Monthly Archives: October 2021

Pearl Servat’s Visible Marketing Wisdom



When I met Pearl Servat three years ago, Visible was brand new in the world of wireless carriers, and Servat was generating content about it. Now she is fairly new in an elevated role as Head of Brand Marketing and Demand Gen for the disrupter division of Verizon Wireless, and gives good content herself in our conversation about driving customer connections.
Servat honed her PR chops in the entertainment and brand world under the mentorship of marketing heavy hitters like Pat Kingsley (PMK-BNC), but made the switch, as they say in the world of carriers, to helm “brand and demand” marketing. In Epi 39, she discusses both her own evolution, and that of Visible. Hear how she leverages partnerships with like-minded brand ambassadors and ensures the first all-digital wireless carrier in the US doesn’t forget its mission of kindness and transparency:

“I essentially sit at the intersection of where I’ve always loved to be.  Between brand building and conversion and acquisition, driving and growth.”

Mission First, Marketing Next.

  • Servat explains that Visible’s mission drove her to lead efforts to connect people during some of the scariest days of the pandemic.
  • Hear how a simple email campaign that Visible sent asking how customers were holding up during the pandemic had unexpected impact.
  • Staying true to its DNA, the brand launched the #VisibleActsofKindness campaign and garnered over 2 million organic interactions.
  • Hear her perspective on the importance of both brand and demand marketing, as her title implies, AND experiential marketing — such as when they turned Los Angeles bus stops into mock living rooms, and even ski lifts settings giving customers a tactical connection with the all digital brand in lieu of physical retail locations.

“It’s beyond just retaining the consumer for us…We truly try to be as intentional as we can at every touch point with the brand. So, it doesn’t just start and stop with marketing.”

Partnerships that Matter

  • Partnerships and brand ambassadorships help extend the reach of the brand.
  • Servat emphasizes the importance of partnering with people who live by the same mission as the company.
  • Potential partners have seen the work Visible is doing and reached out to the company, interested in collaboration—the mission drives these kinds of partnerships.
  • Staying on trend? Servat credits her team, modestly saying she’s not “nearly as hip and cool as they are.”
  • And on working with marquee names like Kevin Bacon and Dan Levy? Well…

“When it comes to talent partnerships, we do a significant amount of research…And we only work with talent who walk the walk when it comes to social impact, what they stand for on an ongoing basis, [and] how they connect with their own communities.”

To hear more on the early stage Visible marketing efforts, listen to Insider Interviews Epi 10 with then CMO Minjae Ormes.

Connect with Servat and Visible

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Katie Kempner’s Primer on PR and Personality



Katie Kempner may have appeared in the cult-classic films Scam and Class of Nuke ‘Em High, but she’s much better known for her corporate communications credentials. In Epi 38, she switches roles from interviewing others, or landing her clients interviews as a PR phenom, and sits instead in my guest seat.

Kempner and I took a few fun minutes at the top to discuss our mutually limited—yet memorable—acting experiences (see bonus image, below), but then dove in to how taking a risk paid her career-making dividends, and her tangible takeaways about earned and owned media today. 
Stumbling into her Niche
  • When her prospects as an MTV VJ or starlet seemed slim Kempner took a job at a staffing company to avoid having to return to her parents’ home after college.
  • An opening at one of their client’s shops, the then still nascent advertising agency CP+B, changed her career path forever; Kempner talked her way into a role working with their new business division!
  • Kempner stayed with the award-winning agency for almost 20 years, and its acquiring company, MDC, from its roots as a small Miami office to regional powerhouse to a global super machine. But…
  • She always dreamed of starting her own firm. Solid relationships with her employer allowed her to launch Kempner Communications and keep CP+B as her first, and biggest, client.
  • How she lives the “reinventionist” philosophy of one of her current clients and my previous guest, Joe Jackman! (Check out Epi 37 if you missed it.)

I am the product of hard work and being in the right place at the right time.

Media Evolution
  • Kempner has witnessed the rise in popularity of owned media, and she discusses why she still leans more toward earned media, but…
  • Always one to embrace future concepts, Kempner also discusses the benefits of client-created media and how it can help reach an intended audience.
  • Speaking of audiences, we discussed the shifting audience perspectives as the media world functions with fewer high-profile journalists with readership at scale, and more outlets to tell stories.
  • Listen for Kempner’s recommendations on balancing quantity and quality in earned media.

In one way, the proliferation of media is fantastic because there are more places to go.

Kempners Tips for Getting Started in Today’s PR World
  • Be a strong communicator
  • Be careful with your words and a scrupulous editor
  • Knowing why you’re crafting a message can help determine where to place it.
  • Knowing what your clients are trying to say helps to determine to whom they’re talking.

And personally? Just as she asks of the guests she interviews on Perspectives, Kempner’s answer to what advice she’d offer:
“You should speak kindly to yourself…and I don’t mean live in some kind of la-la land where you’re not being realistic, but be good to yourself and be your own best friend.”

Connect with Katie Kempner:
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If you found this helpful, or liked any of my Insider Interviews episodes, please add a review anywhere you listen to podcasts, share this episode, and you can even add to my tip jar to “buy me a coffee!” 

If I can help you connect your podcast/tv/content dots—or, just want help getting started with a podcast or content marketing strategy, please reach out to me at podcasts@mossappeal.com.

Bonus Image: