The Future Of Green Products With Seventh Generation’s CMO, John Moorhead

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John Moorhead, CMO of eco-focused product company Seventh Generation, was a reluctant marketer. He “thought it was for the birds” until he realized the business impact it could have on one of his passions–the outdoors. It was then that he knew marketing would become his path to change the way people think about the products they use.

In this episode, John and I discuss his passion for environmentalism, how Seventh Generation is creating the future of green products, the new look of the brand, and the role of advocacy that businesses play in the world today.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How Unilever and Seventh Generation utilize marketing in traditional and e-comm retail
  • Where businesses can impact sustainability and environmentalism
  • How Seventh Generation amplifies advocacy for their company and consumers

Key Highlights

  • [01:08] John’s path to marketing
  • [06:07] All about Seventh Generation and the acquisition by Unilever
  • [08:53] Seventh Generation’s brand refresh
  • [13:00] The future of green products
  • [14:05] Technology and science helping at the shelf
  • [16:27] Marketing’s challenge to address sustainability
  • [19:02] Connecting traditional marketing channels with e-comm
  • [22:34] Business’s roles in sustainability and climate
  • [26:16] An experience that defines John
  • [28:40] John’s advice for his younger self
  • [30:20] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [31:20] Brands and causes we should notice
  • [32:59] The biggest opportunity or threat for marketers today

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

DTC Gets Creative: Creator Marketplaces Amplify Influencers’ Monetization Power

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What do Walmart and Shopify have in common? A keen understanding of the power of influencers and why curated, influencer-driven marketplaces may be marketing’s Next Big Thing. The next wave in “direct to consumer” (DTC) may be led by influencers—and some of the world’s biggest brands.

The Details:

Last week eCommerce platform Shopify launched Shopify Collabs, a creator marketplace that serves as a match-making tool for influencers and creators and merchants. After a creator is approved for a Shopify Collabs account they can use Linkpop, Shopify’s link tool, to share a collection of products from Shopify partner merchants on their social accounts. When posts drive purchases, Influencers get paid. Walmart is also rumored to be in the process of launching its own influencer-driven marketplace due to recently filed patents. Walmart would join Amazon as a newer entrant into influencer marketplace matchmaking with a yearly add spend topping several billion dollars. Influencers drive value not only for merchants participating in link-sharing but also for the brands that offer that feature them on their platform. 

Why It Matters:

Effective influencers drive sales. A recent survey revealed that for every dollar a brand spends on an influencer, they earned an average of $5.78, with the highest earnings hovering around $18. Platforms like Shopify benefit from influencers raising their profile as an alternative to behemoths like Amazon and Walmart, while the latter may gain new attention from young or niche audiences that might not see either platform as a source for unique or curated collections of on-trend merchandise. Influencers deliver incredibly valuable, “hand-crafted” advertising that is targeted to the new audiences that brands need to reach. Influencers work like self-contained creative agencies, filtering through insights about what their audiences want and delivering content that engages them and eases them through the sales funnel effortlessly. When influencers get on board to share the products or brands that they love “free” in hopes of driving sales, retailers may save millions in ad spending simply by opening up their platforms, ala Shopify, and making it easier for influencers to do what they do best—drive awareness (and sales).

The Marketers’ Takeaway:

Because influencers are experts at finding new audiences and responding to their needs with engaging content, marketers’ biggest challenge may be finding the right influencer for their brand. Influencers can provide long-term value to brand marketers as product lines scale and business models change by bringing real-time, unfiltered insights to marketers who can use those learnings to improve conventional campaigns and tailor special offers to new audiences.

Building The Marketing Roadway For The Next Generation Of Campers With Kampgrounds Of America’s Whitney Scott

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From gems to government to camping, Whitney Scott has lived the idea that “once you learn marketing, you can adapt to almost any job in any industry.” As CMO of Kampgrounds of America (KOA) and COO of the newly opened Terramor Outdoor Resort in Maine, Whitney’s marketing strategies bolster the common mission of connecting people to the outdoors and to each other.

In this episode, Whitney and I discuss how she’s using marketing to connect with the new demographic interested in camping, and how data is the key to backing up your marketing tactics. Whitney also introduces KOA’s newest brand, the Terramor Outdoor Resort, now open in Bar Harbor, ME.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to keep a 60-year-old brand relevant
  • How KOA is upgrading the camping experience for a new demographic
  • Understanding how to scale your digital presence

Key Highlights

  • [01:37] Whitney’s secret talent
  • [02:55] Whitney’s path to Kampgrounds of America (KOA)
  • [05:08] Introducing the new Terramor Outdoor Resort
  • [09:00] KOA’s history and where it is today
  • [13:22] Maintaining a 60-year-old brand and keeping it current
  • [15:28] How target customer data has changed over the years
  • [19:38] Keeping up with the changing needs of KOA’s customers
  • [21:45] How technology has played a role
  • [25:19] Big learnings as CMO of KOA and COO of Terramor Outdoor Resort
  • [27:49] An experience that defines Whitney
  • [29:36] Whitney’s advice for her younger self
  • [31:23] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [35:44] Brands and causes that we should be taking notice of
  • [38:56] The biggest opportunity or threat for marketers today

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

The Trust Deficit: Marketers Have The Power To Boost Brand Trust

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Recent reports by Jebbit and Adobe reveal that consumers are less trusting of businesses and major brands than ever, with worries about data privacy making brand marketers’ challenge especially difficult in the digital age.

Brands Are Finding It Hard To Win More Than Consumers’ Dollars

While consumers are still supporting leading brands with their shopping dollars, their hearts may not be in it. An Adobe survey revealed that 75 percent of brand executives have struggled to build and maintain trust with their customers over the past two years. It’s not that consumers suddenly had a change of heart about the brands they’ve known all their lives; it’s that they are spending more time online than ever, and they are not necessarily enjoying what they see.

While the Adobe study found that 76 percent of consumers said it was important that brands demonstrate they can see things from the consumer perspective and understand their frustrations, 40 percent of consumers, per a recent study by Jebbit, have marked an increase in irrelevant ads. Another 46 percent of consumers in the same study stated that when they encountered irrelevant ads based on their past purchase history, it lowered their trust in the advertising brand. That means brand marketers’ ability to correctly target ads and maintain transparency about how data is being used directly impacts consumer brand affinity: ad content.

Brand Marketers’ Challenge And Opportunity: Rebuilding Trust For Legacy Brands And Stoking D2C Engagement

The Jebbit study also revealed that just 35 percent of consumers trust legacy brands more than D2C, online-only brands. In fact, 22 percent trust D2C brands more, with 43 percent stating that they saw both types of merchants as equally trustworthy. That means the battle for brand trust is essentially a toss-up. Based on findings from the Adobe study, the results may be influenced heavily by the relevance of the content and ads consumers find. The Adobe study found that 72 percent of consumers saw relevant content delivered at the right time and context as a reason to trust a brand more. In addition, over one-quarter of Gen Z and Millennials consumers stated that finding correctly targeted content increased their trust significantly.

Trust Can Mean Growth—In Audience And Revenue

Does trust translate into a healthier bottom line for brands? According to Adobe, 44 percent of global consumers will spend at least $500 or more each year with the brands they trust most, and 29 percent say they will spend more than $1000/year.

With legacy brands and D2C, online-only challengers competing for consumers’ dollars amid economic uncertainty, brand marketers can’t afford a misstep with audience engagement strategy or the content they share.

The Future of Marketing & Strategic Communications Through Education With NYU’s Michael Diamond

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Michael Diamond’s unique background marries science, the arts, and business. As Academic Director and Clinical Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing and Communications at New York University, his view on the future of marketing is fascinating and incredibly on point.

In this episode, Michael and I talk about his pathway to academia and, most importantly, the new master’s degree program at NYU focusing on getting marketing and strategic communication professionals to the C-Suite. The advisors are stellar, the curriculum unassailable, and the access to the list of incredible minds is unmatched.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The pillars of the new executive program at NYU and the future of marketing
  • The nuances of PR and Marketing and what marketers can learn from PR
  • The personal and professional benefits of investing in your education

Key Highlights:

  • [02:58] Michael’s career journey
  • [08:19] Michael’s role at NYU School of Professional Studies
  • [12:02] NYU’s new Executive Masters program for Marketing and Strategic Communications
  • [16:08] The curriculum of the new executive program
  • [25:00] NYU’s faculty and the advisory board for a new degree program
  • [27:33] What Michael thinks it takes to be successful
  • [31:00] An experience that defines Michael
  • [33:39] Michael’s advice for his younger self
  • [34:32] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [37:38] Brands and causes that Michael feels we should be taking notice of
  • [41:10] The biggest opportunity and threat for marketers today

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

Mapping The Trends: From Influencers to Influence Marketing

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From Influencers To Influence Marketing: The New “Studio System” For Multi-Platform Content

The nature of influencer marketing is changing in response to consumers’ new ability to exert granular control of their content and ad personalization experiences. This year, advertisers are increasing their ad spend cautiously after a blockbuster year in 2021. Even content-driven businesses like movie studios are spending less on traditional media like TV ads and more on non-traditional media services like digital and analytics and branded content creation. As a result, nontraditional media now forms the bulk of billings at The Big Three media agencies (WPP, Omicron and Publicis Groupe), showing a growth rate of 20% in the first quarter of 2022, per MediaPost.

Those “nontraditional” services include influencer marketing. Advertisers have been projected to spend more than $15 billion on influencer marketing in 2022, representing a 65% increase over 2020’s $9.8 billion.

Today’s Brands Are Reimagining Influence As A Brand-Audience Collaborative Story

According to the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), influence is not merely a quality associated with a celebrity or a tastemaker, rather, it is a form of value that can be quantified, tracked and optimized in the same way that clicks can be translated into CPM. As a result, the organization recently introduced guidelines for brands and agencies to monitor influencers’ impact on their businesses and their clients’ success.

As consumers’ attention is drawn to an ever-widening vista of content types, brands are reimagining the boundaries of storytelling and the concept of influence itself. Content brands are now seeking influencers not just based on preexisting celebrity but how the content they produce aligns with what consumers are watching and interacting with regularly. Consequently, influence has become its own story—one that is less about personality and celebrity and more about the key drivers of engagement: ideas, values and shared priorities.

Brands Are Looking Beyond A Single Platform Or Medium Strategy

In the early aughts, AI-powered predictive algorithms made personalization features commonplace on social platforms and streaming services. This allowed marketers to glean insights into how consumers interacted with—or ignored—content, which allowed them to create campaigns that seemed more personal and driven by human preferences and not marketing goals.

Influencers often helmed social media-born ad campaigns that used content as a gateway to multi-platform experiences. Consumers read more, watched more and “liked” more when the content they viewed from influencers aligned with what consumers’ search data, purchasing patterns and social posts indicated they wanted to see. That made influence less about individual personalities and more about content communities, as consumers engaged with narratives that matched their values, passions and in-the-moment needs.

Influencers Are Human-To-Algo Translators

Over the past few years, the most powerful influencers have driven engagement because they embodied the audience’s story—the meaning locked within their search, purchasing and social media data. They make the data human-readable and actionable. When influencers fail to embody the zeitgeist, they often lose followers quickly. It’s not just about trending tastes but about missing what drives consumer engagement: Values, needs, wants, and aspirations that are individual but also communally shared.

Where We’re Going: Influence As An Ecosystem

Brands and agencies are catching on to influencers’ value proposition, like reflecting and amplifying community values, passions and specific, authentic needs. They’ve begun to mimic influencers’ multi-platform communications skills and look at what drives human interest, not just purchasing behavior. Influencers’ unique personalities and methods of connecting with followers will always matter, but their usefulness to consumers is limited to their capacity to evolve and respond as community tastes and priorities change. Brands and influencers can work together successfully when they can reflect the stories consumers tell through their engagement with content and products—and those stories rarely live on a single platform or device. That makes influencers excellent guides for brands seeking to stand out in a crowded marketplace, as savvy influencers help brands get better at communicating their value and consumers respond to influencers’ interpretation of that value by connecting with the content that compels them to engage.

The Scientific Method And Marketing With Campbell’s Linda Lee

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Using her background as an engineer, Linda Lee, CMO of Meals & Beverages at Campbell Soup Company, institutes the Scientific Method in marketing the large portfolio of brands under the Campbell umbrella. Starting in product development at P&G, her career journey led her into marketing at notable companies like P&G, General Mills, Cadbury, Ipsos, and Stonyfield.

This episode shares Linda’s discussion of her career journey, how she is modernizing a storied brand and its multiple brands, and why she feels saying yes opens new doors.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How in-home insights are critical to today’s marketing and how it has changed since COVID
  • How to use the Scientific Method in marketing brands
  • How Campbell is driving product innovation and development

Key Highlights

  • [00:33] Linda’s superpower
  • [01:46] Linda’s career journey
  • [09:44] How Linda is modernizing this brand that has stood the test of time
  • [12:04] Linda’s starting point with a giant portfolio and customer insights
  • [15:18] Thoughts on the in-home component of marketing
  • [20:34] Driving product innovation and development
  • [23:34] Bringing that innovation to life
  • [27:58] An experience that defines Linda
  • [30:28] Linda’s advice for her younger self
  • [30:45] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [35:52] Where Linda feels brands are living now
  • [37:22] The biggest opportunity and threat for marketers today

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

Consumers’ Complicated Relationship With Brands Gets Hazier: ‘I Trust You, Just Don’t Exploit My Data’

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Marketers have done a great job in encouraging a wary public to embrace brands again, but now it’s on marketers to make sure their use of consumer data doesn’t sabotage those good vibes.

With millions of Americans expressing low confidence in everything from the economy to the FDA, it is surprising that a slim majority of consumers—52%—now trust the brands they buy from, up from 48% in 2020, according to Salesforce. Even more surprising, the same study states that 77% of consumers believe that most brands make honest claims about their goods and services, and 75% care about their customers’ best interests. Both numbers show a respectable boost over 2020 levels (68% and 65%, respectively). While that sounds great for marketers, the win really isn’t really that linear. 

Consumers trust “good” brands – and good behavior means ethical data use

The ground rules for winning consumer trust have changed: Consumer trust is not based on successful marketing campaigns alone but on how well those claims align with brand behavior – out in the world behind the scenes when marketers handle consumer data. The Salesforce report found that 66% of consumers had stopped purchasing from a brand when they discovered it did not align with their values. While consumers are more comfortable than ever before with brands using their data (62% reported this), they value transparency in how their data is handled. In a 2021 study by KPMG, 86% of consumers surveyed were concerned about how companies were using their data – and that concern would likely increase over time, with 78% stating specific concern over the volume of data being collected about them.

According to Jebbit’s 6th Consumer Data Trust Index (CDTI), to be released on Thursday, the way brand and online platform marketers collect and use data significantly impacts brand perception. Nearly half of consumers surveyed stated that irrelevant ads that targeted them based on past purchase data decreased their brand trust, while 49% said that companies that requested consent for emails and posted notices asking for permission to place cookies increased their trust. A recent Google study underscores Jebbits’ findings: 65% of consumers have had a negative experience with an irrelevant ad, and 74% want only ads targeted to their current needs. 

The Takeaway:

Brand trust is high and the good vibes about trustworthy companies should be encouraging to marketers. Yet that trust is fragile: Consumers associate the entire marketing campaign—from the claims made in the copy to how ads are targeted—with the brand. That means responsible marketing and good data hygiene are paramount, not just for campaign success but for brands seeking to keep consumers engaged (and non-compliance issues at bay).

Unlocking App Data With Apptopia’s Jonathan Kay

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As consumer behavior rapidly changes during the pandemic and beyond, Jonathan Kay, Founder & CEO of app data insights company Apptopia, says the only way to success is to focus on the data to make fully informed business decisions.

In this episode, Jonathan and I discuss Apptopia’s data insights into various business sectors and how marketers can utilize this specific data creatively and effectively. As an entrepreneur, Jonathan also touches on the lessons he’s learned from building this business—whether it’s hiring or the potential backfires of reliance on systems.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The importance of app data to marketers
  • What the current data says about the travel industry, the economy, and home delivery
  • Insights into Apptopia’s hiring strategy

Key Highlights

  • [02:49] Jonathan’s career path
  • [05:04] Biggest surprise of the life of an entrepreneur
  • [08:18] Driving the need for a better hiring strategy
  • [09:15] Apptopia and data use at scale
  • [15:10] Home delivery boom during COVID
  • [22:14] Data insights from the travel industry
  • [25:29] Economic data insights
  • [31:20] An experience that defines Jonathan
  • [32:55] Jonathan’s advice to his younger self
  • [35:40] What Jonathan, as a marketer is learning more about
  • [41:02] The biggest opportunity or threat for marketers today

Resources Mentioned:

  • Jonathan Kay
  • Apptopia
  • Grasshopper where he was the “Ambassador of Buzz”
  • Apptopia Blog – where they dissect some of their data and trends
  • Companies and apps mentioned: GoPuff, Uber Eats, Door Dash, Klarna, AfterPay, Affirm, Costco, BJ’s, Kayak, Hoppr, Disney Perks, Royal Caribbean

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Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart:

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

Brand Building And Revitalization With Ferrero’s Mark Wakefield

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Mark Wakefield, senior vice president of marketing of Ferrero premium chocolate at Ferrero is obsessed with the emotional benefit that brands bring to their consumers. That’s why, in this episode, Mark gives us a masterclass in brand building and revitalization. Get out your pens, you’re going to want to take notes.

Mark and I also talk about his career path to Ferrero, how sales and marketing should always go hand-in-hand, and his work on a number of interesting campaigns and brands like Tic Tac, Kinder Joy, Baby Ruth, and the premium chocolate, Ferrero Rocher.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Steps to revitalizing a nostalgic brand
  • How Ferrero is capitalizing on the “premiumization” trend
  • The importance of understanding customers’ social and psychological motivations

Key Highlights

  • [04:00] Mark’s career journey
  • [10:09] All about Ferrero
  • [12:48] Steps to brand stewardship and revitalization, including acquisition of Baby Ruth
  • [19:07] Capitalizing on the “premiumization” trend
  • [24:48] Advice on finding a pathway to new growth
  • [31:17] An experience that defines Mark
  • [32:28] Mark’s advice for his younger self
  • [32:52] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [35:03] Brands Mark is fascinated by
  • [37:15] The biggest opportunity and threat for marketers today

Resources Mentioned:

Follow the podcast:

Connect with the Guest:

Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart:

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.