Marketing Happy Hour - Cheers to 50 Episodes! + A New Era of MHH

Starting point is 00:00:00 you're listening to the marketing happy hour podcast where we discuss career and industry insights with our peers in marketing we're here to talk about it all like the ups and downs of working in social media how to build authentic relationships in the influencer and pr space managing a nine-to-five and a side hustle at the same time, how to be productive in your life and career without losing your sanity, and more. Ultimately, we're here to build a community with you because we're all trying to navigate the world of marketing together. Are you ready?

Starting point is 00:00:38 Grab your favorite drink and join your hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode. Welcome back to Marketing Happy Hour and welcome to our 50th episode. We are so, so excited to just kind of give a little insight into what we've learned over the past 50 episodes and what we're looking forward to for the next 50 more. So Cassie, let's start it off and just cheers to 50 episodes. Cheers. Yes. And now that we're sipping on this, what is in your glass this morning? Yes. Afternoon. Yes. This afternoon, I have May wines, Sauvignon Blanc, 2022 white wine, and it is delicious. We got sent this lovely package of wines from May a couple of weeks back with a few of their varieties in it, and it's been wonderful to enjoy this. How about you? I have the same exact thing. And my favorite thing about May is it's perfectly portioned so one bottle of their wine equates to one glass so you don't have to open a whole bottle of wine to just enjoy your one glass and

Starting point is 00:01:51 then the bottle goes bad like it's just perfect for me so love that so much thank you again may for sending that to us this is amazing yes um and something else that you might have noticed when you clicked on this podcast episode to listen today is a little rebrand of Swordscast. What about what is going on with that? Oh my goodness. So yes, big news. We have done a rebrand. I feel like we've been teasing this for a while and haven't actually done it until now.

Starting point is 00:02:23 And we're like, you know what? The 50th episode is going to be perfect for this. So we collaborated with Vistaprint's 99 Designs, which is a fantastic design solution. And we'll talk more about this on social media in the coming weeks and just go through the process and how we did all of this. But yes, their team was amazing in helping us to get this rebrand going really. So yeah, super excited about that. Hope you guys love the new logo and just the new cover and everything. So let us know what you think on social. We love it. And we're happy to have some really strong branding around marketing happy hour now, which is

Starting point is 00:03:05 something that you'll continue to see. And then shout out to, to Amy. She's the one who took our lovely cover photo and a lot of our brand photos that we'll be using throughout the next, you know, however long. And she's just a really good friend and just an amazing photographer. So shout out to her. Yeah. Love you, Amy.

Starting point is 00:03:26 Yeah. She's the best. She was on the podcast to a couple, gosh, what season six or five or something. One of those. Yeah. So go find Amy Santavica's episode. She shares a great rundown on just working with photographers, some of the etiquette behind working with photographers. I think just some important information for anyone in marketing really to navigate those relationships. So go check that out. And thanks, Amy. Absolutely. Well, we wanted to share in this episode, a little bit of a behind the scenes look at our marketing happy hour story from the beginning, because I don't think that we've ever done that. And we've done a few episodes of other podcasts recently where they've asked like, how did you guys meet? What's your story? Why did you start marketing happy hour? And we were like, wouldn't it be nice if people actually listen to marketing

Starting point is 00:04:15 happy hour because you know, good times. Yes. So Cassie, how did we meet? Oh my gosh. We met, I'm pretty sure I'm almost positive and I need to confirm what year it was, but I think it was 2015. So we were both in college and we were part of this online, kind of one of the first community online experiences that I remember being a part of. And it was on Facebook. It was called So Worth Loving. So we were both campus ambassadors for this organization. Erica was in Orlando. I was in Tampa and we just knew we were within two hours of each other and we're like, all right, we got to meet someday. And so I ended up moving to Orlando. We ran into each other at a store in Winter Park in Orlando. And ever since then, I've just kind of stayed

Starting point is 00:05:07 connected and whatnot. And so fast forward many years, we've worked in a lot of similar industries, really connected on everything in the world of marketing together. And we're like, you know what, let's start something. We both loved food and beverage. And so at one point we were going to start like a wine subscription thing kind of which I know is now like such a popular concept but at the time it wasn't as popular talking about it yeah we should have hopped on that train we should have okay we'll think of another idea someday around that right well and like maybe marketing happy hour wouldn't be here if we did that. So it worked out for the best. So anyways, fast forward to 2021, right? So yeah, we're sitting at this restaurant in Tampa and we're like,

Starting point is 00:06:00 let's hop on clubhouse because clubhouse was popular during the pandemic. And so we created the whole concept for marketing happy hour started on clubhouse and then clubhouse of course at the time was not recording friendly and so people who weren't able to make the live event weren't able to listen and we're like we got to make this available to everyone so we switched a podcast format in like june or july of 2021 i think and so gosh now a year and a half later here we are here we are 50 episodes we were doing seasons with like a month break in between because we were both working full-time kind of going through some career changes and I mean we're still working full-time but I'm no longer in the corporate world yeah so just really interesting to see like what has happened from this start of all of this on Clubhouse to where we are now, just personally and professionally and just like growing this

Starting point is 00:06:53 community. It has been so incredible. And I am just so grateful looking back. Cassie, what has been your favorite moment from an episode in these 50 episodes that we've had yes so this was tough and i love all of the guests we've had on but ally golden was one of my favorites so ally's become a friend of ours now since then and so it's been really cool to watch her career blossom and change over the last year and a few months or so, but we have a clip for you. So go ahead and listen in to one of my favorite moments where she talks about empathy and the workplace

Starting point is 00:07:31 and in marketing. More often than not leaders at the, at the C-suite level are passive listeners. An active listening is, and I want to stress this is is a practice. I know personally, I'm working on it in, you know, in my own relationships, in and outside of work. It is a true skill to be able to lead from within, and that is true empathy. I think, you know, organizations, some things that can happen at the organizational level too, are just workshops, off-site options for leaders to build these skills, and then use real life examples to put those into play on a day-to-day basis. I was thinking about this earlier and I think the more you use the empathy muscle, as I'm like trying to describe it, the stronger it becomes over time.

Starting point is 00:08:17 And I just think that it's a daily practice and we have to stress it as a practice to get the message across of how important it is. So good. I love that episode. If you have not caught that episode, please go back and listen, because I think it's so beyond relevant for any industry, any brand that you work with, any size of company. This is something that needs to be the forefront of your brand. So go check it out.

Starting point is 00:08:43 Erica, what about you? What was your favorite moment so far? Oh, I totally agree with that. And I really value the friendship that we've built with Allie too. It's been amazing. But my favorite moment was with Alice Hampton of ACP Management. She talked a lot about influencer marketing and PR, and those are just two areas that, you know, are really what I've stepped into as my sweet spot. So it was like really cool to hear from somebody who has been through all of it and talking about where she is now and what she really values in her career. And so again, we have a little clip for you. Listen in. I mean, I guess where I would start, I'm just thinking in my head, you know, this is a CPG, but this could be anything, right?

Starting point is 00:09:32 CPG brand. What's their tone of voice. Okay. And if I wanted to partner with an influencer, who, what kind of influencer would have that similar tone of voice? Would they be comedic? Would they be funny? Would they be, you know, I would look at that and then how, it's almost like if that brand was a person, who would that be? Then I'd start to like brain map all that out. Okay, would it be, I don't even, I won't even say any names, but would it be this person?

Starting point is 00:10:01 Cause they're voluptuous. Think about the brand almost, if you could personify that brand, who would that ideal person be? Okay. Maybe you're not going to get that person for whatever reason, but start to brain map that out. And then in terms of whether it should be a long-term or short-term strategy, if you're going into working with influencers for a first time, you know, you want to do a test and learn. You don't have to throw all your marketing dollars, you know, at the first person that comes along, do a test and learn. You don't have to throw all your marketing dollars, you know, at the first person that comes along. Do a test and learn, keep building,

Starting point is 00:10:28 measure the ROI, look at the analytics, see the conversion, track everything. You know, data is your best, you know, it's going to be your best guide to the future. That's really going to determine where you should keep leaning into. If you can do brand health deep dives and start to kind of build out roadmaps of

Starting point is 00:10:47 what your consumer is saying and and you'll see it in google analytics and you all of those kind of you know there's so many platforms that can provide you with that feedback and um you start to build you'll start to see a story come to life and then that's where you can start to interplay influences or celebrities or you know what kind of talent you want but then how do you continue that conversation how do you how do you add them to the element and then make the story explode or go viral or bring more awareness or bring more sales or whatever the objective is um but i'd really look at kind of brand propositions, brand values, the brand pillars, the tone of voice,

Starting point is 00:11:28 all of those things and then go, okay, if I then had to take this brand and match it to someone, who would that ideal person be? And then work backwards from that. Seriously, so good. Alice is a wealth of knowledge and just someone I look up to so incredibly much.

Starting point is 00:11:42 So that was amazing. And Cassie, next question, what have you learned throughout our time podcasting and kind of what does the Marketing Happy Hour community and brand mean to you? Yeah. So learned a lot, not only from building the podcast itself, but just this brand and the community in general. But I think when thinking about what to build, whether on the side of your nine to five or just from scratch, if you're out of the corporate world and you're looking to become an entrepreneur for the first time or building on your entrepreneurship experience, that building a brand for yourself and having

Starting point is 00:12:21 that personal satisfaction is awesome. Like it does feel good, but I think what's even better is building a brand for people for a specific reason, you know, to serve as a specific solution and to fill a gap too, of something that wasn't previously present. So we saw a gap in the world of marketing podcasting. We noticed that there were people who weren't being interviewed conversations that weren't happening. And so we wanted to kind of come in and fill that gap and to see everyone's reaction and the way that that content is serving them so much and being such a value to them in their life and career has been so, so wonderful to see. And with that too, you know, the community means a lot to us. It

Starting point is 00:13:06 keeps us going. I don't think we would still be doing it a year and a half later if we didn't have the community. And so again, the personal satisfaction's awesome. Great. Like it's fuel a little bit, but having this group of people who's so amazing, so encouraging and just sees the value in what we're doing and tells us that they see the value, I think keeps us going even more and more. So we're so grateful for just everyone who listens in, follows along everything. Yeah. Could not say thank you enough. What about you, Erica? Oh my gosh. I just completely agree with everything that you said. You, I don't know if I could have said it better myself. That was so good. But in general, just kind of opening up the conversations, like you said, you know, a lot of podcasts focus on, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:55 the VPs in marketing, the CMO, you know, people that have quote unquote already made it in their career. And I think this community is something that I wish that I had when I was starting out in my marketing career. And I think it's really impactful and just supportive that marketers can come together and kind of have these conversations that aren't being had and just talk about the day in and day out, you know, life of marketing in general, and not just like the tips and trips tricks from the top, I just think is like super important and really awesome. 100%. Yeah. So we'll keep that going. And then with everything else that we built, we'll have that audience in mind and just you in mind, obviously. So thank you for following along and listening with us up until now. We're super grateful for you.

Starting point is 00:14:45 But okay. So with that, Erica, I'm curious what you're looking forward to in the next 50 episodes. So the next 50 is going to last from really next week through the end of December. So what are you excited about in the coming months? Well, everything, but really just having deeper conversations around more niche topics and, you know, not just like social media, but really nitty gritty getting in there advice that can really impact your career and help us all grow together. I think it's going to be something that we're really focused on and something I'm excited about. You know, we are

Starting point is 00:15:24 just figuring out this podcast thing and figuring out who to interview and what to talk about and all those things. And I think the more we narrow down like practical tips that you can impact, imply on the day-to-day, what's that word? Implement. Implement. Thank you. Oh my oh my goodness well I need to go back to school um that you can implement on a day-to-day I think that's just going to be super awesome as we look forward to the next 50 what about you yeah 100 I mean I think looking back gosh 50 episodes we've done a lot of conversations on a lot of similar things but everyone brings kind of a unique perception to the table and experience. And so just kind of going beyond what we've done in the past, talking about

Starting point is 00:16:11 the expansion of career, you know, life, how to navigate life with your career and vice versa. And so we'll be getting into a lot of those raw conversations. I think raw might be the word. I don't know. I think more like real topics and authenticity is obviously the name of the game. So I'm looking forward to our upcoming guests. We have some great people in the lineup. And then also the fact that we're just doing an episode with you and I in the middle of the season is like going to become normal. So you'll be hearing more from us and our journeys. Like again, this podcast is not about us, but we do want to be able to shed as much value for you from our experience too, as we can. And so that's

Starting point is 00:16:54 going to be more of a trend that you'll see throughout the next 50 episodes and beyond. Looking forward to that for sure. Cassie, who would be a dream guest or from what company? Yeah. Okay. So I was trying to think of like industries that we haven't really tapped too much into. So I love like the health and beauty space is a big one for me. So anything, especially health and wellness, like more, I don't know, like fitness and things like that. But within the beauty space, I think someone from way would be really cool. I know we both are huge fans of that brand. And then also, you know, the streaming world and subscription-based products and services have become really popular. So hearing maybe from someone from like Netflix

Starting point is 00:17:42 or something like that, who can talk about just pushing, you know, pushing user engagement and acquisition and that world would be cool. And then lastly, I'm a little bit local partial on this one, but the team at Tampa international airport does such a good job. And so would love to hear from them. And I know it is very local to us, but definitely follow Tampa airport because they do a great job and it's hilarious and they poke fun at themselves, which I love. And I think it's just a great, great, refreshing experience on social. What about you, Erica? No, I love that. I think that's great. And I wrote down four different ones. Um, so Starbucks, I, since I was in middle school, have been like the biggest fan from my Java chip frappuccino days. Actually, I think I started with

Starting point is 00:18:33 double chocolatey chip frappuccinos back in middle school. No caffeine. Yep. And now, you know, my roofie little drinks that I get. Um. I just love Starbucks and always have. So someone from there would be amazing. And then Sweetgreen, of course. I am a huge lover of all things Sweetgreen. We actually, right before this recording, we actually went there because they opened one in Tampa. So good.

Starting point is 00:19:02 So definitely someone from Sweetgreen. And then Onda, of course. I don't know if you recall during our first season, I think every episode I was drinking an Onda and Shea Mitchell's brand of tequila seltzer. And it is so good. I cannot speak highly enough of that brand and just everything that Shea Mitchell does in general, even if it was someone from base, like anybody in that world, please come on Marketing Happy Hour. Also though, I wrote this down because we do have someone coming on from this brand and it's very exciting. Rare Beauty, Selena Gomez's cosmetics line. Someone is coming on the podcast this season from Rare Beauty and we are so excited. Cannot wait for that. But yeah, I think those are really the biggest ones. I,

Starting point is 00:19:54 you can tell that I'm a big food and beverage lover, consumer product, good lover. Yes. Good times. Yeah. Can't wait. But also like, if you have any brands that you're like, I want to hear from someone from this brand, let us know too, because I feel like we get really good at like thinking about the brands that we love and want to get those people. And we go outside of that, obviously to like brands that we've never interacted with, but just know they do a great job. But if there's brands, like you just want to know the ins and outs of their marketing team, how they work, you know, let us know, tell us on social media, because we would love to just bring in as many diverse thoughts, opinions, ideas as possible. Completely agree. Yeah. Where Cassie, do you hope to be in your career in 50 more episodes? So December,

Starting point is 00:20:46 last week of December, 2023, what are you looking forward to? Oh gosh. So yeah, this is a great question. This kind of goes beyond what I said in the season close out of season six, just like having more of a grasp on where my business is going and what I want to do with my life. I mean, I know being under 30, under 40, even under 50, even like you don't have the stuff figured out this young. And I think I've started to realize that like, I'm not alone. And there's so many people who even look like they have it all together, that they, they have it together, but like, they're still trying to figure life out. And so that's okay. So I think for me, I want to have a little bit more clarity, kind of know at least like

Starting point is 00:21:25 within a year what I'm working towards. But with that, I really feel like marketing happy hour is going to become more of a prominent piece in my life. And so growing that, adding on services, offerings, all the things that we can do with this brand and just really continue to serve this community is one of the biggest goals that I have. So you'll kind of watch us start to dabble in that and like figure out that really soon here. So stay tuned, but Erica, what do you think about your life and career in 50 episodes? Yeah, I totally agree with what you said about marketing happy hour, like that becoming a big focus for both of us. I think it is going to be great. I would love to have

Starting point is 00:22:06 a solid roster of consulting clients, you know, helping with branding and experiential and partnerships, which is something that I love to do. And that is really fun for me and kind of re-sparks why I love marketing. So that'll be really interesting to see where I'm at in December of 2023, which actually doesn't feel that far away, even though it's a whole year away. I know. I know. It's kind of crazy to think that that's still this year, which is wild, but yeah, it's already January something. So time is flying already, but super excited about that. So Erica, as we close to up here in a minute, tell me what your top tips for marketers are in 2023.

Starting point is 00:22:55 What do you have on your mind? Yeah, so we actually sent out an email and included this in the email, just talking about our top marketing predictions for 2023. So I thought I would actually read that for you all. We said brands will work on building community on and offline through brand partnerships and experiential events. We'll also continue to see a shift in the creator industry as brands lean more into ugc user generated content um and this is something that i have said in a few different you know settings and just conversations is i think it'll be really interesting to see brands being

Starting point is 00:23:42 encouraged to set aside a budget to play around with and explore new ad channels and just new marketing channels in general, like podcast advertising, for example. That'll just be really interesting to see. Yes. Yes. And then, you know, social is becoming more and more like a search engine nowadays. And so I think brands need to pay attention to how they're writing content, post headlines, alt text and imagery, things like that. You know, we've talked about that the captions are really big place to really connect with your audience. But I think even more now is just paying attention to specifically what you're including in those posts is going to

Starting point is 00:24:25 be super important. And then also too, I know we sound like a broken record, but video, video is so important to you guys. Like I cannot stress it enough and authentic video with that too. So I think less and less, we're going to see curated content is really going to start kind of fading out, especially on, you know, platforms like TikTok and even Instagram. Now we're seeing that more, but just paying attention to what is going on on the video side of things, testing, playing with different ideas and stuff. But one of my tips outside of this email that we sent out was testing kind of like what Erica was saying a minute ago. So not necessarily testing with budget that too, but also just testing with ideas, you know,

Starting point is 00:25:11 don't be frugal on testing new strategies. Uh, if you have an idea you want to test, like obviously talk to your leadership and make sure it's approved, but, um, just voicing those ideas, getting out there, sharing that with your team, not being afraid to step up and like talk about new ideas, creative strategies, approaches to things, I think is going to really impact your career in a really positive light. So definitely, definitely do that in 2023. Oh my gosh. So good. So many great tips. I'm excited to see what 2023 brings us all in our careers. So we've reached the end here. Let's chat about how people can connect with us further. You can always follow along on Instagram at marketing happy HR. And then we also have a LinkedIn newsletter called marketing happy hour weekly. If you're confused at where to sign up for that, just DM us. It is a And then we also have a LinkedIn newsletter called Marketing Happy Hour Weekly.

Starting point is 00:26:05 If you're confused at where to sign up for that, just DM us. It is a little bit confusing. We also have an email list that you can find the link to in our Instagram bio. What am I missing? No, I think that's it. I think LinkedIn and Instagram and the email list are big ones who are going to be really working on this year and having more offerings in those different platforms for you guys. So highly recommend getting on there.

Starting point is 00:26:33 So you are first to be updated on all things marketing happy hour. Yeah. Awesome. Well, we're going to leave you guys with a couple updates from some of our past guests. They're going to share kind of where they are now and how you can kind of follow along with them in their career as well. So before we go, cheers once again,

Starting point is 00:26:54 to an amazing 50 episodes. I can't believe that we've done 50. That's wild to me. And cheers to 50 more. Hey everyone, I'm Allie Golden from Upwork. You may remember me from season two of Marketing Happy Hour, where we talked about empathy in the workplace. Since we last spoke, I joined the team at Tidal as the international and partnerships marketing manager. I'm really excited to share my top tip for 2023 for marketing professionals, which is to invest in your relationships, your coworker

Starting point is 00:27:27 relationships, all of your interpersonal relationships are key to your own success and to the overall business success. Remember to follow me on Instagram at Allie A. Golden and cheers to 50 episodes of Marketing Happy Hour. Hi, this is Gina checking in formally from Girlfriend Collective. You might remember me from Marketing Happy Hour season three. So in the past few months, I've actually since left Girlfriend Collective and joined Karma as their head of brand partnerships. I would say that my top tip for marketing professionals in 2023 is to take a deep breath and cut yourself some slack. It's a really, really stressful time right now.

Starting point is 00:28:05 Lots of layoffs happening. I was a part of a layoff earlier this year. And so I think the best thing that we can do right now is really lean into our communities and support each other and lift each other up. And most important of all, just give ourselves a break. It'll be okay. We'll get through this.

Starting point is 00:28:20 And yeah, remember to follow me on Instagram. I'm at G-E-E-N-Z Z with two underscores and cheers to 50 episodes. Hi, I'm Emma from Thuma. You might remember me from marketing happy hour season two. In the past few months, I've been making moves from the agency back to the brand side, enjoying a brand new city to me, Chicago, and continuing to grow in the field of paid media. My top tip for marketing professionals in 2023 is to keep growing your network. You never know who in what different

Starting point is 00:28:51 industry can provide valuable insights to make your work that much more exciting. Cheers to 50 episodes!

Marketing Happy Hour - Cheers to 50 Episodes! + A New Era of MHH

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