Christine Hunt, the VP of Brand Marketing at Lulus.com, virtually chatted with NetElixir to share the positive influences that drive her team’s innovation strategy, as well as her favorite innovation from the past few months.

Connect the Dots of innovation with Christine Hunt by reading her full interview below.

NetElixir: What is a key driver of innovation that companies tend to overlook?

Christine: When it comes to innovation, we often think of competition and scarcity as the driving forces. However, what’s typically overlooked is the time and space necessary to be creative. Companies should be wary of meeting heavy calendars and should encourage their employees to carve out the time and space necessary to both recharge and tap into those creative juices. 

NetElixir: Companies are already beginning to prepare for future crises. What is one area they should focus on?

Christine: After 2020, companies are looking to future-proof their business. What they can learn is how to operate in a fully digital environment. They should think about what are the points of friction for their business in a digital environment. How do they alleviate that for the consumer? And then how do they augment and even enhance the consumer experience online?

NetElixir: What is one example of innovation you’ve seen from companies during the pandemic that has impressed you?

Christine: Now, one of my favorite examples of innovation that stemmed from the pandemic comes from Johnson & Johnson and I’m not just talking about the vaccine. So, Johnson & Johnson tapped into the power of virtual reality to help surgeons in training maintain and stay on track with their training in a virtual world. Think of it sort of like a virtual reality operation game; however, with much higher stakes. Now that’s what I call innovation!

Connect the Dots with Christine Hunt

Join NetElixir’s virtual conference, Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation, to hear more about Christine’s experience inspiring her team and the forces that drive her success.

Innovation Roundtable, live on 6/10 at 2 PM EST

Christine will be one of our panelists at our Innovation Roundtable at Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation. Christine will be joined by Michele Peters, the Senior Manager of Global E-Commerce Marketing at UPS, Aaron Zagha, the Chief Marketing Officer at Newton Baby, and Lewis Broadnax, the Vice President of Global E-Commerce at Sazerac. 

NetElixir’s Innovation Roundtable features senior executives who will share their experience from the past year and the ways they have had to innovate for their organizations and customers. Christine and the rest of our innovation panelists will answer questions like:

• What makes Lulus.com a pioneer of innovation?
• How has your brand’s view on innovation changed throughout the last eighteen months?
• What are a few characteristics of your most innovative customers?

Register now for Christine’s live roundtable discussion.

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Meet Natalie Zmuda, the Head of Think With Google

Meet Jerry Wind, Lauder Professor Emeritus and Professor of Marketing at Wharton

Meet Michele Peters, the Senior Manager of Global E-Commerce Marketing at UPS

Meet Aaron Zagha, the Chief Marketing Officer at Newton Baby

The post Connect the Dots with Christine Hunt appeared first on NetElixir.

Through his years of research and consulting expertise, Professor Wind is helping organizations prepare for the post-pandemic reality by providing tools to change our mental models to rethink our organizational and growth strategies. With strong leadership, an environment of open innovation, and the ability to always keep learning, we can create opportunities for success in whatever we do.

Connect the Dots with Professor Jerry Wind.

NetElixir: Tell us a little bit about your experience and latest book.

Professor Wind: Hi, I am Jerry Wind. Following a 50 year career at Wharton, in the last four years, I have been the Lauder Professor Emeritus and Professor of Marketing at Wharton.

My latest book, Transformation in Times of Crisis, coauthored with Nitin Rakesh, the CEO of Mphasis, just won the International Business Book of Year Award. And my current research and consulting focuses on capturing opportunities in times of crisis and preparing us, and especially legacy companies and organizations, for the new post-pandemic reality. That includes addressing the other aspects of our crisis – the call for social justice, economic recovery, addressing the climate crisis, and the inevitable shift from shareholder to stakeholder focus. This includes, of course, the need to rethink and reimagine everything we do including innovation, marketing, the role of the CMO, the talent strategy, and even the vision of the firm and its growth strategy.

I am delighted to be with you and discuss Transformation in Times of Crisis and especially the implications of our eight transformation principles and implementation framework to your individual companies.

NetElixir: What is a key driver of innovation that companies tend to overlook?

Professor Wind: While there is no single key driver that is ignored by all companies, I believe that significantly more attention must be given to the interplay of three drivers – advances in technology, their implications to the behavior and expectations of the increasingly empowered and skeptical consumers, and the impact of these two forces on the need to challenge our mental models and reinvent our vision, objectives, strategy and organizational architecture, and network orchestration.

NetElixir: Companies are already beginning to prepare for future crises. What is one area they should focus on?

Professor Wind: The initial temptation is to select one of the key challenges facing society – the economic divide, the climate crisis, the continued cry for social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion, the shift to stakeholder orientation, and my deep concern about the ideological divide of our country and many other countries. Yet, companies should be ready to address any of these or new crises they may face, i.e., how do you prepare an early warning system to identify the coming crisis, and an agile system that allows both the design and implementation of effective prevention, or if that fails, a speedy recovery.

NetElixir: What is one example of innovation you’ve seen from companies during the pandemic that has impressed you?

Professor Wind: There are many examples, from the global collaboration among pharmaceutical firms that led to the development of the vaccine in record times by multiple firms to GM conversion of its manufacturing capabilities to the production of ventilators, the effective shift of most universities and schools to eLearning and almost universal adoption of Zoom and other platforms as the new mode of communication and even selling and negotiating, to the shift to digital medicine, and the shift by so many cultural institutions to digital programming and innovative ways of engaging their current and new customers. Common to all these examples is courageous leadership that recognized the need for a speedy shift in their mode of operations.

I hope you can reflect on these three topics and answer them from your perspective. But remember that while you may have specific industry views, consumers’ expectations do not know industry boundaries.

Connect the Dots with Jerry Wind

Join NetElixir’s virtual conference, Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation, to learn more from Professor Wind about his eight transformation principles.

Transformation in Times of Crisis, live on 6/10 at 10:15 AM EST

Experiencing life after the ides of March 2020, we are on the eve of shifting to a new reality of post-pandemic life, combined with the slow reopening of the economy and an increased demand for social justice. Professor Wind, Founder of the Wharton Think Tank, presents how we can lean into opportunities by understanding the implications to cope, prepare, and seize them. He will also share his eight leading principles to creating opportunities during times of crisis and ways you can begin to focus on testing experiments that can lead to significant innovations.  

Register now to hear more from marketing legend Jerry Wind!

Read More

Meet Natalie Zmuda, the Head of Think With Google

Meet Michele Peters, the Senior Manager of Global E-Commerce Marketing at UPS

Meet Aaron Zagha, the Chief Marketing Officer at Newton Baby

Opportunities in Times of Crisis, a recap of Professor Wind’s previous discussion with NetElixir, from June 2020

The post Connect the Dots with Jerry Wind appeared first on NetElixir.

NetElixir asked Aaron to share some of his thoughts on how marketing initiatives have shifted throughout the last eighteen months. As we seek to connect the dots of what we have learned and create a brighter future, we sat down with Aaron for a glimpse of how his marketing innovations helped Newton Baby continue to succeed.

Connect the dots with Aaron Zagha.

NetElixir: What is a key driver of innovation that companies tend to overlook?

Aaron: I think customers are too often overlooked in the innovation process. Ensuring you have an open dialogue with your customers — not just through customer service, but also through polls, surveys, panels — can actually result in more focused innovation, and innovation which is driven by end-user demand.

NetElixir: Companies are already beginning to prepare for future crises. What is one area they should focus on?

Aaron: Supply chain is and continues to be the single most important area of focus, but ensuring you have diversified distribution channels is a close second. If a hack shuts down your site, can you still sell product in stores? And vice versa, in the case of the pandemic.

NetElixir: What is one example of innovation you’ve seen from companies during the pandemic that has impressed you?

Aaron: I think the most remarkable innovation, certainly from a marketing perspective, has been the ability to pivot 180° in a very short time. Some companies were able to completely change their messaging — whether by force or opportunity — in a very tight timeframe when the pandemic broke out. Making sure you (and your marketing calendar) are flexible enough to stop and pivot quickly is vital, as we saw with the Facebook boycotts of last summer.

Connect the Dots with Aaron Zagha

Join NetElixir’s virtual conference, Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation, to learn more about Aaron’s experience as he pivoted Newton Baby’s marketing strategy to successfully navigate through the turbulence of last year. 

Innovation Roundtable, live on 6/10 at 2 PM EST

Aaron will be one of our panelists on our Innovation Roundtable at Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation. Aaron will be joined by Michele Peters, the Senior Manager of Global E-Commerce Marketing at UPS, Lewis Broadnax, the Vice President of Global E-Commerce at Sazerac, and Christine Hunt, the Vice President of Brand Marketing at Lulus.com. 

NetElixir’s Innovation Roundtable features senior executives who will share their experience from the past year and the ways they have had to innovate for their organizations and customers. Aaron and the rest of our innovation panelists will answer questions like:

• How is Newton Baby promoting innovation to their customers?
• What will make your organization iconic?
• How do you select ideas that will become successful innovations?

Register now for Aaron’s live roundtable discussion.

Read More

Meet Natalie Zmuda, the Head of Think With Google

Meet Michele Peters, the Senior Manager of Global E-Commerce Marketing at UPS

The post Connect the Dots with Aaron Zagha appeared first on NetElixir.

NetElixir asked Michele to speak on how she has been inspired and motivated to continually meet and exceed customer expectations with UPS. She notes that innovation is at the heart of creative ideas that bring goods and services people enjoy every single day to light.

Connect the dots with Michele Peters by reading more of her insights below.

NetElixir: What is a key driver of innovation that companies tend to overlook?

Michele: When inspiring innovation, companies tend to overlook the simple joys of having fun! More creative ideas are birthed from informal, relaxed, playful environments that allow individuals to stretch their imagination to uncover something new.

NetElixir: Companies are already beginning to prepare for future crises. What is one area they should focus on?

Michele: Trying to stay ahead of the game and prepare for the next big crisis is challenging. The best advice that I would offer is to know the voice of the customer, what are their needs and what are their wishes. And then, try to think about what have you learned from this pandemic, anticipate what we think the next pandemic will be, and connect that to the wishes of your customer. The first company that meets that need, that’s the company that wins the business.

NetElixir: What is one example of innovation you’ve seen from companies during the pandemic that has impressed you?

Michele: The biggest area of innovation that I’ve seen from companies as a result of the pandemic is listening to their customers and sharing their stories. Companies that were able to quickly identify their customer needs and adjust operating models accordingly and share their personal stories yielded loyalty in organizational sustainability. Think about the restaurant industry when they needed customers and customers needed toilet paper — well, that was a match made in heaven, but one, we would never have predicted.

Connect the Dots with Michele Peters

Join NetElixir’s virtual conference, Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation, to learn more about Michele’s role in delivering engaging and effective marketing campaign to a global audience.

Innovation Roundtable, live on 6/10 at 2 PM EST

Michele will be one of our panels at our Innovation Roundtable at Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation. Michele will be joined by Aaron Zagha, the Chief Marketing Officer at Newton Baby, Lewis Broadnax, the Vice President of Global E-Commerce at Sazerac, and Christine Hunt, the Vice President of Brand Marketing at Lulus.com. 

This year’s Innovation Roundtable features senior executives who will share their experience from the past year and the ways they have had to innovate for their organizations and customers. As the pandemic progressed, these executives were challenged to take the information and data they had at hand to connect the dots during uncertain times. Learn how they created innovation, how they promoted it to their customers, what they found to be their key differentiator, and most importantly — how they successfully competed in this growing market. Register now for Michele’s live roundtable discussion.

Read More

Meet Natalie Zmuda, the Head of Think With Google

The post Connect the Dots with Michele Peters appeared first on NetElixir.

NetElixir has teamed up with Natalie Zmuda to discuss how she is inspired to innovate for a better tomorrow. As we continue to connect the dots and create the future, we sat down with Natalie to get a better understanding of her experience this past year and how it has helped her and Google move forward.

Connect the dots of innovation with the Head of Think With Google, Natalie Zmuda.

Continue reading below for a full transcript of NetElixir’s chat with Natalie.

NetElixir: What’s a key driver of innovation that companies tend to overlook?

Natalie: I think we overlook our youngest employees sometimes. They think differently, they’ve had different life experiences, and they have a lot to bring to the table. We need to create more opportunities for our youngest employees to connect and share their ideas with our most senior leaders.

NetElixir: Companies are already beginning to prepare for future crises. What’s one area they should focus on?

Natalie: We have learned a tremendous amount during this pandemic. Over the last 18 months, we’ve had to react on the fly; we have had to be really, really scrappy; we’ve had to become a lot more agile than we’ve ever been before; we’ve had to streamline the way we do things, change our processes. We have just learned so much. So I think there’s a lot of documentation to do. My team is really focused on making sure that we don’t forget all of the things that we learned. We’re creating that crisis playbook so that the next time, we’re ready, we’re agile, and we’re spending our time moving forward, and not reacting and trying to figure things out.

NetElixir: What is an example of innovation you’ve seen from companies during the pandemic that has impressed you?

Natalie: It’s been really amazing to see companies shift to virtual experiences and in a way that doesn’t sacrifice customer service. There’s been plenty of experiences where going virtual for companies has actually meant that they’ve been able to deliver more convenient experiences and better customer service. So when I think about the last year, you know, I’ve done personal training, I’ve done virtual wine tastings, I’ve bought an invisible fence for our puppy on a virtual console that leveraged Google’s street view! We’ve done so much and it’s been more convenient and it’s been really, really easy. Not easy to make those transitions, not easy to make those pivots, but now that companies have, I don’t think they’ll ever look back.

Connect the Dots with Natalie Zmuda

Join NetElixir’s virtual conference, Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation, to learn more about Natalie’s latest research and her strategies for success. During her presentation, Looking Back to Move Forward, Natalie will share insights into current consumer trends and innovative initiatives.

Looking Back to Move Forward Overview

Presented by Natalie Zmuda at Connecting the Dots: Driving Change Through Innovation on 6/10 at 11:30 AM EST

When COVID-19 became a globally shared problem in 2020, it also exposed a simple truth: there is no universal human experience. Search trends reveal people are placing more value on understanding individual needs, and they expect brands to be able to meet those needs. As innovations in one industry (on-demand taxis) can drive expectations in another (on-demand groceries), the burden is on brands, not consumers, to keep up. In this session, we’ll examine the latest shifts in consumer behavior, all backed by Google data, to better understand which will be fleeting and which are here to stay. Register now for Natalie’s live presentation.

The post Connect the Dots with Natalie Zmuda appeared first on NetElixir.