When Dawn Keller joined California Pizza Kitchen as Chief Marketing Officer earlier this year, the company lacked an agency support team capable of driving a major brand transformation and international growth.

So she built one.

With the help of a competitive review and pitch process, Keller assembled an integrated agency team anchored by Iris, its new agency of record for brand, creative and social work, and supported by a trio of partners to handle PR, performance and brand extensions.

“We didn't have a brand and creative agency of record at all,” Keller said. “And CPK, as well known as it is and as long as it's been around, has almost never had one of the stature, size and scope of work for which we've hired Iris. It was a pretty evident gap, particularly [in light of where] we are with the brand and our aspirations for the next several years.”

We spoke with the marketing chief about her global vision for the brand; building an integrated agency team from scratch; her digital transformation strategy; and lessons learned from previous stints at culturally-relevant brands.

According to the CEO of smart eyewear brand Lucyd, Facebook ads are about half as effective today than they were five years ago, thanks to opt-in requirements from Apple’s iOS 14 update. The change has forced the brand to diversify its marketing spend and allocate just a third of its budget to social media marketing today. We look at the retailer’s approach to direct-to-consumer tactics, wholesale channels, online discounting and more.

Lastly, for brands with existing thought leadership programs, LinkedIn newsletters provide a simple way to engage and activate your audience on the social platform while reinforcing your expertise. We look at strategies and best practices to get you started.

Until next week,