Julie Garlikov Archives - The Drew Blog

CMO Insights: The Power of a Peer Network

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Drew Neisser

If you had an advance copy of my book (hint, hint), you’d know already that Julie Garlikov is the master of making the most of “tiny budgets” having done so at Torani Foods and in her current role as VP of Marketing at Nuvesse Skin Therapies. What you wouldn’t know is that Julie nurtures her know how by maintaining a strong network of peers. In our interview below, Julie shares some of her secrets, insights that are just part of the reason The CMO Club recognized her with its President’s Circle Award.

This interview is followed by our recent Blab on budget busting, complete with a number of great recommendations on how to cut research costs way down and when/when not to work with outside partners. Consider this a Garlikov twofer, an efficient treat indeed!

Drew: How important is having a strong peer network to doing your job well? Can you provide a specific example of some action you took as a result of your network?

I’ve used my peer network as a valued resource and sounding board. Most frequently, I get tips on agencies, partners and even staffing my team. I also run programs and ideas by my peers to see what they think of a strategy. You really need someone else with a similar headset to push on your plans before you bring them forward.

Drew: Have there been any unexpected benefits to your networking efforts?

I’ve made some wonderful friendships along the way. Some of the people I initially just used as a business sounding board are now friends. We go to lunch frequently or catch-up on all things, both personal and professional.

Drew: Making time for networking is always a challenge. How much time do you invest in peer to peer exchanges and how do you rationalize this investment?

I spend a few hours a week at least on these efforts. I don’t need to rationalize the efforts anymore, as I know the value the fresh perspective gives me and my company. I’ve created bigger ideas, found new ways to solve my problems and just been pushed into new territories. And, the energy of connecting with a peer lifts me up and inspires me, giving me a new perspective.

Drew: Effective networks are ones in which there is a lot of give and take and some would say, start with giving and the taking will follow. What’s your approach? Do you keep a mental scorecard? How do you handle the takers?

I am always willing to help out others and don’t see the world as a scorecard or a big mental scale. Some of my network help me more than I help them and are more mentors. But then I mentor others that way. I see it a bit differently and think that if you’re helpful and give the time, you’ll always find others who will do the same for you.

FAQ: Blabbing About Blabs

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Drew Neisser

Maybe its because my late mother had a talk show in the early 70’s on a local cable channel in Newport Beach, California. Her show, Broadly Speaking, a punny name coined by my father (so you know that apple didn’t fall far from the tree,) attracted a remarkable collection of celebrated figures including Henry Kissinger and Herb Klein, both in town because of Nixon’s Western White House. Well anyway, I share this background as an explanation for why I really enjoy a new video podcasting platform called Blab. The audience may be small, as was the case with my mom’s show, but that doesn’t mean the guests and the conversations need be limited. In fact, I suspect this platform is going to be huge and I offer the following FAQ (frequently asked questions) in order to prep you for this eventuality.

What is a Blab and how do you set one up?

Think Hollywood Squares meets Facetime. Essentially anyone with a web camera, internet access and a Twitter account can set up a Blab. You can also Blab from your iPhone or Droid with the app. That part is super easy. Just visit Blab.im and register. Then hit the purple “Start a new blab” button in the upper right hand corner of your screen and follow the instructions. You will need to come up with an 80-character or less name for your Blab, pick 3 topic tags and then schedule it. If you want to start right away you can or you can schedule it several weeks in advance. Important tech note—Blabs work best on Chrome.

Who is on Blab now?

From my experience thus far, it’s a rather eclectic crew ranging from social media influencers to random folks who simply stumble upon the conversation. In my recent Blab with Chip Rodgers, VP of Customer Experience at Ciena we had guests from as far a field as Manchester, England and Bangalore, India. Not surprisingly, a number of social media influencers like Brian Fanzo, Bryan Kramer, Joel Comm, Ted Rubin and Tamara McCleary are early adopters of Blab and have a habit of popping in and out of each other’s sessions.

Do I have to be on camera to participate?

One of the cool things about Blabs is that watchers can ask questions via a chat stream right next to the video stream. These live questions help enhance the overall conversation and allow the camera shy to still participate. Blab has its own social universe – by that I mean you have a Blab identity that you can use to follow other Blabbers and vice versa. Another way viewers participate is by virtually clapping — there are a couple of yellow hands on the lower right corner of each person on camera — and viewers show their appreciation by clicking on these hands.

How do you manage the Blabbers if you’re the host?

Just to be clear, up to four people can be on the video portion of Blab at once and the host/moderator is in complete control of the other three. When someone wants to be on-camera, they just click one of the empty Join boxes and the host can accept them or not. At any point in the conversation the host can kick someone off camera by clicking on the X.

Are there some technical hacks to improve sound and video quality?

Joel Comm, a Blab/podcasting vet, recommends using a Yeti microphone for sound quality but I had a bit of a problem with that my first time around. It turns out, I had to reset a sound setting on Skype to prevent the microphone from jumping to full volume and thus causing all sorts of mayhem. To simplify things, I just used a Bluetooth one-eared headset and this seemed to work pretty well. On the lighting front, definitely think about having extra light sources to brighten up your face. I actually have started using some pro lights that we already had in the office for in-house photography. And giving credit where credits due, I’m taking a cue from another master Bryan Kramer who I happened to notice uses pro lighting as well.

How do people find out about Blabs?

Once you sign up for a Blab, you will be notified about other Blabs as they are going live. Others will probably hear about it through social media. Blab is really well integrated into Twitter so during a Blab, viewers can share what they are watching on Twitter with ready made tweets that include the Twitter handles of those on camera. I suspect the audience will grow as word spreads and the quality of the content improves. [Some sessions are meatier than others!] Also, as you collect followers within Blab, I believe these folks are directly notified about your sessions.

What if I can’t watch it live–are their recorded versions?

Every host has the option of recording their Blab session. That it is also really easy although I missed this fact on my first Blab with Bob Kraut, the former CMO of Papa John’s. Fortunately about 10 minutes into it, a friend posted on the chat stream that I should be recording it! Doing so was just a matter of clicking the Record button on the left hand side of the screen. Another thing I really like about this platform is that they make it very easy to upload your Blabs to YouTube and then from there its easy to embed these videos anywhere. Here, for example, is my Blab with Chip Rodgers from yesterday.

When’s your next “Elements of Marketing” Blab?

You’re the best. Thanks for asking. I have Blabs scheduled every Monday and Friday at 2pm EST for the next couple of months with many of the folks featured in my book. Here are links to a few of these upcoming Blabs and by the way, you can register in advance for these and you will get a reminder right before it starts:

10/16: on Tiny Budgets with Julie Garlikov of Nuvesse

10/20: on Social Media Success with Scot Safon, former CMO of The Weather Channel

10/23: on Networking with Matt Sweetwood, former President of Unique Photo

11/05: on Organizing with Stephanie Anderson, CMO of Time Warner Cable Business Class

Who is behind Blab?

The two founders Shaan Puri and Furqan Rydhan are veteran developers having worked on Bebo before selling it to AOL for $800 million. Shaan is actively involved and was kind enough to jump into my conversation with Bob Kraut. These guys also have some big money VC backers and I suspect will come out of Beta with a splash any day now.

CMO Insights: Preserving Customer Loyalty

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Drew Neisser

Following the year of “content marketing” that was 2013, we can only hope that 2014 is destined to be as rewarding a year for consumers on social media. Many brands are figuring out that earning customer loyalty via great content is on par with nurturing a real, face-to-face relationship, in that being a supportive, useful and interesting friend will almost always earn you an invite to the birthday party.

Some, like Torani, are well ahead of this curve. For a product like Torani, which relies on retailers to establish the first relationship with customers, it pays to keep tabs on the rolodex by not just touching base over social media, but also adding to their daily lives in a fun, relevant way. CMO Julie Garlikov, who won a President’s Circle Award at the recent CMO Club Awards, explains the ways Torani grows and manages its loyal fan base on a modest budget.

Drew: A CMO has a lot of choices in terms of where they invest their time. What have been your top priorities in the last 12 months?

Our business continues to grow like crazy. I am most focused on growing our consumer business and improving household penetration. This includes some significant product innovation, as well as educating and engaging our consumer in new ways.

Drew: Have there been any big surprises in terms of what’s worked really well and what hasn’t?

We’ve launched a lot of new products this year. What’s surprising is how long it has taken to get some of them off the ground, especially when you’re educating a market on a new behavior. The other big surprise to me this year is the explosive growth in mobile, which now accounts for almost 30% of our online traffic. We’re rapidly adapting our ecommerce platform to be better optimized for mobile.

Drew: Has the fact that Torani does not have a huge multi-million budget forced you to be more innovative?

We have to find the right partners to work with us who believe in our brand and who want to work with a great, local, family-owned business. And, we need to focus more on things like PR and creating social buzz to get the word out. We can’t do a lot of mass tactics, so we look to build really high loyalty with our business and consumer users, turning them into uber fans.

Drew: Have you been able to link your innovative marketing activities to the kinds of business metrics favored by CEOs?

I use a lot of test/invest methodology, trying things out small scale, proving that they deliver and then expanding. It’s the only way to make ensure the best ROI on limited budgets.

Drew: Marketing seems to be getting increasingly complex in terms of ways to spend and ways to monitor. Has it gotten more complex for you and if so, how are you dealing with that complexity?

Julie: For such simple products, we have a very complex business with many channels and differing needs. When you add all the new ways to market, it is complicated, and that’s what makes it interesting. We’ve really focused the team on specific channels and segments and that helps them market the most successfully.

Drew: How do you stay close to your end users when the relationship with these folks is mainly owned by your retailer partners?

Julie: We get a great sense from social media and listening of what’s important to our user. We’ve also been doing a lot of event marketing and mobile tours the past two years so we can hear more directly what our users like. Between our retail partners and our foodservice distributors, we can be one step removed. So, we have to create opportunities to engage regularly and we do a lot of research like ethnographies to really understand what our consumer wants and needs.

Drew: Has social media played much of a role in the driving your brand? If so, how has it helped or how do you see it helping in the future?

Julie: We have a very active, loyal fan base that we engage with daily on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. We also have done a lot of blogger outreach and engage with various bloggers on a regular basis, sending them new products, etc. This helps get the word out on a small brand and is a big part of our acquistion strategies.

Drew: Content marketing is hot topic at the moment. Are you increasing your investment in this area?

Julie: Yes, this is a huge area for us. We’ve developed videos and will be producing even more as the year wraps up. Everything from how-to videos to funny content. We also continue to create enticing inspirational photos and editorial, almost like what you see in a food magazine. We’ve found that inspiring people with seasonal recipes and super on-trend ideas generates significant sales lift, so content is key for us.

Drew: Do you agree with that notion that marketing is everything and everything is marketing and if so how have you extended the boundaries of your job beyond the normal purview of the CMO?

Julie: This is so true. We’ve actually created a social media/buzz marketer position within our department and moved consumer service into marketing. That way, if someone engages on Facebook or Twitter or the old school phone, we’re able to have one seamless approach to dealing with their experience. And, we’ve got a team who does the same thing for our commercial user too.