November 2017CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8Evolution of the Role of Marketing LeaderMy career has always been focused on one aspect: to advocate the voice of the consumers. Starting off in sales at MasterCard, the major goal was to think out of the box to potentially add value to partners we were collaborating with. Brainstorming on consumer-inspired ideas was still a crucial part of the role. This involved moving beyond a demographic understanding of the consumer's true identities and sketching out personas of them from a psychographic stand-point pertaining to their psychological attributes. As the CMO of National Geographic, my involvement further included packaging those insights to on-field workers and partners. Despite the differences, a deep-rooted human understanding is still of utmost priority.Lessons Learnt from the ExperienceThe most exciting lesson learnt was reverberated by the brilliance of the `Priceless' campaign. Despite being with the sales team at the time, their take on addressing deep human insight was palpable. The valuable insight from this experience pertained to the significance of visions involved in building a brand. Priceless focused on preference of experiences over things, which for a payment company--that generates income solely off of the purchase of things--is intrepid. This bold movement resonated with the consumers globally. Their tagline, "Some things that money cannot buy" was a major turning point when it came to connecting with consumers on a personal level. It was first launched 20 years ago and MasterCard was among the first brands to talk about the power of experience. At National Geographic, there is a natural evolution from experiences to explorations based on the belief that there is an explorer in each one of us. This insight is being honed over, considering consumer trends are leaning toward this tendency. For instance, many consumers are buying smaller apartments and cheaper cars so that they can invest in exploring the world and experiencing different cultures. Leveraging Experience for the Current RoleUnderstanding the importance of the brand was an integral part of my learning experience at MasterCard. A major part of the experience had to do with Priceless: JILL CRESS, CMO-EVP, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERSNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCESIN MYVIEWJill Cress
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