WW Chief Brand Officer Gail Tifford: 'Your reputation speaks louder than any resume'

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WW Chief Brand Officer Gail Tifford wants to know why. And she always has.

“I was that annoying child,” Tifford says. “Everything [my mom] would say I'd say, ‘Well why? Why? Why?” 

And while Tifford recognized her own curiosity from a young age, she got off track for a few years when she took her Tufts University psychology degree to law school and became a lawyer.

“I hated every second of it,” she says. After 18 months, she went to a sports marketing agency to negotiate sponsorship contracts. She found herself with “the best job in the world,” flying around the world with America’s Cup sailors in France and Bermuda. It was one of her clients at the agency who would end up changing her career trajectory.

Seeing potential in Tifford, her Unilever client Laura Klauberg asked if she had any interest in becoming a marketer. “I was like, ‘What the heck is marketing?’” Tifford laughs. 

After Klauberg arranged for Tifford to interview for an open role at Unilever, Tifford says she stayed up “all night” reading a book on the fundamentals of marketing.

She went into the meeting psyching herself up, ready to talk marketing jargon. So she was surprised when she didn't need to spew her newly-acquired marketing vernacular. The vice president said Klauberg’s enthusiastic reference and experience working with her was what he “needed to know.” They’d love to have her at Unilever, he told Tifford. And with that, her marketing career began as the assistant brand manager on Q-Tips.

“It was at that moment that I realized your reputation speaks louder than any resume you will ever have,” she says.

It was an early lesson in branding -- yourself and your product. 

Tifford would end up spending nearly 22 years at Unilever with a brief stint at MTV 12 years in. 

In 2018, Tifford got another lesson in branding when she joined Weight Watchers as chief brand officer and sat at the helm of its rebrand to “WW.” Though the brand had envious household name recognition from its 50+ year history, there was a desire to align with the W of the moment: wellness. 

The rollout of the rebrand was a major miss — something WW execs own up to, and was heavily criticized for leaving its loyal community behind and attempting to change too much at once. Tifford says the ad campaign was “one of the biggest mistakes” she’s made in her career.

“We were so there, and so excited internally,” she says. “And in a rush to get there, we forgot to bring the consumer on that journey. What we always said is that we are unbelievably proud of our heritage. We're not ashamed of it.”

Tifford says the brand has personal significance to her. While pregnant with her second child, her husband was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer and given a 5 percent chance of survival. 

“I had gained so much weight,” she says. “We got amazing news that he was going to make it, and I couldn't go back to work. I was depressed.”

“So one day I walked into Weight Watchers in Greenwich, Connecticut,” she says. “I was like, ‘I am going to take charge of my life,’ and I lost the weight. And not only did I lose the weight, I made amazing friends and I learned habits that have changed my life.” Below, she shares more of her story. 

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

The increasing importance of brand purpose and how it’s critical to move from marketing to consumers to mattering to people. For me, that means mattering to our employees, our members, our members’ community, and the world at large. This isn't just a nice to do it’s a business imperative as we know businesses with purpose outperform companies that focus solely on boosting their stock prices. 

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

The proliferation of touch points that a brand can have with their consumer. From TV to ECRM (electronic customer relationship management) to social, digital, linear OTT and in real-life experiences just to name a few! It’s important that your brand delivers upon your brand promise at all these touch points which is why my title is the Chief Brand Officer, of which marketing is just one facet. 

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

Embracing this concept of ambidextrous leadership. You need to be able to operate the core business while at the same time creating new growth opportunities. And because the world is changing daily, you need to stay up to speed on relevant trends and technologies. That takes time and energy that I may not always have, so I have my own personal informal advisory board (which includes my teenage children!) to help keep me ahead of the curve. I recommend everyone have their own personal board of advisors. 

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

Ironically the campaign I’m the most proud of was not the most successful. It was the WW rebrand campaign in January 2019. We took a massive risk and developed breakthrough creative but didn’t do a good enough job bringing the consumer along with us on that journey. So we quickly pivoted to do so and I am incredibly proud of my team. We owned up to the fact we moved too quickly and concentrated on fixing it instead of justifying why we had made that decision or blaming each other. 

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

Apple’s Think Different Campaign - I think it’s a great example of how a campaign can support innovation as well as create non innovation-led growth. And live for years while staying fresh and innovative.

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

Robinhood Snacks podcast - top 3 business stories in 15 minutes - up and coming in technology, snackable content. 

Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World by Jacqueline Novogratz

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

Lemonade - taking the pain out of buying insurance, so turnkey, so painless, so seamless - just used it to buy my pet insurance!

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

Bottled Joy water bottle - 100oz of water. Last year we launched water tracking in the WW App as hydration is a part of the holistic wellness journey, so this bottle not only helps me stare healthy habits in the face and meet my daily water intake, but it includes a boost of motivation and self compassion with sayings with each time mark such as “Morning!” When I take my first sip at 7 AM and “Don’t give up!” when I’m almost finished. 

Also, my standing desk makes me feel as though I'm doing something better for my body in place of sitting all day. It’s sad when the two things make it so I never leave my office, but having these two things allows me to at least incorporate healthy habits throughout the day if I can’t leave my desk.

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

A flight attendant. I love traveling and going anywhere. The opportunity to fly for free and see all the places in the world excites me to no end! 

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

Bozoma Saint John, CMO, Netflix. 

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