June 04, 2015

An Interview with Michael Williams, Chief Marketing Officer, Grand Prix of America, Formula 1




Frost & Sullivan recently spoke with Michael Williams, Chief Marketing Officer, Grand Prix of America, Formula 1, about some of today’s top marketing challenges, including the evolving definition of content marketing, the distinction between a brand and a commodity, and some notable “worst practices” today’s marketers should avoid.




Frost & Sullivan: Tell us about the challenges and opportunities involved in bringing an F1 event (a classically European sport) to the United States.

Michael Williams: The population and affluent demographics of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area lend themselves very favorably to Formula One (F1) racing. NY is an epicenter and it’s demographic and lifestyle makes good sense as a destination for F1. Sports, entertainment and business are the trifecta you are looking for and you find that in the NY and NJ metro area.

Frost & Sullivan: How is sports marketing different than other forms of marketing? How is it similar?

Michael Williams: There is really no such thing as sports marketing–it’s just that the product you are marketing happens to be sports. However, the key difference is that with sports you can not control the final outcome as you can with, say a beverage, apparel or food brand.  With those products, you can control pricing, quality, and, to large extent, the customer experience…and you can deliver the brand promise. In sports marketing, the team doesn’t always cooperate!

Frost & Sullivan: It sounds like a form of experiential marketing…
 
Michael Williams: It is. In addition, you will find different kinds of fans (and experiences) in a stadium. There are the fanatical fans but also entertainment seekers, and those who attend for a business aspect, not to mention those who attend because it’s the ‘thing to do.’ My role as a marketer is to create personalized brand messages that speak to these different fan groups and to feed into an overarching brand message. It’s a hierarchy of marketing.

Frost & Sullivan:  At MARKETING WORLD 2014: A Frost & Sullivan Executive MindXchange, you noted the distinction between a “commodity” and a “brand.” Can you explain the distinction and why you think it is important to marketers?

Michael Williams: A brand has emotional attributes, and is intangible. A commodity recognizes itself as a service based product. An example I often use is coffee. Time and again it’s been shown that McDonald’s coffee tastes better than Starbucks coffee, but McDonald’s coffee is marketed as a commodity. For example, I have seen McDonalds coffee of any-and all-sizes sold for $1. Conversely, as Williams stated emphatically:  At no point is the Starbucks brand about coffee. They are a destination…. Starbucks offers a brand experience and speaks to you as an individual.

Frost & Sullivan: In the session that you led at MARKETING WORLD 2014: A Frost & Sullivan Executive MindXchange, you talked about “Worst Practices.” Can you cite a few worst marketing practices you’ve seen and explain how marketers can avoid them?

Michael Williams:  I can share two generic worst marketing practices: The first is the ongoing tendency of marketers to create messages that are attractive to themselves, but not necessarily to their target audience. I have been a part of presentations where a creative concept was presented and positioned to a group of marketing decision makers.  There was a lot of strategy and analysis behind the presentation. But the executives didn’t like it, in part, because it didn’t appeal to them—they were a much older demographic. As it turned out, the team realized they were not the target audience, reconsidered…and the campaign did extremely well.

Williams’ take-away: Be careful how you go-to-market with your message and creative-it may not be to your taste but may be appropriate for the audience you are trying to reach.

A second example of worst practices Williams’ referenced involves social and digital platforms. Too often, he stated, marketers latch onto the latest and greatest social platform-believing they have to be there, rather than taking the time to determine whether it is the right platform for their audience, or investigating whether their audience is even using the platform.

He reminded marketers to remember that you need a two-way conversation, and to expect that your customer will want a response. When it comes to digital marketing, he believes that it is often more important to do a few things really well, not a lot of campaigns in a scattered way. A particular channel may or may not be the right one for your particular product. Marketers need to have a disciplined approach.


Frost & Sullivan: How do you marry digital media in all its forms with more traditional marketing practices? And, as marketing becomes increasingly customer-centric, how does today’s marketing executive continue to “own” the relationship?  The message?

Michael Williams: It’s old news that marketing is no longer a push mentality. It’s a two-way conversation. We (marketers) are no longer talking to you, we are talking with you. Williams believes it is critically important to be thoughtful, strategic and purposeful in your marketing and the channels you utilize to do so.

He elaborated further: When it comes to customer-centric marketing, there is no way to (fully) own the message anymore. You can help steer the message. Especially as it applies to social marketing, marketers need to be transparent and genuine. They need to engage the consumer appropriately. They do not necessarily need a presence in all social media channels, just for the sake of being  there.


Frost & Sullivan: Some say content marketing is the present...and the future. Your thoughts?

Michael Williams: Content marketing is still being defined…and redefined. Content engagement, or engaging the consumer through meaningful and relevant content, is a core responsibility of marketers today. The end goal is to create brand ambassadors. Create experiential opportunities wherever possible.

Williams referenced a recent GoPro case study. (GoPro is essentially a camera that can attach to a helmet or surf board or other sports equipment) GoPro was noted in the study as most of the marketing of the product consisted of content created by users themselves. As Williams noted, User-generated content used by GoPro is a prime example of content creation and content distribution for marketing purposes.

Marketers need to be aware of this. Marketers need to accept that conversations about (and experiences with) their product will be happening in the digital space. And, in many cases, marketers are no longer driving the brand.


Closing Thoughts
In perhaps a harbinger of trends to come, we discussed how Starbucks and Nike are now starting to refer to themselves as “tech” companies. Both companies present vivid examples of how marketing continues to evolve at warp speed and how the brand is so interconnected to the experience. 


Williams summed up with this closing thought: There are 2.4 billion brand conversations taking place around the world every single day. How do marketers get involved in that conversation? How do they create influence about their brand?  That is a question every marketer should be asking themselves.

2 comments:

  1. If you are planning a corporate event for your business, you need to be really careful. As such events are critical for your public image. There are lot of points that you should keep in mind for effective management of business events.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will recommend anyone looking for Business loan to Le_Meridian they helped me with Four Million USD loan to startup my Quilting business and it's was fast When obtaining a loan from them it was surprising at how easy they were to work with. They can finance up to the amount of $500,000.000.00 (Five Hundred Million Dollars) in any region of the world as long as there 1.9% ROI can be guaranteed on the projects.The process was fast and secure. It was definitely a positive experience.Avoid scammers on here and contact Le_Meridian Funding Service On. lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com / lfdsloans@outlook.com. WhatsApp...+ 19893943740. if you looking for business loan.

    ReplyDelete