Dec 3, 2025
Isn't all marketing performance driven? Lauren Bradeen, CMO and Partner at Deloitte, challenges the traditional brand-versus-performance debate in her conversation with Alison Simpson, CEO of the CMA. When Lauren stepped into the CMO role, she was driven to evolve the B2B marketing industry playbook. Now she's leading a transformation to help B2B marketers build marketing teams that are confident in the value they bring, rather than constantly justifying every dollar. Plus, Lauren shares why being a 'capability collector' is the secret to career advancement.
00:00:01:18 - 00:00:23:09
Presenter
Welcome to CMA Connect Canada's marketing podcast, where industry
experts discuss how marketers must manage the tectonic shifts that
will change how brands and businesses are built for tomorrow, while
also delivering on today's business needs. With your host CMA CEO
Alison Simpson.
00:00:23:11 - 00:00:47:22
Alison
I'm very happy to welcome Lauren Bradeen, Chief Marketing Officer
and Partner at Deloitte Canada, for today's episode. Lauren is
leading a comprehensive marketing transformation that's redefining
how one of the world's premier professional services firms is
approaching the integration of brand and performance marketing. Her
expertise and strategic thinking have been showcased in industry
publications, where she's contributed insights on the evolving
challenges facing modern marketers.
00:00:48:00 - 00:01:10:06
Alison
Lauren's also been actively engaged in developing the next
generation of marketing talent, recently participating as a guest
speaker at our CMA NXT Marketing Careers Night, and she was also a
judge for this year's CMA Awards. What sets Lauren apart is her
journey from in the business into marketing leadership. She really
understands how Deloitte works with clients, the processes behind
it, and how to speak the language of the business.
00:01:10:08 - 00:01:33:06
Alison
Currently, she's leading Deloitte Marketing through what she calls
the messy middle, an important part of any transformation. And
they're moving from an operational marketing function to a
strategic brand and growth engine with their own targets and
accountability, all while maintaining Deloitte's position as the
number one brand globally in the category. With marketing leaders
across industries grappling with the false choice between brand
building and performance marketing,
00:01:33:07 - 00:01:46:02
Alison
Lauren's approach can offer a roadmap for how these traditionally
siloed functions really need to work together to drive real
business success. Welcome, Lauren, I am absolutely thrilled to have
you join us here today, and I'm looking forward to a terrific
conversation.
00:01:46:04 - 00:01:48:04
Lauren
Thank you. Alison. So am I.
00:01:48:06 - 00:01:59:04
Alison
So let's get started with your story. When you stepped into the CMO
role at Deloitte, what was it that resonated for you about that
role and what were some of your early priorities?
00:01:59:06 - 00:02:20:08
Lauren
So I would offer that my journey into the role might have been a
little bit more unconventional, as I was actually offered the role
while on maternity leave, and so that really provided me a bit of
space without an existing mandate to be focused on, to really think
about the opportunity. And there were three things that surfaced
for me.
00:02:20:10 - 00:02:42:12
Lauren
The first was to drive a greater impact for the firm. And so this
role supports all of our businesses and all of our industries. And
so within that, I have the opportunity to actually learn from and
work with leaders across operate and consulting services and tax
and legal, ER and I G.P.S. And so that was really, really
interesting for me.
00:02:42:14 - 00:03:14:23
Lauren
The second was I had felt like the B2B playbook had not made as
much progress over the last decade. And so I was excited about this
opportunity for an industry that felt pretty ripe for
transformation. And then the third piece was, what an honour. And
so when they offered me the role, I felt like from a personal
career perspective, the growth, the leadership opportunity to work
with this large, incredible team, it just felt like something that
I absolutely couldn't turn down.
00:03:15:01 - 00:03:38:13
Lauren
And so being on maternity leave, that also gave me a bit of space
in a different way to think about what I wanted to do before I
actually started the role. And so as I stepped into the role, the
immediate priorities I had gone in with a bit of like blue sky
unconstrained strategy, what were all the things that I would have
loved when I was in the business?
00:03:38:15 - 00:03:57:18
Lauren
And then once I started the role and did my listening tour, in that
first month, I was really able to validate, invalidate, gain new
ideas from the team, hear all the things that they had always
wanted to do, but maybe felt like they couldn't. And so right off
the bat, the focus was just getting the strategy set.
00:03:57:19 - 00:04:15:07
Lauren
I started in Q2 as well for Deloitte, and so I felt like if I
waited too long, it could actually be a bit more disruptive. And so
we got that strategy in place, shared out this strategy so that
everybody on the team felt part of and very clear on, what was our
mission and what were we rallying around.
00:04:15:08 - 00:04:36:03
Lauren
And then the immediate priorities were around the areas that needed
the most modernization in order to deliver on that strategy. And so
we set up what we called task forces. There was about six of them,
they're like mini consulting projects around things like digital
transformation and KPIs and measurement. There were a few new
capabilities we wanted to stand on, like our content studio.
00:04:36:05 - 00:04:40:06
Lauren
And so those were the immediate priorities that we took on once I
stepped into the role.
00:04:40:08 - 00:04:52:13
Alison
I absolutely love that Deloitte gave you the promotion when you
were on mat leave. That speaks so incredibly well of the culture,
and the signal that that would have sent across the organization is
incredibly powerful.
00:04:52:15 - 00:05:10:03
Lauren
I will reinforce that. I felt incredibly honoured and also very
proud of Deloitte for giving me that opportunity while on maternity
leave. I also asked my leader, like, do you think this is something
that I can do as a new mom? And she was like, I think you can do
this because you're a new mom. Like the the perspective you'll
bring.
00:05:10:03 - 00:05:15:13
Lauren
And so that was definitely a very proud moment for me, for the
firm.
00:05:15:15 - 00:05:45:02
Alison
That's amazing. Now, one of the big themes in marketing today is
the ongoing tension between brand marketing and performance
marketing. It is so often treated as an "either or" instead of an
"and" relationship. So with that as a backdrop, I know you're
leading a significant transformation at Deloitte around performance
marketing. I'd love you to share your approach to structuring and
changing marketing within the organization to be more performance
driven, acknowledging that the brand part is an important part of
driving that performance as well.
00:05:45:03 - 00:06:08:04
Lauren
So first and foremost, I've never loved the term performance
marketing. I can appreciate that what felt like quite suddenly,
marketers could track a sale and attribute a dollar to the
marketing spend. It was very exciting. But I actually think we did
a disservice by categorizing a part of marketing as performance,
because then what is everything else in service of?
00:06:08:06 - 00:06:32:00
Lauren
And so I feel like the pendulum swung now back to needing a more
balanced approach. And that's absolutely how we are embracing it.
And so we call it "from brand to demand". And all marketing is
performance driven. But it's in service of different KPIs. And so
in terms of how we're thinking about performance marketing
holistically, and you need that KPI framework.
00:06:32:00 - 00:07:03:01
Lauren
So we have quantifiable KPIs across brand, eminence consideration
and growth. And we work in service of that KPI framework. The next
thing I'd say, that we have done, again, in service of this broader
performance marketing definition, is being a little bit less binary
around how we look at spend. And so I think even when performance
marketing started being talked about, you'd say, okay, well, we
need to invest this percentage of our budget on performance
marketing and then this percentage on everything else.
00:07:03:03 - 00:07:27:07
Lauren
Whereas the percentage splits or the way in which you flex your
budget is very dependent on what you are marketing and the
challenges that you're facing. We know that through things like
media mixed modelling and different incrementality and approaches,
you're going to learn what the right budget split at a given time
is. But I do think we need to be more fluid in our approaches to
budget and spending.
00:07:27:12 - 00:07:58:01
Lauren
And so we're really thinking about, what are the needs of our
business, what are the needs of our client, and what does that mean
from a spend split perspective? In the same way that you wouldn't
look at the cost to acquire every segment the same. And so I think
that comes back to everything needing to be in service of that KPI
framework, because if you're only looking at something like the
cost per acquisition, you're going to miss out on more flexible
budgeting and spend split strategy, which would actually be in
service of more growth.
00:07:58:03 - 00:08:22:12
Lauren
And then the last thing I'd offer is just the short term - long
term balance. We're very lucky because Deloitte is a very client
centric business, and we don't have the pressures of maybe a tech
company or a consumer company where they have targets every week to
meet on sales. Just by nature of the velocity of our sales cycle,
we are more of a longer term business.
00:08:22:12 - 00:08:45:01
Lauren
And so we have that long term longevity of the business, longevity
of the brand mindset. So I will be the first to admit that it is
probably easier for us, but we know and the data shows that you
have to think about the decisions that you're making in totality.
If you stop investing in the brand, it makes it a lot harder and
more expensive later to make up for that market share.
00:08:45:03 - 00:08:56:00
Alison
Now, building on that, how do you define a high performance
marketing function today and what does great look like? And I'd
also love you to talk a little bit about how has that definition
evolved.
00:08:56:02 - 00:09:28:22
Lauren
So I think there's two parts of a high performance marketing team.
There is the "what" and then there is the "how". And the "what"
from my perspective is exactly what I just talked about. It's the
KPI framework. And so every organization should have quantified
targets across brands straight through to the bottom of the funnel.
And with those quantified targets, there is a need for both a
baseline and a benchmark view on those things so that you know
you're not being too insular and what you're reaching for.
00:09:29:00 - 00:09:48:12
Lauren
But we also know that we ultimately have to continue to optimize
and improve on our own metrics, because that's the data that we
control, and we see and can compare apples to apples. And so once
you have that, you have the targets for your KPI strategy. That's
when you know what high performance is because that is meeting or
exceeding all of your targets.
00:09:48:14 - 00:10:19:08
Lauren
And then how do you meet and exceed your targets? That is your
strategy, your people and then your process data and tech. And so
to me people is actually decoupled from the others because people
and culture are what you truly need to unleash to be high
performance. If you have a culture of innovation and curiosity and
testing and learning, a really like relentless and dedicated and
excited team, you are going to be able to reach your targets time
and time again,
00:10:19:10 - 00:10:47:07
Lauren
better than those that maybe don't have that culture where people
feel really empowered and unconstrained. And then how you enable
those people is through that virtuous cycle of process, tech and
data. I'm in my head seeing like a slide because I am maybe a
consultant at heart now, and so that's how I can visualize it is
you really have like your people at the top, and then you've got
that underpinning of the process, tech and data, and then your
culture is the enabler.
00:10:47:12 - 00:11:06:10
Lauren
And of course this evolves. So the inputs into those things is
constantly evolving because we are in an industry that is never
standing still in the same way that the conversations we're having
about technology. We have technologies in a martech perspective
that we weren't even talking about five years ago, whether that's
your customer data platform or what have you.
00:11:06:15 - 00:11:24:08
Lauren
And same with data and AI. And so you always have to be iterating
and evolving the inputs. But I think that framing of ensuring that
there's a connectedness behind your process, tech and data to
empower and really unleash your people is what will get you to the
most high performance outcomes and culture.
00:11:24:10 - 00:12:00:05
Alison
Dividing it into the "what" and the "how" is a really powerful way
to simplify a very complex topic. And then I'm in passionate
agreement with you on the critical role of people and culture as
really being the the secret weapon in driving true performance.
When you think about the world of AI and how it's impacting very
positively and potentially negatively our profession and our world,
knowing that the culture and the people are such a differentiator
should give everyone some comfort that while AI can be a very
powerful tool, it's not going to replace us.
00:12:00:07 - 00:12:17:03
Lauren
I'm of the same mindset. At Deloitte we talk about human-led,
AI-enabled, and so there are absolutely incredible use cases for us
to be elevating and improving the way we work. But the human
potential and the authenticity of people, that is the power.
00:12:17:05 - 00:12:38:21
Alison
And it can really help us scale. And when you think applying that
to smaller businesses, it can be a very powerful competitive
advantage as well.
Lauren
Absolutely.
Alison
So now we're going to do a little bit of myth-busting. And you've
touched on this a bit. But between people, process, tech and data,
what's the real unlock or the biggest myth that you'd like to bust
about what actually drives performance?
00:12:38:23 - 00:13:01:00
Lauren
Yeah, I maybe, gave the plot away a little bit on the last one.
I'm, passionately in the camp of people. One of the offerings that
I worked with clients on when I was in the consulting business was
around upskilling. And in upskilling we were bringing forward the
demos around the tech and deeper understanding of the data.
00:13:01:02 - 00:13:29:22
Lauren
But one of the biggest, I think, challenges that organizations face
is they invest a lot of money in the martech, a lot of money in the
data, the integration of the systems, etc. and they expect that
that and that alone will yield the outcomes. And then the business
cases aren't being realized because they forget the fact that if
you look at any go to market process, that the person that is
running that process or taking you through that process, they have
to have an understanding of the tech.
00:13:29:22 - 00:13:52:11
Lauren
If you are writing a brief or you are delivering on a brief, if
you're a creative or your immediate team or agency, and you don't
have an understanding of the tech that can segment or better
personalize or dynamic creative, you're not going to be able to
write or receive that brief in the same way as somebody that does
have the understanding of that tech and that data.
00:13:52:13 - 00:14:20:08
Lauren
And so I think the biggest myth to bust is just the idea that you
can, like, tech your way into high performance. You need the
infrastructure, you need the martech, you need the connected data.
But if you discount the need to upskill your people around that, or
to build a culture where people get excited about that change and
that progress and optimizing the tools that they use to get to
market, then you won't yield the outcomes that you hoped for.
00:14:20:10 - 00:14:44:07
Alison
Very well said. Now another passion that we share is the mission
critical role that marketing plays in building businesses and
contributing to Canada's economy. Yet we still at times struggle to
get a seat at the table. So I'd love you to share how you see
marketing as a strategic growth engine, and how you've been able to
fight and get that important seat at the table with Deloitte.
00:14:44:09 - 00:15:05:06
Lauren
So I think and I believe we can do this through the Canadian
Marketing Association. All of the marketers need to hold hands and
decide that we're just going to put the debate to bed once and for
all, because has any other function in the history of business had
to prove themselves and bring as much data to the table as
marketing has.
00:15:05:08 - 00:15:28:07
Lauren
I don't think so. And so I think if you look at the business case
of marketing as an engine for brand and growth, and again, we have
brought like the data-driven empirical proof that marketing drives
growth. So there is a great study around looking at the impact of
brand spend. And so organizations that are having a more holistic
approach to marketing.
00:15:28:11 - 00:15:51:20
Lauren
What is the impact long term on sales CAGR? And they saw that those
in the bottom quartile had 13 percentage points lower CAGRs than
the top quartile. We've seen digital conversion points. We've seen
e-commerce and the ability to track and attribute marketing to
sales. We've seen the impact of cross-sell upsell in the customer
onboarding, the ability to deepen customer lifetime value.
00:15:51:22 - 00:16:21:14
Lauren
I think every organization and every marketer has the industry data
to showcase brand and marketing as a driver of growth, as well as
the stats and the data-driven proof points within your
organization. And so I think that as long as a marketer is coming
to the table with that data that we have to just put it to bed a
little bit and have the confidence that we've already justified
that marketing is a really, really great engine, both for brand and
growth.
00:16:21:16 - 00:16:42:19
Alison
For our listeners who aren't familiar with the research that Lauren
cited, we'll make sure that we add it into the notes for the
podcast so that you can access it. Lauren, you have an approach to
reporting on marketing measurement that would be aspirational for
many of our listeners. You track marketing ROI internally with your
team and focus on brand health metrics when you're presenting to
the executive.
00:16:42:21 - 00:16:48:07
Alison
Can you walk us through this philosophy and how you're building
credibility with the business using this process?
00:16:48:08 - 00:17:13:10
Lauren
Well, thank you for that, Alison. I would agree. We have a
fantastic foundation and strategy, but of course we are on a
continuous journey to be more sophisticated. And so we're actually
about to start some consulting projects with our analytics and
marketing teams around automation, more AI enablement. And we have
a fantastic new head of marketing analytics. So it really does feel
like everything is coming together.
00:17:13:10 - 00:17:41:02
Lauren
But at its core, from an approach to reporting perspective, one
critical thing I'd offer, which is just that brand to demand
connected reporting view. And so for us, every campaign is
categorized and it supports a specific set of KPIs that is from
that broader set of KPIs in our framework that tells our
performance story. And then we have different levels of reporting
that are all connected.
00:17:41:04 - 00:18:04:16
Lauren
And so at the highest level we have our full marketing performance
story. And then there's program level reporting for each pod. And
then campaign level reporting that's much more tactical and really
where we see the metrics come through. And so this enables our
executive and leadership team to understand the full impact. And
then we can actually drill down where necessary to understand the
why.
00:18:04:21 - 00:18:32:19
Lauren
Why did we hit this KPI, why didn't we? Oh this looked really
great. Let's understand so we can do more of that. And so that
approach has really helped us have the most accurate snapshot that
we can of the impact that we make across brand, eminence and
growth. And the only other thing that I will say is I am very
fortunate to work at an organization that is very supportive of the
work that we do around brand and client value.
00:18:32:21 - 00:18:47:11
Lauren
And so there isn't really that over-rotation on short term sales
thinking that can often skew marketing strategy. And so we are
fortunate for great leadership in that regard that really lets this
strategy and this approach to measurement live.
00:18:47:13 - 00:18:58:03
Alison
Now this type of change doesn't happen overnight. And I know some
of our listeners are going to be thinking, I would love to be in
that situation. So how would you recommend they get started on this
transformation?
00:18:58:07 - 00:19:26:09
Lauren
Two things that I'd say were pretty critical for us in the
beginning. And the first was real conversations with the business
to understand what value they need. And we weren't having
conversations around, well, we can generate impressions and we can
drive this many clicks. It was really just business to business
conversations around, okay, so do you actually need these types of
industries more aware of your services or, what type of functions
do you actually need reading our content?
00:19:26:09 - 00:19:48:07
Lauren
What do you want them to learn? What do you want them to see that
you have the expertise in? And so having conversations like that
with the business enables us to genuinely understand what it is
that we can do that can help them be successful. And then we're
able to, in the background, translate that into the marketing
language and the marketing metrics.
00:19:48:08 - 00:20:09:14
Lauren
And so that first thing really is just genuinely seeking to
understand the value that we can add for the business and offering
our perspective on the areas that can actually help, or offering
data and market research to say, I don't know if you actually do
have an awareness challenge. I think people are pretty aware, maybe
we need to do something a little bit more engagement-driven.
00:20:09:16 - 00:20:34:16
Alison
You're also really elevating it beyond the marketing performance
to, here is the business outcome and impact that we are holding
ourselves accountable to and delivering against. So you're having a
business conversation and marketing is obviously the key driver
behind that. But the conversation you're having at the executive
level is more here is the business impact the marketing team is
having versus here's how our last few campaigns and initiatives
performed, which is a much more important conversation.
00:20:34:21 - 00:21:04:15
Lauren
Exactly. And I think that it's important to see that partnership
and with the business, like, we don't do anything without the
business. It is the business sharp insights that inform our POVs.
It is our business leaders that are on the podcast. It is often
even the inspiration for our campaigns that we get from the
business, because they're spending every day with our clients and
they are understanding the challenges and the constraints that our
clients feel, and they know what works and what doesn't work.
00:21:04:15 - 00:21:27:18
Lauren
And so they help even inform the human truths in our campaign. And
so I think if you also think about marketing as just part of the
value proposition of your organization, and you think about
marketing in partnership with the business, it also stops being
such a hard sell because it is truly in partnership with, rather
than one function or another function doing different things.
00:21:27:20 - 00:21:51:22
Alison
But it also goes back to, you've been in the business, you've had
PNL accountability. And when I am asked for advice from marketers
at all levels, it really is, get in the business, be responsible
for a PNL, understand how the business works, and it will make you
a much better marketer. You will build a lot more credibility and
accountability with your colleagues across the organization as
well.
00:21:52:00 - 00:22:00:03
Alison
You mentioned you're in the messy middle of your transformation. So
what's working well, and what are some of the unexpected obstacles
or surprises you've encountered?
00:22:00:05 - 00:22:26:01
Lauren
The messy middle is the best part. And so I will say we are having
a lot of fun because this is where you have the most license to
test, to learn and explore. And that is probably the first thing
I'd say that is going really well. I am very fortunate to have an
incredible team. They are driven, they have growth mindset and
really both feet in on this transformation.
00:22:26:06 - 00:22:51:00
Lauren
And that is everything. Because you can teach any skill, but you
cannot teach curiosity, passion and drive. And I really do feel
like every day we wake up and we're focused on progress. You can
see that come through in the fact that our upskilling programs have
near perfect attendance. And so that is the heart of
transformation. And I will say, I truly just feel honoured to be
part of this team.
00:22:51:00 - 00:23:16:13
Lauren
And so that's where all of it starts. And that's what helps you get
through the messy middle. Along with seeing the signals that it's
working. And so the first part of that is that we are learning
there are many channels that B2B can thrive in and reach your
target audience, and that's been really energizing and motivating
for our people, because we're able to build our own playbook and we
are able to innovate in a really effective way,
00:23:16:13 - 00:23:38:15
Lauren
when you're starting to see the data show that whether it is
engagement, whether it is reaching your target audience, whether it
is things like leads, that the things that you're testing are
actually translating to great results. And so we talk all the time
about how we don't want to be part of sort of the stagnancy of the
B2B marketing industry.
00:23:38:15 - 00:23:59:07
Lauren
We want to break rules. We want to do things differently. And so
seeing the results is really motivating and validating. And then
the other part of that is the signals that we're actually hearing
from clients. And so the results and the feedback is promising.
Part of what we are looking to do is be seen as an extension of the
value proposition of Deloitte.
00:23:59:09 - 00:24:22:08
Lauren
And so we want to be able to bring valuable insights and expert
thinking and different perspectives from the field to our clients
in engaging and consumable formats. And so we've had clients reach
out to their partners from our business about the podcast episodes
they listened to or the content they saw them featured in and
sharing their appreciation or sharing
00:24:22:08 - 00:24:44:20
Lauren
I learned something, or I didn't know that you did that or I
actually could use your help on that. And so that really validates
the performance data we're seeing and signals that we're on the
right track. In terms of what we have learned the hard way, I'd
offer two things. The first is around just ensuring that you are
consistent and very repetitive.
00:24:44:22 - 00:25:07:13
Lauren
You, as the leader, might say something 15 times, but it actually
only goes to certain audiences or certain individuals on your team
once. And so ensuring that you are just consistent and repetitive
is important, especially because there is so much change as you are
progressing and evolving and optimizing and testing and scaling.
There is so much that does change.
00:25:07:16 - 00:25:34:16
Lauren
So ensuring that you are consistent on things like your mandate or
things like the strategy and the fixed parts is incredibly
important. And if I could go back, I probably would ensure that I
was doing that more at scale. So that everybody was getting those
consistent messages throughout versus maybe those just reaching
some. And then the other thing I would offer is based on something
I heard recently, actually, that was "you don't know what you
know."
00:25:34:18 - 00:26:04:11
Lauren
And that's important because if you're designing things, you're
going to be making you know, and maybe assuming that that's common
practice for everyone. And so ensuring that you have
cross-functional groups, just gut checking things along the way, or
ensuring that you have feedback loops built in as you're managing
through any change in process, digital channel execution,
reporting, whatever that might be.
00:26:04:13 - 00:26:19:18
Lauren
That is also really critical. And so those are probably the two
things that I would reflect and say, I probably could have caught
on a little bit sooner to make sure that I was making it easier for
everyone and ensuring that we were really productively moving
through our transformation.
00:26:19:20 - 00:26:35:05
Alison
I love the twist on the line - typically it's "you don't know what
you don't know", but I love the twist on "you don't know what you
know", and when you're having conversations across the team, across
your organization, you can't, often we can assume, well, if I know
it they must know it. So that that's a really good light bulb
moment for sure.
00:26:35:07 - 00:26:54:00
Alison
The other part that really resonates is the power and the need for
repetition. There's some great research that says the average
person needs to hear the same message on average seven times before
it sinks in. And when you're the person responsible for saying it,
you're thinking, oh my god, how can I possibly say this again and
have them not understand it?
00:26:54:01 - 00:27:04:12
Alison
So it's a really good level set to remind yourself. With all the
ways we're bombarded with communications, we really do need to hear
something seven times for it to really, truly sink.
00:27:04:14 - 00:27:21:21
Lauren
I think all of us can relate to that as well, because there's
nothing better than consistent messaging and consistent leadership.
And especially in an industry that is changing so rapidly, you
already have to embrace change, and you already have to know that
the best thing to do one quarter ago might not be the best thing to
do anymore.
00:27:22:01 - 00:27:33:03
Lauren
So at least if you are consistent in your strategy and your
direction and the things that matter most, and you're extra
repetitive in those, I think we can all relate to how helpful that
is.
00:27:33:05 - 00:27:58:13
Alison
Absolutely. Now, Lauren, you've transformed your team's
relationship with business partners and very much moved away from a
service provider to a truly strategic partner who's co-creating
rather than seeking approval. So you've touched a bit on this, but
it's such an important topic and relevant topic for our listeners.
I'd love you to talk a bit more about how you facilitated the
transition, and what advice would you give to other marketers
looking to elevate their role?
00:27:58:15 - 00:28:23:02
Lauren
It's a great question, Alison, but full kudos goes to the team
because they are showing up every day with expertise and
credibility, and that is what it takes. I will say though, I feel
like this is just the tip of the iceberg for us. And so as we
continue to build and progress and drive results, we will be seen
more and more as the powerhouse that this team is.
00:28:23:04 - 00:28:54:03
Lauren
But there are a couple of things that we were very intentional
about as part of this transformation that did really, really help
us. And the first is just building that infrastructure. And so I've
mentioned it before, but upskilling our new go to market, digital
and audience strategy, tech enablement, AI, templates, we really
put in the work so that we could show up and be excellent so that
when you meet with marketing, it is a strategic, professional and
value-add experience.
00:28:54:05 - 00:29:20:02
Lauren
And we continue to work on that every single day. And so that's the
first pieces that once you have that infrastructure, once people
are clear on what it is they're doing, what the outcome of those
interactions are, then you continue to just show up really well to
your business, and that earns and demands respect. The second piece
is just ensuring that your team is empowered to be confident and
have fun when they're working with the business.
00:29:20:04 - 00:29:43:23
Lauren
It is really easy to feel intimidated when you are working with
such deep subject matter experts in their fields. And obviously,
that is our experience at Deloitte and I'm sure for many others.
And so we have to remind ourselves that, while they're experts in
their trade, we are also experts in our craft. And marketing has
become a technology- driven, data-driven function.
00:29:44:00 - 00:30:08:08
Lauren
And so while we don't understand everything that they're saying,
they also don't understand everything that we know about marketing.
And so we've really encouraged our team members to have the
confidence to say, "I don't understand that, tell me more." Or "I'd
really like to understand it from this angle." Whereas when you are
maybe a bit more intimidated and trying to show up like, no, I
actually do understand everything about your business,
00:30:08:10 - 00:30:27:10
Lauren
you're not going to be able to get to the meat of it. And then that
prevents great marketing, because if we don't understand what it is
we're marketing, how are our clients possibly going to understand
that? And as marketing, you are reaching hundreds of thousands of
people with your messages every day, which is a scale that nobody
else in the business has.
00:30:27:13 - 00:30:45:18
Lauren
And so it is really important that you just have that confidence to
ask questions and have dialogue and have a little bit of fun while
you're at it, so that everybody walks away feeling like that was a
great conversation and you walk away clear on what it is you needed
to learn. And then lastly, clear and collaborative swim lanes.
00:30:45:20 - 00:31:09:18
Lauren
So business, risk and control partners in marketing have to be
operating in a trio. And one of the big shifts that we moved from
as we look to be more of a strategic advisor is seeking knowledge
and not opinions. Sometimes what's being discussed, it is the
marketing expertise or it is a brand risk as opposed to a
regulation or compliance risk.
00:31:09:20 - 00:31:38:17
Lauren
And so if the business wants to provide a perspective on the
headline or the format or what have you, that is sometimes an area
we have to hold the line on and say, hey, we've got the the data
and the rationale and the strategy that justifies the approach that
we're taking. In the same way that we would not pretend that we
should be the ones to advise on the sharp insights in the
perspective or the framework, or tell them, I don't think you
should actually be consulting to your clients in these ways.
00:31:38:18 - 00:31:56:00
Lauren
And so it is about ensuring that everybody understands and is open
to having dialogue, so that you can get to the best outcome
possible. But sometimes that does mean us holding the line on where
it is that we own that decision, or where we have the value and the
expertise versus the business or the control partners.
00:31:56:06 - 00:32:11:03
Alison
That's outstanding feedback and advice. Now, I'm very blessed to
have senior leaders like you on the podcast, so I end every episode
by asking my guests to share one piece of career advice that you
would offer to people who aspire to follow in your footsteps.
00:32:11:05 - 00:32:33:22
Lauren
I would say the most important thing is to be a capability
collector. Especially in an industry like marketing that is so
multifaceted across brand and integrated marketing and creative and
digital and tech and data, I think as many capabilities that you
can collect throughout your career, it makes you more well-rounded.
And even those that are deep in a craft,
00:32:33:22 - 00:32:57:18
Lauren
like my background, is more the digital marketer. If you still get
enough understanding to be dangerous in the other areas, it will
make you more well-rounded whatever depth or breadth that you have.
And so I think just ensuring that you're very intentional about
collecting capabilities as you go, asking the questions, doing the
research, being proactive, that will help anybody get ahead.
00:32:57:20 - 00:33:17:00
Alison
It's always been great advice in marketing, but when we think about
the speed with which our profession and our consumers are evolving,
being a capability collector and having that as a core skill that
you possess will only bode well for anyone in this profession today
and in the years ahead. So, Lauren, thank you. It has been an
absolute delight.
00:33:17:01 - 00:33:22:04
Alison
Definitely a highly informative and insight-rich conversation. And
I really appreciate you taking the time.
00:33:22:06 - 00:33:28:21
Lauren
Thank you for having me.
00:33:28:23 - 00:40:16:19
Presenter
Thanks for joining us. Be sure to visit the CMA.ca and sign up for
your free MyCMA account. It's a great way to stay connected and
benefit from the latest marketing thought leadership, news and
industry trends.