Chris Bruzzo

Thrilled to have represented Vintage Faire Mall in a live segment on Good Day Sacramento in my prior role as a Senior Manager of Marketing. Now, as a brand strategist, I have the opportunity to discuss the powerful synergy between marketing and live TV with my clients.🚀 In today's fast-paced digital world, where personalized connections are key, leveraging live TV presents an incredible opportunity to engage with your target audience both dynamically and authentically. 💼 Live television amplifies brand visibility, fosters trust, and drives meaningful interactions with viewers through a more personal connection. In this case, with the host and I as their guide, I was able to provide an experience we were offering for a holiday activation. 📈 Here are a few key takeaways: 1️⃣ Real-Time Engagement: Live TV allows for instant interaction with the audience, fostering genuine connections and feedback. 2️⃣ Authenticity: Nothing beats the authenticity of live content. It humanizes brands, making them more relatable and trustworthy. 3️⃣ Targeted Reach: By strategically aligning marketing messages with live programming, we can reach our target audience at the right time and in the right context. 4️⃣ Memorable Impact: Live TV leaves a lasting impression. It's an opportunity to tell compelling stories and leave your audience wanting more. Not to mention, provide shareable content to the platforms that you control. 5️⃣ Call To Action: Provide an actionable next step for your potential customer. For instance, "Make Your Reservation" and pre-plan your visit. Let's continue to push boundaries and redefine the future of marketing together! 💪 #Marketing #LiveTV #Innovation #brandstrategist #adagency

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One thing I see porn stars and media companies complaining about a lot is how the big budget production won't make any impact, whereas something filmed on a phone might go viral. What it demonstrates to me is that "quality" in it of itself is not necessarily what resonates with audiences, but authenticity and quality of the content, not the quality of recording, lighting, production. Certainly, having high quality production can help... but only if it makes sense and actually contributes to the message and goal of the effort. The purity and quality of message conveyed matters most, esp in the age of social media where authenticity ranks high in what people desire. The "authenticity" aspect is probably the core criticism of "gun bunnies" as a marketing concept. Done poorly, it appears as superficial pandering and cheap use of lust. Done well, it appeals to a deep human appreciation of aesthetics. Most social media platforms are primarily a visual, superficial. My guiding principal when using female models are to make it beautiful, and make sure the model knows what she is doing (or at least looks it). It's all a very delicate balance of art, authenticity, and why marketing is as much art as it is science. The science is all the crazy metrics to measure basically one thing: return on investment (ROI). The art is making the content that can reach, and then resonates with a target audience. Very easy to appreciate and critique, supremely difficult to repeatedly execute on. Why my guilty pleasure of LinkedIn archetype is the online whiner with a weak portfolio and track record.

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☀ The YPulse Summer of Innovation starts TODAY. All summer long we'll be looking at the innovative brands, trends, and big ideas that teens and YAs are pumped about. And to kick it all off ... here are *the* most innovative brands according to teens. We interviewed over 35,000 teenagers in North America and Western Europe to find out which brands they is, "improving on what came before it and is willing to try new things.” #summerofinnovation #genz #teens #innovation #brandtracking

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Beware of the hyperactive hive mind.... A worthwhile listen, Cal Newports investigation into the growth of email / IM and how it has filled the gap as a tool to show we are "Working". He argues how as we have moved from farms where our measure was the crop, to factories where the measure was numbers of widgets, and now in a knowledge economy its the amount (Not efficiency) of unstructured communication. https://lnkd.in/gQSMTepG

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You wanna know how Dr Pepper, that little peppery punk, stepped over Pepsi? It’s a gritty tale of street smarts and hustle. 1. Keep It Real. Dr Pepper didn’t try to be like them cola clones. It stayed true to its spicy 23-flavor self. Pepsi? They got lost in the sauce, chasing too many dreams and forgetting their own taste. 2. Stay Fresh. Dr Pepper rode the wave with new flavors like Strawberries & Cream and that wild Creamy Coconut from TikTok. They kept it hot, kept it interesting. Pepsi bet heavy on zero-sugar – cool, but it ain’t got that buzz. 3. Make Some Noise. Dr Pepper didn’t just hang in the South; they went national, turned their niche into a must-have. Pepsi? They let the spotlight slip, lost the edge in the marketing game. 4. Know Your Crew. Dr Pepper tapped into what the folks crave – that sweet and spicy kick. They knew their crowd and delivered the goods. Pepsi focused too much on health vibes, missed out on the real tastes that bring people back. 5. Stay True to the Game. Dr Pepper stuck to its roots. That loyalty built a die-hard following. Pepsi’s scattered focus made ’em lose some brand muscle, a hard lesson in staying true to your game. So, you wanna climb to the top? Take a cue from Dr Pepper. Keep it real, stay fresh, make some noise, know your crew, and always stay true to the game. I think I could write a good Dr Pepper commercial. #branding #marketing

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With third party cookie deprecation coming soon, I've been working with several of my fractional CMO clients to get the teams, systems and data ready for the change. I've outlined some of the things we've been working on in the article below. If you've already addressed these, great! If not, you should definitely take a look. These are things you should be considering. https://lnkd.in/g-HuERfM

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Attention Trend Spotters, Food/Bev Marketers & Indie Brand Folks: Foxtrot Market is shutting down today. Along with PopUp Grocer, Dimes and a few others, Foxtrot was a go-to place to see the trends and support new brands. Is Erewhon the only game in town? Is Faire the new go-to? Since Erewhon is an OG - this feels like the end of era to me. https://lnkd.in/gf_ygcz6

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Have you watched Shitthropocene by Patagonia? If not, you are going to want to. An irreverent satire that serves as a deep, thoughtful, and scary reminder of how we are turning our Resources to Rubbish. We have a choice to make: continue buying into "cheap" consumerism or lean into our extraordinary adaptive and problem-solving capabilities to rescue ourselves from the environmental crisis. Remember to buy only what you need, buy things that last, embrace the circular economy, reuse, recycle, and stop adding to the landfill. My favorite part of the film is how it ends with a powerful reminder, "The things that correlate with what we call happiness in every study of this topic, are relationships and a sense of purpose." Patagonia is a truly exemplary brand, and its vision and purpose permeate every part of the enterprise. A shout out to those in my network Stephanie Benedetto, Satyajit Hange, Kanishka Chatterjee (KC) doing their part to build a sustainable future.

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Arcature's newest article discusses the current problem Peloton is facing, which is their CEO leaving and so is their strategy to become more like Netflix. Read more about it on the Arcature website: https://lnkd.in/eY_gW_K2 #peloton #brand #marketing

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It’s so refreshing to see such an emphasis put on great branding and the creative that drives it. It’s a struggle with some clients to get them to understand why branding is so important. Some either have an inflated sense of the brand’s actual reach or don’t understand why it is important at all. Engaging creative with a solid brad is a winning formula for sales. Great series!

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Behind the paywall there’s some great stuff here…. Gap has been all over my LinkedIn FYP these last few days which to me is an indication they are working there way back into the hunt. To Danny Weisman’s point - this isn’t always about “impressions” but rather impressions with purpose. I’m old enough to remember you went to GAP for quality clothing that felt great on and held up to weekly washing. Should be a great lesson in how brands & media now more than ever need to work in tandem. Something Steven M. and I with our consultancy Moy & Halter often are talking extensively to or are listening in on brand marketers with great insights like: Diana Haussling, Vinny Rinaldi, Alyson Griffin, Casey Hurbis, Dave Kersey and Sri Rajagopalan about. What’s your opinion on how creatives and media strategy teams can better align through the planning process? Leave an opinion below 👇

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I recently shared my thoughts on the ensuring legacy of Apple's 'i' prefix and potential future. I think we've seen Apple change a lot in the last few years, and that feels normal and predictable to me. As the brainchild of Ken Segall, the 'i' became synonymous with innovation and simplicity, so products like iPhones and iPads became leaders in tech. As the digital age is evolving, there's a growing conversation around whether the prefix still holds relevance or if it's time for Apple to turn a new leaf. You can read more about it and my commentary on Wired:

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💡 #Brands Take note how the #NYPost mitigated #cookiepocalypse risk by using Aqfer's identity resolution tech, informed by Prohaska Consulting. In a post 3rd party cookie 🍪 world killer content and segmentation hooked to an adtech #frankenstack results in risk & loss. Pubs and brands need their own 1st party IDR systems to avoid fragmented customer views that result from multiple ID providers & other partners who are all hooked to each other in an attempt to create their own scale. This many-to-many-middlemen scenario has plagued adtech from the start. The result is redundancy, media waste, inconsistent customer experiences and inaccurate measurement. Think of Aqfer IDR like Data tech’s version of SPO 😉 #DPO, enabling clients like the NYPost, to get a single, deduplicated, omnichannel view of their customers. More here - https://lnkd.in/ggjDGWn5 https://lnkd.in/gTNURTu2

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This is hella interesting. I don’t think it’s a brand problem…I think it’s a profit over people problem. When you get comfortable just because of your name, cut corners on quality/material/innovation, and shift away from facilitating community+connection—why buy when you can no longer resonate with a brand whos values go against your audience and their cultural touch points are surface level at best. Sometime you have to slow your processes down and give people the room to develop regardless of what the board says. New Balance moves so strategically and slow when making choices and have been at the center of creating culture. Moving as fast as culture is never the answer if it’s at the expense of people for profit and doesn’t create impact over time.

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Hard to fathom a market cap declining from $49 Billion to $1 Billion in 36 months, but that's what we are looking at here. This is a case study on brands who live on speed to market versus intellectual property. Peloton did it first and did it fast, and created an enormous valuation bubble. Everyone drank the Kool-aid. Beginning in 2020, the pandemic boom accelerated their growth, and over the last two years, the pandemic bust accelerated their demise. But there was always one huge problem - Peloton had little to no IP. There were no barriers to entry, which made them defenseless to the army of exercise bikes, rowing machines and fitness app competitors who seized their success. The key lesson - speed to market always runs out of speed. Brands who sustain better have a war chest of patents, intellectual property and proprietary protections.

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Moving Retail Media from Science to Art.... Here's a few musings from the latest Unfold about how we've seen the advancement of RMNs into the upper funnel resulting in the conversation shifting from a place dominated by data and ad tech in to more of a discussion on messaging and creative. Or put more simply, how Retail Media is moving from a pure performance channel to a traditional marketing vehicle. ... and as a true P&G marketeer at heart, how excited that makes me! I'll drop the link to the full episode in the comments too 😀 Let me know your thoughts!

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https://lnkd.in/gSNGxFQp The Spencer Stuart annual CMO Tenure Study offers compelling insights into the evolving role and stability of CMOs, particularly noting the tenure stabilization at 4.2 years for Fortune 500 CMOs. It's intriguing that B2B CMOs tend to have longer tenures compared to their B2C counterparts, with 4.5 years versus 4.0 years respectively. This difference likely reflects the distinct challenges and market dynamics each sector faces. The study also highlights the increasing trend of CMOs taking on broader responsibilities and the significant number of first-time CMOs being promoted internally, suggesting a strong emphasis on leadership development and succession planning within organizations. It is great to see that women now represent half of Fortune 500 CMOs. I believe it's important now for companies to turn their attention to improving development and support systems for diverse high-potential leaders. #CMOtenure #B2BMarketing #Leadership #WomeninMarketing

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Ever curious about what's under the curtain? Dailymotion has just unveiled Auto Path, a groundbreaking high-impact creative tailored specifically for the Auto Industry. By leveraging our Predictive Targeting audience insights and vast scale, we've crafted activations that resonate with car buyers, all while providing measurable in-ad actions with OLV and CTV. Key Standard Features: - Custom Multi-touchpoint elements envelop your video creative - Product feature hotspots seamlessly integrated within the video environment to capture attention - Outbound click features to enhance data collection, site traffic, and conversion rates Experience an exclusive peek behind the scenes... Let us guide you on a test drive and engage seamlessly across all screens! Hit me or our exceptional sales team Brenda Rodriguez Valeria Basmagi Edivaldo Junior to introduce you to this exceptional innovation in Latin America #autopath #Dailymotion #creativeinnovation #predictivetargeting

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