This week’s champion has worked for Lou Malnati’s (pizza) and Krispy Kreme (doughnuts) and now leads the marketing team at California Pizza Kitchen (back to pizza) – making her career sound like my dream delivery job after a tough Monday.
Read on to hear from us Dawn KellerCMO at Californian pizza cuisinewhy she likes to give consumers emotional FOMO and how she can drive brand development.
Lesson 1: Encourage emotional FOMO.
“Desirable items that are unique and compel consumers to behave irrationally are the best defense against competition, consumer apathy or inertia,” says Keller.
For Keller, this applies to both her menu and her marketing. Their goal is to “drive emotional FOMO” among their consumers.
Look, I’ll give it to you – spending some time talking to the marketing manager about “desirable products.” pizza The company probably doesn’t sound particularly relatable to B2B marketers.
But when I tell Keller that cheesy, sticky crust is more seductive than revenue attribution reports, she demurs: “I actually see this all the time in B2B marketing.” Emotional FOMO is entirely possible in this world too – you just need to show what’s possible and other people’s success stories.”
She adds: “They’re all the same people, you know? They just make different choices… Like what they eat and what software they use for their business.”
Even though you might not sell garlic knots, there are plenty of them in the B2B space Attributes that are incredibly “desirable” – like ease of use, time savings and productivity improvements. Use this Action points to make all your future customers as hungry for your offerings as if they were craving a good mac and cheese.
Lesson 2: Turn negative moments into an opportunity to express yourself.
Recently, a customer ordered macaroni and cheese from CPK – and just got cheese.
After she posted the video on TikTok, CPK responded with one video in which Chef Paul jokingly walks through the steps of properly making a macaroni and cheese (emphasis: add those). Mac) and then announces 50% off macaroni and cheese for all CPK customers. (Since the customer only got 50% of her meal – get it?)
CPK’s TikTok response received 1.6 million views. Keller was shocked…and thrilled.
“It was overwhelming for everyone (how well it went), but we think that’s where the real difference was How We showed up – in a super authentic, humble and self-deprecating way. It was neither corporate nor stuffy.”
CPK could have chosen to ignore the customer’s complaint entirely, or they could have commented on the video with a general “I’m sorry!” Customer service response. Instead, they decided to use the opportunity to change the narrative into something fun and light-hearted.
And as Keller emphasizes: “We still have to emphasize what is important to us – namely that we have high-quality food and that we take care of our guests. “Authenticity and entertainment are what grab people’s attention… Not just using social networks as an advertising channel.”
We heard it across the board this year Greg Fass, Jenna Kutcherand many other masters in marketing, and the point is: be authentic and show it human These days, there’s a much better strategy behind your brand than a polished ad.
Lesson 3: Develop like your customers.
For Keller, who also held marketing roles at CVS Health and Staples, it wasn’t always donuts and pizza.
In all of these roles, she is convinced that a core role has always been to be an “agent of change”.
But people don’t always like change, especially with brands that have been around for over 40 years. So I wanted to know: When Keller came to CPK, how did she manage to balance new ideas without making the team feel like she was overriding the tried and tested way of working?
“I give huge credit to Jeff Warne (CPK CEO) and my colleagues for really making this idea a reality.” Any brand that has been around for 40 years needs to evolve and do new, fresh things“Keller tells me.
Luckily, she also has some words of wisdom for marketing leaders responsible for growing a business not Accept change just as easily.
“You have to take people on the journey and invite ideas from everywhere. Sometimes managers think that good ideas can only come from new people. But veterans with deep context can also be the originators of the best new thinking.”
Everyone has a role to play, and the more a change agent can encourage and stimulate new ideas while breaking down the walls of fear or discomfort, the more likely they are to succeed in creating an increasingly relevant brand.
