After a 30-year agency career that included notable stints with Edelman and WE Communications, Alan VanderMolen was named Chief Communications Officer at CPG giant SC Johnson last year. Alan oversees both internal and external communications at SC Johnson, reporting to CEO Fisk Johnson.  In this wide-ranging conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO Paul Dyer, Alan delves into the importance of trust, keys to revolutionizing sustainability practice, the importance of internal comms, advice for aspiring leaders, and what it was like joining SC Johnson at the height of the pandemic.   Below are some key takeaways from this conversation with Alan.  Trust is a must. Alan is often quoted as saying, “Trust is evolving into a core competency for business.” From his perspective, today’s brands need to treat the notion of trust with as much reverence and focus as they would typical communications pillars like reputation and promotion.  Don’t try to change the past. Alan states that “Trust is the expression of how stakeholders believe you're going to behave in the future” and emphasizes how reputation is a rear-view mirror and the sum of perceptions about past performances. From this angle, Alan finds it to be fruitless to try and change past perceptions via reputation management; focusing on the trust you build in the future is a much more fruitful endeavor. Define sustainability in terms your customers understand. SC Johnson takes sustainability very seriously at both macro and micro levels. Alan believes the key to sustainable change happens at the community level, which is why it's incumbent on brands to communicate sustainability practices effectively in terms customers can relate to. Phrases like “carbon neutral” and “zero emissions” mean a great deal to corporations, but to most people, they’re jargon. SC Johnson leads with concepts like “a waste-free world” and showcases what this means on a community level with initiatives at sporting events so they can remain relevant and relatable to local communities. These are the keys to lasting change as opposed to one-off CSR initiatives.

Damn Good Brands

Trust is a Core Competency with SC JOHNSON CCO, Alan VanderMolen [Episode 42]

Russell Dyer is the VP & Chief of Communications and Government Affairs at Mondelēz International. At Mondelēz, Russ is responsible for overseeing all external and internal communications as well as government affairs for Mondelēz International, a Fortune 150 and the global leader in snacking. Russ joined Mondelēz in 2015 as Vice President, Global Communications. In that role, he was responsible for all strategic communications plans, overseeing the worldwide external and internal communication activities. Prior to joining Mondelēz, Russ spent 2 years at Kraft, and before that, Russ was agency-side with a 6.5-year stint at Weber Shandwick.  To listen to the entire conversation, check it out below on Lippe Taylor’s DAMN GOOD BRANDS PODCAST. Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Russ Dyer.  Speed and playfulness are the names of the game. As a brand, Oreo has just about nixed the extensive content approval processes in favor of quick brand responses in real-time, which is what this digital age demands when it comes to brand relevance. Perhaps the most notable example of this was Oreo's Dunk in the Dark campaign, which has a place in the annals of marketing history. The idea itself was extremely simple, but the fact that they were the first brand to respond during this moment in culture catapulted them to the top of the conversation, making this one piece of content a best practice for years to come. As such, Oreo has built a social media content engine based on quick responses and engaging with conversations of the day in real-time and in ways that are authentic to the brand.  ESG is an open playing field; invent your own best practices. Mondelēz launched the first of its kind traceability program with the Triscuit brand, whereby consumers are able to see the exact path to production the crackers take; this includes everything from where their ingredients are sourced from to their exact manufacturing processes. As more and more consumers and stakeholders become interested in transparency, finding new ways of disclosing this information is going to become more and more important. Rather than studying how other brands were handling this element of ESG, Mondelēz decided to invent their own, and I'm sure other brands will begin to do similar things. ESG is still an evolving field, so rather than wait for a best practice to emulate, do what Mondelēz did and create your own pilot programs and test & learns to chart the path yourself.  The squeaky wheel gets the opportunities. Russ delivered a killer piece of career advice, which was to make sure you are constantly exposing yourself to new people, new knowledge, and new ways of thinking and learning. Throughout the course of a career in marketing, it's rare to have a manager who will give you the kind of mentorship and education that will really enable you to flourish towards executive leadership; these are things you're going to have to find for yourself. Russ specified that it takes a HUNGER for new knowledge and relationships to move upward, so get out there, start taking people out for lunches, coffees, or just casual conversations, if only to expose yourself to new ways of thinking and working. It all pays off eventually.  Speed and playfulness are the names of the game. As a brand, Oreo has just about nixed the extensive content approval processes in favor of quick brand responses in real-time, which is what this digital age demands when it comes to brand relevance. Perhaps the most notable example of this was Oreo's Dunk in the Dark campaign, which has a place in the annals of marketing history. The idea itself was extremely simple, but the fact that they were the first brand to respond during this moment in culture catapulted them to the top of the conversation, making this one piece of content a best practice for years to come. As such, Oreo has built a social media content engine based on quick responses and engaging with conversations of the day in real-time and in ways that are authentic to the brand.  ESG is an open playing field; invent your own best practices. Mondelēz launched the first of its kind traceability program with the Triscuit brand, whereby consumers are able to see the exact path to production the crackers take; this includes everything from where their ingredients are sourced from to their exact manufacturing processes. As more and more consumers and stakeholders become interested in transparency, finding new ways of disclosing this information is going to become more and more important. Rather than studying how other brands were handling this element of ESG, Mondelēz decided to invent their own, and I'm sure other brands will begin to do similar things. ESG is still an evolving field, so rather than wait for a best practice to emulate, do what Mondelēz did and create your own pilot programs and test & learns to chart the path yourself.  The squeaky wheel gets the opportunities. Russ delivered a killer piece of career advice, which was to make sure you are constantly exposing yourself to new people, new knowledge, and new ways of thinking and learning. Throughout the course of a career in marketing, it's rare to have a manager who will give you the kind of mentorship and education that will really enable you to flourish towards executive leadership; these are things you're going to have to find for yourself. Russ specified that it takes a HUNGER for new knowledge and relationships to move upward, so get out there, start taking people out for lunches, coffees, or just casual conversations, if only to expose yourself to new ways of thinking and working. It all pays off eventually.

Mondelēz CCO, Russ Dyer on Oreo’s Real-Time Content Engine, Inventing Your Own ESG Best Practices, and the Importance of Having a Hunger for Networking [Episode 41]

June Lee Risser is Vice President and General Manager for the U.S. Galderma Consumer Care business.  A strategic business leader with a passion for building great brands, June is responsible for leading the U.S. commercial organization for the Galderma portfolio of consumer-available brands, including Cetaphil® Gentle Skin Care products, celebrating 70 years of healthy skin in 2017 and Differin® Gel,  first FDA-approved, prescription-strength retinoid acne treatment available over the counter since 2017.    June joined Galderma in April 2016 as Vice President of Marketing for the Consumer business.  In that role, she redefined the strategy and streamlined the structure of the marketing team to drive stronger growth on the priority brands of Cetaphil and Differin.    Prior to joining Galderma, June spent 12 years with Reckitt Benckiser in roles of increasing responsibility.  During her tenure there, she led key consumer brands such as Lysol and Clearasil to new heights.  As Global Innovation Director for the Personal Care Category based in the U.K., she led strategic planning and innovation for Clearasil. Before that, June was a Managing Director in a brand strategy consulting firm in NYC, Vivaldi Partners, advising clients on marketing and growth strategies.    June holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree from the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.   Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with June:   Boots on the ground = real commitment. Camp Wonder is the annual event for children suffering from skin disorders that Cetaphil sponsors and is particularly proud of. Instead of just dropshipping products, June and her team attend the event on a regular basis. By being there, their commitment is illustrated, and furthermore, the experience invigorates her and her team because they get to experience the good that the brand does first hand, which is an incredible boost to morale and, therefore, performance. Having a mission is critical for a brand, but make sure your teammates can witness the mission in action up close and personal.   Maintain relevance by returning to your brand's core purpose. In this day and age, there are endless amounts of upstarts that are disrupting many businesses, CPG & beauty in particular. To safeguard against this disruption, June recommends staying entirely in touch with what your brand's purpose was on day one instead of constantly reevaluating who you are, thereby confusing consumers. Third-party endorsements can help tremendously, not just doctors but influencer experts as well. Marketing, however, is a constant struggle and requires pivoting and reevaluating your strategies and tactics regularly but make sure you keep your core principles top of mind throughout the journey. Look for courage and integrity in new hires. When asked what she looks for when hiring new candidates, June, without question, stated courage and integrity. She went on to say that sales and marketing skills can be taught, but what cannot be taught are these two qualities that can tremendously enable an employee to have a consistently positive impact on the company's culture and bottom line, particularly during tough times like COVID-19. Find a way to seek these qualities out in your prospective employees in the interview process. This could be through stories of triumph over adversity or stories of courage. Integrity and courage can trump skills and experience in the long term.

Galderma VP & GM, June Risser [Episode 40]

Jen Sey is the global brand president at Levi Strauss & Co.,  where she is responsible for marketing, design, merchandising, and brand experience. Jen has been with Levi Strauss & Co. for more than 20 years, holding a variety of leadership positions within the Marketing, Strategy, and Ecommerce teams. In 2013, Jen became the global chief marketing officer for the Levi’s brand and in 2018 was appointed senior vice president and chief marketing officer, overseeing marketing for the company’s portfolio of brands. Jen has been named one of AdAge’s "Top 40 Marketers Under 40" one of Brand Innovators' "Top 50 Women in Marketing," Billboard Magazine’s "Top 25 Most Powerful People in Music and Fashion," receiver of the CMO Social Responsibility Award and she was featured on Forbes CMO Next List: 50 Chief Marketers Who Are Redefining the CMO role. As a child, Jen led an intense life of dedication, challenge, and competition. She won the U.S. National Gymnastics Championship title in 1986, less than one year after having suffered a devastating injury at the 1985 World Championships. As a result, the U.S. Olympic Committee named her Gymnastics’ Athlete of the Year. Jen retired after eight years on the national team and went on to study at Stanford University. In 2008, Jen released a memoir, “Chalked Up,” a New York Times E-Book Best Seller detailing her triumphs and struggles within the world of competitive gymnastics. Jen's book led to her producing a Netflix documentary on the investigation and ultimate conviction of Larry Nassar and the decades-long abusive culture of USA Gymnastics. This was a pretty wide-ranging conversation and Jen really over delivered on the leadership advice here, focusing a lot on how climbing the corporate ladder is not always a recipe for success in corporate America, as well as details on how Levi's weathered the storm of COVID-19 and keys to establishing an authentic company culture.    Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Jen. Focus on expansion over upward progression. This is a great piece of career advice. In addition to her executive position at a Fortune 500 brand, Jen is a former elite athlete, published author, and successful documentary producer. She has had accomplishments in many disparate arenas, and each experience seems to have compounded to develop her professionally in ways that serve just about everything she does. This may run counter to the 'Jack of all trades' debate, but Jen makes it work beautifully. When Jen found herself overly focused on climbing the corporate ladder, she frequently felt stuck. What Jen found to be a much more effective and enjoyable strategy for her career progression was to focus on experiences and projects that would expand her skill sets and knowledge base. Doing so made her a much more well-rounded professional with the ability to pivot, adapt, and learn new skills, all of which served her tremendously as a leader.   Bring a unified version of yourself to everything you do. When publishing her first book, Jen's initial instinct was to be silent about it out of concern it could make her seem less dedicated to her corporate work. As her book's popularity blew up and she began doing a robust amount of media interviews, ultimately, she could no longer hide it. What ended up happening when people found out though, was the opposite of what she had feared; her new accomplishment was extremely impressive to many people and made her more synonymous with being outspoken, creative, and downright more interesting, all of which ultimately helped her career. So if you're accomplishing a lot with your side hustles, don't hide them because they may just help boost your corporate persona. Creating an environment for true selves is the key to authenticity, and it starts at the top.  Leaders who are forthright about their own feelings give others permission to do the same. This has never been more important than now, where a lot of managers and executives are relinquishing the notion of a flawless and unfeeling leader as an outdated archetype.  Instead, today's leaders are feeling free to be honest and vulnerable around their staff, which gives those who report to them the license to do the same. This level of transparency is what truly allows corporate atmospheres to blossom into authentic communities.

LEVI’S Global Brand President, Jen Sey [Episode 39]

John Galloway is chief marketing and innovation officer for Godiva Chocolatier, the 95-year-old Belgian maker of premium chocolate. He joined the company in 2018 after nearly 30 years in marketing, including substantial stints at Pepsi and Hard Rock.  John came to Godiva from a position as CEO of Beautiful Day, where he worked for three years to roll out the lifestyle brand startup. Before that he was with Hard Rock for eight years, handling advertising, public relations, loyalty, and social media for 208 hotels, casinos, cafés, and music venues in 75 countries.  At PepsiCo, he began with the Mountain Dew brand and worked in sports marketing, integration of new acquisitions, and other areas, concluding as vice president of marketing for Gatorade. Before that, he worked for agencies including TracyLocke and Burson Marsteller. John has a bachelor of arts in marketing from Manhattan College and attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with John Galloway.  Get your guard-rails in place to disaster-proof your brand. The past year was extremely challenging for most brands, but the brands who weathered the storm the best were the ones who had the strongest sense of who they are. The best way to respond to tragedy is with authenticity, which can only come from a brand that knows its identity, mission, purpose, and overall reason for being. Having a handle on this enables you to not only act fast in real-time, but it enables your team to do so as well. If your company has a universal understanding of your brand's identity, you can move faster and further in a crisis by giving more autonomy to your employees. This was a key to John’s ability to weather the storm of 2020 by hanging true to Godiva's north star of “opening people’s eyes to a more wonderful world.”    Stick to your cause. This is an interesting, albeit controversial topic. Godiva is a very cause-oriented organization, but John recommends picking a cause and sticking to it, investing in it, and focusing on it. In a world where there's a lot of bandwagon CSR, people can spot greenwashing, or any kind of washing, a mile away. Sticking to one cause not only prevents you from watering down your company's footprint in a specific charity or cause, but it's the kind of dedication that affects real change, all while showing your customers that you're the real deal.   Show your face! This is a simple one but potentially powerful. In our ZOOM-driven world, it's easy to turn the camera off and listen in on meetings, as ZOOM fatigue is a real thing. However, John claims that keeping the cameras on creates more energy, fosters community, and makes the meetings more productive. Today, a key element of retaining your staff is ensuring that they feel like they are part of a community, and having everyone see everyone else helps do that. Also, studies show that when people go through the motions of looking and dressing their best to prepare to be on camera, they're naturally more optimistic and productive, which we all could use more of. 

GODIVA CMO, John Galloway on Bringing Sweetness to 2020 [Episode 38]

Jeremy Parker is the Co-founder and CEO of Swag.com, the eCommerce platform for purchasing promotional materials that people actually want to keep. When you think of the promotional products industry, you might think of cheaply made items you pickup conferences only to eventually throw away. Or, god forbid you've ever had to order promotional products yourself and are aware of the nightmare of dealing with shipping inquiries, quality issues, and all manner of inconvenience synonymous with that industry. Swag.com's mission is to take the pain out of ordering customized promotional material with a focus on high quality, frictionless ordering, and seamless distribution. Swag.com launched in 2016 and has since become the fastest-growing company in the promotional product space. Inc. magazine recently included the company on its list of fastest-growing companies in the country. Swag.com’s thousands of customers include corporate giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, and TikTok. In this conversation, Jeremy discusses the founding of Swag.com, what he learned from pivotal mentors, and how he was able to observe and utilize Uber's inventory-free model to great success.   Observe the Uber model of curation organization and obliterating friction. The foundation of SWAG.com was born out of the constant frustration most people have when ordering branded items for their companies or clients. Something as simple as branded t-shirts or water bottles can be a nightmarish process consisting of hours of research, waiting around for samples to arrive, comparing price quotes, etc. And even then, quality is never guaranteed. Instead of starting their own custom branding company from scratch, Swag.com yielded the Uber model of brokering, whereby they found and vetted a series of high-quality and trusted custom merchandise providers and created a network of them that they would dispatch orders to through their e-commerce platform. This allowed them to move fast and operate on a large scale, all with a very lean company structure.   Pound the pavement. When he was just starting out with Swag.com, Jeremy landed an enormous client right out of the gate, Facebook. How did he get Facebook? It wasn't from months of cold calling and emailing and asking for a meeting; no, he showed up at their office. By inserting his own foot in the door, decision-makers met with him and ultimately signed on to be his client. This caused a social proof domino effect because once he announced that he had a titan like Facebook as a client, WeWork and Netflix jumped on board next and the snowball for Swag.com was very much set in motion. Clearly, showing up at someone's office without an appointment doesn't always work, and you're likely to be turned away but, if you do it enough times, who knows, you may be surprised at who will take an impromptu meeting with you and what it can lead to. Surround yourself with greatness. In his earlier years, Jeremy worked very closely with Jessie Itzler, serial entrepreneur, social media personality,self-development guru, and husband to Spanx founder Sara Blakely. Jeremy's time with Jessie was incredibly formidable for his work ethic, entrepreneurial sensibility, intelligence, and overall hustle. If that wasn't enough, Jeremy got to spend a great deal of time with David Goggins; ex-Navy SEAL, motivational speaker, and downright badass in every sense of the word. The combination of these two mentors imbued Jeremy with innate entrepreneurial intelligence and a rock-solid discipline that he carried into Swag.com to the tune of great success. The saying goes that you become the sum total of the five people you spend the most amount of time with, so choose wisely. If you're around great, prosperous, and inspirational people, you're more than likely to turn out the same way.

Origin Stories: SWAG.com CEO Jeremy Parker on the Startup Hustle and Lessons Learned from Jessie Itzler & David Goggins [Episode 37]

Mike Cessario is the CEO and Founder of Liquid Death, an outrageous new canned water brand with quality mountain water engineered to murder your thirst! Liquid Death has made a name for itself as an extremely disruptive force of marketing, and the brand's outlandish marketing stunts are as refreshing as the water itself. To date, the brand has convinced 180,000 people to sell them their souls, has cursed its water with a real witch, and performed a reverse exorcism with an accredited warlock that allegedly put demons into the water. Customers who purchased during this time period were entitled to a coupon for $1 off any exorcism (yes, this is all for real). Recently, to further raise awareness of plastic pollution in the oceans, Liquid Death released a series of plush marine animal stuffed toys called Cutie Polluties that were bloodied and choked with plastic garbage. Additionally, as you can imagine, this is a brand whose unholy approach to marketing inspires a lot of controversy and hate, which is why Liquid Death took their favorite angry online comments and turned them into lyrics for their own death metal album. Liquid Death also has a very compelling mission, which is to eradicate the over-use of plastic bottles. According to their website, the average aluminum can contains over 70% recycled material, whereby the average plastic bottle contains only 3%. Additionally, aluminum cans are infinitely recyclable, and of all the aluminum produced since 1888, over 75% of it is still in current use. Plastic, on the other hand, technically isn't even recyclable in the first place because it costs so much money to melt it down, sending most of it into landfills and into the ocean. The planet has been overrun by plastic pollution, and Liquid Death is here to do something about it, which is why 10% of profits from every can sold help kill plastic pollution. Prior to founding Liquid Death, Mike worked in marketing with companies like Vayner Media and worked on multiple viral promotions for Netflix on series like "House of Cards," "Stranger Things," and "Narcos." The entrepreneurial origin story behind Liquid Death is extremely inspirational, and a real testament to how putting passion, fun, and personality into a brand can make it into a formidable gamechanger. We get into all of this on this very special episode of Damn Good Brands Origin Stories. Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Mike Cessario. Throw the rules away. The world of branding is silently governed by a list of archaic rules that dictate what you can and can't do - if you want a groundbreaking brand, it's time to stop playing by these rules. During his advertising years, Mike asked himself why products, specifically in CPG, had to play by these bland and boring 1950's rules, which entertainment brands were never at the mercy of. As a result, Liquid Death's marketing is brash, violent, occasionally foul-mouthed, and extremely controversial, but as a result, it has a rabid fan base because it's so fun and different. So whether you're starting a new brand or want to do something different with an existing one, consider throwing out the puritanical rule book that's been governing the world of CPG for decades and do something new.   Ideas don't sell. Proof sells. After coming up with the idea of Liquid Death, instead of running straight towards investors, Mike decided to prove the product's viability in a low-risk manner by producing a commercial for the product before it even existed. The commercial was completely insane, became instantly viral, and Mike set up a Facebook page to gauge interest and found that there was a serious amount of demand for his product. He was even pitched by stores like 7-11. Mike then took this data, made a pitch deck, and was off to the races with investors. Had Mike walked into a boardroom with the idea for a mountain water with unnecessarily aggressive branding called Liquid Death, he probably would have been laughed out of the room. But, by showing the serious interest in the product, he de-risked the project and proved its viability. The public is dying for products as outlandish as Liquid Death, but you need to prove them before you can expect to get investors interested.   Compete within your culture, not your industry. One of the fascinating things about Liquid Death as a brand is how loyal the fans are and particularly how much merchandise they are selling. Posters, hats, sweatpants, limited edition T-shirts fly off their shelves because the company is more than a water brand; it’s a lifestyle. But it became that by taking a cue from other exciting and fanatical industries, like music, movies, and art, instead of trying to play by the rules within its own vertical. By doing that, it achieved icon status, and as a brand, it competes with entertainment properties because its marketing is always so hilarious and so insane, and fans are always on the lookout for what they're going to do next. Had they done an elaborate audit on what other brands in the water industry were doing and tried to compete by playing within their own space, the brand never would have had the impact it did. So, think outside of the box that your brand has put you in because that is the key to transcendent & compelling branding that enables truly loyal fans. 

Origin Stories: LIQUID DEATH CEO & Co-Founder, Mike Cessario [Episode 36]

Jordan Silbert is the founder and CEO of Q Mixers, the premium brand of cocktail mixers. The idea for the company came to him while he was drinking top-shelf gin mixed with low-quality tonic with friends and asked himself, “Shouldn’t my tonic be as good as my gin?” Next came years of experimenting before he devised the perfect blend of high-quality ingredients and ample carbonation that became the brand’s first product. Today the Brooklyn-based company has 11 products and is distributed by all major retailers, in addition to being stocked by discerning bartenders everywhere. Before founding Q Mixers in 2006, Jordan was director of rebuilding initiatives for the Alliance for Downtown New York, where he provided the creative spark to revitalize parts of Lower Manhattan devastated by 9/11. Prior to that, he was director of business development for a startup, EQuill, that was eventually acquired by Microsoft. At earlier stages in his career, as an account executive with iTraffic, he oversaw day-to-day online marketing for Disney.com and was an economic development fellow with the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. Jordan has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor of arts in public policy from Brown University. In this conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO Paul Dyer, Jordan discusses his entrepreneurial journey behind the launching of Q Mixers and how the brand has faired during the age of Covid. Please enjoy this conversation with Jordan Silbert.

Origin Stories: Jordan Silbert & Q Mixers [Episode 35]

Ray Kerins is senior vice president of corporate affairs for Bayer US.  Ray’s current position is the latest in a string of senior communications jobs in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. Before joining Bayer in 2013, Ray was with Pfizer, serving as chief global spokesperson and overseeing global internal and external communications as vice president of external affairs and worldwide communications. Before that, he was chief global spokesperson for Merck & Co.  Ray has extensive experience on the agency side, including nine years at GCI Group and five years at Porter Novelli. Industry awards include PRWeek Magazine’s  “Outstanding In-House Professional Award” and a 2009 “Top 40 Under 40” recognition from PRWeek. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Iona College and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Bayer Executive Leadership Program. Here are some key takeaways from this interview.  Internal communications aid external communications more than ever.  If you’ve noticed that internal communications have recently become more central to corporate strategy, you’re right. As more employees have begun working from home, effective internal communications have turned out to be critical for telling employees what the corporation is doing and keeping them engaged. This ladders up to corporate strategy as well since employee awareness is critical for properly executed external comms. Invest in STEM. Bayer made a pledge to devote corporate resources to educate five million high school students in STEM subjects, despite the fact that it didn’t immediately and directly impact the corporation. The brilliance of this move is twofold; first, it fills the pipeline with a diverse group of potential future scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematics who will benefit society. Second, it shows real-world alignment with Bayer’s motto: “Science For A Better Life.” This is the kind of far-sighted thinking that ensures a company’s bright future and enables a brand to really walk the walk with their brand’s motto.  Having a strong reputation pays its best dividends during challenging times. If you are known as an organization that does what's right even when nobody is looking, then when the going gets rough, employees and customers will stand by you. This doesn't just happen, though; it’s the type of reputation that has to be earned over time, simply by doing the right thing. If your brand simply tries to cover up issues that occur without taking accountability and responsibility, you aren’t building your reputation in a sustainable way.    Thanks for listening, don't forget to subscribe!

BAYER US VP of Corporate Affairs, Ray Kerins, on Crisis Comms and the Role of Communications in the Covid Economy [Episode 34]

Diane Gomez-Thinnes is Worldwide President at Mentor, one of the world’s biggest makers of breast implants for aesthetic and post-surgical breast reconstruction. Diane has been with the Johnson & Johnson company since 2016 and held the title of vice president for U.S. marketing and global strategic marketing before ascending to the role of president in 2019. Before Mentor, Diane was a marketing executive for medical device makers Ethicon and Cordis. She began her career as an engineer in the oil business and has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Princeton as well as an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. In this conversation with Lippe Taylor CEO, Paul Dyer, Diane got into everything from COVID ERA communications to mentorship and championing women in communications. Please enjoy this conversation with Mentor President Diane Gomez Thinnes. ----- Produced by Simpler Media

Mentor by J&J President, Diane Gomez Thinnes [Episode 33]

Matt Furman serves as the Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer at Best Buy, where he’s been since 2012. He’s responsible for communications--internal and external--as well as government affairs, CSR, and community relations. In addition, Matt manages event planning and Best Buy’s in-house production studio. Before joining the Minneapolis retailer, Matt held the Vice President of Corporate Affairs job at Mars Chocolate. Earlier gigs included communications leadership positions at Google and CNN. He worked in the administrations of Bill Clinton and Rudy Giuliani as well. A graduate of the American University School of Law, Matt is a licensed attorney and has been a member of the journalism and mass communication adjunct faculty at the University of Minnesota.  Here are some key takeaways from this interview. Consistency is the key to communications. Matt very elegantly stated, ‘if you speak to 100 people, a third of them didn't listen, a third of them forgot what you said, and the other third didn't believe you. And so you’ve got to speak, and you’ve got to speak again, and you’ve got to speak again.” The statement speaks for itself and is a true testament to how the job of a communicator is never truly done and comms workers must take note of that. Repetition is the key to scaling the efficacy of any communications campaign. Not everybody is convinced data and analytics have a central role to play. Matt has resisted the prevailing industry view that communications can be understood scientifically, the way marketing can, which is why he employs data in a limited fashion at Best Buy. The main reason, he says, is the difficulty of measuring sentiment in a communications context. For him, when a good story is told well,l it will be recognized. Similarly, when a crisis is handled well–or poorly—people will know it, and they don’t need data to convince them.  With matters of DEI, put everything on the table. The road to better DEI standards and practices can be daunting, but the best, and arguably, the only place to start is with your own company’s truth. Stating upfront where you know you need to do better not only inspires trust and faith in your employees & customers but allows you not to be paralyzed by the fear of your own company’s shortcomings since you owned up to them upfront. It may be uncomfortable, but any discussions that lead to lasting change have to start with the truth, regardless of how hard it may be. ----- Produced by Simpler Media

Best Buy CCO, Matt Furman on Storytelling Over Data & Championing Truth in the DEI Discussion [Episode 32]

Paul Cohen joined Visa as Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer in 2017, coming from a similar role at PayPal. At PayPal, he spent two years setting up the company’s first corporate communications function and overseeing communications about its separation from eBay. Before that, he’d been with Visa for more than a decade, serving in his last position as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Marketing for North America.   His time at Visa has been marked by, among other notable accomplishments, overseeing the company’s record-setting initial public offering. Before Visa, he was in-house at AT&T and also spent time with Fleishman-Hillard and The PBN Company agencies. Paul has been identified by PRovoke as one of the globe’s 100 most influential in-house communicators multiple times, most recently in 2020.   Here are some key takeaways from this interview.   When communicating with employees around major shifts like the overnight switch to working from home, transparency is the key. Over-communicate and make sure employees feel cared for and safe. And come at it from a variety of angles. Visa not only connected employees virtually with doctors who could explain health issues but also with psychologists who could provide expert insight into coping with the changes. The company also connected employees with each other through an intranet that facilitated activities from swapping recipes to exchanging homeschooling tips.   Traditional advertising that disrupts consumer experiences is being replaced by experiential communications. We all know consumers won’t tolerate long commercial breaks in the middle of a television program. So what marketers do instead is embed messages in ways that feel more natural. Communications can help here, with more engagement on social media and though events. Visa, for instance, is a sponsor of the Olympics, FIFA and the NFL. The expanded importance of experiential communications is here to stay while traditional advertising’s days are very much numbered.   Measurement is critical when interacting with business leaders, but so far AI isn’t making much impact. At Visa, a longstanding challenge has been to transition the brand's image from that of a credit company to that of a payment technology company. Reputation is also a focus. In both areas, measurement of communications impact is vital. Visa is increasingly investing in more reputation measurement type tools, including pulse polling done periodically as well as spot polls on current issues to guide decisions about whether to engage or not. AI and predictive tools, however, haven’t proven themselves at this brand.  ----- Produced by Simpler Media

VISA CCO, Paul Cohen, on Experiential Communications and the Importance of Overcommunicating to Employees During Covid [Episode 31]

Jeffrey Kuhlman is Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at Bentley Motors, Inc. Jeff was serving as communications chief for the U.S. arm of the British luxury automobile brand when he added marketing responsibilities in 2016. He reports to the president of Bentley USA as well as the U.K.-based global communications director. Jeff is an auto industry comms veteran, having worked for several automobile brands during his career. In addition to Bentley, which he joined in 2015, he’s filled communications shoes at Nissan, Audi, and General Motors. GM was his longest stint, extending 22 years until 2006 when he began a five-year engagement as chief communications officer at Audi. He handled jobs from speechwriter to environmental communications for Cadillac, GM Truck, and other divisions. Here are some key takeaways from this interview.    You can still have events safely during a pandemic if you follow health guidelines. As a brand that emphasized in-person events as a key marketing channel, Bentley needed to find a way to keep bringing customers and prospects together with its cars and people face-to-face. They found it in the form of limited-contact get-togethers with small numbers of people where effective social distancing was observed along with effective exposure to the brand and the vehicles.   If you’re looking for a mentor, don’t look far. The best mentor is probably someone you’re already working with or for. This person will be familiar with your work and be senior enough to give you some insight into what you’ll face as you ascend the ladder; and, ideally, a push from behind if you need it. Start by just hanging around and asking questions. If the connection is there, then and only then inquire about the prospects for being mentored.   Addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion starts as an inside job. If your brand isn’t working to be more fair and just with its own employees, it won’t be perceived as credible by those outside the company. For Jeff, this starts with discussing what diversity and inclusion mean to your team members and identifying the current challenges and opportunities there.   To craft the professional future you want, stay curious, and close to your passion. Jeff’s career with General Motors took off when he was challenged to master advanced automotive technology. That showed him the value of learning and staying interested and curious. Later, when he returned to the U.S. from Japan, he was motivated in part by a passion to return to a more boots-on-the-ground mode of working than he was getting as global head of communications for Nissan.   If your brand is celebrating a major anniversary, focus as much or more on the future as the past. For Bentley’s “Beyond 100” initiative, marking a century of existence, the brand naturally looked back at its legendary designs but also emphasized what it was doing to attract tomorrow’s buyers. One result was the determination to go all-electric by 2030. Thank you for listening! Don't forget to subscribe.  ----- Produced by Simpler Media

BENTLEY MOTORS CCO & CMO on DEI and Holding Safe Events During COVID [Episode 30]

Chris Chiames is the Chief Communications Officer of Carnival Cruises.  As CCO, Chris reports directly to Carnival Cruise Line’s President, Christine Duffy. He oversees the company’s internal and external communications, reputation and issues management, and executive communications. Before joining Carnival in 2018, he worked as a senior communications executive mostly for major travel industry organizations including, among others, Sabre Corporation and Orbitz Worldwide. He has a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland and a bachelor of arts in journalism from Fresno State University. In the interview, Chris describes some innovative ways Carnival kept in touch with its legions of devoted customers when the company was unable to run cruises for three-quarters of a full year. And he advises that the best way to be ready to communicate during an emergency is to act as though every day is a crisis along with thoughts on best practices for D&I. Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Chris It’s fine to pitch yourself as a storyteller as long as your stories are relatable to financial people. In business, success is measured in financial terms and odds are good that HR, marketing, and other senior executives you are answering to and working with have financial backgrounds. That means comms people have to be comfortable with the numbers as well as the words. Sometimes making culture more welcoming to people of different ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds are as simple as changing a word. For example, after suggesting Carnival edit the description of the onboard job position for “Hostess” to something more gender-neutral, Chris was told there weren’t any male hosts anyway. Of course, no one is likely to apply for a job with a title that excludes them. Communicating effectively during a crisis has to start long before the emergency arrives. Every comms worker knows that advance planning is essential if you are to navigate troubled times successfully. Chris takes that a lot farther, arguing that every day is a crisis dress rehearsal. That means making sure you’re always grooming your brand’s reputation as assiduously as you would if you were actually in a crisis. A crisis is no time to try to fix a bad reputation, so do the work as far upstream as possible.  Difficult times can enable bonding among teams. Counter-intuitive? It sure sounds like it. But it’s less counter-intuitive when you consider that survivors of tumultuous times can develop a bond -- Chris describes it as a foxhole mentality – that gets its adhesive qualities from everyone doing unfamiliar jobs, having to rely on one another like never before – and not having to struggle against as much bureaucratic obstruction. Try to find time and perspective to observe the positive effects of this difficult time period on your teams’ dynamics as there may be major lessons there for less chaotic times. ----- Produced by Simpler Media

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE CCO, Chris Chiames, on Weathering a Brand Through the Rough Waters of COVID-19 [Episode 29]

The Luminaries Mentoring Circle is a conversation series on female leadership with Lippe Taylor Founder & Chairwoman, Maureen Lippe and PRovoke Media’s Aarti Shah.  In this series, we invite the industry's most accomplished and respected leaders to provide mentorship and guidance for the industry's rising stars. At a time when PR professionals — especially women — are missing key opportunities for networking, we hope this series can help fill a void. This week’s conversation is with Levi’s CCO, Kelly McGinnis. Maureen & Kelly reflect on their careers while providing guidance and key strategies for the marketing industry's rising female leaders. The conversation, moderated by PRovoke's executive editor Aarti Shah, covers the importance of trusting your instincts, the crucial workplace transitions that are necessary as professionals grow into leadership roles, why vulnerability builds effective and empathetic leadership, and the long view on purpose and the pandemic — and more. Without further ado here is Levi Strauss CCO, Kelly McGinnis in conversation with Maureen Lippe and Aarti Shah.  ----- Produced by Simpler Media

Luminaries Circle: LEVI’s CCO, Kelly McGinnis & Maureen Lippe on Executive Female Leadership [Episode 28]

The world of brand and agency marketing is constantly changing. The best way to keep up? Listen in as Nick Taylor of Lippe Taylor sits down with marketers, makers, brand executives, agency veterans, technologists, friends and key voices of innovation in the marketing ecosystem. Each week he and his guests will bring you relevant discussions and bite-sized insights on the topics driving shifts in marketing, advertising, social media, influencer marketing, technology and consumer buying behavior as well as insights into the creative processes and best practices of marketing superstars.

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