The Journey Talk – Emme Anderson

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 chatted with Emme Anderson, a client strategist at Nielsen, who came to Canada to attend university, with the hope she can make a fresh in building a new career path.

Name: Emme Anderson

Pronouns: She/her

Education: University of Toronto, Bachelor of Commerce – Management/Marketing

Industry: Digital Marketing & Data Management 

Favourite quote: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt

Guilty pleasures: The Bachelorette and ice cream—preferably at the same time.

Q: Did you have a career in mind when you started?

I’m originally from California, and I have dual citizenship. When deciding where I should go to school, my parents mentioned Canada. Many don’t realize how many good schools there are here. I knew I was interested in business & marketing, and U of T had a great program. I wanted a fresh start from high school, so moving to Toronto felt like the right choice.

Q: At what point did you know what career you wanted, and what you wanted to achieve?

A: I knew I liked business, math and economics; my mom also works in the marketing industry. I was not sure specifically which path I wanted to follow within that industry, so I was looking at school programs with different options. Mid-way through university, one of my courses had a project where we had to talk about our career plans. We had to pick a dream job, explain why it was our dream job, and which steps we were going to take to achieve it. I pondered it for two weeks and thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I wrote it all down; this definitely helped me find some guidance.

Q: What is something impactful that you learned?

A: I think that not everybody you meet through school or work will think the same way as you. This can be from their work styles to the way they communicate. I started noticing this in University where you have to work in a group of people you have never met before and may not share the same vision as you. You have to learn how to easily adapt in order to work more effectively with people. With work, I’m constantly meeting new people; having those interactions during university, definitely helped prepare me for that. You need to figure out the best way you can adapt to different situations; to be more efficient.

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

A: I wish I knew that you don’t need to be perfect at everything all the time. When I started, I was nervous and wanted to do everything, perfectly. If I received constructive feedback from someone, I would still take it negatively; I thought that I wasn’t performing well. However, perhaps I merely made a minor error, and the feedback was a way for my team to help me grow and learn. In the marketing industry, for example, it’s not only your particular job or the projects you work on, that might go through constant change. Consequently, it’s common to make mistakes and have to learn new things on a regular basis. With COVID, all of us went through multiple changes in a short period of time; we all had to learn how to adapt—quickly! It’s ok to make mistakes; you just have to stand tall and learn from them.

Q: What keeps you motivated and inspired in your professional life?

A: That is definitely a hard one. Of course, there are days I’m unmotivated. I live alone in an apartment, so the transition from in-office work to remote work, due to COVID, was definitely an adjustment. You go from seeing people every day, to being very isolated. I do have a cat that keeps me company, though!

I don’t feel like I need validation from other people but I really love when I get positive feedback—everyone does! This can be from a manager, or conversely, someone I can help. But in the end, if I am able to provide them with a good solution they’re happy with, it gives me validation; it motivates me with my day-to-day tasks.

I enjoy being around my team and collaborating in person. If we were to go back to in-office working, I would definitely like it, even though I got used to work from home. Online meetings can be a bit distancing without the in-person connection. My team and I want to make ourselves available so the people that we are working with can connect with us.

BRAIN TO BEHAVIOUR: UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR

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!

 

You really have to put aside all grammar rules in order to understand universal grammar. “30-Second Psychology” outlines how Noam Chomsky did just that to come up with universal grammar: the idea that all sentences can have multiple meanings because they are the “outward expression of a much deeper mental structure … shared by all humans” (Jarrett, 2011, p.138). “30-Second Psychology” uses the example of “I know students like pizza” to exemplify the theory, where the sentence could mean “I’m aware that students enjoy pizza, or that I’m familiar with students as I am with pizza” (Jarrett, 2011, p.138).

Now let’s combine this theory with marketing: often, brands will use slogans that provide more than one meaning; this leverages our deeper mental structure to associate the brand with key messages, images or themes. This is done in many different ways. Here are my favourite examples:

  1. Making a pun off the brand name: this ensures consumers can easily relate the slogan back to the brand and the brand is associated with a key message, image or theme.

[JOHN DEERE LOGO] Nothing runs like a Deere

  • This slogan uses a pun on Deere/deer, and in doing so, positions the brand as reliable/fast.

[TRIX CEREAL LOGO] Trix are for kids

  • This one uses a pun on Trix/tricks, and in doing so, positions the brand as fun/cheeky.
  1. A broader example of universal language does not include the brand name at all, but relies on the entire expression to convey multiple meanings: this is often seen with well-known brands whose brand message, imagery and themes are all very well known.

[VEGAS LOGO] What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

  • This slogan demonstrates that Vegas offers a unique travel experience and there are no consequences to what happens in Vegas.

[GATORADE LOGO] Is it in you?

  • This slogan questions if you have consumed the product recently—pushing you to want to purchase the product, and, if you have the strength and ambition needed to take on life.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

  • Sentences with double meaning are very common—think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, “I have a dream”—dream can be the thoughts that occur during sleep or ambition—does it really pose a problem? Or do we need to rely on more than just syntax to convey our message (like tone, emphasis, etc.)?
  • Is universal grammar more prevalent in spoken language than written?
  • Do strict grammar rules like the Oxford comma eliminate the problem of universal grammar?

 REFERENCES

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

BRAND>ed Content: Focus on the Digital Landscape and the Tourism Industry

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.

 

It’s a Digital Wasteland Out There 

As the digital channel continues to grow, we have seen an increasing amount of clutter similar to the traditional channels. More and more advertisers who once enjoyed using banner and web advertising to drive customers to online offers are now experiencing weaker results and ROI. Read about how understanding the digital user and how to access them has become more and more important in developing effective marketing strategies.

 

Take a look at the TNS Digital Life Interview on the same topic. 

 

Power your Brand  

Getting your point across is not only a quantitative exercise; it is more effective when the data is expressed as qualitative emotional insights using old-fashioned intuition that piques the attention of your audience. Read about how creating emotional connections with an audience is the key to getting real engagement, through the relational technique of storytelling.

 

What are the NTO, PMO, RTO, DMO, and DMF Roles in Tourism?

The Tourism industry in Ontario has seen some disruptive change over the past number of years with the formation of the Regional Tourism Organizations (RTO) structure. The adopted foundation was designed to support the Tourism Sector in Ontario through a regional approach, one that aimed to reduce the overlap of roles and responsibilities with the multiple Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO), some that could sustain themselves while others who relied on Provincial marketing agency distributions. Read how one of the main issues that was identified and still exists today, is that the industry is constrained by a variety of interests and unclear responsibilities.

REDEEMER UNIVERSITY MARKETING DEGREE EARNS CIMMO ACCREDITATION

Toronto, ON, Canada (September 20, 2020)- The Chartered Institute of Marketing Management of Ontario (CIMMO) is pleased to announce that Redeemer University has received accreditation for the Bachelor of Arts in Business Marketing. Founded in 1988, CIMMO is the only chartered marketing association in Ontario that serves as a global accrediting body for marketing programs and is a marketing education network connecting students, educators, and marketers worldwide.

“CIMMO Accreditation identifies institutions that have demonstrated educational excellence in all areas, including teaching, research, curricula development, and student learning,” said Emily Gaszynski, Chief Accreditation Officer of CIMMO adding: “We congratulate Redeemer University and Professor Laurie Busuttil, Chair of the Business Program, on earning accreditation for their marketing degree program, and applaud the entire Redeemer team including the administration, faculty, directors, staff, and students for their roles in earning this important achievement.”

Synonymous with the highest standards of quality, CIMMO Accreditation inspires new ways of thinking within marketing education in Ontario. Globally, Redeemer University now joins the group of selected business schools that have earned this high level of recognition.

Professor Laurie Busuttil, the Business Department head, said, “I wish to thank those at CIMMO Accreditation for this recognition. The Business Department at Redeemer has worked hard to achieve this distinction and will continue to enforce the code of ethics and promote and employ the standards established by CIMMO.”

CIMMO Accreditation provides a framework of 12 international standards against which marketing programs assess the quality of their educational services. These standards ensure continuous improvement, state-of-the-art marketing skills and competencies, keeping the schools’ focus on their mission to innovate and drive impact. CIMMO-accredited programs have successfully undergone a rigorous review process conducted by their peers in the marketing community, ensuring that they have the resources, curriculum, and commitment needed to provide students with a high level, future and market-focused marketing education.

To acquire the accreditation, the institution must first become a CIMMO member or maintain in good standing CIMMO’s institutional membership. The program also needs to undergo curriculum changes, developing and implementing a mission-driven plan to satisfy the accreditation quality standards. Furthermore, the CIMMO marketing accreditation requires the satisfaction of an additional set of accreditation standards specific to the discipline and the marketing profession.

“Redeemer’s commitment to earning the institutional membership and the Marketing Degree accreditation is a true reflection of the dedication, not only to their students and the marketing community but to the marketing industry as a whole,” noted Emily. “CIMMO accreditation signals that the Redeemer’s marketing graduates who have completed the marketing degree program are grounded in solid foundational skills and are prepared to assume critical responsibilities, serving the business ecosystem while promoting integrity to their practice of the marketing profession.”

About CIMMO

The Chartered Institute of Marketing Management of Ontario is the only chartered professional marketing body in Ontario. It was created by the Proclamation Pr 13 enacted by her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario on May 24 of 1988. Since then, CIMMO has evolved to reflect the rapidly changing needs of the marketing industry, connecting educators, students and the marketing industry to achieve a common goal: to create the future generation of marketing leaders helping to make the world a better place through marketing.

 

Contact:

 

Paige Sonatg

Chief Content and Communications Officer

Paige.sontag@cimmo.org