Beth Collins

Marketing Spending is Down: Is Your Marketing Budget Keeping Up with the Times? CMO Spending Power Dwindles: Marketing budgets now represent only 7.7% of total company revenue, down from 9.1% in 2023 and a pre-pandemic average of 11%. Shift in Investments: CMOs are cutting back on marketing technology, labor, and agency spending. However, paid media is on the rise, making up 27.9% of 2024 budgets with digital taking the lead at 57.1%. Generative AI to the Rescue?: One-third of marketers see AI as a key tool for time and cost efficiency, though its full potential is still being explored amidst legal and ethical challenges. Optimism vs. Reality: Despite a rebounding ad market and major events like the Summer Olympics, CMO budgets remain constrained, with many leaders feeling resource-strapped. Decline in Martech Control: Investment in marketing technology is at a decade low of 23.8%, with CMOs losing influence as IT departments take the reins. Takeaways for CMOs: Leverage AI Wisely: Focus on integrating generative AI to automate routine tasks and enhance creativity, freeing up resources for strategic initiatives. Prioritize High-ROI Channels: Allocate budgets to high-impact digital channels like video, search, and social, ensuring each dollar spent drives measurable results. Strengthen Cross-Department Collaboration: Work closely with IT and other departments to maximize martech investments and maintain strategic oversight. Adapt and Innovate: Embrace a flexible approach to marketing strategies, staying agile to capitalize on emerging trends and technologies. With the landscape evolving rapidly, how are you adapting your marketing strategies to do more with less? #Marketing #FractionalCMO #Brand #DigitalMarketing #Martech #StrategicGrowth #Leadership

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10 takeaways from the Association of National Advertisers Masters of B2B Marketing. 1. There is a lot of great talent and work in B2B marketing 2. Florida can be tornadic in the summer 3. Always take the airplane snacks (courtesy of Mike Linton) 🥨 4. Naples is a 2hr45min drive from Tampa 5. Kenan A. is a great option for 5 last-minute slides 6. Michael Treff is THE person I’d want presenting something he’s never presented before in a crunch (I already knew that but it was a helpful reminder) 7. Kenneth Hein knows everyone in B2B 8. It takes half the time to get to the airport at 4:45am than it does during a rainstorm at 3:30pm ⏰ 9. Great partners allow you to make great work (again, just a reminder) 10. It feels great to win an Agency of the Year award 🎉

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Below is a great example of using Awarness (aka top of funnel) marketing tactics to drive #localsearch demand. In addition to their #TikTok campaign I’d be curious what other tactics they might have deployed during the same times. Some other channels that may have also supported the branded search interest growth: - Traditional TV - #ConnectedTV / #OTT - Digital Out of Home (#DOOH) - Programmatic Display - Audio ad campaigns The Customer Journey as shown below can be attributed and influenced by Paid and Earned Media campaigns! #localmarketing #franchisemarketing

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Patrick Horbas and Eric Hansen provide some context for BBDO MW's new work for Hormel Foods' innovation, Planters Duos. I like the ads, and I love the product. See The Clios Muse article below. #snacking #foodmarketing #innovation #nuts #creative #advertising

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This article with tips on how to name beverages isn't terrible. The nuggets of advice are a bit buried, but I've summarized them below. Surely, it misses a lot of great tips, though. What other advice would YOU add to the list of of naming tips below? 1. Reflect the Brand’s Identity: Choose a name that aligns with your product’s unique qualities and target audience. 2. Keep it Simple: Ensure it’s easy to pronounce, spell, and remember. 3. Check for Availability: Verify the name’s availability legally and online. 4. Consider Global Appeal: Avoid names that might carry negative connotations in other languages. 5. Future Proof It: Avoid using fleeting cultural or naming trends.

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OOH is naturally more personable and memorable than TV, podcasts, radio, print, and online ads when it comes to sticking in people's minds. In fact, Clear Channel found that 40% of individuals place their confidence in OOH messaging and has the power to evoke spontaneous brand recall in 31% of encounters, creating lasting impressions that resonate deeply. Given today's OOH landscape, defined by its adaptability and precision targeting, brands have a unique opportunity to deliver personalized messages to invest where and when it matters most. #OOH #FutureofAdvertising #BrandLoyalty OAAA

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Oh, look, a new captain's taking the helm of the $9 billion refreshment ship at Keurig Dr Pepper. Meet Drew Panayiotou, the freshly minted #CMO of U.S. Refreshment Beverages, who'll be slinging marketing magic across brands like Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., 7Up, A&W, Snapple, Mott’s, and basically the whole soda aisle that isn't Pepsi or Coke. He officially starts on November 11th, and if you're wondering, no, his job doesn't include making sure your kids don’t spill their drinks in the back seat. Drew’s got a resume that reads like a who’s-who of brand marketing: Pfizer, Google Life Sciences, The Coca-Cola Company’s Sprite and Fanta empire, plus a stint at Chick-fil-A Restaurants-fil-A's innovation incubator, because why wouldn’t you want to innovate your way through homophobic chicken nuggets? He’s also helped steer Best Buy, The Walt Disney Company, and BBDO Atlanta to victory in the battle for our eyeballs. You name it, Drew’s probably marketed it—he’s even got a victory lap at Pfizer for overseeing their AI-powered Super Bowl ad. (That’s right, pharma meets football. Don’t ask.) Panayiotou’s new mission? To turn KDP into a digital-first marketing powerhouse. Translation: he’ll be using all the shiny tech toys to make sure Dr Pepper isn’t just your dad’s go-to soda anymore. He’s going to ramp up that digital transformation, create "meaningful connections," and probably make you feel guilty for choosing a Coke over a Canada Dry at the next BBQ. And what about his predecessor, Andrew Springate? Well, he’s off to “strategic initiatives” now. After seven years of making Dr Pepper number two in the U.S., he’s moving on to something even more critical than making soda sales: figuring out the secret sauce behind industry-wide shakeups. Springate’s work is far from over—he'll be in the trenches with Panayiotou for a smooth transition. Teamwork makes the refreshment dream work. One can only imagine the real secret to Panayiotou’s success, which—spoiler alert—he revealed as: “In my free time, I moonlight as a taste tester for soda flavor innovations. The Dr Pepper flavors were the easiest to promote because they're basically a mystery in a bottle. But, truly, my secret weapon is sending everyone on the team flavored cupcakes for their birthdays. The cupcakes always get their attention.” So here’s to Drew, ready to mix things up—digitally, of course—while possibly setting a new bar for soda brand marketing. Let’s just hope the next “refreshing” ad campaign doesn't involve AI-generated dancing bottles.

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There is a persistent claim among many marketers and pundits that wine is presented as "too complex," causing younger people to tune it out. Or that its mysterious complexity is boring and unimportant. Brands like BeatBox and Whiny Baby position themselves as eliminating this complexity while making wine "fun."   So, are younger people really less smart than older generations?   Baby Boomers understood wine. Gen Xers understood wine. No one insisted on removing varietals from labels or avoiding discussions about growing regions as those generations bought wine over the decades. Boomers and Gen Xers developed into a broad spectrum of consumers, from connoisseurs to casual drinkers, without feeling alienated or made to feel stupid.   Why is it that younger people don’t balk at aisles full of bourbons or tequilas, and are able to choose from the vast selection, but somehow there are “too many” wine options?   Is the craft beer community calling for an end to terms like IPA or English brown ale? No. Yet, wine is supposedly too complicated to bother with?   Younger people aren’t less smart. They are just as interested in many products – including wine, for some – as any other age group.   Wine marketing needs to welcome consumers of all ages, from connoisseurs to casual drinkers. It must provide the information consumers seek, whether that’s details on the barrel regimen used to age the wine or simply whether a wine has bubbles. This has been a challenge for the wine industry since it began diversifying its offerings based on region, grape, sweetness, and more – a challenge it has had for thousands of years. We're lucky that we can appeal to an amazing array of consumers, from the Whiny Baby fans to collectors of first growths. What other industry has that range to market to?   What the wine industry today lacks, especially in much of the trade channel, is personal service. Big box chain stores often don’t have knowledgeable staff to assist buyers. Many restaurants stick to safe brands and focus more on their food. If the waitstaff can recite seven nightly specials, including preparation and ingredients, they could also learn and remember which wines pair best with those dishes.   The lack of personal service is what’s hurting alcoholic beverage sales. If a consumer doesn’t know the difference between two similarly priced bourbons or Chiantis and there’s no one to ask, it’s easier to just pick up a White Claw or High Noon. People aren’t stupid. They buy what they know.

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Been using this one-pager recently to have convos with our Barrel Holdings leaders about solidifying our marketing plans for 2025... Many of the items on this page our agencies are already doing, but it's helpful to start first with the foundational marketing assets to make sure we're set up for success. It's often challenging for agencies to make the time to have marketing assets like their website, case studies, and creative assets in order. And often even more challenging to take the time refine their positioning, messaging, and ICP. But without these in place, the other marketing activities are less likely to be effective. Imagine spending thousands of dollars on an outbound email campaign without a clear value prop, offer, and only a murky idea of your ICP -- the results will fall short. The other thing to note is that this is very high-level – you can go VERY deep into each of these line items. Instead of trying to do all of these, our recommendation to our agencies is to pick a couple and go deep for at least a quarter, preferably even longer. For example, even something like client referrals, which we assume is organic and comes at unpredictable times, could be turned into a marketing campaign. An agency can enact a systematic way to engage past and current clients to drive more referrals and explore ways to be top of mind to clients without feeling pushy. Most agencies, especially the smaller ones where the founder is wearing many hats, have limited bandwidth when it comes to marketing. From our experience, it's best to a) focus on getting the foundational assets in place and b) being deliberate and patient with a couple of initiatives. An example that comes to mind was when a few years ago, we wanted to strengthen Barrel's partnerships with tech partners in the Shopify ecosystem. We had very surface-level relationships with dozens of partners which was very transactional and often unproductive. We decided to curate a handful of partners and invested time into building relationships with their teams at conferences, over video calls, and via co-selling and co-marketing opportunities. Lucas Ballasy led the effort and stuck with it even when, 6 months in, the lead volume and opportunities were sparse. But over time, the relationships deepened, successful collaborations added up, and we started getting more quality opportunities through this channel. Take a close look -- anything we're missing? How are you approaching marketing/growth at your agency? == 🟢 Find this content useful? Check out AgencyHabits and sign up for our email to get weekly agency insights we've gained from our agency businesses.

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The aisle endcap is being replaced by digital screens. Which I think shows a shift in how retailers engage with consumers. Endcaps are: • Highly visable in high traffic areas of stores. • Primed for impulse purchases • A perfect place for cross-product promotion (Tuna + Mayo, or Meal ideas) • Great for new product visability Digital Endcaps seem to have a huge impact on awareness, but less on conversion that you may get with the ‘normal’ endcap. Should creative formats change? Should there be prompts on where to find the product? Could these be used for non-endemic brands with NFC or QR codes for information? E.g. breakdown cover near car accessories? Full future thinking: maybe the Scan as You Shop Handsets with a NFC sensors that will customise the digital endcap promotion in line with your shopping history and provide personalised recomendations as you walk by. #retailmedia

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Five modern consumer trends our team at #BarkleyOKRP observed over the past month that are part of a more significant cultural or platform movement. Hope you find it useful: https://lnkd.in/grEfFr_H

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If you are an Italian restaurant, deli, liquor store or any type of food serving business that sells pizza on your menu, check your categories and make sure you added "pizza restaurant." The drop in rankings is what happened when I tested removing "pizza restaurant" as a secondary category. Categories are linked to search queries. Without the appropriate category you may not be able to rank for specific keywords. #localseo #googlemaps

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A year ago, I applied to be on The Blox and represent my digital marketing agency Vice Versa Strategy. I had no idea what to expect nor did I think I would be selected to be on the show. In February of this year, I flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma to film Season 13 of the Blox. After a long anticipated 6 months, Season 13 of The Blox is finally out! So… what is The Blox ⁉ This is the most common question I hear when people discover I was on the show. The Blox is a reality, competition TV show about entrepreneurship that features a week-long bootcamp for startups and small businesses. The show includes challenges, pitches, and strategic moves, and is often described as a mix of Shark Tank and The Apprentice. So why did I apply for this show? I had a few goals in mind including: 🌟 Getting over my fear of being in front of the camera (imposter syndrome is real). I always opted for a “behind the scenes” career including styling and ecommerce. I wanted to be more comfortable with public speaking and feeling natural in front of a camera. 🌟 Networking! Those of you that know me personally or have met me at a conference or event know I’m mixy in the best way. I love to network with fellow entrepreneurs from all businesses and backgrounds. 🌟 Knowledge is power! Any chance I can learn and soak up as much knowledge as I can to grow and scale my business, I will take! Wes Bergman had the most incredible, digestible curriculum that helped me realize so many ways on how to market my business. How ironic right?!? I market products and brands for a living but somehow could not connect the dots on how to market an agency. Needless to say, I had major AHA moments during my time on the Blox. ✨ I cannot speak more highly about what this show has done for me as a person as well as my business. I gained incredible insight along with lifelong friends. Entrepreneurship can be lonely, having this support system of fellow entrepreneurs that are experiencing the same struggles is amazing. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re in a bit of a rut, I encourage you to sign up! If tv isn’t your thing you can learn so much just from watching this show. Not just to see me (Season 13 episode 6 and 7 😂 ) but to have better insight on how to grow and scale a business. No business is too small or large, the knowledge you gain is INVALUABLE. Here’s how you can watch: ➡️ 1. Watch by downloading the app using this link: https://lnkd.in/gMhwqTZc Step 1: Create an account + ENJOY! ➡️ 2. If you prefer not to create an account and would like to binge-watch the season use this link: HERE https://lnkd.in/gzA2b6gz If you would like to see me, Check out Season 13 , Episode 6 + 7 ✨

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Walmart putting greater focus on its in-store media business could help drive this segment of the DOOH channel exponentially higher. Given the weight and recognition of the Walmart brand, they could help push in-store media beyond the paltry 1% of all retail media investment the space sees today. It will be interesting to see whether or not Walmart stays as a walled garden, or if it makes this inventory available on DOOH SSP’s like Vistar Media and Place Exchange. With the opportunity to leverage impression multipliers and tap into the existing demand within programmaric DOOH, Walmart should make its in-store inventory available to a broader set of DOOH buyers and DSPs.

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It's time to rethink the "spray and pray" approach. Consumer ad overload is reaching a tipping point. We're hit with so many ads these days, it's no wonder consumers are starting to tune out. What worked during the pandemic—constant promotions and urgency—just isn't cutting it anymore. In fact, 60% of people say seeing the same ads over and over makes them less likely to buy. So, what's the solution? Personalization. Consumers want ads that feel relevant to them, not just another generic push. If brands want to cut through the noise, they need to get smarter about how they target, curate, and engage—otherwise, it’s just wasted spend. #DigitalMarketing #AdFatigue #Personalization

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near 8 decades of marketing and marketing research experience Steve and I have taught one key lesson ... marketing is all about knowing matters to people not consumers enjoy the series .. more to come

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Question for marketers: Is there any scenario you can come up with where you would purposefully connected your brand to a garbage truck?

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