Technology
Services
Resources
As marketing and advertising professionals leave their current roles for companies that better serve a diverse array of needs, their teams are struggling to grapple with the fallout of The Great Resignation.
In this episode, Corean Canty, COO of talent platform We Are Rosie, weighs in on the current talent landscape and shares what organizations must provide in order to appeal to sought-after professionals.
The COVID-19 pandemic served up a heavy hit to the food and beverage industry in 2020, but with vaccination rates rising, daily life is set to return to something more reflective of pre-COVID normalcy.
As we return to restaurants and the homes of friends and loved ones, food and beverage marketers will be wise to take steps to ensure their brands are poised to capitalize on the upswing. With what seems like endless options for reaching your audience online, Centro recommends trying the following strategies to strengthen your brand’s transition into the post-pandemic world.
You’ve heard it a thousand times: location, location, location. Food and Wine Magazine reports that 63% of respondents to a poll asking diners to list the factors they considered when choosing a dining establishment named location as a priority. In fact, location was third on the list, behind only health and safety ratings and price point. This means your customers are all around you.
Hyperlocal targeting can be a very effective tool for reaching your resident neighbors and those just passing through. Leveraging technology that is based on mobile phone GPS location data to target consumers who are physically present within a radius of your establishment, as opposed to the location their IP address is linked to, gives you an edge in reaching those who are nearby as they are making decisions about how to fill their bellies.
Leveraging a PMP, or Private Marketplace, gives marketers access to premium inventory that will appear adjacent to content that your target consumer is already interested in. As Didgiday explains, open ad exchanges are the public pools of the web where anyone can come take a dip, and PMP’s are the country clubs that allow select swimmers access to the pools with the palm tree fountain and swim-up bar.
How does it work? Publishers sell premium inventory to advertisers whose brands align with the user experience they want to provide their readers, allowing those advertisers the opportunity to reach a highly engaged audience with a greater level of interest in in their products.
Basis DSP provides access to over 2,000 PMPs, including those targeting users who seek out drinks, dining, entertainment, and lifestyle content. Travel-related PMPs put you on the radar of visitors who will be in your area soon, but would be missed by location targeting as they’re planning their trip from home.
Once you’ve chosen the ideal programmatic tactics to get in front of your audience, you’ll want to support those efforts with creative that draws them further in. The key to any good creative strategy is to be sure the tactics you’ve selected and the creative that will run against them are aligned. Tactics that focus on awareness are common among advertisers in the food and beverage vertical, and often utilize video creative.
Video is a great choice for any awareness campaign. Its visually captivating nature makes it effective at keeping attention longer than standard display creative. Programmatic video typically can run for six, fifteen, or thirty seconds. This allows for restaurant industry advertisers to showcase their kitchen’s work by featuring menu items they are most proud of, as well as the atmosphere diners would enjoy it in.
Video allows B2B advertisers selling everything from industrial kitchen equipment or linen laundry services to demonstrate the advantages they offer over competitors. Something to remember about video creative is that video completion rates are lower for longer videos. A good creative agency will be able to help you create video ads that leverage the attention that video creative draws in, but get the point across quickly.
Display creative is also effective when strategically paired to a programmatic tactic that aligns well with the content. For example, display is an effective means of advertising promotional offers to users who have already visited your website via a retargeting tactic. If you are using a tactic that seeks to bring new customers into a restaurant, featuring mouthwatering food photography in your creative is a great way to entice consumers to try something new.
Food and beverage marketers face a variety of challenges in 2021 as we reemerge from the pandemic—read more about how to help your marketing program recover from COVID-19 here.
This is the fourth in an 11-part series of blog posts that focus on Centro’s corporate guiding principles, and how those values show up in the workplace and in the lives of our people.
Recently, gold medal Olympian Simone Biles made headlines for her decision to withdraw from the Olympic games. Simone took the initiative to put herself and her mental health first before anything.
To reach greatness, everyone must take some time out to breathe. At Centro, our Reframe community group provides a safe space to rethink how we understand mental health conditions and discuss practices to manage them.
The Reframe mission statement goes hand in hand with one of Centro’s core principles, “breathe:”
“We work hard to build amazing products and achieve victory; however, we also recognize the importance of keeping life in perspective. Taking moments of stillness and breath allow us to consistently find peace and joy along the journey, as it’s an invaluable component to sustainable and lasting success.”
Reframe’s leaders, Kasia Sosin and Cody McGuire, host regular discussions to share experiences and speak to the ways in which culture and society impact how we view mental health.
“When a lot of people hear about mental health, they think depression, which isn’t always the case. Depression is a part of it, but there are other topics, such as anxiety, stress, and mindfulness. Reframe is meant to be a safe space to come and hear what other people are going through,” McGuire says.
According to Sosin, “another goal of Reframe is to break mental health into four quadrants: financial, physical, mental, and holiday (as company-wide holidays can feel different for everyone), and have a topic of wellness for each one. We also want to work to destigmatize mental health in the workplace.”
According to the CDC, poor mental health and stress can impact an employee’s performance, productivity, engagement, and communication with coworkers. Taking some time out of your day to just breathe can make all the difference for your quality of life.
In the future, Reframe plans to continue educating Centrons about mental health and mental health in the workplace.
Learn more about life at Centro.
This is the third in an 11-part series of blog posts that focus on Centro’s corporate guiding principles, and how those values show up in the workplace and in the lives of our people.
The great Socrates once said, “Let him that would move the world, first move himself.” In these past few years, we have seen how quickly and drastically life as we know it can change, for better or for worse. The ways in which we react to change can have powerful effects on individual growth, development, and resiliency.
Whether it is positive or negative, change is the only constant in our lives, which brings us to Centro’s next guiding principle: "Embrace Change." A world that is constantly evolving necessitates adaptation. We must learn to either welcome change, or risk falling behind.
Although it is necessary, coping with change can be complicated and difficult, a fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized. According to the CDC, 40% of adults in the U.S. reported struggling with mental health issues or substance abuse in late June of last year.
A disproportionate amount of those surveyed were “younger adults, racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers.” With the threat of another pandemic shutdown looming, exploring healthy coping mechanisms is essential to overcoming change rather than surrendering to it.
Allow Yourself Grace
In a pre-pandemic world, low productivity and high stress levels may have been easier to deal with. With continued isolation and the shift to remote work, the boundaries between work life and home life have blurred. The pressures of maintaining productivity levels and simultaneously juggling domestic responsibilities can be exasperating. Employees have taken to regularly extending workdays, and are finding it harder to disconnect from devices at the end of a shift. A survey from Staples reported that between 2019 and 2020, the average employee workday increased by 6.1%.
Allowing yourself grace can be a positive method for coping with changes brought about by the pandemic. Take breaks when you need to, and self-care days when you feel overwhelmed. Adjusting to this new way of life requires a considerable amount of energy and, understandably, you will feel burnt out. Find ways to reduce this feeling by disconnecting from your devices and focusing on activities that make you happy. Not only will this be beneficial to your mental health but may also diminish work-related anxiety. Also, take advantage of wellness events and activities offered by your employer (for example, Centro’s Wellnesspalooza).
Stick to a Schedule
Although it can be difficult while working from home, keeping to a routine will prove advantageous in the long run. If possible, continue your morning rituals as if you were still leaving for the office. Establish your work hours as well as a dedicated workspace to prevent work and home life from mingling too often and leading to distraction. A sense of normalcy may assist with adapting to post-pandemic changes as well.
Here are some additional tips for working from home.
Stay Connected
Sheltering at home has diminished our social lives by preventing us from seeing family, friends, and coworkers. Luckily, the virtual world has provided us with a way to socialize while avoiding the risks associated with the pandemic. By hosting movie streaming parties, playing online games, or even having simple video calls, we can retain our social connections. Participating in workplace community groups can be a great way to build friendships with colleagues as well.
Staying connected to our own minds and bodies is just as important. At Centro, employee mental health and wellbeing are priorities, and employees have access to free workout classes, mental health webinars, and even guided meditation subscriptions.
So, What Now?
As we know, change is constant and inevitable. There is no definitive way to embrace change, so we must construct our own methods for adaptation. Only then will we be able to progress towards a new—and hopefully even better—normal.
As a recently graduated Black woman who is just beginning her career, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and workplace culture are extremely important to me. When searching for opportunities after graduation I knew I wanted to find a company that shared my values.
One of the reasons I chose Centro was because of their willingness to learn and incorporate DEI, as well as their passion for helping employees to become better versions of themselves. Centro’s CEO Shawn Reigsecker even wrote earlier this year about his own journey of self-improvement and DEI.
Companies are always striving to better ensure success for themselves and their team members, and incorporating DEI and improving workplace culture are great ways to achieve this. In fact, around 70% of diverse companies are better positioned to capture new markets.
Listening to your employees is an important way to continue that journey to success as a company. If a team feels silenced, tired of trying to speak up, or not heard, that’s a direct reflection on the company’s investment in their people.
To see if other young professionals shared my opinions, I asked fellow Centro interns Bhavika Mullick (Human Resources), Cindy Huang (Paid Search), Tyler Forster (Ad Operations), Damon Whitman (Digital Media), LaTosha Pointer (Growth Marketing) and Nafisa Sarowar (Software Engineer Apps) to discuss.
Wangui Gathungu: In an ideal workplace, how would your employer address and incorporate DEI?
Bhavika Mullick: By having hiring and retention strategies in place, such as community groups. What’s the point of hiring those diverse groups when there is nothing to keep them there and allow them to grow and excel?
LaTosha Pointer: By acknowledging the different holidays within different cultures and not being afraid to encourage or show that we have differences–not just saying “we’re all the same.”
Tyler Forster: By hiring people from diverse backgrounds that can provide different perspectives. Often companies who have more diverse employees tend to do better because they have different backgrounds that can lend more creativity. Also, having a committee that talks about DEI.
Damon Whitman: I think it starts with hiring—you should hire people of all different backgrounds. People who have different backgrounds can offer different perspectives.
Nafisa Sarowar: By listening to their employees and taking their concerns seriously. Just overall support, and that can come in many ways.
Cindy Huang: Acknowledging the diversity within the workplace as well as different social issues. For example, if something in the real world happens, set up a meeting to educate people about what they can do to help.
WG: How important is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace to you?
BM: DEI is probably the most important thing for me, because what is a business without diversity? There are statistics that say if you have diversity then your productivity increases. It introduces us to different cultures and perspectives.
LP: I’m used to being in predominantly white workplaces and being the only minority, so I don’t expect too much when going into new spaces.
TF: Very important. Where I grew up was diverse, so now I seek out diverse environments when I look for jobs.
DW: As a Black queer person, DEI is very important to me. It’s important to me that I’m included because sometimes I’m looked over because I’m so different.
NS: I think it’s important. If a workplace acknowledges that DEI is important, it can encourage more thoughts and perspectives. If they don’t have that and something goes wrong, they won’t know what to do and maybe just make excuses. If you’re not acknowledging everyone fairly, you won’t be able to properly identify the problem and find the best solution for it.
CH: It’s important for me. You kind of stand out in a way being the only minority.
WG: What else are you looking for in an employer?
BM: Having frameworks in place for employee mental and physical health. Now that we’re all remote, it’s harder to separate work life from home life.
LP: Somewhere I can grow and learn. A place I feel comfortable at, where I can gain knowledge.
TF: A company that is attentive to their employees, meaning that they care whether their employees are happy, healthy, and enjoying themselves in a safe environment.
DW: One of the main things I look for is professionalism. I also look for companies that have people that look like me—being a double minority I want to see myself reflected in the company. I want to work for company that genuinely cares about me and not only the work I can do.
NS: A good work/life balance is important. I try to get all my work done during work hours so that I don’t have to take it home.
CH: I want a good team to work with, with a good team ethic.
WG: What do you like about Centro’s workplace culture?
BM: The community groups—I love that you can create your own group about anything you want, and use it to find people who feel the same way. I also like that Centro keeps us interested with different events.
LP: Everybody is nice, and they cater to people’s strengths.
TF: Everyone is genuine about wanting to help you and support you. No one on my team has a problem with taking some time out of their day to help me out.
DW: The first thing that comes to mind is everyone's supportive nature. Centro really takes their core values to heart.
NS: I love how everyone is so nice and down to earth, and how everyone talks to one another regardless of what position they are in.
CH: I like how everyone is nice, genuine, and willing to help and everyone strives for self-growth.
WG: How did you hear about Centro?
BM: COOP, which is a program for first-generation college graduates or college graduates who received financial aid. It provides you with networking help and help with job prep such as resumes and interview tips.
LP: I heard about Centro through Handshake, but I got my internship through an HR recruiter.
TF: I found out about Centro while researching jobs on LinkedIn.
DW: When I moved to Chicago I Googled “digital media roles in my area” and Centro popped up. I did more research and I saw that they have a good reputation.
NS: A recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn. The interview process was casual, and everyone was so nice.
CH: Through an apprenticeship program called COOP. Hearing one of the Centro representatives speak so passionately and genuinely about Centro made me interested.
Learn more about life at Centro.
Native advertising is a type of paid advertisement that is designed to match the look, feel, and functionality of the site it appears on. Native advertising is an effective way for advertisers to market their products without disrupting the user’s experience, because the ads match the content the user is already consuming.
Advertisers have used native advertising for over a hundred years. Some of the earliest examples include print advertisements blending in to appear like editorial content alongside newspaper articles in the 1920s and ‘30s, and brands placing their products to be seen in TV shows and movies.
The IAB defines six main types of native advertising, but the most common examples are:
Native ads typically have less copy and use images to attract the user’s attention. Native ads will typically drive the user to the brand’s website, a product listing, or a sponsored article.
All native advertisements will also feature a label such as “promoted” or “sponsored” so that users can identify that it is an advertisement. Because the ads also match the look of their surrounding content, they often go unnoticed by many ad blockers.
Sponsored content is a form of native advertising. Sponsored content also matches the look and feel of the content the user is already consuming. The main distinction here is that sponsored content often shows up as long-form ads that appear as editorial or video content.
Sponsored content will also offer the user an advantage for reading or watching, like learning new information. In this space, advertisers are seen as an expert or leader in the content they’re sponsoring. For example, a banking brand may want to share tips on keeping a budget.
With any type of native advertising, it is important that marketers first identify how their brand will fit into the ecosystem of native. Is native advertising right for your brand? If done well, native advertisements can make users more likely to engage with your content because the ads are placed where they are already are consuming. Users are also less likely to have an unpleasant ad experience because they are already consuming similar content.
The key to effective native advertising comes down to the creative. Native advertisements should match the look and feel of the content the user is already consuming, and shouldn't feel like ads.
Use high-quality images and strong headlines to draw a user in, and make sure to link to relevant content. It is important to not make the user feel tricked or duped, so make sure the native ad includes a “promoted” or “sponsored” tag. When it comes to sponsored content, make sure to work with highly skilled writers and editors to produce trusted and quality content.
Learn how Basis can help incorporate native advertising into your campaigns.
If you’re looking to increase the volume, efficiency, and customization of your digital campaign’s display banners, your brand may consider utilizing dynamic creative optimization (DCO). Not only is DCO a streamlined tool that enhances a marketing team’s productivity—it's also a powerful creative serving and targeting method that can improve user engagement, when used properly.
When running a digital ad campaign, your team may feel limited by the number of live creatives the ad server can accommodate at once. Perhaps you’d prefer to run hundreds of different creative versions with custom copy, colors, and/or landing page URLs based on specific targeting criteria. While standard ads do not incorporate all of these features, DCO is an alternative rich media solution that can!
Dynamic creative optimization, otherwise known as DCO, creates a more customized banner ad experience for your audience. DCO ads are especially useful when a brand needs to run multiple variations of different features, such as calls to action, copy, background colors, or products, within a single ad layout.
One of the more alluring elements that draws marketers to DCO is its intersection of creative variation and targeting capabilities. Different ad versions can be served to users by tapping into features such as their geo-location or their proximity to a particular location, a brand’s audience data segments, site content, or even the time of day. The result is a more personalized and relevant banner ad showcasing a brand’s message and imagery.
Many of us have had first-hand experience with DCO ads as consumers. You have likely been on the receiving end of display banners containing images of products you were previously browsing on a website. This type of ad can leverage cookie data from the advertiser’s website to then serve ads based on the product pages previously viewed within a set span of days.
Despite the rise of third-party cookies being blocked across popular internet browsers, digital marketers can still look to DCO as a reliable creative serving method for their campaigns. Not all dynamic creative targeting strategies rely on third-party cookies, so DCO campaigns can still target users with customized banners based on other aspects, such as first-party data or publisher data.
A main reason marketers incorporate DCO into their creative strategy is the ability to manage a very large volume of ads using a spreadsheet or feed paired with a creative template. The spreadsheet contains all the content that informs the banner output, such as image file paths, ad copy, landing page URLs, and targeting data.
Feed content may be populated manually through a spreadsheet or from an XML feed. Some feeds may contain several thousand rows of data, resulting in thousands of different ad variations. For those campaigns that require a higher level of creative differentiation due to more granular testing or targeting needs, DCO is the best option to manage and serve ad content.
A dynamic creative template works in tandem with the dynamic feed. The creative template is necessary to determine the layout and logistical restrictions that the copy and imagery adhere to in the ad. For instance, the template can designate the background image and headline as changeable, dynamic elements in the ad, but these elements will always remain in the same area within the banner. Though the template standardizes the overall layout of the creative, the feed allows for the customization that marketers look for when using DCO.
While the dynamic feed and creative template drive the look and content of the DCO ad, the dynamic strategy will ultimately determine when, where, and to whom the ads will be served. There are a few different strategies that can be used individually or layered together to inform creative decisioning.
For instance, you may opt to target creative versions by a user’s zip code for a geotargeting strategy, or target versions by publisher keywords for a contextual strategy. Regardless of the strategy you select, ensure that the same targeting is applied in the vendor’s ad server to avoid serving default creatives. Default creatives are a technical requirement by dynamic ad servers to prevent DCO creative from serving to a user outside of the targeting criteria. Default ads will also serve if the rich media loads improperly in a browser.
While dynamic creative optimization is a multi-faceted tool that can enhance the performance and efficiency of a digital marketing campaign, it is not a go-to solution for all branding initiatives. Campaigns limited in budget, resources, scale, or time are not ideal candidates for DCO.
Because it is a rich media solution, dynamic creative involves a higher ad serving cost. There may also be additional production costs to consider in order to build the template, feed, and strategy, and maintain the ads throughout the life of the campaign. An additional line item on the budget may include a team member or agency that is equipped with a dynamic ad product and knowledgeable in building and managing DCO campaigns.
Time is also a crucial factor when introducing and carrying out a dynamic strategy. It’s ill-advised to use DCO for shorter-run campaigns of 3 months or less because production and approval timelines for the dynamic ads themselves may take up to a month. Given the high cost of running and building a DCO campaign, paired with a relatively longer production turnaround, most cost- and time-conscious marketers prefer to use DCO ads for longer-run campaigns lasting more than 3 months.
Basis DSP accepts various partners’ third-party tags serving dynamic creative. Reach out to learn more about how you can strengthen your dynamic creative optimization strategy with Basis DSP's powerful programmatic offerings.
This is the first in an 11-part series of blog posts that focus on Centro’s corporate guiding principles, and how those values show up in the workplace and the lives of our people.
One of Centro’s corporate principles, Support Each Other, takes on an especially important meaning during Women’s History Month and at the tail end of a global pandemic that has disproportionally impacted women, especially women of color.
The circumstances under which women are working and living have changed drastically over the last year. McKinsey calculates that women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis than men’s jobs, and recent projections estimate that employment for women may not recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024—two full years after the projected recovery for men.
One reason for the disparity is the burden of unpaid care—shopping, cooking, cleaning, taking care of children or elders in the household—which is disproportionately carried by women. Not surprisingly, in September, when many U.S. schools resumed, 80% of the 1.1 million people who exited the workforce were women.
The COVID-19 pandemic added to what was an already unequal baseline at work. That baseline for many women can include contending with imposter syndrome, shouldering a larger amount of labor at home, dealing with sexual harassment, and struggling against a promotion and pay gap (to name just a few).
The impact to women of color is often multiplied. For example, the pay gap for Black women is $0.63 for every $1.00 white men earn, while white women earn $0.79.
So how can our workplaces, which now more than ever blur the lines between work and home and professional and personal– support women? To help answer that question, I asked four successful women at Centro about the different ways that they’ve experienced support in their careers and what workplaces can be doing better.
Ashley Press, Sr. Account Lead; Jennica Pui, Talent Operations Analyst; Jenny Jayne, Manager of UX Research; and Vitoria Cabrera, VP, Client and Media Services discuss below.
It’s no secret that many women feel pressure to "lean in," to balance their work and home life seamlessly, and to "have it all"–all of which are harmful myths. What has been a challenge for you as you’ve navigated this mythical balance of your personal life and career?
Ashley Press: The biggest challenge has been juggling the unknowns of being a first-time mom with an 8-month-old and the pressure to continually grow and succeed in my sales role. I’ve had to readjust my day-to-day to ensure that I can maximize my time and dedication toward work and home life.
It’s not always going to be an equal division of labor, and this can be difficult to navigate as a new working parent. There’s a constant pressure to do well in all areas, and I’m learning to not be so hard on myself. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and I’m constantly reminding myself to take a step back and enjoy everything that’s happening.
Jenny Jayne: As a mother of two, I can tell you that the pressure to produce as though parenthood doesn’t exist is very real. I was once advised to push past my morning sickness to “set an example” about working mothers for all my younger female colleagues. Here’s what I’d like to say to them: Don’t let anyone make you think that you have to sacrifice yourself or your family for work. You don’t.
Jennica Pui: I’ve found it’s been more difficult to disconnect while working from home. There isn’t anything particularly exciting or interesting going on, so it feels like continuing to work is the most effective use of time. Especially when there are projects with massive undertakings or tight deadlines, it feels natural to just keep going. It’s something that I really want to focus on this year.
Vitoria Cabrera: One of the biggest challenges for me is keeping up the appearance that I have it all together on both sides of the coin. I mostly do have it together, but not all 24 hours of the day or 365 days of the year! Learning to be OK with some cross-pollination (we are working from home, after all!) has been a stretch for me this past year, as was the realization that it is perfectly OK to slow down.
How has Centro supported you in your professional career or personal life as you’ve navigated your career?
AP: I started at Centro as an intern back in 2010. Since then I’ve taken on many roles on different teams. Having the opportunity to gain this cross-team experience has enabled me to be successful in my current role as a Senior Account Lead. This wouldn’t have been possible without the internal support I’ve received. Many times, employees have to hop from company to company to gain this type of experience, but Centro continues to evolve its tech and services alongside all the changes that are happening in the industry.
JJ: I’ve been impressed with how flexible Centro has been regarding my familial duties, especially during the pandemic. I have always felt like I have the space to do what I need to do AND take care of myself–not one or the other.
JP: I’ve found that my team takes a positive stance in learning from mistakes, and it gives me the opportunity and autonomy to figure out what works best for a given situation. My ability to adapt is something I think I’ve truly been able to harvest and nurture at Centro.
VC: Professionally, Centro has been pretty pivotal in my career. I've learned about different corners of the internet I hadn’t yet been exposed to, there are extensive webinars & POVs to keep us and the industry up-to-date, the T&D team provides trainings that are key to my role, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to use my voice, and overall, I’ve been shown what true transparency looks like from all levels of the org.
It’s hard to find all of this in one place and I am better for it! Personally, I find that Centro takes great care of its people, from urging us to practice mindfulness, to teaching us all how to be inclusive and supportive conscious leaders–I’ve grown so much as a person in the last year.
A lot of women, especially women at the beginning of their careers, feel pressure to have it all figured out or follow some imagined straight-and-narrow career path. How has your career path surprised you? Have you taken any left turns?
AP: I never thought I’d be such a tenured employee at Centro. Despite leaving the company for a short time to take on a new opportunity, I returned (boomeranged, if you will) and have now been with Centro over a decade. Not only have I been with the company for many years, but I’ve also taken on many roles, which has allowed me to continually grow in my professional career.
JJ: When I was in college, I wanted to be an international lawyer. I had no idea what that was, but I just wanted to travel the world and save people. When the recession hit in 2008, I struck gold by finding HCI/d (Human-Computer Interaction Design). I knew immediately that it was the path for me and that it was the best way I could use my skills to help people.
JP: I originally went to post-secondary for accounting, thinking that my appreciation for math would come in handy, and that it would be a career that my parents would be supportive of. I quickly found that public accounting wasn’t an industry I was interested in or excited about.
Trying to start a career in HR proved difficult. A lot of entry-level roles in Toronto require you to have experience in HR, and with a background in accounting, it didn’t quite line up. I ended up taking a series of administrative roles that allowed me to wear many hats, and was able to show my potential to my previous employers and pivot to HR.
VC: My career in digital was an accident! I’ve learned over the years that building equity in yourself yields the greatest results–it’s important to occasionally "take the project" or say yes quicker.
I studied radio production in college and then went on to work at a radio station as a Sales Assistant. The radio station evolved its offerings to include digital advertising, and I was chosen to be an ad trafficker. I could have said no, but instead I embraced the challenge. And now many years later, I have a career I am proud of, that all started because I was right where I was supposed to be to accept that challenge.
Women represent 54% of Centro’s employees and 48% of leadership roles, so there are a lot of role models here! Who is another woman who has inspired you or is a mentor or role model? How has she opened doors for you?
AP: When I returned to work from my maternity leave, I was overwhelmed by the amount of outreach and support I received from other woman in the company. I received advice, resources and words of encouragement from so many individuals, which made it so much easier for me to transition back to work and feel empowered. All the moms that reached out proved how amazing women are and how we are able to manage so much and still be successful in our careers.
JJ: Aubrey Lehrmann is someone here at Centro who truly inspires me. She’s not only smart and sharp as a tack, she’s open-minded and empathetic, with an ability to bring focus that never ceases to amaze me.
JP: Kati Fratesi, my previous manager, made note of the skills that I had and would recommend me on projects that were outside of my usual responsibilities so that I could advance my knowledge and continue developing.
VC: What excited me most about joining Centro was the amount of women in leadership in all levels. It is hard to choose one Centro woman, but if I had to choose one, I’d nominate Kaela Green for her role in creating the first Black ERG group–Black Excellence.
BE came about at a pivotal time at this company and in this country and creates a safe place for peeps and allies with Black identities. Having this space to share experiences and general thoughts has been key for me spiritually, and is a step in the right direction for Centro to further build out its DEI initiatives, therefore opening doors for me and others. Role models come in all forms–thank you, Kaela!
So much has changed over the last year, from shifting to virtual work, to dealing with added caregiving responsibilities. As the future of the workplace changes, what do you think the corporate world can do to better support women?
AP: Advance gender equality by ensuring the same standards are being applied when women are being evaluated for title or salary promotions. It’s also important that women are visible in leadership positions and encourage female empowerment across the company.
As a new parent, I would also have to say providing more flexible work environments for employees. By doing so, current parents will be able to better manage their work-life balance, and individuals planning for a family won’t feel discouraged. Additionally, raising a child still falls disproportionately on women, so companies should provide equal paternity care to allow each parent to equally contribute and transition easier back into work.
JJ: If the corporate world wants to help women, it needs to focus on men. I have found that much of what pushes women away from the workforce is the overwhelming pressure to cave to the traditionally masculine way of thinking about work and leadership. Women and feminism have so much to offer to help make the workplace more inclusive to women, and it requires men to make room for that.
JP: There are a number of organizations whose sole purpose is working towards empowering women, and I would love to see corporations collaborating with them to identify and implement mentorship or leadership programs that are scalable.
VC: The corporate world could: hire women, take women seriously, listen to and believe women’s stories, bring women to the table, promote women, pay women what they are worth and then some, and provide paid parental leave that is equivalent to Canada and Europe. Caregiving is not a woman-only experience, so to aid in that overall, the corporate world could be more flexible on a more permanent basis and give people the opportunity to be with their families in a meaningful way when needed.
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting strain on our collective mental health, it’s no surprise that outdoor recreation has become quite popular. We've seen huge category growth across areas like cycling, camping, paddle sports, and hiking. The pandemic has also also introduced and expanded demographics for these activities, and created new consumers as people look to gear up for their new interests.
When looking at the outdoor industry, “core” audiences have long been king. A core audience member is typically someone who is highly enthusiastic in a certain sport or leisure activity. However, these audiences can be small and existing perceptions can be more challenging to overcome. With an increased focus on health for many, plus new ways to find leisure in the outdoors due to COVID-19, it’s advantageous for brands to look beyond this niche group.
There is tremendous opportunity to make a first impression and grow reach and lifetime value beyond the core outdoor audience. In addition, there is an increased need for representing a diverse consumer set and creating an inclusive brand experience. Brands can grow by discovering new audiences that are emerging as curious hand-raisers for the first time.
Knowing that some of the products in this category come with high price tags and a lot of questions, it can be a huge challenge to build an authentic connection through a screen. Brands can build a real connection with these curious consumers by utilizing the right creative mix and data capture that will help them navigate the purchase funnel. Here are our tips to help brands discover, capture, and ultimately convert these new consumers in the space.
For those newer to the category, going into brick and mortar retail can be an intimidating experience. Plus, COVID-19 has made the ability to visit specialty retail even more challenging. Video and rich media can help bridge the gap between the consumer and the product. Painting a beautiful picture of what life looks like when using the product, or allowing for the user to play around with some more technical product features, will create a strong impression and begin building desire and trust. This is also a great format for focusing on diversity and inclusion, ensuring that many perspectives are represented.
The ways brands can leverage data and inventory to reach and capture new audiences is limitless. Digital can help brands find users who have visited a national park in the last 30 days, have ski resort or hiking guide apps installed on their phone, watched how-to videos, or browsed relevant articles about outdoor destinations. Remaining top-of-mind with banners and native ads throughout the discovery process will reinforce the connection and begin driving users to the brand site for deeper engagement.
The decision process can be long for some of the more expensive outdoor products, so understanding your audience’s interests will help keep messaging as relevant as possible as you continue the conversation with them. Dynamic retargeting allows brands to reach users across screens with a message to reinforce brand equity or include the exact product they were browsing.
Once a user makes a purchase, consider reaching that user with products within the same category that pair well with their new purchase. In addition, CRM data can be used to foster lifetime value and repeat purchase, if applicable. The consumer journey will play out across screens and platforms, and it’s best when these efforts are working together and playing their individual role. Centralize a source of truth that will help drive business decisions and budgets across search, video, social, and programmatic investments.
Connect with us to learn more about outdoor industry marketing with Centro.