Episode 9

Episode 9: Josh Cherfoli. Georgia Aquarium

Published on: 6th June, 2022

About Josh:

Josh Cherfoli, Senior Director of Marketing and Digital Engagement at Georgia Aquarium, directs all marketing, advertising, and interactive efforts for Georgia Aquarium. His responsibilities include the development and execution of all websites, digital properties, mobile apps, and digital media environments which are designed to cultivate the highest quality user experience.  

Josh brings a creative, results-oriented marketing approach in support of Georgia Aquarium.  He has a solid record for driving integrated and award-winning marketing campaigns. He is proud of taking home awards from EFFIE, Webby, MAXX, Digital Edge 50, and others over his 20-plus years of traditional, interactive, and database marketing experience. 

 Prior to joining Georgia Aquarium, Josh worked in the marketing departments of The Home Depot, Porsche Cars North America, and Porsche Financial Services in Atlanta. While living in Detroit, Michigan, he gained a tremendous amount of experience from some of the largest advertising agency networks in the world. Those advertising and marketing agencies included BBDO, McCann-Erickson, and JWT.

 Josh earned his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Michigan State University and earned his Master’s degree in Communications from Purdue University. He resides in Roswell, GA with his wife and their four children.

Josh shares how Georgia Aquarium pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic to stay engaged with the community while the doors were closed. Thanks to creative thinking and marketing modeling, Georgia Aquarium is thriving in the post-pandemic marketplace!

Links:

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Georgia Aquarium Website

Video of Interview

Transcript
Guy Powell:

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

Guy Powell:

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

Guy Powell:

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

Guy Powell:

episodes and podcasts. I am the author of the upcoming book, the

Guy Powell:

post COVID marketing machine, prepare your team to win. You

Guy Powell:

can find more information on this book at marketing machine,

Guy Powell:

that pro relevant.com. Today we'll be speaking with Josh or

Guy Powell:

Foley. He is the senior director of marketing and digital

Guy Powell:

engagement at Georgia Aquarium. Josh directs all marketing,

Guy Powell:

advertising and interactive efforts for Georgia Aquarium.

Guy Powell:

His responsibilities include the development and execution of all

Guy Powell:

websites, digital properties, mobile apps and digital media

Guy Powell:

environments, which are designed to cultivate the highest quality

Guy Powell:

user experience. He's proud of taking home many awards

Guy Powell:

including Fe webI, Max, digital edge 50, and others over his 20

Guy Powell:

plus years of traditional interactive and database

Guy Powell:

marketing experience. Prior to joining the prior to joining

Guy Powell:

Georgia Aquarium, Josh worked in the marketing departments of the

Guy Powell:

Home Depot, Porsche cars, North America and Porsche financial

Guy Powell:

services. He earned his bachelor's degree in marketing

Guy Powell:

from Michigan State University and earned his master's degree

Guy Powell:

in communications from Purdue. He resides in Roswell, Georgia

Guy Powell:

with his wife and their four children. Welcome, Josh.

Josh Cherfoli:

Guy. Thank you for having me here. And I, I

Josh Cherfoli:

found this on the web. I kinda I kind of think you know that you

Josh Cherfoli:

got the wrong guy here. Because you were describing me for sure.

Josh Cherfoli:

You got somebody else? His bio there, but thank you for that.

Josh Cherfoli:

That wonderful introduction. I'm happy to be here.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, absolutely. No, it's so good to have you.

Guy Powell:

And I must say, you've got four kids, they must think you are a

Guy Powell:

rock star. Working at the aquarium. I mean, it must be

Guy Powell:

awesome for them.

Josh Cherfoli:

It's, it's definitely a fun thing. I've got

Josh Cherfoli:

an endless number of requests from the kids to say, Can they

Josh Cherfoli:

come to work with me, you know, and, and every once in a while I

Josh Cherfoli:

can take them up on that offer because it's, it is a fun venue

Josh Cherfoli:

to be able to bring them in and in you know, it's not a bad

Josh Cherfoli:

office location, either, you know, a couple a couple of steps

Josh Cherfoli:

away from seeing some beluga whales or whale sharks and, and

Josh Cherfoli:

off we go. So it's it's a special place.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, it really is. It really is. I've been down

Guy Powell:

there a handful of times. And it is just, it's something to it's

Guy Powell:

all it's awesome how it all comes together. But in any case,

Guy Powell:

so tell us about yourself. What is your backstory on the on

Guy Powell:

getting into marketing?

Josh Cherfoli:

That's a that's a really fun, a really fun

Josh Cherfoli:

question guy. And I think, for me, it was, it was really

Josh Cherfoli:

growing up in in the Detroit area. If you've never been in

Josh Cherfoli:

the Detroit area, or maybe as a kid in the Detroit area, you're

Josh Cherfoli:

surrounded by things, automotive, anything that you

Josh Cherfoli:

turn around, there's a car park, you know, something going on

Josh Cherfoli:

there. And as a kid, my dad was, was a merchandising and a

Josh Cherfoli:

marketing guy, at first at American Motors, and then GE and

Josh Cherfoli:

then Chrysler. And so if, if you kind of said like kids thinking

Josh Cherfoli:

their dads were rock stars, I knew my dad was a rock star at

Josh Cherfoli:

that point in time, and, and I was always fascinated when he

Josh Cherfoli:

would bring like the next year's car catalogs home. And so I

Josh Cherfoli:

would, I would immediately run through that catalog. And I

Josh Cherfoli:

would check the every single image out and then I would run

Josh Cherfoli:

out of the driveway. And and hold it up next to the car that

Josh Cherfoli:

he had, that he had in the driveway. And just to just to

Josh Cherfoli:

make sure like, you know, was it 100% And you know, what's new on

Josh Cherfoli:

this one and what's new on this one? And I think from that point

Josh Cherfoli:

forward, I was I was hooked in marketing and wanted to be a

Josh Cherfoli:

part of this entire experience. And then I think you know, as I

Josh Cherfoli:

got as I got older, I started to pay more attention to the that

Josh Cherfoli:

that art and the and the science and what the balance of

Josh Cherfoli:

marketing started look like. And and that really started to get

Josh Cherfoli:

me intrigued to to understand, you know, this is this. There's

Josh Cherfoli:

a lot of moving parts in terms of how this makes it happen. And

Josh Cherfoli:

so then while I was in college, I got an internship at an

Josh Cherfoli:

amazing company called Ross ROI communications and it's a it was

Josh Cherfoli:

a you know, an independent agency back then got folded into

Josh Cherfoli:

the BBDO Omnicom network over time, and while I was there, I

Josh Cherfoli:

knew I just threw myself 100% into that role and I wanted to

Josh Cherfoli:

know everything and and kind of Thinking back on that I probably

Josh Cherfoli:

was the biggest pain in the eye, can we swear on this is that our

Josh Cherfoli:

this as the biggest pain? Probably every one of the guys

Josh Cherfoli:

in the agency because I was that I was that guy who was like, and

Josh Cherfoli:

how does this work? And what is this doing, and probably that

Josh Cherfoli:

guy, you know, that was like, drove everybody crazy. But I was

Josh Cherfoli:

just in awe of what that machinery was and how that all

Josh Cherfoli:

worked. And, and just taking the pure concept of, we have an

Josh Cherfoli:

idea. And now at the end of the day or the end of the week, it

Josh Cherfoli:

turned into something magical because of the machinery and the

Josh Cherfoli:

process of, of what those organizations did. So you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

and then I guess, I guess fast forward after, you know, a

Josh Cherfoli:

handful of years of growing and jumping up in the agency world,

Josh Cherfoli:

I got the opportunity to to make that jump over to the corporate

Josh Cherfoli:

or the client side of the operation. And it was for a

Josh Cherfoli:

pretty amazing brand. I got the opportunity again, like as a as

Josh Cherfoli:

a car guy, as a kid, you know, grown up in Detroit, I got the

Josh Cherfoli:

opportunity to come moved down to Atlanta and work for Porsche

Josh Cherfoli:

cars, North America. And, you know, I grew up as a kid I had

Josh Cherfoli:

Porsches on my wall is poster that was like, This is amazing.

Josh Cherfoli:

And so that's, I guess that's, that's, that's my story of how I

Josh Cherfoli:

got into got into.

Guy Powell:

Wow, well, getting into portion stuff like that.

Guy Powell:

That's fantastic. I mean, yeah, it was it was all had we all

Guy Powell:

have that stuff. You know, and at home the posters on the wall

Guy Powell:

and and whatever. So yeah, absolutely. Cars were, you know,

Guy Powell:

that was such a big thing growing up, and then you being

Guy Powell:

right in the middle of it. Wow.

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, it was, it was fun. It was funny kind of

Josh Cherfoli:

just anecdote story. I remember having the conversation with my

Josh Cherfoli:

wife when, when we I started the interview process with Porsche

Josh Cherfoli:

and and, you know, it's, it felt like it was becoming a real

Josh Cherfoli:

reality. And she, she made me promise that I wasn't doing it

Josh Cherfoli:

just because of the company car opportunity. And I said, Maybe

Guy Powell:

let's, let's move away from cars and over to

Josh Cherfoli:

cars to fish. We can do that.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, exactly. We're gonna be above ground now. We're

Guy Powell:

gonna be below ground. So. So yeah, so tell us about Georgia

Guy Powell:

Aquarium. You know, one of the things in your, in your bio was

Guy Powell:

about customer experience. And, and, you know, and that nowadays

Guy Powell:

is such a huge part of the business and certainly a big

Guy Powell:

part of marketing.

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, so I guess, you know, starting off like a

Josh Cherfoli:

little bit, yeah, you said, you know, I've transitioned from

Josh Cherfoli:

from all things above ground now, things that are that are

Josh Cherfoli:

below grounded. And at Georgia Aquarium, like to talk about a

Josh Cherfoli:

really cool brand, right, like, this is, this is something

Josh Cherfoli:

that's, that's, that's really special. So I am, I'm absolutely

Josh Cherfoli:

honored to be part of the aquarium team. And, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

you talked about a little bit in my bio, so I don't need to get

Josh Cherfoli:

into it. But yeah, I have the opportunity to direct all of the

Josh Cherfoli:

marketing advertising for the aquarium. You know, the, as we

Josh Cherfoli:

drive down the road, you mentioned my kids, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

we'll drive down the road and they'll see the, the, the

Josh Cherfoli:

billboards on the side of the road, and they're like, did you

Josh Cherfoli:

do that one? I guess, I guess. No, I had a part in that one. So

Josh Cherfoli:

you know, but in In short, I guess it's you know, I look at

Josh Cherfoli:

my role is, is the ability to generate demand and excitement

Josh Cherfoli:

for people to want to come to the apartment. And that's,

Josh Cherfoli:

that's really what I what I look at how do we make the programs

Josh Cherfoli:

and make the advertising make the you know, enticing for

Josh Cherfoli:

somebody want to come to the aquarium and then really steal

Josh Cherfoli:

that user experience? So you know, it's it's a it's a magical

Josh Cherfoli:

place when you get there. So make sure that that experience

Josh Cherfoli:

all the way through fulfills that promise and is just, you

Josh Cherfoli:

know, we're excited to get into the building. You would get them

Josh Cherfoli:

there and now let let the magic what the aquarium does really

Josh Cherfoli:

really bring that

Guy Powell:

home. Yeah, absolutely. And and you're right

Guy Powell:

it is such a magical place and and I scuba dive and just

Guy Powell:

getting underwater but then you'd be able to see it right in

Guy Powell:

front of you like that without having to worry about your air

Guy Powell:

and whatever and then and see and animals you know when you

Guy Powell:

get when you're scuba dive and it's kind of like a you know,

Guy Powell:

our luck as to whether you get to see anything of interest and

Guy Powell:

here they are these beluga whales and the sharks and the

Guy Powell:

and everything. It's just incredible.

Josh Cherfoli:

It is pretty incredible. One thing that is

Josh Cherfoli:

that is so if you think about like like you said that you kind

Josh Cherfoli:

of that scuba dive opportunity. You know, we're 500 miles from

Josh Cherfoli:

the nearest ocean. And we have whalesharks Black tint, you

Josh Cherfoli:

know, like any animal you could ever imagine, is here in

Josh Cherfoli:

downtown Atlanta, which is an amazing thing just from a guest

Josh Cherfoli:

to experience. But we actually have the opportunity with As

Josh Cherfoli:

with our swim programs and our dive programs, that you can go

Josh Cherfoli:

and dive with those whale sharks. And you nailed it is

Josh Cherfoli:

that when if you were to go out into the ocean and and book a

Josh Cherfoli:

book, a dive tour or something like that, you might see some

Josh Cherfoli:

animals. You even know that when you book the dive program at the

Josh Cherfoli:

aquarium, you're going to see whale sharks, you're going to

Josh Cherfoli:

see manta rays, you're going to see like, you will see this and

Josh Cherfoli:

you will see them in an up close and an amazing fashion and it's

Josh Cherfoli:

if you haven't done it guy will figure this out. We need to put

Josh Cherfoli:

you in the water. So I'm ready. Because it's it's it's an

Josh Cherfoli:

amazing experience as

Guy Powell:

I am definitely ready. And I you know, it's

Guy Powell:

funny, I had both of my sons, I got them certified and one now

Guy Powell:

as a marine biologist and, and he loves dive and he's like, the

Guy Powell:

super advanced, whatever it is level. And so yeah, we'll

Guy Powell:

definitely have to I gotta show him up that I can do some cool

Guy Powell:

stuff too.

Josh Cherfoli:

Exactly. It's, we got to get you on the on the on

Josh Cherfoli:

the cool dad of the year trophies.

Guy Powell:

That would be great. I'm ready. So well, you know,

Guy Powell:

it's funny, though, working for a venue and where your your

Guy Powell:

product is the venue, and then all of a sudden, COVID hits and

Guy Powell:

you're shut down. And so, man oh, man two years ago. So tell

Guy Powell:

us tell us what happened? And tell us what, how you guys came

Guy Powell:

out of it?

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, talk about a, you know, I don't even know

Josh Cherfoli:

the words to describe it. But talk about, you know, a

Josh Cherfoli:

showstopper. It was, it was it was challenging to, you know, to

Josh Cherfoli:

use probably the most politically correct term, that

Josh Cherfoli:

that's not going to get censored. It was, it was it was

Josh Cherfoli:

a massive, massive challenge for us. And you know, we all think

Josh Cherfoli:

we all know the story is right, we went into this thinking it

Josh Cherfoli:

was two weeks, and we'll and we'll be good. And then all of a

Josh Cherfoli:

sudden it was two years. We this is something maybe a lot of

Josh Cherfoli:

people don't understand is that the aquarium is a nonprofit

Josh Cherfoli:

organization. And we don't have, you know, subsidized subsidies

Josh Cherfoli:

subsidies coming from government organizations or, or, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

other other donations, we rely really on our ticket revenue,

Josh Cherfoli:

our general admission revenue, to keep the lights on and to,

Josh Cherfoli:

and to keep the building moving, and to keep the animals healthy.

Josh Cherfoli:

All of the all of the things that go with running an

Josh Cherfoli:

aquarium. So with being shut down for three months, without

Josh Cherfoli:

having guests coming into the building or buying tickets, you

Josh Cherfoli:

have zero revenue. And it's it was a a massive challenge to

Josh Cherfoli:

figure out how to continue to fund the operation with no

Josh Cherfoli:

revenue coming in. It can because we really, like I said,

Josh Cherfoli:

we rely on that ticket sales for for the daily operation that

Josh Cherfoli:

forces us to get really creative, and how do we stay

Josh Cherfoli:

relevant for for the customer and make sure that we are

Josh Cherfoli:

something that you know, we're still top of mind for people to

Josh Cherfoli:

think about. One of the things that we that we did, right out

Josh Cherfoli:

of the gate, we leaned into the aspects of the aquarium that

Josh Cherfoli:

could be delivered remotely. Like you said, this is a venue,

Josh Cherfoli:

this is a place where people come to interact with us. And so

Josh Cherfoli:

what could we isolate and tease apart to be able to deliver in a

Josh Cherfoli:

in a virtual or remote fashion. And one of the things that came

Josh Cherfoli:

up to came first was our webcams. And our webcams became

Josh Cherfoli:

a conduit for people to still continue to experience, the

Josh Cherfoli:

website, and we saw amazing traffic spikes on our webcams

Josh Cherfoli:

that first that First Friday, that first Saturday in March,

Josh Cherfoli:

you know years ago when when this when we all shut down,

Josh Cherfoli:

people leaned into our webcams, and we you know, they wanted us

Josh Cherfoli:

to see, you know what was going on, and then they everyone,

Josh Cherfoli:

everyone needed that escape, everyone wanted to be part of

Josh Cherfoli:

something to kind of, you know, experience, you know, normalcy,

Josh Cherfoli:

if you will. So we leaned into those webcams. And we delivered

Josh Cherfoli:

that as a way to just stay relevant for people stay

Josh Cherfoli:

connected, stay top of mind. And then we leaned in and we started

Josh Cherfoli:

to create some other things like virtual tours. So we we had

Josh Cherfoli:

teams in the building because we still had to have our daily

Josh Cherfoli:

operations. We were taking care of the animals and all of the

Josh Cherfoli:

things that go with that. So we started filming virtual tours,

Josh Cherfoli:

and we started giving people the opportunity to still experience

Josh Cherfoli:

the aquarium gallery buy gallery, through a virtual tour.

Josh Cherfoli:

It was a you know, a guided tour. And so those were things

Josh Cherfoli:

that we did to try to keep people engaged and the challenge

Josh Cherfoli:

For for us on the market a game was really like, just that, how

Josh Cherfoli:

do we stay relevant and and make people want to continue to

Josh Cherfoli:

return and anticipate that eventual return to the building.

Josh Cherfoli:

So we, you know, we used all of the good tools and, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

engagements to be able to get people back and just want to

Josh Cherfoli:

care about the aquarium still.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, I can imagine, you know, if you're a kid or

Guy Powell:

even an adult, and you know, you got kids with a family and, and

Guy Powell:

you're stuck at home and go into the webcams, and actually seeing

Guy Powell:

what's going on down, there would be a very good way to get

Guy Powell:

out of the house without actually having to get out of

Guy Powell:

the house. So very Exactly, yeah,

Josh Cherfoli:

yeah, we did, we also did, you know, part of part

Josh Cherfoli:

of the, one of the learnings that we that we, you started to

Josh Cherfoli:

uncover was also the connectivity to all of those

Josh Cherfoli:

kids and the students who were now kind of in the same boat as

Josh Cherfoli:

the rest of the rest of the world where they were still

Josh Cherfoli:

being, you know, asked to go into, you know, do schoolwork,

Josh Cherfoli:

but they were all doing it virtually. And so we created a

Josh Cherfoli:

ton. And I mean, a ton of virtual learning tools that

Josh Cherfoli:

teachers and students could take advantage of, to kind of fill

Josh Cherfoli:

curriculum gaps that they were having. And the webcams was one

Josh Cherfoli:

of those things where a teacher could put the webcams on and

Josh Cherfoli:

stream our webcams for all of her, her dispersed students, his

Josh Cherfoli:

or her dispersed students, you know, throughout the course of

Josh Cherfoli:

the day. So all of those elements we created, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

and I really just lightly touched on the education part of

Josh Cherfoli:

it, but we have a full education team at the aquarium is focused

Josh Cherfoli:

on how do we deliver stem steam curriculum back to students, and

Josh Cherfoli:

so using all of those tools, were able to do that virtually

Josh Cherfoli:

as well. And that, that I think, was a really, really important

Josh Cherfoli:

aspect us, for us to stay relevant and overcome some of

Josh Cherfoli:

those some of those challenges of not having people in the

Josh Cherfoli:

building.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, so well, that must have had a lot of impact on

Guy Powell:

on your, on your metrics, it COVID I mean, and, and then so

Guy Powell:

have you been able to get back to where you were pre COVID In

Guy Powell:

terms of ticket sales, and are you still climbing up out of

Guy Powell:

that

Josh Cherfoli:

we've been knock on knock on wood, we have been

Josh Cherfoli:

very fortunate. And when we kind of look at, at ticket sales, and

Josh Cherfoli:

some of those, you know, some of those KPIs or metrics, those at

Josh Cherfoli:

this moment that like, the top metric that we look at is

Josh Cherfoli:

attendance. And that's really, the, when we measure attendance

Josh Cherfoli:

and success, we have been to a point where we've recovered and

Josh Cherfoli:

we're back to where we were seeing our numbers in and 2019,

Josh Cherfoli:

you know, prior to the pandemic, pandemic, so it's, yeah, we've

Josh Cherfoli:

been, we've been very fortunate to have probably, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

primed the pump and filled the funnel up, you know, the top

Josh Cherfoli:

part of the funnel up while we were closed. And while people

Josh Cherfoli:

were still doing distance and remote. And then when we were

Josh Cherfoli:

able to open the doors in the world starts to come back to

Josh Cherfoli:

life, the attendance figures came back. And we've been we,

Josh Cherfoli:

we've been able to do that even in a limited attendance model.

Josh Cherfoli:

Because we we still are trying to honor the the idea that

Josh Cherfoli:

there's some uncomfortableness, if you will, I don't even have a

Josh Cherfoli:

word, but we'll go with it. That that people, you know, maybe

Josh Cherfoli:

don't want to be shoulder to shoulder with a ton of people

Josh Cherfoli:

still. And so we've been operating on this limited

Josh Cherfoli:

attendance model where we're trying to maximize that daily

Josh Cherfoli:

attendance, so that we can hit the revenue targets that we

Josh Cherfoli:

need, but also give enough of an experience that people are happy

Josh Cherfoli:

to still to come to the aquarium and can still see what they want

Josh Cherfoli:

to see. So when we look at like that booking pace throughout the

Josh Cherfoli:

day, we look at at at opportunities when we're trying

Josh Cherfoli:

to fill in the gaps. Like is there a spot at nine o'clock in

Josh Cherfoli:

the morning that maybe we could we can have a couple more

Josh Cherfoli:

tickets. Because you know, we have a deficiency and sales

Josh Cherfoli:

there and the buildings empty. Or maybe at the end of the day.

Josh Cherfoli:

As we get closer to close time we we look for those patterns

Josh Cherfoli:

and those purchasing either day to day or week over week. And

Josh Cherfoli:

sometimes we even look at it like I said, our to our to find

Josh Cherfoli:

where we can have optimizations to kind of move some of those

Josh Cherfoli:

needles, but that's that's really what we're tracking right

Josh Cherfoli:

now and how we measure and overall the the biggest metric

Josh Cherfoli:

of successes is people through the door and we've recovered,

Josh Cherfoli:

like I said, for some to some extent.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, fantastic. Well, congratulations on that.

Guy Powell:

That's, yeah, that's not an easy task. So are you actually taking

Guy Powell:

reservations for different time slots during the day is that is

Guy Powell:

out how you're doing that?

Josh Cherfoli:

Absolutely, we, when we, when we first reopened

Josh Cherfoli:

from the pandemic 100% of ticket sales were online through our

Josh Cherfoli:

website. So we kind of look at, or at least I do, I look at the

Josh Cherfoli:

website, Georgia aquarium.org. As an E commerce engine, it's an

Josh Cherfoli:

equal function for the for the aquarium. And it's, in when we

Josh Cherfoli:

reopened, we reopened with a very finite guidelines of how

Josh Cherfoli:

many people could be in the building. And so we built the

Josh Cherfoli:

tools in the back end, to push people into time slot

Josh Cherfoli:

reservations. And they were they were booked and bucketed so that

Josh Cherfoli:

we could really pace people through the building. As things

Josh Cherfoli:

started to open up, we've we've been able to expand the the

Josh Cherfoli:

range of times that are available, and then the number

Josh Cherfoli:

of time slots that we go, but to that exact question. Yes, when

Josh Cherfoli:

someone comes to the aquarium and they and they purchase their

Josh Cherfoli:

ticket, we asked them first When do they want to come which day

Josh Cherfoli:

of the week, and then we present them, after we know how many

Josh Cherfoli:

tickets they want, we present them with which time slot that

Josh Cherfoli:

they're going to be that they want to come into. And it's it's

Josh Cherfoli:

it's looking at real time inventory that we have

Josh Cherfoli:

available. So right now, it's whatever time it is, you can

Josh Cherfoli:

only look at time slots from this point forward. And if

Josh Cherfoli:

there's, if there's time slots at at lunchtime that are already

Josh Cherfoli:

full, you might have to be purchasing out at 3pm or

Josh Cherfoli:

something along those lines.

Guy Powell:

So how do you handle a walk up? Then if? Or do you

Guy Powell:

not allow any walk up? Random Walk up or whatever? Where do

Guy Powell:

you already adjust for that in your availability of the time

Guy Powell:

slots

Josh Cherfoli:

when so we so now we do allow we account for a

Josh Cherfoli:

walk up ticket sale through our kiosks. So we have onsite kiosks

Josh Cherfoli:

self service, kind of touchscreens, kiosks, the the

Josh Cherfoli:

inventory that's allocated to those kiosks is balanced with

Josh Cherfoli:

our online inventory. So we had some tickets to be able to

Josh Cherfoli:

accommodate it. But there's certainly an opportunity

Josh Cherfoli:

instance where someone were to walk up and expect to come in

Josh Cherfoli:

the building right now, there might not be a time slot for

Josh Cherfoli:

them. So they might see the next available time slot on that

Josh Cherfoli:

kiosk is an hour and into the future. So that's why we we

Josh Cherfoli:

we've been trying to still push people, for the best experience,

Josh Cherfoli:

you want to go to the website, so that way you can really plan

Josh Cherfoli:

your visit. But we know things change and you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

opportunities happen and someone might want to walk up. So we

Josh Cherfoli:

accommodate the walk up sale on that in that fashion. But it's

Josh Cherfoli:

it's a it's an interesting, I'm definitely not a mathematician.

Josh Cherfoli:

But it's an interesting, you know, math problem that we have

Josh Cherfoli:

in terms of how many do we allocate for the online within

Josh Cherfoli:

each time slot? And how many are set aside for the kiosks?

Guy Powell:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and that balance of the

Guy Powell:

two is gotta be pretty tough. And it's almost like you're, I

Guy Powell:

guess two things, one of them, it's now almost revenue

Guy Powell:

management kind of like booking tickets on a plane or in a

Guy Powell:

hotel, and not partially potentially over booking, you

Guy Powell:

know, or maybe not, but then being able to somehow

Guy Powell:

accommodate that. And then secondly, in your messaging, you

Guy Powell:

know, you don't want to have too many people showing up and being

Guy Powell:

totally disappointed and then not even coming want to come

Guy Powell:

back because, you know, I can't get a space there. So that it

Guy Powell:

had to have also changed your your your marketing messaging

Guy Powell:

and how you communicated that to the to your market.

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, I think that was a, you nailed it. And

Josh Cherfoli:

we really changed. When we first came out of you know, we may be

Josh Cherfoli:

backing up a moment, we were we were fortunate enough to to have

Josh Cherfoli:

our senior leadership team all on board with the idea that we

Josh Cherfoli:

can't pause marketing, we can't shut marketing down during the

Josh Cherfoli:

pandemic. And we were able to make that that widely understood

Josh Cherfoli:

throughout the building. If we were to do that, even though it

Josh Cherfoli:

might save us a couple of dollars, it would be disastrous

Josh Cherfoli:

in terms of our ability to try to recover from it. So having

Josh Cherfoli:

that messaging still ongoing through the pandemic, while we

Josh Cherfoli:

were closed, gave us the ability to start to push that narrative

Josh Cherfoli:

of in and that that understanding that book online,

Josh Cherfoli:

and only available online, gave us that ability to really direct

Josh Cherfoli:

people to that and start to set that expectation that your

Josh Cherfoli:

tickets are this is the best avenue avenue to get into the

Josh Cherfoli:

building. And we've not done that I I don't even want to

Josh Cherfoli:

think about what kind of position we'd be in it would be

Josh Cherfoli:

pretty

Guy Powell:

Yeah, well too and also to advertise when you're

Guy Powell:

closed or during the time that you're closed with an uncertain

Guy Powell:

open data even. That's, that is that's really tough to end

Guy Powell:

especially when you got no revenue coming in and yet you're

Guy Powell:

you're sending money out the door on something that is so

Guy Powell:

uncertain Moving forward, man good, good for your leadership

Guy Powell:

team that they that they really saw the value in that. Yeah, I

Josh Cherfoli:

was really, really happy that that everybody

Josh Cherfoli:

was on board with that because you're right. It was it would

Josh Cherfoli:

have been would have been in bet in in bad in a bad place for

Josh Cherfoli:

sure.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm a data guy. So I got to ask

Guy Powell:

some questions about data. So so what did your so how did your

Guy Powell:

data and your marketing data and that change as you move from

Guy Powell:

your mid COVID, and now into hopefully, hopefully in the post

Guy Powell:

COVID.

Josh Cherfoli:

So we, I guess, from a data standpoint, the we

Josh Cherfoli:

still have the same the same data sets, if you will. And we

Josh Cherfoli:

went to kind of just from an evaluation or an understanding

Josh Cherfoli:

of what we were looking at, we went from, what we would

Josh Cherfoli:

typically be looking at is, is that year over year data, and we

Josh Cherfoli:

were starting to look at just day over day data. So instead of

Josh Cherfoli:

saying, you know, how did I compare to last year, which is

Josh Cherfoli:

what we would have always done. It was an irrelevant discussion.

Josh Cherfoli:

So we so we move that evaluation perspective, to that day over

Josh Cherfoli:

day, and as long as we were continuing to look at that day

Josh Cherfoli:

over day, where are we improving each day. And then we were able

Josh Cherfoli:

to stretch that from from a day to day to a day to Week, a week

Josh Cherfoli:

to week, month to month. And as we started to get more traction

Josh Cherfoli:

in there. We, every time we move the needle incrementally up in

Josh Cherfoli:

terms of our conversion rates, and our click through rates and

Josh Cherfoli:

our you know, total visits, all of the digital metrics that are

Josh Cherfoli:

coming through that ecommerce engine, we're able to continue

Josh Cherfoli:

to refine and optimize the tool to say, if you know, let's look

Josh Cherfoli:

at where the button placement is, let's refine that user flow

Josh Cherfoli:

in terms of how people are navigating through that shopping

Josh Cherfoli:

cart in that purchasing process. So looking for all of those

Josh Cherfoli:

incremental optimizations, as that data was telling us, let's

Josh Cherfoli:

move this forward, let's move this forward. And our benchmark

Josh Cherfoli:

was are we doing better than the day before? are we continuing to

Josh Cherfoli:

do better than we did? And now we're at the point in time where

Josh Cherfoli:

we've we've come through all of that cycle, and I can now look

Josh Cherfoli:

at go back to kind of that year over year comparison, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

so is this April is whatever day we're in? Yeah, yeah, this day,

Josh Cherfoli:

consistent with the same timeframe last year. And so now

Josh Cherfoli:

we're back to that let's look for broader, broader tactics and

Josh Cherfoli:

broader anonim anomalies, if you will.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, that's interesting. And I would

Guy Powell:

imagine, you know, and I was thinking about this, as you're

Guy Powell:

talking, that, you know, when you're saying day over day over

Guy Powell:

day, you know, you have weekends versus weekdays. And, and I two

Guy Powell:

things, I guess one is, is being you know, fully where you all

Guy Powell:

your reservations are booked on the weekends, but may not be on

Guy Powell:

the weekdays. And I don't know if that's the case or not, but

Guy Powell:

then looking day over day, as you also have to look at not

Guy Powell:

only day over day, but then the week, the week comparables and

Guy Powell:

then also adjusting for holidays, and things like that,

Guy Powell:

because they fall on different days.

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, all? Absolutely. All of all of those

Josh Cherfoli:

aspects are part of that evaluation criteria. And, and

Josh Cherfoli:

when does you know, does Easter fall on a certain day of the

Josh Cherfoli:

week? Where does it fall in the mix compared to a spring break?

Josh Cherfoli:

timeframe, you know, Fourth of July, all of those holidays move

Josh Cherfoli:

throughout the day. So it, it becomes a challenge of where are

Josh Cherfoli:

we putting the resources to book ourselves in and, you know, we

Josh Cherfoli:

were, we were really, really excited when we started to see

Josh Cherfoli:

sold out days. You know, so we had when we started to reopen,

Josh Cherfoli:

we were sold out on the weekends, right? You know, there

Josh Cherfoli:

was no more tickets available, which, you know, a pessimist

Josh Cherfoli:

might tell us, well, you should have sold more tickets, you left

Josh Cherfoli:

you left revenue on the table. But you know, that I back to

Josh Cherfoli:

that customer experience concept of it was the right decision to

Josh Cherfoli:

limit that so that the experience was beneficial. And

Josh Cherfoli:

letting people run through that. And then back to, you know, kind

Josh Cherfoli:

of the data, what are the customer expectations and what's

Josh Cherfoli:

resonating with the customer, we have a really great feedback

Josh Cherfoli:

loop that we get from our customers. And we look at that

Josh Cherfoli:

on a daily basis. What is our, you know, our net promoter

Josh Cherfoli:

score? Where are we? Where are we resonating with individual

Josh Cherfoli:

customers? Are they giving us five star reviews? Are they

Josh Cherfoli:

giving us one star reviews? What aspect of that review? Do we

Josh Cherfoli:

need to focus in on was it you know, I couldn't find a

Josh Cherfoli:

bathroom. I couldn't find you know, the parking was, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

any number of issues. We see that on a daily basis and then

Josh Cherfoli:

we can go back in and address where we can so balancing that

Josh Cherfoli:

act of What does the attendance look like? What does the revenue

Josh Cherfoli:

look like? How are we converting people? How are we moving people

Josh Cherfoli:

forward? And then how does that balance with the customer

Josh Cherfoli:

experience and boxing that all together is a really critical

Josh Cherfoli:

piece for us?

Guy Powell:

Well, and then you're right. And you know that

Guy Powell:

that balancing of experience versus your marketing strategy

Guy Powell:

and your communications. And, you know, I really liked that

Guy Powell:

you spent the time while you were close to start to set those

Guy Powell:

expectations. And, you know, to really move to a reservation

Guy Powell:

base versus just a walk up a random walk up based and, and

Guy Powell:

that really, you know, that's, that's a big change. And, you

Guy Powell:

know, kudos to you that you got it sounds like you really got it

Guy Powell:

right. And it's really, really functioning very well.

Josh Cherfoli:

I'm not gonna take anything for granted, but

Josh Cherfoli:

we were Yeah, we're in a good spot right now. And I would

Josh Cherfoli:

never say that we got it. We got it, right. Because we're

Josh Cherfoli:

continuing to, to optimize, but we're in a really good spot.

Josh Cherfoli:

We're in a good spot where? Rat, so?

Guy Powell:

Yeah, yeah,

Josh Cherfoli:

I'm a little superstitious guy.

Guy Powell:

So, okay, so you didn't do a good job, but you're

Guy Powell:

always improving. Alright, I'll take that continual improvement

Guy Powell:

as part of measurement. So fantastic. Yeah. So how about

Guy Powell:

your marketing ROI? How have you seen that recover, and, you

Guy Powell:

know, now as you're actually getting revenue, and you can tie

Guy Powell:

it to your, to your media and your media activities, how are

Guy Powell:

things going that way?

Josh Cherfoli:

All of the all the metrics that we're seeing

Josh Cherfoli:

from our advertising, and our and our, our paid our paid

Josh Cherfoli:

engagements, you know, our display banner search, all of

Josh Cherfoli:

those, we have an extremely positive ROI on it. And, and

Josh Cherfoli:

we've been, I think part of that really comes back to we set we

Josh Cherfoli:

set that stage for ourselves to be successful by having people

Josh Cherfoli:

engage with our web content, and then priming ourselves to be

Josh Cherfoli:

able to do remarketing activities back out to them post

Josh Cherfoli:

engagement, have they visited the website, did they look at

Josh Cherfoli:

the webcams, and then really setting an expectation for

Josh Cherfoli:

people. So the engagement with the aquarium wasn't a surprise

Josh Cherfoli:

for us or for them. And so it made it, it made it a lot easier

Josh Cherfoli:

for us to have that secondary contact and that and that

Josh Cherfoli:

remarketing effort with them. So yeah, we've been seeing great,

Josh Cherfoli:

great row as great ROI on on all of our marketing efforts. And

Josh Cherfoli:

even to the idea that we were really almost 100% Digital in

Josh Cherfoli:

terms of our ad space where we were only display and only

Josh Cherfoli:

search with the exception of our, our Autohome engagements,

Josh Cherfoli:

the billboards, and into the idea that TV and and video and

Josh Cherfoli:

radio still works for so we so we're looking at that as a

Josh Cherfoli:

holistic set, in terms of our pure marketing message is that

Josh Cherfoli:

all of those activities work together to reach and resonate

Josh Cherfoli:

with a consumer. So you know, in the past where we were able to

Josh Cherfoli:

say we're 100% digital, and it's, it's a great thing. I

Josh Cherfoli:

can't say we're 100% Digital anymore, but we we've we've

Josh Cherfoli:

added the elements to the to the marketing mix, to give us that

Josh Cherfoli:

additional presence, and and let people see like, you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

seeing aspects of the aquarium on your TV from your living

Josh Cherfoli:

room. It may be giving you that moment of pause while you're

Josh Cherfoli:

seeing all of the other advertising in news products and

Josh Cherfoli:

things that are on the TV, maybe there's a moment of solace. And

Josh Cherfoli:

there's a moment of real that happens when people kind of see

Josh Cherfoli:

our ad on the TV.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, yeah. Well, and there's no question that

Guy Powell:

balancing, I mean, even balancing the digital media

Guy Powell:

platforms amongst themselves, but balancing them the

Guy Powell:

traditional and the and the digital is, is definitely a

Guy Powell:

challenge. And that's that's one of the things that we try and

Guy Powell:

you know, help our clients with because there's clearly

Guy Powell:

interplay between the traditional overlaid over the

Guy Powell:

digital and then, you know, the top of the funnel digital versus

Guy Powell:

the bottom of the funnel digital. So, yeah, that's,

Guy Powell:

that's definitely an area of good topic anyway.

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, it's it's definitely one that you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

it's some some folks might say it's, you know, it's kind of

Josh Cherfoli:

marketing one on one kind of things, but you, you put your

Josh Cherfoli:

message out there, where the consumers are going to be

Josh Cherfoli:

wanting to see it right or where your consumers are engaged in

Josh Cherfoli:

it. So let's take that opportunity to engage them and

Josh Cherfoli:

we know that there's plenty of people who are you know, who are

Josh Cherfoli:

on the internet and using webs web content, we can be available

Josh Cherfoli:

to them searches is absolutely like, you know, table stakes,

Josh Cherfoli:

right like we're there. But let's give them the ability you

Josh Cherfoli:

know, if they're their streaming services, we can be on those

Josh Cherfoli:

streaming services, we can be on mobile, we can be on desktop, we

Josh Cherfoli:

can be on Uh, you know, that large, you know, you probably

Josh Cherfoli:

got a 90 inch, you know, my, you know, TV screen and your family

Josh Cherfoli:

room like all sorts of good stuff. So we want it

Guy Powell:

on my desk here. This is my monitor on my desk.

Guy Powell:

It's a good space, though. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know that

Guy Powell:

one thing too, it's interesting, you know, you talk about search,

Guy Powell:

searches, search is a tricky beast, because it's, it's kind

Guy Powell:

of the response mechanism. It's a dependent kind of a media

Guy Powell:

channel. You know, and I was, we were just talking about this

Guy Powell:

with one of our other clients, you've got kind of people that

Guy Powell:

just go to search, because they want to have something to do.

Guy Powell:

And then you have people that are triggered to go to search

Guy Powell:

based on advertising. And that advertising could be you, or it

Guy Powell:

could be somebody else. And then they go to search. And then the

Guy Powell:

problem is now you got, you know, three or four different

Guy Powell:

options there in terms of in terms of being paid search for

Guy Powell:

us, or paid search for the competition, organic search for

Guy Powell:

us, and then organic search for the competition. And to get that

Guy Powell:

balance. Right is I think it's I don't I don't think too many

Guy Powell:

companies have actually been able to really do that very

Guy Powell:

successfully.

Josh Cherfoli:

Yeah, it is, it is a balancing act, for sure.

Josh Cherfoli:

And I think you started to allude to it, it's, there's a

Josh Cherfoli:

lot of art, that balance is that science of where, you know, what

Josh Cherfoli:

is the right spin level, and what is the right right

Josh Cherfoli:

messaging to be able to make sure that those algorithms are

Josh Cherfoli:

pushing your content higher up and in the, you know, in the

Josh Cherfoli:

surgery, because without that, you know, you're paying, you're

Josh Cherfoli:

paying way too much money to try to get yourself at the top of

Josh Cherfoli:

the list, when I can balance organic and paid on that same

Josh Cherfoli:

search results page, and probably drive even more

Josh Cherfoli:

effective traffic, because if it's an organic result, you

Josh Cherfoli:

know, are people now trained to kind of skip through the ad

Josh Cherfoli:

content and look for the organic result. So let's make sure that

Josh Cherfoli:

the site itself is is optimized, and is is pinging on all those

Josh Cherfoli:

keywords. And we've got, we've got a really fortunate

Josh Cherfoli:

experience with the website, because we have so much

Josh Cherfoli:

scientific content, we have animal guides for every one of

Josh Cherfoli:

the animals that are on the on the on the page or on the

Josh Cherfoli:

website. So we have that ability for somebody who is just

Josh Cherfoli:

searching, you know, if they typed in the scientific name for

Josh Cherfoli:

whaleshark. I'm, I'm hoping that our page shows up near the top

Josh Cherfoli:

of the list, you know, so if it's a kid doing a research

Josh Cherfoli:

project for school, or somebody who's just fascinated with whale

Josh Cherfoli:

sharks, I want the Georgia Aquariums whale shark page to be

Josh Cherfoli:

at the top of the list, and then drive them into an experience is

Josh Cherfoli:

going to be more fulfilling than just I did my research, but I

Josh Cherfoli:

can now understand what the aquarium is doing for research

Josh Cherfoli:

and conservation and to support the animals and to support those

Josh Cherfoli:

whale sharks. So we really start to paint that big picture for

Josh Cherfoli:

people from that, you know, that

Guy Powell:

simple search term? Yeah, absolutely. And that

Guy Powell:

that's kind of like more on the brand, as opposed to in building

Guy Powell:

the brand and the brand equity as opposed to, you know, trying

Guy Powell:

to get people to move down the funnel and convert today. So

Guy Powell:

very, very, very interesting. Yeah,

Josh Cherfoli:

that's it, it is an interesting, and I think, you

Josh Cherfoli:

know, it's, it's a tricky conversation to have from, from

Josh Cherfoli:

an ad standpoint to say, you know, if we're measuring an ROI,

Josh Cherfoli:

or an or a row as type of an experience, it's okay to just

Josh Cherfoli:

let people engage in your content, you know, and not have

Josh Cherfoli:

to have that transaction happen. So, you know, if, you know, if

Josh Cherfoli:

we're seeing conversion rates, which are, which are fantastic

Josh Cherfoli:

for us. Could they be better? Of course, but is it working for

Josh Cherfoli:

us? Because Are we fulfilling other needs in terms of research

Josh Cherfoli:

and education? And just that brand promise? Are we building a

Josh Cherfoli:

brand? While we're creating that experience for people?

Guy Powell:

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So well, let me

Guy Powell:

change this topic here real quick. And then we'll close out.

Guy Powell:

You are a part time marketing instructor tell us about that.

Josh Cherfoli:

Ah, yes. Yeah, I don't know what got in my head

Josh Cherfoli:

that I was like, I think I could do this. I think I wanted to be

Josh Cherfoli:

one of those cool professors that had the sleeves. Yeah. Walk

Josh Cherfoli:

around campus with a pipe or something. But But yeah, I

Josh Cherfoli:

thought it would be a fun thing to kind of do and so I you know,

Josh Cherfoli:

every once in a while I'll dabble in doing some part time

Josh Cherfoli:

marketing instruction. And it's a it's it's interesting to kind

Josh Cherfoli:

of hear from students in in kind of demonstrate the work that we

Josh Cherfoli:

can do and how all of that textbook stuff that that people

Josh Cherfoli:

are seeing really comes to life in terms of, you know, the real

Josh Cherfoli:

world what we're doing at Georgia Aquarium, how that

Josh Cherfoli:

relates to the the concepts that are being taught in, in in the

Josh Cherfoli:

coursework, so bringing that you know, that real life example to

Josh Cherfoli:

Due to a conversation, you know, if I have 30 students on a zoom

Josh Cherfoli:

call, I can bring that real life example from either my current

Josh Cherfoli:

experiences or past experiences and, and really just make it

Josh Cherfoli:

bring it to life for people and they understand, you know, real

Josh Cherfoli:

world examples, as opposed to, you know, a case study that

Josh Cherfoli:

might or might not be, you know, in that in that textbook?

Guy Powell:

Yeah, absolutely I do. I'm kind of like you, I do

Guy Powell:

some teaching over at Emory once a semester for like, three

Guy Powell:

different classes one day, and, and one of the things that that

Guy Powell:

my friend who is the professor of that, of that course, one of

Guy Powell:

the things that we do is that we are, we're not only bringing the

Guy Powell:

experiential side and a real life case study, but we're also

Guy Powell:

bringing the most modern, or as close to the most modern

Guy Powell:

techniques or whatever that are out there. As opposed to, and

Guy Powell:

nothing wrong with the professor, I mean, there, you

Guy Powell:

can read a lot, but it's not the same as actually doing and then

Guy Powell:

explaining it. So it, you know, it does offer a whole lot more

Guy Powell:

value to the, to the students to get that online life, you know,

Guy Powell:

real life kind of experience.

Josh Cherfoli:

I agree. 100%, like that is, you know, that

Josh Cherfoli:

real life experience and being able to connect the dots, you

Josh Cherfoli:

can almost sometimes, you know, feel that light bulb moment

Josh Cherfoli:

where it can you know, it, it crosses over all the right

Josh Cherfoli:

synapses, and it's there for the students and it and it goes off,

Josh Cherfoli:

and then selfishly, to, it helps, I think I don't maybe you

Josh Cherfoli:

share the similar experience guy, but it helps me kind of put

Josh Cherfoli:

all the right pieces in place. Because if, if I can explain it

Josh Cherfoli:

to in a way that now clicks with with a student, then that means

Josh Cherfoli:

that I've I've got it locked in, and then how can we continue to

Josh Cherfoli:

move it forward? So I think it helps me continue to grow as a

Josh Cherfoli:

marketer as well. And, and understand, you know, what are

Josh Cherfoli:

the what are the challenges that they're seeing? Or what is what

Josh Cherfoli:

is their experiences and kind of coming into this? Because I, I

Josh Cherfoli:

will never say that I've got all the answers. But I can I can

Josh Cherfoli:

connect some of those real and relevant experiences to the back

Josh Cherfoli:

in there.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, I agree. 100%. And even when I'm putting the

Guy Powell:

slides together, and or updating the slides, or whatever, I

Guy Powell:

realized, ah, you know, that's I that's how you explain this. And

Guy Powell:

then you get in there, and you're actually talking about

Guy Powell:

it, then you go, another aha moment comes up where that you

Guy Powell:

got no, I should have explained it that way. And it would have

Guy Powell:

been, you know, that just that much more clear. Yeah, I

Josh Cherfoli:

think that, you know, it's, it's, it might be

Josh Cherfoli:

cliche, but I think there is instances where I'm, I'm

Josh Cherfoli:

learning more from the students, and from being part of that

Josh Cherfoli:

bigger dialogue, then than I that I'm probably in providing

Josh Cherfoli:

into the dialogue. And so I you know, that's, that was a, you

Josh Cherfoli:

know, a really interesting, kind of a happy accident, if you

Josh Cherfoli:

will, is it kind of comes out of that comes out of that dialogue.

Guy Powell:

Yeah, absolutely. No, and I definitely agree with

Guy Powell:

that. And I've definitely seen that, and I used to do a lot of

Guy Powell:

teaching and a lot more, and it really does get you to be able

Guy Powell:

to explain things so much better. So well, is there

Guy Powell:

anything else that we left off that you'd like to mention, or?

Josh Cherfoli:

I mean, we could talk about, we can talk about

Josh Cherfoli:

beer, wine. I, I can't think of anything, anything else that

Josh Cherfoli:

this kind of hanging out there that we didn't, that we didn't

Josh Cherfoli:

address, but I'm I'm game if you've got other questions or

Josh Cherfoli:

other other thoughts you want to hit?

Guy Powell:

No, I think that's, that's it, we're about out of

Guy Powell:

time. And I hate to say it, I could probably go on for another

Guy Powell:

hour because I can, you know, it's so hard to you know, get

Guy Powell:

into it to limit the topic and then be able to cover you know,

Guy Powell:

a certain level of versus the depth that you can go into, but

Guy Powell:

anyway, yeah. So Well, thank you so much. And, and really, the,

Guy Powell:

you know, Georgia Aquarium is such a, such a venue and then to

Guy Powell:

like for you to be able to be part of the marketing it's, you

Guy Powell:

know, as you mentioned, that must be really exciting and and

Guy Powell:

exciting for your kids. So

Josh Cherfoli:

it's it's, it's a it's a true honor to be able to

Josh Cherfoli:

be part of the team for such an amazing brand. And I've been

Josh Cherfoli:

I've been blessed and fortunate to work for amazing companies

Josh Cherfoli:

over the course of my career. So it's, it's, it's an honor and

Josh Cherfoli:

then just you have the ability to talk to talk to you and this

Josh Cherfoli:

forum guy like it's, it's been fantastic. So I appreciate you,

Josh Cherfoli:

you know, making some time for me to just kind of have this

Josh Cherfoli:

conversation has been fantastic. Yeah,

Guy Powell:

thank you. Well, thank you so much for that and

Guy Powell:

thank you for participating and with that, then let me close out

Guy Powell:

so for everybody please stay tuned for many other videos in

Guy Powell:

this series of the backstory on marketing. Please do is a

Guy Powell:

marketing machine dot pro relevant.com to download the

Guy Powell:

first chapter of my book and other valuable excerpts, and if

Guy Powell:

you get a chance, please also rate the podcast with five

Guy Powell:

stars. And definitely go to Georgia aquarium.org and see all

Guy Powell:

the really really cool stuff that is out there at Georgia

Guy Powell:

Aquarium. Thank you so much, Josh. Thank you. Thanks, guy.

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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

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