The Big Impression

The U.S. CMO of the luxury car company discusses how integrating Jaguar Land Rover’s brand alongside popular shows like Succession and The Gentlemen has helped deliver its message of quiet luxury.

Episode Transcript

Please note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.

Ilyse: [00:00:00] I'm Ilyse Liffreing

Damian: And I'm Damian Fowler and welcome to this edition of the Current Podcast.

Damian: This week, we're delighted to talk with Charlotte Blank, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer of Jaguar Land Rover North America.

Ilyse: Charlotte is responsible for JLR's House of brands, which includes the Land Rover Defender and Discovery, the Range Rover, as well as the new line of all electric Jaguar cars.

Damian: Before she joined JLI, before she joined JLR, Charlotte gave a TED Talk in 2019 called Lead Like a Scientist, where she examined the psychology of motivation and what it means to lead.

Ilyse: Charlotte says she's obsessed with testing new ideas and challenging the status quo. So that's where we started. 

Damian: So hi, Charlotte. Thank you for joining us.

Charlotte: Thank you for having me.

Damian: In 2019, you did a TED talk called lead like a scientist in which, you talked about the importance of testing new ideas and challenging the status quo. Now, is that something you put into practice in your current role as CMO at JLR

Charlotte: I would like to think so and I think there's room to do even more. I describe myself as a marketer by way of psychology. I did that TED Talk in a previous role as Chief Behavioral Officer of an incentive and motivation company where I really got to be at the forefront of research in behavioral economics and studying what we know about human behavior and social science and how that plays into understanding and motivating people to take action, which essentially is at the core of marketing.

So we have so much of an opportunity to act and lead like scientists when we wear our hat as a marketing leader. 

Damian: And what can other marketers do to sort of take some of those lessons that you were expressing in that talk? You know, and how can they integrate that into their daily work?

Charlotte: I think to lead like a scientist, first and foremost, means to test things, to run experiments, and by that I mean true randomized controlled experiments, hold out test controls with properly randomized groups. And really from an applied standpoint, I think [00:02:00] marketers have been leading the way here. I mean, A B tests are standard practice. We see them as common practice in digital advertising and website optimization - really, it's kind of part of the daily work of being an excellent digital marketer in particular is to constantly be A B testing. But I think where there's more of an interesting opportunity to grow is more hypothesis driven testing. So not just the: “Will I see more clicks if I move this important box from the bottom of the page to the top?” But more: “I have this insight about something that really differentiates the consumers I'm trying to reach and how can I craft my messaging to get at that core psychological insight and testing those?” That I think is sort of the next step and where we can really make a difference.

Damian: Could you give us an example of how you, you're putting that into practice at JLR?

Charlotte: Absolutely. So we are on an exciting journey at JLR as part of our modern luxury transformation. We're really elevating the brands and taking everything up market and really responding to the rise in [00:03:00] wealth and the consumers that we reach from a modern luxury perspective. And part of the strategy to bring that to life is ‘House of Brands’.

So JLR really no longer goes to market with the Land Rover brand as the front facing brand, but it fades back to allow Range Rover Defender and Discovery each to thrive in their own right. So this is an exciting opportunity for marketers to really tease apart the difference, for example, between a Range Rover customer and a Defender client. And that's really where the psychological insights come into play. So we've been doing some really interesting research that finds these ‘core differentiating nuggets’, we call them. 

Just off the top of my head, some interesting insights were: Range Rover Sport target is extremely psychologically rich. They thrive in busyness and sort of the chaos of daily life that many of us know. Some of us love, some of us don't love. The Range Rover sport person loves to be very busy and to have their hands in lots of different things and they're rather impulsive. They lack the ability to delay gratification, and they don't [00:04:00] like to be overly structured or routine.

So they like to just kind of go for it and go for their dreams and not really overthink things because they can handle doing multiple things at once. So I think you'll see, for example, in the new Range Rover Sport Creative as part of our new Velocity Blue campaign starring Theo James. He kind of exhibits that in the commercial.

You see him sort of exploring the property, racing the car around the grounds, and going for an action to what turns out to be simply playing fetch with his dog. But it's this kind of heroic, fast paced scene that really brings to life that sort of busyness and a bit of impulsivity.

Ilyse: bit of impulse. Now, as far as that campaign and then like future campaigns, you've talked a lot about the importance of media mix modeling. I'm curious why this is important  and would you say it's easier now to lead like a scientist in a marketing world that is more data driven?

Charlotte: We're very excited to kick off our MMM (Media Mix Modelling) project. I think two weeks from today we're starting our [00:05:00] really what we're calling our marketing mix project because I think this is finally our chance to put all of the pieces really together in a rigorous scientific data driven way so that we can get a little more sophisticated about understanding and right sizing the expectations for what advertising investment can do in the short term when it comes to sales and that I'm kind of recognizing that in the automotive industry and probably in most others that it's not only about the advertising, but it's about the media strategy being carefully executed in concert with getting all the other pieces, right.

Is the pricing right? Are the incentives right? What are the competitors doing? How old is the product? There are all of these factors that come into play, and we can put them all into the model to help us make better decisions about where to place a dollar at any given time for any particular model, and it may or may not be in more media. It might be for new creative, or it might be on adjusting the price. It might differ depending on the product, so I think that's going to make us, as a collective [00:06:00] enterprise, a lot more intelligent and data driven.

Ilyse: intelligent. On that note, are there different markets for different vehicles across JLR brands?

Damian: the

Charlotte: Of course. I mean, that's really part of the fun of differentiating the four brands is they really are different core audiences. And again, this comes back for me to psychology, that when we look at the surface level at the demographics and we simply ask questions like: How old are these people? Are they married? What is their average household income? They look relatively similar to each other and to competitive brands, but we take another level down, we start peeling the onion and we look at: Well, how do they spend their time? And then we look even deeper: But what really drives them? What motivates them? What stage of life are they in psychologically? That's where they start to feel really different.

So that can come to life in the ‘where’ and ‘how’ we approach our media buys and the partnerships we explore. But it also, again, you know, creative is king. It comes into the messaging and how we craft a story that resonates with people.

Damian: I just gotta say on that [00:07:00] note, I did love the Theo James spot. The Range Rover spot because it was filmed at Harewood House, which is very close to where I grew up in Yorkshire. So I think I'm in the market for one of those and the same color, too.

Charlotte: I was thrilled to hear that when you share that with me in your beautiful English accent, because it is, it's a really special location that was carefully chosen, partly to bring about that English heritage, you know, that's something that is such a special gift and a unique, ~um,~ distinctive asset for the Range Rover brand is ~that~ that English heritage going back to the queen and the royal family.

And I think we've ~kind of~ gone through phases about how much in the degree that we play that up. But the time feels right culturally to really ~kind of ~celebrate that and bring forth a bit of cheeky modern Britishness. to the Range Rover sport brand and truly there's no better character for that than Theo James.

You know what he brought to life in the Gentleman hit series on Netflix. ~Um,~ Range Rover was heavily integrated in that show. So we already benefited from the show's popularity and Theo's popularity and have a bit of [00:08:00] equity built with him. So I think it's just perfect that we got him to sort of star in the campaign

Ilyse: to sort of star in the character.

Not to

Charlotte: quite handsome. That's true.

Ilyse: And it is all about like marketing a lifestyle just as much as a vehicle.

Charlotte: 100%. That's, that couldn't be more true, especially for a luxury brand.

Ilyse: brand. And we

Damian: we hear a lot, ~um,~ now of the importance of marketing being relevant to culture and that's a very good example of how you're tying in. You know relevance to cultural moments, ~you know,~ especially premium content like you mentioned white lotus the gentleman. ~It's ~It's sort of all aligned in lots of

Charlotte: I am a huge fan of branded entertainment. Where people spend their leisure time, where their captive audience in front of a big screen in the comfort of their own home, and where they binge watch their favorite shows, Netflix, HBO. We've seen some incredible return on investment when we integrate our vehicles and our brand experience in a highly curated way, against some of these popular shows.

Succession comes to mind. ~You know,~ Succession really brought in [00:09:00] this. notion of quiet wealth and like the uber luxury in a way that's a little bit more understated and reductive. The clothing they wear with the million dollar sweaters that just look really simple. There's something about ~that~ that really resonates with the Range Rover brand and the design aesthetic that's not overtly flashy or gaudy, ~um,~ but is a little more reductive and minimalist in design and it's just the characters and succession really brought that to life.

Damian: and minimalist in design, and it's just the characters and succession really brought that to me. What insights have you got there around marketing to that group, that younger demographic, ~uh,~ especially given the fact that you're ~kind of ~leading with data?

Charlotte: I think it's really important. ~I mean,~ we have to remind ourselves as as much as we do pay attention to performance marketing, and we've built a world class sophisticated martech stack and a [00:10:00] really strong team of digital marketers who are highly attuned to those kind of purchase intense signals and closing demand, ~you know,~ focusing on that lower part of the funnel. But at the end of the day, especially in automotive, especially these luxury brands, it takes time to really build that love in people's hearts. And it, for many people starts early. I mean, some of the most interesting research I've seen, it's as if people are lying on a psychiatrist's couch, going back to their literal childhood memories: What does Range Rover mean to me in my heart?

They're thinking about,~ you know,~ their father driving one, or the royal family, some early memories they had of it, or a show that they've seen, ~you know,~ brand and entertainment really comes to mind.~ Um,~ Defenders, ~um, ~sort of rocketing onto the scene in the recent James Bond movie with this really spectacular car chase is an example that, you know, is meant to appeal not only to people who are in market now or can afford one now, but potentially to, to the younger generations who might, ~you~ You know, put the theoretical poster up on the wall and dream of it in the future.

So I think that's really important for us marketers.

Ilyse: And that really,  ties into like. [00:11:00] Personalized journeys, especially if they look back at how they even came across the brand to begin with. When it comes to that as well, which channels are you testing as you like focus on like scale? 

Charlotte: We're always testing new channels for scale. You know, a lot of our focus around building the upper funnel and growing our brands tremendously. Defender. We doubled sales in the U. S. last year. From, around 15, 000 a year to over 30 and did that very quickly with just a really concerted focus on building awareness, breaking through with really effective creative that drove breakthrough recall and brought a lot of new audiences, into awareness of the brand.

And I think, the way to do that is to get some of the brilliant basics right. Which means really good, creative, really strong media plans that index heavily on scale-based channels like CTV. We did a lot of TV, we've been in podcasting, audio. When we [00:12:00] think of the 'see, think, do’ framework, really focusing on the ‘see’ to build new audiences and build that upper funnel.

Damian: That's an incredible statistic you just shared about doubling sales last year of Defender, and that's through brand, sort of brand building.

Charlotte: Indeed, as well as physical experiential activations, as well is a big part of our marketing mix. We host every year the Destination Defender Festival, which grows each year. We have an incredible cause marketing platform for Defender called the Defender Service Awards, which gives us a platform to showcase the capability and off road and durability of the car in context of these really emotional lifestyle stories.

So we invite very local grassroots charities who need a vehicle that can take them to difficult places. We invite them to submit video applications for a chance to win a Defender, and then we invite consumers to vote. Last year we had over half a million votes in a very grassroots approach, and this year we're looking [00:13:00] already to surpass that.

And that just gives us a wealth of content and opportunity to make a difference, and to really establish a platform that's authentic and organic for the brand. So I think those sort of higher touch, authentic, steps are important as a foundation, but then also just to really blast out building awareness through big traditional media has helped as well.

Damian: That seems like that, that's sped up, maybe, is it? All of you got sped up. 

Charlotte:  I mean, we truly last year we called it the year of ~Defender, Defender,~ Defender. No joke. It was ~kind~ of all systems go on defender. We were, it was really motivating and really exciting because we had such a clear vision of what we needed to do to differentiate and really break defender onto the scene.

So it was just a galvanizing kind of experience to just go all in on this one brand. This year we've got to be able to, walk and chew gum at the same time. We're back to focusing on multiples.

Ilyse: at those like cultural and like sporting events and having a big presence at some of those.

How much is that really part of your strategy and which, I guess, which cultural events have you really found yourself being?

Charlotte: Yeah. That's a very topical question for us. Experiential marketing, I think, gives us a way to really bring the brand to life in a way that transcends the product and makes people feel like they're part of a community. So a great example is Range Rover house, ~um,~ for Range Rover, that's now a global lifestyle platform.

We now do Range Rover houses everywhere from.

Damian: started

Ilyse: But

Charlotte: to Dubai, Cormier, you name it, but it started here in the U. S. in Monterey around, ~um,~

Damian: around Monterey.

Charlotte: Pebble Beach around Monterey car week.  and we do it every year in that location at that event, as well as,  Salt Lake City at, Park City, and a few other locations.

And basically, the idea is that we'll take over a private residence or building that [00:15:00] matches the design aesthetic of Range Rover and curate these exquisite, really luxury crafted experiences for our clients and prospects and partners. And we do that in partnership with other luxury brands to offer. For example, ~uh,~ rare spirit tastings, or a luxury facial, ~um,~ early access to a new fashion launch.

~Um,~ so we'll curate something different each time to keep it fresh. But the idea, it's been fun for the team to use as almost~ a,~ a filter or a thought exercise of, if Range Rover the brand were a house, What would it smell like? What would the furniture look like? What would you eat there? Who would be there?

you can kind of stretch your imagination to bring the brand to life in a way that, transcends the product. And we'll have a special product edition each time. That's also a part of the strategy where we'll release a limited count of a special Range Rover. That's only 17 of them are made. And it Retails for 350, 000 and only those [00:16:00] who are in person have a chance to, have the first look.

So that gives it sort of a press hook, ~um,~ and an extra kind of commercial reason to attend. But really the experience we hear more and more from our clients is that I feel like I'm part of a club, an exclusive society. ~You know,~ I'm a Range Rover person and that means that I get to do this and I get to meet and mingle with other life's leaders.

We call them in the Range Rover community. 

Damian: not every automaker can claim that they're able to kind of, like, create a club of like minded members. I know many would probably think that they can, but there's something special about JLR in that way. And I know we touched on this already, but one of those factors, I guess, that plays into the branding and the association is the British connection.

You mentioned the ad, but could you say a little bit more about that and how that is Something that you use or not use, especially in the U. S. market, which is what you're in charge.

Charlotte: [00:17:00] Yeah, such an interesting question for the U. S. market. ~Um,~ We have a couple of very current examples, I think, to this effect. One is that we have the blessing of having access to this curated collection of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, her cars, basically the classic Land Rover product that she either drove or was escorted in, throughout her regime.

And we have a beautiful collection of 10 of those vehicles that have been painted. painstakingly perfectly restored, and we debuted them globally at Pebble Beach this year. So it was the very first time that an SUV was displayed on the Pebble Beach Concourse, which I was surprised by. That was a really unique moment.

That was a really special thing. So we got a lot of press and breakthrough for that moment. And a lot of just fan activity. There are a lot of classic Land Rover Range Rover fans. So now we're taking those vehicles on tour and we'll have them at Rockefeller center with a very British themed experience.

It's all about the Royal family. So we'll have sort [00:18:00] of a tour. British, ~you know,~ other partners there and sort of a British feel. ~Um,~ but when you see the cars, ~you know,~ there's even these little touches like a special spot for the corgis to sit or the special hook for the Queen's handbag. ~Um,~ so that is a moment that's really making us stop and appreciate the British heritage and celebrate that in a more public way than we had recently.

but a funny story we were just catching up about earlier when I spoke about the Theo James commercial. It's called Velocity Blue is the campaign. We made some edits for a U. S. version of the TV spot, which will start airing  that essentially streamlined the story to be a little bit more simple, with a little more car shot, a little more action, which kind of captures a lot of, like, the U.

S. feedback. When we have our creative debates and discussions internally, most of the creative origination happens at the global headquarters in the U. K., It rolls out to the major markets. We give our feedback. There's a process that's probably very similar at other global companies, and the script tends to go something like the English version is a bit [00:19:00] more abstract, has a little more storytelling, has a lot going on, and the U.

S. wants to see Simple. Hit me with the logo. More car shots. Get to it. People are busy. There's a lot to break through and there's always  a cheeky debate about that. But, this time, they actually created a slightly different version for the U. S. Same spot, really, but with a key difference that, that simplified it and removed a scene in the middle that had, you know, an equestrian riding across the property you described.

And we just got the test results back and they were fascinating to see. We worked with Kantar to do sort of the initial assessment of how both the UK and the US audiences resonate with each of these two options. And we found that indeed we were correct about the US that the simplified spot without the equestrian, outperforms the original version for U.S. audiences, but fascinatingly, in the U. K., the reverse is true. So that gave us such an interesting, and frankly, a positive outcome that was, gets us [00:20:00] away from any kind of creative disagreements and is much more about honoring these market specific differences. And just isn't that interesting, that people have different expectations of advertising or different understanding of, the content of this particular spot.

So it's just an important reminder to global brands to keep the core insight true, but to make those tweaks to really optimize for each market.

Damian: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, great. I mean, keep the horse. I say keep the horse.

Ilyse: I mean, I'm an American, right? And I think it's, I think the UK version is better,

Charlotte:  Ifyou know just keep it simple. Yeah, but it's so interesting, those insights like that fascinating. 

Charlotte: live for them. I mean, I think that's what marketing is all about is the consumer insight.

Damian: And that's it for this edition of The Current Podcast. We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.

Ilyse: The Current Podcast's theme is by Love Caliber. The current team includes Kat Vesce and Sydney Cairns.

Damian: And remember, 

Charlotte: especially in automotive, especially these luxury brands, it takes time to really ~ build that love in people's [00:21:00] hearts. And it, for many people starts early.

Damian: I'm Damian.

Ilyse: I'm Ilyse

Damian: And we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, tune in to our other podcast, The Current Report.

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Gopuff’s Daniel Folkman joins The Current Podcast to explore the company's philosophy, what differentiates Gopuff’s retail media network and how the platform’s unique proposition could help it capture incremental retail media dollars.

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The beverage brand’s former CMO, which holds drinks like Aperol, breaks down why events like Coachella, the US Open and Cannes Film Festival are so important to its marketing strategy.

Episode Transcript

Please note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.

[00:00:00] Damian: I'm Damian Fowler

[00:00:01] Ilyse: And I'm Ilyse Liffreing

[00:00:02] Damian: And welcome to this edition of The Current Podcast.

[00:00:05] Ilyse: This week, we're delighted to talk with Julka Villa, the former Global CMO of Campari Group.

[00:00:11] Damian: Founded in 1860, Campari is a household name in the global spirits industry with a portfolio of over 50 brands across world markets.

[00:00:20] We're talking familiar names like Aperol, Sky Vodka, Wild Turkey Bourbon, and Courvoisier.

[00:00:27] Ilyse: Julka is a marketing veteran with over 25 years of experience in the alcoholic beverage and beauty industries. A specialist in consumer focused brands.

[00:00:37] Damian: Julka is responsible for the marketing vision, strategy, and execution of the Campari Group's brands.

[00:00:44] At the same time, she has a bird's eye view of the company's worldwide presence, coordinating teams based in Milan, Paris, and New York.

[00:00:52] Ilyse: We started by asking her about how she balances the Campari legacy with keeping its brands relevant for today's [00:01:00] consumers.

[00:01:02] Damian: So Campari has a rich heritage. The company is now 164 years old. How do you go about balancing its legacy, the preservation of its legacy while keeping the brand modern and relevant for today's consumers?

[00:01:18] Julka: I think that, if we go back to the roots of the Campari brand, about being

[00:01:23] bold, about being visionary about investing in arts, think about Europe, Italy in the second half of the 19th century. There were so, few brands really investing Campari was one of the first really interacting with artists

[00:01:42] and designers and giving them the freedom to, the brand in the way they saw it. if you look at how we started, you how we moved forward along our, our history. You can see that, the [00:02:00] twenties and thirties of last we start cooperating with cinema, really asking the people, working in the industries and producing the movies, postcards, producing, you know, designs and drawings for us.

[00:02:16] You can see that, fast forward, to the eighties. We start cooperating with one of the greatest filmmakers. In the world, Federico Fellini, that was a big fan of the Campari brand. He was drinking Campari and he decided to cooperate with us to produce an advertising for the brand. And Fellini was the first filmmaker we cooperated with. But then, we kept this partnership, for instance, with Paolo Sorrentino 2017. And I was personally You know, working with him, it was a fantastic experience to see an artist really bringing to life, the brand, [00:03:00] respecting the legacy, but at the same time, renovating, since you're asking me how a brand modern still loyal to its root, it was amazing to see how we could kept the daring, attitude of the brand alive. According to his own style. 

[00:03:20] Ilyse: Wow,that is super cool. so is pop culture still as important to the brand even today? 

[00:03:27] Julka: Absolutely. Absolutely. So, and this is so important for the Campari brand, but for many other brands part of our portfolio, just for you to know, we have more than 50 brands. in our portfolio, and if you’d like we can talk about some of them, but when it, comes to Campari, think about the fact that our partnership with arts, have been, more recently renovated in our, cooperation with the major film festivals, in the world. We, are [00:04:00] partners of the Cannes Film the Locarno, in Berlinale. weclosed the first, year of partnership with the Toronto Film that's definitely a modern way to the brand, extremely aspirational, but still to get in touch with so many consumers and possible advocates of the brand. One of the things we really care about is not just to communicate our brands, but to assure our consumer to consume our brands throughout the signature cocktails in the best way possible and definitely feel festival for us are a huge opportunity to provide liquid tulips, as we say, to our consumers current and future. 

[00:04:47] Damian: What's interesting is with these different brands, you're sort of talking about how they're valued differently in different markets. that's very interesting to me. How do you know and prioritize [00:05:00] which brands work best in which countries? 

[00:05:04] Julka: We have, well identified, what we call the global brands. The brands that should be built everywhere in the world. Of course step by step and respecting the life stages, the brand is in a specific geography. And definitely the one I mentioned so far, are global brands. And so also global priorities, for the company. And then, depending on the area of the world, the characteristics of the market and the consumers, each individual, operating company, can, compose, portfolio, to have the best performance on the market. But definitely there are priorities everybody to focus 

[00:05:51] Damian: if you think about the United States, is there a sort of priority?

[00:05:55] Julka: Yeah, 

[00:05:56] Damian: Leading brand here.

[00:05:58] Julka: definitely, [00:06:00] uh, the priority for the United our giant aperitif brands, such as Campari Aperol, Grand Manier, Wild Turkey, Espolon, and of course, the local team is really excited to rebuild the Courvoisier brand. always acquisition we have just finalized.

[00:06:21] Damian: Yeah, each of those brands has its own kind of, whole kind of narrative around them, I imagine. But I wanted to ask you actually a little bit about, The current moment that we're in, which we're seeing a kind of a lot of debate around alcohol versus no alcohol consumption, particularly when it comes to like Gen Z demographics. I mean, how do you think about and navigate these perception shifts? 

[00:06:47] Julka: That's a very that's a very interesting question. And of course, as you can imagine, we have been spending a lot of time and resources really to dig deep into these shift and [00:07:00] transformation in a way of our consumer ships. One thing that is not that evident to, to everybody is that differently from the past, there is a sort of coexistence of, people drinking alcoholic products and non alcoholic products, depending on the moment they are in, the people they are with, what they have to do the day after.

[00:07:23] And this kind of consciousness and, control on what to choose is even stronger in younger consumers as you were mentioned so they are more conscious they don't they are not you know afraid to make a choice that could be out of 

[00:07:43] their are pool of friends. Everybody's drinking something alcoholic There's no problem at all for one of them to say “Look tomorrow I have to wake up very early I have a very important day I prefer to, to opt for a choice, a non alcoholic choice.” So more than a counter position [00:08:00] today, we see the coexistence, of these kind of choices, which is quite interesting, honestly, also because it gives us the opportunity to be more, mindful and, intentional in developing also the part of our portfolio, which is non alcoholic. For instance, we have a product which is an extremely strong product in Italy and definitely in a phase of conquering of continental Europe is, the name of the product is Crodino and is definitely our non alcoholic, kind of spritz. is a product that was invented and launched in the market, in 1965.

[00:08:39] So this is a little bit a testament, to the personality of the company, wanting really to push boundaries. And actually we are preparing the launch of these fantastic product also in the U S, that we plan for next year. 

[00:08:54] Ilyse: So it sounds like Campari really anticipated this trend of non alcoholic [00:09:00] beverages in a sense. 

[00:09:02] Julka: Yeah, that's, that's correct. That's correct. 

[00:09:05] Damian: I'm just curious on that point, you know, as a marketer, you must get lots of data back in terms of like, who's drinking what, maybe by generation, maybe by geography even. I'm interested to know, do you kind of look at that in terms of strategizing and find the discrete markets? 

[00:09:24] Julka: even if, with the passing of the years, what we, really is of people. So demographics are not, gender or age brackets are not the main elements we look for because what really counts. Today is the mindset and the attitude of people, for instance, if I think about a product like Aperol with these with its signature cocktail, Aperol can see across generations drinking this product and across age brackets is the mindset.

[00:09:57] And you would be amazed how people approaching Aperol [00:10:00] Spritz, enjoying Aperol Spritz, they really have in common, the way they appreciate life and what they are looking for in that specific moment. Either they are, 25 or 60. So there are also, a number of cross generational, alcoholic beverage experiences, and so the way we look at data is really about the motivation and the attitude of people when they are about to make a choice. 

[00:10:27] Ilyse: Yeah, that kind of, shift towards mindset over demographics probably helps a lot when it comes to just I guess prioritizing channels for the brand and where to reach those audiences because I know in a lot of the times like Millennials and Gen Zers are in like social media and usually that's not an option when it comes to alcohol brands, is, so is the brand finding other channels to be just as effective, in reaching that kind of mindset that it's [00:11:00] after.

[00:11:00] Julka: when, I think a strong, distinctive characteristic Of our marketing and activation strategies, really investing very seriously in, in events, because definitely there's a lot of will among consumers of all ages, really to leave, events, in person really experience, on their, skin, much more than in the past.

[00:11:24] and then we amplify, if you want, through social media, those events. But, a big part of our investment. is really, put on organizing, these kind of events. When we, when it comes to the U. S., think about Coachella, which is, more than a music festival, is a lifestyle festival, as we all know.

[00:11:43] Think about the U. S. Open. uh, but also if we go on the other side of the world, in the APAC region, think about, The Australian Open, which is for us a, opportunity to reach so many consumers. about [00:12:00] hundreds of thousands live offering our best signature cocktail in our, fantastic lounger and then we can definitely amplify this content on a number of social media where. alcoholic beverage can, have a direct relationship, with their consumers. So for us, it's always a mix. we really believe that we have winning products, very straightforward drinking strategy, and that's why we care so these to life in real life for we don't see this business as happening just, just virtually. Definitely. 

[00:12:42] How do you kind of maintain and sort of keep tabs, as it were, on people who are loyal to the brands that you market?

[00:12:52] definitely over the yearsWe invested and we improved, our, CRM, capacity, so [00:13:00] throughout, social media and massively through events, we gather as much as possible information about our consumers so that, we can definitely keep them, up to date. On our, yearly, program, but also we can establish a more direct dialogue.

[00:13:18] Sometimes we consult them, a part of them for new projects. we listen to them, ask them questions about, trends, want to know more and I think that, especially when it comes to a lab important.

[00:13:39] Feel part of a feel, really listen to is something as important as enjoying your favorite, brand and your

[00:13:50] Damian: And what's interesting to me is I was thinking about this because about, maybe 12 years ago, I have a friend from Venice who lives in New York and we went to a [00:14:00] restaurant and she ordered an Aperol and at that, point it wasn't very, nobody really knew much about it here.

[00:14:06] And since then, of course, it's huge. It's like a probably one of the most popular, cocktails around. I was just at the U. S. Open in the summer and I could see, your your

[00:14:16] plaza there with Aperol everywhere. I guess it was, there's a sponsor, a partnership 

[00:14:20] Julka: Mm hmm. 

[00:14:21] Damian: But my question is, how did you could you walk us through how you, built that awareness from, that moment, however many years ago when it wasn't such a big, obviously big in Venice, she said it was the Venetian drink.

[00:14:34] So I was like, Oh, that's interesting.

[00:14:39] Julka: yes, I am. 10, 12 years ago, not only in the U. S., but in many other places outside Europe, definitely it was not established. you know, staple it is to die. and at the very beginning, we really faced, some very basic, difficulties. I have to say, it was not easy, to start [00:15:00] talking about, a signature cocktail that, needed, a bottle of Prosecco to be open, to be prepared because.

[00:15:07] You know, if you are familiar with sparkly wines, the problem with it is that if you open it and you use just a little part and then you keep the bottle for a couple of days, the carbonation will just, yes, go away. So it was really. a very precise, consistent, and stubborn work of education.

[00:15:28] There's just one certainty about education, which is that, you know, when you started that you will never know when you will finish. And actually it's a never ending story in a way. So we, in the past we put, and we keep putting a lot of, effort and an investment in educating the trade the bartenders bar owners But also the final consumers because at the end if the final consumer knows

[00:15:52] the best way to prepare an upper spritz They will be your advocate and it happened to me so many times in the past [00:16:00] when I was receiving at the table in upper spritz that was not preparing the way It should have been, I was going back to the bar and I was saying there's something wrong with my cocktail.

[00:16:13] it's a double, a double direction 

[00:16:16] Julka: Yeah, 

[00:16:18] efforts. And, Also, a very important part is, what we call, the oil spill approach. What does it mean? We start with the city, a major city, we start with the specific neighbors. and key on trade outlets in this neighbor.

[00:16:39] We build a relationship of partnership. We invest on these venues and we create the phenomenon of the cocktail and then we expand. So distribution and presence comes just

[00:16:52] after having started trend with a very high level, of the serve in a smaller [00:17:00] number of venues.

[00:17:01] This, has been the approach in the U. S. and in every other part of the world. You mentioned Venice, which is the place where the brand really, started being known and appreciated and, recognized as, the champion of aperitif. But the phenomenon of Aperol Spritz started in Venice, expanded to the Veneto region, which is the region of Venice, and then expanded Milan and from Milan to the rest of Italy.

[00:17:28] So the oil spill approach, as we call it, has always been, front and center of the strategy, of, And it's building. 

[00:17:38] Ilyse: So interesting. when you think of Campari brands, it also sorts of implies Like a level of sophistication. in a sense, are marketing just drinks or is it something more, I don't know, like lifestyle? 

[00:17:53] Julka: definitely. I think that,our brands are starting from, The most important ones really [00:18:00] stand for a certain lifestyle. you think about campari, it really represents the Milan. And, the lifestyle of the city. If you, think about aperol, you're talking about a more democratic sort of brand, really more casual. welcome. and, So they,

[00:18:21] reflect a way of living and today even more important. If you think about the trend of escapism, traveling without traveling. I need a break. I need a moment for myself of real enjoyment with my friends.

[00:18:36] brands like this, and they are signature cocktail, let's say Aperol Spritz for Aperol, Negroni, for instance, for Campari makes you really full for half hour, one hour you're spending with your friends in another place. So they really stand for a way of living for a place and for a moment in life where you really, recharge your batteries and, [00:19:00] you dedicate really a true moment to yourself. 

[00:19:03] Julka: And that's it for this edition of The Current Podcast.

[00:19:05] Damian: We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.

[00:19:08] Ilyse: The Current Podcast's theme is by Love Caliber. The current team includes Kat Vesce and Sydney Cairns.

[00:19:15] Damian: Cairns. And remember, 

[00:19:16] Julka: we really believe that we have winning products, and that's why we care so these to life we don't see this business as happening just virtually. 

[00:19:29] Damian: I'm Damian.

[00:19:30] Ilyse: I'm Ilyse.

[00:19:30] Damian: And we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, tune in to our other podcast, The Current Report.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Samsung’s Olga Suvorova sat down with The Current Podcast to discuss engaging with Gen Z audiences, balancing omnichannel strategies and tapping into cultural trends.

Episode Transcript

Please note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.

[00:00:12] Damian: This week we're delighted to talk with Olga Suvarova, the VP of Mobile Experience Marketing at Samsung.

[00:00:18] Olga has recently overseen the launch of new Galaxy foldable phones and family of new wearables powered by Galaxy AI, a watch, buds, and a new smart Galaxy Ring. 

[00:00:35] On a recent LinkedIn post, Olga wrote, “We are reimagining how we create, interact, work out, communicate, stay healthy, multitask, travel, capture ordinary and extraordinary with Galaxy AI.”

[00:00:47] That, sort of, almost sums up the human experience.

[00:00:51] Ilyse: So much of phone tech is tied up with culture, and that's where we start.

[00:00:55] Damian: So Olga, we know culture plays a large role in smartphone sales. Do you think this is even more true today? 

[00:01:04] Absolutely. Phones, smartphones, wearables, tablets are such an important part of people's lives. More so than it has ever been. So we're thinking about not just driving sales and connecting to culture, but understanding what are the cultural spaces, what are the nuggets of interest that are resonating with our consumers and how can we build experiences specifically for that?

[00:01:33] Whether it's the new ways to create things thanks to Galaxy Eye, whether it's the new ways to track your health and sleep and overall wellness, or a completely reimagined experience of productivity and work.

[00:01:50] Damian: And as you said in that LinkedIn post, the phone is connected to all these different aspects of our lives. That's kind of mind blowing when you think about it.

[00:01:58] So, you know, you, talk about [00:02:00] culture and it's very interesting to me that culture and pop culture in particular is so connected to the idea of smartphone sales.

[00:02:09] I mean, it's a fashion item as much as a, you know, a utility item. How do you tap into sort of current trends and fashions? And how do you tie that to marketing the phones and the wearables, indeed? 

[00:02:24] Absolutely, and because smartphones are at the center of what we do every single day, whether it's more of a utility or truly fun and delightful experiences, we have always been big on driving partnerships and collaboration with like minded change makers and incredible players within different cultural spaces.

[00:02:46] And fashion is one of the greatest examples because when we think about technology and fashion. At the core of both is this relentless drive of inspiration and creativity and [00:03:00] self expression. So just recently, we've built an entire partnership around New York Fashion Week, partnering with an incredible designer, LeQuan Smith, and working with him to put the smartphone and the smart ring, so foldable phone, fold six, and the galaxy ring at the core of his creative experiences.

[00:03:25] And redesigning and reimagining what it could be and launching an entire new collection that we called Lucid Dreams by LeQuan Smith. But what was very exciting about it is not only finding a way to build something incredible together, like this new collection, but also watching and getting inspired by LeQuan using  our incredible Samsung Galaxy technology, including Galaxy I throughout the process. So for example, Live Translate and Kohl's being automatically translated in over 15 languages [00:04:00] that he used to drive a lot of conversations with partners and vendors around the world.

[00:04:06] Ilyse: Now I want to get into how you think about your audiences. As you said, everybody uses a smartphone these days. Obviously there's a lot of focus on reaching Gen Z audiences who are, to put it, lightly less than brand loyal sometimes. How do you appeal to these potential customers through your exploration of culture?

[00:04:27] Olga: It's definitely not a one size fits all approach. And the ways they behave and where they spend their time could be different than other audiences. And we think about all those elements as we design different experiences.

[00:04:51] We're not just trying to target them with the same ads, no matter how amazing they are, as we would do with like the other [00:05:00] demographics. and that's why, when it comes to Gen Z and engaging them, deploying other strategies comes into play. for example, We've built an entire ecosystem of team Galaxy creators that are fantastic at building relationships versus trying to transact with that audience, and they are the champions of our brand, but they also the incredible connector to what those audiences care about and help us build that meaningful conversation with them.

[00:05:30] Ilyse: What about outside of, say, social media? Because we're really living in like an omnichannel world now. How do you layer in different channels when it comes to your strategy, and how do you balance brand awareness and then performance? 

[00:05:45] Olga: I know there is a lot being talked about brand awareness versus performance, but I really like to think about it as not one versus the other. Brand drive performance. And it's about building that puzzle [00:06:00] together and finding how different pieces come into play. And for us, it's really building this omni channel approach, and it's not just the social media.

[00:06:09] It's building that reach ecosystem off experiential activations, partnerships, tapping into influencers, thinking about how can we create media worthy moments. So for example, Team Galaxy Creator Collective is one of the ways we drive that relationship and engagement. Building a lot of conversation and community engagement in our social channels plays a huge role.

[00:06:35] Experiential and partner activations, whether it's New York Fashion Week or our partnership with Red Bull, and reimagining how we show up at incredible first female competitions like Magnitude or a cliff diving or something else incredible.

[00:06:52] Damian: mean, one of the challenges of your job is to stay on top of the fast moving, nature of culture. You have to be responsive. And I [00:07:00] think one of the most brilliant illustrations of that was earlier this year when, there was a certain ad that was that rolled out called, crushed where creative tools were being smashed into a tablet.

[00:07:10] And Samsung had a quick responds with an ad called Uncrushed. Could you talk a little bit about that, that moment and what happened there and how you responded and generally about how you need to be sort of quick on your feet when it comes to being a marketer

[00:07:25] Olga: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it comes down to a combination of being very clear about what you stand for as a brand and what your reason for being is, and being quick and nimble and constantly evolving to be at the center of that conversation.

[00:07:43] And for us, when that, um, competitive ad came out, that was pretty much against everything we stand for. Which is open innovation and forcing and fueling the creativity and self expression on people's terms. And that's why for us it [00:08:00] wasn't just a rebuttal, but it was a very thoughtful It was a very, very quick response to, even though very, very quick articulation and expression of what we hold near and dear to our heart and championing that incredible community of creative people, and that's why we call that response and crash.

[00:08:15] It wasn't a campaign plan for months. it was a very quick response. it went on social because it was so true and authentic and because it was executed in a very quick manner, we were able to garner. A lot of response and a lot of coverage without actually spending any money on it.

[00:08:34] Damian: That's amazing. Do you think sometimes those quick response, campaigns, if you like, or ads, in some ways, are kind of more unexpected ads, are more, what's the word? effective in some ways than ones that may have taken a long time to plan.

[00:08:48] Olga: It's probably a combination of both because I don't want to say don't plan, go with the flow and try to do everything within 48 hours. I wouldn't recommend that. But as you said, [00:09:00] The brand's ability to stay current and to stay top of mind for consumers is being constantly in tune with what consumers are doing and what they care about and what's happening in the competitive environments and what is top of mind for people.

[00:09:17] So it's probably a combination of both and that what defines the brands that are able to champion what they stand for in a way that never loses authenticity and relevance.

[00:09:28] Ilyse: Originally I saw a lot of backlash when it first out. Did you look at that backlash at all? Or was it something that you weren't even paying attention to and you just wanted to jump on it regardless?

[00:09:40] Olga: wanted to be very much focused not only on what we're against, but what we're for. And that's what drove that response. We are about creativity, we are about open innovation, we are about celebrating the expression, and we're about pushing boundaries [00:10:00] rather than crushing everything underneath that. So that was probably as important, if not more important than trying to think what people are pulling apart around that original ad.

[00:10:11] Ilyse: in a world where there's two operating systems, okay, you have iOS and Android. How do you view the competition in the space? Is it one system versus another? Or is it all about the product?

[00:10:25] Olga: Well, at the core of the Samsung mobile brand has been this idea and ethos of openness and open innovation and collaboration and building the products and experiences and the ecosystem of products that pushes away the boundaries that might be forced on those products and ultimately deliver subpar experience.

[00:10:47] So for us, it's relentless focus on delivering that. Open innovation, and that comes through how we build products, how we design those experiences, how we partner with like minded change makers in the [00:11:00] industry to really reimagine what those experiences are. Products could be whether it's partnering with Google to build circle to search, incredible functionality or Qualcomm or Microsoft for us.

[00:11:12] The fewer barriers there are in the world, the further we can all go. The more we can drive towards that truly accessible, equitable, representative world and human innovation. So I would say I like to think about it not as a competition per se, but, What is our enemy? And oftentimes the enemy is the barriers and complacency and the inertia that exists within the industry or within the consumer behavior.

[00:11:43] And how do we build not only the product experiences, but also incredible marketing messages and campaigns to really shake that up and drive towards progress.

[00:11:56] Ilyse: Now when you're marketing, and especially when it comes to like [00:12:00] new products and new pieces of technology, what would you say is a sell for a new piece of tech? So is it the technology itself or is it looking at the tech and how it can enhance creativity for that user?

[00:12:14] Olga: One hundred percent the latter one. It's all about it's never about technology and the conversation. We started with is smartphones and tablets and the mobile experiences being at the core of what we do every single day. So our focus, even with the latest launch earlier this year of Galaxy AI, has been how do we showcase what it could do for people, whether it's sketching AI photo editing, whether it's communicating across boundaries, because you have this wonderful life translated.

[00:12:48] you know, reimagining your capability or reimagining how your earbuds connect to your phone and your tablet in a very, very seamless way. So it's all about what you can [00:13:00] do with it, whether it is something to help you save time or it's truly for fun.

[00:13:05] Damian: fun. Now that brings us to the question of A. I. And the integration of A. I. Into new phones. And that for sure is a hot topic right now. And it's not just phones, of course. Could we talk a little bit about, you know, your thoughts on A.

[00:13:19] I. On and the marketing of the products that you there on your watch? A.

[00:13:26] Olga: and Galaxy Eye that we introduced in January and since then rolled out across the portfolio of our mobile products is not just a fancy and flashy new feature. It's truly at the core of where technology is going and how we can make it more accessible. More exciting, more delightful, more useful to our consumers.

[00:13:48] And we see that in how they have been using that technology. Right now there are over a hundred million devices. All around the world that have been using [00:14:00] Galaxy AI. We know that just in the US alone, within a week, there are

[00:14:05] Damian: are 78

[00:14:06] Olga: 78 million of instances when people are using those Galaxy AI features. And that's an incredible consumer response that tells us we're in the right track and we're building something that people love, that people find value in, and that helps us get more ideas for how we can innovate further.

[00:14:24] Ilyse: You know, on that note, you are a big proponent of brand love and, and really diving into what I guess makes consumers keep coming back to a brand. Why would you say it's important to generate that kind of buzz around a brand?

[00:14:45] Olga: It's really important to keep being relevance and being meaningful to consumers. It's important for people to feel something about your brand and in order to build and nurture that brand [00:15:00] love. We need to be very, very clear about what is that reason for being? What do we want to be remembered for, known for?

[00:15:09] How do we want to make people feel? And on the other hand, continue to constantly evolve based on what people are telling us. Being open to it, having the desire, having the drive to really, keep reinventing ourselves without ever losing that core and that ethos of our brand. And for us, it's always been that idea of openness and open innovation and relentless pursuit of breaking barriers and pushing boundaries. 

[00:15:40] Ilyse: So, Olga, how do you layer in different channels when it comes to your overall strategy?

[00:15:46] Olga: It's a combination of different channels that help us in a very personalized way reach Diverse communities and audiences from the demographic from the psychographic perspective, so we think about our [00:16:00] universe, including online video advertising, because that creates the opportunity to be extremely targeted and very measurable.

[00:16:10] We also deploy, um, a lot of our advertising through programmatic ads by similarity. It allows a lot of precision and a lot of scale, but we also layer in different approaches to social media platforms. So, for example, how we build for platforms with matter is different for, uh, What we do with snap and spotify and twitch, which again allows us to show up in a consistent way, but in a more relevant and tailored approach, obviously, that all is connected to the work that we do through our partnerships, through our influencer work and a lot of our experiential and out of home media. 

[00:16:51] Damian: I have to ask you though we mentioned at the top the Galaxy AI ring, you’re wearing it. Can you tell us a little about it? 

[00:16:59] Olga: a [00:17:00] huge fan. I can't get enough of it. It's an incredible piece of technology. Again, it's powered by Galaxy AI, and it's an incredible device that allows you to track your sleep patterns, your health, your energy score.

[00:17:16] So it tells you basically how you are doing, what you could be doing differently to feel better, gives you What we call wellness tips, and it's perfectly connected to your other devices, whether it's watch or the Samsung Galaxy phone, so you can actually get obsessed about those metrics. I have to say, I haven't been the healthiest person, according to this ring, but I have tons of wellness tips to get me to a better place.

[00:17:40] Damian: That's great to hear. Well, thank you so much for speaking with us. 

[00:17:46] Damian: And that's it for this edition of The Current Podcast.

[00:17:48] We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.

[00:17:51] Ilyse: The Current Podcast's theme is by Love Caliber. The Current team includes Kat Vesce and Sydney Cairns. And remember, 

[00:17:59] Olga: We are [00:18:00] about creativity, we are about open innovation, we are about celebrating the expression, and we're about pushing boundaries rather than crushing everything underneath that.

[00:18:11] Damian: I'm Damian.

[00:18:12] Ilyse: I'm Ilyse.

[00:18:13] Damian: And we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, tune in to our other podcast, The Current Report.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The founder and CEO of The Trade Desk, Jeff Green, talks about the evolution of the premium internet, his obsession with the ad tech supply chain and why the connected TV (CTV) ecosystem is ready for an upgrade.

Green explains why The Trade Desk is launching Ventura, a streaming TV operating system, named after the California beach town, to improve the CTV ecosystem for publishers, advertisers and consumers.

__________

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Toby Espinosa, the VP of DoorDash ads, reflects on the tremendous growth of the delivery platform, saying the key to this is local businesses.

Episode Transcript

Please note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.

Damian: [00:00:00] I'm Damian Fowler.

Ilyse: And I'm Ilyse Liffreing

Damian: And welcome to this edition of The Current Podcast.

Ilyse: This week, we're delighted to talk with Toby Espinoza, the VP of DoorDash Ads.

Damian: And Toby is responsible for connecting brands, local and national, to the more than 37 million customers who place orders on DoorDash marketplaces each month.

Ilyse: At this point, DoorDash is a household name, no pun intended. It has more than 7 million couriers delivering orders for DoorDash from around 550, 000 merchants.

Damian: Hard to believe that the company was founded just over 10 years ago in 2013. And Toby joined the company in 2015. So he's seen DoorDash go from strength to strength.

Naturally, we start by asking him about how the company has changed over the last decade.

Ilyse: So Toby, DoorDash celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. And I, I remember when you guys launched, I would just say, because I was like a hungry college student at the time.

And it was like, perfect timing to get [00:01:00] anything delivered to my dorm

Toby: And where were you?

Ilyse: In San Francisco.

Toby: Francisco? No way. Oh, awesome.

Ilyse: was like, yeah, it was like I was in the right place at the right time for sure. Yes. And, so how would you say has the company evolved from a food delivery platform to the platform it is today?

Toby: When I joined the company, we were in 4, 5 metros.

And we were completely focused on one product in four or five markets. And back in 2015 when I joined the food delivery market, as you remember, seamless reigned supreme in New York. Grubhub was in Chicago and everywhere else food delivery was pizza: Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut. And a few local restaurants that were able to afford having couriers. The market, everybody thought, was saturated. We entered, the company had a thesis that the market itself, given the advent of mobile technology, we believed that [00:03:00] if you took this device, this mobile device, where now a dasher had a mobile phone, a consumer had a mobile phone, and actually restaurants had access to this mobile superhighway, that if we connected all of them, there would be a larger opportunity for growth.

Growth being the key word there, because as much as DoorDash has changed over the last 10 years, we have gone from a one product, one market business to a multiple product, multiple geography business, with 37 million monthly active users, over 15 million monthly active subscribers to our platform.

If you go back to our founding story, Tony, Stanley and Andy, when they started DoorDash, walked down University Avenue in Palo Alto and they went from store to store asking every local business, how can I help you grow? That was the founding question. It wasn't can I build a logistics network, it wasn't, can I build an ad business? It was, “Hey, how can I help you grow?” And the opportunity they found was let's do a restaurant oriented delivery network for everybody across suburban markets. And that's what took off.

Ilyse: How would you say that growth has like translated on the ads marketplace side of things? 

Toby: Yeah.

The hard part about building something at the scale that DoorDash [00:05:00] operates is the consumer side. Building a consumer promise and then making that promise better and better and better every day, getting faster and cheaper, that is actually the harder part to find.

Product market fit from a consumer perspective. Once we have that, and once we have that, we want to continue to compound that over and over and over again

About four, four years ago, five years ago, our merchants and so stores within our ecosystem raised their hand and started to ask us, “Hey, do you have any tools to help me grow even faster?” That's how the ad business started. It was a it's very fundamental. It's a core to who we are. It's a growth business. We have customers who want to grow [00:06:00] faster. And what we then tried to figure out was how can we help serve this promise for these customers while also helping our marketplace continue to grow?

So the best way to do that is to align incentives, uh, show us the incentive, and we'll show you the outcome that we're driving towards.

Our AD team is incentivized both by driving incremental return from a spend perspective for advertisers, as well as driving incremental volume for our consumer marketplace, which is very different than most advertising platforms. Most advertising houses, you have product and tech on one side driving growth, and you have ads trying to monetize it on the other side. We wanted to bring those together to make sure we were able to continue to grow on both sides and serve our customers best. 

Damian: And cut to date to this rise of, spectacular rise of retail media, which of course is one of the hottest topics right now in our space. DoorDash of course has built its own retail media network in recent years. Could you talk a little bit about how you took some of those concepts you just talked about and built the network?

Toby: Yeah, absolutely. So we, again we wanted to be completely aligned with the customer. So the first customer that we started to think about was the SMB owner operator restaurant that we all know, that's in our town.

In San Francisco, it's Suvla. In New York, it's Electric Burrito. These places that, these brands [00:08:00] that we are absolutely in love with. What we quickly realize is that person, that customer, there's two fundamental things that are very difficult.

The first is that they have to be an expert at 15 different things So, if we own a local restaurant, a local retailer, We have to be great at real estate. We have to be great at marketing. We have to be great at financials. We have to be great at accounting. We have to be great at customer service. We have to be great at creating a great product, which is food, right?

And so when we look at this core customer, they're supposed to be an expert at 15 different things Our job is to go after one of those. And make sure that they don't have to think about that growth as [00:09:00] much as they used to by putting a little bit of the burden of that growth on our shoulders. What that means in practice when we launched the business for for SMB customers, we focused on building an economic model that worked for them. 

Last week, in San Francisco, I went and picked up a salad. at, at one of my favorite, favorite places. And there was a restaurant right next door that had just opened a month in. A month in, and nobody in his restaurant.

Completely empty. Maybe three or four people in a, in, that could otherwise have a capacity of 50. And I went online and I looked. He was running advertising across a bunch of different channels that we all know. Snap, Google, Meta, etc.

This person was in the red month day one of the month.

It's one of the hardest things in this country. These small businesses that start [00:10:00] negative every single month. And on top of that, they also had to layer in more spend on Google and meta to try to get out of that hole.

We took the premise of we want to be your growth assistant and we took the premise of it's really, really hard. for you to basically grow your business without having to also add more money into this negative cash cycle.

And we said, let's build a product where you do not have to pay us unless you get an order.

So unless we send you money, you do not have to pay us. And those two things together have helped us build one of the fastest growing retail media networks, particularly focused on a customer that was completely underserved. 

Damian: Could you talk about, a little bit more about how you [00:11:00] kind of expanded those relationships with both the national brands, tying that into the local, the business works at a local level fundamentally.

Toby: So in the restaurant space. The vast, vast majority of restaurants on Main Street are local. Even if you are a McDonald's franchisee, so you have one of the largest brands, you're a, you're a small business owner.

Really, the, the Starbucks, the Chipotles of the world that are corporately owned restaurants at scale are actually the smallest. They're the 10%, not the 90 percent in the U. S. And so our ad product designed on a CPA based level where we can be the growth assistant for all these owner operators is really for the 90.

It's built for the majority. Um, that being said, we also just launched, uh, last week the our new product, which is our ad manager and our [00:12:00] ad manager for the enterprise restaurant segment is designed actually to help both the C. M. O. Of McDonald's and the owner operator franchisee within the system. And the way that we've done that is we've actually built the first of its kind way of buying or thinking about purchasing across

A national media buyer, an agency at the national level, a district media buyer, most of these franchisees actually also have districts, or DMAs, where they have their own pools of funds that can be allocated for growth, and then also at the local level. Incremental to that, not only is if you're a franchisee and you own a couple McDonald's and a couple, uh, you know, a couple Subways and a couple other brands. Now you can also manage your business across brands. It's really the first of a kind product in its space, designed entirely to kind of work between local and national brand.

We also, of course, support local. started to invest in larger CPGs. And there, you know, we really look at some of the other large retail media networks in the [00:13:00] space. You know, today I was reading the the amazing work that you all did with a woman who leads Kroger's retail media business and built it from scratch.

We find a lot of inspiration from those folks learning, understanding how we can add an incremental service to folks that are already spending a lot of money at other retail media networks. And, um, and I think we found Uh, some very cool opportunities for us there, 

Ilyse: Very cool. You were saying how it's about 90 percent SMBs and 10 percent um, big business. Um, how does that play out within the DoorDash platform?

Toby: yeah.

yeah. So so it's really and when I meant that it's kind of think about where the dollars are coming from. So You might think of DoorDash Volume as large businesses. You know, a lot of people are ordering McDonald's. But the reality is the, the spender, the buyer of media could be a local franchisee.

So the brand is national, but the spend is still local. That's kind of what I was saying there. On [00:14:00] the, as you know, also on the CPG side, uh, large brands like Pepsi and Coca Cola and P& G, those are large, national, entrenched franchises. Brands. Those are timeless, timeless brands that have been around for a very long time.

And so the question there is, how do we build products that are timely to help the timeless? And that's been a very interesting journey for us over the last two and a half years. It's a, it's a new space for us again, as I said. Um, but it's going swimmingly well. And, and today we have the opportunity to sit on stage with, with Pernod Ricard, which is, of course, one of the storied alcohol manufacturers.

Ilyse: Um, can you talk a little bit about the Partnerships and how you actually go about working with like those brands and retailers that are using your platform so much 

Toby: We, like I said, were founded as a growth helper. So built in our DNA is working with others to help them grow.

We obviously have a [00:15:00] very large consumer marketplace that is that has helped those businesses grow. And so some of us think of in the same You know, uh, letters of other large consumer marketplaces like an Amazon, uh, like a Walmart e com.

But we are fundamentally built in our DNA a partner oriented culture. What that means is first we get to partner with great local brands, mid market brands, national brands, add in the manufacturers, but that also means we get to do fun things like Add in Max, or add in Chase, or add in other folks where there are a lot of people, if given the opportunity, want to help local businesses grow.

Our job is to help figure out a way to make that happen. 

Ilyse: would you say that is captured users I guess and they're

Toby: It's a, no, it's a great question. The underlying thing is, how do we do it in a way that continues to compound our consumer promise, which is faster, better, cheaper. And, and, you know, we'll be the first to say there are some partnerships [00:16:00] where it doesn't necessarily help that much.

And then there's other partnerships where it has been critical. Think about our Chase partnership and, and the depth in which we've built that partnership over time, where everybody that has a, you know, a Chase credit card has the opportunity to participate in one of the largest subscription, local subscription programs, uh, in the world.

And so, some work quite well, others are challenging, and we're a first principled company that, that tries to get better every single day.

Damian: Just to on that point are you very strategic about looking for new partnerships you know, that's an interesting one chase and of course there are many others but how do you think about it and go about building those different partnerships.

Toby: Yeah it's a collaboration Internally within DoorDash, we have, uh, general managers that run different business units, just as myself. We have functional leaders like our incredible, uh, CMO Kofi, who has built one of the world's largest brands in a span of years, not decades, which is incredibly, incredibly amazing, and he is a celebrity. If you ever want to feel like a [00:17:00] celebrity, just walk with Kofi in Cannes for about 15 to 20 minutes and it'll be the coolest thing you'll ever experience.

Um, next year, exactly, exactly. Um, but It's a collaboration across different functions, and then it's a collaboration with a partner. You know, one of the most interesting partnerships that we've launched in the last two years, from my vantage point, is we are a close partner with Amazon in Canada. Now, a lot of folks, when you think of DoorDash and Amazon would say, competitors, that, that doesn't work.

Right. But we work really, really hard to try to figure out anywhere, if possible, with the largest businesses and brands that we look up to, is there a place that we can collaborate and again, help local businesses grow. That's the fundamental premise behind the whole thing 

Ilyse: very cool now what about when it comes to like an ad perspective. How are you working with these brands and partnering with them?

Toby: Yeah, we are, I think in the ad ecosystem, you know, it's, it's, it's, there's a simple recipe that we're trying to follow. One is access. So can I [00:18:00] provide access for people to purchase? We, very early on, our first investment was in a self serve ad manager, so that local businesses could purchase our products, both promotions and our ad products, live themselves, without needing to talk to somebody.

So that was first. So one is access. That's the news also from last week, where now we provide access to the largest restaurant brands, DMAs, and franchisees across the country. first of a kind product. Again, I know I keep saying that, but I'm very, very proud of it because not many people, not many technologists build for franchisees in this country.

And they are one of the largest, um, one of the largest, most hardworking groups of individuals that that again, we look up to. Um, so one is access Two is providing the tools to get the best return possible. So that is, can I do better targeting? Can I? Are there new access points that I can, that I can get to?

Along those lines, we've invested a lot in in better targeting again for those enterprise restaurants. [00:19:00] So today you can target new users, you can target lapsed users, you can do that if you're a brand, a small brand like a single owner operator, you can do it if you're a national restaurant, and you can also do it if you're one of the largest brands in the country.

So one is better targeting tools and incrementality. And then the final is, is impressions. So, You know, DoorDash, again, we are humbly one of the favorite and largest marketplaces in the country. But we very well know there are other people that are hungry on a daily basis who are not eyes on DoorDash.

And so, can we provide the ability for people, uh, for brands to reach those people using our data? And that was one of the announcements we made last week was as well.

Ilyse: so one of the things I feel like DoorDash is almost known for in the advertising marketing space is it aligns itself to big occasions throughout the year.

Ilyse: I know we saw [00:20:00] DoorDash for the Super Bowl, Mother's Day. Can you talk about how you plan for such occasions? And maybe what's your favorite one to work at on and be like present

Toby: maybe what's Yeah We have learned over time that these occasions. Because we learned from our core customers, both the consumer and merchants that these occasions are important to them.

So if you think of, if you think of Super Bowl, imagine you are a local owner operator of a wing restaurant in Tulsa. Super Bowl is your Super Bowl, right? It is the biggest day of the year where you sell out your entire inventory at the staff up, you have to build for it. We wanted to follow our customers into that moment.

Mother's Day, huge moment.

Both for folks where it's a special day to remember somebody or for folks that are trying to be a mother for the first time, right? So you have this both, both signs, [00:21:00] an incredible opportunity to reach consumers

from an advertising perspective. Again, going back to partnerships, they're tricky.

You have an advertiser who's excited to also follow you into that occasion. And what we try to do with these three way partnerships, we've done them with Wendy's, we've done them with Roku, we've done them with many others, trying to find three way alignment of incentives to, to again, drive local growth for our customers.

Damian: I think one of the best gifts I ever got, was when my son was born somebody bought us a DoorDash gift card which was so helpful to have food delivered you know when you’re at home with this tiny little baby.

Ilyse: Showing up at those occasions, but also, you know, just ongoing brand campaigns. How does that proximity, why is it important for brand building? How does this, like, enable you to extend into new categories?

Toby: Yeah, have you? Um, Our Super Bowl commercial is a great example of this. This past year, uh, the words were a door to more DoorDash went from again being a single vertical single product company to a multi vertical multi product company in a very, very, very fast time frame. Now, consumers are incredible.

They learn very quickly. Habits are harder to change and harder to adapt and move over [00:23:00] time. And so we are in the earliest innings of our consumers really understanding that now you could actually get a pair of sneakers delivered to you on DoorDash when you need a new pair, like I did this weekend in order to go for a run.

And in that moment, being able to kind of jump on these large consumer moments help from our vantage point.

Our 37 million monthly active users start to understand that really DoorDash is here as an assistant in your life across all of these categories and verticals whenever you need us. We aren't just Thai food, now we're also the ability to get something, uh, to get something when you're feeling sick.

And, um, and we're very, very proud to do that and very humbled to do that for our customers. 

Damian: Yeah. that's uh, expanding the whole concept of, of of DoorDash. Um, speaking of expanding the concept, you know, you've also cultivated good partnerships with streaming partners, and you [00:24:00] mentioned Max a little bit earlier. Why is it that streaming and delivery seem to kind of work in synchrony? 

Toby: it's again, I think it goes back to the moment. There's a very happy moment in my household when we finish work. And we have some, we get a little, a door, a little ring on our door, and there's a package outside, and it's filled with two burritos. And we get to turn on Max and watch industry. There's a sliver of moment in time where we're just feeling absolute happiness and joy.

Now, that is a moment that a lot of consumers around the country and around the world feel. We're trying to give everybody a little bit of time back. Again, this concept of putting the weight of other things on our shoulders as a company to help people, to help local economies grow, to help [00:25:00] save consumers time, to help Dashers make a little bit of extra money.

That is what we are trying to do at Dash. And so, aligning ourselves in this moment of peace. This moment of just absolute happiness with a streaming service, which all of us experience,

is a very nice moment to be right next to, uh, to be right next to these brands from a consumer perspective. And so they've been, they've been very, they've been great partnerships so far.

We're very excited, uh, about, about thinking about finding more of those opportunities as time goes 

Damian: about door dashes as a way to get time back, you know, but of course it does does

Ilyse: There's too many things to worry about outside of that. 

Damian: we're going to ask the inevitable question about AI and how, you know, obviously door dash must be integrated with AI technology. But how do you think about it as we look ahead?

Toby: We, as a company were very [00:26:00] data driven company. We have been from our founding. Again, we are riding on the backs of one of the largest technological revolutions of our time, the Internet and then the Internet plus mobile. And so to say that we want to be and continue to be students about how this next revolution will change, both from.

from our merchants, consumers and dashers lives. We are in the very earliest innings and we're trying to learn as fast as possible. Um, I think what's very exciting if you kind of take a step back and you again put on the mindset of the shoes of we are trying to be an assistant for all of our customers across a bunch of different ways.

Dasher Make, uh, from a financial services perspective, helping them make more money, helping them find more opportunities to make money, consumers saving time, and merchants making more. If you kind of put yourselves in all those shoes, and we're trying to be an assistant, AI as a technology will only help accelerate our mission of doing that and then unlocking growth for local.

I think we're going to [00:27:00] see one of the largest increases in, in growth that we desperately, desperately need for those. Places that are our favorite coffee shop, Thai food place, uh, and, and, um, you know, and place to go pick up your, your, your meds when you're a little sick. And so it's, it's a pretty cool future.

We're very excited for it.

Damian: in his 50 seat

Toby: I, we are absolutely, we, to be, to be clear, we DoorDash. He's now using our ad product. So if we can send them any incremental customers, it'll help them. It'll help them grow his business. 

Damian: There's one more question, I guess. And it's a sort of like a forward looking question. And it's are there any innovations that you're thinking about into 2025 that can help with this growth mindset that you've been talking about? 

Toby: we, We've done an okay job. We've done a great job of the access point, which is opening up an ad manager, [00:28:00] opening up a self serve sponsored listing, allowing CPG brands to access our consumers. We've done it. We've done a great job at that. We've done an okay job at the second two, which is.

once you open up a lot of this inventory and help find ways to grow, it gets complex.

I think we've added incremental complexity so far to our customers' lives for most of our customers, our advertisers, and so our team is extremely excited, looking forward to continue to take more of the complexity out of our customer's lives as we layer in more complexity. On the product and engineering platform that we've built internally, and that is a very hard problem to solve, but I have one of the best teams to help us go solve that, and we're very excited to take it on.

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