Episode 16

Episode 16: David Gerson - Seizing New Opportunities in a Post-COVID Marketing World

Published on: 20th September, 2022

About This Episode: 

On this episode of The Backstory on Marketing, Guy Powell sits down with David Gerson, Director of Marketing at TK Elevator. They discuss how the COVID-19 Pandemic induced technological transformation, influenced our culture, and changed the customer experience journey. David and Guy talk about how these shifts both challenge and create new opportunities for companies and marketing professionals, and how marketers can overcome these challenges and present the value of their initiatives to their peers and superiors. 

David speaks on current trends, such as TikTok and Customer Self Service. He speaks on the importance of maintaining a healthy mind and body, and he shares the ways in which he keeps his team engaged and fulfilled in a hybrid work environment.

About David Gerson:

For over 20 years, David Gerson has been a global leader in Creative Branding, Commercial Storytelling and Product Management. He has had the pleasure of working for a variety of B2B brands based in the Americas and Europe with a particular focus in the Interior Design and Commercial Building Industry.   

Inspiring teams and motivating people is a lifelong passion for him. Along the way, he’s developed an appreciation for a methodological approach to innovation, sales enablement and executing comprehensive product launches. 

In addition to his numerous professional accomplishments, he is probably best known for the global brand he created called “Refs Need Love Too”. An accomplished soccer referee with over 7 years of experience, he has over 40k followers on TikTok, a line of merchandise, a blog and even a podcast giving people an inside look at what it’s like to manage a match in the most popular sport in the world.   

Links: 

https://marketingmachine.prorelevant.com/getting-started/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/42UFtFP8OB8

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgerson/

Company Website: https://www.tkelevator.com/us-en/

David Gerson’s TikTok: @refsneedlovetoo

Sign up for ProRelevant Emails: https://mailchi.mp/prorelevant/newsletter  

Transcript
Speaker:

Hi, I'm Guy Powell and welcome to the next episode of the

Speaker:

backstory on marketing. If you haven't already done so please

Speaker:

visit pro relevant.com and sign up for all of these episodes and

Speaker:

podcasts. I am the author of my just released book, The

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Prepare Your Team to Win. You

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

can find more information on this at marketing

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

machine.prorelevant.com. Today we're speaking with David

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Gerson. David Gerson is director of marketing for the US and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Canada for TK elevator. He has 20 plus years experience in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

product management and product development roles and so has

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

been in marketing for quite a while and has a lot of good

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

experience that we'll be going through today. But more

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

importantly, or maybe, certainly a lot more fun, is outside of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

marketing. He has a website and a TikTok. And everything else is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

called revs. I'm sorry, refs need love to refs need love,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

too. And so we if we get a chance, we'll talk a little bit

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

about that as well. And I see him smiling already. So welcome,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

David.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Thank you so much. I'm glad to be here.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah. Thank you. So good to have you too. So tell us about

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

yourself. What is your backstory on getting into marketing?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

You know, funny enough, I found some old records. My father just

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

moved permanently from New York down to Florida. And in one box,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

he found my old SATs scores, he sent it to me. I don't know why.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

But it asked a question about what careers might you be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

interested in. And the top response that I had on there was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

marketing. Now I was 17 years old. I didn't know anyone who

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

worked in marketing. My father was Professor My mother was a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

dance teacher music teacher. But I kind of always appreciated

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

great storytelling. You know, I loved you know jingles memorized

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a lot of jingles as a kid from different ads, and really

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

enjoyed that. I always had a gift for Gab, I love telling

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

stories. I did a lot of acting growing up. Obviously my mom was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

in music, so we did a lot of Broadway. So I think marketing

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

was just kind of a, a natural extension of, of acting of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

theater and a great storytelling. It's always been

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

something I've been passionate about. And I kind of fell into

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it. I started in a sales path, if you will. But I was always

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

better at developing the training tools that I was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

actually being a salesperson, I never had that hunger to be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

number one. I was always writing the scripts, helping people to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

come up with different ways to present concepts and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

presentations to others developing other people. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that began my path from sales into sales, training and then

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

eventually into marketing.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, fantastic. Well, and storytelling is so important.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Now I'm and acting is certainly a way to tell stories. I'm a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

tall guy, and I really get upset. I did some amateur

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

action, amateur acting, and I've never been cast as a small guy.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I feel discriminated against.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I tell you, it's so funny. We always wish for the things that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

we cannot have. My wife is 45 years old, and she's only four

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

foot 10. And she was in. She substitutes at the high school

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that my kids go to. And one of the other teachers asked my

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

daughter, you know, is she your older sister? And my wife was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

offended. I was like, my gosh, you're 45 and being mistaken for

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a high schooler. 99% of women in this world would die to be in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

your position. Don't worry at all good. All good.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, definitely. Sounds pretty good. So tell us about TK

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

elevator.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It's a fascinating company. So I've always been attracted to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

companies that make something. And listen, I'm not being

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

disparaging to, you know, software as a service companies

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

or people in, you know, banking or finance. But I love companies

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that make stuff I've I've now worked over 20 plus years or so

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

for companies that made flooring, made furniture made

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

wall systems. And now a company that builds an absolutely

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

critical component of urban infrastructure, your elevator,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and a lot of people don't think about it or may not know the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

brands that are associated those industries. But it is a massive

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

global business, you know, very, very technical, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

unbelievably high quality and safety standards. As you can

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

imagine. It's the safest form of transportation even safer than

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

walking. But it's a really cool company. It was spun off from

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

FIS and crop, which was a massive, huge conglomerate in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Germany about two and a half years ago. And it's now a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

standalone company that's poised for significant growth. So I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

work for the North American business, which is headquartered

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

here in Atlanta.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, awesome. And I drove by your building the other day and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Man oh man, that facility, even from the outside is impressive.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

You can see stuff going on. On and lights going on. So tell us

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a little bit about that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It's extraordinary. So here in Atlanta, we've got our kind of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

administrative headquarters in our business headquarters. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

then we have this blant brand new innovation and quality

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

center that is approximately 419 and three quarter inches high.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

And I know that because the Air Force bears nearby had certain

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

height limits. So it's literally within one quarter inch of the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

420 foot maximum. But it has 23 elevator shafts within it that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

are used for a testing and product development displays of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the company's technology. It's got an unbelievable showroom,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that we bring different groups from the community, whether it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

STEM students, whether it's, you know, other business groups,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customers, certainly, it's got event space as well, we can host

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

groups as high as 450 people and our ballroom and an unbelievable

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

room up top that spans two levels with, you know, panoramic

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

windows all the way around the best views in Atlanta for

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

events. And it is right next to The Battery. It's on The Battery

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

property, which is where the Braves development is. It is so

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Uber cool. And we are really proud of that space. It is the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

tallest test tower in North America. It is really a unique

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

space. And it's outrageously sustainable. It has just

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

recently been awarded LEED Gold status and uses 100% renewable

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

electricity. So it's a pretty cool space to say the least.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, it that's interesting. And well, we may have to take you up

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

on that space. It really sounds pretty cool. And definitely I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

can imagine, you know, if you've got 23 Different elevator shafts

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to play around with, it must be a lot of fun.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It is really cool. I mean, it's kind of some of them are public,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

like we have some panoramic ones where it's all glass around, and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you can see, you know, the stadium, the surrounding area

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

when you go up, and some of them are interior in the core of the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

building that are really more used primarily for, for test

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

purposes, only as we develop and test out new technologies. But

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it's a absolutely fascinating space. There's nothing like it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

in this hemisphere, or really certainly in North America. So

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customers from all around the US and Canada are coming and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

checking out and they are absolutely blown away.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Very interesting. So when was the building finished? Was it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

during COVID? Or was it available right before COVID?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

That's that's such a great question. It was actually built

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

during COVID and built during COVID without a single last time

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

accident. So safety is a really big part of our business,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

obviously working with elevators are inherently working at

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

heights and with very heavy loads and electricity. So we're

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

really proud of the fact that it was built without any lost time

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

accidents. And it was built at an outrageously quick pace. It

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

rose from the ground at an average of seven feet per day. I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mean, it was something a little over 50 days to go from, from

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

really the core base of the building all the way to topping

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

out so built very, very quickly. And then it officially had its

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

grand opening in February of 2022 this year. So it is as

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

brand new as you can get. And it is gorgeous. It also I forgot to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mention earlier, it has one of the largest LED screens in the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

United States on the side of the building. So millions of people

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

every single year drive down to 285. Or come to The battery for

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

those Braves games. And they're seeing, you know, our brand on

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the building and really cool designs going on those LED

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

screens. It's really quite an impressive sight.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah. And I have seen all those LEDs. I was I was amazed. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, because you look at it, and you're driving along and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you go on, man, how are they doing? Very impressive.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah. And then when you ride up in the elevator, you can't even

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

see it as you go by it. The way they've s tructured and built

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

those LEDs on the side of the building. It doesn't obscure

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

your view when you're inside of the building. So it's really

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

very cool.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Fascinating. So what kind of challenges did you have now?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Post COVID and keeping the team together and other things like

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

relocation where people didn't come to the headquarters here in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Atlanta as we consolidated some rolls here. But so I haven't

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

experienced that a big thing for us we have embraced a hybrid

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

workstyle. So I will say that where we have some days in the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

office and some days home, but we specifically have days in the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

office where we're all in the office together. I think it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

absolutely critical that we have FaceTime. I schedule I'm a big,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, face to face meeting kind of person, especially when

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I'm having my check in meetings with my team members. So every

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

single week for my nine direct reports I'm meeting 30 minutes

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

face to face with them every single week and it is a big

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

chunk out of my calendar under which I've got lots of meetings

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

one day, last week, I actually had 13 meetings in one day, it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

was a new record for me. But I am a big believer in face to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

face engagement, you know, really being able to check in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

with people personally and professionally. And I think

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that's helped keep our squad together. The other thing I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

would say is trust and empowerment, the most powerful

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

words, words that I think I can say to a member of my team is, I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

trust you, you know, and then when we're trying to make

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

decisions, what do you recommend, you know, you have

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

more knowledge about this, you've been working on a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

tighter, what do you think we should do, and trying to put my

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

people in a position where they feel ownership, and they're

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

empowered to make decisions, and they're empowered to make

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mistakes, if they're going to make a mistake, is a wonderful

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

thing to do. So I feel really great about our team, I feel

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

really great about the culture of this company. You know, it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

one that's, you know, asking people to be an entrepreneur, as

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

people that you know, care for each other. Again, safety is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

really, really important for us, but just, you know, good, humble

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

people, I look at the CEO of our business here in North America,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and our global head of Field Operations now, uh, Kevin

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Lavalle, the man started out as an elevator service technician

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

30 years ago, and has worked his way up through the business in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

many different roles. So, you know, again, humble, connected,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

understands the value of face to face interactions with

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customers. COVID was was certainly tough. But you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

your elevator can't stop working. People don't need the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

elevators, work and that business did not slow down very

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

much. And we're off and running a great clip right now and very

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

excited for the next year ahead. Yeah, fantastic.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Well, so then it sounds like trust, empowerment for

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

leadership. And then the other one was frequent face to face

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

meetings, and just getting that one on one time or one on a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

group time to make sure that everything is properly aligned.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

And then I think I also heard you say, allowing people to make

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mistakes. So

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Absolutely. But but for young folks, in particular, if you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

want to keep them with the company, you've got to give them

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

an opportunity to make friends. I mean, I think about you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

my early 20s, when I was just starting out, you know, the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

business, the place of business is where you make your friends

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and your friend group. I mean, it's a really big deal. And if I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

want to keep people long term, we have to have relationships,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

not just on my team, but adjacent teams, other teams

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

around. It is a it feels great when you come in and you have

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

people that you connect with not just there at the office, but

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

then outside of the office, I just don't think you can do that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

on teams. I can't, you know, undervalue. The age, just the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

value hate to say it again, but the value of a relationship that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you create, when you meet with someone face face to face when

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you have lunch together, when you share a laugh together. The

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

pace of businesses well, just like I'm walking by, and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

someone's like, Oh, hey, can I ask you a question? I do feel

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that there is value in an office space and face to face. I don't

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mandate it five days a week. Again, it's two, three, it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

depends on what we have going on. And I also give people

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

flexibility, because there are personal things that happen, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, in life, but that's part of trust and empowerment.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah. Well, and I see your point. I mean, we're a small

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

business as well. And, and just like we're doing right now, it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

either Teams, it's Skype, it's WhatsApp, it's and then Zoom, of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

course. And, and but nevertheless, to create that,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that relationship, the emotional bond, as opposed to just the,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the transactional bond of hey, can you do this? And can you do

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that? That's, it's tough. It's tough.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I had a great meeting yesterday, we had some members of our

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

quality team, come on down to the marketing group. And we have

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a wonderful, gorgeous office space with this really cool

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

table shuffleboard and it came down. I was like, oh, where

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

should we meet? I was like, Hey, let's go play. You know, and we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

had a 30 minute meeting, we went up time to time was that he was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

1111. Right? When we were at a time, but we're over table

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

shuffleboard and we built a relationship. We had fun while

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

we were doing it, and we accomplished our goals and we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

set out okay, here's the action items is what we're going to do.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

You're doing this I'm doing this great. Okay, let's go forward.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

But we did it over a game a table shuffleboard? You know, we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

were fully present. We were having fun. We were making

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

relationships. And now when I see him next time, it's gonna be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a smile. It's gonna be like, oh, yeah, let's hang out. Let's play

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

again. It's just very different from another Teams meeting.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, yeah. Know how true how true and you know, you can get

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and you still can get work done. While you're doing that. You can

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

still talk about some high level stuff. And you know, even those

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

little tidbits, a couple of sentences here and there can

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

make a you know, can make a very big difference. So what do you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

what kind of advice in the in this new COVID environment? What

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

kind of advice would you give your marketing folks so that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

they can be very successful in their careers.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, I think, you know, creating time for facetime is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

critical. Like, let's say, you're at a company where you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

don't have an office anymore. Okay? A lot of agencies have,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

have just given up the office space. Okay? So you don't have

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

an office, but can you go meet with, you know, either your boss

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

or your boss's boss, do a one over, you know, for breakfast,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

go take him out for breakfast, go take him out for coffee, I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

think for you know, meeting with clients as well. I mean, yes, it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

check in via, you know, email and text and phone is okay. But,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, once a quarter, you still need to be getting face to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

face you can we go here in Georgia, we've got lots of nice

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

weather, we go outside and do those things. But I highly

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

recommend that. And I would also just encourage if you are going

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to be via distance, and, and this is something that I I'm

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

not, I'm not, you know, I don't mandate it, but we always have

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

our camera ons for for meetings, and I'm sorry, you can't show up

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to a meeting, have your camera off, sit there silent and not be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

engaged. It's just not okay, you've got to have that camera

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

on, you've got to be participating, you have to be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

engaged. You know, when we have our stand up meetings or

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

check-in meetings, you know, we randomly, you know, you call the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

next person to go keeping everyone on their toes, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

gotta keep people going, I really worry about people, we're

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

always working from home, and just be a teams that there's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

this burnout, they just get worn out. That's a that's a problem.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I would also if I could just throw in one more thing, Guy, I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

am a big proponent of, you know, healthy body, healthy mind. So

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

when I am working from home, and I've got those days, I am

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

working out every single morning. And I'm taking a walk

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

during the day to to kind of clear my mind and get away from

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the screens for a little while. So I don't burn out.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, and I think that, that and I don't I don't even think

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that's called work life balance. That's just work. And, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

kind of health balance as opposed to work life, because

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the life then is also kind of what you're doing with you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

ref Sneed love to which we'll talk about in a minute, but not

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

yet. Yeah, absolutely. So then, one of the one of the challenges

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and especially for a b2b business, is how do you sell the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

value of marketing to your peers? And to your superiors?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

How do you sell that, hey, we invested this million dollars,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and we actually, you know, drove value for the company. How do

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you how do you do that at TK elevator?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, well, I don't use abstract terms. Number one, I talk about

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

ringing the cash register, I talk about growing the business,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I talk about exponential growth and productivity and efficiency

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

gains. So you know, I talked about, you know, how we're going

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to make the, you know, the 10,000 touches we need to do to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

create the, you know, the 5000 engagements to get the 2000

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

opportunities to get the 1000 quotes to get the, you know, 150

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

close sales, I talked about it in terms of the sales flow, and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

where marketing is in that sales funnel. If you're just talking

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

in very abstract terms about, you know, brand awareness, which

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

which brand awareness matters, there's nothing wrong with brand

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

awareness and consideration, and things of that nature to talk

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

about, just oh, we're going to do social media posts, or we're

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

going to do press releases. I feel it's very easy for people

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to you know, blow those things off, or just cancel them out of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a budget. If you talk in terms of, you know, hitting the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

company's sales goals. And you talk about specifically, again,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the strategies, tactics, technologies that we're going to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

leverage to be able to hit those sales goals. People are like,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

oh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense. You know, we need to do

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that. Because if not, they're just going to say, Okay, how

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

many salespeople do we have? What's the average? They do?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Okay, we need to hire 10 more salespeople. It's like, ah,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

gosh, I've seen it so many times in my career. But if you're

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

like, Okay, let's look at the 90 salespeople we have or the 100

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

or 500, whatever, and let's see how we can make them 25% more

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

effective, that we can touch those customers, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

100,000 more times, you know, if you have to make eight or nine

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

touches, to get a sale, you know, an average in a b2b, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, sales context, how can we automate, you know, five or six

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

of those touches and engage the salesperson, you know, in that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

sales process to get us further along to that sale. I mean,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that's, that's, that's where I would encourage people to be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

thinking and talking about to be able to, you know, hit the goals

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

of the organization. That is, that's a really big deal for me.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I have always felt that marketing serves itself when we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

are closer to the customer or specifically talking about the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customer and how we're bringing more customers and participating

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

in the selling process.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, agreed and that that closeness. Now, I will admit,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

one of our clients during COVID Obviously, they weren't allowed

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to visit anymore. And so everything went to a Zoom

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

meeting. And so they were doing zoom calls and what have you.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

And so they're they're one on one face calls with their

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

clients, we're now virtual. And now that it's kind of post

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

COVID, they're not 100% in person again, but there's a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

certain mix in there. Did you do any analysis on on how well the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

one type of call in person would work? versus the other type of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

call? Virtual? And do you see any trends now moving forward,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

as we're all kind of getting back? Working, maybe at least in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

sales in a face to face environment?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any replacement for face

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to face interaction, I'm just going to say that straight up,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there's none. But you know, customer preferences towards

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

self service, you know, to to not having to ever talk to a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

salesperson is dramatically on the rise. And that came out of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

COVID, we had a, a culture shift, which created a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

technology shift, which has just created a whole new paradigm,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

where customer experience maps are very different today. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customer experience, technology, and self service technology have

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to be an integral part of what we do in creating, you know, a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customer experience journeys for our customers. So investments

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there are critical, I don't think it's optional. And it is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

changing a lot of ways that companies have to do business,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

especially in a b2b space, I mean, the data as to what people

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

were willing to spend online without having a customer, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, face to face meeting before COVID was, you know, it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

pretty low, it is very, you know, people maybe would spend

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

$10,000, I mean, now, some of the data that you're see coming

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

out, is that people are willing to spend 40, 50, $60,000 on a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

transaction, without meeting anyone face to face just from

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

doing their own research online, watching demos online, maybe

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

interacting with someone on a zoom call, and then signing a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

contract digitally. So it's a, it has dramatically changed how

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

we do business for the future. And it has to be taken into

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

consideration without a doubt. And I think it's, I wouldn't say

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it's just a Gen Z thing or a Gen Y thing. I think it's all

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

generations that are experiencing the shift, and that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

are looking for more alternative ways to do business.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, I think you're right. Certainly, it seemed like the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Gen Z and the Gen Y's were probably more willing to do

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

things online as opposed to face to face. Excuse me. But what

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I've found as well, is that now that millennials are, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

they're just as interested in saving that time. I mean, they

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

still want to have the relationship. But, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

whereas before, you might have had a two hour call, face to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

face. Now you can get that done in maybe 45 minutes. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

actually, I've found to what you used to be able to do in a real

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

one on one kind of a call and let's say an hour, those that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

time is now 30 minutes, you know, I don't know, I don't know

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

how that's happening. You know, are we just learning more

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

online? Or are we just taking more for granted? Or you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

what's going on there?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I don't know. Everything is accelerated, there's no doubt.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

You know, our, our patience is worn thin, the amount of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

meetings that we have in a day is just multiplied

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

astronomically. But also the way we make decisions today, as

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

well, there's so many more people that have to sign off on

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a decision, especially at a large company. Quite honestly,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

one meeting face to face with someone with four people is not

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

going to cut it. I need presentations, I need

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

documentation. I need case studies, I need spreadsheets

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that that show me the data. And then I have to circulate that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

amongst a number of different people. Digital is the is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

generally the only way I'm going to get that done.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, and that's a good point. And, and although

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I will admit, you know, it used to be you'd have these email

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

trails, there might be 50, or 60, or 100 different entries in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there. And nobody could follow it after a while. But that does,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

though, that that does start a conversation, I think and that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you can get a lot of the nitty gritty, smaller details out of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the way before you actually come to the big decision as to what

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you're trying to achieve. Right? Yeah, absolutely. So what do you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

see as the biggest challenges now facing marketers, and maybe

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

even b2b marketers versus consumer marketers coming out of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

COVID and then just generally moving forward?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I think that the technology landscape just gets more and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

more complex. I mean, all of the different plugins, all the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

different apps, all of the you know, the network art

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

architecture behind the scenes, again, that the turnover rates

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

of those people who are managing all those systems, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

this person knew that technology this person knows this one,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

they're no longer here anymore. I mean, that brain drain is is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

is challenging, and the you know, as the marketing director,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

sometimes I feel like I'm you know, the Chief Information

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Officer of my company, I mean, that's how many different

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

systems that our team has to manage to do our job there, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

just don't have the luxury not to get into that conversation

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and truly understand how your automated marketing system is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

going to work with your customer experience system that's going

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to work with your CRM system that's going to work with the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

invoicing system that's going to work with the customer portal

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

system. And like, all of these different things that you do

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that you have to do to do business, you do have to spend

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

time really appreciating, you know, how they work together,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

how they're gonna communicate, you know, how good your data is,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

how you're gonna manage all of those, those systems. I mean,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that is it is a big difference from where I was, even 10 years

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

ago, I think about 10 years ago, and the types of campaigns we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

were doing, then, yeah, maybe there was a little social media,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

some Facebook or something like that, and little Twitter and,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and we'd have an email campaign. And now there are so many more

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

items, it's so much more comprehensive. I mean, it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

great, we can do a lot more, we have the opportunity to touch

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customers in so many different ways. But you really need to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

spend the time to understand appreciate the systems, the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

opportunities they provide, and how they all work together, and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

then communicate that internally, you know, helping

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the other groups within your organization understand why

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

they're so critical. And why we have to do this at this time.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It's, it's a lot, a lot of my job. And I think it's a lot of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

my peers job is just doing that dance.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah. And you're definitely talking about a pretty important

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

trend, because in a lot of the reports that I've seen that for,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, midsize to large businesses, the marketing IT

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

infrastructure is larger than the company and IT

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

infrastructure, just because of all those reasons that you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mentioned, and getting all that interoperability and getting it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

right and making sure that everything connects up so that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you can really do a significantly better job in your

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

in your marketing activities is critical. It's critical.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Absolutely. The personalization and intimately knowing your

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customer and creating customized experience for them based on

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

their interactions with your business or where they are in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the funnel. And the pipeline is is key. I mean, customers want

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to feel like you know them, you know, if you understand what

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

their needs, are you anticipate their needs. You speak in their

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

language. That's, that's what it's about. And that's what

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

separates really great companies from people who are just

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

dabbling.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, absolutely. So then, let's talk about trends. What kind of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

trends do you see? I mean, obviously, that those are the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

challenges that you got, but now what kind of trends that you see

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

in marketing that are facing you over the next couple of years?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Well, I mean, I can't not talk about TikTok if you're if you're

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

a marketer today, and you're not on TikTok and I don't care how

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

old you are, people need to understand the average age of a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

TikTok user in the United States is over 30 years old. Okay, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, it started as musically it started as as something for, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, tweens and teens, you know, doing silly dances, and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

now, it is the most popular website in the world, people

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

need to understand that people spend more time on TikTok than

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

any other website in the world. And it has dramatically changed

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

how people tell stories and communicate for you know, at

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

least the next, you know, five to seven years out. It's raw, if

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it's authentic, sometimes it's polished, sometimes it's not

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

polished. It's told from very personal perspectives on a whole

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

range of subjects. And it's fast. It's really fast. I mean,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

crazy fast. I mean, I think we used to talk about YouTube

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

videos, being a three minutes was a target, you know, most

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

TikToks are less than a minute, many of the most successful tech

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

talks are less than 15 seconds. So it is a whole different way

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

of communicating to audiences. And we need to be, you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

conscious of that as marketers, we need to be really conscious

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

of how are people taking in new information? You know, what's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the format of how they want to get that information? You know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

who do they trust? Where do they go, so that we can be really,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, really good stewards of our marketing budgets. I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

think that's important. So I want to say TikTok is a thing.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

And it's something we need to appreciate. And you know, as

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

we've discussed, I mean, I am deep into that world. I would

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

also just say, again, that customer experience, online

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

customer experience, and Customer Self Service is, is the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

now and the future. That the that there are many people. I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mean, I know like do you even want to leave a voicemail for

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

someone anymore? No, you text them. It's instantaneous. Yeah,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, if I'm trying to find someone on a website, maybe I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

wanted to call someone there's no phone number. I do an instant

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

chat. You know, it's like it's, I need it. Now. I want to be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

able to do things now. I want to be able to take care of it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

online. I want to get my account information I want to pay Hey,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

my bill, I want to buy what I want to buy, I want to do my

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

research on my past orders, like it is just all of those things

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

is I want to do it now 24/7 instantaneously online, whether

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it's via my phone, or via my laptop, or via an iPad, sitting

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

by the beach, someplace in the in the Caribbean, they want to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

do it now and they want to do it online, and they want it less

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and less have someone actually call and sell them on something.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

So I mean, I think those are probably the two biggest things

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that that we need to be very conscious of. And, and I again,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I would just the last thing, and you brought it up earlier, it's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

just you know, as a marketer, make sure that you're explaining

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the value of what you do, you know, to your management and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

leadership team in in ways that they can understand help them

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

hit those growth numbers they want to hit, staying really

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

close to your your sales partners, making sure that they

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

understand how you can make them more successful. We are yes, we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

are kind of a separate part of the organization and marketing.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

But I love the phrase smarketing you know, it's it's sales and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

marketing working together to accomplish the goals of the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

company.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, absolutely. And I like your point about, you know, "I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

want it now I want my money and I want it now!" I can't remember

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

what brand it was sent to the advertisers that but I want my

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

money, and I want it now. You know, and it's interesting, too,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I think and that makes it really dovetails in with what happened.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

You know, maybe if you go back 10 years ago, you would expect

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the company to be open, you know, nine to five, or eight to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

five, or whatever it was, and you could call them up or you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, and you'd have that window and you'd get somebody on the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

line. And now with the internet and then with post COVID Well,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

with COVID Having driven us to doing everything virtual for

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

those year, that year and a half or two years. Now it is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

absolutely 24/7 And I want to be able to get to an answer, I want

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to find it on the on the website, or I just want to chat

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

somebody or whatever it is, and I want to get it now. And then

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, to your point as well with tick tock I mean, 15

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

seconds to get, you know, to get some entertainment. Now I will

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

entertainment and knowledge because I think a lot of people,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, there's so much you can learn on tick tock. And and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I hate to say it I I've been on you know, I try not to go on

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there too often because you end up spending an hour and you go

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Where did that hour go?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

That will let me tell you that that that machine that they've

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

built that algorithm is so addictive. It is it is straight

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

up brain candy. Yeah. It's evil. I have a, a, a warning that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

comes up on my TikTok, you know, if I've been there for 30

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

minutes, it's like, do you want to continue? And I'm like, I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

don't I'm like, No, they've sucked too much of my time.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Like, no, no, I won't do it before bed. I mean, I'm here. I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I turned my electronics off. You know, I tried to do at least 30

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to 45 minutes before I shut my eyes and I try and read but

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

otherwise, I mean, you can just get sucked in. And that's such a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

saying it's it's not just, I mean, yes, there are some funny

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

dances but that's not what comes up on my feed. I mean, I've got

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you know, history and I've got cooking and I've got marketing

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and I've got leadership and and as you know I'm huge in the in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the soccer world in the right world of international football.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

So that's, that's what comes up on my feet. But it learns you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and man it just it takes you in it is unbelievable what they've

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

built there.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, it really is in it. And I think they they know they know

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it and they know how to feed that addiction. It's just like

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

crack I guess.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It is for the crack for the brain. No doubt. Yeah, that's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

for sure.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

So you, you brought up soccer. Let's talk a couple of minutes

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

on your refs need love to. Yeah,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Absolutely. So I've been a grassroots. So that's what we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

would call a referee who's not a professional here in the United

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

States and other parts of the world for seven years. So I've

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

probably reffed over about 1000 games, and I've watched many

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

1000s more. But I fell in love with the sport when I was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

coaching my kids when they were growing up. And then we lived in

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the Netherlands for a few years. And I lived through World Cup

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

2014 While living in the Netherlands, where the entire

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

country shuts down. When they're playing a world I mean literally

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the country shuts down the manufacturing line shuts down

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

when the Dutch are on in the World Cup. I mean it was it was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

unbelievable. And then when I got back here to the US my son

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

was 10 and he wanted to start refereeing and I had I was a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

rugby referee in college I played rugby for division one

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

school at that time. And you know I was going to drive into

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the field so I'm like I'm gonna do it too. And so I became a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

soccer referee and I fell in love with it. I I don't have any

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

other hobbies. I do some vegetable gardening. I got that.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

But my hobby is being a soccer referee. I love the the mental

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

focus that I have to have to be on that pitch. I love having all

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the responsibility on me. I said my high school yearbook quote,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

was, it's better to stand alone for the right reasons than be

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

together for the wrong. It's better to stand alone for the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

right reasons to be together for the wrong. I've always been one

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

of those people that wants to take a stand, whether it be an

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

unpopular stand, or whatever the standard is, but I like being

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that person. I was president of my rugby team in college, which

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

is it's a bunch of mutants running around, so it's hard to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

be their leader. But I was a team captain and President

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

running wild love being (mic cut out).

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

You know, David, yeah, sorry, your mic just went off or

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

something like that and got really, really small, really

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

low. Oh, it's better now. Yep, it's better now. Yep.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I'm sorry, I will I will just go back for a second there. So I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

love the mental focus of the game. And then I love the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

physical aspect, the fact that um, every time I'm on the soccer

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

pitch, I run between three and five miles depending if I'm on

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the line or in the center. So it's, you know, mental focus.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It's that physical exercise that I get, I find it to be very

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

healthy.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, well, and I loved soccer. I coached my son for a long time

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

until he knew more than I did. Then I said, Okay, I got to stop

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and it was definitely you know, talk about work life balance and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and then the exercise of you get it was just awesome. And just

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

being outside for an hour or two hours for practice in a game and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

oh, it was awesome. So fantastic.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, I I just want to say so that the funny thing for a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

marketer. Okay, so the story of a soccer referee is not often

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

told. I'm serious. So I mean that the soccer players the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Ronaldos, the Messis, the Mbappés, is you know, all these

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

people, everyone knows everything about them, right.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

But the people who stand in the middle of the pitch, you know

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that that third team of referees who are part of the game if

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there is no revenue is no game, there is no professional league

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

without them. And they make a you know, a pittance, they make

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

less than one week's wages of a top player for an entire year. I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

mean, if you're on Manchester United, you're making 250 to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

$400,000 a week, the top referees are making 140,000 the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

entire year. But no one ever knows their story. And they are

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

some of the most hated, and, you know, just absolute, so much

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

vile stuff is thrown their direction, it is an impossible

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

job to do, you know, well, it is almost literally impossible to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

get those decisions, right. And their story was not being told.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

So, you know, about a year ago, I started, you know, started to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Tiktok you know, just kind of for fun to tell a little bit of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the referees perspective. And it has has resonated, that that's a

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

story and a perspective that players and coaches and other

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

reps don't get to hear we're usually on our own, or by

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

herself, we get no training whatsoever, no one understands.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

And so it's been fun to tell as a marketer to tell that story.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, how interesting. And you know, the, the other thing too,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

is a one call from a ref can change the outcome of the game.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

It's so funny you say that. So I would tell you that yes, there

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

could be a key match decision from a referee. But you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the referee makes 300 decisions in a game on average. And you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, we only see maybe about 25 that result in a foul, or maybe

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you get throw in decisions or something nature, or maybe

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there's a penalty kick. But I often, you know, you'll go

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

online after a game. And there'll be people just like

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

throwing all this hate at a referee for one call, mind you,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that team had 30 shots on goal, you know, or 30 shots. 20 of

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

them didn't even go on goal. You know, they missed tons of shots,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

they only had 60% passing, you know, there was a lot that they

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

did that ended up in that team losing it wasn't just that one

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

call from the rep but you know, we because we are an easy person

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to blame, you know, the referee, we are that person with that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

responsibility to make that call, you know, the decisions

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

every single day, every single time there's a game, people love

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to talk about the ref because they they don't know what we

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know. They don't know the laws of the game. They're not willing

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to put on that jersey and stand there. They think it's so easy.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

They haven't done it before. So it's it's fun, honestly, for me,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to be able to provide that, that perspective, to be able to look

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

at a call that happened and explain. Well, here's what the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

referee saw. Here's what the Laws of the Game set. Here's why

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that decision was made. And players and coaches and other

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

referees appreciate that there's finally someone who's speaking

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

up on their behalf.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, well and there. I was never wanting, never ever

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

wanting to be a ref that was theirs. I don't know if I could

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

handle that contention. (David Gerson: No, no one ever does.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Does No.) And then to your point is, you know, you kind of know

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the rules. But you know, I, you know, I've glanced at a rule

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

book if there's one, you know, we looked at it one point, but

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

never really opened it up. And then you know, and I think that

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the hardest one, especially in soccer is is offsides. I tell

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

you, I can't figure that one out. I mean, I know how it

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

works. I know what it is. But it is impossible sometimes to see

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

If I have to ask them when to find offside. And you know,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

parents, you know who fellow parent of my kids team. I did

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

that last year as for the tic toc. And I asked these guys who

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

have been watching their kids play for 15 years to find

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

offside. And they're like, oh, and then you know, what are the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

considerations for offside, even if you know, kind of what it is?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Well, what are all the considerations when it is

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

offside, and not an offside offense? Same thing with

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

handball, you know, people like handball, and I'm like, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, what are the considerations for that?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Handball? Why do you say it's handball and there's like, you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

know, there's 15 Different things that as a referee,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

especially as I get into semi professional matches and and

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

much higher leagues MLS next and things like that nature, there's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

always things that I need to know in my brain to be able to

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

adjudicate that game through the Laws of the Game. Yeah, no one

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

ever knows. They just like to blame the RAF and yell awful

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

things.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yeah, exactly. Well, and with that, a positive note for the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

refs. Maybe, I don't know. But with that, then let's, let's

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

close. Thank you so much, David. Really good to have you today.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

And learn about TK elevator and then refs need love to and yes,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

they do. Probably more than the rest of us. But actually, if you

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

want to learn more, TK elevator.com is the website. For

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

the end. There's some interesting images on there. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

I can't remember there was some videos of the new building. And

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

then refs need love, too. If you're interested in soccer. I

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

coached my son for about 10 years. And it was it was

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

awesome. And we love watching the World Cup and everything

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

like that. And what's your tick tock handle for Nestle?

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

Yep, at reps need love to when you go on tick tock. It's crazy

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

how big it's gotten when you just type in RDFs I will be the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

first thing that pops up, you type in referee, and I'm the

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

first thing that pops up. I'm telling you, it blows people

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

away. Like when I travel or I have friends or people that are

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

my age 47 And they tell their teenagers. And I mean, when I go

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

to a soccer field, and literally if people were like, Oh my gosh,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

there's a TikTok ref that's pictograph like it's it's gotten

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

it's gotten really big. It's very funny.

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

How cool how cool. Well with that, please stay tuned for many

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

other videos in this series of the backstory on marketing,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

please visit marketingmachine.prorelevant.com

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

and download the first chapter of my book and many other

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

valuable excerpts. And don't forget to sign up for more

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

episodes on this podcast series. And if you like this podcast,

Post-COVID Marketing Machine:

:

please rate it five stars. David, thank you so much. Really

appreciate it. (David Gerson:

It was my pleasure, anytime.)

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

ProRelevant Newsletter Opt-in

Thank you, you have been subscribed.
Show artwork for The Backstory on Marketing and AI

About the Podcast

The Backstory on Marketing and AI
with Guy Powell
Dive deep into the dynamic marketing realm in the digital age with The Backstory on Marketing and AI, hosted by Guy Powell, the visionary President of ProRelevant Marketing Solutions. This enlightening podcast is your gateway to understanding the intricate interplay between data-driven marketing strategies and cutting-edge AI technologies.

Each episode brings to the table candid and insightful conversations with some of the industry's most influential leaders and analytics experts. They share their valuable perspectives and experiences on how to navigate the ever-evolving marketing landscape successfully. As a listener, you will be able to discover the most current trends shaping the marketing world and learn innovative ways to leverage AI to elevate your brand's presence and impact.

The Backstory on Marketing and AI is an indispensable resource for anyone involved in marketing, from executives managing to proactive marketers. Whether you're an executive overseeing a hefty advertising budget or a marketer at the forefront of a growing brand, this podcast is your resource for staying ahead in the competitive marketing world.

Tune in on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and be part of the pivotal discussions defining the future of marketing. Don't miss out on this chance to revolutionize your approach to marketing and AI. Subscribe today and begin becoming a more informed and strategic marketer. For more information, visit www.prorelevant.com.

Typical questions discussed in this podcast:
How is AI transforming traditional marketing strategies?
What is the role of data analytics in understanding consumer behavior?
What are the best practices for integrating AI into your marketing campaigns?
What is the future of personalized and content marketing with AI?
What are some AI success stories and case studies: Brands leading the way in AI marketing?
How can we best overcome challenges in adopting AI technologies for marketing?
How can we measure the ROI of AI-based marketing initiatives?
How can we build a customer journey map leveraging AI insights?
How can we maintain privacy, data protection and cyber security in the age of AI marketing.
How can we build a skilled team to leverage AI in marketing?
What is AI's influence on social media marketing strategies?
What is the right balance between AI automation and the human touch in marketing?
What are the limits of using AI to support Chatbots?
How can young marketers leverage AI in their careers?

Topics Discussed:
AI Marketing
Data Analytics
Predictive Analytics
Brand Strategies
AI Ethics
Creative Advertising
Marketing ROI
Customer Journey
Content Marketing
Chatbots
Data Privacy
Social Media Strategies
Small Business Marketing
Prompt design and engineering

Main Questions:
What is the difference between ChatGPT and Bard?
How can Canva be used for image development?
What is a Large Learning Model (LLM)?

Testimonials:
In this fun and easy read, Guy provides a roadmap on how you can navigate through today's choppy waters and come out on the other side with a successful, metrics-based marketing campaign.
Jamie Turner, Author, Adjunct Instructor, Speaker, and Consultant

Guy does a great job of outlining marketing strategies adopted during the pandemic through some very insightful case studies and is a must-have for marketers.
Sonia Serrao, Senior Director, Brand Marketing at Tarkett

Sign up now for more episodes.