The Evolution of Digital Marketing: Justin Hayashi's Journey

Before founding New Engen, Justin Hayashi helped e-commerce giant Zulily achieve remarkable success through his mastery of performance marketing. By leveraging creativity and data, Zulily reached $1 billion in revenue under his leadership.?

Justin then ventured out on his own after Zulily's acquisition, offering his services pro bono to various CEOs. His expertise proved valuable, and within six months several clients had signed on, giving birth to New Engen.

Justin reflects on how marketing has evolved since Zulily. Modern tools automate tasks like content formatting, while AI and data provide insights into reaching audiences like Gen Z.?

Building trust through reliability and having partners' interests in mind is also vital. At New Engen, human capital ensures quality client services through an ethos of authenticity.?

Justin explains their long-term focus contrasts a short-sighted transactional approach. Prioritizing relationships over quick wins has proven sustainable through word-of-mouth and exceeding expectations.?

Justin's journey displays how performance-driven creativity and putting clients first can achieve growth, even as digital marketing undergoes constant change.

Justin saw a gap in the market for the expertise he had developed at Zulily. During his transitional phase, rather than joining another company, he offered his marketing services for free to various CEOs and founders. The deal was simple: if after six months they found value in his services, they would become his clients, and thus New Engen was born.

The Philosophy of Performance Marketing

New Engen's approach was rooted in what is now known as performance marketing, which was then seen as just smart customer acquisition in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce space. Justin emphasized the importance of agility, data analysis, and real-time adjustments in driving growth, as well as the synergy of media analytics and creative content.

Breakthroughs and Success Stories

When asked about New Engen's success in finding breakthroughs for companies, Justin shared two compelling stories:

The Cosmetics Company Case

The first breakthrough came with a small cosmetics company based in Seattle. At the time, they were a small-scale business struggling to find growth through Shopify. New Engen stepped in with a technological approach, employing algorithms and tools to optimize media management efficiently. The real game-changer was creative testing, particularly an ad that featured a gif of an eye with changing eyeliner colors, which significantly increased the company's revenue.

1-800-Flowers.com

Another significant client of New Engen is the well-known 1-800-Flowers.com, which also owns several other brands. When New Engen began working with them in 2018, they were a billion-dollar company, and within four years, they had more than doubled their revenue. Justin is careful not to claim full credit, acknowledging product innovation and supply chain management as key factors. However, New Engen's role was undeniable, particularly when they outperformed a holding company agency in a head-to-head contest for half the country's market. The results? Enhanced ROI and revenue driven by New Engen's savvy use of technology and expert marketing acumen.

The Symbiosis of Creativity and Data at Zulily

Justin Hayashi’s tenure at Zulily, a flash deal company known for its ever-changing product lineup, serves as a telling example of marrying creativity with data. At Zulily, the need for fresh creative content was a daily demand due to the rapid turnover of products. This dynamic environment highlighted the necessity for data to inform creative decisions, as advertising effectiveness was directly tied to product availability and customer interactions.

During those days, Zulily leveraged a free software to create compelling product visuals, an early form of what is now known as dynamic product ads. This approach was labor-intensive, with a dedicated team working tirelessly to produce content that resonated with the audience while aligning with inventory availability.

The Evolution of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing has come a long way since Justin’s days at Zulily. Modern algorithms and automation have significantly reduced the manual labor once required. Justin emphasizes the exciting developments in generative AI and the new capabilities offered by advertising platforms. These advancements allow for the automatic reformatting of ads to maximize efficiency, shifting the marketer's focus from performance-based asset creation to audience persona-based creative concepts.

One of the key trends Justin notes is the focus on acquiring Gen Z customers, necessitating a deep understanding of the content they consume and how they prefer to be communicated with. Data remains a pivotal tool in this process, offering insights into which creative concepts resonate with different audiences, including the elusive Gen Z demographic.

Building Trust in Business Partnerships

In the realm of business partnerships, Justin stresses the importance of building trust, referencing a framework supported by research: demonstrating capability, reliability, and having the partner's best interests at heart. At New Engen, where Justin works, the focus is on human capital, and trust within the company ensures the delivery of quality service to clients.

Justin candidly shares his introverted nature, preferring substance over flashiness. This trait steers New Engen towards an ethos of authenticity and integrity, where promises made are promises kept, even if it means adjusting contracts to the detriment of immediate business interests.

Long-Term Relationships Over Short-Term Gains

New Engen's success, Justin explains, is built on long-term relationships rather than short-term gains. The company adjusts its services to meet clients' evolving needs, recognizing that circumstances like team turnover and strategic shifts can render initial agreements obsolete.

This approach may seem counterintuitive in a transactional business world, but for New Engen, it’s about playing the long game. Their referral-based business model thrives on positive word-of-mouth and the reputation of exceeding client expectations, underscoring the philosophy that doing right by the customer ultimately leads to sustained success.

Through a merger with Acorn Influence, an influencer marketing company boasting a network of over 25,000 creators, New Engen is now strengthened with a new capability. Acorn Influence has carved out a niche for itself by partnering with an impressive roster of enterprise consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, including household names like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble. The company specializes in marrying brand awareness with tangible sales results, a crucial balance for maintaining robust retailer relationships with giants such as Walmart and Target.

In our conversation, Justin highlighted Acorn Influence's agility and innovative approach in the influencer space. A recent innovation that has seen significant traction is their product, Canopy. This platform leverages the combined prowess of influential technology providers and solutions to drive sales at the retailer level. Canopy strategically uses influencer content, targets audiences using Walmart's first-party data, and measures the efficacy of ad spend through closed-loop measurement, offering precise insights into return on investment.

As Justin explained, influencer content is not only about creating brand awareness but also about maximizing opportunities for brands across various platforms. This content resonates with audiences who are increasingly influenced by the "endless scroll" of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Acorn Influence ensures that this content transcends the confines of mobile phones, reaching consumers across different screen sizes and media formats.

During the podcast, I also shared my insights on retail media networks, a key element in the modern marketing mix. These networks allow retailers like Walmart to offer advertising and marketing on their assets - from websites and apps to in-store displays and self-checkouts. Justin expanded on this by discussing Walmart's partnership with Trade Desk, which facilitates a sophisticated platform for suppliers to direct consumers back to Walmart for their purchases through social media.

Walmart's collaboration with Trade Desk is a testament to its commitment to an omni-channel strategy, which is all about providing consumers with a seamless shopping experience, whether they're in-store, online, or even receiving deliveries via drone, as I've personally experienced and shared.