Northwestern Mutual CMO Lee Hurley on the difference between 'storytelling' and 'storydoing'

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Northwestern Mutual CMO Lee Hurley wants to make financial planning feel approachable. As the financial services company’s chief marketer, Hurley knows one of the most important messages her marketing can convey is accessibility. 

The topic of personal finance is often associated with deprivation, she says, and talking about it with other people can provoke a fear of judgment. On top of that, many still don’t trust the financial industry after the 2008 economic crash.  

Much of the financial services company’s marketing aims to reposition that. Its 2017 “Spend Your Life Living” campaign emphasized that financial planning is not all about saving for retirement, it’s what enables you to feel good about spending smartly now.

Hurley has experience marketing brands that tap into some of the anxiety-provoking parts of our life: She spent nearly 13 years at Weight Watchers (now known as WW) earlier in her career.

“Authenticity and empathy are key when you are in the business of helping people manage emotions,” she says.

She wants Northwestern Mutual’s marketing to “flip” the idea that financial planning is “confusing, complex, slow, boring, dull.” In an effort to make the brand more relatable, much of its marketing focuses on the human aspect of personal finance: the advisor-client relationship. 

In the way you might consult a professional on weight loss or look to someone to help you spruce up your space, your financial advisor “is someone who you should have on speed dial.” 

While Northwestern Mutual ads have been inspired by client stories in the past, the first campaign under Hurley's watch as CMO featured clients sharing unscripted stories of how advisors had helped them during the pandemic. The “real people” approach is one many brands adopted during COVID, some out of necessity due to production restrictions (drafting their families and neighbors to serve as talent) and others in an effort to hit an appropriate tone for the moment.

A key priority of Hurley’s is reaching and engaging more women and underrepresented groups. But it’s not just about what the brand says, “it's how we then bring that to life all the way through.”

In 2020, Northwestern Mutual’s Future Ventures arm announced it would invest $20 million in startups founded by Black entrepreneurs. The year prior, it allocated $20 million to invest in female founded startups.

Brand activism is increasingly on consumers’ radars, and the pandemic has evoked a clear line between what she refers to as “storytelling” and “storydoing.” It’s a common complaint of consumers: brands that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. The stakes are higher for brands as people take stock of their lives, Hurley says: the “doing” is the difference.

“People want to align with brands who stand for the causes they care about, who are making an impact, who are standing up,” she says. “It's not just comment or have a point of view today, it's like, ‘You need to show it.’” Below, she shares more of her story.

1. What has had the most impact on your perspective as a marketer?

My insatiable curiosity and fascination with people have had a big impact on my perspective as a marketer. I was so passionate about understanding how people think, what motivates them and how people can overcome challenges that I ended up majoring in psychology. 

In my career, I’ve chosen to work for mission-driven companies focused on helping people live their best lives. My education helped me learn how to identify and solve problems connected to human behavior with empathy, something I found instrumental when helping people achieve successful outcomes in highly emotive categories like weight management and finance. Authenticity and empathy are key when you are in the business of helping people manage emotions around their weight and money.

2. What’s changed the most about your job as a marketer over the course of your career?

I believe our primary job as marketers is to drive business growth, and I don’t think that has changed.

What’s changed is the way we work in light of how rapidly and radically the world is changing around us — tech, societal, consumer, channels, industries, organizational. This requires a more dynamic, agile and integrated way of working across the company and with diverse teams who have their finger on the pulse of culture and are constantly expanding their skillset.

3. What’s the hardest part of a marketer’s job today? 

The hardest part today is breaking through and engaging your audience in an authentic and meaningful way. There are more ways to reach people than ever — more content for people to choose from, more consumer control and higher expectations; and people’s attention span has decreased to about eight seconds — and they’re likely multitasking. You’re not just competing with brands; you’re competing with everyone who is creating and sharing content — friends, family, influencers, media companies, and so on.

Now think about that daily, repeatedly, everywhere. 

Truly knowing your WHO and your WHY and being set up to leverage real-time insights will give you a better shot at breaking through and delivering value, as well as pivoting quickly when needed. 

4. Tell us about the marketing campaign you’re most proud of working on in your career.

This is a tough one because that’s like asking a parent to choose their favorite kid. Over the course of my career, I have been fortunate enough to create meaningful and successful campaigns that have inspired people to transform their lives for the better. I am especially proud of a recent campaign we launched for Northwestern Mutual. 

When the pandemic hit, Americans were faced with unexpected challenges, both personal and financial. Research showed that nearly one in five Americans had their income reduced, and the percentage of Americans feeling anxious about their finances doubled. Throughout this time, we saw our advisors stepping up in ways that were beyond business as usual to help clients and communities in need. We know that doing is more important than just saying. 

In response, we introduced a national campaign that showcased the extraordinary care and guidance that our financial advisors provided to clients each day to help them navigate challenges brought on by the pandemic and thrive beyond it. We focused on telling poignant, powerful and unscripted client stories of resilience that highlighted the struggles many Americans were facing — and continue to face — and how partnering with a Northwestern Mutual advisor made a meaningful difference in their lives. We evolved our social and digital channels to be the support for and a window into the recovery, with our advisors at the center. We focused many of our efforts on reaching and supporting women, as research shows they were more negatively impacted. In a category that is perceived as complex, confusing and intimidating, we’re on a mission to make the Northwestern Mutual brand approachable, accessible and relatable. 

5. What’s a marketing campaign you wish you’d thought of and why?

One of my favorite campaigns of all time has been around for more than 10 years. During the last Great Recession, American Express launched Small Business Saturday to remind consumers that they play a key role in helping their communities. In doing so, they created a “Shop Small” movement and an enduring cultural event to help small businesses and local communities thrive. To me, that campaign truly represents doing good and creating lasting positive change while driving business growth. The idea is just as relevant today as it was a decade ago. This is a great example of what we as marketers should all be striving to achieve. 

6. What’s your must read, watch or listen for all marketers? 

One of my favorite podcasts is How I Built This from Guy Raz at NPR. I have found the “How I Built Resilience” episodes especially helpful throughout the pandemic to learn how other businesses were pivoting in real time.  

I’m currently reading the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg Mckeown and recommend it to anyone who wants to do less, but better, so you can make the greatest possible impact toward the things that matter most in all areas of your life.

And if you haven’t already seen Emmanuel Acho’s Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, I encourage you to watch and follow him on social. It’s critical for all of us to listen, learn and seek out diverse perspectives so that we can continue to make progress together and be the change we want to see.

7. What’s an under the radar brand you’re watching and why?

Oatly because purpose, culture and authenticity are at the center of everything they do. They are challenging and disrupting the food industry and driving business growth through a fearless and human marketing approach.  

Although Oatly is less under the radar after their Super Bowl appearance, I'm interested to see where they go from here. 

8. Name a product you can’t live without (that doesn’t connect you to the internet) and tell us why.

Organic extra virgin coconut oil. I moisturize with it. I remove my makeup with it. We cook and bake with it. And, my dog Charlie loves to eat it. Living a clean lifestyle is important to me, and it’s one of the cleanest and most versatile products you can find.

 9. Finish this sentence. If I weren’t a marketer, I would be…

An interior designer. Decorating is a creative outlet and a personal passion of mine. The design of your home can have a tremendous impact on your mood, your happiness, how productive you are and your experience as a family.

10. Finish this sentence: The marketer I most want to see do this questionnaire is…

John Schoolcraft, Oatly’s Global Chief Creative Officer.  

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