With 20 years of experience leading marketing teams across a variety of business categories, from CPG to retail franchising to B2B2C to nonprofit, American Lung Association CMO Julia Fitzgerald is sure of one thing: Regardless of an organization’s business model, the fundamentals of effective marketing are essentially the same.

It all starts with knowing the narrative, she says. “What is your value proposition, what is it that you do, who do you do it for, and how do you do it differently than everybody else?” she told Chief Marketer this week. Then it comes down to branding, followed by evaluating—and optimizing—the team structure.

Check out our conversation with Fitzgerald spanning a plethora of topics, including common marketing mistakes brands make when measuring ROI; ways to analyze and pivot your current strategy for more profitable outcomes; lessons learned from marketing in the private sector; and why consumer sentiment and AI are the trends she’s paying most attention to.

Speaking of AI, ChatGPT has taken the world by storm since its launch last November, endlessly delighting consumers while raising the bar for generative conversation tools to dizzying new heights. But more generally, artificial intelligence enables a variety of business functions for digital marketers, from automating manual processes to monitoring data to fueling personalization. Here are four examples of how digital marketers are using AI-powered automation.

Lastly, check out how KFC Canada built the first-ever winterized basketball court to capitalize on the sport’s growing popularity—complete with pre-warmed basketballs, a nonslip-fabric court and regulation-size replicas of the brand’s iconic chicken buckets.

Until next week,

Kaylee Hultgren
Editor
Chief Marketer

If you would like to sponsor this e-newsletter please contact Dara Brooks at [email protected] or call (203) 899-8494.