AT&T: B2B Marketing Lessons from the “You Will” Campaign with Rokt CMO Doug Rozen

Have you ever predicted your next campaign’s success with uncanny accuracy? You will. That’s because we’re bringing you marketing lessons this week from AT&T’s “You Will” campaign with the help of our special guest, Rokt CMO Doug Rozen.Together, we talk about demonstrating the future, using intrigue as a marketing tool, closing your copy strong, and increasing the frequency of your ads.About our guest, Doug RozenAs Chief Marketing Officer at Rokt, Doug Rozen leads strategy & execution for all Rokt’s global go to market efforts. Known for seamlessly exploiting the intersection of creativity, technology and data, Doug has been recognized globally for transforming companies through change & removing barriers in the business world. He’s been fortunate to be part of many major industry firsts and has become a trusted, go-to adviser in delivering modern marketing for some of the world’s greatest brands. Prior to joining Rokt, Doug served as CEO of dentsu Media, where he was responsible for 4,350+ media experts and $20+ billion in media at Carat, iProspect, dentsu X, 360i & beyond. Before dentsu Media, Doug was the first Chief Media Officer at 360i, where he helped them become a Forrester leader, MediaPost Agency of the Year, & AdAge A-list agency. He joined 360i from OMD, where he led digital & innovation activities globally at a critical period in our industry. Before Omnicom, Doug served as Chief Innovation Officer & General Manager at Meredith & created Carlson Marketing’s global agency unit including creative, media, mobile & social offerings. He also helped guide its acquisition by Aimia. Earlier, Doug served as Senior Partner & Managing Director at WPP's JWT, where as one of the first digital leaders he established digital@jwt and combined it with other direct and data offerings. Doug is a vocal cancer survivor and proud advocate for Stand Up to Cancer. He holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has studied ecommerce at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and artificial intelligence at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Doug is an avid cyclist and skier, living in Connecticut with his wife, daughter and son.What B2B Companies Can Learn From AT&T’s “You Will” Campaign:Demonstrate the future. Show your audience the benefit of doing business with you. Give them a visual of the time saved or frustrations avoided by using your product. Ian says, “It speaks to the simplicity of consumer experience and product experience. [Identifying] pain points of, ‘Hey, this thing is annoying. I bet you something will fix that.’” And Doug adds, “I think as a marketer, part of my job is to help, both internally and externally, audiences understand the future and be ready for it. And so I think a key component of this campaign is that ability to predict the future. And have a point of view.”Intrigue is a powerful tool. Make your audience question and think about the possibilities if they were to buy your product. Start with a question. In the AT&T “You Think” campaign, they started each ad with something like: “Have you ever kept an eye on your home when you’re not at home?” Asking a question gets your audience engaged immediately by thinking of their answer. Have a strong close. This campaign is called the “You Will” campaign for a reason. Because each ad spot ended with the phrase, “You Will. And the company that will bring it to you: AT&T.” This campaign became iconic not just for its futuristic predictions, but for its strong copy. Doug says, “These commercials and these messages closed an ad as good as any I've ever seen. To me, this felt less like ads and more like little pieces of content.” Increase the frequency of your ads. Include two or three examples of the benefits of your product. It’s essentially fitting multiple ads in one, and uses the power of repetition. In each ad from the AT&T “You Will” campaign, they asked three questions. For example, “Have you ever opened doors with the sound of your voice, carried your medical history in your wallet, or attended a meeting in your bare feet?” And each question suggested a new technology AT&T was working on. Doug says, “A 30-second commercial would have three of them in a row. And so they get two or three of these in what was a standard spot length. And so you got frequency as part of that as well, which is just brilliant.”Quotes*”I don't care if it's 1 second, 5 seconds, 20 seconds or 20 minutes. Good pieces of content, branded content, need a beginning, middle, and end. And I think that's what [the AT&T “You Will”] campaign has. And I'd say 90 percent of campaigns don't have that. ”*”A key component of story building is data. The fact that research was the foundation to which then the stories came to life. I think a lot of times, building a story is about having that data and doing something with it in a really interesting way. And being okay that we don't know how to solve it, but we're going to craft a story about our role, even though we're in the process of solving it. That's bold.”*”I think it's important for all marketers to believe in your product. If you don't, then I think you're going to be missing the passion and zest that is necessary to be a good marketer. If you don't, how do you find the magic? To me, the magic is what makes marketing great.”*”That's such an important factor in today's marketing landscape, is just to know who you are, and more importantly, know who you're not. And if you're going to make a moment, really make it stand out and, and really trust yourself.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Rokt CMO Doug Rozen[1:51] The Impact of Storytelling vs. Story Building in Marketing[3:43] The Genius Behind Predicting the Future: AT&T's Marketing Mastery[15:35 Exploring the Role of Data in Product Success[22:04] Unveiling Brand Identity and the Power of Category Creation[23:16] The Art of Timeless Campaigns and Content Marketing Mastery[23:41] Reviving Classic Campaigns: A Nostalgic Marketing Strategy[24:27] The Evolution of AT&T's Marketing Strategy: A Case Study[25:22] The Impact of Leadership Changes on Marketing Campaigns[25:41] Sustaining Iconic Ad Campaigns and Brand Identity[30:40] The Strategic Shift in Marketing Approach at Rokt[33:03] Leveraging Employee Influence in Content Strategy[35:00] The Future of E-commerce and Content Marketing[41:37] Content Strategy Insights for CMOsLinksConnect with Doug on LinkedInLearn more about RoktAbout Remarkable!Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.