Leaders of Change: Tony Long

TONY LONG is a Marketing Technology innovator with over 20 years of global leadership of initiatives that combine marketing, technology and commerce. Prior to joining Kimberly-Clark, Tony served in both technical and marketing leadership roles in several prominent digital agencies, as well as leading consumer brands. He is a frequent keynote speaker on digital commerce globally, writes a column for “Ecommerce Brasil” magazine entitled “Future Shopping,” and edits a publication on Medium.com of the same name. 

Tony is married with 3 kids and plays bass and keyboards for Samson The Aviator.

Why did you choose to pursue eCommerce in your career? I didn’t choose it, it chose me. Not being flip.

What is your biggest strength, and how have you used it for your success in eCommerce? One of my former work associates used to refer to me as “The Geek Whisperer” because – for some reason – I am able to translate complex technical issues to marketers, and marketing concepts and approaches back to IT folks. This matters greatly in eCommerce because eCommerce really is a behavior pattern that is governed by technology.

What is the weirdest skill or talent to come in handy in your eCommerce experience? For whatever reason, I love the evolving role of eCommerce in business and life, so I maintain a strangely high level of enthusiasm for the pursuit.

How have you most successfully influenced change within your organization (or with your clients)? Helping our marketers understand how mobile has completely taken over the lives of our consumers, and what that means for building brands.

What was your most “valuable” career failure, and why? Without getting into too many details, when I was in the toy business, I was trying to make a new product that involved, basically, mixing something oil-based with something water-based. It worked great for the demo using a kitchen blender, but it cannot happen in a commercial blender because oil and water don’t mix. The lesson: something that works well in a pilot may not be able to scale up.  

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior or habit has most improved your life? eCommerce as a pursuit is highly dynamic. Everything changes and evolves in the space of a year or less. Thus, it has trained me to never stop asking questions. No matter how much I think I understand something, keep asking questions.

What are you learning right now?

A. Consumer behavior patterns relating to mobile devices and commerce

B. The basslines to “By The Way” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Roundabout” by Yes

What are the 1-3 songs that would make up your career soundtrack today?

• Once In A Lifetime by the Talking Heads: “And you may ask yourself, how did I get here?” I genuinely have no idea how I have fallen into my career, it happened completely organically.

What are the 1-3 books you’ve gifted the most or that have greatly influenced your life, and why?

• Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman: I usually give this one because it gets to the heart of how we operate as sentient beings, which is really the starting point for so many endeavors.
• I have also been known to gift a subscription to The Business of Fashion (not cheap) because there is so much good information there that applies way beyond just the fashion industry,

If you could have a gigantic billboard for the world to see with anything on it, what would it say, and why? "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." - Marx Brothers

Why? Why not!

What are the worst recommendations or advice you have heard related to eCommerce? “eCommerce is less than 10% of our revenue.” If you believe this, you’re dead in the water. eCommerce is 100% of your revenue, because eCommerce tools drive consumer consideration nearly 100% of the time. It’s a less-profitable business, because the efficiencies of dealing with individual consumers aren’t there yet. But you still need to fully support it, because consumers have embraced it.

What advice would you give to a future leader of change about to enter business, or specifically the eCommerce field?

A. Don’t assume you’re the smartest person in the room. If you discover that you are, then go find a different room.

B. Keep your eyes on the consumer and take note of what they do -- that’s the way forward.

What specific, industry-related change do you believe will happen that few others seem to see? The shopping cart and product detail page will effectively disappear as we know them. These steps in the process will become folded into devices and integrated into apps and media. 

What is the last thing you bought online, and why? Bass and guitar strings – because I know exactly what I want so there’s no need to visit my local music store. But for guitars and effects pedals and things I need to hear first, I definitely go in-person.

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Leaders of Change is a weekly interview series featuring select industry pioneers who are driving the evolution of commerce, the consumer and everything in between. If you would like to recommend a Leader of Change for consideration, please reach out to me on LinkedIn.