Blog

Smale, B. (Photographer). (2019.) Steve Clayton [digital image]. Retrieved from Steve Clayton.

Have you ever witnessed a commercial that hit home with you so intensely, or made you resonate so deeply, that you cried? At the Ragan PR and Social Media Summit in Redmond, there were few dry eyes in the house when Steve Clayton, Microsoft’s chief storyteller, told us about the Super Bowl-shaking moment when Microsoft released its Xbox Adaptive Controller commercial.

A long-time fan of Microsoft advertising and their Accessibility/Enable channels, I was thrilled to hear how the world-renowned technology giant came to become one of the most recognizable global brands. I can promise it didn’t disappoint.

Steve Clayton has been with Microsoft for 21 years and was accidentally hired. Thought to be another Steve (don’t worry, he was obviously the right fit for the role), he’s been storytelling for Microsoft ever since. His presentation covered, “Creating a culture of storytelling and innovation.”

Clayton offered us an inside look into Microsoft then, and now: how it recognized that it’s advertising ship was sinking, and how it healed its rupturing reputation by identifying past issues and updating to a new style of branding.

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“It’s time for a change,” said Eric Gray, Universal Orlando Resort’s senior director of content engagement. The old Tell-Sell-Yell marketing techniques don’t work as well on today’s consumers.

We had the pleasure of attending Gray’s closing keynote speech “Elevating the Role of Social Media to Drive Emotional Brand Attachment” at Ragan’s Employee Communications, PR & Social Media Conference at Microsoft, where he stated that effective marketing messaging is moving from PUSHING content at audiences to PULLING engagement (and content!) from audiences.

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At the Ragan & PR Daily Conference our team attended in September, we were able to catch the presentation of Janet M. Stovall, executive communications director at UPS. Much to our surprise, Stovall is the only female, person-of-color speechwriter in the Fortune 500. (As she notes, there are usually more found in political speech writing, but still not in corporations.)

With yesterday marking Latina Equal Pay Day, Stovall’s keynote came back to mind as a valuable discussion to share. Especially as we enter the heavy, consumer-focused marketing of the holiday season. While it’s gotten better, many of these commercials only showcase a modern look at the same families featured decades ago.

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I’m an ambivert.

If you think of a continuum on a line, with Introvert on the left and Extrovert on the right, I sit about in the middle and vacillate one way or the other– turning on or off depending on the situation. 

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It isn’t surprising that people want more from the companies they work for and buy from. Recent research has spotlighted this as a ‘Millennial’ trait and certainly, we are seeing this more today thanks to the various platforms’ companies have to promote this notion.   

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Fresh to the workforce, and grateful to have landed at Delightful – I’m Iqra and I’m Delightful Communications newest member. I am currently working as a Digital Marketing Coordinator; I’ve had an amazing time in this role. I truly enjoy the work that I do, and I’m looking forward to my future here.

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“Celebrate Uniqueness” is one of our Delightful principles. With a company culture that encourages inclusivity and diversity, I get the privilege of working with amazing colleagues and clients from different cultures to develop and execute global marketing campaigns.

As someone who grew up in China and now works in the U.S., I’ve been able to see how globalization is bringing different people together to find common ground, but also to realize how huge the difference can be from culture to culture, which is even more prominent in the marketing world.

In this article, I wanted to share with you my biggest takeaways regarding how to develop and keep a global mindset that will help you do cross-cultural and global marketing right.

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Hot on the heels of speaking at the inaugural EQ Leadership Labs in St Louis, I am thrilled to share that I will be giving an interactive presentation on personal branding at the American Marketing Association of Puget Sound’s MarketMix 2019 event next month.

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Personal branding is not exclusive to CEOs, CVPs, directors, or those in a leadership role. Nor is it only expanded to people looking to soon advance to high positions such as those. Personal branding is a tool that everyone should engage to help solidify their career. Regardless of age, job title, or industry, personal branding can help you be more discoverable, shareable and memorable. As a young professional, it’s important to lay yourself a solid foundation for your impending career.

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It’s always such a joy to be asked to speak at conferences, and thrilled that our old friend Jonathan Allen (Former Search Engine Watch editor) asked me to come to his inaugural EQ Leadership Labs event in St. Louis, Union Station, next week.

I’ll be speaking about the importance of entrepreneurs to have tip-top personal brands as leaders and sharing tips on how they can have their wisdom and experience be more discoverable, shareable, and memorable.

If you are in the area, please drop by – you can register with this discount code – and looking forward to seeing and hearing from some other past industry friends and peers like Mike Grehan, Simon Hestletine, and Thom Craver.

Should be a marvelous event!

@MelCarson – Founder & Principal Strategist at Delightful Communications

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