The Journey Talk featuring Erika Sabrina Giuggio

Welcome to The Journey Talk with Rafa Uccello! Here we talk to young marketing professionals about their career journey, aspirations and inspirations. Get to know more about the people that are shaping the future of our industry.

 

This week, we got to chat with Erika Sabrina Giuggio, a young entrepreneur and marketer who is creating her own opportunities toward accomplishing her dream of owning a business.

 

Name: Erika Sabrina Giuggio

Pronouns: She/ her

Education: Bachelor of Commerce – Marketing, CEM

Industry: Digital Marketing  

Favourite quote: ” The more you learn, the more you earn” —Warren Buffet

Guilty pleasures: Queen of the South, and reading a book by the ocean

 

 

Did you have a career in mind when you started?

Yes, I had a few options I was seriously considering. Just before I started my marketing degree at Humber, I wanted to become an entrepreneur. I come from a family who has always been in business, so I had this influence right at home. In 2017, I filed a patent in the U.S. and Canada called Cosmetic Brush Systems. I used my knowledge, experience and resources on campus throughout my college career to get my start. If that didn’t pan out, my second option was to work in a corporate setting in marketing, specializing in digital and social media.

At what point did you know what career you wanted to be in and what you wanted to achieve?

During my Cosmetic Brush Systems idea, I knew, even at the tender age of 15, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. As I mentioned, my entire family and extended family are in business. I saw how hard they worked, but I also saw the financial freedom it can come with, and living life on your terms. I had the support and connections to try and make it out there, and I knew I could achieve the same—if not better.  And by better, I mean, making an environmental impact that slows down the process of climate change.

But then COVID-19 happened, and realizing my dream is, for now, on the back-burner. I mean, who’s putting on make-up when your mask is covering it? I applied for a few marketing positions; I got a job at a travel company downtown. Unfortunately, the Monday following, they called to tell me they’re closing six of their offices, worldwide. I kept applying and getting interviews, but kept receiving job offers that made working at McDonald’s more attractive, in terms of pay. So, I declined. Now even though this might come across as “millennial entitlement”, I knew I wanted mor, and needed more. This was the reason behind my new mindset and attitude, that, “If you can’t find a job, create one”. And I did just that. I started Erika Giuggio Consulting. Initially, my plan was to do this short-term, while at the same time, developing my portfolio. Well, things changed—yet again! It’s now become more like a long-term venture. Perhaps, eventually, I may not even end up in marketing. For the future,I want to scale the business using white labels and to outsource the work. Ideally, I would focus more in the project management section of the company.

Life throws you curve balls: You’ll either sink or swim. We make choices—and they’re ours to make.

What is something that you learned that has impacted you?

“The more you learn, the more you earn,” & F.A.I.L.

Professors repeat this over and over again, but you need to read beyond the textbooks. You need to be learning about what’s happening in the digital sphere, and you need to be doing it every day. I’m glad I took that advice. I would not be where I am today, nor the person I’m striving to be as a professional marketer and entrepreneur. Marketing is all about “Capturing hearts and minds of consumers.” How you market to them today may not be how to market to them tomorrow. The more you learn, the more likely you are going to provide results in an ever-changing environment. More results, bigger $$$. When I hire employees, I tell them from day one, “The more you learn, the more you earn.” Your potential is unlimited when you hustle. When you keep up, you provide more results; when you give more results, you develop a fantastic portfolio to charge more for your work. It’s as simple as that.

F.A.I.L

In my academic and professional career, I use to beat myself up when I would make mistakes, especially big ones. But I later realized it was okay to make them. Relax. Learn from your mistakes and move on. When you pondering them, you’re just wasting time. F.A.I.L stands for the first attempt in learning. Learn, and keep going.

What is one thing you wish you knew when starting your career in marketing?

I wish I knew what I was in for when I started consulting. Providing a service is 10% harder than a product. With a product, you become obsessed with your audience, learn what they want and sell it to them. With a service, there is a lot more work involved.

What keeps you motivated and inspired in your professional life?

What keeps me motivated and inspired is the fantastic support network around me such as CIMMO, my mentors and my coaches. As an entrepreneur, you need a mentor or a coach. Or both! There are some days you are going to wake up and say, what am I doing? Am I a burnout? Is this crazy? I’ll just go work for someone else. And you need someone to keep you in line and tell you to remember how far you’ve come. Not to quit. Stay the course. What also keeps me motivated is meeting new people—in a professional setting or otherwise.  As someone that would go out all the time before COVID-19, the pandemic has adversely impacted how I interact with others.

BRAIN TO BEHAVIOUR: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Welcome to the CIMMO Brain to Behaviour Perspective Series – where we will introduce a psychology principle and draw a parallel with modern-day marketing. Enjoy – and feel free to continue the conversation in the comments!

First, what is classical conditioning? It is actually pretty simple, and a great way to predict behaviour in both animals and humans. “30-Second Psychology” outlines how Ivan Pavlov would ring a bell before he fed his dogs. After much repetition, the dogs would salivate at the sound of the bell. By creating an association between the bell and food, Pavlov had conditioned his dogs to behave in a certain way. This ultimately means by providing a stimulus, Pavlov was able to predict the dogs’ behaviour (Jarrett, 2011, p.134).

Now how does this align with marketing? When creating brand imagery and messaging, marketers want to create an association between their brand or product, and ultimately engage consumers. Netflix is an example of a brand that uses a short, recognizable sound to signal consumers their product is being used—you know, the “dun dun.” But does it elicit a behaviour that is favourable to Netflix? That “dun dun” signals that someone is about to get comfy and stream a show—and you probably want to do the same.

Brand imagery can do the same. Think about those glowing arches of goodness—your brain goes straight to McDonald’s. You likely also think of McDonald’s when you see red and yellow together. Sometimes brands will also piggy-back off other brands to create association, and ultimately get you to purchase their products. When the Toronto Raptors score 12 three-pointers, McDonalds gives away free medium fries; they are creating an association between the two brands.

By displaying repetitive brand images in advertising, brands are conditioning us to think of their brand, products or services. This, ultimately, helps brands predict consumer behaviour, which is a unique form of classical conditioning.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

  • What other brands have done a good job of using audio or visual cues to predict/elicit a specific behaviour from consumers?
  • Do you feel any brands in particular have an impact on you like McDonald’s arches have for me?
  • Is there an ethical line that brands can cross in using brand cues to elicit behaviour from its consumers? 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paige is a passionate marketing professional with experience providing data-driven insights to clients using a wide range of advertising technology platforms. She is Chief Content and Communications Officer at CIMMO. Paige holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in English and Psychology at Queen’s University, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Research Analysis at Georgian College.

 REFERENCES

Jarrett, Christian. (2011). 30-Second Psychology. Prospero Books.

BOOST IN DIGITAL MARKETING DUE TO COVID-19

Welcome to the CIMMO Young Marketer Perspective where young professionals are providing us with their take on important topics in marketing. Our goal is to provide these marketers with a platform to share their learnings and experiences. Here Bhavin Bantva provides marketers with tips to avoid cultural insensitivity in marketing.

 

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world, and we are feeling its impact in almost every aspect of our lives. It has impacted our lifestyles, the environment, and the way governments and businesses operate—its impact on the global economy will be felt for years and generations to come. But there is a silver lining: It has had a positive impact on several things: for instance, the environment is becoming cleaner as less greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. As well, use of natural resources has also decreased.

As mentioned, not all is gloom-and-doom, however: digital marketing has experienced a boost due to COVID-19. In this article, I will outline how COVID-19 is continuing to drive the partial—but significant—replacement of traditional marketing, with digital marketing.

In a product life cycle, there are four key stages: Introduction, Growth, maturity, decline. But within each of those stages, to varying degrees, the importance of marketing is critical. If a product has the potential to be successful in the market but no one is aware of that product, then there is less chance of it being successful. So, if marketing of a product is not done well, then it directly impacts sales, and there is an increased chance of failure, regardless how good the product may be. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending more and more time inside. We can see big changes occurring in marketing, as the field shifts from out-of-home advertising tactics (like billboards), to digital tactics. This demonstrates that marketing is a dynamic field that is constantly changing and evolving; and it’s relying more and more on digital channels to spread content about products and services. This is an especially important consideration, as it is likely remote working will continue to grow and supplant a portion of the office environment as we knew it.

Let’s take an example from the entertainment industry, where they were using out-of-home as well as digital marketing methods for promoting movies, music and shows: due to COVID-19, they can no longer rely on out-of-home methods for promotion, which makes digital marketing the an increasingly used means to reach out customers and consumers. As people are spending most of their time at home, they are spending more time on the internet to do their job and connect with friends and family. This opens many more opportunities for social media marketing (SMM) and email marketing. And if done right way, it has a higher rate of success—with lower costs than traditional marketing, and potentially higher penetration and personalization rates.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

I believe that if you asked many people, they would say they spend most of their time on the internet, specifically on social medial platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok to name a few. According to Globalwebindex, individuals spend around 863.8 hours (36 days) on average, on social media, so far, in 2020 (Hillier, 2020). Nowadays, social medial platforms are not just for fun; they’re used to stay informed on current news and events, and to share thoughts and opinions about everything and anything, including social responsibility, etc., with the people across the world—in real time! As well, it makes social media a great means to help consumers about newly launched products or services, promotions, discounts, etc. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused online shopping to increase as people avoid shopping in physical stores—to minimize health risks, which is one of the reasons behind the marked increase in social media marketing.

Going back to the entertainment industry example: they’ve always been using social medial platforms for marketing, but now there is a shift away from going to movie theatres or music concerts, to using social medial platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, to do live streams for music concerts and shows. This further emphasizes the ever-growing need and preference for social media marketing, in today’s world.

 

Email Marketing

Email Marketing is another effective digital marketing strategy that’s been around for quite a while. Social media accounts can be closed on a temporary or permanent basis—at any time; but for the most part, email is always available to reach customers. Sending an email about new products and offers, has a high rate of success in creating loyalty; and affords brands the opportunity to provide personalized messages and curated deals to consumers. The importance of email marketing has increased as people are turning to online shopping more and more; and when ordering online, consumers are also subscribing to the brand’s channels to get direct information related to new product launches and services through email. This helps companies provide offers and information directly to their customers who have purchased their products in the past, and who willingly opt-in to receive advertising.

Looking at the current scenario, I think post-pandemic will change many things; it’s what’s become a “new normal”. Consumers may not return to bricks-and-mortar stores to the same extent they did pre-pandemic. And this will have an impact on how businesses operate, advertise and communicate with their stakeholders.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bhavin Bantva is a passionate learner, currently studying Global Business Management at Conestoga College, and working part-time as Customer Service Representative. Bhavin has a solid background in data analysis and problem-solving as he holds a Bachelor of Engineering.

 

REFERENCES

Hillier, L. (2020, september 11). Blog. Retrieved from Econsulatancy : https://econsultancy.com/stats-roundup-coronavirus-impact-on-marketing-ecommerce-advertising

 

BRAND>ed Content: Building Brands and Telling Stories

BRAND>ed is a strategic brand digital marketing agency specializing in integrated marketing solutions as well as all aspects of online marketing and mobile. The following podcasts and articles will help you UNDERSTAND, DEVELOP and ACTIVATE your brand to success.

 

Building Great Brands

 

Listen to Ron share his experience developing integrated brand marketing solutions – learn how to build a great brand, and what Tim Hortons & Dairy Queen have in common.

 

Turning Data into a Great Story  

In the world of event research, the ability to turn your research data into a great story is an art that hasn’t been forgotten. Listen to Joe Amati from Hotspex Inc discuss turning data into meaningful stories.

 

Social Media Patience is Key

 

Read this article about the patience required in the social media journey. When you start by building relationships with content that is engaging you will get noticed and create a real connection with your customers.

  

Turning Research Data into Engaging Stories

 

If you are interested in turning your research into a compelling story that get noticed by management and key stakeholders, tune into this session for some very helpful tips.

CIMMO Members Have 20% Coupon Code to Register for DX3 PLUSE

CIMMO is proud to announce another partnership with DX3. According to DX3 Pulse, as COVID 19 hits with a second wave, retailers and marketers are facing fundamental challenges, if not existential threats. At the DX3 event portal, the argument is that technology, rather than being the source of disruption, is scrambling to catch up. They see digital transformation in retail accelerated, reducing years in changes into weeks or months. Retailers and Marketers plunge deeper than ever into customer experience, highlighting safety in addition to personalization and convenience. DX3 Pulse represents an opportunity to rethink the future from the ground up, by having extremely relevant conversations. Sergio Frias, CIMMO’s Chief Customer Experience Officer will join thought leaders in retail and marketing to discuss the future of the industry, help people navigate these troubled waters, and share hope and hopefully provide clarity.

On the other hand, DX3 pulse speaking faculty will give industry insights on key focused areas: Retail, Marketing, and Tech. They will share their challenges and opportunities on how to build a brand and be relevant in this transformed environment. We urge you to take in as much as you can from this thought-provoking one-day virtual event.

This year, the DX3 PULSE theme will be about evolving, shifting practices, systems, and paradigms.  Businesses are in need of surviving and striving for the new reality. Suddenly changing consumers, buying behaviours and social interactions have forced us into rethinking the whole business proposition and product offering. Learn how to use and implement new tools, channels, and strategies toward success. Gain new ideas, diverse perspectives, and discover what leading businesses are doing to be successful in these pivotal times.

 

 

CIMMO Members should use the code CIMMO20 to get 20% off their tickets.