This story appears in the December/January 2016 issue of strategy.
It’s not easy being a marketer these days, with so many brands to compete with, and so many media avenues to choose from. Survival comes down to taking a long, hard look at the status quo and questioning whether there’s a better way to reach your target. Our winning marketers this year threw out the playbooks in favour of risky strategies that paid off.
Overall winner, General Mills’ Jason Doolan (pictured), recognized that the old way of marketing cereal just wasn’t connecting with consumers anymore, and took a few big chances with emotional campaigns that also spoke to social issues, like diversity and dieting messages. Meanwhile, Natrel’s Caroline Losson, Kimberly-Clark’s Denise Darroch and Samsung’s Mark Childs created new experiences to connect people to their brands – namely cafés, a web series and sensory-rich activations, respectively. Interac’s Andrea Danovitch wasn’t afraid to challenge the big credit card companies, while Labatt’s Kyle Norrington took his wide portfolio of beer brands in new directions.
After research and industry feedback, the Marketers of the Year were narrowed down from a long list of potential candidates. The industry then voted for the overall winner through the annual Marketer Survey.
Read on to learn how this year’s winners’ risky business paid off.
