6 Questions for Inspirational Women in Marketing | Part 11 | Agency Feature
At Setup, we focus on amplifying the stories and voices of powerful trailblazers and thought leaders in the marketing space. Our Women in Marketing series and virtual women’s community “In this Dame and Age,” provides a space for marketing women to network and share their journeys.
This particular segment features advice and stories from marketing agency leaders at Response Media and Goods & Services.
Meet the agency leaders:
“Don’t be afraid to take risks, ask lots of questions, and keep learning.”
Q1: What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing?
Rainbow: In college, I wanted to work at a large advertising agency in NYC, but my first job was with a food broker where I was exposed to grocery and CPG marketing. I was fascinated by brand strategies used to market products to the grocery shopper.
When I started with Response Media, I became even more enamored by the industry as I was able to use my creative problem solving and analytical skills to develop audience targeting strategies as we planned direct mail campaigns.
Adams: My first job was in a broadcast post-production studio where I became a witness to creative storytelling. I fell in love with the storytelling process, and then realized that what we created needed to be relevant to our clients' customers and their business. Pairing the two became a perfect balance and has inspired me ever since.
Q2: What were pivotal moments in your career that contributed to your success?
Rainbow: I stepped out of my career for a few years when my youngest child was born. When I decided to go back into marketing, Response Media hired me as Direct Mail Account Executive. At the time, Response Media was P&G’s consumer acquisition agency, so digital media was a growing discipline at the agency.
I found myself asking questions and volunteering to help with various accounts because I found digital media more intriguing than direct mail. This really laid the foundation for the rest of my career, and, ultimately, led me to my role today as VP of Media and Campaign Management.
Adams: All the pivotal moments in my career seem to be related to taking a leap that I didn’t feel ready to take at the moment. Every single one of those leaps has led to incredible personal and professional growth and challenges that have helped prepare me for what’s next.
Q3: Who is someone that helped you on your current path to becoming a marketing leader?
“Becoming a parent has taught me extreme amounts of patience, empathy and creativity in solving complex problems.”
Rainbow: I have learned so much from everyone I’ve worked with over the years, from our company leaders, to my work peers and clients. Through the years, I have found the most challenging clients are the ones we learn the most from because they push us to be smarter and deliver better.
Adams: My six year old daughter, Sienna. Becoming a parent has taught me extreme amounts of patience, empathy and creativity in solving complex problems. All key ingredients to being a marketing and business leader.
Q4: Are there specific challenges you have faced as a woman in marketing, and how did you overcome them?
Rainbow: As I moved into more senior roles, I found myself being talked over or not heard when I answered questions or presented. I had to learn to find my voice by projecting it at the right times and by being more conscious with my word selection, so I was no longer questioned or overlooked. I frequently share these tips with junior members of my team as they begin to present more to clients.
Q5: What advice would you give to the next generation of women marketers?
Rainbow: Don’t be afraid to take risks, ask lots of questions, and keep learning.
Q6: What emerging marketing trend excites you?
Rainbow: With the threat of cookies going away, clients are investing in first party data collection.
Many of the campaigns we plan and execute achieve this objective, so we are always looking for new ways to make the data collection/registration process as frictionless as possible. We’ve done some interesting tests using conversational chat to collect registration information. We are seeing conversational chat as a way for consumers to sign up within banners or as a destination from an ad vs. a landing page.
I’m also excited to see how AR evolves and begins to become more of our everyday lives. I think there will be interesting ways to introduce consumers to new products using this technology.
Adams: Understanding and navigating marketing content in the virtual world [continually excites me]. I love the idea of unlimited realities in marketing (i.e. the Metaverse) via emerging next generation strategies and technologies.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Take risks + learn.
Be open to where your career will take you.
Empathy + creativity help solve problems.
Choose your words carefully to project confidence in group settings.
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Our latest virtual Women’s event was themed “Marketing for Good - Turning Passions into Action,” where marketing leaders discussed the internal and external benefits of cause-driven marketing. Attendees included Setup Agency partners as well as members from established Brands at Cox, FIS, FedEx, Great Clips, Kimberly-Clark, The Home Depot, and more.