Podcast: The A-Typical Trajectory of a New CEO -- Kiran Smith of Arnold Worldwide

EB Mossamp160 Kiran you were most recently Chief Marketing Officer at Brookstone and before that you headed marketing at Stride Rite and Shaw39s Supermarkets and also worked at Accentureamp160 So you came up through the marketing ranks to be CEO of Arnold Worldwideamp160 Tell us more Kiran Smithamp160 As I said to the recruiter quotYou know I don39t have a day of agency experience rightquotamp160 He said quotThat39s exactly why we want to talk to youquotamp160 So I just expressed my opinions on what I thought about agencies and the opportunity for CMOsamp160 CMOs are under more pressure than everamp160 amp160Their budgets are getting tighter their teams are getting leaneramp160and they39re looking for partners to help them address business needs andamp160give them an independent perspective on what39s going on in theirs and other industriesamp160amp160I39m not a creative personamp160 I39m a business person and despite the fact that I39m a marketer I am a computer science major so it39s a very atypical type of trajectoryamp160 Arnold is a creative powerhouse what I didn39t appreciate was the amount of capabilities we have from the standpoint of business insights strategies and analyticsamp160that allowamp160us to be able to better serve our clientsamp160 So it39s not about the creative alone it really is about everything we surround the creative withMossamp160 What are you recommending as new channels of application to your clientsSmithamp160 Our job is to stay ahead of trends so that we can better advise our clientsamp160 What39s going on with AR with Voice with AIamp160 They need us to be their partner in looking forward so that we can tell them how we can apply it to their businessesamp160 But the first thing we say is quotJust because everyone39s doing it doesn39t mean that you have to tooquotamp160 If it39s not right for your brand if it39s not right for who you39re targeting from a consumer standpoint then don39t rush to be at the front of that line unless it39s absolutely right unless you39re set up for successMossamp160 Concerning how you prioritize your approach for clients is it a split in terms of performance versus contentSmithamp160 Content has to performamp160 It can39t be creative for creative39s sakeamp160 What behavior are we looking to get from someone interacting with that contentamp160 All of that has to live in the analytics portion of it because if we just do it because it looks good or sounds goodamp160then we39re not doing our jobs wellMossamp160 What39s your take on more brands bringing their business or part of their business in houseSmithamp160amp160I39m going to say something that might surprise youamp160 Iamp160think every company should have an inhouse agency because there is a reason they existamp160 You don39t need an Arnold or a big agency to do iteration work or execution work like moving a digital banner from horizontal to verticalamp160 But you do need an Arnold for that independent viewpoint of what good amazing creative and brand work looks likeMossamp160 What are some of your favorite examples of that amazing creative from ArnoldSmithamp160amp160I think the 10year relationship with Progressive and the success of the Flo campaign extending that family the longevity and the effectiveness it continues to have but also going into new partsamp160 We just did an activation with Santander around homelessness in Boston which was unbelievable from engagement cause marketingamp160and use of AR technology to really raise awareness around the plight of homeless and Santander is up to 200000 in donations so far for an amazing causeMossamp160 How do you approach storytelling at the agencySmithamp160 What I give our creatives so much credit for is that they work so well with our insights and strategy team to say quotOkay tell me about the consumeramp160 Tell me about the opportunityquotamp160 They take all of that into account and then they write the storyamp160 That for me is so much more impactful because it39s creative with a purpose so that39s how we look at itMossamp160 Where do you pull your data from primarily Smithamp160 We obviously have the syndicated data that you can subscribe toamp160 We also do a fair amount of our own qualitative or quantitative research for every single client both current and prospectiveamp160 My whole thing with every pitch that we do is I want to teach the client something they didn39t know about themselvesamp160 When I was on theamp160CMO side those are the agencies that I rememberedMossamp160 What do you think is new and nextamp160 What about audio AI OTTSmithamp160 Specifically I would say AR is super importantamp160 Voice 100amp160 I think the smarter people who understand how to leverage and use them to their advantage and not get overwhelmed by them not get buriedamp160or so lost in it that they lose perspective in terms of what they39re trying to do are the ones that are going to winMossamp160 The ANA just published a diversity report on the ad industryamp160 It seems your leadership team is very diverse but tell me about your experience creating a corporate culture and your plan for thatSmithamp160 Diversity and inclusion has always been important to Arnold in terms of top priorities so I am inheriting an organization that has all the ingredients thereamp160amp160Everybody39s job is about DampampI and it39s not just about gender or raceamp160 It39s including the need to take into account how you think For example we39ve got super rightbrain and leftbrain people and we39ve put them all in one building and we mix it up and that39s what makes it so specialMossamp160 With three children I guess you have empathy for flexibility and worklife balanceSmithamp160 It39s taught me that there is no such thing as balanceamp160 You do the best that you can do and you give yourself a break once in a while to let yourself off the hook when you feel like you39re not doing everything rightamp160 But what gives me a lot of passion is keeping women in the workforce and giving them opportunities to not opt out of working by saying quotWhat can we do to make this an environment where you feel rewarded and refreshed and able to go home and do your second jobquotMossamp160 What about insights for young people coming up in the industrySmithamp160 I think what I would say is take a look at advertising at agenciesamp160 We have some amazing young talent in our business and they often will say quotI came on it by chanceamp160 I didn39t really know much but it seemed like a cool placequot and then they realize how many different paths there are for career growthamp160 Whether it39s on the strategy side insight side creative side marketing account side they really can find a path that39s right for themClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily 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Podcast: The A-Typical Trajectory of a New CEO -- Kiran Smith of Arnold Worldwide

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We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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Podcast: The A-Typical Trajectory of a New CEO -- Kiran Smith of Arnold Worldwide

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