Room For Growth WillowTree

On the heels of Adobe Summit, we’re joined by Brightline Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer Kevin McAuliffe as he and Billie dive deep into brand loyalty, building trust, technology innovation, and what it means to be a leader today. 

Brightline partnered with WillowTree to achieve its vision of fully modernizing train travel. Tapping into our end-to-end suite of capabilities, WillowTree teams delivered a revamped website, native apps (iOS and Android), kiosks, digital signage, and a digital marketing engine fueled by Adobe Experience Cloud. 

By prioritizing guest experience and agility, the high-speed private rail service is delighting travelers with a best-in-class, omnichannel digital experience worthy of Brightline’s premium brand. Our host and guest explore some of the integrated experiences that have launched across Brightline’s digital platforms, improving travel experiences at every step of the journey — from pre-booking to post-arrival. 

Additional Resources
TOPICS DISCUSSED
Building loyalty by meeting your users where they are, even amid ongoing tech stack evolutionActivating technology, people, and processes to inform and encourage decision-makersEvolving MVPs through data and feedback to enable controllable, scalable changesKEEP THE GROWTH GOING
Read our case study on How Brightline High-Speed Rail Increased Ridership & RevenueExplore Kevin’s Adobe Summit 2024 keynote, presented with WillowTree Chief Marketing Services Officer Mike Colombo: Breaking Down Silos to Deliver an End-to-End Customer Experience Connect with Kevin McAuliffe on LinkedInFollow Billie Loewen on LinkedIn

We are just days away from Adobe Summit: our bags are packed and we are bringing an all-star crew to Las Vegas. But before we head out to one of the largest MarTech conferences in the world, we’re connecting with Mike Kellner, TELUS Director - AI Data & Analytics. Mike shares win stories from the leading global telecommunications providers’ recent innovations, driven by Adobe Customer Journey Analytics.
We explore how Mike’s team at TELUS taps into Customer Journey Analytics’ powerful capabilities to optimize critical moments in the customer journey, like onboarding, billing, and opportunities to cross-sell or upsell products and services. What’s unique about Customer Journey Analytics are its analytics and business intelligence capabilities: through the platform, TELUS has connected offline data from call centers and retail interactions with online data from its app, websites, chatbots, and other digital channels to create more holistic, omnichannel customer experiences.
TELUS prides itself on providing a truly personalized customer care experience when and where customers need it most — whether online, by phone, or across its retail footprint. Now, other business units at TELUS are utilizing Customer Journey Analytics to enable similar use cases and, with WillowTree’s help, ensure that using the platform is as cost-effective, collaborative, and efficient as possible.
Additional Resources
TOPICS DISCUSSED
Resolving common customer pain points with Adobe Customer Journey Analytics’ robust online and offline data activation capabilitiesFacilitating more seamless, cost-effective user adoption of new technologies across Adobe Experience CloudConnecting with WillowTree at Adobe Summit 2024 (see us at Booth 1127!)
KEEP THE GROWTH GOING
Connect with Billie Loewen on LinkedInFollow Mike Kellner on LinkedIn

Fresh off her whirlwind experience at Forge 23, Braze’s annual customer conference for marketers and their tech partners, Billie highlights some of the biggest brands there, her favorite moments, and the most exciting predictions for 2024. Spoiler alert: It’s an exciting time for marketing, and you’ll want to listen before deep-diving into strategy season.
But before diving into her key takeaways, Billie takes a moment to share some big WillowTree news: our CEO Tobias Dengel’s new book is available now and already a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller. She also encourages listeners to check out Episode 4 of WillowTree’s docuseries 2 Weeks To Better, which details our recent collaboration with Braze.
Speaking of Braze, Billie gives a preview of the new ways marketers can save time and communicate more effectively using the engagement platform’s upcoming product innovations. She also recaps lessons from the Forge panel she hosted, featuring media experts and marketing leaders like Eric Vander Voort from Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and Allyson Kurth from Braze. Their fresh approaches to seasonal content strategy, newsletters, user preferences, and geolocation inspired lively discussion.
Overall, the trends, expertise, and discoveries shared at Forge this year reinforced the importance of implementing best practices (especially with advancements in AI), optimizing personalization, and increasing efficiency.
Hot topics discussed:
New product features released by Braze, including Sage AI, Landing Pages, and Feature FlagsBillie and the Growth Marketing team collaborating with Braze to enhance the sports media experience on the latest episode of WillowTree’s docuseries, 2 Weeks To Better WillowTree CEO Tobias Dengel’s new book, The Sound of the Future: The Coming Age of Voice TechnologyInspiring marketing campaigns from brands like Disney+, Intuit, Marvel, and morePreparing for AI implementationInvesting in long-term retention and customer loyaltyKeep the growth going:
Connect with Billie Loewen, WillowTree Partner & VP of Growth Marketing on LinkedInFollow WillowTree on LinkedIn

Digital sports media offers many immersive options for fans, whether they’re streaming pre-game analysis, attending games live at the stadium, or interacting with player content during their commute. But with all that noise, it can be challenging for sports media brands to break through, especially with so many gaps and roadblocks in the fan experience. Some find it challenging to locate and access online streaming options. Other segments feel ignored or receive irrelevant messages. How can sports franchises and digital networks tap fan loyalty during the off-season?
Working with our tech partners at Braze, WillowTree’s Growth Marketing experts (and in-house sports fans) explored these questions and many more in Episode 4 of the WillowTree docuseries, 2 Weeks To Better. Throughout a two-week sprint, our team built solutions that enhance personalization across all forms of fandom, from dormant to die-hard. 
On today’s episode, Billie goes behind the scenes with three members of the team — Alyssa Baker, Rebecca O’Connor, and Teresa Ceballos — who share their ideas for driving business value as well as user value in the sports media landscape. Their concepts for the fictional “WillowTree Sports Network” digital experience include a robust and nuanced onboarding experience, differentiated in-stadium and at-home experiences, a streamlined approach to live event ticketing, and data capture and delivery processes that help marketers make informed decisions about relevant content. Lastly, the team shares their favorite aspects of the Braze platform, including the automation, integration, and new AI features that supercharge their marketing workflow. 
Hot topics discussed:
Familiar pain points for sports fansHow to approach complex and fragmented audience segmentsCreating a robust onboarding and preference center Custom player cards and personalized contentWillowTree’s unique sports-driven client experiences, including the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, Warner Media, Fox Sports, WWE, and moreKeep the growth going:
Attend Braze Forge and meet the WillowTree teamBook a “2 Weeks to Better” sprint with the WillowTree Marketing Services teamConnect with Alyssa Baker, WillowTree Growth Marketing Director on LinkedInConnect with Teresa Ceballos, WillowTree Growth Content Strategist on LinkedInConnect with Rebecca O'Connor, WillowTree Senior Growth Manager on LinkedInConnect with Billie Loewen, WillowTree Partner & VP of Growth Marketing on LinkedInFollow WillowTree on LinkedIn

It’s a bittersweet 50th episode of Room For Growth as Billy Fischer announces his departure from the podcast and from WillowTree. In this, their last episode as co-hosts of Room For Growth, Billy and Billie discuss their top 5 reflections, their favorite projects, and other rewarding experiences they’ve shared working together over the past 12 years developing WillowTree’s Growth Marketing practice. They touch on their appreciation for the rich client and partner relationships they’ve built and the priceless insights and friendships they’ve gained while cultivating an enriching work life. 
As we wish Billy Fischer a fond farewell, our co-hosts acknowledge the exciting future of the martech landscape.
Hot topics discussed:
Embracing new opportunities beyond your usual scopeThe value of partnerships (and some favorite RFG episodes) with tech platforms like Braze, Adobe, mParticle, Amplitude, and moreHow to balance friendship with professionalismGrowing investment in martech, even and especially during challenging macroeconomic conditionsUnique and varied client experiences, including the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, Dairy Queen, and many more.Keep the growth going:Connect with Billy Fischer on LinkedInConnect with Billie Loewen, WillowTree Partner & VP of Growth Marketing on LinkedInFollow WillowTree on LinkedIn

The days of companies announcing core values and automatically earning public trust are over. Authenticity and proof through action are crucial, and in designing loyalty programs and growth campaigns for clients, WillowTree’s Design practice works with clients to leverage more than technology and data as growth drivers — they’re leveraging the brand itself. 

As Director of Brand & Content Strategy at WillowTree, Adam Nemett shares how positive brand reputation and personal, substantial storytelling can have powerful business implications in engaging internal and external audiences. Adam speaks about the importance of retaining ownership of your brand story while producing original content showcasing the real human challenges and triumphs within an organization. He and Billie also discuss the benefits of AI in streamlining workflow and the pitfalls of allowing AI to create a sea of homogenous, vanilla content. This episode ultimately explores how branding transcends traditional logos, taglines, and visual identity and delves into what truly connects a brand with the market — authenticity, personality, and relatable human experience. 

Hot topics discussed:
How to achieve brand differentiation through authentic storytellingHow AI will impact content quality and quantityHow brands can show up differently across channelsThe power of employee advocacy in brand ambassadorship
Keep the growth going:
Connect with Adam Nemett, WillowTree Director of Brand & Content Strategy on LinkedIn and visit his website View WillowTree’s Insights content, including video and podcast seriesConnect with Billie Loewen, WillowTree Partner & VP of Growth Marketing on LinkedInConnect with Billy Fischer, WillowTree Partner & VP of Business Development on LinkedInFollow WillowTree on LinkedIn