding opportunities for cross-functional collaboration not only helps break down internal silos but also creates better outcomes for customers. Marketing leaders have a real opportunity to be catalysts for change across their organizations, and they should be ready to lead the charge.  

Trend #4: Leaning into Creativity 

What’s perhaps most exciting, is that even as they build teams with new skills, capabilities and competencies, leaders are less bashful about what drew them to marketing in the first place: The power of creativity and ideas. 

CMOs say this creativity still plays a critical role in differentiating brands. They find joy in investing in the brand and seeing how creativity helps them stand out, increase revenues and gain relevance. They are building moments that matter, and ultimately that lead to sustainable growth. 

“I still believe in the power of big ideas,” says one CMO. “When problems need solving, traditional creativity always wins.” 

As pressure builds to deliver and prove ROI, creativity often takes a backseat. But it would be a mistake to overlook the power of creativity, and how it allows brands to connect with customers on a meaningful level. Marketers understand this and should continue to push for inspiration that’s driven by deep and authentic creativity. 

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FINAL THOUGHTS

As the year draws to a close, we’d like to salute marketing leaders for constantly looking for new perspectives. It takes persistent imagination, optimism and a growth mindset to thrive in these conditions, and you’re a constant source of inspiration. As we step into the new year, we invite you to share your thoughts on the challenges you foresee and the strategies you’ll use. Here’s to a year filled with new possibilities and uncommon growth.

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2023 Brand Winners and Losers: From Taylor Swift, Ozempic and Open AI, to Elon Musk and X, WeWork and Delta Airlines 

See our annual list of the most relevant brands and those that missed the mark.

In the dynamic landscape of 2023, the year unfolded with notable brand winners and losers. From AI formally entering our daily lexicon to Elon leaving most of us scratching our heads, the year was truly memorable. To start, noteworthy comebacks were observed with Peloton, UGG, and Cameo (tied to its new savior, George Santos), while Dollar General gained relevance among millennials. On the flip side, Macy’s, Rite-Aid, and Bed Bath & Beyond faced waning – even disappearing – relevance. Once again, we saw Marriott rule the world, launching its 500th luxury hotel, while stalwart brand winner Unilever admitted it lost its purpose-based way. J.P. Morgan seamlessly absorbed First Republic Bank, while Goldman Sachs and Apple had a breakup, in which the financial powerhouse got the short end of the PR stick. The MLB had its Ohtani moment, the NFL continues to have its pop-star moments, the NBA and NHL welcomed new teenage superstars, Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs and Connor Bedard of the Blackhawks, and Messi continues his enduring reign in the soccer world by joining MLS. 

BeReal, a darling a year ago, is now facing BeReality, similar to both Impossible and Beyond’s daunting market growth challenges. And no one’s sure what to make of the streaming platforms in 2023 as they continue to multiply, fragment and push confusing price tiers. Although the O.G, Netflix, continues to hum along, with revenues growing to $33 billion, and its wildly successful (and somewhat controversial) ad-supported plan coming in for the bargain price of $6.99. Speaking of an O.G., Bravo certainly had a year for the ages, with its massive Scandoval zeitgeist moment on Vanderpump Rules. In contrast, Marvel had its worst year since before Iron Man, who may need to come back and save the day, and Max bid farewell to its older sibling, HBO.   

Speaking of the big screen, who had Beyonce and Taylor Swift’s box office grosses rivaling those of their concerts or A24 being a studio with a business model that would survive two crushing strikes? We can’t talk about brand winners and losers without mentioning Amazon, a multi-year past brand winner, which, in a testament to its enduring prowess, surpassed $35 billion in BTB sales, a marketplace not officially launched until just over five years ago. Or TikTok, which just launched their e-commerce shop with the potential to disintermediate traditional big-box players – we’ll be looking to 2024 to see how this one shakes out.  

To get to the best and worst brands, I once again turned to my 600 global Prophet colleagues for their take on 2023’s biggest brand winners and losers. Unsurprisingly, there was very little debate on which brands ended up on top and which sunk to the bottom. Without further ado, here are 2023’s brand winners and losers. 

2023 Brand Winners 

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift ‘enchanted’ us all this year, achieving brand strength and longevity that few, if any, can match. Her widespread appeal transcends generations and demographics, even extending into sports where although she may be dating Travis Kelce, the NFL has its own love story with the pop megastar. Swift’s dominance in the entertainment industry is indisputable, with her Eras tour poised to become the first to gross over a billion dollars and subsequently generate substantial economic impact in the cities and countries visited, a phenomenon coined the “Taylor Effect.” As Time Magazine articulated in its Person of the Year article, “She’s the last monoculture left in our stratified world.” 

Ozempic

Dubbed “the worst-kept secret in Hollywood,” the soaring popularity of Ozempic and other semaglutide medications has become an industry spectacle. Originally conceived to assist diabetes patients in blood sugar management, the unexpected side effect of rapid weight loss has led to skyrocketing popularity. The medication is now in high demand, not only from those who can genuinely benefit but also from individuals seeking a swift solution for shedding extra pounds.  With weight loss industry leaders such as, WeightWatchers and Noom taking notice, and strategically integrating semaglutide into their 2023 offerings, we likely won’t see the last of the Ozempic craze in 2024. 

Barbie/Mattel

What an extraordinary moment for an iconic brand that had everyone embracing pink this year! The Barbie movie concluded its unprecedented 12-week run at the box office with an impressive $1.43 billion in ticket sales and multiple records – including highest-grossing film of 2023 and Warner Brothers’ all-time highest-grossing film. Barbie’s impact extended beyond the theaters too, creating a vast ecosystem of partnerships, media coverage, and consumer engagement.  From the Barbie Malibu Café to a real-life Dreamhouse available on Airbnb, curated experiences helped to drive engagement and connection to both the film and the iconic brand. 

Open AI/Chat GPT/Sam Altman

In November 2022, the San Francisco-based startup Open AI unveiled ChatGPT, a chatbot demonstrating the remarkable ability to generate human-like responses. Though not the first of its kind, ChatGPT’s meteoric rise was unrivaled, growing from a niche online phenomenon to amassing a staggering 100 million monthly users in only two months – a faster user growth rate than both Instagram and TikTok combined.  However, it’s important to note the past year has not been all smooth sailing as moral and privacy concerns continue to mount, around the use or misuse of AI.  Nonetheless, Open AI, ChatGPT and Sam Altman have collectively captured both our attention and imaginations. 

Microsoft

Despite the allure of flashiness, Microsoft has continued to impress, solidifying its position as a dominant force in the business world. Microsoft’s enduring spirit of innovation was put on display with its shrewd investment in OpenAI, highlighting a commitment to staying at the forefront of emerging technologies. With its adept handling of the OpenAI situation involving Sam Altman, and CEO Satya Nadella quickly jumping in to announce support for both parties, Microsoft’s brand image was cemented as THE leader in AI, further underscoring Microsoft’s strategic acuity. 

2023 Brand Losers 

Elon Musk and X

In a span of just over a year, Elon Musk’s reputation transformed from eccentric billionaire to controversial narcissist, with disruptive influence on terrestrial and space domains. The pivotal shift occurred with his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and subsequent rebrand to X. Musk, known for reshaping industries, overhauled X, eliminating checks and balances present on other social media platforms. This ultimately positioned X as a haven for conspiracy theorists– with Musk even personally amplifying attacks on traditional media.  And the reinstatement of divisive figures like Alex Jones eroded more goodwill in the past 12 months than I’ve observed in the past 25 years of studying brands. 

Shein

Despite its upcoming monumental IPO surpassing the $100 billion mark, its popularity on Instagram, and endorsements from influencers like Khloé Kardashian, the stark reality of Shein reveals a troubling history of human rights violations and an environmentally unsustainable business model. The fast fashion giant, as reported by Time Magazine, leaves a staggering 6.3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually in its wake, raising concerns about its impact on both the environment and employee rights, within and outside of China. As Shein’s financial success continues to rise, the question looms: when will consumers become more conscientious about the implications of supporting such practices? 

WeWork

Former brand winner WeWork filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, finally putting a pin in Adam Neumann’s world domination plans for good.  A combination of inflated egos, financial mismanagement, problematic leases, conflicts with landlords and realtors, unhappy tenants, and the impact of COVID contributed to the unraveling of WeWork’s grand plan to transform the workplace with stylish offices featuring perks like free beer, game rooms, and abundant food. While some iteration of WeWork may persist in the future, the company’s valuation, once at $47 billion just four years ago, has plummeted to $45 million, prompting a restructuring plan for 92% of the company’s secured debt. 

Delta

Sometimes a good business can have a bad brand year, and this is the case with Delta. The airline’s shift this past year towards a spending-based status system, coupled with restricted airport club access, encountered widespread social media criticism, helping competitors sweep formerly loyal customers.  Acknowledging the misstep, Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian, recently signaled a reevaluation, stating, “I think we moved too fast, and we are looking at it now.”  Yet, amid additional challenges such as a biohazard emergency on a flight from Atlanta to Barcelona and reported on-time performance issues, Delta continues to navigate brand setbacks, aiming for a more positive trajectory in the year ahead.   

NCAA

In 2023, the NCAA underwent a profound transformation, shifting from modest to sprawling and self-indulgent – prioritizing its interests over those of student-athletes. The advent of NIL deals for high school players, a dynamic transfer portal encouraging shifts from smaller schools to powerhouses, and burgeoning TV deals paving the way for 20-team super leagues resembling professional sports all mark a departure from collegiate ideals. Moreover, scrutiny is warranted on the substantial seven-figure salaries for college sports coaches and administrators. Amidst these changes, the question arises: when will this trajectory cease, and how will mid-tier athletes navigate the evolving landscape?  

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As mentioned, 2023 was one for the brand winner/loser record books. I would love to hear from you – which brands do you think were the biggest winners and losers this year? 

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Navigating the New Advertising Frontier: The Buyer’s Market

In this dynamic landscape, a compelling value proposition, measurable impact, experimentation with AI and multi-dimensional returns is essential to stand out.

The advertising industry is experiencing a seismic shift. Earlier this year, during the Upfronts and Newfronts – annual showcases where media companies and digital platforms unveil their upcoming content and advertising opportunities to potential buyers – it was made abundantly clear: we’re living in a buyer’s market, not a seller’s world. In a survey of over 300 U.S. marketers and agency executives, only 49%  said they’d be making Upfront deals – down from 56% a year ago, indicating softer ad spending. On top of that,  spending is expected to rise only slightly, remaining nearly flat moving into the 2024 season. Advertisers are faced with more choices, while budgets are getting tighter. Traditional boundaries that have defined advertising platforms have dissolved, and, as such, opportunities have expanded.

In this era where everyone is grappling for offsite ad spend to support their bottom line and diversify revenue streams—from platforms like Uber, which offers advertising surfaces on its cars and in its app, to retailers like Walmart, which is pushing into in-store advertising, convenience stores like Walgreens, which have turned freezer doors into paid advertising spots and of course, the streamers who all announced their own version of ad-supported tiers—securing your fair share of the advertising pie is imperative. This becomes particularly true as budgets undergo meticulous scrutiny and advertisers are looking to do more with less. In this new, buyer’s world of constrained budgets and limitless options, a sharp value proposition for “why you” over the multitude of alternatives is a necessity.   

To stand out as an advertising platform in this dynamic landscape, consider these core tenets for a compelling value proposition that can guide how you market to advertisers, while also helping you focus on how to deliver internally. 

Lead With Flexibility to Help Advertisers do More With Less  

In this buyer’s market, advertisers are looking to optimize their spends based on performance, seeking the flexibility to move, adjust, or even cancel portions of their budgets as they attempt to do more with fewer resources. They’re looking for partners who can guide them in maximizing investments across all pieces of their interconnected channels. Beyond scaling budgets up or down, they want to be able to move dollars around to effectively allocate over a wider slate of inventory. For example, in NBCUniversal’s pitch, they highlighted that advertisers can easily shift funds between language markets (i.e., English to Spanish) or from sports to entertainment based on real-time performance.  

Measure to Win and Connect to Business Impact 

Being a flexible partner also means offering flexible measurement options – a critical capability in today’s ad landscape. Advertisers don’t want to scatter their budgets across various platforms and hope for a favorable outcome. They’re increasingly seeking partners who can demonstrate how investments in their channels drive tangible business outcomes, moving beyond traditional forms of currency – the measurement system used to evaluate the performance of a campaign. In particular, they’re looking for partners with a handle on KPIs that advertisers haven’t traditionally been able to measure, like advanced audience targeting, engagement and attention. At this year’s Newfronts, Disney announced its measurement effort with outcomes-based measurement provider Innovid, tying ad exposures in Disney video to specific outcomes such as web visits or app downloads. This approach transforms a platform into an “always-on,” adaptable partner rather than a one-off arrangement.   

Embrace Experimentation in a World of Accelerated AI  

While proven strategies remain important, embracing experimentation, particularly in the realm of accelerated AI, is equally important. Digital-first platforms have provided inspiration for innovative tactics to boost value for advertisers. At the 2023 Newfronts, Roku debuted a new “Contextual AI” tool that scans the Roku Channel content library for “iconic plot moments,” matching a brand’s message to relevant parts of shows and movies and placing their ads in real-time. Meanwhile, Meta announced a generative AI “Sandbox” for advertisers, helping smaller businesses create alternative copies and backgrounds while keeping the core message of their ads similar. Most recently, YouTube announced new AI-powered solutions for demand gen, allowing for an advertiser’s best-performing video and image assets to be integrated across touchpoints with the highest traffic and optimizing conversions.  

Offer Multi-Dimensional Value and Return 

In today’s growing retail media landscape, there is no shortage of advertising options. Yet, advertisers and agencies are looking for more with fewer resources. More reach, more return, more measurement – less juggling, less apples-to-oranges conversions, less headaches. With many of the media giants having the ability to sell at a broader portfolio level and offering consolidated buys, across platforms, formats and audiences, individual platforms and channels will be challenged to offer differentiated value based on the status quo. There will need to be a compelling reason, the ability to reach niche audiences, higher ad performance – anything to make the ad buy multi-dimensional in value, return, and overall fit in an ongoing media model mix. 

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As we navigate this evolving landscape, the key to success lies in crafting a compelling value proposition that aligns with the needs – and excitement—of advertisers in this buyer-centric world. Looking toward the next Upfronts and Newfronts season, striking a balance between adaptability, measurability, and experimentation will be integral to the narratives of those who end up on top.    

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Unlocking the Potential: How Placemaking Shapes Experiences That Define Communities

Whether for greenfield projects or urban revival, the master plan is just the beginning. Bringing spaces to life calls for brand storytelling that engages every stakeholder.

As people continue their rapid shift to cities, some experts argue we’ve been living in the Golden Age of urban planning. Despite many challenges, new endeavors are breathtakingly bold. Ambitious projects like Saudi Arabia’s Neom, Vienna’s Seestadt Aspern and Dubai’s promise to become a “20-minute city” go beyond conceptualization, aiming to set global precedents for bringing places from inception to reality. 

With revivals and reinventions, where the legacy of a place demands deeper consideration, exemplified by Sydney’s Barangaroo and London’s King’s Cross, the transition requires developers and planners to co-create with the communities who inhabit and frequent these already established locales, shaping spaces that align with their evolving needs and desires.   

The master developers and planners meticulously craft construction blueprints that account for both short-term and long-term evolutions, incorporating considerations for population growth and the well-being of early inhabitants who may prefer not to reside near noisy, dusty construction sites. Although the investments in the rapidly evolving future wonders are well-defined, addressing the unforeseen consequences and sustainable management of how to best protect the planet necessitates a commitment to closing the loop and taking responsibility to reuse, reduce, and recycle across every experience, in every location and for every purpose. 

And while the design and architecture will always grab headlines, the next step is just as important: telling the brand story of these ambitious new places to the many people who’ll live in them. As the project unfolds, it’s essential to define the cognitive relationship that will exist between these spaces and the individuals who use them. These projects aren’t just about refurbishing a train station or building the transit system of the future. They are about transforming everyday experiences into journeys of discovery.  

If the governments and development companies behind the building are to succeed, people must understand that the places they are creating will be sustainable and enjoyable, fusing physical space with meaningful experiences. Developers must be convincing that the project drives positive outcomes: Genuine placemaking creates well-being, placing both people and the planet at its core. 

The Human Side of Placemaking 

When designing the experience strategies that will bring these ambitious projects to life, it’s important to remember that standing out from the crowd is getting more complicated. Urbanization continues to increase. Today, about 56% of the world’s population, roughly 4.4 billion people, live in cities. By 2050, the urban population will double, and almost seven out of 10 people will live in cities.   

That’s because increasingly, cities are places of optimism, hope and reinvention. They are “not just mere containers for innovative activities,” writes Richard Florida, the urban theorist, “but are actively involved in the generation of new ideas, new organizational forms and new enterprise.”  

Building these new relationships requires blueprints as detailed as the project’s physical architecture. While there are many steps to take along the way, Prophet starts by reimagining the project not just as a place but as a human being. Like real people, it is defined by DNA. This is the intent of the place, its vision – and it should shine through every expression. The project also has a mind, which – with the right skills and capabilities – will enable it to effectively engage people and investors. It has a body, too, allowing it to direct its efforts, helping the destination deliver value to people. And finally, the new place has a soul. It motivates and inspires everyone who encounters it.  

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How Do We Deploy This Philosophy Into Placemaking Projects?  

Start With a Strategy and Positioning That Tells the Story 

Seeing every place in this holistic way makes it clear the project is much more than a physical location. It’s a story waiting to unfold, connecting the space to the people who use it. This relationship is a cognitive bond animated by the project’s DNA. 

To carry this DNA through to stories that are relevant, authentic and engaging, brand strategists need to look at many elements. And they need to focus on the desired result, which is the well-being of the people living and working in the developing location.  

Show how the project’s purpose will be manifested through active living. And share the complexity of the environmental impact and sustainability goals, too. People everywhere are deeply concerned about the planet. They want to know you are thinking about every detail, from energy use to recycling to wildlife. In projects destined to last for generations, they need to believe you have the world’s best interest at heart. 

Create an Experience Master Plan to Engage the Community 

Placemaking requires an experience master plan, anticipating the many ways people will encounter the place, both physically and digitally. Each engagement and experience deepens the relationship between place and people, illuminating different aspects of the project.  

Often, projects are bridging structures from the past – perhaps even centuries old – with those of the future. Which experiences help most to connect people with the spirit of the place? How can they tap into the cultural currents of their environment? How can these new experiences help shape the story? Think about their mobility and interaction with the place’s entire ecosystem. 

These experiences aren’t a one-way street. It’s critical to get residents involved as problem solvers and co-creators. For example, Munich is a pilot city, along with eleven others in Europe, designing, implementing and scaling up circular systematic solutions for a more robust circular economy. The key to this transformation process lies in the collective collaborative power of all city stakeholders and having the tools to empower its citizens to cast a vote in favor of circularity. To that end, the Future Map was designed to provide the accessibility and convenience needed for the adoption of circular products and services by offering residents and tourists the opportunity to discover a more circular Munich on foot.

By staying close and engaging often, citizens are more likely to develop a sense of forgiveness during transition or construction delays and hiccups. We can take lessons from the most loved cities and brands that have endured through times of upward and downward trajectories, all while maintaining authentic relationships. Even if things don’t work, and that happens in our reality, the equity built in these relationships provides a balance of goodwill.  

Using Technology and Innovation, Integrate Smart City Tech and Sustainability Goals to Promote the Brand and Attract Investment

To survive decades, generations and shifting human behaviors, places need vibrancy. Technological capabilities, powered by AI, predictability and simulation, are instruments that build that vibrancy. They allow for co-creating ideas and experiences with citizens and stakeholders, continually enhancing these destinations. 

Vibrancy matters. Attraction to cities comes in waves. On upward trajectories, yesterday’s problematic and rough neighborhoods have historically revealed patterns evolving into cultural hotspots, rising as magnetic attractions to entrepreneurial talent, commerce and family centers.  

In downward spirals, people leave, changing the needs and purposes of real estate. These downtimes demand strategies to remain desirable, establish a competitive advantage and adapt to unique factors that speak directly to social, multicultural and unexpected human needs.  

Sustainability helps places maintain vibrancy. Today’s master planners’ deep commitment to sustainability and the environment is often hard for outsiders to fathom, computing climate factors decades in the distance. Every decision balances questions about energy, water and waste. Walkability, mass transit, green spaces and solar panels are as essential as shops and schools.  

But it’s vital to translate this complexity to benefit every citizen. In our technological age, connectivity is considered as essential as water and electricity for people of all ages, abilities and incomes.  

Technology should help deliver on the promise of every place initiative: Driving positive outcomes by placing people and the planet at its core.  

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With an integrated approach to placemaking, the intersection of brand and experience can bring the project’s DNA to life, making sure these new places make life better for people and the planet. 

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Brand Ambition: The Secret to Sustainable Growth

As many companies struggle to find meaningful sales gains, we’ve isolated an essential element of value creation.   

The most successful businesses are often the most ambitious. A corollary is that when brands find it increasingly difficult to deliver meaningful growth, the cause is often a case of stunted ambition.  

Marketing leaders understand their company’s vision, purpose and mission. And they’ve invested in crafting inspired brand positionings. But ask them about brand ambition – how the brand delivers on the Purpose and the role the brand plays in value creation – and they might not have a clear response. Ambition represents a powerful and critical part of bridging corporate and brand strategy. It can turn a brand into a fast-moving growth engine, powering commercial success throughout the organization. 

Having a clearly defined ambition matters. Prophet’s ongoing research on brand relevance has shown that ambition is the spark that ignites brands and helps to define “who we are” as a brand, serving as a roadmap for setting and achieving future goals.  Ambition is more than just reaching sales objectives. It enables brands to find new ways of connecting and evolving, which allows them to outpace the competition by gaining market share, earning customer loyalty and unlocking new sources of business growth. Ambition should:  

  • Articulate the overall business impact a brand is trying to create. 
  • Translate the organizational purpose, making sure it is tangible, pursuable, and connected to the company’s strategic focus.  
  • Emphasize the role of the brand in value creation.  

Once an ambition has been defined, brands can deploy it to galvanize internal stakeholders across the organization around a strategic and inspiring future vision. It becomes a core commercial tenet informing investments, in-market activations and experiences, creating a sense of cohesion and progress toward that future state. 

Ambition should not be confused with purpose. Purpose is the value a company brings to the world, above and beyond products and services. Ambition represents how the brand will deliver on that Purpose and the value it will create for the business in doing so. The best ambitions involve a figurative handshake between the CMO and CEO, enabling the brand to create tangible value by paving the way for growth opportunities, reaching new customers, segments and products. By having a clearly defined ambition, you can effectively translate your business strategy into a brand goal.  

Ambitious brands find ways to stand out as category leaders. Airbnb, for example, is all-in on delivering memorable experiences. Sure, it gives customers convenient lodging at great prices, like many competitors, and provides a platform for homeowners similar to VRBO. But only Airbnb is likely to send guests on a hike with a pack of well-trained German Shepherds, connect them with certified tea masters in Japan, or book them into historic castles in Scotland. It has defined its future state as an integrated travel and experiences company and actively builds towards it, deepening revenue streams and unlocking new ones. And consumers have taken notice – Prophet’s brand relevance research identifies Airbnb as the most relevant hospitality brand, performing especially well on the emotional, “Heart” facets of brand relevance. The brand leads consumer perceptions on key attributes, such as “Engages with me in new and creative ways”, and “is always finding new ways to meet my needs.” As the travel industry continues its rebound, it is no surprise that Airbnb’s share price is up over 50% YTD (at the time of this writing). 

Zelle is another ambitious brand. Instead of wanting to be like other disruptive fintech players, its goal is the reverse: It wants to play well with others. Zelle maintains its best-in-breed status by working within the ecosystem of legacy retail banks, constantly seeking new ways to help people manage money digitally without cutting ties to their bank. The brand is front-facing and actively supported by large-scale banking partners, playing a leading role in creating consumer routines in financial transactions. And it is a great example of how a brand can play a primary role in value creation. In our research, Zelle emerged as one of the most relevant financial services brands, with strong performance on more rational, “Head” factors. The brand leads on key dimensions related to trust, consistency, and dependability. And even with an ambition that is less disruption and more connection, Zelle is seen as a “modern, and in touch” brand. 

Is it Time to Elevate Your Brand Ambition? 

A hallmark of ambitious companies is that they generally make their ambitions known. Look no further than their 10-Ks, earnings calls, and letters from the CEO. They describe their growth plans and what they intend the company to look like in the next five to 10 years. 

But many companies – and we’d argue most –could benefit from reevaluating their brand ambition to ensure it addresses current market conditions and the right future outlook. Increased competitive intensity, disruption from new entrants and systemic regulatory or technology changes all create the need for a more elevated ambition. So can changes in consumer behavior and cultural shifts among critical stakeholders. 

Any one of these factors can lead to several negative outcomes. A slowdown in growth is the most obvious, but any indication of declining relevance or customer engagement – even if those haven’t yet affected revenue – is cause for concern. Organizational distress, declining employee satisfaction and a less-engaged workforce are also warning signs. Other indicators include unstructured brand and marketing efforts, varied campaigns with no clear strategy or messaging.  

Companies can assess their ambition by asking themselves three questions: 

  1. Is the brand acting in service of and playing a leading role in delivering on corporate strategy?
  2. Does the business know our customers well enough to know how the brand is improving people’s lives today and into the future?
  3. How well do those brand benefits align with the company’s current assessment of strategic growth areas? 

How to Define or Refine Brand Ambition 

If any of those answers seem unclear, it’s time to clarify and evolve the brand’s ambition. To get started, take a fresh look at the current customers and consider the sources of value and future growth while integrating a detailed understanding of the growth landscape into the new ambition. Consider these critical elements by asking: 

Is there a clear customer target, an inspirational purpose or a compelling positioning? And how does it establish the target future state for the brand? 

KitchenAid continues to build relevance with modern cooks. It understands that the ways people prepare food may change, leading the way with spiralizers, air fryers and appliance innovations. But it also knows kitchen creativity is timeless, making that iconic stand mixer a “real cooks live here” status symbol for decades. KitchenAid is perennially ranked as one of the most relevant brands, and setting the right ambition has meant that the brand leads the category on measures of dependability, trust, and consistency, while also making consumers feel inspired. 

What are our core beliefs that guide and inspire actions?  

Companies should understand the needs they fulfill today to envision doing it better tomorrow. Hoka’s mission is lofty, making athletes feel like they can fly. But it also has an ever-expanding definition of who it serves, like nurses, who average 16,000 steps per shift. It also reconsiders when it helps people, with casual trainers designed for recovery among its fastest-growing styles. Sales are up nearly 60% YoY, and parent company Decker is confident it will soon be a $2 billion brand – assuming it stays true to its ambition.  

What business are we in, and how might the brand allow the company to execute its corporate strategy? 

Barbie may be getting most of Mattel’s buzz, but the company has also expanded its ambitions in other products, including Hot Wheels. While it still sells plenty of diecast cars and connecting tracks, its new purpose is to ignite the challenger spirit within kids, encouraging them to try, fail, and try again. That commitment to fostering grit and resilience works not just with its classic toys and tracks but also with the fast-growing universe of Hot Wheel’s games and digital content. And despite being in a category that is in constant upheaval, and subject to rapidly changing consumer preferences, company shares are up over 18% at the time of this writing. 

This question calls for a fresh take on customers, looking for sources of value and future growth in adjacent categories. Direct-to-consumer brands continue to school legacy companies in their ability to quickly move into new categories and channels. Liquid Death, the cult water brand, now sells Rest in Peach and the Grim Leafer iced teas. E.L.F. Cosmetics is using dupe thinking to make sticky primers a must-have. Chewy has moved into veterinary services and pet insurance, all on the back of an exceptional commitment to service for pet owners.  

Is our ambition flying at the right altitude?  

It risks organizational uncertainty if it’s too lofty, intangible, or unrealistic. If it is too close in – for instance, reducing brand performance to battles for share points – it leaves no runway for growth, expansion or progress. Ambition defines a clear and pursuable path for future advancement.  

Calm, the meditation app that consistently scores as one of the most inspirational and emotionally engaged brands in our relevance research, learned how to soothe and provide supportive mediative guides to tens of millions over the last several years. That gave the company the conviction for its next ambitious move, with clinical mental health.  

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Marketing leaders often overlook their brand’s ambition, a vital link between corporate and brand strategy. Ambition inspires stakeholders and fosters cohesion. Regularly revisiting it ensures alignment with market changes and ensures continued delivery of real customer value. Key elements include a clear customer target, alignment with corporate strategy, and a clearly defined role that the brand plays in creating value, providing a pursuable and measurable path for uncommon growth. 

Ready to build an ambition that powers your growth engine? Contact us today. 

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Brand and Demand: Sheila Shekar Pollak on the Role of Creativity and Innovation in Marketing Today

The Chief Brand Experience Officer at Orvis shares insights about the challenges facing modern marketers including the importance of team dynamics, creative innovation and cross-functional collaboration. 

Sheila Shekar Pollak is the Chief Brand Experience Officer at Orvis, a leading outdoor retailer.  

Shekar Pollak brings over 20 years of experience growing and strengthening global, mission-driven brands. Previously, Pollak was with the Gap Inc. family of brands, including the CMO at Athleta where she drove double-digit revenue and earnings growth and launched the iconic ‘Power of She’ brand platform. 

Scott: What are the primary concerns keeping you up at night as a leading marketer? 

Sheila: Team burnout is my foremost concern. The relentless challenges our team faces, combined with the uncertain future, have led to exhaustion and stress. I worry about retaining our talented staff and keeping them motivated amidst these difficulties. We oversee all the marketing, creative and sales channels for our wholesale, retail, e-commerce and adventure business. It’s a lot and we have to find ways to celebrate small wins in this challenging environment. I try to be very intentional and focused on what I’m asking of my team. I am constantly thinking about how to motivate and keep people fired up. How do we stay focused and what can we let go of? For the past few years, it sometimes feels like we’re sprinting an Ironman, and it can be emotionally taxing. So, I’m really focused on the health and well-being of my team.  

Separately, I think a lot about connecting with customers in a meaningful way amid economic uncertainties. For us, a specific challenge is the saturation of products in the market and how to tell a creative and compelling story that resonates with our customers.   

Scott: How have your marketing priorities shifted in response to the current economic environment? 

Sheila: Our focus has narrowed significantly. Coming out of Covid, we had the best years in our 167-year history. The outdoor boom led to unprecedented growth, but as we shifted back to a more typical business cycle, we had to rethink new ways to grow our business – both with current and new customers. We are relentlessly focused on emphasizing product excellence and refining our offerings to stand out in a competitive market.  

Not only do we need to create great products, but we need to tell great stories. To do this, we’re really leaning into creativity and innovation. We’re putting a renewed focus on telling stories that speak to experiences that not only align with our purpose and values but also the nuts and bolts of the product. Our goal is to simplify everything down to making and selling truly great products. 

We’ve always been customer-obsessed, and that continues to be a focal point for us. We’re very dialed into our customers and are constantly monitoring our retention and acquisition opportunities. We have strong customer loyalty but continue to look for new ways to drive customer acquisition. The top of the funnel hasn’t always been a core area of focus for us, and we’re reevaluating our strategy to find new ways to drive acquisition. I do think the current market conditions play a significant role as it’s harder to convince people to try new brands and to spend right now.   

Scott: That’s an interesting point about not focusing as much on the top of the funnel, can you elaborate on why it wasn’t a focus in the past and how you’re shifting your strategy to emphasize the top of the funnel more?  

Sheila: As I mentioned earlier, we saw incredible growth in 2020-2021, and I’d argue that was likely due in part to the natural tailwinds of the macro environment. To continue to drive growth, we’re taking a deep look at our business to make sure we have the foundational pieces in place to continue our forward momentum. We’d like to be the masters of our destiny, so to speak, instead of relying on the economic conditions. So that’s part of our focus on putting a renewed focus on product excellence. Marketing is partnering closely with our product team to create high-quality products that the market truly desires. We recently released a new dog bed that hit a nerve with customers, and we leaned into our storytelling and influencers to tell a story that people connected with. We’re looking for more moments like that to break through by using powerful creativity and storytelling.   

Scott: Can you elaborate on your approach to balancing brand and demand in your marketing strategies? 

Sheila: We’ve been heavily focused on demand, given the pressure to meet revenue goals. However, we also recognize the importance of brand awareness and storytelling. While demand strategies are necessary, creativity and innovation are crucial. I’m a big believer in the brand. We’ve started working with a PR firm and media influencers to share more stories about the conservation work we’re involved with. So, we’re exploring unconventional methods to capture attention and create genuine connections with our audience. It’s about finding the balance between driving sales and building a lasting brand image. Performance marketing alone can’t drive value. While demand will likely still play an outsized role in the near future, to drive real value, brand is a critical component of our marketing investment.  

Scott: What role does AI play in your marketing efforts, and how do you envision its future in your strategies? 

Sheila: We’re in the exploration phase with AI. While it offers real potential in customer targeting and optimizing experiences, I don’t think it’s a replacement for creativity and the human touch. Our brand is about creating experiences that connect people with nature and create lasting and memorable life experiences. I see a real opportunity with AI to enhance our strategies, especially in customer optimization and experience enhancement. However, I’m cautious about losing the genuine essence of our brand. That being said, we do recognize as a leadership team that AI is something we need to wrap our arms around pretty quickly. 

Scott: And finally, how do you manage to break down internal silos within the organization to foster better collaboration across functions? 

Sheila: It starts at the top. Getting leadership on board with the idea of cross-functional collaboration is crucial. Establishing a “first team” mentality, where everyone collaborates for collective success, has been transformative. Building strong relationships between functional leaders, based on transparency, empathy, and mutual benefit, has been instrumental in breaking down silos and achieving better outcomes. I’m lucky because our president is fully bought into this idea. And, with that support, I have been able to build an incredible relationship with our head of product. We’re constantly checking in with each other. It’s the best partnership I’ve ever had – and by adopting the “first team” approach, we’ve been able to accomplish much more, quickly, and with better outcomes. It’s an absolute game-changer when done right.  

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Sheila’s insights offer a valuable perspective on the challenges faced by modern marketers and the strategies needed to navigate the evolving landscape. By emphasizing the importance of team dynamics, creative innovation, and collaboration, Sheila provides a roadmap for marketers aiming to thrive in a rapidly changing world.  

Talk to our team today to learn more about building relevant brands that drive uncommon growth. 

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The Human Factor: The Secret to Modern Change Management 

Human-centricity leads to more successful transformations, with outsized revenue growth and higher employee satisfaction. 

Corporate coldness doesn’t work any longer. Just ask Elon Musk. Months after his brutal mass layoffs – with many of Twitter’s 6,000 downsizing victims finding they’d gotten the axe only when they lost access to email – the company is still struggling. Ad revenues and stock performance have plummeted. Consumers are racing to competitors, including Threads. And all because he forgot the most essential rule in business today: People matter.  Change initiatives require empathy to succeed even when making tough calls, like reducing staff. 

Prophet calls this a human-centered approach to change. Our research and experience prove that companies approaching transformation from this point of view are more agile and responsive to the needs of their people and have more flexibility when it comes to adjusting roadmaps as they move through their journey. They have more robust, loyal workforces because they align new governance policies around people, not technology. Even before profits and efficiencies, these companies center their strategies on the people in the business.  

The impact is clear. In May 2023, Prophet commissioned Forrester to explore how firms use human-centricity to design their transformation initiatives and assess their performance. This joint research confirmed that firms that adopt a human-centric focus were: 

  • 10x more likely to see revenue growth of 20% or higher
  • better able to engage employees and create impactful stakeholder experiences
  • able to improve overall levels of innovation, time to market, creative differentiation, and capture new markets with enhanced product offerings

We’re not saying this approach is straightforward. If the last few years have proved anything, change isn’t linear. Leaders face new demands and are often driving multiple changes simultaneously. CEO tenure keeps falling. And even though murky economic forecasts are causing layoffs in many sectors, investors still demand growth. It often feels that the expectation that businesses change and then keep changing is more significant than ever. 

Yet our research and experience working with change leaders have shown us that it pays to adopt a human-centered approach – ensuring strategies are holistic and integrated improves the success of any single initiative. 

Prophet’s Four Directions of Change Model Cultivates a Human-Centric Mindset 

Change isn’t one-dimensional. Neither are people. So human centricity can’t be, either. By definition, it’s holistic. It requires a constant shift in perspective, understanding no organization or industry operates in a vacuum. All businesses, from small B2B companies to sprawling consumer giants, work in constantly expanding ecosystems. 

To successfully navigate this expansion, we believe leaders need to pay attention and respond to each “dimension” at which change occurs. Four directions are essential: 

1. Look outside-in.

 Real-world forces and societal changes are happening all the time. Workforce demands and expectations that emerged in the last few years continue to intensify, and organizations must respond. The top triggers? Employee well-being and mental health, cited by 71% of companies we surveyed, sustainability and climate change (65%), the ongoing challenges of remote and hybrid work (64%) and diversity, and equity and inclusion (61%). Addressing these needs takes an integrated and experimental approach – aligning people, operations and technology functions to address new ways of working. 

2. Lean on the existing culture, inside-out.

Leaders should consistently assess their organization’s aptitude or fitness for change and build a unique change journey from this starting point. We know the most effective change accelerator is a powerful, actionable ambition. But to reach those goals and set an ambition, organizations need an honest assessment of their performance across critical fundamentals. They need to know how well they enable employees to adapt to required changes and build the best mechanisms to support them. They need to push decision-making rights downward, as reducing hierarchical decisions improves asset allocation and boosts effectiveness. Leaders should leverage their organization’s strengths – reinforcing the elements that drive pride and comfort around change while painting a brighter future in areas where change will improve their people and the business. 

3. Coordinate a leader-led change.

Leaders need to communicate, direct and model the change desired. Unless executives believe in and model the change required, it will fail. Our research on how well companies collaborate for transformation finds that leaders who don’t practice what they preach are a leading cause of initiative failure. Additionally, having an aligned leadership team is key to managing prioritization and execution – ensuring there’s a coordinated effort to focus on what matters and manage capacity internally. When defining “the way we do things around here” and motivating employees to adopt these same behaviors, senior leaders must act first to exemplify what effort and success look like.  

4. Engage from the ground up.

Leaders include those impacted most in the strategy, development and activation. Companies can decrease implementation time and increase employee engagement by including members of the affected employee groups in strategic change initiatives, such as having them co-create solutions, recognizing them through stories of behaviors in action, or elevating them as change champions. When doing this, it is critical to ensure representation across race, gender, tenure, generation, and geography in addition to business units and levels. 

Managing Across These Four Directions in Action: How It Works 

The new CEO of the largest business unit of a major global industrial client asked for our help as she took on her role, recognizing that to achieve sustainable growth, significant change was needed inside the organization, both in mindset and ways of working. We started by building a picture of the current cultural dynamics for her and her leadership team and integrated this into the strategy development. 

With this integrated foundation, we were able to codify the key behavioral shifts required and the program of work across the cultural ecosystem required to enable this.  The interdependency of strategy and culture inherent in the program ensured that the change work itself was inside-out as well as outside-in, leader-led of course, but also focused on front-line engagement and performance. 

At its heart, this change journey was shaped from the ground up. Our work was defined by reviewing key employee insights and engaging the organization in identifying the key shifts we needed to make to achieve our ambition.   

From the outset, a leader-led principle was established for this work, reflecting the importance of leaders not just understanding but championing and role modeling change. Initially, key leadership groups input into the assessment and then helped co-create the program of work. The beginning of this journey was then largely focused on leadership skills and capabilities. We defined a multi-stage journey with different levels of leadership to ensure alignment, championship, connection and focus in owning the transformation. This involved both regular engagements as well as dedicated events like full-day in-person summits (held twice- yearly since).  

Naturally, the work was dominantly inside-out – building a compelling “story” for the journey the organization was on and using this to help all employees understand the criticality of the strategy and culture work driven by their purpose.  The “story” activation approach was informed by engaging the front line – getting the voice of the day-to-day operators into the work.  Helping these audiences fully appreciate how their work delivers real value in the world has been instrumental – with 84% of employees feeling personally connected to purpose in their latest employee voice findings.  

Outside-in, we built a renewed partnership with union leaders – a critical strategy in what is a heavily unionized working environment where relations had historically been strained. This collaboration with union leaders enabled us to align on a set of central issues to be resolved – ranging from inclusion and diversity to safety and future of work implications. 

The program has run for three years – and in that time all four of these change dimensions have been sustained – even as different focus areas for the work have evolved. Our work together continues to transform the way the organization operates and how it maintains relevance in such a rapidly changing market and world. Importantly, the purpose is frequently cited as one of the key reasons employees join and stay with the organization. Survey results also show that our work has helped to align and guide day-to-day actions of employees across the organization. 

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For leaders who hope to create durable organizational changes, meeting people where they are is important. Using a human-centric framework, companies can develop transformation strategies that help all stakeholders. Human-centric organizations are more flexible and dynamic and better able to find their way to uncommon growth.

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Brand and Demand: Diego Norris on the State of CPG Marketing

Mat Zucker, Senior Partner at Prophet, speaks with Diego Norris, CMO at Gimme Seaweed, on the evolution of CPG marketing and the impact of AI on marketers.  

Diego Norris is the Chief Marketing Officer at Gimme Seaweed, leading the overall marketing strategy for the number one-selling organic seaweed-based snack.

Norris has over 20 years of experience in various marketing and innovation roles for leading CPG companies, including General Mills, Nestle Nutrition, Red Bull, Pinkberry and Campbell Soup. He has also spent several years in consulting, first at Deloitte, where he started his career, and later at Prophet, where he helped technology and healthcare companies build relentlessly relevant brand strategies. 

Mat Zucker: Given the disruption of the last few years, marketers are often asked to take on greater accountability to demonstrate immediate impact and ROI of marketing investment while creating tighter alignment with the business outcomes. Has that been your experience? If so, how have you shifted your strategy to show impact? 

Diego Norris: The push for Marketing to demonstrate immediate impact has increased significantly in recent years. However, this shift isn’t merely a response to increased demands from leadership, board members or shareholders. Developing high-performance programs that are tightly aligned with business objectives is also necessary. 

In this context, the role of marketing data and analytics has become essential. It helps us identify the most valuable programs, assess the impact of A/B tests, and optimize our way to high performance. 

At Gimme Seaweed, we’ve embraced this change with open arms. About a year and a half ago, we started capturing and manually aggregating marketing metrics by business objectives. Earlier this year, we were able to automate this process, which allowed us to get real-time marketing performance data. We are currently integrating AI to enable campaign management automation, the pièce de resistance in our plan for seaweed world domination. 

MZ: How have conversations with your C-suite and board changed as you take on new accountability in driving and proving business value? 

DN: The conversation with the C-suite and board has definitely changed in response to these new demands. A significant portion of our focus now goes into creating a shared understanding of what drives marketing performance in 2023 compared to years past. This helps lay the foundation for focusing on the right business objectives and KPIs. 

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of noise surrounding Marketing today, including no longer effective legacy practices that continue to have broad adoption, well-intentioned but often misguided business partners, false prophets, lack of alignment on KPIs, and inconsistent metric definitions across channels, to name a few. This noise can sometimes make building a shared understanding between key stakeholders difficult. 

In the midst of all this chaos, having solid data at our fingertips has proven to be extremely helpful. It’s like having a reliable compass that helps us navigate through the fog, bringing a dose of clarity and objectivity to discussions.  

MZ: Within your organization, how do you partner with other internal business units and teams to unlock new opportunities for driving growth? Has this evolved in recent years? 

DN: I am definitely seeing increasing levels of cross-pollination between functions, especially between marketing and sales. Several developments in the CPG industry in recent years are fueling this trend and helping blur the lines between these two functions. Most notably, the push for marketing to demonstrate its impact on sales, the emergence of retail media as a primary marketing channel, and retailers’ increasing focus on eCommerce, which relies heavily on digital marketing support. 

For these reasons, many CPG companies, including Gimme Seaweed, now house eCommerce in marketing. This shift has facilitated the dismantling of silos, enabling a more fluid allocation of marketing funds to where performance is strongest. Moreover, it has fostered a tighter knit between marketing and sales, creating a symbiotic relationship geared toward unlocking new avenues for growth. 

MZ: Last year, we published a report, “Brand and Demand Marketing: A Love Story” which speaks to the tensions between brand and demand marketing and why working in silos harms performance. We believe both are critical functions that need to work together to enable success. How do you balance brand and demand within your marketing organization? 

DN: To me, the ongoing debate between brand and performance marketing seems a bit silly, almost like a misunderstanding of the fundamental aspects of a well-rounded marketing plan. It’s essential to recognize that these aren’t optional components you can choose from but integral elements of a successful marketing ecosystem. 

To put it in simpler terms, let’s liken this scenario to farming. Think of brand marketing as the act of planting seeds, nurturing the ground for the next season’s crop, and setting the stage for future bounty, in other words, future demand generation. On the flip side, performance marketing is akin to harvesting the crops we painstakingly nurtured in the previous season, reaping the rewards of our efforts by capturing conversion-ready demand. 

However, the catch here, and what most people overlook, is that in this metaphorical world, farms don’t have fences guarding them. This lack of barriers means anyone, including our competitors, can swoop in and harvest the crops we’ve nurtured with so much care. It’s a wild, open field out there, and a robust performance marketing strategy acts as our safeguard, ensuring we reap the benefits of our hard work without leaving room for competitors to cash in on our efforts. 

But it’s a delicate balance. Performance marketing cannot be ramped up beyond the existing level of demand without facing diminishing returns. It’s about finding the sweet spot where we’re not leaving money on the table, yet not overspending to the point of undermining our performance. 

I must admit, I am very appreciative when competitors neglect performance marketing. It essentially gives us the green light to bring our combine into their fields to harvest their crops. I like harvesting. 

MZ: In the report, we found there are four common principles that most effective markers follow for success: 

  • Anchoring Marketing Investment in Business Objectives
  • Experimenting to Win 
  • Building a Modern Marketing Organization 
  • Putting the Customer at the Center 

Do you agree with these principles? Are there any examples you can share where you’ve been able to implement them? 

DN: We practically live by those principles at Gimme Seaweed! Each of our marketing programs nests under one of three business objectives. And it’s the business objective that defines the KPIs that will be used to measure performance, not the program. Aligning marketing programs and metrics to business objectives keeps the focus where it should be, and this, in turn, accelerates growth. 

An additional element that has proven incredibly helpful has been allowing working dollars of programs that nest under the same objective to flow freely where KPI performance is strongest. This makes these programs compete for funding and creates the conditions needed for continuous improvement. It’s a bit of a Darwinian approach that fosters the survival of the fittest strategies and maximizes value creation. 

MZ: What are some top challenges you anticipate in the next 6-18 months? What are you doing to help your organization plan and overcome those challenges? 

DN: Let’s tackle the giant, looming question that’s on everyone’s mind: the rise of AI and its profound impact on the marketing world. At the risk of oversimplification, CPG marketers have two big jobs to do. First, there’s the creative side of things, where we dive deep into brand strategy, target consumer selection, brand positioning, visual identity and the overall tone of our communications. Then, there’s the logistical side, where we focus on efficiently delivering these crafted messages to our target audience, navigating the intricate maze of marketing mix, platform selection, campaign management, data analytics, and marketing spend allocation. 

Even though we’re still in the early stages of AI’s integration into marketing, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the logistical side of marketing is about to see a seismic shift. The intricacies of managing campaigns, analyzing data, and optimizing performance are about to skyrocket in complexity. Soon, it may become nearly impossible for marketers to handle these tasks without the aid of AI. The landscape is evolving so that those who embrace AI and its capabilities will have a significant edge over those who don’t. The divide is going to be stark, almost binary in nature. 

At Gimme Seaweed, we’re not just watching from the sidelines but actively gearing up to stay ahead in this race. I envision three pivotal elements that will anchor our marketing endeavors in the coming months: access to real-time marketing performance data, harnessing the power of AI for data processing and analytics with well-defined decision parameters and leveraging AI for seamless campaign automation. With these in place, we aim to be agile, identifying and capitalizing on real-time performance opportunities. This approach will allow our marketing investments to flow toward areas of peak performance within each of our meta-objectives. 

The current wave of innovation and the potential it holds is genuinely exhilarating. Every day feels like a new learning opportunity. I’m wholeheartedly diving in, eager to absorb as much as possible to help steer Gimme Seaweed towards the best possible future. 

About Mat Zucker

Mat is a senior partner and co-lead of Prophet’s Marketing and Sales practice. He helps clients transform digitally, finding new areas of growth in marketing, content and communications. Previously, Mat was the Global Executive Creative Director at Razorfish, served as Chief Creative Officer at OgilvyOne New York and held leadership roles at R/GA and Agency.com. In addition to helping clients creatively connect and engage with their customers, he hosts two podcasts, Cidiot and Rising. 

Are you interested in talking with Mat? You can contact him, here. 

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In our new series, Brand and Demand: The Interviews, Prophet experts sit down with CMOs and marketing leaders who are unlocking demand, driving uncommon growth and building relentlessly relevant brands to get their takes on the top trends, challenges and opportunities they face in today’s disruptive world.

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Brand and Demand: Kelly Jo Golson on Building a Marketing Organization that Wins Consumer Trust

Scott Davis, Chief Growth Officer at Prophet speaks with Kelly Jo Golson, Chief Brand, Communications and Consumer Experience Officer at Advocate Health about how marketing can build consumer trust to support an organization’s growth strategy.

Kelly Jo Golson is the Chief Brand, Communications and Consumer Experience Officer at Advocate Health where she oversees marketing and consumer experience for a leading healthcare system.

Golson brings nearly 30 years of industry experience spanning consumerism, brand, marketing, digital strategy, public affairs and internal communications. A leader with Advocate since 2007, she previously held roles with Methodist Healthcare System, St. Luke’s Episcopal Healthcare and Memorial Hermann Healthcare.

Scott Davis: With all the shifts that have gone on through COVID and now an economic downturn, what matters the most to you right now as a chief marketing officer leading one of the biggest U.S. health systems?

Kelly Jo Golson: You know, there’s a long list of things that matter, right? But one of the things that keeps coming back to me is credibility. Patients and consumers are bombarded with noise and misinformation. Being the voice of trust and reliability, and the place consumers and patients turn to for accurate information and a trustworthy experience is our top priority.

SD: Do you think healthcare has been fairly or unfairly punished over the last three to five years in terms of breaking consumer trust, or is it just the general environment of everything being highly scrutinized?

KJ: Prior to COVID, it was challenging. Patients often came to appointments with self-diagnoses and information they found online. However, I believe the last three years with COVID have helped healthcare systems regain trust. Our experts provided accurate, impartial information at an uncertain time, repositioning the patient and physician relationship and reestablishing doctors as reliable sources amid the chaos of constantly changing information. That trust and the continuous, end-to-end relationship with patients have become crucial factors in our industry and are something we will continue to lean into to ensure we stay relevant with our patients.

SD: It goes way beyond the physician-patient relationship; it’s the entire 360-degree experience. What challenges do you see in delivering this holistic experience, and how are you addressing them? From a marketing perspective, how are you thinking about these challenges and where do you see opportunity?

KJ: Absolutely. Building strong relationships with patients on both the front end and back end of care is challenging but essential. We’ve made strides, especially with high-acuity patients. However, there’s still a long way to go in terms of price transparency, accessibility, personalized self-service, and meeting consumer expectations.

For me, shifting consumer expectations has redefined my role. I’ve gone from being a Chief Marketing Officer to a Chief Brand Officer and, now more importantly, a Chief Consumer Experience Officer. Understanding and meeting consumer needs and expectations have become paramount. Research shows that an exceptional experience has a higher impact on loyalty and action than the care itself. For example, you may have a world-class cardiovascular program, but as soon as someone realizes they’re at risk for heart disease, they are thinking about how easy it is to get in to see a cardiologist. What’s the wait time? How easy is it for them to receive the next level of care and receive relevant communications? These experiences have become increasingly important as people consider their care options. So, our focus has shifted toward ensuring a seamless experience from awareness to care delivery.

SD: You’ve made a significant shift from patient to consumer. Why was it essential to broaden the frame of reference of who’s walking in those doors or on that telehealth call every day?

KJ: Patient experience is still paramount, but we’ve realized that our patients’ changing expectations, driven by their experiences in other industries, require us to become consumer-first. For years, healthcare has been able to put this on the back burner, but with new entrants entering the space, it’s a critical moment for healthcare systems to rethink how we build loyalty. It’s about creating a meaningful relationship with consumers even before they need care, emphasizing wellness over sickness care. Their expectations have evolved, and we need to adapt accordingly.

SD: I know you’ve worked side-by-side with your CEO; how has the evolution of marketing impacted the growth strategy? How do marketing and long-term strategy work together?

KJ: Our growth strategy is deeply intertwined with everything we do in marketing. I’d say we take a three-pronged approach. We recognize that losing even one patient due to poor experience requires acquiring three new ones to compensate for the lost revenue. Additionally, as we transition into accountable care organizations (ACOs), the continuity of care becomes vital. We aim to keep patients within our system for the entire care journey. Lastly, with cost pressures coming into play across the industry, finding efficiencies that allow us to reinvest in places that our patients are asking for is critical. Marketing plays a pivotal role in facilitating this continuity and efficiency.

SD: In today’s environment, we’re seeing budgets being scrutinized and the need to prove ROI for marketing investments. This leads to a conversation we’ve been having with many CMOs about brand and demand marketing. How do you navigate this constant tension between building reputation and driving demand, especially in times of economic change?

KJ: It’s essential to be agile and adapt to the context. We don’t go all-in on either brand or demand; we continually evaluate the situation. We must understand the economic climate, competitive landscape, and our capacity to deliver on our promises. There is no quicker way to damage your brand if you can’t deliver on your promises. Agility is key to striking the right balance and ensuring we’re meeting patient expectations and delivering value. Something that has enabled this agility is having the right mix of talent on our internal teams to support these moves. Within the digital ecosystem, we must be ready and willing to turn the dial up or down depending on our ability to deliver while also meeting the needs of the business.

SD: Building a modern marketing organization is a challenge for many. How have you approached this, especially in the context of rapidly evolving technologies and consumer expectations?

KJ: We’ve been intentional about modernizing our marketing organization. This includes differentiating and creating a standalone consumer insights department, separating brand and marketing, bringing media buying in-house, and developing in-house creative services. We continuously evaluate our structure and its effectiveness in facilitating collaboration and delivering value to consumers.

SD: Lastly, how are you approaching the use of AI in healthcare marketing? What opportunities and challenges do you foresee in integrating AI into your strategies?

KJ: AI holds immense potential in healthcare marketing, particularly in personalizing content, optimizing search, and enhancing the consumer experience. However, we’re cautious about maintaining trust and credibility. We want to ensure that AI augments our efforts without compromising patient trust. Experimentation and learning from industry best practices will guide our AI integration journey.

About Scott Davis  

Scott is a senior partner and the Chief Growth Officer at Prophet. He brings over 20 years of brand, marketing strategy and new product development experience. Scott speaks at and chairs branding conferences such as The Conference Board and the American Marketing Association and is frequently cited in publications like The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Forbes. In addition to helping clients unlock uncommon growth, he is an Adjunct Professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a guest lecturer at other top graduate schools, including NYU, Harvard, Notre Dame, Medill and Columbia. 

Are you interested in talking with Scott? You can contact him here.

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AI in Marketing: Four Ways to Maximize Value

The emergence of AI is not the first digital shift marketers have experienced. And it won’t be the last. Here are four ways to drive innovation in marketing with AI.

Generative AI has taken center stage in virtually every business article, LinkedIn post and cocktail party conversation. And for good reason – ChatGPT drove one million users in its first five days, turning the technology into a household name and transforming how businesses think about productivity and efficiency. For marketers getting their heads around it and starting to experiment, the potential can be either daunting or inspiring.  

Marketers have always been at the forefront of technology. AI and machine learning have been critical in shaping programmatic buying, lifecycle marketing and digital experiences. And for many marketers, this isn’t the first shift they’ve experienced within their role. 

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A Framework for Supercharging Your Marketing Efforts With AI  

It’s helpful to think of AI as a tool to help enhance what you do as a marketer, especially when it comes to thinking about customers and their needs. Here are four ways marketers can use AI to show up for their customers in more connected and cohesive ways:  

Unlocking Understanding 

Many AI-driven models excel at analyzing unstructured data, text, images, videos and other content that does not fit neatly into traditional databases. Typically, this type of analysis is time-consuming and expensive, requiring its own algorithms. 

Marketers can use AI to help analyze large volumes of data, recognize complex patterns, explore and visualize data, perform predictive analytics and provide real-time insights to drive more personalized and optimized marketing strategies and tactics.  

Companies like Amazon, Netflix, Meta and Alphabet are far ahead of the curve. But so are non-tech players, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Neutrogena and JP Morgan Chase. All using AI to analyze data and use it in ways that directly benefit customer experience.  

Unlocking Value 

AI automates repetitive and time-consuming processes, reducing the number of daily tasks, and freeing up hours so that marketers can focus on higher-order priorities that require more strategic, human thinking. Smart marketers are learning ways to turn those found hours into new initiatives, liberating marketing teams to find new avenues of growth. 

Adore Me, the e-commerce lingerie company recently acquired by Victoria’s Secret now uses AI to churn out hundreds of product descriptions. While copywriters still need to read, tweak and occasionally edit the blurbs, it estimates it saves up to 40 hours a month per copywriter, with zero impact on sales. Even better? Copywriters hated writing those tedious descriptions. By delegating that work to AI, they can focus on higher-order campaigns that drive additional revenue. 

Unlocking Creativity  

With more marketers being asked to do more with less resources, AI can be an essential tool. It can help reduce the time it takes to generate creative concepts, create visually appealing and engaging content, facilitate brainstorming processes, and draw insights from past campaigns that can help marketers take personalization to the next level for future campaigns.  

Lexus, for instance, used AI to transform its Auto Show experience this year, inviting attendees to enter prompts that quickly personalized their new cars on a 98-inch screen. And political attack ads using AI-created voices of opponents are already reshaping the upcoming election cycle. 

Unlocking Differentiation 

With its speed of processing data, sifting through customer insights and analyzing competitors, AI can suggest gaps in the market to help companies create personalized, innovative and differentiated experiences that cater to specific customer needs. 

For example, Unilever uses AI to explore the human gut, home to trillions of bacteria. Using big-data biology, the company is isolating the microbes with the most calming potential and experimenting with biotech partners to pinpoint food and beverage ingredients that will have the most positive impact on mental well-being. Its Knorr soup division, recently used AI to analyze millions of flavor combinations in days rather than months, using digital modeling to create a zero-salt (but still delicious) soup cube.  

To maximize success with AI it’s important to remember that AI is more useful when it is centered on human needs.  

Creating an AI-Readiness Checklist  

Marketing organizations must also have the necessary data capabilities to implement and operationalize AI effectively. Those include thoughtful attention to:  

Data Foundation: Quality Over Quantity  

Companies must have high-quality, first-party data stored in secure infrastructures with clear, consistent taxonomy that can be processed at a high volume.  

Best Practice: Focusing on securing quality information rather than rushing to get the biggest datasets fast will prevent future inefficiencies and accuracy problems. And despite the focus on large-language models, it’s important to note that many tech companies are experimenting with smaller versions, which may be more accurate and efficient.   

Data Value Exchange: Upping the Ante  

Companies must offer additive products and services for customers in exchange for their data and provide transparency for how data will be used.   

Best Practice: In a world where AI tools are accessible to all, companies can offer trust and respect for privacy as a differentiated yet still personalized experience to customers.   

Data Culture & Fluency: The Heart of AI Transformation   

Companies must pursue broad AI fluency across the whole enterprise as well as invest in specific data and AI expertise to continuously innovate.  

Best Practice: Without the people to understand and strategically use AI at all levels of the organization, companies will not be able to unlock uncommon growth.  

Fully implementing AI will require proper evaluation and tracking against an adoption timeline. As soon as possible, begin incorporating AI into workflows, explore opportunities for sustainable optimization and continue to scale it.   

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Modern marketers have used AI and machine learning in their practices for years and are finding new ways to embrace the possibilities of generative AI. Whether unlocking understanding, value, creativity or differentiation, marketers must remember that AI will be most useful when centered on human needs.

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