Brent Carter’s Post

As I reflect on 2024, I find myself thinking not just about this past year but about the entire journey that’s shaped my career. These five lessons aren’t just what I’ve learned, they’ve shaped the way I tackle challenges, collaborate with teams and think about the future of marketing. 1. Focusing on What Drives Customer and Business Value Early in my career, I learned the importance of finding the intersection of customer and business value. Whether it was through loyalty programs at Churchill Downs and Lettuce Entertain You restaurants or segmentation strategies at MoneyGram and Restaurant. com, the more I understood what drove customer behavior, the better I was able to align it with business goals, creating strategies that delivered measurable growth. 2. Turning Data into Action At Motorola Mobility, I promoted the ability to take device diagnostic data and combine it with email addresses, turning it into insights that informed customer campaigns to drive results. Data isn’t just numbers, it’s the key to making smarter decisions and creating meaningful marketing that resonates with customers. 3. Connecting the Dots Across the Full Marketing Funnel From acquisition to retention, I’ve learned that no part of the marketing funnel exists in isolation. At Great Wolf Resorts, I worked to create a seamless journey for families, ensuring every touchpoint, from discovery to loyalty, was connected. That same mindset has guided me in every role since, keeping the customer experience cohesive and impactful. 4. Personalizing at Scale One of my proudest achievements was using predictive models at Zoro to deliver personalization at scale by matching millions of customers with 10+ million products to deliver tailored recommendations. Whether in B2B or B2C, I’ve seen firsthand how advanced tools can personalize marketing and build stronger customer relationships. 5. Driving Change That Sticks When I joined Staples, I led teams through digital transformation, integrating new tools and processes while ensuring buy-in across the organization. Change is not just about the tech, it’s about the people who make it work.