03/07/17

Data is the Beating Heart of Integrated Marketing

What College Students (and Marketers) Need to Know About Integrated Marketing

This afternoon, I had the incredible opportunity to speak with future marketing leaders at a University of Nebraska Omaha Integrated Marketing course. I love speaking to students because I want to inspire them to become amazing marketers. I want for them what I want for every member of my team – to be BETTER than they ever dreamed.

Professor Janna Holland let me try to do just that by speaking to her students about the necessity of using research to inform integrated marketing plans.

I firmly believe that foundational truth is absolutely critical to marketing success so I was happy to share with the students how we use the O’Brien Voice of the CustomerTM (o.VOC) research study to guide creative ideation and deliver stunning results.

Marketers are Matchmakers

As marketers we are entrusted every day to help the brands that hire us find meaningful connections with the customers and prospects they so dearly want and need. We get to craft strategies and messages that connect people with brands. While connection is formed through feeling, feeling is informed by facts. Knowing those facts is the difference between creative for creative’s sake and creative that works.
In a conversation I had recently with Lana LeGrand, OBI Creative’s VP of Operations and Leadership, I asked her what stands out as most critical when developing integrated marketing plans and her response made me smile. She said, “Successful integrated marketing is about finding the tactics that meet the right people in the right place at the right time.”

Data is the Beating Heart of Integrated Marketing

Today’s marketers and soon, these students, will have more access to data than we ever dreamed; accessing that data, digesting it and using it is to create smart, effective integrated marketing plans is the key to delivering results. This knowledge will serve well with every size budget because the best marketers in the world aren’t always the ones with the biggest budgets, but those who are most customer-obsessed.

When some of the best brands in Omaha, America and the world trust you to share their unique messages, it’s an honor. I expect from these bright and talented future marketing leaders what I expect from myself – a sober pride in being the matchmakers between people and the brands they love.