If there’s one thing you learn after speaking with Michelle Taylor, Founder & CEO of The Zella Company, it’s that any successful marketing strategy is built on a true understanding of the business challenges at play. In leading a marketing agency that puts clients’ business objectives first, Michelle uses her experience to help customers better understand and align their voices to match aims.

Tell us more about The Zella Company.

One of the greatest values we bring is our knowledge of solid marketing fundamentals. We provide our clients with the resources they need to be pro-active in addressing the needs of the markets they serve. We work with all types of organizations; many are mid-market companies that have strong, sustainable revenue but aren’t quite large enough to have a large marketing department.

When taking on a new client, where do you start?

We work with executive teams to provide guidance on how marketing can and should enhance their businesses. A client can really benefit by better understanding their voice and their story — we always start with the story. We work to translate integrate that  throughout the organization to convey a consistent message that resonates with each specific audience.

How did you know you wanted to be a marketing professional?

Starting my career about 20 years ago in New York, I met an entrepreneur at a networking event who mentored me and taught me a lot about the different aspects of business. Marketing was intuitive for me; I enjoyed looking at things from the perspective of both a consumer and a producer of goods. My background spans from marketing a fun, young Hispanic web portal in Puerto Rico to large companies like Microsoft.

What do you love most about your job?

As I’ve grown professionally, it’s become more important to show people a different way to do business. Bringing the marketing profession to life by showing people that it’s not just a cost center is essential. I also love nurturing an environment that is empowering to women. My company is named after my daughters Zoë  and Ella, and it’s been personally rewarding to create an environment that encourages women to grow and succeed.

What do you think is the most important characteristic of being a leader?

I’m still learning how to be a better leader every day. One of the most important things a leader can do is to listen. Giving as much run-way as possible for others to succeed is also critical. I dedicate time each week to my team so that they can talk about their projects and solutions. My personal investment in them helps me grow, too.

What advice would you offer to those who are new to the marketing profession?

Be open-minded…be open to anything! No matter where you are in your career, give what you can and don’t be afraid to keep learning. Early in my career, I tried to figure things out on my own and avoided asking questions. Now, I ask questions and encourage others to ask questions, too. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They’ll help you grow. There are a lot of people in the industry who know a lot more than you do – you can learn from them. Respect and value that.

What is your favorite resource for staying current on marketing trends?

AMA publications do a great job of pulling together content in a meaningful way. MarketingProfs is also a great resource. I read a lot of newspapers, magazines and biographies. Biographies are an interesting way to learn how people think through problems. These resources give my brain fuel to look at challenges from a bunch of different perspectives.

What prompted you to join the American Marketing Association (AMA)?

I’m a big believer of networking, and I value what an organization like AMA delivers. AMA brings together marketing minds, regardless of background. Having a place where ideas new and old come together under one umbrella is pretty awesome.

The Zella Company holds a group membership to Austin AMA. We thank Michelle and her team for their time and support. To learn more about AMA group membership, visit http://austinama.org/membership or contact our VP of Membership Recruitment at membership@austinama.org.

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Screamer Co. founder Scott Creamer made a name for himself as a creative director in Chicago, but the talent didn’t stop there. He founded Screamer Co. in Austin, TX in 2006, and has continued to grow his company’s in-house talent and services to accommodate client needs. An award-winning, full service advertising agency known for brand development, storytelling, and positioning strategies, Screamer Co. also offers a wide range of services from market research to media planning/placement.

What prompted you to found Screamer Co.?

Prior to starting Screamer in 2006, I worked as a freelance creative director in Chicago. Before that, I worked at BBDO as a creative director. My passion has always been in creative direction and initiating big ideas. After moving back to Texas, my plate of small projects quickly grew into larger projects. Before long, my partner Tim Lee and I were building plans to scale and accommodate these larger projects. We founded the company on one client account – one very strong relationship built on a lot of trust and a mutual understanding of goals. Branding, positioning, communicating are our key competencies and strong points. Our promise at Screamer is to help clients “find their voice.”

Were you ever nervous about starting your own company?

The biggest question I asked myself when starting out was “Can I really do this?”  I had no background running a company. I had never even taken a business class. That fear was also my biggest motivating factor. This work continues to feel like a great challenge. We’re constantly learning how to build new and different programs and expand our services. We try to invest in people who have very diverse backgrounds.  I have attempted to identify employees for the agency that expand our talent base and can help grow the company.

As a leader, what skill has been most important to your success?

Moving from being an independent contractor to running an agency, I had to shift my focus from being tactical to being strategic. I had to learn how to mentor and train people instead of actually doing the work. In addition, any new skills I’ve developed are possible because of the various business coaches in my life.

What advice would you give to professionals new to the marketing profession?

You have to love this business or it will eat you up. Projects and schedules can be crazy. Campaigns are developed in a matter of days. That sounds like a tight deadline, but it’s not unusual. You must be dedicated.

 What do the most successful marketing strategies involve?

The most successful marketing strategies involve planning and great creative. We believe in doing a ton of research and getting as much info as possible. Then, we sift through the kernels to find the pieces that really matter.

Are there any common misperceptions about marketing that you’d like to set straight?

There are no rules to this game. You can use some resources as guidelines, but this business is not cookie-cutter. Each project is completely different. Each problem must be considered individually. Following a “never do this” or an “always do this” methodology will inevitably tie hands instead of solve problems.

What is your favorite resource for staying current on marketing trends?

My team. Most of my team members are under 30 years old. They are on top of everything that is going on. I rely on them. I have three or four information news feeds I refer to daily, but about 90 percent of my awareness of trends comes from my team.

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I recently attended a conference and noticed a few behaviors that I don’t think are conducive to maximizing one’s investment in an event. Unfortunately, I found myself falling into these traps on occasion. Acknowledging that these activities creep into your life is the first step towards changing behavior for the better.

1.   Whittle away the time on your smart phone.

No problem with checking up on the Twitter feed during a break in the action. But if you are in full conference mode, put the phone in the pocket and engage with your next customers. That’s what you are there for…

If the president is texting you, or your boss, ask a booth mate to cover for you for a few minutes and step away from the booth area and quiet the emergency.

2.   Talk with your booth mates.

More than likely, you’ll have ample time post-conference to chat it up about that dramatic 3-point shot at the buzzer that won the game for your team last evening. When there are people around your booth, attempt to connect with them by asking the following questions:

• What brought you to this conference?
• What have you learned so far?
• What problems are you looking to solve by showing an interest in our product?

3.   Sit in a chair.

When someone walks up to your booth, you want to be at his level. Yes, your legs are tired. Yes, you’ve been standing all day. But that gentleman walking up to your booth right now deserves your full attention, and that can’t and won’t happen while you are sitting down. The gentleman may also be the next strategic customer that helps your firm grow exponentially over the next few quarters.

Sit all you want once the conference is over. When potential customers are within eyesight, stand up, look confident, and be ready to help solve their pain.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

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Q: What prompted you to first volunteer for AMA?

A: I wanted to make connections in my field because I was new to the area, sharpen my current skills and  expand my skill set with new challenges.

Q: What have been one of the best benefits you have found from volunteering for AMA?

A: Most people are willing to help and will give you a chance. The people on AMA are amazing, both in personality and in their own skill set, and will work with you.

Q: What’s an AMA member benefit that many may not know about?

A: Making friends. I know if I were to leave the area or the association today, there are a handful of people that I could still contact professionally and personally. The networking is not just about career advancement.

Q: What do you hope members take away from their interaction with AMA?

A: Know that there is an association out there that can not only help you make connections for your own personal gain and connections that can help in so many ways. While career advancement and opportunities are always a consideration, there are several companies that my current company does business with today simply because I met someone at a luncheon and asked some questions. Membership can work both ways.

Q: What do you like most about AMA?

A: I would have to say board development meetings. It may not count as much for recruiting members unless you take the path to the board in the message but I like the fact that a group of people can sit down, operate as a unit and have so much fun. The organization has goals and has great resources, but it’s all about the people!

Q: What are some communications trends you’ve identified lately?  

A: Infometrics for me, personally, at work. I love, love, love them and think they make marketing analytics much easier to understand … and pretty. I’m incorporating them into everything I can, including our new annual report! Depending on your market – and mine is 20-40 year old parents – you have to evolve in your marketing efforts to maintain relevancy. For us, it is really evaluating our web and email strategy (web is information and reference, email is up-to-date relevant information) and segmenting our social media strategy. Our association is focused on advocacy for children and education. When the legislature was not in session, we added a legislative Facebook page that focused solely on educational legislative efforts. I believe focusing on what your members tell you is important is key. So many companies do not do this and think they know what their members want. Member benefits and discounts are ok but we find that a survey on school safety gets far more hits than an email about a Six Flags discount. Our age group of parents care far less about “joining” an organization than they do about participating in something that affects their kid and their school in their school district. Maintaining that focus is crucial.

Q: What’s the best advice you ever got?

A: Don’t sweat the small stuff. Seriously. If you are confident in your abilities and know that some things (because it will never be all) you do make a difference, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Connect with Stacy through email, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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In this series of blog posts titled “Ask Me Anything”, Evans, who has previously volunteered as part of the AMA Events team as Luncheon Logistics Coordinator and works as as marketing and outreach specialist for Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation, talks Austin AMA network building and trends in non-profit marketing.

Q: What prompted you to first volunteer for AMA?

A: When I moved back to Austin three years ago, I wanted to build a community for myself outside of work. I joined five organizations, and the Austin AMA is the only one that really resonated with me. I am so proud to be a part of this great organization.

Q: What have been some of the greatest takeaways you have from volunteering for AMA?

A: I have made some life-long friends and have also built up a solid network of marketing professionals I would not have had access to otherwise. I have also benefited from the learning opportunities offered – through resources from our national chapter, through our members and their areas of expertise and from our programming.

Q: What would you like to see happen this year in regards to your volunteer position?

A: This year, I hope to recruit more volunteers to participate on the Events team in hopes of having the support to build an impactful programming strategy. I want the Austin AMA to be the buzz in Austin as the organization with the best events!

Q: What’s an AMA member benefit that many may not know about?

A: This year, we have started hosting members-only Marketing Executive Panels. The Marketing Executive Panel’s mission is to foster an environment of collaboration, professional support and continuous education for the marketing communications professionals of the greater Austin, Texas area. Very few people have the opportunity to interact on a personal level with these CMO-level marketing leaders.

Q: What do you hope members take away from their interaction with AMA?

A: I have learned so much in the Austin AMA that has benefited me professionally and personally. In addition to building a marketing community for themselves, I hope that all members are able to learn about areas of marketing they would not have had the opportunity to learn about without their AMA membership and that they will benefit them in their current and future professional endeavors. If member are interested in volunteering and joining the Board, the Austin AMA is a great place to build leadership skills.

Q: What are important trends for non-profit marketing?

A: Deliver quality content. As non-profits, content fuels our relationship building in-person, across platforms and devices. It’s vital for lead generation and for motivating action. We as non-profits must provide the highest quality and most relevant information that our audiences want. The message needs to be simple, clear and easily digestible so that our audiences take action.

B: SEO. In the non-profit world, we need to integrate top keywords in all of your content on every platform. Earlier this year, we applied for a $10,000 grant from Google AdWords to support our SEO, and it has created a HUGE impact in driving traffic and creating impact. You can learn more about these special grants by visiting http://www.google.com/grants.

C: Social media and mobile are mandatory! Many non-profits feel they don’t have the resources or structure in place to maintain a presence in social media or on mobile, and creating an integrated social media and mobile strategy as part of the overall marketing plan is a MUST for all non-profits. And for social media, it’s not just Facebook…you must dig deeper.

Q: What’s the best advice you ever got (marketing or otherwise)?

A: “Don’t tell the customer where to go—tell them why they need to be there.”

Connect with Lauren through email, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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In this series of blog posts titled “Ask Me Anything”, Brave, who has previously volunteered as vice president of special interest groups and vice president of communications for AMA, discusses community outreach, Austin AMA membership benefits and her “day job” as regional events manager for Gerson Lehrman Group.

Q: Why did you begin volunteering for AMA?

A: I became a member of AMA about four years ago to learn more about the latest trends in marketing and to expand my network in Central Texas. A board member for the Austin Chapter asked me if I was interested in volunteering for the Austin Chapter when I attended my first local event, and I’ve been volunteering in different capacities since joining the organization.

Q: How has volunteering benefited you?

A: When collaborating with thought leaders, you often gain valuable experiences and insights that translate into best practices. While these benefits are invaluable, I’ve also been honored to have the opportunity to attend a national Leadership Summit (multiple times), identify and drive chapter initiatives, lead team members and partner with other local organizations. As an added bonus, I’ve also made some wonderful friends over the years!

Q: What’s your plan for community outreach this year?

A: Our Community Outreach program started in 2011 and it’s still gaining momentum. We pursue partnerships with local nonprofit organizations to raise awareness, give back and ultimately support our community. To date, the program has supported several organizations in different capacities including Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Lights. Camera. Help, Knowability’s 2012 Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) and Dress for Success Austin, but we look forward to exploring and supporting additional organizations in the future. Ultimately, we strive to host an annual signature event or activity, where AMA members join together to support our community. While we include this program on our annual survey to request feedback, people are welcome to reach out to me throughout the year as potential opportunities arise for collaboration.

Q: What’s an AMA member benefit that many may not know about?

A: www.marketingpower.com offers countless resources to learn about the latest developments in marketing, as well as opportunities to connect all over the world. I often focus on the local benefits, but have to remind myself that there are tons of resources available.

Q: What do you hope members take away from their interaction with AMA?

A: I hope AMA meets and exceeds their expectations depending on what they seek to gain from being a member. If not, let us know how we can improve.

Q: What’s the best advice you ever got?

A: Build a solid foundation of knowledge and experience within your industry / profession. But eventually specializing in something you excel at and enjoy.

Q: Tell us about some trends you’re seeing in integrated marketing.

A: Experiential marketing through events – objective and execution varies. It is also interesting to see the shift from in-person to digital to a renewed focus on in-person meetings with integration of digital media to encourage connectivity.

Connect with Priscilla through email, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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The Austin AMA crew at Race for the Cure

On Sunday, November 4, 2012, we laced up our running shoes and tied on our red bandannas to help support the Austin Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure ®. Our team of members, non members and family joined together to participate in the event. While Austin AMA is looking to have fun this board term (cue the rock-n-roll reference you may have heard throughout this year), it was an inspiring experience to honor those that were just diagnosed, who fought the battle or who may have lost the battle to breast cancer.

The Austin Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has been raising money to provide breast cancer screening, education and medical services, as well as financial and emotional support since 1999. Up to 75 percent of the money raised each year is put to work in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties to improve the lives of everyone affected by this deadly disease. The remaining funds go to national research to find a cure for breast cancer once and for all.

Austin AMA pursues partnerships with local nonprofit organizations to raise awareness, give back and ultimately support our community. The Community Outreach program has supported several organizations in different capacities including Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Lights. Camera. Help, Knowability’s 2012 Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) and Dress for Success Austin, but we look forward to exploring and supporting additional organizations in the future. Keep an eye out for opportunities to support our community through volunteering time, donating professional services and providing gently-used items or monetary donations.

Let us know if you have an organization of interest that would be a good partner for Austin AMA. Feel free to reach me by email to discuss in more detail.

Priscilla Brave, Vice President of Community Outreach

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eMarketing Summit Luncheon at InnoTech with Victor P. Fetter, VP & CIO, Dell Online

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You may have noticed a couple more guitars on our website and emails lately. This is just one of many proof points of President Michelle Vrudhula’s vision for the organization this year – Austin AMA Rocks.

As she explains: The backbone of Austin AMA links to two thoughts. We are all very strong leaders with a vision for excellence, thought leadership and some risk taking. So we are going to rock! And we are going to bring in the greatness of this city with its entrepreneurial spirit, music, speakers and fun. 

This has already been evident in the unique programming already offered by the chapter including an Austin-based craft brewery panel (there’s a spirits one coming up, so be prepared!) and the very well attended healthcare and word of mouth special interest group events. And with a family that knows how to play just about every musical instrument from guitar to drums, she comes by the rockin’ theme honestly.

In this first of a series of blog posts titled “Ask Me Anything”, Vrudhula, who has previously volunteered as vice president of membership and treasurer for AMA, dishes on little-known benefits of Austin AMA membership and trends she sees during her “day job” as vice president of marketing for Customer Research International.

Q: What’s your focus as president?

A: I would like to increase the diversity of our membership.  We are striving to provide content and geographic availability to larger enterprise companies.  We are also working on improving membership benefits and communicating those benefits better.  We hope you like the new perks.

Q: What’s an AMA member benefit that many may not know about?  

A: Locally, many may not know that we get member discounts to sponsor services such as 50 percent off an Austin Business Journal subscription and 10 percent off work from Xtreme Xhibits.  Nationally, I don’t think members realize that you get access to free webinars, white papers and best practices as well as access to AMA Connect, a member portal that shares topics ranging from branding to B2B to marketing research.

Q: What do you hope members take away from their interaction with AMA?

A: We hope that they always meet new people that will benefit them personally and professionally in some way, have a good time, and learn something about marketing they didn’t know or they had forgotten.

Q: What sort of takeaways have you realized from volunteering for AMA?

A:  Definitely the professional and personal relationships that I have developed as well as the automatic validity that comes when you say you are an AMA board member.  I have increased my marketing skills by learning from events, jumping in and helping with social media when needed, updating the web site in a crunch, organizing event logistics and learning the databases Austin AMA uses for registration and membership.

Q: What’s the best advice you ever got? 

A: One of the AMA speakers said not to ever undervalue yourself and to find the customers willing to pay for your service.  When things get tight, you tend to second guess pricing. He said to stay true and those that value your services will be willing to pay for it. You just have to find them. Since that meeting I’ve held true to that and have found great customers based on that advice.

Q: Tell us about some trends you’re seeing in primary marketing research.

There has been discussion for about two to three years about how to still do a statistically viable telephone study with so many people converting to cell phones. We have established quotas for cell phone representation, but that has been expensive because the sample isn’t very geographically accurate.  Within the next three months, there will be new cell phone samples available that can actually target users based on the billing zip code versus the cell phone number.  What this means is that we will be able to establish cell phone quotas much more cost effectively.

Connect with Michelle through email, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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The American Marketing Association’s progression as a nonprofit organization has been remarkable since it was founded in 1937.  Marketing News recently published an article that highlights over 75 years of marketing history with key milestones for The American Marketing Association (AMA).  This article illustrates the progression of marketing from the birth of brand management in the 1930’s to the introduction of social and green marketing in the 1970’s to integrated marketing communications in the 1990’s.

While the definition of marketing and its core principles haven’t drastically changed, marketing channels and the tools used to better understand our return on investment have evolved.  Austin AMA strives to maintain the momentum of these milestones through continuing education, sharing best practices and facilitating networking opportunities to connect marketing professionals. As a dedicated group of volunteers, we’re honored that AMA has recognized the Austin Chapter with an award of “Leadership Overall Excellence” during 2010 – 2011 and 2012-2013.

Read the full article for more detail on the history of marketing and AMA.

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