ThoughtExchange CMO Lauren Kelly on the importance of 'brand humility'

Welcome to Marketer Must Read, a weekly newsletter that’s packed with inspiration, perspective on challenges, and a look at what other marketers are watching. Click Subscribe above to be notified of each edition.

Lauren Kelly is a Costco fanatic. 

And though promoting the superstore isn’t part of Kelly’s remit as the CMO of the enterprise discussion management software ThoughtExchange, what makes her so loyal to Costco is core to who she is as a marketer: Someone who believes in transparency and consistency in how you treat your customers and the value you offer them.

“Some people covet AmEx Black Cards. The most prized and precious item in my wallet is my Costco Executive Membership card,” she says. “Where else can you find four pounds of Craisins, a steeply discounted case of my favorite Cab and matching kids’ holiday dresses in a single, convenient location?”

Being dependable as a brand also means embracing “brand humility,” something Kelly's come to understand in her 20-year marketing career.

She points to the “myopic” view marketers often have of their brands and how much they overestimate a consumer’s focus on it.

Her experience overseeing the $300M Rice-A-Roni business at PepsiCo offered a great lesson in humility. Her team had devised a new strategy to make Rice-A-Roni a “central part” of people’s lives and felt great about it, she says. Then came the focus groups. 

“People kind of just looked at us,” she says. “It wasn't resonating. It was like, ‘No, it's just not that serious.’” 

The team realized it had to refocus on what consumers were asking for, which was “a decent meal on the table before six o'clock,” Kelly says. They repositioned the product as a meal kit with the tagline, “Homemade made easy.” The campaign was “not sexy marketing,” Kelly says, “but it was hugely impactful.”

It was a key lesson in humility, she says, and highlighted the difference between ideas that “work in a laboratory versus work in real life.” 

“Chances are, if you're lucky, you'll get [consumers] to think about you for a very small amount of time. And that is your moment,” she says. “It's a combination of being humble, but not being apologetic, just being really, really respectful of the time you do have.” 

Kelly says she always looks for opportunities that allow the marketing team to have a say in the product. In her role at ThoughtExchange, she oversees both product and marketing. That component of the job was a meaningful reason she joined. 

In her five months at the company, Kelly says she’s spent at least half her time on product, if not more, noting the role marketers can play in driving innovation. 

The marketer is “more than the voice of the consumer,” she says. It’s the “heart and soul.”  

Below, she shares more of her story.

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

I’d say my career path to date, which if you made into a visual graph might look more like a constellation than a shooting star. I've always thrived on solving novel business problems. Early in my career, as a strategy consultant, I asked to be assigned to ambiguous projects with new clients. I loved the experience of learning about each company, culture and industry and working with leadership teams to drive big change.

What started as a natural curiosity and a sense of professional adventure prepared me well for marketing, strategy and sales leadership roles at PepsiCo, Dell Technologies and Irvine Company (California’s largest private landowner). My early opportunistic approach started to pay off on the job, as the varied experiences gave me a more holistic understanding of the market. I started to see new trends before they became mainstream. Today, I’ve begun my greatest adventure yet as CMO of the high growth SaaS company, ThoughtExchange, in the emerging Enterprise Discussion Management space.

My broad foundation, both by industry and function, has taught me a lot. For one, it’s really allowed me to recognize patterns that transcend industries. Walking into each new role and organization totally outside-in, with a fresh perspective, I essentially get to have the same experience as a new customer would. One eye-opening pattern: marketers too often overestimate the importance and centrality of our product. It makes sense. To be effective, we pretty much need to live and breathe our product and brand every day on the job. But having worked in so many industries, I now actively practice “brand humility” about the share of mind that any one product can occupy. I’m relentless about maintaining perspective on the customer’s broader context and finding unique and relevant ways to connect to it.

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

Without a doubt, the role of digital. In the late ‘90s when I was starting out my career, email was just going mainstream and you had to plan to send large files a good hour before they were expected (due to dial-up speeds). The internet was relatively new. It felt finite, like something you could see to the end of, get a full grasp on.

Fast forward to now and it’s gone from being a new and distinct tool in a marketer’s toolkit to the one that top marketers emphasize. It’s like the air we breathe. We are now at a point where I don’t believe there are digital versus general marketers. Every good marketer has digital as a hallmark of their approach. 

And then 2020 and the pandemic came along and digital took on a whole new level of importance. 

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

Breaking through the digital clutter. Covid-19 put a pause on many tried-and-tested, less digitally focused marketing channels like in-person events, in-store displays, and even direct mail. Marketers had to regroup, and most did so by doubling down on digital, the single most viable channel during the pandemic. As a result, the digital space has become uncomfortably crowded, making it near impossible for most brands to be noticed amidst the swarm and noise.

And at first, it seemed like it might balance out on the receiving end, since people were spending so much more time at home, online. However, it turned out that increasingly, people have adapted by tuning out a lot of digital distraction so they can remain focused and productive. But necessity is the mother of invention and marketers have really raised the bar this past year. Our marketing team at ThoughtExchange is more resourceful than ever — appealing to customers with a blend of authenticity, thoughtfulness and even humor. 

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

I love all my campaign “children” equally, but my first big campaign at PepsiCo was quite formative. In 2005, I led the creation of Sierra Mist’s ‘‘Mist-Takes'' campaign.

The initial goal of the campaign was to reposition Sierra Mist away from a category standard lemon-lime soda to the antidote to thirst on a hot day.

Instead of considering a more conventional route—like the splashy Beyoncé style ads coming from our sister brand Pepsi—we pulled back and looked at the opportunity from a higher-level POV. First, we decided we wanted the campaign to be as “refreshing” in spirit as Sierra Mist felt to drink. So we brainstormed around the concept of “refreshing,” and came to the insight that laughter and spontaneity are truly some of the most refreshing parts of the human experience.  

From there, we landed on the idea of bringing both laughter and spontaneity into the mix by recreating, in ad form, The Second City style comedy troupes, which were the most refreshing comedy acts of that time. We brought in some of the best comedians on the planet, including Fred Willard, Jim Gaffigan, Kathy Griffin, Michael Ian Black and Tracy Morgan. The days we filmed hardly felt like work, as I found myself riffing on ridiculously funny scenarios with “the talent.” We essentially let the troupe improvise during shoots, and went where their creative energy led us.

The result? The campaign went viral and was deemed a success. Even more importantly, it gave Sierra Mist a new layer of identity and brought the brand into totally unexpected yet truly “refreshing” new settings. It broke new ground. 

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

Airbnb launched “Made Possible by Hosts” at the start of 2021. It features Airbnb hosts by name, alongside touching photo montages made by their guests highlighting the most meaningful moments from their stays. The campaign aims to grow its community and attract more hosts back to its platform as the coronavirus lockdowns ease and consumers start traveling again.

I’m both pragmatic and innovative in my approach to marketing. So I love campaigns that first and foremost address market realities head-on. Additionally, I really appreciate it when they take on the extra challenge of exploring non-obvious approaches to solving the issue.

Airbnb cut marketing spend during the pandemic. They then focused their remaining spend on investing in brand marketing. I like that this resulting campaign puts the spotlight on the hosts, vs. the more obvious choice: the guests. It, interestingly, supports the supply-side needs of the business, by encouraging more people to share their homes on the platform.

There’s powerful insight also in showing that Airbnb’s hosts are often motivated by more than income. For many, it’s about enabling meaningful experiences for their guests. By focusing on this emotional driver, each of the campaign videos is really able to pull on viewers’ heartstrings. They certainly make me (the consumer) want to book that next memorable stay, so in the end, it works on the demand side too.

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

Clay Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. In essence, Christensen warns us that incumbents have a hard time disrupting their existing business model, making them susceptible to more agile entrants.

Particularly now, we CMOs often operate as our company’s de facto Chief Growth Officer. As such it’s critical we stay ahead of discussions about new business models, product innovation and changing customer needs. Great marketers possess the consumer instinct and storytelling abilities to influence their companies to make bold, but necessary changes to the business.

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

ThoughtExchange. Clearly, I’m doing more than watching this brand — my team and I are building it. Here’s why. The future of work is neither remote nor in-person, it’s hybrid. As more professionals work wherever and whenever they choose, leaders require new and different technology to meet the moment. ThoughtExchange uses collective intelligence, real-time data science and patented anti-bias technology to help leaders and their teams drive faster, better, more inclusive decision-making. Expect to see big things from this brand!

Another is Noom. The pandemic has not been kind to my waistline. In looking for something to help me get back to my pre-Covid weight (and stay there), I found the Noom health app and have already lost 5lbs in a week! Noom is unique in its psychology-based approach, drawing from methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy to help users become more mindful about what they’re eating. 

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

Some people covet AmEx Black Cards. The most prized and precious item in my wallet is my Costco Executive Membership card. For me, it’s become all about that Costco life. As a mom of three young children with healthy appetites and limbs that continuously outgrow clothing, Costco is my supermarket, sommelier, and personal stylist. Where else can you find four pounds of Craisins, a steeply discounted case of my favorite Cab and matching kids’ holiday dresses in a single, convenient location? Many of us are waiting eagerly to again experience those things that brought us great joy prior to the pandemic. For my family, it’s when Costco starts giving out samples again.

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

A Vintner. Or a pre-pandemic restaurant critic (with a rocket-fast metabolism.)

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

Lola Bakare. She’s created Maximize the Movement to guide marketers to make a social impact that drives the bottom line.

Thanks for being part of the Marketer Must Read community! Don’t forget to hit subscribe above or below to be notified weekly when the next issue comes out.