Vokal

Creativity is an untapped source of revenue for the modern C-suite. Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with some really seasoned marketing people to discuss the current state of brand communications. Topics included the challenges of CMO tenure, untapped creative opportunities, and how the next generation of creatives need to consider everything on the table as a brand goes to market. Thanks to John Park for moderating, and my fellow panelists, Ladd Martin and Adam Chasnow for their great insights.

In week 2 at my Organizing for Innovation class for the Master of Engineering Management at Northwestern University, we spent a lot of time on 0 to 1, the tools available to run small scale trials and Reid Lappin from Vokal came to speak about working with legacy industrial companies seeking to take on a digital transformation. Great discussion!

As Vokal has grown over the past few years, we’ve focused heavily on mid-market legacy brands and giving these organizations digital capabilities. Here is what we’ve focused on: → Digital Strategy → Campaign development → CRM → Growth and performance marketing → Social → Emerging culture → Paid strategy → Ecommerce and application development → Martech strategy and implementation → Data / analytics / AI → Marketing automations We’re able to give these brands a full-stack team & capabilities that’s 100% focused on ROI activities. It’s worked out really well, and we see the need continue to grow. Legacy brands have so many opportunities if they can execute with these capabilities.

The opportunity for mid-market brands is experience orchestration. Every touchpoint is an opportunity to make an impression, tell your story, and build a relationship. For mid-market brands, the key is to develop campaigns that: → Feel authentic and resonate on a personal level → Tap into the power of storytelling to showcase your brand's personality, values and purpose → Prioritize interactivity and co-creation, engaging customers in the creative process → Experience orchestration allows you to carry creative themes across every touchpoint.  Imagine a campaign where the story unfolds across channels: → A teaser video on social → A personalized email → An in-store activation → A post-purchase follow-up Each interaction builds on the last, deepening the connection. But pulling this off requires: → Close collaboration between marketing, creative, and other teams → Using data to ensure each touchpoint feels relevant and personalized → Measuring the impact on key metrics like engagement, conversion and loyalty For mid-market brands, the opportunity is to use creativity as a differentiator. To surprise and delight customers in ways the big players can't.

Brands that stand the test of time have an incredible opportunity in our digital economy. But having great products isn't enough anymore. Legacy brands need to embrace a modern digital strategy. There's a massive opportunity to unlock immediate value through digital channels and connect with customers. A few key areas to focus on: – Integrating digital into the overall brand and go-to-market strategy, not just as an add-on – Leveraging data and analytics to deeply understand customers – Bringing in digital native talent with playbooks from high-growth startups – Prioritizing agile execution, testing, and rapid iteration – Meeting customers where they are on social, marketplaces, DTC channels At Vokal, we're seeing this digital opportunity firsthand as we partner with mid-market and PE-backed brands to drive growth. These brands have loyal customers and amazing products. Now it's about embracing digital to take things to the next level. The brands that get this right will be the winners of tomorrow.