Marketer’s Alchemy: Turning Data Into Gold

The Data-Driven Playbook for Modernizing Iconic Brands

In this episode, Kathryn Turnoff talks with Matt Repicky, Chief Brands Officer at Tailored Brands, about how he uses consumer research, social listening, and media mix modeling to modernize legacy brands, and why changing perception is less about overhauling a brand's heritage and more about reintroducing it to audiences who already like it. Guest Quote: “ The Men's Wearhouse business is so fascinating and unique because it's really built around this idea of those moments and people come to us because they're getting married or they have prom or they have a job interview or they have a first date. Whatever that sort of, Oh my gosh, this is something that I want to make sure I'm showing up correctly for. We do see them in these cycles that correspond with major life stages. Somewhat differently on Jos A. Bank, that customer is a little bit more attuned to he just likes the way he dresses and he has his own point of view and he comes to us much more regularly because he's into the wearing of it all, if you will. And so A, we have to bifurcate the way that we're talking to and showing up for each of those audiences. We've done that through our segmentation. But what I think the beauty of how we're trying to look at our segmentation is that not every customer is going to fit neatly into a box. The idea is that we actually are pushing our marketing and our creative and our messaging and our product to the lens of what's going to be most exciting to those segments tied to each brand. But we certainly don't want to ignore anybody or turn anybody off because again, there's a wide swath of men across the country that these brands are speaking to.” – Matt Repicky EPISODE BREAKDOWN: [02:32] Alchemy Unveiled From insight to instinct: Matt reveals how he diagnoses brand health by combining consumer research, store visits, and social listening — and why closing the gap between what a company believes about its brand and what customers actually think is always his first move.  [13:11] From Nuggets to Campaign Gold From stagnant to standout: Matt shares how data showing over-reliance on wedding messaging pushed him to lead with comedy, why he pre-tests every campaign concept before it hits air, and how a weekly pulse survey of 300 men keeps his team honest about what's actually landing.  [25:39] Gold Rush Round Hold the line, question the data: Matt calls out self-reported consumer metrics as the number he trusts least, names Men's Wearhouse as the harder marketing challenge over Barbie, and pushes back on the idea that legacy brands can't change perception fast. LINKS & RESOURCES: Connect with Kathryn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff/] Connect with Matt [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattrepicky/] Learn more about Tailored Brands, Inc. [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tailored-brands-inc-/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hiya's Secret to Compelling Customer Engagement

In this episode, Kathryn Turnoff talks with Corinne Crockett, CMO at Hiya, about how the brand uses post-purchase surveys, customer DMs, and iterative launches to build a data-driven yet deeply human kids' health and wellness brand. Guest Quote: “ A consumer doesn't live in this split world where they only experience organic channels or only experience paid channels, they're living in the real world. There really is no way to delineate very specifically pure paid traffic, pure organic traffic. It's really about the blended experience that you create. Of course, we're always looking at individual channel performance and in-platform in understanding that, but the bigger picture is that how does it work together? What is your customer journey path? How many channels are people interacting with? How many touch points are there? And it's not paid and organic. They're a full person just in the world experiencing your brand.” – Corinne Crockett EPISODE BREAKDOWN: [04:59] Alchemy Unveiled From symphony to signal: Corinne breaks down how Hiya treats KPIs as an interconnected system, why she goes 10 layers deeper with post-purchase surveys, and how staying in the Instagram DMs gives her team real-time customer insight that no dashboard can replicate. [14:44] From Nuggets to Campaign Gold From data to creative breakthrough: Corinne shares how upper-funnel thinking led Hiya to a comedy influencer campaign that drove massive engagement, why a Mattel partnership doubled user acquisition overnight, and how measuring packaging impact turned a qualitative brand moment into hard revenue. [28:35] Gold Rush Round Trust your gut, not the split: Corinne calls out the paid vs. organic myth, champions the conceptual leaps data will never deliver, and reveals why hearing a customer say a product changed their kid's life is what keeps her in the consumer business. LINKS & RESOURCES: Connect with Kathryn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff/] Connect with Corinne [https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnecrockett/] Learn more about Hiya  [https://www.linkedin.com/company/gethiya/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why Scale Loses to Precision in B2B

In this episode, Katherine Turnoff talks with Dipti Kachru, CMO, Broadridge Financial Solutions, about the shift from marketing to millions in B2C to marketing to hundreds or thousands in highly targeted B2B, which requires finding senior operations and technology leaders in the right context for complex, high-consideration purchases. Guest Quote: “And what's interesting about the world of B2B is you're no longer selling to one person. You're actually selling to buying groups. And so we've got to think about the personas in the buying group in terms of are they actual decision makers? Are they users? Are they influencers? And what role are they actually playing in that sales process that we often are helping support, enable, or make faster.” EPISODE BREAKDOWN: [01:34] Alchemy Unveiled From scale to precision: Dipti shares how moving from millions of consumers to hundreds of B2B buyers reshapes targeting, messaging, and channel strategy — and why context and timing matter more than reach. [18:03] From Nuggets to Campaign Gold Look past the dashboard: Dipti explains why vanity metrics can hide the real story, how psychographic insight changes campaigns, and what happens when marketers follow engagement signals instead of impressions. [23:27] Gold Rush Round What data can’t replace: Dipti reflects on the limits of impressions and CTRs, the role of empathy in marketing, and why understanding the business is the modern marketer’s real edge. LINKS & RESOURCES: Connect with Katherine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff/]  Connect with Dipti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kachru/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kachru/]  Learn more about Broadband Financial Solutions: https://www.linkedin.com/company/broadridge-financial-solutions/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/broadridge-financial-solutions/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What Happens When You Really Study Your Audience

In this episode, Katherine Turnoff talks with Meg Douglass, VP of Marketing at Tonal, about brand as a living conversation shaped by audience signals. They discuss real-time data, experimentation, community-driven momentum, and why some “rules” should be broken.  Guest Quote: “ One of my old coworkers said that brand is a shared hallucination between a customer and a business, and really brand is everything in that conversation. All of the experiences, all of the touchpoints and all of the signals that you're getting from your audience about that brand evolves over time because of the audience, because of the usage, because of the signals they're getting. Brand is data to some degree.”     EPISODE BREAKDOWN: [01:51] Alchemy Unveiled Brand is a conversation: Meg shares why brand is shaped by audience signals across experiences and touchpoints — and how resonance and stickiness show up beyond traditional metrics. [12:33] From Nuggets to Campaign Gold Break the rules to break through: A logo-placement experiment challenges “best practices,” reinforcing that storytelling and judgment sometimes matter more than rigid frameworks. [18:52] Gold Rush Round Signals that matter: Meg shares what she’s learning from social communities, what she’d automate to free up brainpower, and what member language signals real brand health. LINKS & RESOURCES: Connect with Katherine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff/]  Connect with Meg: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/megdouglass/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/megdouglass/]  Learn more about Tonal: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tonal-strong/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tonal-strong/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Holy Grail of Marketing: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message

This episode. Kathryn discusses finding the right person, at the right time, with the right message with Greg Licciardi,  Professor of Marketing and Vice President of Partnerships at ANA. The discussion covers the impact of AI on marketing, useful tactics and innovative case studies from brands like Wendy's, e.l.f., and Harry's. Guest Quote: *  ”Marketing is moving at breakneck speed with all the new technologies coming in and AI. Marketers need like a north star, a framework to guide them through this complex time we're in.” Episode Breakdown:  [02:21] Alchemy Unveiled: The Holy Grail of Marketing The Holy Grail of Marketing includes the five Rs: right person, right time, right message, right outcome, right environment.  [28:10] From Nuggets to Campaign Gold: Case Studies in Creative Targeting Greg shares a case study that demonstrates how small behavioral signals, testing in real time, and a willingness to pivot can turn early campaign learnings into breakthrough performance gains [35:55] Gold Rush! Reach is the most overrated marketing metric. Spray and pray is not the right approach.    Links & Resources: Connect with Kathryn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynturnoff?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAABuRbBoB17rFRcPRndZFl4qpp0ktKkGFc2o&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_all%3BOYNKezNKR%2FCXPrNXmMLEKw%3D%3D] Connect with Greg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/greglicciardi/] Learn more about Deluxe [https://www.deluxe.com/] Check out Holy Grail of Marketing [https://holygrailofmarketing.com/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.