The Heart of Marketing: Staying True to Brand Authenticity & Purpose

Intro VO  00:05

Welcome to revenue rehab, your one stop destination for collective solutions to the biggest challenges faced by marketing leaders today. Now head on over to the couch, make yourself comfortable and get ready to change the way you approach revenue. Leading your recovery is modern marketer, author, speaker and Chief Operating Officer at Tegrita Brandi Starr

Brandi Starr  00:34

Hello, hello hello and welcome to another episode of revenue rehab. I am your host Brandi Starr and we have another amazing episode for you today. I am joined by Robin bowling. Robin is a dynamic force in the marketing and leadership realm based just outside of Atlanta with her supportive husband Gabrielle and their lively trio of dogs, Riley, Lola and Batman, Robin has shaped an impressive 25 year trajectory in marketing. While she's got a natural talent for sales, her heart truly beats for the genuine connections and innovative leadership approaches. Robin Welcome to revenue rehab, your session begins now.

Robin Bowling  01:21

Hello, Brandi, thank you so much for having me.

Brandi Starr  01:25

I am excited to talk to you today. As I say you've got such a great energy and heart. And we're gonna be talking about the heart of marketing. But before we get there, I like to break the ice with a little woosah moment. I call buzzword banishment. So tell me what buzzword would you like to get rid of Forever?

Robin Bowling  01:50

Forever? The word iterate

Brandi Starr  01:57

Why don't you like iterate?

Robin Bowling  01:59

I just think it's so overused these days. And people don't really understand what that means. You know, we have several iterations of what's happening. But, you know, you hear leaders telling, you just need to iterate, you just need to iterate. But then no explanation happens. You know, with regard to that, so, so it makes it very confusing to your team. You know, we'll just continue to work towards a common goal of, you know, making sure that we make things work. Yes, there's several iterations of what we do, but the word iterate for sure, yeah.

Brandi Starr  02:33

Okay, I was gonna say, I'm gonna have to try hard to not use that one in our conversation, because it is definitely one that I probably overuse. But at least for today, we're gonna put it in the box, we're gonna throw it away, and we're not going to iterate anything. Now that we got that off our chest, tell me what brings you to revenue rehab?

Robin Bowling  02:58

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So one, you know, absolutely love the the show and get lots of little tidbits of information. But one of the things we're thinking about today is that just, you know, there's been a significant challenge that that looms large in the dilution of brand authenticity. So as a brand, we grapple with some of the pressures and the rapid marketplace changes for evolving consumer expectations. So the, there's a huge race for visibility. And there's a troubling trend with the true heartbeat of marketing and authentic connections and real storytelling. So we often get that often gets overshadowed by what's happening in the news. And we tend to kind of gravitate towards what is happening in the news and making sure that we want to put that out. So I think, you know, making sure that we stay on brand. And, you know, stay authentic and true to ourselves, our brand identity and the integrity of the brand. I think that's, that's really important, and it can be a huge challenge these days.

Brandi Starr  04:10

Awesome. And the timing of this discussion is great. Last week's episode, I talked to Elsa, and we were talking about you know, appealing to the emotion and being able to also put that brand authenticity there. So I'm running a trend around making sure that we stay authentic. So for everyone listening, after my conversation with Robin, make sure to go back one episode to continue the discussion around authenticity and emotions. And so Robin, I think this is so important. Because, you know, it is really easy for brands to kind of chase whatever is the hot thing, or whatever everyone else is doing. And so before we really dive into that, I believe in setting intentions it gives us focus again gives us purpose. And most importantly, it gives our audience an expectation of what they're going to learn today. So what is your intention for our conversation or what's your best hope?

Robin Bowling  05:12

So, you know, I hope to kind of delve, you know, as deep as we can today into authentic authenticity and purpose, and somehow explore some of the factors that not only drive meaningful client connections, but connections with your team, and then also have a significant impact on your brand's return on investment.

Brandi Starr  05:35

Awesome. I know, you know, if you think about our audience, it's primarily CMOS, VPS, of marketing, like folks that have been in this business for a long time. And I seem to get into conversations all the time, where people are still asking the question of how important is it to really focus effort and resources on France and building the brand. And you know what that brand story is? And it seems like it is, it is consistently, very hard to get the buy in and to, you know, give the real understanding of why this is important. And so I'd like to start with the why should we care? Why does this matter? From your perspective? Why do we need to really make this effort to focus on brand.

Robin Bowling  06:25

So, you know, authenticity isn't just a buzzword, I know that we hear that, you know, everywhere in the marketplace. Now, it's very, the very essence of successful, it's the very essence of successful branding, and today's digital era, you know, we get genuine connections from authenticity, you know, and people will resonate with, you know, the emotion that we can definitely help create is very important. You know, at least from my perspective, that we understand the vision of our organization. So I won't go into what the vision of our organization is, but I'll say this much, it starts with the team, making sure that we identify what and how authentic, we are going to be as a company internally. If we don't have that buy in internally, it's never going to happen for us externally. So I think, just, you know, going back to the question at hand, you know, how important it is? It's very, very important, you know, to create that, yep. Sorry.

Brandi Starr  07:41

No, I agree completely. And I love that you hit on the internal factors. Because so often, I think, that a lot of people think about brand is just what we're putting externally. But I believe that, you know, a brand shows up most authentically, when it is something that is lived and breathed within the organization. And, you know, I think a great example, which sort of positive or negative, it's an example is, if I think about the early 2000s, in the.com, boom. And, you know, there was this vibe that all of these startup tech companies wanted to have. And that was where we started to see like ping pong tables in the break room, and like, you know, a beer cart that comes through right after lunch, and, you know, all these sorts of things that, at that time, were super over the top. And so it was, but that was who they wanted to be as a company, they want it to be hip and cool. And, you know, really modern, and in the now. And, you know, that was like a place that it attracted talent, you know, in terms of people who wanted to work for those really hip companies. It attracted customers, because they, you know, built this perception of her. And so that is like a great example, though, they were not always great companies. A great example of like, how you live and breathe the brand. And it's like, how do you how do you see companies bringing that same sort of, you know, deep rooted authenticity. Now, you know, without being all the tech Bros and I won't get into my my soapbox of the early 2000s but I just really would like to hear how you see this showing up well in organizations.

Robin Bowling  09:47

So I think right now you know, as we look at from the pandemic side of it, the majority of the individuals you know, are now working from home and as you saw my daughter just let the dogs into the to the room But, you know, so so the the landscape has changed, people want something that's different, they don't want, you know, the ping pong tables and the fun, they want people who actually care about them. And there are three, three pieces and purposes that I stand by him. So my values are very clear, right, you know, its purpose, we have to have a purpose in the organization that we're, that we're that we're in and outside of the organization. So what is our purpose? The next is people, I mean, actually, people have probably up there it is first for me. So how you treat people is extremely important. It's important and what you do for your clients, but then also how you treat the individuals that are actually doing the work for you, you want to listen to them, you want to respect them, you want to build that team, and they want that, you know, they want to know, when I'm respected. I'm working from home. Now I don't take breaks, sometimes I don't even go on walks, I just sit on the computer, I feel like I need to be available 24/7. But making sure that when you're authentic and the caring about them, like, you know, if you need to run and go get a tube of Neosporin from your CVs, like, go get a tube of any sport, you know, like, you don't have to tell me you're going to do that just go go out and do that we really truly care about you. The next part of it is integrity. So believing that you have and not only on a brand side, but for me, integrity is extremely important to what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it, but then also doing the right thing. Even if you know that it may not play well in the market. So I would say just thinking about going back to the.com days, it's changed drastically, you know, the the needs and the ones and making sure that you change and evolve as the market changes. And as the new generation comes in, so how do we create those future leaders, you know, the impact what the heart of marketing is going to be?

Brandi Starr  12:06

Yeah, and I think one thing that is difficult is if you think about the overall brand, generally the head of marketing owns brand. And so there's all the things that we put in the marketplace, around building, the brand, our tone, our visuals, all of those things. But the kinds of things that you are talking about in terms of the people, how we hire, who we hire, how they're treated, you know, what is the true purpose of the organization, those are all things that we don't own in marketing, that are generally more traditional, you know, traditionally living with HR, or the chief people officer or someplace that sits way outside of marketing. And I think this is where a disconnect really comes in. Because you know, to your point, how the people feel about the organization they're working in and how they are treated, directly reflects how they're going to treat your customers, how things are going to be put into the marketplace. Like I think, you know, we are beyond companies who can be two faced, where you've got this one perception in the marketplace. But then, you know, your employees think it's like the worst place to work like that, that. That reconciliation is kind of happening in that, you know, we see that more. So how do we as heads of marketing, help to drive and influence that authenticity and purpose? You know, and like the heart of marketing? How do we get that to spread throughout the organization, especially if you're in a large company?

Robin Bowling  13:50

So, you know, we're we're in a mid size about a midsize company, but I've worked for very large brands, you know, international brands as well. And you can see the face of the organization change. And it does take time, right. But it's continuously focusing on what's happening internally. Yeah, I mean, you hear, you'll hear several large brands say this, if you take care of your people, you know, there's no telling what they're going to do and how they're going to impact your clients to take care of your people. They're going to take care of your clients. From my perspective, I walked into a very, really amazing opportunity to work with a great team. Now. full transparency, you know, they were not very happy. It was a huge change. Not saying that they weren't happy with me. They weren't happy with the situation that was happening previously. So you know, and I think having open communication and really listening changed the shape of what we could do in our just in our marketing department. But now that's trickling out in other departments, right, they can see that we're happy we're making things happen. And I won't talk about process too much, but I'll say, you know, I asked them what, you know, what is your biggest challenge? And what is the biggest thing that we can help, you know, this, this organization or this department move forward. And the biggest part was, we were taking a ton of internal requests, and there was no prioritization. So helping prioritize was the first thing that we tackled. And, and the trust component, that's where trust was built, is that they knew that, that when I came in, we were going to work together as a team to communicate, you know? And define what the purpose was going to be beyond the profits, like, how are we going to make internal change? So we can see external profit or internal profits? You know, how does that trickle out externally? So I'll pause there to see if you've got any questions on that.

Brandi Starr  16:07

No, and I definitely agree. And that's, you know, that's how I've always led as well. But I think where I have struggled is, it's like, I can do that in marketing, then if, let's say, in the customer service department, the head of customer service doesn't subscribe to that same leadership approach, you have a disconnect. And so then you have, you know, disgruntled customer service reps, who are then talking to your customers. And so it's a different brand experience. And it is really, I think, one of the biggest challenges I've seen with this is that disconnect across the organization where everyone is not, you know, living that same mindset and, and investing in their people the same way. And so it's almost like a see marketing as a little bit of a grassroots effort through to try and really, you know, drive that beyond.

Robin Bowling  17:10

I sought out, I've worked for organizations where people haven't been the focus, and I've worked for organizations like the one that I'm in now that people are the focus, and I think it starts at the top, I mean, it really does start at the top of your leadership chain, you know, people have to be a priority. And it has, you know, has to trickle down, you know, if community and we communicate cross communicate with lots of departments to, you know, and we will try to solve for that, too. So we have several things that we do to take care of that, clean initiatives. And, and, and, you know, outright, it's the communication piece, but it definitely starts at the top.

Brandi Starr  17:57

And I want to shift gears a little bit, to go back to something you said in terms of broader purpose. And I know, when we had a previous conversation, you had brought this up, and you talked about being committed to strategizing and developing campaigns that really aligned to your company's broader purpose and resonate with the community. And I want to talk about that a bit. Because I agree that that is really important. And how, like, how do you go about that in an authentic way? And I asked, because there has been, you know, especially there's been a lot of, you know, social activism and awareness in the recent past. And you see a lot of performative efforts by Congress, where it's like, you know, it's kind of like we were talking about, they want to ride the wave of the news and what's popular and what's happening. So they try to do something, but it's not really who they are. And so how do you really articulate and plan and put stuff out there, that really does align to the purpose of the company in a way that actually resonates with the community and doesn't come across as performative.

Robin Bowling  19:14

I absolutely love that you asked this question. So one of the things that that I didn't are was a huge project, worked cross functional across all departments was making sure that we understand what who the customer is. I think that's the biggest thing, what do they care about? What are some key messages that resonate? You know, we understand, you know, that all of this, you know, there's a ton of noise happening outside of outside of our brand, right? And so how do we take what they care about personally, and make sure that it resonates with them? So we develop, you know, personas, we want to really understand our customers. We talked to several customers, we interviewed them We talk about key messages. And you'll never see at the top of the list, the first thing that they care about when they're coming into work is what's happening in the news, they really care about what's happening with them. And, you know, I work in the healthcare, I work in health care. So you know, they care about their patients and their residents. And, you know, they really want to help make an impact. And so we try to provide, you know, a solution that will help them make an impact, but within our marketing messages, we want to make it fun, because, you know, fun, positive, just something that, you know, they will resonate with, based off of what the key messages is going to be, and we want to stay authentic to our brand to we're here to help. We're not here to create, you know, additional, you know, bias in the news. And, and also, like, just thinking, you know, thinking about what's popular today is not going to be popular tomorrow. So how do we create sustaining marketing campaigns, you know, and really think about what the strategy is going to be. So we talk, you know, where we're going to be in the marketplace, if we're going to go to trade shows, we talk about what content is going to be out there, that leadership content, something that's going to help with solution, but we build really a framework around the customer. It's, it's, it's, um, it's not, you know, reactive, we're not doing reactive marketing, we're very focused on being proactive with problems that they're trying to solve today.

Brandi Starr  21:40

Okay, so you're really focusing the company's purpose, or not focusing but aligning the company's purpose to what it is that the audience cares about most. And almost, and I don't say ignoring in a negative way, but, you know, almost ignoring whatever is, you know, kind of current events, so to speak, and just really focusing on, here's what we care about. Yeah.

Robin Bowling  22:06

And, and, you know, if we need to address what's happening in current events, obviously, we're going to do that. But for the most part, we want to focus on what the customer in the client cares about today.

Brandi Starr  22:19

And I think that's always a tough position for a lot of companies is like, where do you almost draw that line? Because we have seen some companies like some major brands, who have taken a stance on, you know, whether it be religious or political, or, you know, whatever the hot topics are, and it has driven in some cases, it has driven some positive revenue impacts. And in other cases, it has, you know, driven some negative ones. And so I've seen people make the argument of, should brands have an opinion, so to speak, like, you know, people have opinions. But should brands have an opinion? And I really like your approach of like, not even answering that question, like kind of setting that question aside and saying, That's not my problem, we're gonna focus on what our audience cares about. And really market to that, and that that's how you stay authentic. And the other thing I wanted to talk about is, you talked about integrity, and purpose and values. What are things that you do from a marketing perspective, to help the organization's values really come through, because we see it on everyone's about page, where, you know, it lists the organizational values, like that's kind of the default place that it goes that nobody ever reads? But how do you, you know, as the head of marketing, how do you help to bring those values through, so that if those values align to the audience, like it's really clear, for the audience?

Robin Bowling  24:12

That's a great question. I'll say this. Values, you know, I would think really, like the purpose in what we're attempting to do, and, you know, in the marketplace, and, you know, with when our clients problems are, I would say the brand purpose goes beyond more than profitability. And I think that's literally like that's, that's really the key like, factor here is that we want to drive revenue, yes. But we also want to make sure we're staying on to authentic so being authentic like does reflect those, the bathroom in the mission, you know, to stage To create, we're continuously creating and, and providing innovation. But we want to resonate with the current clients. So how do I stay? This is that's a tough, that's a really tough one, I think, just continuously like talking and speaking to our clients and listening to what they have to say, and what the problem they're trying to solve, I think ultimately, the our value is to provide something to our clients, that is going to help them in the marketplace and do things that are going to be easier. So they're consistently like in, you know, we know that healthcare has changed. Since 2020, people are doing a lot more with less. And so how do we help them, you know, innovate even faster. And so that's, that's, you know, the core, the core value of our brand is to take care of our clients. So I think, you know, just staying authentic, focusing, you know, on our clients, and not the profitability, it does all work out, you know, ultimately, I have a, you know, an return on investment that I have to be responsible for, but just making sure that we stay true to the purpose, and to our clients purpose.

Brandi Starr  26:16

Yeah, and I, you know, as you were talking, I was sort of, like, almost in my head, trying to answer my own question, so to speak, in thinking about what we do. And I know, like, more tactically, you know, messaging is one place where I know that I, you know, toil over probably more than I should, you know, any sort of major messaging that we're putting out there, so copy on our website, or, you know, anything that has long, you know, has legs to it, to really make sure that what we value comes across, and then even thinking about channels, as well, I think is another place, you know, with there's, I'll say the controversy with Twitter, or x, or whatever it is now, you know, there's been a lot of brands who have pulled their advertising dollars from there. And, you know, that makes a statement in terms of what an organization values, you know, when Mehta was, you know, testifying in front of Congress, you know, there was a lot of concern around, you know, if we are advertising on Facebook and Instagram, you know, how is this portraying our brand, there's been some organizations, like we look at, you know, if we're going to participate in events, we look at what states these events are in. And, you know, try not to spend our dollars in states where the policy of those governors doesn't align to our morals and values. And, you know, I think when you are really trying to demonstrate that it is a risk, because, you know, there's always the potential for, you know, customers who disagree, to be like, I don't want to work with them, or, you know, we've had moral dilemmas where we've had organizations that were prospects, where we're like, oh, we really don't believe in what they stand for. And we've had to make the conscious decision to say, we're going to turn down that business because all money ain't good money. And, you know, our integrity, our values, our you know, human centered, human rights centered approach doesn't align to, you know, what these organizations stand for. And I do think that that's a really hard thing to do for the head of marketing, because it's to your point, in some cases, you are putting that authenticity and integrity ahead of revenue and profits. And, you know, because we do have to show improve when it comes to the ROI, like that can be a really, really fine line to walk. And I think for me, it always comes down to, like, Can I sleep at night with my decisions? Like, I feel good about turning away revenue that, you know, makes me cringe to think about what the organization stands for, or what they do like, you know, I It's like, if I would want to hide the fact that we work with a brands like that means it's probably not you know, someone that's a good fit, and being comfortable enough to really be clear about that in marketing material in your sales process. Like I think that that is the really hard part, but the required part in staying true to that purpose and actually being authentic in who you are. Yep,

Robin Bowling  30:00

I told them that. I, I do I do completely agree. I mean, there's there's been times that, you know, you know, I think everybody has, you know, those those clients they will not work with for one reason or another and I'll say, you know, internally as a brand, we want to make sure that we're protecting, you know, our values, and you know, the values of our clients, and also the values of the individuals that are in the organization. So making sure that we stand true to our beliefs and our values. I mean, that's always, you know, you know, it's always something that you have to balance, it's definitely it's a balancing act. You know, beyond profits, for sure.

Brandi Starr  30:43

I love it. Well, talking about our challenges is just the first step and nothing changes if nothing changes. And so, in traditional therapy, the therapist would give the client some homework, but here at revenue rehab, we like to flip that on its head and ask you to give us some homework. So if anyone is listening, and recognizes that their organization is struggling with the heart of marketing and staying true to that brand authenticity, what's the first step? What advice would you give them in terms of where they should start?

Robin Bowling  31:17

So I would say, use authenticity as an ROI driver, for sure, because we didn't hit on ROI. But I'll say that so genuine brand authenticity, and purpose can directly influence the customer behaviors, and that leads to brand loyalty and in turn increase revenue. So I would say, focus on being authentic to your brand. Use that as an as an ROI driver, don't try to just, you know, it's shoot fish in a barrel, really focus on your clients, and what their needs are to help you drive that value. They're

Brandi Starr  31:52

awesome. Well, I think that is a great starting point. And you know, any place that we can tie what we're doing to revenue and show a return is always a win. So yeah, I like that as a good action item. Well, Robin, I have enjoyed our discussion. But that's our time for today. I know where we go, how can our audience connect with you?

Robin Bowling  32:21

Absolutely. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. And I believe it's at Robin 1205.

Brandi Starr  32:29

Perfect. Well, we will make sure to link to your LinkedIn in the show notes. So wherever you are listening or watching this podcast, check the show notes and you can connect with Robin. Well, thanks so so much for joining us today. And thank you everyone. I hope you have enjoyed my conversation with Robin. I can't believe we're at the end. We'll see you next time.

Robin Bowling  32:54

Thank you, Brandi.

Outro VO  32:57

You've been listening to revenue rehab with your host Brandi Starr. Your session is now over but the learning has just begun. join our mailing list and catch up on all our shows at revenue rehab dot live. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at revenue rehab. This concludes this week's session. We'll see you next week.