During this episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Soyoung Kang, the chief marketing officer at EOS Products. Kang brings a unique perspective and expertise in strategy and brand development that bridges product, retail and innovation.
Kang shares her career journey, which started with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from MIT. She then transitioned from consulting at Boston Consulting to vice president at Bath & Body Works, leading to her current role at EOS.
Since joining EOS, Kang’s launched a reboot of the core brand, including the creative identity, strategic vision, product pipeline, messaging strategy and content. Her team debuted a new campaign called “Make It Awesome” and unveiled the EOS flavor lab. When asked about the biggest challenge of driving so much change so quickly, Kang said, “the toughest part was flying the plane while we were building it.”
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:
- Soyoung’s fascination with architecture: “It’s a personal passion of mine, and it fuels how I like to think about what I bring to my day-to-day.” (01:40)
- A “little detour” for the Fulbright Fellowship. (04:03)
- Recruited into consulting: “They have a way of thinking that consulting firms see as a strategic potential and a way of breaking down problem-solving.” (05:03)
- Soyoung’s adventure into marketing via strategy. (06:02)
- Shifting into a “head of the brand” role. (08:05)
- “If I consider the first 10 years of my career as learning how to be a strategic thinker, the next 10 years of my career focused on understanding how to create brand stories.” (08:58)
- Soyoung’s current role as CMO at EOS: “After leaving Bath & Body Works, I wanted to take on something that was different in scale.” (09:46)
- The unique offering of the EOS brand. (10:40)
- Deciding what to tackle as the first CMO for a company. (11:44)
- The “first four weeks” strategy: understanding the consumer. (14:35)
- The importance of describing your core consumer. (18:19)
- Key strategies and “edit points” on messaging through social media. (19:37)
- Micro-batch: a unique, new commercial platform. (20:40)
- The approach of the EOS “Make It Awesome” brand campaign. (23:26)
- The amazing success of EOS brand’s first-ever “Tik Tok” campaign. (24:39)
- Advice for marketers working with Influencers. (28:50)
- A great example of the importance of a speed-to-market strategy: the EOS #flavorlab. (29:32)
- Starting a new role with tons of change: “The toughest part of it was flying the plane while we were building it.” (33:02)
- The immigrant experience: the most defining experience in Soyoung’s past that is the foundation of who she is today. (34:42)
- Advice to your younger self, if starting over. “There are a lot of ways to get to the ultimate goal.” (37:06)
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 opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.