Public's Marketing VP Champions Collaborative Culture For Michael Bolton Song

Michael Bolton, brokerage break-up songs, and finding inspiration in unconventional places are all part of Katie Perry’s day-to-day as Public.com’s VP of Marketing. But to put great work forward, Katie shares that collaborative culture has been key, allowing for all her team members’ perspective to bring their most creative work to life. Discover the behind-the-scenes of how Public.com’s spot “Break Up With Your Brokerage” with Michael Bolton came to be, how Katie draws inspiration from her thousands of screenshots in her phone gallery, why she believes doing social “right” is one of the hardest functions within marketing and more. How did you get to where you are today? Any noteworthy moments along the way? I was an editor for the newspapers at my high school and college and was on the journalism path for a long time. I loved being able to dig into topics and communicate complex ideas in more digestible ways, oftentimes through the lens of people. I graduated college during the Great Recession, had a job lined up at a major retailer that ended went bankrupt before my start date. It was difficult watching many of my friends start the next chapters of their lives while I had to go back to the drawing board. In that time I applied to hundreds of jobs and I vividly remember one interview where the first part was an Excel test. That was the first time I’d ever heard the words “pivot table.” That was a total disaster. Eventually, I landed a job at the digital agency 360i, which put me at the forefront of some of the biggest shifts happening in marketing with the rise of social media. Looking back, I appreciate this humbling period of my life. There’s a great Bruce Springsteen quote from his 2021 SXSW keynote which talks about being able to hold two ideas in your mind: the first is that you are the baddest ass in town, and the other is that you suck. “It keeps you honest,” he says. (I still don’t know how to do pivot tables, by the way.) What's the most innovative thing you're currently working on? I love Public.com’s recent campaign, “Break Up with Your Brokerage,” because of how the idea was born. It came from a weekend Slack brainstorm between members of our marketing and executive teams. There was the genesis of an idea, and then we all pushed it further and further until we landed on the final strategy. In terms of how the campaign was executed, it was beautiful to see everyone’s respective strengths come to life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiuMuvqCoXA Some of my favorite parts of the campaign are in the details. Our copywriter did an incredible job bringing short punchy lines to the site. There are nuances in the video (like the shattering wine glass) that took the output to another level. Our VP of Brand produced the project in less than week, which is insane. What I love about working within a collaborative culture is that everything we do is an amalgamation of the talents of so many people. I’ve worked at agencies where creative directors or strategies tend to get most of the credit. At Public, our marketing efforts are born from dozens of brains thinking through the problem from their own perspectives. What is one skill that you think is currently underdeveloped in Marketing? The ability to look outside marketing thought leadership bubbles for ideas and inspiration is essential if you’re building a brand that has cultural relevance. I get my inspiration from large brands like Peloton, but also from the new upstart coffee shop down the block. My phone gallery has thousands of screenshots and photos I’ve collected that inspire me in my job. Usually, these reflect in-market work from brands large and small. And lots of stuff outside advertising, too. As a young marketer especially, it’s easy to think the path to success is to follow platitudes shared by other marketers. There’s a lot of great information out there but having an open mind when it comes to where and how you source ideas can unlock different ways of thinking that are more in touch with your customers. Creativity is cyclical; a lot of the best marketing ideas I’ve seen are building from outside ideas and inspiration. How do you pick and develop the talent on your team? I look for people with grit, integrity, and empathy. Giving a damn is an underappreciated superpower, especially when you’re building a startup. I also want to work with people who have strong values, and who can put themselves into the shoes of our customers when coming up with ideas or solving problems. It’s never been more important for marketers to be able to read the room, and a lot of this is about listening, not just talking or communicating. What is one thing marketers who are not in social should know about? I really believe that doing social “right” is one of the hardest functions within marketing, which is ironic because for years we’ve seen jokes about this being a gig for an intern. Not even close. Social requires a deep understanding of your audience and the culture at large. You need to be able to communicate authentically, which is a different genre of creative and copywriting than traditional marketing efforts. To be great at social, you need to be great at so many things at once—and on top of that, you’re in direct conversation with your fans (and your haters) in a 24/7 capacity. That’s a level of emotional commitment that most roles don’t have. For that reason, I have deep admiration for people who are on the “front lines” of the brand. At Public, this includes our incredible Customer Support and Community teams. What’s the first post to come to mind when you hear “best-in-class social”? I think Netflix does a great job of linking their IP to things that the audience can relate to. https://twitter.com/NetflixIsAJoke/status/1364668804270292994 I also really love what Roots Dolls is doing on their social channels: showcasing the stories of young girls who are seeing themselves represented in their toys for the first time. It brings their mission to life in such a special way. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? One thing I learned from my parents is to take an entrepreneurial approach to solve problems. Say you’re faced with a decision: A or B. If you don’t like either of those, try to find an option C. I remember when I was six years old and in Girl Scouts, I was frustrated that my older brothers in the Boy Scouts had different types of opportunities than the one I had. My parents encouraged me to start tagging along with my brothers to their troop outings, which was less than conventional back in the 90s.

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Public's Marketing VP Champions Collaborative Culture For Michael Bolton Song

Katie Perry talks team effort and the essentials for cultural relevance

Julian Gamboa

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Julian Gamboa