Chris Whittle’s Post

I've spent the past week virtually at Adweek House in Cannes, a hub for marketing luminaries and tech savants. It was indeed the place to be, with delegates from global agencies, high-flying clients, and marketing innovators all making their presence felt. I found the insights offered by Microsoft’s EVP, Judson Althoff, particularly compelling. He spoke passionately about the pivotal role of technology in shaping the future of marketing - something I strongly concur with. Also striking was McDonald's Global CMO, Alistair Macrow's emphasis on the balance of brand authenticity and driving innovation. This rings true as technology forms our narrative, but our core values always take the center stage. Hearteningly, there came a strong message from Serena Williams on diversity and inclusivity in marketing. This speaks volumes about how integral these elements are to driving change - extending beyond audiences to include content creation and decision making in the boardroom. Every interaction at the Adweek House in Cannes underscored the unique blend of ideas shaping our industry and the anticipation for its future. As I often say, staying ahead of the curve requires adopting perspectives from industry leaders and applying them in our business context. Here's to embracing the wisdom of these thought leaders and leveraging technology to create marketing strategies that amaze! #AdweekHouse #CannesLions #Marketing #Innovation #DiversityandInclusion

Before creating a campaign, a one-off email, or even a social media post, try to think strategically about your current (or intended) audience and your goals. What message do you hope to convey? What branding guidelines do you have around voice, structure, and layout? Make sure your communication offers information, education, or entertainment. Touch-points with your constituents are important, but they have to provide value. Build brand recognition through consistency; does this piece look, feel, and sound like you? And especially starting out, don't be afraid to do some testing for the best engagement. Maybe your audience opens more emails on Wednesdays; maybe they like participating in polls or watching reels; maybe short subject lines capture their attention and curiosity. Try a few different approaches, and see what works to build out that consistent engagement.

We understand the critical importance of trade shows in showcasing your products, services, and brand identity to a targeted audience. The secret sauce that sets us apart from other marketing groups is our partnership with Brand It Graphix. They’re local and friendly yet incredibly diverse and highly sophisticated in their production capabilities. Our partnership takes corporate marketing to the next level. Here's a glimpse into how we prepare companies for their trade show journey:

People kept asking "Where's Kate". Here's what I can share from a PR and branding prospective: 1. When you open your brand up to the masses, the masses will often demand to see more of you. That means more posts, more photos, etc. You should be able to decide what to share and what to leave offline. 2. No response creates multiple narratives. This means people will come up with a variety of things to say simply because they feel entitled to know what is happening. 3. Have a social media or issues management plan in place. That way you can navigate what to do and what not to do without feeling overwhelmed. What would you add?

The Power of Engaging with Comments! Want to boost your brand's engagement? It all starts with comments!  💬 → When you take the time to respond, you’re building trust, creating connections, and driving conversations that matter. → Why Comments Matter: They show you're listening and value your audience. Consistent engagement strengthens relationships and brand loyalty. → Remember: It doesn’t stop there—comments go beyond just likes; The more you interact, the more your brand grows. PS. So, are you ready to level up? Start engaging today and watch your online presence soar!

Are you using social media to elevate the creativity of your internal communication campaigns? If not, you are missing a trick! ✨ Recently, one of our clients asked us to come up with more creative and engaging ideas for corporate videos they plan to capture at an internal event. 🎥 So what did I immediately do? Go on TikTok! 💁🏻♀️ An hour later, we had five fun and engaging video concepts to present to them, and they loved the ideas! Not only will it result in better content that gets them noticed, but it will also increase internal engagement as they’ll be tapping into pertinent and current trends. 📈 #creativity #contentcreation #videoproduction #creativedirection #socialmediatrends

You probably hear this marketing tip all the time, but how seriously do you take it? Here’s the tip: Don’t shut up. The more you keep showing up, the more you stay on people’s minds. It’s psychological—repetition breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. Celebrities for example don’t just pop up once and disappear; they’re always in your face. You see them on every platform, hear their voice, watch their movies. And guess what? Eventually, you start to recognize them, respect their hustle, and even trust their opinions. Same goes for big companies and establishment. Coca Cola spends billions on advertising yearly (5 billion dollars in 2023) And the results are definitely obvious, ain’t they? So why exactly should you mute down your efforts? ▪️Put out that content ▪️Make that video ▪️Talk about your offers ▪️Make those advertisements Showing up consistently isn’t being annoying—it’s building authority, showing value, and reminding people you’re here and ready to deliver. So next time you’re wondering if you’re posting “too much” or “selling too much”—know this: visibility breeds opportunity. Don’t stop talking. One way to go about it is to have sales copy and landing page copy that converts, I can help with that. Send a DM with the word “DORA” #digitaldora

As marketers, we sometimes forget about one of the most inexpensive marketing force multipliers... 💪 The power of internal marketing. 💪 We typically focus the majority of our marketing effort on external audiences. But your internal team might be one of your most critical marketing audiences. Why? Because every employee is a potential brand ambassador. When your team truly understands and believes in your product or service, they become your most authentic and passionate advocates. Not to mention the insanely exponential reach of personal brands in spaces like LinkedIn vs the reach of brands. I regularly see personal posts 100x the reach of brand posts. Here are 3 practical ideas for reaching your internal audience: 1. Regular 'Marketing About Marketing' updates - these can be recorded in Loom and shared in company Slack/Teams channels, hosted as live 30-minute sessions, or included as a portion of a bi-weekly town hall 2. Cross-departmental 'lunch and learn' sessions - these can be interactive and include educating the team about building their personal brand and best practices around sharing company news and information 3. Internal newsletters showcasing customer success stories What's your go-to strategy for keeping your internal team informed and excited about your marketing efforts? #InternalMarketing #EmployeeEngagement #MarketingStrategy

Adding polls to your sessions isn’t an engagement strategy. Don’t get me wrong. Event tech can be super powerful when creating more engaging in-person and online events. But using a poll feature for the sake of it is not how you design experiences and agendas that leave a lasting impression. You need to be intentional from the beginning. Do you want to: ▶️ Test your audience's knowledge? ▶️ Find out how they feel, or make them feel something? ▶️ Reinforce the content and their learnings? ▶️ Understand their current situation or challenges better? ▶️ Emphasize connection or community around specific topics? This isn't the most comprehensive list of examples to reflect on. But you get the idea that not all engagement serves an equal purpose. In other words: 1️⃣ Start with your goal. 2️⃣ Design the engagement element. 3️⃣ Incorporate them into your agenda and other event and marketing touchpoints accordingly.