In this episode, Josh talks with Lorna Sommerville about why marketing needs to build a brand and drive measurable sales, the importance of customer feedback, and why being authentic in a bubble isn’t as important as listening to what your customers need from you.
Branding and Selling Shouldn’t Be Separate Problems
There’s a prevalent idea in the marketing world that you spend some money on building your brand, and some on driving immediate sales. The second cost is measured and tracked and optimized zealously, the first is seen as a bit more amorphous.
But some marketers, like Lorna Sommervile, believe in a more holistic view: everything you do should drive measurable sales. And nothing you do should detract from your brand. If a piece of advertising won’t do both, you don’t need it.
Digging Deeper
- Lorna Sommerville is the Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer at Function of Beauty, a revolutionary custom hair care company
- Function of Beauty makes great use of simple video ads highlighting real customer reviews
- Function of Beauty shares every review they receive, good and bad, on their website. You can view them, and sort them by hair type, HERE
- Josh and Lorna discuss the importance of customer retention. You can read more about customer retention HERE
- Lorna says having a customer’s email address is a privilege. You can learn more about effective email marketing HERE
- They talk about the importance of companies listening to their customers. You can read more about how to listen to customers HERE