The Future of Marketing: Storytelling and Unique Brand Voice

00:42:03
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABE24tAKCxw

Ringkasan

TLDRIn an insightful discussion, Carrie Grapenthin, Chief Marketing Officer at Lincoln International, elaborates on how essential listening and diplomacy are for modern executives, promoting a culture where every voice feels heard in the decision-making process. She reflects on her unconventional journey into a marketing leadership role grounded in strategic communications and brand building, which has flourished across sectors. Her adeptness at shaping narratives comes through as she sheds light on the comprehensive strategies that her company employs to navigate the complexities of the investment banking world. Carrie reaffirms the value of an executive's ability to listen and broker solutions that ensure inclusive decision outcomes, an approach that fosters teamwork and mitigates conflicts. As Lincoln International expands, she notes how its thought leadership programs and focus on content relevance have strengthened connections with clients, particularly during challenging periods like the pandemic. Through a detailed narrative, Carrie shares her insights on leading through change, leveraging innovative marketing practices, and aligning communication strategies to bolster the company's strategic goals. Her discussion underscores the potential to drive significant business growth by embedding a consistent voice and message into both internal and external communications.

Takeaways

  • 👂 Emphasize listening to all voices in decision-making.
  • 🎯 Cultivate a culture of diplomatic leadership.
  • 📈 Lincoln International excels in investment banking advisory.
  • 🏢 Carrie’s journey highlights strategic communications' role.
  • 🛠 The company adapted rapidly during the pandemic for growth.
  • 🧩 Thought leadership enhances Lincoln’s client engagement.
  • 📊 Data is best delivered with insightful perspectives.
  • 🌍 Global expansion remains a focus for Lincoln International.
  • 📈 Emphasis on storytelling to maintain brand voice amid AI trends.
  • 💼 Communication strategy must align with company goals.

Garis waktu

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Effective listening and diplomacy are crucial traits for modern executives. These skills ensure all voices in a team are heard and valued, leading to outcomes where everyone feels they have won. Carrie Grapenthin, CMO at Lincoln International, brings over two decades of experience in brand building and strategic communications, fostering change, thought leadership, and innovation in investment banking.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Carrie, with a background in PR and communications, made a shift to marketing inspired by a desire to expand beyond internal communications. Her journey included further education in integrated marketing communication, which broadened her understanding of how messaging needs to be consistent across platforms while engaging in company strategy.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Carrie embraces research as a tool for continual learning, focusing on executive coaching and listening skills to help team members achieve personal goals. These skills are instrumental in understanding market sentiment changes and supporting organizational strategy and team development.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The art of listening, combined with diplomacy, is highlighted in leadership. Carrie emphasizes the importance of making everyone feel heard, an approach that contributes to lasting tenure at companies. This skillset has enabled her to navigate complex executive landscapes successfully without falling victim to internal executive competition.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The role of a CMO requires not just creativity but operational prowess that breaks traditional marketing boundaries. Carrie has engaged in initiatives like Net Promoter Scores and firm strategy, showing the broader impact marketing can have when applied innovatively across business functions.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Lincoln International is a global investment banking advisory firm, positioned as a challenger brand. Its services range from merger and acquisition advisory to valuations. The firm's growth strategy involves geographic expansion, strategic hiring, and leveraging its diverse service offerings to adapt to market changes.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    During the pandemic, Lincoln International accelerated its content marketing efforts. By quickly adopting and promoting thought leadership content, the company maintained strong client connections. The firm’s ability to pivot during crises demonstrated its agility and commitment to thought leadership.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:42:03

    Carrie explains Lincoln International's success in leveraging proprietary data for content creation, which strengthens brand positioning. This demonstrates the ability to turn internal resources into industry-leading insights, helping Lincoln International establish thought leadership in the competitive private market arena.

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Peta Pikiran

Video Tanya Jawab

  • Who is the host of the show?

    The host of the show is Jeremy Berson.

  • Who is the guest speaker in this episode?

    Carrie Grapenthin, Chief Marketing Officer at Lincoln International.

  • What is one key skill mentioned that executives need today?

    Important skills mentioned include listening and diplomacy.

  • What does Carrie Grapenthin emphasize is crucial for modern executives?

    She emphasizes the importance of listening and ensuring all voices feel heard and considered in decision-making.

  • What is Lincoln International's primary service?

    Lincoln International primarily offers merger and acquisition advisory services.

  • What importance does Carrie place on internal communication in her role?

    She considers it foundational for driving engagement and aligning strategies with brand messages.

  • How does Carrie describe her role at Lincoln International beyond typical CMO duties?

    She discusses her involvement in firm strategy, including embracing market research and employee engagement.

  • What industry does Lincoln International primarily operate in?

    It operates in the financial services industry, specifically investment banking.

  • What content strategy did Lincoln International enhance during the pandemic?

    They significantly expanded their thought leadership and content marketing program.

  • How has Lincoln International distinguished its content offerings?

    By providing perspective and insights, not just data, to deliver a point of view on market trends.

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Teks
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Gulir Otomatis:
  • 00:00:00
    I can't stress enough how important I
  • 00:00:02
    think this is to be a modern day
  • 00:00:04
    executive just period how do you
  • 00:00:06
    actually listen to someone in a way that
  • 00:00:08
    allows you to respond in a meaningful
  • 00:00:10
    way when you're working with a group in
  • 00:00:11
    particular what you want is for
  • 00:00:13
    everybody to feel like they've been
  • 00:00:14
    heard but also that they feel a little
  • 00:00:16
    bit of a win in whatever the outcome is
  • 00:00:18
    that there isn't anybody that feels like
  • 00:00:20
    their point of view was not considered
  • 00:00:23
    in the context of the outcome the other
  • 00:00:25
    piece that I think really is important
  • 00:00:27
    is a high degree of diplomacy CU when
  • 00:00:29
    you're trying to Ure sure that everybody
  • 00:00:30
    feels like they've won it's almost a
  • 00:00:32
    little bit of brokering that goes on you
  • 00:00:35
    know you're running between people and
  • 00:00:37
    Merchandising some of what you've been
  • 00:00:39
    hearing but in a way that you know will
  • 00:00:40
    be palatable to them and then some cases
  • 00:00:42
    selling in the concept in a way that
  • 00:00:44
    makes them feel as if they've prevailed
  • 00:00:46
    or that their point of view was equally
  • 00:00:49
    considered and I think that it's a
  • 00:00:50
    special skill set to both listen but
  • 00:00:52
    then lead to the outcome and then
  • 00:00:55
    everybody feels like they've
  • 00:00:57
    won welcome to marketing trends this is
  • 00:01:00
    your host Jeremy berson today we're
  • 00:01:03
    joined by Carrie grapenthin Chief
  • 00:01:06
    marketing officer at Lincoln
  • 00:01:07
    International and if you don't know by
  • 00:01:10
    the end of this conversation you will
  • 00:01:11
    know Carrie has over two decades of
  • 00:01:14
    experience in brand building and
  • 00:01:16
    strategic Communications which really
  • 00:01:18
    feel and fuels her wisdom across diverse
  • 00:01:21
    sectors Carrie has masterfully shaped
  • 00:01:24
    brand perceptions and definitely driven
  • 00:01:27
    growth within professional and Financial
  • 00:01:29
    services so join us today as we delve
  • 00:01:32
    into her insights on driving change
  • 00:01:35
    thought leadership fostering innovation
  • 00:01:38
    in the very competitive world of
  • 00:01:40
    investment banking thanks Jeremy I'm
  • 00:01:41
    thrilled to be here I appreciate the
  • 00:01:43
    invite yes I'm super excited I thought
  • 00:01:46
    that you had I thought there was an
  • 00:01:47
    interview you did like a few years back
  • 00:01:49
    but it sounds like it's been even a bit
  • 00:01:50
    longer since you've come from behind the
  • 00:01:52
    marketing curtain to be on on a show so
  • 00:01:55
    welcome we're super excited thank you
  • 00:01:58
    this these are the conversations you
  • 00:02:00
    know it's not um we we aim to to get
  • 00:02:03
    into these conversations because though
  • 00:02:05
    we of course love to speak with
  • 00:02:07
    Executives that are you know on the on
  • 00:02:09
    the circuit doing the podcast tour and
  • 00:02:11
    they all have stuff to share it's
  • 00:02:13
    awesome but when we can get someone like
  • 00:02:14
    you who who who doesn't make it a very
  • 00:02:16
    common thing to go out and do a bunch of
  • 00:02:18
    interviews it's really it brings to the
  • 00:02:20
    surface some interesting things at least
  • 00:02:22
    in the past and so we're we're super
  • 00:02:24
    stoked um I I want to dive into
  • 00:02:27
    something that we talked about on the
  • 00:02:28
    prep a little bit before we press record
  • 00:02:31
    and I think it's interesting cuz it
  • 00:02:32
    really fits into you as an executive and
  • 00:02:35
    and you have a very interesting
  • 00:02:36
    background talk about just right off the
  • 00:02:39
    Jump talk about your your dive into
  • 00:02:41
    comms and your your perspective on in
  • 00:02:44
    that world and how that shaped you to
  • 00:02:46
    now become the CMO at Lincoln your
  • 00:02:48
    content is at the heart of what you do
  • 00:02:50
    it connects your company to others
  • 00:02:52
    teaches them guides them and inspires
  • 00:02:55
    them but creating managing and
  • 00:02:57
    accelerating content creation is often
  • 00:03:00
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  • 00:03:03
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  • 00:03:17
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  • 00:03:19
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  • 00:03:24
    bring a bright spot to your Tech stack
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    with the bright spot content management
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    system visit Brightspot
  • 00:03:30
    /m marketing Trends today yeah uh great
  • 00:03:34
    question I think I'm a little uh
  • 00:03:36
    unconventional when it comes to a CMO
  • 00:03:39
    because so much of my career has been
  • 00:03:40
    rooted in Communications I was a PR
  • 00:03:43
    major in college and uh always was
  • 00:03:46
    passionate about words I was an English
  • 00:03:48
    major as well and took a few assessments
  • 00:03:51
    to determine what that path might be and
  • 00:03:53
    it seemed like I needed to go in the
  • 00:03:54
    direction of being persuasive but in
  • 00:03:56
    what capacity and ultimately chose um PR
  • 00:04:00
    and corpcom as that spot where I could
  • 00:04:02
    be both influential but also focus on a
  • 00:04:06
    Mastery of the message and ensure that
  • 00:04:08
    whatever it is that a company was saying
  • 00:04:11
    uh reflected what the audience you know
  • 00:04:13
    both wanted to hear but also had the
  • 00:04:14
    potential to motivate their behaviors
  • 00:04:16
    and so you know that idea about what
  • 00:04:19
    needs to be said has really been uh the
  • 00:04:21
    central element of my career ever since
  • 00:04:23
    uh sits in the middle of you know
  • 00:04:25
    whatever the the marketing initiative
  • 00:04:27
    might be or the the VIS ability that we
  • 00:04:30
    might create around an executive and
  • 00:04:32
    what his or her brand might look like in
  • 00:04:34
    the marketplace it's always it's always
  • 00:04:36
    distilled down to the what needs to be
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    said that uh has been a central element
  • 00:04:40
    and you know being being in PR has
  • 00:04:43
    always uh added a level of risk
  • 00:04:45
    mitigation to the way that I think and
  • 00:04:47
    you know I think that that's
  • 00:04:48
    particularly important when you're
  • 00:04:49
    crafting messages is not only to think
  • 00:04:51
    about what the audience wants to hear
  • 00:04:53
    but also be cautious around perhaps what
  • 00:04:55
    they don't want to hear so it's been um
  • 00:04:57
    a really fun ride having that as the
  • 00:04:59
    found
  • 00:05:00
    of of my career so there there was this
  • 00:05:03
    at some point in in the career journey
  • 00:05:05
    of Carrie you got bit by the marketing
  • 00:05:07
    bug and there was something that shifted
  • 00:05:09
    there because you could have certainly
  • 00:05:10
    stayed in comms and and you you did
  • 00:05:12
    achieve success there but then there was
  • 00:05:14
    a shift into into marketing what was it
  • 00:05:16
    was it a project was it just an
  • 00:05:18
    experience was it just something that
  • 00:05:20
    always grabbed your attention take us
  • 00:05:22
    back to that moment what was what was
  • 00:05:24
    going on in car's brain and experience
  • 00:05:26
    then yeah such a such a fun time to
  • 00:05:28
    think about um um I actually had lunch
  • 00:05:31
    with my very first boss yesterday and
  • 00:05:34
    was reflecting on some of these points
  • 00:05:35
    so my first job uh was at a global PR
  • 00:05:39
    agency and I I loved it I don't think
  • 00:05:42
    that there's a better place for a young
  • 00:05:43
    person to start they get so much
  • 00:05:45
    exposure to all different types of
  • 00:05:47
    communication work though I was hired um
  • 00:05:50
    in 2000 to do employee Communications
  • 00:05:53
    consulting which at the time was a
  • 00:05:55
    pretty novel concept I think companies
  • 00:05:57
    were just starting to come around to the
  • 00:05:59
    fact that you could use Communications
  • 00:06:00
    to drive engagement and then ultimately
  • 00:06:02
    Drive business performance and I was
  • 00:06:04
    super hot on that topic I thought it was
  • 00:06:06
    so neat um it was so heavy on comms um
  • 00:06:10
    it stripped out some of the media
  • 00:06:12
    relations dimension of PR which wasn't
  • 00:06:14
    always my favorite thing to do and I
  • 00:06:16
    just was thrilled every day to be
  • 00:06:19
    working on um working on challenges of
  • 00:06:22
    you know whether it's executive coms
  • 00:06:24
    inside of the organization or changing
  • 00:06:26
    perceptions about you know what it means
  • 00:06:28
    to work at a certain company by making
  • 00:06:30
    an employee feel a sense of Pride um for
  • 00:06:32
    his or her job um it just was
  • 00:06:34
    fascinating but I got to a point too
  • 00:06:36
    where I was a little concerned that I
  • 00:06:38
    was becoming pigeon holded and I wasn't
  • 00:06:40
    sure that I wanted to build an entire
  • 00:06:43
    career rooted in internal Communications
  • 00:06:45
    despite my Affinity for it and so I uh
  • 00:06:49
    always loved being in school like a
  • 00:06:51
    giant nerd and so I started to look at
  • 00:06:53
    um continuing my education and found a
  • 00:06:55
    program at Northwestern uh centered in
  • 00:06:58
    integrated marketing communication and I
  • 00:07:00
    thought it would be a really great way
  • 00:07:01
    to explore you know all of the all of
  • 00:07:04
    the strategies and distribution methods
  • 00:07:06
    and the the role of ensuring that that
  • 00:07:08
    message you know back to comms you know
  • 00:07:10
    is consistent across all of those
  • 00:07:12
    platforms and um really enjoyed that
  • 00:07:15
    program which I completed while I was
  • 00:07:17
    working and just discovered after the
  • 00:07:19
    fact that um I had an opportunity to
  • 00:07:22
    take that knowledge and and perhaps
  • 00:07:24
    broaden my horizons a little bit and and
  • 00:07:26
    I did I left that agency but just
  • 00:07:28
    continue to look at on it so fondly um
  • 00:07:31
    and that time and as I said the internal
  • 00:07:33
    the internal comms piece sticks with you
  • 00:07:35
    I think those things you learn early on
  • 00:07:37
    endure oh that's amazing and I love that
  • 00:07:39
    you just you also seem to have this
  • 00:07:41
    continual ability you want to keep
  • 00:07:42
    learning and keep you know what else
  • 00:07:44
    what else is happening out there on that
  • 00:07:46
    note what are some of the things that
  • 00:07:47
    you're paying attention to now learning
  • 00:07:49
    about now in your role having been there
  • 00:07:51
    now almost seven years uh really really
  • 00:07:53
    good question and as I said I I enjoy uh
  • 00:07:56
    any occasion to learn something new I
  • 00:07:58
    think there's a couple paths
  • 00:07:59
    professionally speaking um I get kind of
  • 00:08:02
    excited about research and so I know you
  • 00:08:04
    know going to Google to do some desktop
  • 00:08:06
    research sounds a little uh vintage but
  • 00:08:09
    you know I was the person that was
  • 00:08:11
    popping into the library all the time
  • 00:08:12
    just to find those reference materials
  • 00:08:14
    and I think it's the lens that you know
  • 00:08:16
    I look through that helps me learn
  • 00:08:17
    something distinct or even challenge
  • 00:08:19
    myself about it and so um research uh in
  • 00:08:22
    any form whether it's you know client
  • 00:08:24
    research that we might be doing in a in
  • 00:08:26
    a really broad capacity or even in a
  • 00:08:28
    more anecdotal way uh is always
  • 00:08:30
    informing some of the stuff that we're
  • 00:08:31
    doing and helps me to learn more about
  • 00:08:33
    how the sentiment might be shifting um
  • 00:08:35
    which it definitely has been uh over the
  • 00:08:38
    last couple years where the deal making
  • 00:08:40
    environment has been a bit muted but
  • 00:08:41
    personally speaking um I've I've had an
  • 00:08:44
    affinity that started for uh Executive
  • 00:08:47
    coaching and just becoming a really good
  • 00:08:50
    listener uh to people as they
  • 00:08:53
    articulate you know what they'd like to
  • 00:08:55
    achieve what they believe others uh
  • 00:08:58
    perceive of them um and uh how they can
  • 00:09:01
    perhaps bridge that Gap or or perhaps
  • 00:09:04
    you know set some goals for themselves
  • 00:09:06
    to achieve um something even greater for
  • 00:09:08
    themselves helping has always been uh an
  • 00:09:11
    important aspect of my life and so you
  • 00:09:13
    know I think that some of those
  • 00:09:15
    listening skills are just uh things that
  • 00:09:18
    do take some training and some
  • 00:09:19
    development and asking the right
  • 00:09:21
    questions to lead an individual to to
  • 00:09:24
    the outcome they want and so I've been
  • 00:09:26
    doing a lot of reading and researching
  • 00:09:27
    in that regard too to see how I can
  • 00:09:29
    bring those skills to work you know in
  • 00:09:31
    the spirit of knowing more frequently
  • 00:09:34
    how our EXA minds are uh shifting dayto
  • 00:09:37
    day and a CEO in particular and his
  • 00:09:40
    brand in the market or how members of my
  • 00:09:42
    team might be uh thinking about their
  • 00:09:45
    own development and how I can help lead
  • 00:09:47
    them to uh an outcome that's
  • 00:09:49
    satisfactory for them without giving
  • 00:09:51
    them answers or making them feel like
  • 00:09:52
    they don't they don't have control of
  • 00:09:54
    Their Own Destiny and so those are a
  • 00:09:56
    couple things that I've been digging
  • 00:09:57
    into lately I love it you saying some of
  • 00:09:59
    my favorite things and one one of my one
  • 00:10:02
    of my favorite things you said is
  • 00:10:04
    listening and when I when I I find that
  • 00:10:07
    some of the really the most interesting
  • 00:10:08
    Executives when you you kind of sus
  • 00:10:11
    through their
  • 00:10:12
    superpowers listening the art of
  • 00:10:14
    listening seems to be something that
  • 00:10:15
    I've really picked up on the past I
  • 00:10:17
    don't know 500 interviews there's really
  • 00:10:19
    been a core it's been a core group of
  • 00:10:21
    folks that bring that actually bring it
  • 00:10:23
    up and I think many of them do it well
  • 00:10:25
    and don't talk about it but I think it's
  • 00:10:26
    so important I'm curious to double click
  • 00:10:28
    on that just with you like look you have
  • 00:10:30
    a lot of responsibility you know you
  • 00:10:32
    you're you're I believe the one of the
  • 00:10:34
    most utility executive leaders is the
  • 00:10:37
    CMO is the one that leads marketing
  • 00:10:38
    especially in
  • 00:10:40
    2024 so when you think of just listening
  • 00:10:43
    like when you're just listening like is
  • 00:10:44
    there something that you do when you're
  • 00:10:46
    listening because I feel like depending
  • 00:10:48
    on who again you're listening to and and
  • 00:10:50
    that may change but I feel like there's
  • 00:10:52
    something there in how you listen or is
  • 00:10:54
    there something that you're doing or
  • 00:10:55
    you're telling yourself something are
  • 00:10:56
    you how do you actually listen to
  • 00:10:58
    someone in a way that allows you to
  • 00:11:00
    respond in a meaningful way that's a
  • 00:11:01
    great question I think fundamentally um
  • 00:11:04
    having a relationship with the person
  • 00:11:06
    that you're listening to is is helpful
  • 00:11:08
    because you can you can come at the
  • 00:11:11
    dialogue um a little bit more with an
  • 00:11:13
    understanding of the motivations that
  • 00:11:14
    might be driving what they're saying um
  • 00:11:17
    and with that knowledge you know I'm I'm
  • 00:11:19
    somebody who has to step away and
  • 00:11:20
    internalize quite a bit what I've heard
  • 00:11:22
    and I think uh I have a good ability to
  • 00:11:26
    do do that as if it my uh you know sort
  • 00:11:29
    of washing machine inside of me where
  • 00:11:31
    all of these inputs from a variety of
  • 00:11:33
    places agitate like a a washing machine
  • 00:11:36
    would you know you pull out something
  • 00:11:38
    clean I always think the key is um you
  • 00:11:41
    know when you're working with a group in
  • 00:11:42
    particular and and ours as an
  • 00:11:44
    organization where um you know we like
  • 00:11:46
    to have a lot of voices on a number of
  • 00:11:48
    topics what you want is for everybody to
  • 00:11:51
    feel like they've been heard but also
  • 00:11:52
    that they feel a little bit of a win and
  • 00:11:54
    whatever the outcome is you know that
  • 00:11:56
    there isn't anybody that feels like um
  • 00:11:59
    that their that their point of view was
  • 00:12:01
    not uh considered in the context of the
  • 00:12:04
    outcome the other thing it's funny how
  • 00:12:07
    you ask about listening I really do
  • 00:12:08
    think it's an important skill the other
  • 00:12:10
    piece that I think you know I've always
  • 00:12:12
    felt I'm I'm good at and to your point
  • 00:12:15
    about utility player it really is
  • 00:12:16
    important is a high degree of diplomacy
  • 00:12:19
    you know because when you're trying to
  • 00:12:20
    ensure that um everybody feels like
  • 00:12:22
    they've won it's almost a little bit of
  • 00:12:24
    brokering that goes on uh right and in
  • 00:12:27
    the relationship development I said but
  • 00:12:30
    you know you're running between people
  • 00:12:32
    and um merchandising some of what you've
  • 00:12:35
    been hearing but in a way that you know
  • 00:12:36
    will be palatable to them and then you
  • 00:12:38
    know some cases selling in the concept
  • 00:12:41
    in in a way that makes them feel as if
  • 00:12:43
    they've prevailed or that their point of
  • 00:12:45
    view was um equally considered and and
  • 00:12:48
    really in the organization that I'm in
  • 00:12:49
    everybody's point of view is equally
  • 00:12:51
    considered um and and I think that it's
  • 00:12:53
    a special skill set to both listen but
  • 00:12:56
    then um sort of lead to the outcome and
  • 00:13:00
    then as I said everybody feels like
  • 00:13:02
    they've uh won I can't stress enough how
  • 00:13:06
    important I think this is it to be a
  • 00:13:08
    modern day executive just period um I
  • 00:13:11
    have some dear close friends that um
  • 00:13:14
    have Fortune 100 you know marketing exec
  • 00:13:16
    experience and you know a lot of the
  • 00:13:19
    things a lot of the things that aren't
  • 00:13:20
    talked about is that sometimes there can
  • 00:13:22
    be a lot of you know there can be
  • 00:13:24
    pressure there can be competition
  • 00:13:26
    amongst leaders there can be you know
  • 00:13:28
    behind the back try to push this P
  • 00:13:30
    person out it can be a full contact
  • 00:13:32
    sport just being an executive and
  • 00:13:34
    especially when you're playing at the
  • 00:13:35
    level you're playing at Carrie what
  • 00:13:37
    impresses me is you've been there almost
  • 00:13:39
    you've been there almost seven years
  • 00:13:40
    you've been in marketing leadership for
  • 00:13:43
    most of that if not all that time right
  • 00:13:45
    correct so you already know you're
  • 00:13:47
    already past the typical tenure of of
  • 00:13:49
    marketing leaders in fact the the a a
  • 00:13:52
    core majority of the folks I've
  • 00:13:53
    interviewed the past few years are no
  • 00:13:55
    longer at those businesses right and so
  • 00:13:58
    I'm impressed with your ability to stay
  • 00:14:00
    in the pocket because I know that that
  • 00:14:03
    can't be easy because you're having to
  • 00:14:04
    build relationships with a lot of people
  • 00:14:06
    including your teams and including
  • 00:14:08
    listening to your customer and like
  • 00:14:09
    there's there's so much I think that you
  • 00:14:12
    have to have a capacity for in your role
  • 00:14:14
    to be able to stay grounded focused and
  • 00:14:16
    continue to show the scoreboard of like
  • 00:14:19
    win after win after win because you
  • 00:14:21
    would not be in that seat if you weren't
  • 00:14:23
    continually winning so it says a lot
  • 00:14:25
    about your ability to play with your
  • 00:14:27
    peers build trust across the aisle and
  • 00:14:30
    I'm curious how what that's meant for
  • 00:14:32
    you because again you you're you're
  • 00:14:34
    entering into that status where a lot of
  • 00:14:35
    CMOS don't get they don't a lot of them
  • 00:14:37
    don't get to be somewhere for that long
  • 00:14:39
    so uh I actually have been fortunate at
  • 00:14:43
    at the company that I'm at and at prior
  • 00:14:44
    organizations as well and that I've
  • 00:14:46
    tried to break the mold a little bit
  • 00:14:48
    about what leadership thinks uh CMO can
  • 00:14:52
    do and perhaps because of this you know
  • 00:14:54
    skill set that I bring that's perhaps a
  • 00:14:56
    little different than other marketers
  • 00:14:58
    and because of that I've had a lot more
  • 00:14:59
    variety in the scope of the role and
  • 00:15:02
    have the opportunity to make an impact
  • 00:15:04
    in different ways beyond what the
  • 00:15:05
    traditional definition of marketing is
  • 00:15:08
    so you know I think CMOS sometimes have
  • 00:15:10
    a shorter tenure in their organizations
  • 00:15:12
    because we're all naturally interested
  • 00:15:15
    in change we want to drive something
  • 00:15:16
    meaningful we'd like to see the results
  • 00:15:18
    of that we like to be creative I would
  • 00:15:20
    think and and sometimes it can feel like
  • 00:15:22
    the opportunities to do that become a
  • 00:15:24
    little um less frequent when you've
  • 00:15:27
    built large teams operationalizing the
  • 00:15:30
    strategy Etc and so at least in my
  • 00:15:32
    organization you know I've been able to
  • 00:15:34
    encourage some new ways of Thinking
  • 00:15:37
    Beyond marketing including um
  • 00:15:39
    introducing you know a net promoter
  • 00:15:41
    score study to understand you know more
  • 00:15:44
    deeply Market perceptions but
  • 00:15:46
    specifically how the experience of
  • 00:15:47
    working with Lincoln is which is a
  • 00:15:49
    really substantive piece of research
  • 00:15:50
    that um is Meaningful to the business
  • 00:15:53
    and of the strategy and then I serve on
  • 00:15:55
    the firm strategy committee I think
  • 00:15:57
    because of this listening
  • 00:15:59
    and this diplomacy and this ability to
  • 00:16:01
    construct a compelling narrative and
  • 00:16:04
    message you know the first strategy was
  • 00:16:07
    was really uh great to begin with but we
  • 00:16:09
    hadn't articulated it in a way that
  • 00:16:11
    created meaning for employees in a way
  • 00:16:14
    that we could structure our initiatives
  • 00:16:15
    and Investments around in a way that we
  • 00:16:17
    could create guard rails that you know
  • 00:16:20
    help with decision-making with respect
  • 00:16:21
    to you know spend or or not doing things
  • 00:16:24
    which I think is equally important when
  • 00:16:25
    you talk about strategy so you I've been
  • 00:16:28
    able to to flex a lot of my skills
  • 00:16:30
    beyond what some might expect the CMO to
  • 00:16:34
    do and uh excited to have those
  • 00:16:37
    occasions to do work that's a little
  • 00:16:39
    outside the scope or outside the sandbox
  • 00:16:41
    if you will of a CMO it's what keeps me
  • 00:16:44
    in an organization do you feel like
  • 00:16:46
    there's a particular executive on the
  • 00:16:50
    elt that you feel like in these days you
  • 00:16:53
    need to be building a better a strong
  • 00:16:56
    relationship with where maybe four or
  • 00:16:57
    five years ago that wasn't the case
  • 00:16:59
    right I've talked to some folks where
  • 00:17:00
    they're you know they bring their CFO
  • 00:17:03
    into into meetings when they go hear
  • 00:17:05
    from agencies you know where they're
  • 00:17:06
    bringing their operations executive
  • 00:17:08
    along so I'm curious if there's been a
  • 00:17:10
    role in your in your time now that's
  • 00:17:12
    kind of bubbled up as like maybe it's
  • 00:17:14
    the CTO or the tech role but for you
  • 00:17:16
    like is there a role where you're like
  • 00:17:18
    this is important that we're on the same
  • 00:17:19
    page now more than in the past uh such a
  • 00:17:23
    great question I've been so lucky to
  • 00:17:25
    have such strong relationships with
  • 00:17:27
    other uh other lead ERS of functional uh
  • 00:17:30
    groups in organizations and it kind of
  • 00:17:33
    varies a bit based on whatever the need
  • 00:17:35
    is and I think if you've got you know
  • 00:17:37
    even a bit of a friendship there to
  • 00:17:39
    start you're sharing ideas but
  • 00:17:40
    everybody's everybody's uh coming to the
  • 00:17:43
    four at a point where you particularly
  • 00:17:45
    need them so for example you know when
  • 00:17:47
    it comes to employee engagement and and
  • 00:17:49
    all of those topics the relationship
  • 00:17:51
    that I have with the chief Talent
  • 00:17:52
    officer is particularly strong you know
  • 00:17:54
    we're always thinking about both the
  • 00:17:55
    inside and outside dimension of a
  • 00:17:58
    program and ensuring that we're
  • 00:18:00
    authentic in what we're saying
  • 00:18:01
    internally as well as you know the
  • 00:18:03
    promise that we put out in the
  • 00:18:04
    marketplace I've been in other
  • 00:18:05
    organizations where my relationship with
  • 00:18:07
    the general council is particularly
  • 00:18:09
    tight because we may have been uh
  • 00:18:11
    dealing with uh some unfortunate uh
  • 00:18:14
    unfortunate or uh inverse issues uh
  • 00:18:17
    within the business where mitigating the
  • 00:18:19
    message in the Press isn't particularly
  • 00:18:21
    important and so that becomes a really
  • 00:18:22
    good strategic Duo um and the CFO
  • 00:18:25
    relationship's very important
  • 00:18:27
    particularly in an organization where
  • 00:18:29
    um you know you're still building a bit
  • 00:18:31
    how how you want to structure and report
  • 00:18:34
    on spend whether it's relationship
  • 00:18:36
    development type spend which is uh an
  • 00:18:38
    important part of our business or broad
  • 00:18:40
    brand building spend and you know
  • 00:18:43
    strategizing through you know the right
  • 00:18:45
    way to articulate back to the
  • 00:18:46
    organization how the dollars are being
  • 00:18:49
    utilized so that we can make adjustments
  • 00:18:51
    as necessary is is another uh perhaps
  • 00:18:54
    unlikely but really critical
  • 00:18:56
    relationship I love this um let's shift
  • 00:18:59
    into let's double click into just
  • 00:19:01
    Lincoln International like as a brand
  • 00:19:03
    like talk for audience who doesn't know
  • 00:19:05
    who they are I wasn't super familiar
  • 00:19:07
    myself and then started to look at like
  • 00:19:08
    this Global footprint this this very big
  • 00:19:11
    brand that has to to do a lot of things
  • 00:19:14
    really well and not in in a very complex
  • 00:19:16
    Market it's it's Global reach but it's
  • 00:19:19
    also personalized advisory and and
  • 00:19:21
    Lincoln Internationals like this leading
  • 00:19:23
    investment firm clearly so talk about
  • 00:19:25
    the talk about the business and then
  • 00:19:27
    what stage and phase is the the business
  • 00:19:29
    in now what's happening at Lincoln
  • 00:19:30
    International Lincoln International is a
  • 00:19:32
    global Investment Banking advisory firm
  • 00:19:34
    we're in more than 15 countries around
  • 00:19:36
    the world we're we're one of these
  • 00:19:38
    Brands that's uh I would say a
  • 00:19:40
    challenger brand um about a thousand
  • 00:19:43
    employees we have four core Services the
  • 00:19:45
    principal service that we've offered
  • 00:19:47
    since the firm was founded in 1996 is
  • 00:19:49
    merger and acquisition advisory so this
  • 00:19:51
    is working with either private Equity or
  • 00:19:55
    entrepreneurs or uh management teams to
  • 00:19:58
    consider you know potential sale of
  • 00:20:00
    their business to the next owner or or a
  • 00:20:02
    large investment from an outside Source
  • 00:20:04
    in order to fuel the next phase of
  • 00:20:06
    growth it's it's an awesome concept um
  • 00:20:10
    because our audience varies quite a bit
  • 00:20:12
    and I I like the the distinction between
  • 00:20:15
    audience types because you know private
  • 00:20:17
    Equity as a buyer of our services is
  • 00:20:19
    quite a sophisticated user of an
  • 00:20:21
    investment Bank whereas an entrepreneur
  • 00:20:23
    who has built a business over his or her
  • 00:20:25
    life you know might not have a
  • 00:20:27
    succession plan they going to go through
  • 00:20:29
    this kind of process once and you really
  • 00:20:31
    want it to be important and meaningful
  • 00:20:33
    for them but they're in more of an
  • 00:20:35
    educational stage perhaps on how to how
  • 00:20:37
    to work through um an m&a deal so m&a is
  • 00:20:40
    one of the principal services that we
  • 00:20:42
    offer that we've got a nice complement
  • 00:20:44
    of services around that from a private
  • 00:20:46
    funds advisory which is a group that
  • 00:20:48
    works on sort of alternative solutions
  • 00:20:51
    to an exit to a to a sale of a company
  • 00:20:54
    um a capital Advisory Group that's
  • 00:20:56
    working on the financing aspects of
  • 00:20:58
    getting getting a deal done and then
  • 00:21:00
    evaluations and opinions Group which is
  • 00:21:01
    actually working very closely with the
  • 00:21:03
    businesses themselves to help identify
  • 00:21:05
    on a quarterly basis the present value
  • 00:21:08
    of their business based on performance
  • 00:21:09
    and a variety of other factors and we
  • 00:21:12
    really talk about that as kind of a
  • 00:21:13
    Continuum of need those services for
  • 00:21:15
    private equity in particular um because
  • 00:21:17
    they are naturally working across their
  • 00:21:20
    portfolio of companies thinking of some
  • 00:21:22
    of those services that might be utilized
  • 00:21:23
    depending upon where their portfolio
  • 00:21:25
    company is in its own life cycle so it's
  • 00:21:28
    um it's a it's a very um
  • 00:21:32
    substantive uh place to work visa
  • 00:21:34
    content because we have what I think is
  • 00:21:37
    really interesting service offering that
  • 00:21:40
    provides to me more opportunities to
  • 00:21:42
    learn all the time because I wasn't in
  • 00:21:44
    financial services previously and so
  • 00:21:47
    I've really I think uh leveled up my uh
  • 00:21:49
    Acumen on Financial Services topics but
  • 00:21:52
    then we also have core industry groups
  • 00:21:54
    and that gives members of my team and me
  • 00:21:57
    an opportunity to get to know you know
  • 00:21:59
    broadly Trends in healthcare that are
  • 00:22:01
    impacting m&a or Industrials or business
  • 00:22:04
    services or consumer which I you know as
  • 00:22:06
    as a consumer myself I tend to have a
  • 00:22:08
    real draw to what's going on in our
  • 00:22:10
    consumer business but you know that
  • 00:22:12
    creates such um Rich field for Learning
  • 00:22:16
    and um supporting the business with that
  • 00:22:19
    leadership Etc so the business uh is
  • 00:22:22
    growing quite a bit uh we had a
  • 00:22:24
    phenomenal couple of years as many did
  • 00:22:27
    uh postco and um we are entering new
  • 00:22:30
    markets and doing a lot of great hiring
  • 00:22:33
    at the managing director level to drive
  • 00:22:35
    the next phase of growth and it's a firm
  • 00:22:37
    with really big Ambitions and I'm I'm
  • 00:22:39
    excited to be a part of it you talked
  • 00:22:41
    about the Challenger brand which I think
  • 00:22:42
    is so interesting you know I think an
  • 00:22:45
    advantage of being a challenger brand is
  • 00:22:47
    often you know this greater agility
  • 00:22:49
    compared to some of these larger firms
  • 00:22:52
    can you think of examples or or anything
  • 00:22:54
    specific on how Lincoln International
  • 00:22:57
    has been able to move quick to
  • 00:22:59
    capitalize on New Opportunities or adapt
  • 00:23:01
    to Market changes yeah absolutely I mean
  • 00:23:03
    one of the things that our CEO often
  • 00:23:05
    talks about is that the firm you know
  • 00:23:07
    having been founded by four guys back in
  • 00:23:09
    96 has always been pretty Scrappy um and
  • 00:23:12
    pursuing you know pursuing certain uh
  • 00:23:15
    opportunities when perhaps others might
  • 00:23:17
    have backed off a bit and that has
  • 00:23:19
    proven to be really successful for them
  • 00:23:21
    and even in times of Market dislocation
  • 00:23:23
    you know making certain investments in
  • 00:23:25
    order to be prepared for a rebound has
  • 00:23:27
    positioned The Firm really well
  • 00:23:29
    uh and I've been around long enough to
  • 00:23:31
    really appreciate what they mean by that
  • 00:23:33
    you have to be somewhere at least you
  • 00:23:35
    know six seven years to work through
  • 00:23:36
    some economic cycles and actually see
  • 00:23:38
    the strategy in action and then and then
  • 00:23:40
    have an appreciation for a while they
  • 00:23:42
    were right you know um I think when it
  • 00:23:44
    comes to agility because of the firm
  • 00:23:46
    scale we're in a position to you know
  • 00:23:49
    work is really tight integrated often
  • 00:23:52
    crossb teams to devise solutions that
  • 00:23:55
    are going to be meaningful for the
  • 00:23:57
    business broadly and then we are really
  • 00:24:00
    good in my opinion at driving adoption
  • 00:24:02
    of some of the changes that we Implement
  • 00:24:03
    in the organization which is really um I
  • 00:24:05
    think a great side effect if you will of
  • 00:24:08
    our current size because we're still in
  • 00:24:10
    a position to have onetoone or small
  • 00:24:11
    group conversations and the word of
  • 00:24:13
    mouth in our organization is quite good
  • 00:24:15
    too because of our strong culture when I
  • 00:24:17
    think of an example of where like my
  • 00:24:19
    team has been particularly agile I Look
  • 00:24:22
    to to co if if you know if you can bring
  • 00:24:25
    up that word but uh the the pandemic
  • 00:24:29
    um we we just reintroduced the brand to
  • 00:24:31
    the marketplace at the end of 2018 and
  • 00:24:33
    one of the essential uh elements of our
  • 00:24:37
    brand Essence is around this idea of
  • 00:24:38
    thought leadership and demonstrating
  • 00:24:40
    perspective and we were working on
  • 00:24:43
    starting up a Content marketing program
  • 00:24:44
    and that was new for the organization
  • 00:24:46
    and something that you know takes a a
  • 00:24:48
    good bit of time to um find ambassadors
  • 00:24:52
    in the organization if you will we'll
  • 00:24:54
    participate in the process and then go
  • 00:24:55
    tell a friend if you will uh and so the
  • 00:24:59
    pandemic came around and it you know
  • 00:25:02
    well everybody experienced the same
  • 00:25:04
    thing around the world right we all went
  • 00:25:05
    home and for at least you know two three
  • 00:25:07
    four weeks we were all in the same boat
  • 00:25:11
    and from a deal making perspective you
  • 00:25:13
    know everybody kind of put their pencils
  • 00:25:15
    down with this uncertainty that was
  • 00:25:17
    going on but the other aspect of our
  • 00:25:21
    brand that is so important it's about
  • 00:25:23
    relationships and it it's called real
  • 00:25:24
    Connection in our Essence and it became
  • 00:25:27
    so important that our Bankers had a
  • 00:25:29
    reason to contact and you know beyond
  • 00:25:32
    you know the how are you doing is your
  • 00:25:33
    family safe some of these things that
  • 00:25:35
    you know you connected on initially our
  • 00:25:38
    Bankers were really interested in
  • 00:25:40
    connecting on what this could mean for
  • 00:25:42
    m&a um and in a lot of ways by industry
  • 00:25:46
    or by product as I mentioned earlier and
  • 00:25:48
    so you know while we'd been a little bit
  • 00:25:50
    slow to start on the content marketing
  • 00:25:51
    program initially the pandemic catalyzed
  • 00:25:55
    this program in a way that um was so
  • 00:25:59
    helpful to us over the long term because
  • 00:26:02
    a number of Bankers participated in the
  • 00:26:03
    process of working with our outside
  • 00:26:05
    Riders and over about an eight-week
  • 00:26:07
    period we generated about 50 pieces of
  • 00:26:10
    content to support them and and whether
  • 00:26:12
    it was you know direct Outreach to you
  • 00:26:15
    know a small audience or from my team's
  • 00:26:17
    perspective you know broadly promoting
  • 00:26:19
    some of this thinking around what you
  • 00:26:22
    know what the pandemic was doing to the
  • 00:26:23
    supply chain and how that would impact
  • 00:26:25
    consumer products for example or what
  • 00:26:27
    the pandemic was doing Healthcare and
  • 00:26:29
    what that might foretell you know in m&a
  • 00:26:31
    and the healthcare sector and all of
  • 00:26:33
    that was so important for us
  • 00:26:34
    operationally because we ended up with
  • 00:26:37
    you know all of these great people who
  • 00:26:40
    were in the organization appreciating
  • 00:26:42
    how simple it could be to work with the
  • 00:26:43
    team and work with the writers and to
  • 00:26:45
    get something out in the market quickly
  • 00:26:47
    and that's that's the critical piece of
  • 00:26:50
    what my team does we're productizing
  • 00:26:52
    what sits in the minds of these Bankers
  • 00:26:54
    they're brilliant people but unless
  • 00:26:57
    you're with them in in the room at the
  • 00:26:59
    you know conference or or what have you
  • 00:27:02
    we need to find a way to strip that out
  • 00:27:04
    of their minds and put it into the hands
  • 00:27:07
    of our targets and so the pandemic
  • 00:27:10
    itself was an occasion where a very lean
  • 00:27:13
    team worked very hard to uh support the
  • 00:27:16
    business so you started the content
  • 00:27:18
    machine essentially was that in the
  • 00:27:20
    pandemic is that what it's kind of Let's
  • 00:27:22
    Kick this thing off uh we started
  • 00:27:24
    actually in Earnest in 2019 I think we
  • 00:27:27
    had some good quick wins um working with
  • 00:27:30
    a number of bankers and and creating you
  • 00:27:34
    know infographics about Trends in cyber
  • 00:27:37
    security or you know ntech or whatever
  • 00:27:40
    the case may be and really getting some
  • 00:27:42
    nice inbounds off the back of that I
  • 00:27:44
    think it was a little unique in our
  • 00:27:46
    sector to present thought leadership in
  • 00:27:49
    the way that we were at the time um but
  • 00:27:52
    it still was gaining traction and the
  • 00:27:56
    market was really robust and you know
  • 00:27:59
    it's a Professional Services firm and we
  • 00:28:00
    want our Bankers to be with their
  • 00:28:02
    clients that's where they should be
  • 00:28:04
    focused and so when they're busy it's
  • 00:28:05
    great for everyone it just happened that
  • 00:28:08
    We Came Upon a period where suddenly
  • 00:28:10
    everyone paused and we capitalized on
  • 00:28:14
    that a little bit and you know did a lot
  • 00:28:17
    of internal marketing to try and
  • 00:28:19
    generate interest in the program that
  • 00:28:21
    was already there for them to
  • 00:28:22
    participate in they just hadn't done it
  • 00:28:25
    yet and once the pandemic came they did
  • 00:28:27
    and then they became Believers out of
  • 00:28:30
    all the different kind of types of
  • 00:28:31
    content plays is there is there like an
  • 00:28:34
    emerging Trend that you think is going
  • 00:28:36
    to have the biggest impact on financial
  • 00:28:38
    services in terms of content in
  • 00:28:40
    financial services uh there's a gamut of
  • 00:28:44
    content that companies produce and you
  • 00:28:47
    know there's a a real desire to see just
  • 00:28:50
    Market activity Trends Etc one of the
  • 00:28:56
    mandates that we have a group when we're
  • 00:28:59
    giving you know input to our teams on
  • 00:29:01
    creating content like that is that we
  • 00:29:03
    put a promise out in the market that
  • 00:29:05
    we're going to deliver some perspective
  • 00:29:07
    and so if we're going to package up in
  • 00:29:09
    partnership with them readily available
  • 00:29:11
    third-party research what we need to do
  • 00:29:14
    is put our voice around what it's
  • 00:29:16
    telling us not just the packaging up of
  • 00:29:19
    this material and I find that a lot of
  • 00:29:22
    companies in the
  • 00:29:23
    sector focus more on the packaging and
  • 00:29:26
    not on the message and I think that
  • 00:29:29
    that's where Lincoln stands out quite a
  • 00:29:31
    bit um it's it's very simple and it goes
  • 00:29:34
    back to in earlier point about AI that
  • 00:29:38
    it could homogenize Communications you
  • 00:29:41
    know it could homogenize content if you
  • 00:29:44
    know you're only focusing on that and
  • 00:29:46
    even the bells and whistles on how it's
  • 00:29:48
    presented and not necessarily applying a
  • 00:29:51
    point of view to what what the data says
  • 00:29:54
    so Carrie can you describe a Content
  • 00:29:57
    campaign or strategy that was
  • 00:29:59
    particularly Innovative or risky and
  • 00:30:02
    then any Lessons Learned From that
  • 00:30:03
    experience yeah absolutely I think you
  • 00:30:05
    know it's a little hybrid content PR uh
  • 00:30:09
    when I joined the firm the valuations
  • 00:30:11
    and opinions group had just introduced
  • 00:30:14
    uh an index that they were going to
  • 00:30:16
    publish on a quarterly basis and it took
  • 00:30:17
    me a little while to track with what the
  • 00:30:20
    index communicated But ultimately the
  • 00:30:23
    team was sitting on a giant proprietary
  • 00:30:26
    database from all the work that they and
  • 00:30:28
    they decided to identify a way to
  • 00:30:31
    aggregate the data and share it in a
  • 00:30:33
    confidential way to um provide Trends
  • 00:30:36
    and insights into the performance of the
  • 00:30:38
    private markets which is proving since
  • 00:30:41
    the time that you know we we launched it
  • 00:30:43
    both with a PR partner but then also in
  • 00:30:45
    generating articles and and other things
  • 00:30:48
    to be a gold mine for Lincoln in terms
  • 00:30:51
    of its you know positioning us as a
  • 00:30:55
    leading voice on what's going on across
  • 00:30:57
    the the private Market uh spectrum and
  • 00:30:59
    so um what I wouldn't characterize it as
  • 00:31:02
    risky necessarily but the story goes
  • 00:31:05
    that at the time that we all you know
  • 00:31:07
    decided to introduce this index the
  • 00:31:10
    inflection point was that the CIO had
  • 00:31:13
    been asking the valuations team you know
  • 00:31:16
    if he can dump all this data off of the
  • 00:31:18
    servers because it was taking up so much
  • 00:31:20
    room and our chairman actually said you
  • 00:31:22
    know is there anything we could be doing
  • 00:31:25
    with that data now that's a marketer's
  • 00:31:26
    dream is to say what can we do with all
  • 00:31:28
    this data right anybody that wants to
  • 00:31:30
    develop content is looking for something
  • 00:31:32
    like that and in our case it's
  • 00:31:33
    proprietary to us uh and the index
  • 00:31:36
    itself has proven to be um so meaningful
  • 00:31:39
    for the brand and so far that you know
  • 00:31:41
    clients are now leveraging so much of
  • 00:31:43
    the data and their own Communications
  • 00:31:46
    and then top tier media you know are
  • 00:31:48
    referring to the firm as the leading
  • 00:31:50
    voice and the the go-to resource for
  • 00:31:53
    private Market insights which is just
  • 00:31:55
    completely in The Sweet Spot of our
  • 00:31:57
    vision know we want to be the best
  • 00:31:59
    investment banking advisory firm in the
  • 00:32:00
    private Capital markets and we're
  • 00:32:02
    getting the credential isation from the
  • 00:32:04
    likes of Bloomberg so um that has been
  • 00:32:07
    uh a really um brand a beneficial tool
  • 00:32:13
    for us and the the spokespeople in that
  • 00:32:16
    group are just you know on the speaking
  • 00:32:20
    circuit you know and highly relied upon
  • 00:32:23
    for the things that they have to share
  • 00:32:24
    about what that data tells us it's
  • 00:32:26
    really great I'm curious about some of
  • 00:32:28
    the things you pay attention to in terms
  • 00:32:30
    of metrics you've been successful in the
  • 00:32:32
    role so you there's
  • 00:32:34
    definitely like you're de you're you're
  • 00:32:36
    good at developing leaders you're good
  • 00:32:38
    at communicating with your team you're
  • 00:32:39
    good at culture you're good at driving
  • 00:32:41
    change you're good at driving results
  • 00:32:43
    curious if there's any Nuance to that
  • 00:32:45
    for you I had a boss once use a great
  • 00:32:47
    analogy that I continue to um
  • 00:32:50
    proliferate with teams and and
  • 00:32:52
    colleagues too as we talk about the role
  • 00:32:54
    of my team compared to per perhaps the
  • 00:32:57
    banker who is you know face to face with
  • 00:32:59
    the client you know the analogy that I
  • 00:33:02
    found very useful was that you know the
  • 00:33:04
    role of marketing if if you analogize it
  • 00:33:07
    to a car company the role of marketing
  • 00:33:10
    is to get the person to the lot but the
  • 00:33:13
    role of the banker is to sell the car
  • 00:33:15
    and so it has to be a true partnership
  • 00:33:19
    um but there's so many touch points
  • 00:33:21
    along along the way whether it's a team
  • 00:33:23
    like mine creating a perception you know
  • 00:33:26
    from nowhere about what they might
  • 00:33:29
    experience and learn or receive as a
  • 00:33:32
    customer once they get to the lot but
  • 00:33:34
    it's the banker who's going to reinforce
  • 00:33:36
    any of that messaging but then also
  • 00:33:38
    Forge a trusted relationship in the
  • 00:33:40
    context of you know perhaps becoming
  • 00:33:42
    engaged on on a deal or otherwise and so
  • 00:33:46
    that analogy I think has been really
  • 00:33:48
    important even as I've been inside the
  • 00:33:50
    organization and and
  • 00:33:52
    evangelize that partnership and the
  • 00:33:54
    importance of um working together and
  • 00:33:57
    that um there's no single thing that the
  • 00:33:59
    marketing organization is going to do
  • 00:34:01
    that's just going to put a revenue
  • 00:34:03
    number on the board that it is a team of
  • 00:34:05
    people working together to deliver
  • 00:34:07
    against that brand promise that's going
  • 00:34:09
    to drive the results that we need and
  • 00:34:11
    I'll often stand up at you know Global
  • 00:34:13
    meetings with an audience of 850 or what
  • 00:34:15
    have you and say you know here's here's
  • 00:34:18
    a range of activities that we've been
  • 00:34:20
    doing to help you know in the same
  • 00:34:22
    analogy vein get the people to the lot
  • 00:34:25
    but it comes down to you the the banker
  • 00:34:28
    the individual the advisor to help
  • 00:34:31
    ensure that it's a full circle brand
  • 00:34:34
    experience that aligns with the promise
  • 00:34:36
    that we've made in the market and I tell
  • 00:34:38
    them they are the single most important
  • 00:34:40
    marketers they are the single most
  • 00:34:42
    active activity that we have that is
  • 00:34:45
    going to help um help drive home in the
  • 00:34:49
    car analogy again I guess the outcome
  • 00:34:51
    that we all want to see so another um we
  • 00:34:55
    we did something I think clutter bust
  • 00:34:57
    thing uh a couple years ago and I do
  • 00:35:00
    think yeah I do think it's important you
  • 00:35:02
    know even in a highly regulated business
  • 00:35:04
    like Investment Banking that you try and
  • 00:35:06
    think creatively it's it's what
  • 00:35:07
    marketers like to do but you also try
  • 00:35:09
    and stretch a little bit and do
  • 00:35:10
    something that is perceived out of the
  • 00:35:12
    box and um Lincoln's an organization
  • 00:35:15
    that's really supportive of of trying
  • 00:35:16
    some of these things and we we did
  • 00:35:19
    something pretty cool uh a couple years
  • 00:35:22
    ago we did uh advertising inside of
  • 00:35:25
    O'Hare Airport really as a brand
  • 00:35:27
    awareness play it was just to try and
  • 00:35:30
    grow awareness around the name Lincoln
  • 00:35:31
    International at our Mark and create
  • 00:35:33
    some context for those four core
  • 00:35:35
    services that we provide and it was so
  • 00:35:38
    great for building pride and um that's
  • 00:35:41
    something that's hard to measure but it
  • 00:35:43
    was also a period it was uh 2022 also a
  • 00:35:46
    period where people were getting back
  • 00:35:47
    into travel you know people were excited
  • 00:35:49
    to be you know passing through airports
  • 00:35:51
    and reconnecting again the war for
  • 00:35:53
    talent was on we were heavily recruiting
  • 00:35:56
    and we were having these occasions where
  • 00:35:58
    candidates would come through Chicago
  • 00:35:59
    for an interview and then pass our ad at
  • 00:36:02
    O'Hare on their way back to their flight
  • 00:36:04
    which would sort of you know put a
  • 00:36:05
    little wind at the backs um it was an
  • 00:36:07
    incredible campaign um where we did a
  • 00:36:10
    little light research on awareness pre
  • 00:36:12
    and post but ultimately the way that our
  • 00:36:14
    people felt seeing how formidable the
  • 00:36:17
    organization had come that the brand was
  • 00:36:19
    out there in such a public way it had
  • 00:36:22
    such a lift on the vibe and the feel
  • 00:36:25
    inside our four walls that you know you
  • 00:36:28
    can't really bottle that up and and say
  • 00:36:31
    what the outcome was but you could feel
  • 00:36:33
    it and um sometimes anecdotal metrics
  • 00:36:36
    can be the best I love it there some of
  • 00:36:38
    those intangibles that are just you you
  • 00:36:40
    know are like core magic to the brand
  • 00:36:42
    and Magic to the success and like you
  • 00:36:44
    might not be able to put a number or
  • 00:36:45
    quantify that experience but you know it
  • 00:36:47
    impacts internal folks and external
  • 00:36:48
    folks so cool um so as we think about
  • 00:36:53
    the future right the future of kind of
  • 00:36:55
    where where's where car's heading as a
  • 00:36:57
    marketing leader where Lincoln's heading
  • 00:36:59
    as this really interesting financial
  • 00:37:01
    service advisory firm with a global
  • 00:37:03
    footprint what do you see coming down
  • 00:37:05
    the pipeline for you as a leader and an
  • 00:37:07
    executive and also for the brand I think
  • 00:37:09
    I think we have real opportunity to
  • 00:37:11
    consider AI in the context of how we do
  • 00:37:14
    what we do while remaining true to our
  • 00:37:17
    own voice and ensuring as I said that
  • 00:37:19
    whatever we create feels really custom
  • 00:37:22
    um to to the audience and something that
  • 00:37:25
    only Lincoln could possibly say I think
  • 00:37:27
    storytelling and creating a way for
  • 00:37:29
    somebody to be engaged in content um not
  • 00:37:33
    because it's it's sort of need to know
  • 00:37:35
    but because they'd like to know and you
  • 00:37:37
    know embedding some creativity into how
  • 00:37:39
    we do that again in a way that is
  • 00:37:40
    appropriate for our sector is the kind
  • 00:37:42
    of thing that's going to continue to
  • 00:37:44
    keep Lincoln at the Forefront but also
  • 00:37:46
    you know any company uh stand out from
  • 00:37:48
    its peers I love like because you're
  • 00:37:50
    you're pulling you're going back to your
  • 00:37:52
    your comm's experience which is like
  • 00:37:53
    don't lose the brand voice like don't
  • 00:37:55
    lose who we are because that can be
  • 00:37:57
    diluted sometimes with AI and some of
  • 00:37:59
    these tools you might get an
  • 00:38:00
    acceleration of a strategy or or a
  • 00:38:02
    really cool idea and and all of a sudden
  • 00:38:05
    you're like wait a second this isn't we
  • 00:38:06
    lost our voice and so you again is that
  • 00:38:08
    kind of with that comm's background that
  • 00:38:10
    comm's
  • 00:38:11
    Foundation keeping it to at the ever at
  • 00:38:13
    the Forefront right that like we got to
  • 00:38:15
    make sure that what we're saying and how
  • 00:38:16
    we're saying it is still core to our
  • 00:38:18
    voice just a good point right all right
  • 00:38:20
    let's do some fun lightning round
  • 00:38:21
    questions we've got Carrie grapenthin
  • 00:38:23
    Chief marketing officer for Lincoln
  • 00:38:25
    International in the virtual Studio
  • 00:38:27
    let's go you ready Carrie I'm ready okay
  • 00:38:30
    what is the best way to start a day as a
  • 00:38:33
    marketer read the headlines Apple or
  • 00:38:36
    Android and why uh apple and this sounds
  • 00:38:40
    TR but I like the blue text bubbles and
  • 00:38:43
    knowing that I can like or thumbs up or
  • 00:38:45
    what have you a text without getting
  • 00:38:47
    that annoying next message that says uh
  • 00:38:50
    whenever there's an Android M user in
  • 00:38:51
    the mix it throws the whole thing off in
  • 00:38:53
    my opinion and no offense to Android
  • 00:38:55
    users that's so funny um
  • 00:38:58
    what's one marketing podcast besides
  • 00:39:00
    ours that you regularly Listen to I
  • 00:39:03
    don't have one isn't this terrible not
  • 00:39:05
    at all just mine could be the only one
  • 00:39:08
    I'm cool with that yeah um what's the
  • 00:39:10
    most challenging demographic to market
  • 00:39:12
    to I think in our business the most
  • 00:39:15
    challenging demographic is the affluent
  • 00:39:17
    demographic these are people who make
  • 00:39:20
    good money and can
  • 00:39:23
    probably um activate whatever their
  • 00:39:26
    desires are and so it's a responsibility
  • 00:39:29
    of ours to come up with an experience
  • 00:39:30
    that feels unique to them or something
  • 00:39:32
    that they otherwise wouldn't construct
  • 00:39:34
    for themselves and I think we've had a
  • 00:39:36
    ton of success doing things like that
  • 00:39:38
    the one that uh I I loved we did
  • 00:39:41
    pre-election uh we had it was covid so
  • 00:39:44
    we had a a zoom uh Point Counterpoint
  • 00:39:47
    debate between Chris Christie and RAM
  • 00:39:49
    Manuel who uh were amazing and clients
  • 00:39:53
    you know like came to this and drove
  • 00:39:55
    just to hear some perspective on the
  • 00:39:57
    upcoming election and importantly what
  • 00:39:59
    the outcome might mean to deal making it
  • 00:40:01
    was awesome I love that how do you keep
  • 00:40:03
    your team motivated under tight
  • 00:40:06
    deadlines I'm a I'm a big proponent of
  • 00:40:09
    context and I think if the team has the
  • 00:40:12
    longer view on the work that they're
  • 00:40:14
    doing and the potential of even that
  • 00:40:16
    small task that they might be
  • 00:40:18
    responsible for and in the big picture
  • 00:40:20
    it helps to drive everybody forward and
  • 00:40:22
    it helps to inspire them a little bit
  • 00:40:23
    about what they're doing LinkedIn or
  • 00:40:26
    Twitter for professional networking
  • 00:40:28
    LinkedIn definitely LED I knew you were
  • 00:40:30
    going to say that I had a feeling she's
  • 00:40:31
    going to say LinkedIn what's your
  • 00:40:33
    biggest marketing prediction for the
  • 00:40:35
    next year I think that uh storytelling
  • 00:40:37
    and those who continue to have a unique
  • 00:40:40
    voice on whatever the topic is are the
  • 00:40:42
    people that will prevail let's go that's
  • 00:40:44
    my f storytelling for the win I love it
  • 00:40:46
    what can derail a marketing plan the
  • 00:40:49
    economy full stop mic drop okay thank
  • 00:40:54
    you Carrie this was an exceptional
  • 00:40:56
    conversation I mean this is again like
  • 00:40:58
    one of those moments where like you can
  • 00:41:00
    you can go very you Broad and cover lots
  • 00:41:03
    of ground your comps background so
  • 00:41:05
    interesting married now with being the
  • 00:41:07
    marketing leader at Lincoln
  • 00:41:08
    International I know that you had my my
  • 00:41:11
    head is turning now on where is this
  • 00:41:12
    industry going where is Lincoln going uh
  • 00:41:15
    shout out to you shout out to the whole
  • 00:41:17
    team there at Lincoln International and
  • 00:41:19
    thank you so much for being on marketing
  • 00:41:20
    Trends thank you for having me it was
  • 00:41:22
    super
  • 00:41:25
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    marketing trends
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