Tag: marketing

Marketing Architect Toni Guffei: Ratio Marketing and Reports

Posted on by James Hutchison

Toni Guffei – Marketing Architect – Ratio Marketing and Reports

“Marketing is both branding and lead generation. When we work with companies it’s more about how are we going to optimize your budget so that you get the best return on your marketing investment. So, part of that is measuring the brand and the perception that people have about you so that they will naturally turn to you as the first Top of Mind company. The other piece of marketing is lead generation. So marketing is about attracting customers. It’s that funnel of attraction – consideration – and decision – so you can convert those leads into sales. So, branding and lead generation tie directly in with the corporate goals of profit.”

Toni Guffei is the owner and founder of Ratio Marketing a boutique marketing and strategy agency that has served hundreds of Canadian and US businesses in a wide range of industries including technology, construction, oil and gas services, environment, arts, education, professional services, hospitality and non-profit.

Ratio Marketing provides its clients with market research, market assessments, competitive assessments, strategic marketing plans, branding strategies, industry profiles and communication tactics and specializes in both traditional and digital marketing methods.

For the last fourteen years Toni has been an instructor at Mount Royal University and is currently an Adjunct Professor who teaches degree courses that include Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Market Research, and Branding. Since 2018 Toni also teaches courses through SAIT‘s Digital Marketing Program which includes corporate certification in Search Engine Optimization, Website Development, Digital Marketing Analytics and Social Media for Business.

I first met Toni back in 2002 when she was working with the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce for Small Business Week. Back then Small Business Week included a large conference that brought together all kinds of Calgary Businesses and a huge awards dinner gala that celebrated and honoured some of the top companies that make Calgary their home. The world has gone through a lot of technological change in the past eighteen years and as businesses learn to navigate a quickly changing world economy marketing has never been more important to their survival. Marketing is one of those things that everyone has to do regardless of whether or not they’re a small business or a big arts organization or an entrepreneur or an established or emerging artist.

I connected with Toni at the start of May on ZOOM in order to maintain a safe social distance and to talk with her about marketing, branding, blogging, social media and to get her thoughts about the current COVID-19 pandemic.

JAMES

You describe yourself as a marketing architect. Why do you use that description?

TONI

I come from a family of builders. My father’s a builder. He came from Italy. My brothers are all builders in one way or another. When people go what is a marketing architect it gives me an opportunity to say we plan and build your business. But at the same time, it has this tie into my family’s profession and building a business is like building a home. You need a foundation and you need walls and you need a roof. You need all these different parts to build a building. The same thing is true about building a business and marketing. Marketing’s not just one thing. Marketing is half science, half art, and part psychology. That’s my Yogi Berra take on it.

The science is the tools. In marketing, there’s a lot of theory but over time things have evolved about how to approach things and make decisions. And that’s the stats, right. We have a lot of stats from which to make decisions. And marketing is also an art because you need to understand the brand and what appeals and colours and messaging and experiences. But the real basis of marketing is the psychology and figuring out what motivates people and what emotions are you trying to tap into that inspires them to do something.

JAMES

How do you access somebody’s psychology to get them to do what you want them to do?

TONI

There’s a tool that we use in the foundations of marketing that is based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. And our most basic needs are safety and security. And then comes love and belonging and self-esteem and at the very peak is self-actualization. And if we just use those as motivators of human behaviour, we can tap into those basic needs.

So, for example, there are a lot of current commercials that are tapping into the emotions about what’s happening in the world right now and instead of promoting their products or services, they’re promoting community and family and values that mean something to people.

That’s what really good brands do. They align their values with the values of their customers, and so their customers will be loyal to them because they see a piece of themselves in the brand and that’s the self-actualization piece. It’s like this company aligns with my values so strongly that I’m going to be loyal to them because they understand me and my deepest needs.

JAMES

What’s your definition of marketing and how does your company, Ratio Marketing, approaches marketing in a general sense?

TONI

Marketing is both branding and lead generation. When we work with companies it’s more about how are we going to optimize your budget so that you get the best return on your marketing investment. So, part of that is measuring the brand and the perception that people have about you so that they will naturally turn to you as the first Top of Mind company. The other piece of marketing is lead generation. So marketing is about attracting customers. It’s that funnel of attraction – consideration – and decision – so you can convert those leads into sales. So, branding and lead generation tie directly in with the corporate goals of profit.

JAMES

So, how much do you think marketing leads the consumer and how much does marketing respond to social and cultural trends?

TONI

Companies need to be agile, especially at this time however the heart of marketing is what the customer wants. It’s not build it and they will come from the movie Field of Dreams. That doesn’t really work unless you just happen to be lucky like ZOOM is right now and you have the right product in the right place at the right time.

When we do projects with a client we do research first. We ask the market either the existing market or the potential market what’s important to them because you can’t give people something they don’t want. You can give them something that they don’t realize they want or need, but if their wants and needs are different than what you’re offering you can’t make them do anything.

JAMES

You know, I’m reminded of one of the clearest examples I ever heard of that is you could create the greatest cheeseburger, and you could create a wonderful advertising campaign where it just looks delicious and it’s at a great price but a vegan will never buy it. You have to know what the consumer wants in order to satisfy that need. And then as you say tie those products and your brand into Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in that person’s life.

Starbucks first U.S. Signing Store in Washington D.C. Partners in the store are all deaf, hard of hearing or able to speak sign language.

TONI

Starbucks is a good example of a business that understands how to hit each one of those emotional needs in someone to motivate them. So, at the lowest levels like security and safety they give rewards. They give you something to make you feel good. Food is a basic need, you know, it falls into that category.

Then they also do stuff related to love and belonging and esteem because they make you feel good because on your birthday after collecting the rewards, they acknowledge you and say, “Hey, Toni, it’s your birthday, you get to buy whatever you want in the whole store.” They make you feel special.

And then at the top level – that self-actualization level – companies are beginning to understand that the way to motivate people at that very deep level is to highly personalize the offering for them. Starbucks does that. Every single coffee is customized to exactly how each customer wants it. So, they understand motivational behaviour in people and they have an ideal loyalty program.

JAMES

Yeah, I guess we’re just gonna have to see if it’s successful or not.

TONI

I hope it works out for them.

JAMES

Hey, I want to talk a little bit about blogging as a tool for marketing and how you feel blogging fits in.

TONI

So, for business, it’s a good tool because it’s a verbal branding piece and it can really contribute to your brand. Ideally, you want to put your blog on your website, because that’s where you want people who are searching for that kind of information to go. And Google likes new and fresh information on your website. So, contributing by way of a blog to your website gives it that fresh rank that Google likes.

But the other thing is – it gives your brand personality because a website is very static. When you’re writing a blog it really brings out the flavour of how you express the brand. Whether it’s a how-to blog or an interview blog it really gives people an emotional feeling about what you have to offer going back to the emotional piece of marketing.

JAMES

What about as an individual then? You mentioned as a company but if you’re an entrepreneur, or an individual consultant how does blogging work as part of your marketing plan?

TONI

Blogging lets you position yourself as a thought leader, or an industry expert or an influencer. So, if I use myself as an example, there’s a hub and spoke strategy to marketing. You want to have a hub where you direct your digital and traditional marketing because then you can measure it.

A website is a great hub because you can use Google Analytics. And you can send people there from social media to check out your website. Or from videos or from newsletters or from traditional media all driving them to that hub.

So, for me, I don’t use my website, I use LinkedIn, because I want to position myself as an industry expert. So, I put my blogs on LinkedIn, and I curate content on LinkedIn. So, I do fresh content, which is my own blog once a month or so and I post other relevant content that’s strictly about marketing strategies. I can occasionally post some other things, but my brand is being a marketing strategy expert and that’s what I want to reinforce. I’ve been doing it consistently for four years now.

So, for two years straight I posted a blog once a month, and one of those blogs got picked up by LinkedIn and they put it in their Pulse Magazine. So now I can’t change it. It’s fixed, like a PDF, but it’s gotten almost 25,000 hits because they pushed it out. So, a blog can be hugely powerful for reaching a broader audience.

And then to establish yourself as a thought leader, whether you want to be speaker, or if you are a writer or playwright, or you want to get your name known or you want to be an influencer, that eventually you might get paid to curate other content to make a living out of it.

Blogs began as a personal mini site, where people used to just record their opinions, stories and other writings as well as photos and videos. And now it’s become part of an overall marketing or brand strategy, whether it’s an individual or a company, and it can be used to drive business.

So, blogs have gone from maybe two or three paragraphs when they started to long-form content of three to four thousand words because Google really loves that depth of information. And ideally you want your blogs to show up in organic searches. And if Google sees that there’s weighty, relevant content, and you’re linking to other sources that builds a sense of online community. And once you get it showing up organically, and people start to follow you and engage with the blog and comment and you get to know your audience better – then you can actually start to leverage some of that into lead generation. Taking it from a branding platform to lead generation by having more calls to action like visit our website for some of our upcoming talks or, check out some of our other blogs and you can start to generate leads or you can monetize it if you want to.

JAMES

Let’s talk a little bit about social media and about online marketing and the various platforms like Facebook and Twitter. And I know we’ve got the Coronavirus right now, but minus that I’m just really interested in looking at social media as a marketing tool.

TONI

Facebook still dominates. It’s not going away. They’ve got Whatsapp. They’ve got Messenger. They’ve got Instagram. If you put an add through Facebook it actually has sixteen different channels that it moves through. They have a wide reach and one-third of the world’s population is on Facebook. The most active demographic is the older demographic and more women.

I should mention 80% of the people on Instagram aren’t even in North America. It’s a worldwide platform. It’s great for visual branding, visual representation. And if you put an ad on Facebook, it automatically can be put through to Instagram. So, it’s a highly powerful marketing tool. And people like the visuals.

Twitter is kind of a niche source. It skews slightly more men. It’s just the facts ma’am. LinkedIn is for professionals and it’s owned by Microsoft. It’s a pretty powerful tool to use as an industry expert.

And then the new kid on the block is TikTok. TikTok’s value is that it appeals to the humour of a 14-year-old boy. So as a brand, it’s been really hard to figure out how to tap into that. But companies are now starting to advertise on TikTok. TikTok is about entertainment. It’s silly fun. So, it’s hard to infiltrate that silly fun level and come across as being professional but like I say brands are finding ways to do it.

JAMES

So, the noise to content ratio on social media is pretty high. How do you cut through that clutter? How do you get the attention of the person you’re trying to reach?

TONI

I think the important thing is not just to use one channel, right? And the risk with all social media is that when you post something as soon as someone else posts something your post falls down. And probably 80% of the people don’t even see your post. So, you need to post frequently. And if you talk to any social media strategist, they’re gonna want you to post many times a day or many times a week. I don’t really believe in that. I think it’s more important to diversify your branding across different digital assets or channels. So, you know, post on Twitter, if that’s where your market is or on a visual platform like Instagram where you can have a lot of filters and you can do a lot of things to really make your post pop and stand out.

JAMES

I guess companies are really becoming responsible for the creation of their own content. What advice would you have for a company about creating content?

TONI

I think it’s important to know what you’re doing, too, because you can drive it off brand, right? Even accidentally. But I always say that even if you hire someone or a company to manage your marketing, you still need to have the people within the company providing that content because they know the company best. So, somebody from the company should be there managing it or contributing it to it anyways.

JAMES

Do you have an example of a company you’ve worked with that has had a particularly effective marketing campaign?

TONI

I’m working with Ravenwood Developers. They’re a home builder and they wanted to tap into the energy-efficient high-performance homes market. They build Custom Homes. Beautiful homes. But they wanted to move into this niche for the 35 to 50-year-old homeowner who would like a green home. It’s not about the money. It’s about what they want to contribute to the betterment of our earth and for their children and a legacy.

So, we created a campaign which was quite successful. We created a landing page on their website that performed really well in terms of gathering contact information and we used social media to drive them there. So, we identified the market and who they were and what their values were. So, we can niche the market quite well with social media because a lot of them are on Facebook and we used Facebook and Instagram to highly target them because you can filter out who can see your ads. And we drove them to the website, and we tested different visuals.

You know to find out what worked, what didn’t work, what messages worked. Was it heartfelt? Was it more about the money? And so we optimized it to the point where a lot of people were clicking on it, and they really liked the landing pages that were more heartfelt. You know your home is where your family gathers and going back to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs of love and belonging and deep values that people have around their home we were able to optimize it and now we’re running campaign after campaign based on that concept, and it’s working really well.

JAMES

So, when planning, marketing, you know, there’s the immediate short term and there’s long term things to consider. What are some of the things you need to look at in terms of your short-term marketing plan and your long-term marketing plan? How do those go together?

TONI

So, the long term would be building your brand, building your perception, and that’s consistency through multiple channels, over a long period of time. So, consistency means regular postings, regular updates to your website, regular visuals and messaging, whatever you’re doing on a regular basis to indicate that you’re there. And then multiple channels that are integrated. It shouldn’t just be one channel. Most people aren’t just on one social media, or watch just one TV station, or listen to just one radio station. And then you have to give it some time to work. So that’s the long term.

The short term is generating those leads and driving traffic to your hub and helping them to make decisions. So, part of that decision-making process is giving them an opportunity to get more information about you. So, capturing their names so you can sign them up for a newsletter or send them more relevant content. Not sales content, because all you’re trying to do is align their values with yours so that they come to a point where they will buy something.

JAMES

This is May 1st 2020 and the Coronavirus is causing a huge worldwide impact. So, let’s talk about that a little bit because it makes sense since we’re in the middle of it and everything we’re going to say here is going to be from the context that we’re talking about this on May 1st. So, what are you seeing the impact of Coronavirus on businesses and their marketing?

TONI

I’m personally writing a blog about it. It’s the Ps of Pandemic because you know, it’s kind of a play on marketing. Marketing is the four Ps. Product, price, place and promotion. Well, the pandemic has caused companies to either protect, promote or pivot themselves in terms of marketing.

So, protecting is cutting back. Slashing costs. They’re just holding tight to protect their assets but they should still be doing branding and posting. The other option is to promote. Some companies are still going full steam ahead. They’re still doing marketing because they’re either a grocery store, for example, or they’re a valued service. So, they still need to do some promotion. And then the pivot is where some companies have done a complete U-turn and they need marketing because it’s just like repositioning yourself. They have to rebrand and come up with what does that look like? And that’s hard to do quickly. We’ve only been in this six weeks or so but companies like Minhaus Brewery that started producing hand sanitizer did a quick pivot. Mind you they’re not pivoting for the long term. But a company where the old business is never going to work again needs to pivot during this time and they need to get on the rebranding as soon as possible in order to capitalize on it.

JAMES

So, Toni, we’ve talked a lot about marketing but I’m wondering do you have a personal formula for success? Something that works for you?

TONI

Hard work and resilience. I just keep working at it. I don’t think there’s any other way of being successful. And failure is just one more step closer to success because it’s only through failure that you actually learn how to optimize and become successful.

DOWNLOAD – James Hutchison Interviews Marketing Architect Toni Guffei – Ratio Marketing and Reports

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview with Barry Tuff – Rogers Media: Reputation is Everything

Posted on by James Hutchison

Barry Tuff, Rogers Media – Photograph James Hutchison

“I remember, there actually was a sort of a watershed year for me where I realized I must have arrived on some level because I had an unbelievable year of new business achievement and was rewarded for it. And I looked at it, and I realized that they were all referrals. Every single new business account was a referral. And I said, “That’s it. I believe I have arrived on some level. People trust me. They’re, okay to refer me.”

Barry Tuff, Rogers Media

You won’t stay in business long if you don’t get customers through your door or get customers purchasing your products and services online. And while social media and digital have opened up new avenues for reaching potential clients television and radio still attract a large audience and offer tremendous marketing opportunities.  For several years I worked for Citytv writing and producing commercials and one of the people I worked with in sales was Barry Tuff. Barry is one of those sales guys who cares deeply about his clients and just as deeply about the people working at the station to help deliver an effective advertising campaign. I sat down with Barry to talk with him about his career in media, our predictions for the Stanley Cup, and his love of music.

JAMES HUTCHISON

So, we’re going to chat a little bit about life in media. Your life in media specifically.

BARRY TUFF

It’s been a long life.

JAMES

Where did you first start, and what year was it?

BARRY

In 1976 I started working for a company called Hook Signs which became Hook Outdoor the monopoly billboard company in Alberta. I was there for about two or three years. Years later, it was bought out by Jimmy Pattison and is now one of the largest outdoor companies in the world, but when I started there it was a beautiful experience because it was a small family run company. And your goal was to become a director someday and be able to share in those profits. After that, I left and tried out a few different things that didn’t work out very well and then I got into radio.

JAMES

Where was your first radio job?

BARRY

I went to work for CKXL in 1980.

JAMES

The CKXL of today is not the CKXL of 1980.

BARRY

Not at all. It was a top 40 radio station. The morning show had a 30 share and a share is the percentage of radio listeners tuned into a given station at a given time. And the personalities on that radio station were celebrities. It was incredible to be part of that. We had the XL sunspot sticker and it was on just about every car in the city and we had people running around giving out money if your sunspot was spotted and they pulled you over. We had the fun bus and the fun bus would be going up to the mountains all the time with winners in it. It was a party bus. So, there was lots of money and lots of ways to exploit it. And there wasn’t a hell of a lot of competition. We had CFAC which was a country station. We had CHQR which was easy listening and CFCN which was about the same.

JAMES

Radio was massive in those days.

BARRY

It was massive. We had a client that had these pots and pans they wanted to sell out of a farmers’ market that was located on Blackfoot Trail, and they spent a couple thousand dollars to buy some radio spots on CKXL to sell this truckload of pots and pans. Of course, these were the best pots and pans in the world at an incredibly discounted price. I think it was 35 bucks in about 1982. I went to check it out and I couldn’t get close to it. The traffic jam was incredible. There were literally people parked on the boulevard running up with their money in their hands to get a hold of these pots and pans. That kind of stuff would happen all the time. So, you knew people were listening, and they were responding, and it was nice to be a part of that. Of course, you reflect on that now because the world today is so fragmented.

JAMES

And now you’re working for Citytv but when you started here it was still A-Channel which was owned by Craig Broadcasting.

BARRY

It was A-Channel, the last of the independents. And we survived with our hard work and ingenuity and you know, being a good alternative and providing great value and great service to our clients. And then A-Channel was sold to CHUM out of Toronto, and A-Channel became Citytv, and then CHUM was sold to CTV, and CTV couldn’t keep all the assets.

JAMES

Because at the time the CRTC said you can’t have two television stations owned by the same company in the same city and CTV already owned CFCN here in Calgary.

BARRY

And then Ted Rogers who was always known as a bit of a maverick said, “Here’s a cheque. Go get Citytv. I want it.” And so, we went from the little station that could to an iconic Canadian brand – Citytv, and then Rogers bought us and they’re a company with really deep pockets, and that really put us on the map.

JAMES

You’ve done local sales for a long time in radio and television and worked with a lot of local clients in this market. What are some of the things you would tell a client today that they should be looking at in terms of their use of media as part of their marketing message?

BARRY

I think consistency is essential.

JAMES

When you say consistency what do you mean?

BARRY

You want to be on-air as often as you can and as much as you can. You really need to stay front and center at all times. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a huge budget. You can narrowly cast your net and just buy Breakfast Television for example and be there all the time, and by doing that you can build your business and build your brand. You have to be there in good times and in bad times, it’s insurance, and you’re going to gain market share because others aren’t there consistently, and so when the good times come you’re going to do really, really well.

JAMES

You’re talking about keeping that top of mind awareness in the consumer’s mind because people do forget.

BARRY

Yes, they do.

JAMES

If you look at national brands they always dedicate budget to brand awareness in conjunction with their sales message. And the sales are more successful because the branding message keeps them in the consumer’s mind, and there’s statistical evidence to prove that the brand advertising impacts positively the sales advertising, correct?

BARRY

Yeah, well, it triggers associative memory or your reticular activation system, you know, by which when you’re in the market for something all you see is that advertising, right? And when you’re not in the market for something it retreats. You don’t notice it. And as a salesperson, I can not emphasize enough the importance of being prepared and asking the right questions when you meet a new client. You should know all about them, and you should do all your research. That’s one thing that’s changed. I remember spending time in the basement of the public library downtown looking at microfiche and annual reports before going out to a client. That was an afternoon. Now it’s pretty easy to get that information from their website.

JAMES

But you still need to hear from them.

BARRY

You still need to find out what their pain points are, what their goals are, what their challenges are, and where they aspire to be. And often, they’re confused, you know, you need to help them focus because there are lots of choices now. We do lots of digital. Rogers Media has a full line of products that we can geofence and geotarget, and we’re fully integrated with our other media divisions. We have digital and television, but we also have our radio group in Calgary which includes CHFM, 660 News, Jack FM and Sportsnet 960. And the vision for media companies these days is that they can provide all your solutions with just one call.

And a lot of clients in a tough economy want extra value and one way to do that is to develop partnerships and promotions. And we’ve got lots of ways to do that. We’ve got segments on Breakfast Television they can sponsor, we’ve got live eyes, we’ve got a great promotions department so there’s contesting. And that way you can add layers to a 15 or 30-second ad campaign. We do lots and lots of that. And one of the most gratifying things we do is working with charities on that basis and developing partnerships.

JAMES

What are some of the local charities that you’ve worked with?

BARRY

We have worked with organizations like The Mustard Seed, Inn from the Cold, and Safe Haven. Those are just three of them. Rogers supports charities and they’re good corporate citizens. They encourage their employees to volunteer, and Rogers gives every employee one day off a year during work time to volunteer if they choose to. And then we have a weekend in June where everyone in the company is encouraged to go out and volunteer. And this year we went out and volunteered at the YMCA’s Camp Riveredge, and we helped the grounds crew clean up and get things ready for their season. And we’ve also volunteered at the Mustard Seed and at the Calgary Food Bank. And we partner on events like the Calgary Marathon and this year we produced a series of vignettes. They were profiles in courage really and told people’s stories about how they started running and how it changed their lives and we hope that those stories might inspire someone to try something they might not normally try. And radio was there, and Andrew Schultz from Breakfast Television was at the finish line, and Ted Henley from Breakfast Television starts the race and announces the runners as they cross the finish line.

JAMES

What are some of the clients you’ve had for the longest?

BARRY

We’ve worked with Toyota for 20 years and when you work with a client that long you really get to know each other. And the key is to never take each other for granted. Just like a marriage. Because you cannot rest on your laurels and assume that’s going to be there from one year to the next. So, you have to foster that relationship constantly. We’ve worked with Broadway Across Canada for many, many years. I remember the first time they came through with a Broadway production I thought, “Well, this is great. It’ll come and it’ll go.” Well, I think we’ve worked with them for probably 15 years now. We partner with trade shows and festivals. A lot of individual events. The Circus comes to town once a year, and Disney on Ice comes to town once a year, and the Monster Jam and on and on and on.

JAMES

Let’s talk a little bit about the new season and one of the new shows you have on your schedule is Four Weddings and a Funeral. What can you tell me about that one?

BARRY

It’s based on the 1994 movie that starred Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell. It’s produced by Mindy Kaling. She was in the office and she’s a comedian, she’s had a pretty popular show recently, but now she’s branched off into the movies and she’s behind the scenes of this one as a producer. It’s about relationships and how complex they are and we hope it resonates with people. It will air Thursday nights at 10 o’clock.

JAMES

And then you’ve got a new situation comedy coming up called Mixedish.

BARRY

Mixedish is the prequel to Blackish. It’s about a mixed-race family that lived on a commune and then moved to the suburbs and the children have to navigate a school culture where they’re not perceived as either black or white. So that’s got some real potential and it’ll run from 9:00 to 9:30 on Tuesdays and Blackish will run 9:30 to 10. So, same production company and same writers and if it does half as well as Blackish we’ll be pretty happy.

JAMES

There’s a midseason replacement that looks interesting called Council of Dads.

BARRY

It’s about a fellow that’s been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he’s very principled and he wants to make sure that his philosophies about life are passed on to his kids after he’s gone. So, he puts together a council of his friends who are also dads to step in after he’s gone and guide his children. And when we showed the trailer to our ad agencies we had a disclaimer saying that this one may bring a tear to your eye because of what it’s about, and we had people reaching for the tissues. It should have some impact, and it’s a great message.

JAMES

And on your Saturday nights – what have you got programmed there?

BARRY

This will be the fifth season of our owning the NHL broadcast rights and between the City stations, Sportsnet and our partnership with Hockey Night In Canada on CBC we’ll produce and broadcast 500 games plus every game in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And of course, the best part is that because it’s sports anything can happen. And this year we had some Canadian teams, including the Flames, in the first round.

JAMES

It would have been nice to have a few more rounds.

BARRY

It would have been nice to have a few more rounds, but that’s sports and every season there’s always going to be some great memorable moments, and there’s a large audience who are big fans that will show up and watch.

JAMES

Quick question for you then. As a Calgarian I know you won’t be biased on this, but what’s your prediction for who will the Stanley Cup next year?

BARRY

(Laughs.) I can not make that prediction.

JAMES

I can. Calgary Flames, man. Go Flames Go all the way.

BARRY

Yeah, it’s the Flames turn.

JAMES

That’s right.

BARRY

It’s been a long time. It’s the Flames turn.

JAMES

So, you’ve had a long career in sales.

BARRY

Forty-three years.

JAMES

So, looking back on that forty-three years, what do you think it is that makes a salesman good at their job? What are the qualities you think you need to be a top salesperson?

BARRY

I think you need a work ethic, for sure. You need discipline. You need to look after you so you can look after other people. And you need to be informed. And you have to be interested in things and inquisitive, and you have to have empathy, above all, because it’s not about you. It’s about the client and any client that you go see their first question is going to be, “So what’s in it for me?” And you have to be very cognizant of that. So, first you have to find out who they are, where they’re at and where they want to be, and then make a proper recommendation based on education and experience. And if anybody is interested in selling you have to study selling from the masters. There are books. There are seminars. There are YouTube videos. You have to become a student for life because even when you are at the top of your game you’re never done.

JAMES

There’s never a, “You Made It,” party.

BARRY

There is no finish line. I was just talking to somebody this morning and I asked him, “How’s the year going so far?” And he said, “Well, I had my best year ever last year and you know what that means for this year?” It’s hard to overachieve when you’ve had your best year ever because you become the victim of your own success so you’re always chasing something.

JAMES

Plus, we should say that when you’ve had your best year ever your sales manager looks at you and goes, “How are we going to improve on that and deliver an extra 10% this year?”

BARRY

Yes.

JAMES

So, what do you think people misunderstand about the sales profession? What do they get wrong?

BARRY

I think it’s those terrible clichés. It’s the huckster. It’s the pitch person. It’s the snake oil salesman. And sometimes when you walk into a new business and even though you’re not like any of those and you’re professional you can often get judged based on the last few that were in the door before you. So, when you meet new clients, you’re always having to earn the right and always having to earn their trust.

JAMES

So, what I’m hearing from you is that part of being a successful salesperson is establishing, maintaining, and growing your reputation.

BARRY

Reputation is everything. I remember, there actually was a sort of a watershed year for me where I realized I must have arrived on some level because I had an unbelievable year of new business achievement and was rewarded for it. And I looked at it, and I realized that they were all referrals. Every single new business account was a referral. And I said, “That’s it. I believe I have arrived on some level. People trust me. They’re, okay to refer me.”

JAMES

Because that’s putting their own reputation on the line.

BARRY

Yes, it is. And you can feel it. Reputation is everything.

JAMES

Reputation and integrity.

BARRY

Hand in hand. And, above all, you always want to seek ways to be inspired so that you can inspire other people.

JAMES

Okay. Well, then speaking of being inspired let’s talk about another interest of yours. You’re a musician?

BARRY

Yes, I am.

JAMES

How long have you been a musician?

BARRY

For as long as I can remember. I started playing drums probably at the age of 11. And I think I got together with other musicians and jammed for the first time probably when I was about 15 years old. And then starting in the 80s there were these six-night cabarets and we put together a great band and we played all over, it was a tremendous band.

JAMES

What were you called?

BARRY

The band was called Body Talk and we had a massive P.A. and light system and it was a good-looking band and we dressed well and we had sound effects. We did cover material, but it wasn’t necessarily the most popular covers, but it went over very well and one of our first gigs was opening for Chubby Checker. And Chubby’s a good guy and he was playing with a bunch of New York musicians who were on the road with Chubby just trying to keep the dream alive.

And then we became an A-Circuit party band called Cross Section and we had a beautiful girl that sang with us. It was a real show band and we played for companies that would have these lavish parties and they’d hire us. Mostly one-night corporate stuff which was way better money than playing six nights in a cabaret. We finally figured that out. And since then I’ve been in some country trios and I played in a gospel band for a few years at a church.

JAMES

So, music has been a cornerstone of your life and I’m wondering what is it you get out of music? What does it provide?

BARRY

It’s a high, it just is a tremendous high when those lights come on. And I ended up playing with a very talented musician who drove us to rehearse past our abilities. And I hate to rehearse but he said, “If you are overprepared on your best night you’re going to blow everybody’s mind, and on your worst night you’re going to be really good.” And he was right.

JAMES

Who was that?

BARRY

Frank Windsor. He’s a commodities broker in town, and he’s an incredible musician. Just incredible. And, that was a good lesson. And it’s a lesson that you can certainly apply to just about every area of life. You have to be willing to put in the work in order to be prepared and do your best.

Interview with Lunchbox Theatre Director of Marketing & Communications Lauren Thompson

Posted on by James Hutchison
Lauren Thompson – Director of Marketing & Communications – Lunchbox Theatre

“Have fun and be creative. If you won’t find it interesting to read why is your audience going to find it interesting to read? If you don’t like the way it looks, chances are your audience won’t like the way it looks. So, trust you and do what you want to do. Marketing is the place where you can be creative and do your own things. Financial people have to follow a budget – have to follow numbers, but marketing is that world where you can have your creative juices flow, if you will.” – Lauren Thompson Director of Marketing & Communications

You know it’s not true. The whole idea that all you have to do is build it and they will come. That idea only works in metaphysical baseball stories. In the real world, if you build it – you have to tell them about it – and then they’ll come.

Maybe.

Marketing is the process of telling people your story and why they should buy your product or service, and in the theatre world that means finding ways of reaching people and telling them why they should come and see your show.

I sat down with Lauren Thompson, shortly before she left her position as the Director of Marketing & Communications for  Lunchbox Theatre, to talk with her about her approach to marketing and some of things she’s done during her time at Lunchbox.

JAMES HUTCHISON

So tell me what you noticed when you first started as the marketing manager for Lunchbox Theatre three years ago.

LAUREN THOMPSON

When I first started I noticed that although Lunchbox had moved into the Calgary Tower location in 2008 a lot of people still didn’t know we were there. The theatre people did. The theatre community people did. But our normal audience, of the downtown working crowd, either thought we’d shut our doors or knew that we’d moved, but they didn’t really know where we were, or they had stopped paying attention.

JAMES

Lunchbox Theatre in the heart of Calgary under the Tower

The move really hurt Lunchbox in terms of people going to it?

LAUREN THOMPSON

It wasn’t convenient for the typical audience that they were seeing. And convenient in the sense that before the move they were in Bow Valley Square. There were five other buildings, or whatever, connected through the plus 15s and it was right in the middle of a food court and there was a lot of foot traffic. There were a lot of positives going on over there. And there are so many positives that have come out of the move here, but the audience, and the traffic, and the regular patrons, and what defined Lunchbox was changing.

JAMES

Okay then, what is Lunchbox? And what does it mean to the community?

LAUREN THOMPSON

Well, I really think Lunchbox has changed. It’s not this convenient stop in for one hour, and you don’t really know what you’re going to get, but it’s here, and you’ll have your lunch. It’s now a destination. We have to program shows to make people want to put in that extra five-minute walk down Stephen Avenue to come see us.

And I think now we’re really focused on Lunchbox as an incubator of sorts. We workshop new plays, but we’re also a company for emerging artists, new designers, and new directors through our RBC emerging directors program and our Stage One Festival, and all these things give a place for these emerging artists to really grow, and then to move onto the Theatre Calgary stages, or the Vertigo stages, or the ATP stages.

JAMES

I was doing a little reading and it was talking about people needing to think about the theatre experience beyond the performance. It’s not just the show. It’s the whole atmosphere. It’s everything.

Ben Wong as Charlie, Jamie Matchullis as Jennifer, Kelsey Verzotti as Jade and Chantelle Han as Lilly in the Lunchbox Theatre production of Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets – Photograph by Benjamin Laird

Lauren Thompson – Having fun with Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets

LAUREN THOMPSON

It is everything. I had a lot of fun with Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets this year. That was Dale Lee Kwong’s play that went up over the Chinese New Year. I specifically remember that one because it was this culture that I didn’t know a lot about. And it was so specific to Chinese New Year and those traditions. Dale was super supportive and taught us everything, and she gave me this forty-page document about all the traditions that they do and what red and gold means and what these symbols mean and why they do these things. I really wanted people to enter the theatre and read these quotes and fun facts along the wall about Chinese New Year and just be immersed in this new culture and this new experience. And on Instagram I did little fortune cookies, so you had a little image of a fortune cookie and you had to slide the image and it would be a different fortune every day. It was just fun posts that aren’t directly promoting the show, but it’s creating awareness and fun and excitement.

JAMES

You have a ten-dollar Thursday night. What was the genesis of that?

LAUREN THOMPSON

The first Thursday night show of every run was our lowest-selling show. So, we were hey, what can we do to entice people to come see the show and see what works? We didn’t know if it was going to work the first year we did it, but it did, and it blew up, and now it’s consistently the first show that sells out.

JAMES

Why do you need a full audience in there?

LAUREN THOMPSON

In Calgary, people are waiting for word of mouth. So, we need full theatres that first week to help get the word out, and by the time the first week’s over and the word of mouth has gotten out our second and third weeks fill up.

JAMES

Of course, nowadays social media is one of the main ways to help spread the word. How do you incorporate social media into your marketing?

LAUREN THOMPSON

Social media is basically doing some of our word of mouth for us, but we can help facilitate that word of mouth a little bit. We can put out a photo, or we can put out a comment and people will share that comment or photo with their own tag and their own comment in it.

JAMES

So, what types of content are you creating? Because I notice, just for an example, The Shakespeare Company will do an interview with one of their actors and post it on their website and then promote it through their social media.

LAUREN THOMPSON

Well, this year I found that the traditional media calls were not always happening. We’ve had a media call planned and the media has had to cancel, last minute, because there was an accident, or something else came up, or whatever, right? So, this year I said to Samantha MacDonald, our Artistic Producer, that we need to do it ourselves. I can’t rely on the media to get the story of our show out there. So, I started the coffee chats that I post on Facebook and Instagram.

I would interview two people from the production. Typically, the playwright or director and then an actor from the show and ask them questions about the process, about the play, and about their characters – what would typically come out in a media call. And then I put it out in the world so we’re not relying on something we have no control over. And it’s worked in our favour. And we’ve had media coverage this year, but I think those coffee chats opened up a different side. A more casual side. A different conversation about the play that a poster or a typical social media post won’t do for you.

JAMES

You know what I’m seeing that I really like? I’m seeing you and Theatre Calgary, and ATP, and The Shakespeare Company, and Vertigo are all using your social media to help each other.

LAUREN THOMPSON

This past season a few of the marketing directors from the different companies Theatre Calgary, ATP, Lunchbox, Vertigo, and I think Stage West just got together to chat and see how things were going and what are the trends and we realized – the same thing is happening across the board – and that we weren’t alone. And then the conversation turned to how do we support each other and get the word out about your show even though our shows on. Our show has the same actor that is in your next show coming up, so how do we do something about that, and let’s talk about that, and it’s become so wonderful to have that community of people who want to see all of us succeed.

JAMES

When you’re making your marketing decisions how much of your decisions are based on instinct and how much on research?

LAUREN THOMPSON

I personally am a much more instinctive person. I go with my gut, a lot. We tagged this season as, “What are you hungry for?” You know, are you hungry for culture? Are you hungry for family stories? Are you hungry for Canadian stories? And along with that – I don’t even know where it came from – I heard about the importance of taking time to take a break and getting away from your desk and taking an hour to take in arts and culture. And I ran with that idea before the season started. Yes, Lunchbox is one hour, it’s not expensive, it’s great theatre, but really like what is it doing for your life? It is giving you one hour of culture. It is giving you a one-hour break from a screen. It is giving you an hour to be with people and to watch live theatre and that has so many positive effects on you as a person. And I did all this research on workplace mental health and taking breaks and the importance of that but then channeling that into easily fun digestible posts or ads. And one of the ads – we did a bunch of ads in surrounding corporate towers and literally my promo was Lunchbox is a five-minute walk and it’s 621 steps. Get your steps for the day. Come to Lunchbox for an hour. And get your steps on your way back to the office.

JAMES

One of the things we talked about before the interview was based on your experience do you have any tips or lessons learned that people could take away in regards to marketing?

LAUREN THOMPSON

I do, but there are a million others. I would say, be open to ideas is number one. Be open to exciting new technology that’s coming out to apps to trends. The trends that are coming out are trends for a reason. Try them and see if they work for your company and your audience. Everything moves quickly. So, react to it all. And take it on your own spin.

Tip number two would be to have fun and be creative. If you won’t find it interesting to read why is your audience going to find it interesting to read? If you don’t like the way it looks, chances are your audience won’t like the way it looks. So, trust yourself and do what you want to do. Marketing is the place where you can be creative and do your own things. Financial people have to follow a budget have to follow numbers, but marketing is that world where you can have your creative juices flow, if you will.

JAMES

It’s a bit of magic.

LAUREN THOMPSON

Totally. My third one is to have a consistent voice. Know your brand. Know your company and your voice regardless. It might have a different tone for your different mediums. Our Instagram has a different tone than our Facebook, but it’s still a consistent voice, and I still know what the brand is and you’re always pushing that. Whatever you do it has to fall under that umbrella.

JAMES

Alright, lets talk about the importance of a healthy box office. How much do you think having a healthy box office impacts the overall company specifically your ability to get donations and other funding?

LAUREN THOMPSON

I don’t think it’s a secret that arts in Calgary are suffering. And we’re very aware. Sam does a preshow chat to the audience before every single show, and in the later half of the year we started to add in – you know obviously we’re struggling like everyone else, and it was just an awareness of it, and if you want to ask more questions and you want to help please come find us after the show. It’s just being transparent about it, and then people come and see the shows and support the shows and leave the shows talking about how much they love it and how much they want it to be around. We had some people come to Girl Crush with Sharron Matthews which was the first Lunchbox show they had ever seen, and the next thing you know we’re getting cheques of money because they loved it so much.

Sharron Matthews in Girl Crush at Lunchbox Theatre Photograph by Benjamin Laird

JAMES

Now, Girl Crush, just because you mentioned it, was a really interesting show.

LAUREN THOMPSON

Yes.

JAMES

Because it turned Lunchbox into a cabaret.

LAUREN THOMPSON

It did.

JAMES

And it did very well.

LAUREN THOMPSON

It was a gamble and it paid off.

JAMES

It was an entertaining and successful show and it showed that you can do a lot in that space. It expands in the consumer’s mind your venue as an entertainment venue rather than just theatre. Are there plans to do more?

LAUREN THOMPSON

Yes, we have a cabaresque show starting the season called Mickey and Judy by Michael Hughes.

JAMES

Traditionally September is a tough sell. Is that one of the reasons you’re going with the cabaret to see how it does?

LAUREN THOMPSON

Yes. September is hard on every theatre. This year we had Book Club II. The sequel to Book Club by Meredith Taylor-Parry. And it did well, but it also struggled just with it being in the September slot – nothing to do with the show. Mickey and Judy is a show that we’re really excited about – it being a musical and having a different style to it – the Cabaret feel you know. It’s a different exciting start to things.

Arielle Rombough, Cheryl Hutton, Kira Bradley, Curt Mckinstry, Anna Cummer – in the Lunchbox Theatre Production of Book Club II: The Next Chapter by Meredith Taylor Parry. Photograph by Benjamin Laird

JAMES

Okay then, lets talk about next season. I really like the artwork.

LAUREN THOMPSON

I am obsessed with the artwork.

JAMES

Tell me the story behind this.

LAUREN THOMPSON

So, last season we found a new graphic designer. And she did all of the artwork for the 17/18 season. The two-tone kind of colours and the single image kind of graphic look and it was similar to what Lunchbox had been doing but just a little more mature a little more modern. And this year our programming is taking a new shift, and we’re doing different styles and kinds of shows, and this is Sam’s first programmed season as artistic producer, and so we sort of chatted with her and said we’re open to new ideas.

JAMES

So, you went to the graphic artist?

LAUREN THOMPSON

We went to the graphic artist. Her name is Kimberly Wieting, and she’s young, and she’s so good at what she does.

JAMES

She has her own company?

LAUREN THOMPSON

Yeah, she’s an individual contractor, and she’s incredible. Her company is Gritt Media. We sat down with her, and Sam and I chatted about the season. We gave her a brief synopsis of everything and said, “Tell us what you want to do.” And she pitched this concept of this image on image and black with a pop of colour and it was a lot of work, but it was so worth it. And it’s just a totally different look for Lunchbox.

And it’s like we’ve said, Lunchbox has been around forever. Everyone knows Lunchbox, but now you’re looking at it differently. And we want them to. Our shows are different. Our production quality is different. Our outlook on what we’re doing, the projects we’re taking on, the scripts we’re developing, everything is different, and we’re shifting, and we want the imagery of Lunchbox to shift with us, and we think it’s gone in the perfect direction.

JAMES

Sounds like such an exciting time to be a part of Lunchbox, so what’s going on with you?

LAUREN THOMPSON

And ahhh – I’m going to leave!

JAMES

So, tell me what’s the opportunity for you?

LAUREN THOMPSON

I’m moving to Amsterdam this summer. And I really just needed a change. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was this whim in February. I just sort of was like – I need to go do this. I looked into visas, and most visas in most countries are the working holiday visa, and they’re only valid until you’re thirty. So, I said, I don’t have a mortgage. I don’t have a partner. I don’t really have anything tying me down. I can come back to this wonderful community – that I know will take me back when I come back – and I just need to go. I need to do this.

JAMES

What are you going to do?

LAUREN THOMPSON

I have no idea. (Laughs) Step one is find a place to live. I just want to work when I’m over there. I want to travel. I just want to meet people.

JAMES

Well, good for you for doing this. Do you think this explains part of your success as a marketer? I mean just even in your own life the willingness to take a risk – to try something new – to see how it works?

LAUREN THOMPSON

Maybe. And I’m realizing more and more, I react on my gut a lot. I follow my gut, and looking back on things and the decisions I’ve made – even the gut decision to take the job at Lunchbox – I’ve always followed that, and it’s always led me in the right direction. And my gut is telling me to go to Amsterdam, and so I’m just going to do it. And we’ll see what happens.

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Lunchbox Theatre is located at the base of the Calgary Tower. Regular season shows run Monday to Saturday at 12:00 pm with a 6:00 pm show on Thursday and Friday. Individual tickets are just $25.00. Group discounts, play passes and regular tickets can be purchased online at Lunchbox Theatre or by calling the box office at 403-265-4292 x 0.

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Lunchbox Theatre 2018/19 Season

Mickey & Judy – September 17 to October 6, 2018

Playwright Michael Hughes
Performer Michael Hughes

As a young boy, Michael Hughes was obsessed with musicals and liked to dress in women’s clothing. His parents, confused by his behaviour and determined to cure him, sent him to the Clark Institute in Toronto. Mickey & Judy offers a wildly funny and touching account of Michael’s real-life journey from the psychiatric ward to Off-Broadway. With a score that spans from Broadway classics to the best of the Judy Garland songbook, this inspiring cabaret show will have you laughing, crying, and singing along like no one is listening.

Brave Girl – October 22 to November 10, 2018

Playwright Emily Dallas
Directed by Valmai Goggin
Musical Direction by Joe Slabe

In 2002, Sam and Amy lose their father to the war in Afghanistan. Determined to follow his legacy and do their father proud, the sisters enlist and support each other through the joys and hardships of military training. As the two girls advance, their individual journeys take a very different course. Will their friendship survive? At what cost? Taking its inspiration from the life of Sandra Perron, Canada’s first female infantry officer, this beautiful new Remembrance musical examines the life of women in power and the sacrifices that must be made.

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play – November 26 to December 22, 2018

Playwright Joe Landry
Directed by Craig Hall

Back by popular demand! It’s Christmas Eve and the unimaginable has happened. George Bailey is on the edge of ruin; thousands of dollars are lost and with seemingly no way to save the old Bailey Savings & Loan, George wonders if the world would be better off had he never lived? With the help of a rookie angel and a cast of charming characters, It’s a Wonderful Life reminds us that we are each precious and important. Conceived as a live 1940s radio broadcast, this classic holiday story of love and redemption will be brought to life on stage by our Betty Mitchell Award-winning ensemble.

Sansei: the Storyteller – January 14 to 26, 2019

Playwright Mark Kunji Ikeda
Performer Mark Kunji Ikeda

On December 7, 1941, an attack on Pearl Harbour triggered events in Canada that may easily be described as among the darkest in our history – the internment and dispossession of tens of thousands of Japanese Canadians. Through an engaging blend of dance, spoken word and loads of humour, Mark Ikeda weaves a tale that is illuminating and profoundly personal. Sansei: The Storyteller offers Ikeda’s observations about the internment, his own discovery of where he came from, and how Japanese Canadians found peace.

Assassinating Thomson – February 11 to March 2, 2019

Playwright/Performer Bruce Horak
Directed by Ryan Gladstone

Bruce Horak is a critically acclaimed visual artist, actor and playwright who lives with just 9% of his vision. In this, his one-man tour-de-force, Horak delves into the mysterious death of famous Canadian painter Tom Thomson and the subsequent rise of the Group of 7. Art, politics, ambition, love and murder all take the stage in Horak’s compelling work. As he explores the facts and fictions around Thomson’s death, Horak shares his own story and the unique way in which he sees the world. And if that weren’t enough – while mesmerizing them with his words, Horak paints an original portrait of the audience at every show.

Gutenberg the Musical – April 1 to 20, 2019

Playwright Scott Brown & Anthony King
Directed by Samantha MacDonald

Bud and Deb are aspiring playwrights about to give the performance of their lives. It’s a backer’s audition, and in a desperate, bravely hopeful bid to fulfill their dreams of a Broadway production, Bud and Deb, with an overwhelming supply of enthusiasm will sing all the songs and play all the parts in their “big splashy” musical about Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press. Will all their dreams come true? Gutenberg! The Musical! is a raucous spoof of all things musical and is guaranteed to mildly offend everyone equally.

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Lunchbox Theatre was founded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by Bartley and Margaret Bard and Betty Gibb in 1975. Lunchbox produces one-act plays that deliver a fun and unique theatre experience in an intimate and comfortable black box theatre space. Patrons are encouraged to eat their lunch while they enjoy the show. Lunchbox is one of the most successful and longest-running noon-hour theatre companies in the world.

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Lauren Thompson has a degree in Tourism Management and Marketing from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. She grew up singing and performing with the Youth Singers of Calgary and is now a teacher for the Youth Singers as well as a choreographer and performer who has worked with numerous local companies including Storybook Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, Forte Musical Theatre, The Shakespeare Company and Theatre Calgary. Lauren became the Director of Marketing and Communications for Lunchbox Theatre in 2015 which has allowed her to utilize her degree and educational background with her love for the arts.

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