Inside The Creative Studio Wayne Barringer

Doug, a data-driven marketing executive, partners with owners and executives as a revenue growth marketer. He drives profitable growth through innovative go-to-market strategies, differentiated positioning, and proven marketing programs executed with precision. Doug uses his deep functional expertise in the digital demand generation to break through the noise with product launch acceleration, strategic positioning, and storytelling.
 
On the show this week, Doug shares his roadmap for excelling with your marketing and communications team. He discusses his organization, Chief Outsiders, and dives into the mindset of a CMO as it relates to in-house and external creative marketing and communications. Doug also gives his perspective as a fractional CMO for people who would like to be more strategic with their marketing tactics.
 
“If you get aligned strategically, it makes everything in the execution and flow so much smoother and quicker.” - Doug Vaughan
 
“I would say the true value of marketing is understanding of the customer in a way that you can make a connection between what your solution is and what the customer needs.” - Doug Vaughan
 
This week on Inside the Creative Studio:
Doug differentiates between the roles of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Chief Communications Officer (CCO) and how that line is blurring What kind of companies would benefit from fractional CMO services How the industry has evolved over the last 15 years, shifting the challenges and focus areas Learn how taking on a CMO can mitigate ‘emergency’ work, not only at the C suite level but through the whole organization Doug’s recommendations for how teams can successfully set up opportunities to have leadership dialogue together How Doug coaches teams and organizations around managing time Discuss emotional intelligence in the workplace, how it manifests in teams, and why it’s an integral part of company culture Doug’s predictions of the coming changes in marketing and the likely evolution of CMOs skills in the short and long term  
Connect with Doug Vaughan:
Chief Outsiders Website Doug Vaughan on LinkedIn  
Connect with Wayne Barringer:
WBC In-House Advisors Website WBC In-House on LinkedIn  
 
 
 
 
 

 This week on Inside the Creative Studio:
The radical evolutions happening in content marketing and digital communications since COVID-19 The challenges of going virtual in such a rapidly shifting environment How the communications team at UW Medicine helped to spread the CDC messaging to educate the public Why Margo transitioned from the tech industry to healthcare, and why she is so committed to the UW Medicine mission of improving the public’s health How Glenn and Margo managed their team effectively in a rapidly changing environment What Margo and her team learned about the changes of virtual and unplanned work, and some of the skills, techniques, tricks they found to help them be as effective as possible How Glen was able to use internal communications to support those on the front lines of healthcare  
Glenn Bieler is the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for UW Medicine in Seattle, and on the show today, he describes his role in leading the marketing and communication strategies for the University of Washington School of Medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. His colleague Margo Schneider, is the Sr. Director of Content Studio and Engineering at UW Medicine. Margo has over 15 years of experience in advancing digital health innovations and marketing operations that enable people to access care and achieve better health outcomes. Margo shares her insights this week on how UW Medicine has operated over the last 17 months and why it was vital for her team to find new and accessible ways of getting the word out, explaining the pandemic’s progress, and how the public could stay safe.
 
On the show this week, we dive into finding your purpose in an evolving and chaotic world and how to plan for the unplanned by making a deliberate effort to schedule in spaces in your day or week, within your strategic planning. We also cover the importance of finding the time to check in on people, particularly if you’re working virtually. Glenn also shares some of the communications and creative content systems the team at UW Medicine put in place and why data analytics have figured heavily in the changes they have made.
 
“People come to work with us because they believe in the mission — and we have a really strong mission.” - Glenn Bieler
 
“A lot of our work has really been around rephrasing things, taking the complicated language out of them.” - Glenn Bieler
 
“It’s really important when you’re working virtually, to take the extra time to figure out how you’re going to connect with the people on your team and make sure they’re okay and create those moments between meetings that you don’t have when you’re working virtually.” - Margo Schneider
 
Connect with Glenn Bieler and Margo Schneider:
UW Medicine Website Glen Bieler on LinkedIn Margo Schneider on LinkedIn  
Connect with Wayne Berringer:
WBC In-House Advisors Website WBC In-House on LinkedIn  
 
 
 
 
 

This week on Inside the Creative Studio:
 
How the marketing team has restructured during COVID-19 to become more global Why Janice has been far busier this past year and a half than she ever imagined How the pandemic challenged Janice’s creative brain Innovative ways Janice pivoted the marketing to reconnect with customers even when they couldn’t sail How Janice’s creative team transitioned to being more digital-focused, and as a leader, how she was able to bring the team along with her vision The importance of working as a team even when not able to be together physically Janice’s tips for other deeply passionate designers who want to elevate their skill set and move into leadership roles How to evolve a creative culture inside a corporate environment  
Janice Davidson is Vice President of Creative and Brand Experience at Regent Seven Seas Cruises and worked to enhance customer connections when cruising was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic. She describes how her creative brain was challenged to rethink all of their marketing and communication strategies during the shutdown. Digital communication was the main focus of Janice’s team’s efforts to help their guests reconnect with the brand and with each other.
 
Janice joins me on the show today to tell me about her creative team at Regent Seven Seas Cruises, including how the marketing department reflects the scope and the variety of their destinations. She describes how she managed the intangibles during the pandemic, made critical decisions, switched up workflows, and still helped the team feel connected. Janice also shares how she helped her team to collaborate when only meeting virtually.
 
‘I've always been a believer that in order to have good brand loyalty you have to have hearts and minds — You have to capture them on an emotional level.”’ - Janice Davidson
  
“The pandemic forced us to relook at the workflow and give people different areas of expertise and experience, which I think really helped the creative team.” - Janice Davidson
  
“Teamwork has such a positive influence on how we are going to move forward as a business.” - Janice Davidson
 
Connect with Janice Davidson:
Regent Seven Seas Cruises Website Janice Davidson on LinkedIn  
Connect with Wayne Barringer:
WBC In-House Advisors Website WBC In-House on LinkedIn  
 
 
 
 
 

Larry Asher is the director of the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle, which helps people in marketing, branding, design, UX, and content creation fill in the gaps in their knowledge. A former copywriter and creative director, Larry has won several national awards for his creative work, including the AAF’s Silver Medal for lifetime achievement. Larry is also the author of Do or Die, a business book published as a tablet app on the future of marketing. Larry’s company, Worker Bees, also provides marketing communications services to clients in the healthcare industry.
 
Larry joins me on the podcast today to share how the School of Visual Concepts keeps up-to-date with industry trends and predicts which courses students are most likely to find helpful in the future. He discusses the importance of understanding the strategy behind your content, and why it’s key when building an effective creative brief. Larry also outlines how the COVID-19 pandemic allowed SVC to lean into remote learning and pivot to offer classes with international instructors who are renowned in their niche.
 
‘SVC is the place where you go to learn from top working professionals.”’ - Larry Asher
 
“This is a world that really demands that you enjoy meeting people and like to be a connector.” - Larry Asher
 
“What the world doesn't need is more work that just checks off all the boxes. It needs work that makes a difference and moves the market.” - Larry Asher
 
This week on Inside the Creative Studio:
How SVC put together specially created courses to serve particular needs Where SVC find the right people to teach and why they prefer to bring in professionals to lead their courses Industry trends that Larry is seeing in the creative industry as a result of COVID Larry’s predictions for the future of the creative industry over the next six to 12 months The number one topic that SVC is asked to build training courses on and why Why it’s essential to unpack the strategic needs behind a task to enable creatives to innovate and produce more impactful work How to use SVC’s creative evaluation template to structure an effective creative brief  
Connect with Larry Asher:
SVC Seattle Website SVC Seattle on Facebook SVC Seattle on Instagram SVC Seattle on Twitter  
Connect with Wayne Barringer:
WBC In-House Advisors Website WBC In-House on LinkedIn  
 
 
 
 
 

Joa Pope is one of the country’s leading experts on creative operations, project management, martech systems and more. As Senior Operations Change Leader at WBC, Joa helps clients get the most out of their creative ops investments. In this episode, Joa talks about the difference between project management and creative operations - and how to choose the right creative workflow management system. 
 
We talk about the critical skills for operations talent and leaders: How project management skills are critical - but more than that how relevance and communications matters most. “Great operations people have to be very well versed in the organization - all the roles - and how to knit them together efficiently.”
 
 
In this Episode:
 
Learn about the key differences between project management and creative operations. Learn how project management is about process, but more than that, flexibility and communication so it works for the variety of different stakeholders.  Great PMs have a high EQ - and they’re great communicators.” The best teams utilize project managers not as the meeting scheduler or note-taker but as a driver of efficiency, flexibility and communication.  To get the most value from creative ops, learn how to staff creative ops roles appropriately, provide the right significance in their role on the team, drive cross-team support for operations.  Are project managers necessary? It depends whether you want your creative team owning schedules, getting vendor quotes - or do you want them creating, connecting and writing great content.

Ken Volk, Senior Director of Creative + Brand at UKG and former Board Chair of IHAF, faced massive change when his team doubled in size overnight. He listened, he led, and he launched a new brand – all from his basement.
Ken Volk believes in in-house. As a creative leader at Kronos for nearly 20 years, he admits he got a little too comfortable. His team was seasoned, his processes were mature, and the trains ran on time. Then, just as Covid-19 lockdown hit, Kronos merged with competitor Ultimate Software to create UKG. Ken was shoved right out of his comfort zone. In our conversation he shares what he’s learned so far, and the bright future he sees for in-house creative agencies.
 
In This Episode:
·      Why active listening is harder than you think, and how it can transform teams.
·       The top-3 focus areas that will establish your team as the brand beacon.
·      How in-house and external agencies can partner for the good of the brand.
·      Avoiding the “our way vs. your way” culture clash.
·      Breaking through in-house myopia and institutionalized thinking.