Interview with Authority Magazine: 5 Non-Intuitive Ways To Grow Your Marketing Career

This article was originally released on Medium.com.

As part of my Marketing Strategy Series, I’m talking with fellow marketing pros at the top of their game to give entrepreneurs and marketers an inside look at proven strategies you might also be able to leverage to grow your business or career. Today I had the pleasure of talking with Julia Fitzgerald.

Julia Fitzgerald is a CMO and senior executive with over 20 years of leadership experience, specializing in CPG, retail, franchising, non-profit, B2B models, and bringing pragmatic digital plans to midsize organizations. She is the author of “Midsize,” the upcoming book that shares success strategies for marketing in midsize firms.

Fitzgerald earned her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, and she serves as a CMO at the American Lung Association, director on the Kellogg Alumni Board, marketing and leadership speaker, and mentor to young marketing professionals.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve always loved writing, creativity, and solving puzzles, so I think I was destined to be a marketer. I really enjoy working with ideas and concepts and pairing them with the challenge of growing companies.

I worked entry-level marketing jobs in some fun midsize firms in LA right after undergrad and then moved back to the midwest to attend Kellogg for my MBA.

Since then, I have worked in large and midsize firms in a range of business models. I got to spend years in the toy industry (very fun!), served as a CMO and CDEO at Sears/Kmart, a CMO in various private equity portfolio companies, and I now serve as the CMO at the American Lung Association.

Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting and what lesson you learned from that?

Ugh. I was working in the toy biz and I was visiting Disney’s offices trying to get a licensing deal for some of our learning toys. It was a room full of suits and creatives; they liked our product, they liked my presentation, and the whole meeting was going swimmingly. I could smell impending victory. And then I referred to Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, and Mickey Mouse as “The Animals.”

The room went still. Faces looked up at me in shock and horror. Finally, the creative director broke the silence, “They are characters, Ms. Fitzgerald, not animals.” They hastily packed up their things and emptied the room. It took months to get that deal back on track, but I never made that mistake again.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

There were three clear points for me. The first is when I invested in myself and took out loans to attend grad school. It was a big risk, but a friend said, “if you aren’t going to bet on yourself, what are you going to bet on?”

The second is when I became a VP at Vtech Learning Toys when they were in big trouble. I learned how to take on big projects, manage multiple agencies, manage a staff, and coordinate with my international partners. The company was midsize, and they gave me leeway to become not just a marketer, but a leader.

Third was when I became a CMO at Sears/Kmart. They were investing heavily in the emerging area of digital marketing. There is no place better than retail to understand the power of data and every digital marketing channel. I went to Sears/Kmart because I could see that digital was the future, and I knew I needed to be someplace where I could really master digital marketing and take that into my future.

As far as lessons? Bet on yourself. Look for organizations that give you the opportunity to be a leader, and go where you can learn the skills you need for your future.

What do you think makes your viewpoint stand out?

My CV looks like I just may have been in the witness protection program. I have worked in various industries and business models. I really like learning what makes each business tick and grow, and I find that core marketing and management needs are amazingly similar wherever I go.

My viewpoint is, “size matters” when marketers are choosing their place of employment. But serving the customer first is a universal marketing truth.

I see your new book “Midsize” is coming out on October 18th. How do you think it will help other professionals?

My hope is that my upcoming book “Midsize” will help marketers think about organization size when they select an environment where they will thrive.

It is a playbook of strategies to be successful in a midsize organization where there may not be an abundance of resources. I’ve solicited great input from other CMOs and CEOS as well.

For CEOs of midsize organizations, this is a guide on what to expect from your marketing team and how they can grow the company.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?

There have been so many helpers and mentors along the way- it’s hard to single out just one. My boss, William To, at Vtech, was a really fair, but demanding person to work for. I learned so much from him on how to manage a business, how to lead, and how to make tough decisions.

I also have to thank Bill Berenter, the president of the agency I worked with at Vtech. I had to take a set of commercial storyboards to Hong Kong and pitch them to their leadership team and some of my international counterparts. I was at a loss how to do that and leave with consensus (and my preferred selections!). I asked Bill for help, and he coached me on how to present storyboards, how to solicit feedback, and how to bring these conversions to resolution while making sure everyone feels heard. After that, he started teaching me all the ropes of how to evaluate agency creative against the strategy, what to look for during production as a client, and in general, how to be a savvy client. I owe him BIG.

Is there someone you consider to be your hero?

Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She paved the way for me and all women to participate as equal citizens in our workforce and economy. She exemplified ways to disagree with a person’s ideas and still value the person. She showed that anyone can contribute in meaningful ways late into their life. She changed things people said could not be changed.

Wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There are hundreds of memorable marketing campaigns that have become part of the lexicon of our culture. What is your favorite marketing or branding campaign from history?

No Fair! That's like asking for your favorite movie or song. But one of my faves was a Molsen Beer campaign from a few years back. First, they just reworked their packaging to prominently claim that they were “Canada’s Beer.”

For the record, there was no election! They just claimed it. Then they delivered on Canada’s beer positioning by creating refrigerators full of Molsen that would only open up if the person(s) sang the Canadian National Anthem (you know “Oh, Canada…” ). The videos of how this worked across Canada — cities, shorelines, wilderness — were priceless.

The people who participated showed the rich diversity of the Canadian population. They were imperfect, and it was funny. People helped each other, some would forget the words, and in the end, when the fridge unlocked, I found myself cheering. I encountered the commercials online, and I assume they ran on Canadian broadcasts. But there was so much heart to the videos, I definitely teared up and almost defected to Canada.

If you could break down a very successful campaign into a “blueprint”, what would that blueprint look like?

It goes back to the basics. Who is the target market? What do they think now? What do you need them to think or do after exposure to this campaign? With the proliferation of digital, the blueprints have expanded over the years. You can use top-of-funnel tactics to get your consumers’ interest and impact how they think. You can move them to digital to complete the desired action.

An example I have been working on recently is a PSA campaign for the American Lung Association. It’s called Saved by the Scan. The target market is former smokers — they are at high risk for lung cancer. If people detect lung cancer in its early stages with a lung scan, they have a 60% chance of survival.

Unfortunately, most don’t get diagnosed until they have stage 4 lung cancer when treatment options and survival rates are low. Most former smokers don’t know about lung scans, forget that they may still be at risk for cancer, or think the scan involves a complicated procedure in an enclosed MRI machine.

Working with Hill Holliday, we developed powerful creative that connected with former smokers and encouraged them to take this easy step to save their lives. We then developed assets for multiple channels — TV, digital, OOH, print — so we can reach our target multiple times through channels they use. The creative had a strong interim Call To Action (CTA) — go to the website and take the quiz to see if you are eligible for a free scan.

The website does the rest of the work. It lets them know if they are at high risk, eligible for a scan, and gives more info than can be delivered in a :30 spot. We also heavily bolster this campaign with PR, using medical spokespeople and other lung cancer survivors as influencers in news interviews, social media, blogs, and webinars.

The result? Almost 1 million people have taken the quiz, and 25% found they need the scan. Lung Scan awareness and intent to have one has dramatically increased. And we have found so many storytellers who describe how, after seeing this campaign, their lives were literally Saved by The Scan.

Awesome. As you know, consumers have become more jaded and resistant to anything “salesy”. In your industry, where do you see the future of marketing going?

Cultivating trust and being authentic is the tough road ahead for all brands. For the American Lung Association, we will stay focused on content marketing (leading with information and stories that our constituents are seeking) and using influencers who are relatable to the population segments we serve.

Lung cancer survivors, pediatric nurses, pulmonologists, and former smokers — these are all voices that can lead people to better health outcomes. Listening to customers has become increasingly more important, and there are some easier and instant proxies to understand what matters to them.

Digital behavior can show if they are coming to your website, engaging on certain pages but not others, responding to some social posts but not others. It’s all feedback on what is important to the customer, and in turn, where you should be focusing your content and marketing.

What 5 things do you wish someone told you before you started?

1. Not everything is going to work all the time, and that is okay.

2. Find organizations that will let you grow and who do things you care about. (Midsize works best for me!)

3. Commit to continual learning. The marketing industry and management trends are continuously changing, and you have to stay current. I left a great job in the toy industry to join Sears Holdings, where I knew I would get a boot-camp master class in digital marketing that I could not have experienced in my former position.

4. Start with the end in mind, and work backwards. I often write the press release for a big initiative first and then use that to rally internal support and planning to bring a big idea to life. The budgets, the strategies, the tactics — everything. I refer to the George Michael song and tell my team we now need to, “take these lies and make them true”.

5. Women still don’t get the same treatment as men — the imbalance shows up in obvious and subtle ways — and you are NOT imagining this. But it will get better.

Can you share a few examples of marketing tools or marketing technology that you think can dramatically empower small business owners to become more effective marketers?

Digital advertising is a must-have skill set and tool kit. While not new and sexy, email marketing still delivers a great ROI and a chance to engage with your customers.

On the new tool kits, I am really excited about CTV for small and midsize companies. It’s a chance to get into a broad-reach vehicle, but in a targeted way, and with budgets that can deliver a good ROI.

What books, podcasts, documentaries or other resources do you use to sharpen your marketing skills?

You mean in addition to Authority Magazine? I really leverage my grad school newsletters, webinars, and publications. Kellogg marketing professors Carter Cast, Tim Calkins, and others always have new insights. Professor Steve Franconeri has great info on how to use data visualizations, and professor Harry Kraemer always has new insights on leadership.

I love the podcast Renegade Marketing with Drew Neisser, multiple marketing TedTalks, and Dare to Lead from Brené Brown. I get great daily ideas and feeds from AMA, Ad Age, and the Morning Brew. I get deeper insights from regular breakfast meetings with the brain trust of marketing minds from my Sears days.

Some of my favorite books recently are most helpful with leadership and communication — they include Daniel Pink’s books, Simon Sinik’s books, and a newer book called “The Human Element” from Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal that talks about overcoming resistance to new ideas.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can learn more about my upcoming book “Midsize” on Amazon., the e-book is available for presale now and will be available in paperback and hardcover on Oct. 18, 2022.

Additionally, they can follow me on LinkedIn and visit my website, JuliaCFitzgerald.com.

One more before we go: If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

In a time of “the great resignation” and “quiet quitting,” I would inspire people to put convention aside and decide what kind of work would make them happy. Fulfilled. I’d encourage them to pursue that path and place so they are using their talents and time in a way that lights them up.

Thank you for sharing so many valuable insights with us today!

Author: Kage Spatz went from inner-city Teacher to Forbes-ft Entrepreneur, who joined forces with fellow F500 Marketers to give your non-profit new revenue streams. Incentivize companies to donate more every month by offering a la carte services delivered by the same tech & talent used by the top .01 to grow sales.