• by Alan Hart , July 5, 2018

This week finds “Marketing Today” on the road again. While at the Brand Marketing Summit* in San Francisco, a conference that brings together some of the brightest marketers from the world’s biggest brands to talk about the future of marketing, I took the time to talk to four of the marketers in attendance. They discussed the challenges facing their brands, the evolution of the customer journey, the measures they take to amplify and strengthen their brands, and even things that they love and/or hate. Not only that, in a moment of self-discovery, I realized that I’m actually a Millennial and not a member of Generation X. Who knew?

The four marketers I spoke with are:

• Ali Osiecki, vice president of marketing at the Greg Norman Company

• Andrew Strickman, senior vice president of brand and marketing at realtor.com

• David Fossas, senior director of brand at WP Engine

• Smita Wadhawan, senior director of U.S. marketing at GoDaddy

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast include:

Ali Osiecki on how the Greg Norman Company creates synergy among all of its brands, the new Shark Experience, and the ways the company tries to reach the customer before, during, and after their round of golf. She also reveals the best advice she ever received (“Listen more, talk less.”) and how she loves to geek out over Fortune’s “Term Sheet.” (1:14)

Andrew Strickman discusses his focus on increased growth and revenue for realtor.com while keeping his eye on brand awareness and brand clarity. He also touches on a key insight from the Brand Marketing Summit (Brands that are making a connection between their purpose and the consumer are going to win.), some great advice he believes in (“Tell great stories.”), and that while “hate is a strong word,” he still definitely hates beets. (6:49)

David Fossas describes what WP Engine is and how its speed-to-market offering allows it to break through in a cluttered market. He also discusses the importance for a brand to create an authentic voice that resonates with its audience, how he looks to the philosopher, Seneca, for inspiration, and how he hates that people don’t pick up the phone anymore. (12:27)

Smita Wadhawan talks about the tools GoDaddy offers to help small business owners and how it’s moving to become a customer-experience company with packaged solutions. She also discusses the test-and-learn approach that GoDaddy utilizes with its channel mix and their experiments in the social and digital space. Lastly, she believes that “whatever you do, just put your heart into it” are words to live by. (17:38) 

*The Brand Marketing Summit is not affiliated with MediaPost's Brand Marketer's Insider Summit.