Room For Growth

WillowTree President Tobias Dengel knows firsthand what it means to be a great leader. Tobias (affectionately called “TD”) earned the #2 spot on Glassdoor’s list of Top CEOs for small-to-medium businesses and was a featured speaker at the Consumer Electronic Show’s VOICE Summit in 2022 and 2023. Before WillowTree, Tobias stewarded strategic partnerships and acquisitions for companies including AOL...

What do brands like Zillow, BarkBox, WHOOP, Wegman’s, and Frontier Airlines have in common? They all stand out in the world of in-email and in-app growth marketing tactics. But are they standing out for the right reasons? Find out which growth tactics resonate with consumers and which tactics leave your audience feeling a little… icky. Here, Billy and Billie swipe left or right — and sometimes bot...

The most popular day for flower deliveries? Here’s a hint: it’s not Valentine’s Day… Find this trivia tidbit and many more growth marketing insights shared by Megan Bailey Darmody, senior director of brand marketing for online gifting company UrbanStems.  Megan, Billie, and Billy explore how proactive communication improves customer satisfaction and loyalty, and how the shifting landscape of suppl...

The Adobe Experience Platform has the firepower for the most advanced marketing functions the field has ever known. So how do you unlock the power of that platform — and ultimately, derive the greatest value possible? Mike Colombo partners with some of the world’s biggest brands to accomplish exactly that. As Partner and Managing Director of our Adobe Practice at MAARK, a WillowTree Company, he’s...

Ever come across the iconic “Shot on an iPhone” campaign? Yep, Simon Cassels is behind that. In addition to directing one of Apple’s longest-running ad campaigns, Simon has lent his advertising chops to Ring, Amazon, Duolingo, and now GoodRx as the telemedicine platform’s senior vice president of marketing and chief brand officer.  Billie and Simon discuss the need for truth-telling and brand auth...

Sure, January has nearly come and gone (thank goodness…), but there’s still plenty of time left in the year to incorporate these emerging MarTech trends into your growth marketing strategy. On the heels of CES 2023 , growth marketing experts Billy Fischer and Billie Loewen share the digital products that drove the most buzz at the most influential tech event in the world and dive deeper into their...

Hungry to solve sticky problems, drive business outcomes, and learn the latest technical skills? Growth marketing might be the career for you, as our host and growth expert Billie Loewen explains. Here, Billie explores the skill sets and mindsets she seeks in growth marketing candidates, including familiarity with growth- and marketing-specific frameworks, analytics and measurement tools and tacti...

What do marketing teams at Fortune 1000s and local nonprofits have in common? A lot, if you ask WillowTree growth marketing expert Rebecca O’Connor. Large and small shops alike have to demonstrate ROI and stay current with rapidly changing capabilities of software such as customer relationships management (CRM) systems or customer data platforms (CDPs). Rebecca joins the podcast to explore solutio...

Add another celebration to your holiday circuit, as we mark our 25th Room for Growth episode this week! Our hosts Billy and Billie share their MarTech resolutions for 2023 and reflect on what we learned in 2022.  We’ll discuss how even amid unprecedented layoffs in the tech sector, brands should nonetheless invest in marketing strategies to deliver on — and exceed — customer expectations. That hap...

Grocery shopping is one of Jeff Tang’s favorite past-times. As VP of Marketing and Revenue Generation for the plant-based food startup Wicked Kitchen ,  it’s a “lost art” that offers a window into the way CPG companies and consumers think. And, it’s one way that brands can build authentic connections with consumers — a strategy that underpins Jeff’s human-centric approach to digital marketing in t...

The customer data platform (CDP) space is crowded and confusing. Do CDPs drive ROI? Will they even be relevant in five years? (Spoiler alert: The answer to both questions is “Yes, and…”) This week, mParticle CEO Michael Katz brings clarity to what’s become a controversial topic in the technology space. At its core, mParticle is a CDP that gathers data across diverse sources and organizes that into...

The six different “likes” in the English language each have a functional purpose, explains speech and dialect coach Samara Bay , whose A-list clientele includes the likes of (ahem…) Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan, Gal Gadot, and Keegan-Michael Key. For Samara, identity and voice are intertwined. Her work asks listeners to reimagine what we think strength, warmth, power, and passion sound like in s...

Jason Lambert, VP of Beyond Labs and BEES at AB InBev , thinks of a customer data platform (CDP) as a circulatory system: it powers the instantaneous flow of data to all business functions.  It’s not the “perfect” metaphor, he says, but it does summarize the impact of a platform that’s become a buzzword for marketers.  Part of Jason’s role at the largest and oldest brewing company in the world inv...

What drives the deep craving for a White Castle burger? Why do “Cravers” wait in line for hours, even days, before the opening of a new location? And how has the 101-year-old, family-owned hamburger chain — the first in America — facilitated collabs with the likes of PUMA and Wu-Tang Clan? For chief marketing officer Lynn Blashford, it’s a marketing special sauce that drives the brand to reach new...

Ashley Elleby wants Amazon Music to differentiate rather than duplicate. As Global Head of Lifecycle Marketing at Amazon Music, she drives customer awareness of and engagement with the retailer’s ad-free and unlimited music streaming platform for Prime members. It’s a tall order, but as Ashley discusses, her bias toward action comes with a big reward: it’s the same “no fear” mindset she had as a c...

Ever get the feeling that Instagram is listening to you? It might be — or it might not. In the words of one of our favorite Facebook relationship statuses, it’s complicated. Here, our experts explore how customer data platforms (CDPs) can take out the “ick” factor for brands in search of more personalized, automated customer experiences. Guided by the use cases proposed in the MarTech article “ 19...

For David Leiberman, Web3 and music share more similarities than differences. Notably, they connect, empower, and inspire. That’s at the core of the three chart-topping apps that David launched with co-founder Sammy Rubin: the kids’ music and illustration app Mibblio , short-form video creation, and editing platform Triller , and Disney Karaoke: Frozen (no explanation needed). Here, David reveals...

What happens when you get 60 lifecycle marketers together in one room? Find out in this week's episode that offers a rare window into the energetic and talented team that makes up WillowTree’s Growth Marketing practice.  In our first segment, "Cool Sh*t Stories," two teammates discuss dating app messaging qualms and QSR client work.  In our second segment, "Burning Questions," the team launches ra...

We know that the upcoming Fall and Winter holidays are the Olympic games of marketing. Today’s episode is a special gift from Billie and Billy to our listeners. Billie and Billy’s sage advice will guide 2022 holiday campaigns, aid in decision-making, and suggest incredibly intentional messaging and frequency choices. ‘Tis the season for smashing success.   *Warning for parents with small children...

Being both a beloved people manager and a lifecycle marketing visionary is a major balancing act. How do we find the balance? Our guest this week, WillowTree’s Associate Growth Director Caitlin Watson shares her secret: it’s all about grit.  Growing up in Philadelphia and being raised by two "gritty" individuals shaped how Caitlin sees the world and approaches her varied roles as a marketer and ma...

In today’s episode, we discuss all things strategy with our guest, Jarrod Cady, SVP of Commercial Strategy and Operations at WillowTree. Jarrod has been crowned "The King of Frameworks," for decision-making, analysis, and communication. He sits at the intersection of go-to-market strategy, business development, and delivery and brings a strategic perspective to WillowTree clients' businesses at ev...

Why does “networking” get such a bad rap? This week’s guest, Matt McRoberts, SVP of Global Alliances at Braze — one of our favorite partners at one of our favorite platforms — explores why too many of us are “fair-weather networkers,” leveraging our contacts only when we need something. Matt shares a better, more consistent approach — cultivating and connecting with our professional communities an...

It’s that time of year: Q4 is typically when brands set their vision for the coming year and take a hard look at their loyalty programs. Is it time for an overhaul? Billie and Billy dive into the reasons why it may or may not be the right time to shake things up. Whether trying to regain market share, revisit your tech stack, or re-examine how loyalty programs play out across various platforms, th...

We had the pleasure of speaking with an analytics industry veteran, Amplitude product evangelist, and author of the definitive book on Adobe Analytics, Adam Greco. Joining Billie and Billy for their deep dive with Adam is a special co-host, Jeremy Stern, who leads our Analytics practice at WillowTree.  In this episode, you’ll hear about Adam's decision to leave his role in consulting to become a p...

From singer-songwriter to author-CEO? In this week’s episode, Billie and Billy speak with Tim Schurrer of David Novak Leadership, and unpack his untraditional career path, exploring the ways that failure shapes us and the benefits of servant leadership. Tim's book, The Secret Society of Success: Stop Chasing the Spotlight and Learn to Enjoy Your Work (and Life) Again , reframes what it means to be...