June 25, 2025 • 46 mins
Alicia Tillman, the force redefining modern travel, unpacks how she’s turning Delta into a global brand powerhouse, where heritage meets innovation and every moment is engineered for impact. From shaping culture at 30,000 feet to building a marketing engine that inspires loyalty and leads with purpose, this is a high-altitude blueprint for transformational leadership.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good Company is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We spend a lot of time studying our customers, not
just where they're spending, but we look at them overall
from a persona perspective. What are the brands that they're
most attaching themselves to. We want to make sure that
we have a value proposition and we have a strong
ecosystem of partners that really resonate with them, because if
we can build that, then that's an acquisition opportunity for us,
(00:27):
and it's also a way in which we can deepen
their engagement with us. Overall, these things all start to
get connected.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I'm Michael Cassen, and this is Good Company. Together we'll
explore the dynamic intersection of media, marketing, entertainment, sports and technology.
I'll be joined by visionaries, pioneers, and yes, even a
couple of disruptors for candid conversations as we break down
how these masters of ingenuity are shaping the future of business,
culture and everything in between. My bet is you'll pick
(01:03):
up a lesson or two along the way. As I
like to say, it's all good. Welcome to Good Company Today.
We're in for a masterclass in both marketing transformation and leadership.
My guest and friend, Alicia Tillman is not just Delta's
Chief marketing officer, She's the trailblazer redefining travel for the
(01:26):
modern era. With a career spanning industry giants like SAP
and American Express, Alicia has spent over two decades converting
bold ideas into game changing realities. At Delta, she artfully
fuses a century of legacy with cutting edge innovation, transforming
every customer touch point into a five star immersive journey.
(01:48):
Her fewest leadership has driven Delta to create unforgettable cultural
moments while simultaneously pioneering in flight experiences. Recognized by Forbes
as one of the world's more most influential chief marketing
officers and celebrated for championing the next generation of talent,
Alisha is the driving force behind a brand that's not
(02:09):
just enduring, it's reshaping the future of travel. Get ready
for a conversation that is sure to ignite bold new
visions for marketing and beyond. Let's dive in. Alisha, thank
you so much for joining me today our good company.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, I am humbled to be here and even more
appreciative to be your friend as well. So thank you
for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You know, I talked about a legacy brand, and there's
both the good news and bad news about a legacy
brand because by definition, it's established and it's legacy and
it's got history, and at the same time, the opportunity
to reinvent and reimagine and reanimate a brand that stands
(02:52):
for so much and is such a well loved brand.
It's not like you stepped into a hairball. You stepped
into a well established brand, and yet you get to
reinvent it. You know, I know you personally you kind
of like hairballs because that's fun and challenging. This was
a little different. It was great. You get to make
it greater. I'd love to begin by a conversation or
(03:15):
a thought starter about the balancing act that has to
go on between heritage and innovation. How do you blend
those two and how do you how do you navigate
that well?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I think it's a it's a perfect combination. I mean
some you know, many people sort of are you want
to go into the startup world, and I had the
privilege of spending some time there as well, And then
others want to be with very legacy established brands and
in many ways, I have both, right. It is this
(03:48):
sort of dumbbell where you know, there's equal parts heritage
and equal parts innovation, and that is Delta. So one
hundred years this year, you look.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Great for a hundred Alicia.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Thank you, thank you. I age, well, you know, the
oldest US airline, first airline to turn one hundred years old.
And I'm drawn to this challenge because, on one hand,
if we think about the journey that Delta has been on,
I mean, it's been a very storied journey. It's not
(04:27):
been one hundred years of just great health. It's been acquisition, bankruptcy, pandemic,
so many things that we know have really impacted the industry,
and let alone all of the challenges that you often
find with leadership and people and consumer behavior and new
(04:51):
entrance into the space and all those things that really
can erode the purpose of a company and the real
power of the brand. Yet you take Delta one hundred years,
category leader number one in terms of revenue and in
(05:12):
terms of operational performance, and you step back and you say, first, wow,
and then the second thing you say is well, how'd
you do it? And then the third thing you say
is like, well, what did the next one hundred years
look like? And if I were to start there, you know,
number one, it's a beautiful position to be in when
(05:33):
you're a leader, but it's also you know, one of
the more difficult ones because it's you're charting the course
of where you want to go. And there is incredible
things that exist on our journey right now, and one
such is consumers today are, yes, expecting a really superior product,
(05:57):
but that's become table stakes and it's the experience that
you wrap around the product, which is where the innovation lies.
And you know, you introduce into that all of the
movements from a technology perspective, you know, artificial intelligence being
the thing that all companies are enamored with. But I'm
(06:19):
a believer that AI is in fact going to shape
what the next one hundred years look like it And
as the leader in the space, how we embrace that,
how we adopt that, how it works together with us,
the one hundred thousand of us we have at Delta
to really shape this truly unique, highly personalized experience, Like
(06:44):
therein lies the just beautiful opportunity for us.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's so great you said that that you brought up
one hundred thousand people because I'm going to tell a
personal story. I'm a proud regular Delta flyer and thank you.
You know, I was fortunate, as you know, to do
a keynote interview with your chairman and CEO with Ed
Bastion in Las Vegas a couple of years ago when
he announced free WiFi that would be available on the
(07:11):
US planes. And about a month later, I was on
a Delta flight flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta and
I used the Delta one service, which I was privileged
to use. The experience that you have to be responsible
for isn't just when I get on the plane. It's
from the moment I make the decision, from when I
(07:34):
make the travel decision and I book my flight, and
I do all those things until I get to my location.
You own me, and that relationship matters from pillar to post,
from beginning to end. Why I think Delta is in
the vaunted position it is is this story. So I
get in the car and the driver turns to me
(07:54):
and said you're mister Casson, and I said, yes, yes,
I am. Said you're the gentleman who interviewed mister Bastion
in Las Vegas. And I was really taking like, how boy,
this is good consumer research? Like, how the heck would
he know that? And I said, I'm curious, how did
you know that? Is it in my profile, in my
(08:17):
you know somewhere? He said, no, that video was circulated
to the entire workforce of Delta, because that's how we're treated.
We're treated as part of a family. The information like that.
We've seen that, so we know who you are. I
was taken aback and you know, this is a story
(08:39):
about Delta and the culture that you're part of, that
you're a leader of. But that goes to that one
hundred year legacy, that team, that experience.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And that sharing of information. Right, Like we say time
and time again, things happening in our industry is inevitable.
It's how you manage it when it happens is what matters.
Something is always going to happen. And one of the
(09:13):
things we hear time and time again from our customers
is just over communicate with us. Even if you don't
have the answer, it matters. That's one thing we hear. Now.
The second on the gentleman knowing who you were and
knowing about an experience that you had with Ed and
(09:35):
It's amazing how surprised we get when those moments happen.
Yet in our personal lives, we sort of expect that
level of information sharing to happen because we're family, we're friends,
and that's what happens. Why should that not also happen
in business? Right? Like helping greeting people and learning about
(10:01):
them when they come on board where are your travels
taking you today? So that when they're going through their
experience in flight, they can greet them with much more
than just a hello or a goodbye, but they can
connect with them now on a personal level because they
were inquisitive about them, ever so briefly when they first
(10:21):
stepped on board one of our aircraft. And I hear
time and time again, Michael, when I have the privilege
of meeting someone new, and you know, naturally the conversation
always goes you know, who are you and where do
you work? And I'll say, oh, I'm Alicia Tillman and
I work at Delta, and immediately people light up because
(10:41):
of what you just did. As well. Everybody has a
great Delta story about an interaction with a Delta person
that surprised them in some way that was anchored in
an amazing delivery of a customer experience on some level,
and when somebody knows your name, or somebody remembers a
(11:05):
conversation you had had recently with them or someone in
their circle, that really matters to people today and is
at the core of the Delta experience. And sure, there
are going to be moments when the experience isn't as great,
but that sort of gets to my previous comment with Okay, well,
(11:28):
then how do you handle that and how do you
manage the journey of that.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
This is something that I subscribe to in my life,
not just in my business. I've tried my whole life
to not be judgmental, but particularly not judgmental about circumstances
people find themselves in. Where I do try to judge
people is how they deal with those circumstances, because you
(11:54):
can end up in circumstances that are beyond your control.
It could be your own fault, it could be somebody
else's fault, doesn't matter matter you're in the circumstance you're in.
What do you do then? How do you deal with that?
Whether it's adversity or positivity, doesn't matter. You know, owning
positivity is just as important as owning adversity or negative
(12:15):
you know, dealing with good news just as important as
dealing with bad news.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yes, and it's it's amazing how the psychology of that works.
It's it's it's uncomfortable to most people to have to
deliver bad news. But the challenge that that creates is
then when you deliver no news, the person on the
(12:40):
receiving end is very angry. But if you immediately own
it and deliver the bad news, it's amazing. Even though
it was bad news, people generally respond more favorably.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
To I totally agree, by the way. I hope the
millions of people who are listening to this podcast when
it goes live, we'll all agree with what I'm about
to say. We've all had that experience on an airplane
that didn't go the way we wanted. There's delays, you
missed your whatever it is, But you're so right, Alicia.
It's in how it's communicated. It's in the heart of
(13:15):
the person who understands and puts themselves in your shoes. Again,
Delta doesn't own that, but Delta is marvelous at that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Delta is marvelous, and we pride ourselves on how well
we communicate. And you know, hopefully you've noticed and your
listeners have noticed that our pilots are becoming much more visible.
I can't tell you how many planes I've personally been
(13:45):
on of late where the pilot comes to the front
of the plane and either she or he are incredibly visible.
Usually you hear the pilot and it's just over the
sound system on the aircraft. We're asking our pilots to
now position themselves more visibly and talk about the journey
(14:07):
they're about to experience. And oftentimes it's want it's either
we're going to have great tailwinds or headwinds, or there's
going to be some turbulence. And I will tell you
us now asking our pilots to become more visible time
and time again, I hear the passengers around me, particularly
in the moments where we're not going to be able
to have service for the first half of the journey
(14:28):
because there's going to be turbulence. If that's a situation.
People were so enamored by the fact that the pilot
stood in front of the plane to give the message
that the actual bad news part of that didn't even resonate.
What resonated was Wow, that was amazing that that pilot
(14:49):
just took the time to visibly stand in front of
us and tell us about our journey. And so we
are doing that more and more because it gets to
illustrate the point that you and I were just discussing,
which is it often doesn't matter if the news is
positive or negative. It's about how well and how consistently
(15:13):
you take ownership for delivering it.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
We're going to hit pause for a moment, but stay
with us after the break, We've got more insights to
share it. Let's talk about that customer engagement. Obviously, Delta
has been a leader in partnerships and collaborations and loyalty programs. Obviously,
(15:42):
the airline industry invented loyalty programs. I mean we think
of loyalty programs at the corner of grocery and you
refer to them as frequent flyer programs. I mean, you know,
it's something the airline industry invented. But yes, how are
you using that as as an area of the ability
to deepen that relationship with the consumer and have it
(16:05):
more ongoing, not just what I'm traveling, but you know,
an ongoing and a deeper relationship and your initiative that
I thought so much of the window seat shop, you know,
things of that sort. You know, you know, I love.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
To shop, so I mean, yes, yeah, So look, and
you're right because the frequent flier architecture is the architecture
that largely led every other category when they began to
move into the loyalty program space. That the architecture was
(16:43):
in fact invented by the airline industry in the nineteen eighties.
It's a very traditional spend and get model as it
relates to the core products that you're selling. So you
spend this much in tickets to oversimplify it, and then
you're going to earn a reward which is typically within
(17:06):
the travel space you know, upgrades or you know, and
now as things have evolved into you know, some partner
benefits as well. And so that's the sort of real
historical architecture that still largely exists. What we've learned from
our customers, and this is where your loyalty has to
move with the way that consumer moves in terms of
(17:30):
what allows them to attach themselves to a brand and
what keeps them coming back time and time again. And
one of the things that we hear is that because
they have such a trust in Delta, they want us
to help unlock other opportunities for them to use their
points with other brands that they love as well. And
(17:52):
so we've expanded our partnership model and we've got great
partnerships with organizations like Paramount Plus and Team Mobile, to
just name a couple. And these are categories that resonate
with Delta customers where we are offering benefits as part
of our rewards program now with partners as well, because
(18:15):
that's an expectation that consumers have today. The other thing
we've done is we've created what we call sky Miles experiences,
which really unlocks a world of these once in a
lifetime unbuyable opportunities. Think private dance lessons with the Radio
(18:36):
City rockets that you can.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Use yours you got me, you.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Can use your miles to now purchase that experience. And
we are curating experiences from categories that span everything from
sports and music you know, to the cations to destination
specific dining. Brands are not just buying into you, and
(19:07):
nor do they expect. Of course, they want the best products,
the best experience with your core product, but equally they
want us to help bridge into this larger lifestyle in
which they're operating in. And if we can do that
within the Delta environment, then we win well.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And also, and I think you've done a brilliant job
of this in cross Indie Stuy collaborations and partnerships of
that sort. I mean, you know, a legendary a partnership
you've had for all these years, and you know you've
been in both companies is with American Express. And I
featured that in can a couple of years ago talking
about that relationship and that partnership and how strong it
(19:51):
is and how deep it is. But I want to
talk about your view on the cross industry collaborations. We've
all been raised on some level with one is known
by the company they keep, So that's important as well
that the company you keep lines up with Delta's views
at Delta's heritage and Delta's brand value and all of
those things. Is when you do those collaborations, it has
(20:13):
to make sense, right. I like the ones that surprise
and delight like WHOA, I would never have thought of that,
But yes, they have to make sense.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
The reality is the more that Delta can play a
role or have an impact on some level with all
the different areas in which our customers are operating. So,
for example, our customers are not just flying, but they're experiencing.
They're dining, they're staying in hotels, they're going to catch
(20:45):
a Broadway show, whatever it is, a sporting event. Everyone
is traveling to something. And we've been known, certainly in
our category for delivering this beautiful, welcome, elevated and premium experience.
And if we can take that same experience and also
(21:07):
offer it by way of partners in those various categories
that I mentioned, sports, music, the arts, so if we
can kind of really continue to lean into our ecosystem.
We spend a lot of time studying our customers, not
just where they're spending, but we look at them overall
from a persona perspective. You know, we look at females
(21:31):
and what are the brands that they're most attaching themselves to.
We want to make sure that we have a value
proposition and we have a strong ecosystem of partners that
really resonate with them, because if we can build that,
then that's an acquisition opportunity for us, and it's also
a way in which we can deepen their engagement with
(21:52):
us overall.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
It's so interesting because you mentioned sports and I know
you've just made a big announcement about an expanded or
a deeper relationship with the PGA. I'd love you to
talk about that because I look at some of the
deals you've done, some of those collabs, as I would
say Uber YouTube, DraftKings the PGA, I'm curious the why
(22:13):
and the what. And I understand that, especially in light
of what you said about the ability to take skymiles
and create unforgettable, priceless experiences.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So there's a couple of things that we understand about
our consumer. Number One, consumers today are very much leaning
into premium, premium product, premium experience. The second thing we
understand is when they define premium and it's like, okay,
so what is it that is premium to you and
where are you putting your investments? And premium is often
(22:48):
defined US travel. You know, we cater to a premium traveler,
and PGA tour is a if we think about the
personas and who the fan is the PGA tour, it
is also who the Delta customer is. And so our
focus on establishing partnerships that help to bridge our Delta
(23:10):
customers into those moments that are a big part of
their overall lifestyle. That's meaningful for us. If we're transporting
our customers to a PGA Tour event, then we want
to be the official airline of the PGA Tour. But
on the other side of that, when they land at
a tour event, they will see Delta now having a
(23:33):
presence at that event. So that experience that they received
on board, that very welcoming, elevated caring experience, they now
will have a hospitality offering that they can lean into
and they're going to know that that's the service experience
that they're going to get there as well. So being
able to thread that across all parts of the customer's journey,
(23:57):
bringing them that experience that they've come to know and love,
and starting to put this into these tent pole moments
that we know that they're traveling to. That's how we
think about creating this true lifestyle experience around the core
Delta offering. We now want to expand that into these
different areas. And with PGA tor they are a leader.
(24:20):
They have values, they deliver and experience aligned to the
way we do. Their customers are those that we cater
to as well, and so it felt like a natural
extension for us.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
I want to switch gears for a second here, Alisia,
and I want to talk about the basis of what
I always consider the basis of marketing, which comes down
to storytelling on some way, on some level, it's about storytelling.
That's not your only job. You and I have talked
about this. The right job description of a chief marketing
officer shouldn't just be storytelling. There's so much more, and
(24:57):
I do want to talk about that. But content and
storytelling for the outbound messaging and the internal messaging is
so important, and you've been a leader in embracing that
and finding ways to its inject delta into culture, whether
it's you know, the participation in industry events. We talked
(25:20):
about the PGA, but whether it's south By Southwest or
Coachella or cees where you know, this year, celebrating that
hundredth anniversary, you had such a brilliant experiential moment at
the sphere and celebrating that hundred years in a way
that really caught the tension of the world really as
(25:41):
we all gathered in Las Vegas in January. But talk
about your view on content and storytelling from your perch
as a chief marketing officer.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Well, I will tell you I didn't start my career
in marketing. I was actually on the strategy side. M
and a finance side is sort of where I started.
And you know, when I thought about that, and you know,
was working on really large transactions, be it investments into
(26:12):
our business or joint venture types of relationships that I
was pursuing in order to make those partnerships happen. At
the core of our success was helping to articulate the
purpose for our existence as a company. What is our purpose,
(26:35):
how are you powering that and what is the effect
on the customer? And who is that customer that you're targeting?
And so time and time again, I was working to
architect that story and position it for whatever financial objective
it was that we were working towards partnership, acquisition, merger, etc.
(26:58):
And that was the most important thing that was going
to decide the fate of this business transaction that we
were on. And so when I took a step back
from that and I recognized what I was doing that
is at the core of any really strong, high performing
marketing team is that they have the ability to construct
(27:21):
the story of our purpose, our value, and why it's relevant.
And I'm oversimplifying obviously, no, but.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Those three concepts they line up. They need to for
proper decision making.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
For sure, and the foundation is always going to hold firm,
But what changes often is the context in which that
story has to be shaped. So today, customers may be
very focused on cost containment, so therefore you have to
(27:55):
tell the story about your brand in a way that's
going to help support a cost can tainment goal. But
maybe there's another point in time where a customer is
just uber focused on growth and strategic value whatever it
may be, this enterprise goal that they're focused on. So
now we need to shape a story that is relevant
(28:18):
and speaks to the value we add with that strategic goal.
And then that's the beauty of marketing because you have
the responsibility of holding everybody accountable to truly what your
core purpose is that should always be there and should
never change, but the context in which it operates, based
(28:40):
on the dynamics of the market or the dynamics of
the consumer wants and needs. That's where we're constantly shaping
and reshaping the story so that it is sellable and
is used as an engagement tool to help deeply more
engage with our customers as well.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Good Company will be right back after the break. I
wanted to talk about. You said something about the responsibility
of the marketer. One of the things that I've always
(29:20):
tried to counsel people on is you have to make
sure that responsibility lines up with authority. You have responsibility,
and you're blessed to work with a CEO like Ed
Bastian because I know personally he doesn't look at you
as just the storyteller marketer. You're his business partner. But
so often a chief marketing officer gets relegated to that
(29:45):
and yet is responsible in some way for the growth
of the company. Management doesn't always give the marketer the
levers that they need to deliver on what their job
responsibility is in a f anyway. So I always say,
if you give me the responsibility, you have to give
me the authority or the levers to pull or to
(30:07):
you know, exercise that authority so I can actually deliver
what you're asking me to deliver.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
That's exactly right. And I will say, Michael, time and
time again, I'm asked that question because marketers are challenged
in that. And often you find when somebody sort of studies,
you know, why is the CMO's tenure often shorter than
any other suite executive, or why does the marketer now
(30:36):
have the seat at the real table, which is when
the strategic decisions and where we want to head directionally
as a company are made. And I would say a
couple of things about that. Number One, we really need
to demonstrate as marketers that we understand our business. We
understand how we make money, what is in fact the
(30:58):
most valuable assets we have, and how we need to
position them to really manage against the revenue targets that
we do. And we really need to understand where these
unlocks are financially. Are we working to pay down debt?
Are we looking to grow new revenue streams? Is it margin?
Is it profitability? Is it revenue? What are all these
(31:20):
things and how do they all fit together? And so
that relationship with your CFO to understand that is really vital.
Alongside of that, you have to be an insatiably curious human.
Curious in the sense where you are always seeing the
opportunities that exist and you're thinking through the capabilities that
(31:43):
you have today or the capabilities that you can have
tomorrow by what you're living and learning outside of the
walls of your company. And how does that become who
you show up as every day? And I say, be
that most curious person in the room that's asking these
questions that are sort of pushing the company to think
(32:06):
differently at differently. Now some may say, well, I'm not
necessarily all that comfortable with kind of you know, talking
group settings. Well, first of all, you need you need
to start becoming that and you need to think about
your moments in which you deliver that. You know, I'm
great at like I like to read all the time,
(32:27):
so I'm constantly sending around to my team and you know,
my business colleagues and you know ed and others, Hey
I read this today. This made me kind of think
about this or that or I'm going to take it
upon myself to really start studying our customers at a
deeper level, because I am a believer that marketing's is
(32:49):
best place to best understand the customer because there will
always be endless amounts of information you can learn about
your customer that is going to play to the advantage
of every single person and in your organization more you know,
the more you represent, the more you're unpacking these endless
possibilities that we have. That data is giving access to
(33:11):
today and AI, the speed in which AI can bring
us more visibility on our customers, where they're spending, how
they're behaving. Be that person that is representative of that.
So that is just such an be invaluable, indispensable to
your companies. And that's you know, we talk about strategic
(33:35):
value and having those seats and being there a shape
growth and strategy. You got to think about how you
need to show up see exactly. Make sure you get
that invite every single time exactly.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
And I'll tell you you said so many things there
that I want to unpack. But you talked about the CFO.
You also sit next to a c IO or a
CTO and today the role of a c and you
have the advantage of having that financial background. But you know,
I've been counseling people today. When you're pitching a CMO,
(34:09):
remember you're actually pitching the CFO at the same time.
That's right, So you have to both have that financial
discipline and understanding and knowledge which you're fortunate to have
from your own experience. Number one. But today, and I've
been saying this for a long time, so I apologize
for repeating it. But today, the chief technology officer in
(34:32):
a company is making a lot of marketing decisions, and
the chief marketing officer is making a lot of technology decisions.
So you all have to kind of grab hands and
say kumbaya because the C suite that means something. But CFO, CMO,
CTO all have to be aligned and work together collaboratively
(34:54):
because it's critical for success in any company. By the way,
I'm not just talking about Delta, talking about any company,
but you as a CMO and as you're investing in
the next generation, I mean, you are world renown in this, Alicia.
I don't want to sound like I'm being sycophantic, but
you're really good and that's part of your reputation and
(35:16):
what brought you to the party as being sort of
a relentless advocate for investing in that next generation of
female leaders, but leaders in general. Okay, And so from
that perspective, I just love you to riff on that
because I don't know that I actually asked a question there.
I just kind of made a statement, which I'm notorious
(35:37):
for doing sometimes.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Well before we get to that. You just said something
so brilliant that I've actually never said before, and I
want to repeat because for your listeners. You said, when
are sitting across the table and you're pitching to a CMO,
realize that you're also pitching to the CFO at the
(35:59):
same time. But I would even thread that even further
to say, when you pitch to a CMO, you're pitching
to every person in the C suite at the company,
because that, in essence, is who marketing supports. I know
that when my team says, and I say this all
the time, this is why it's so brilliant that you
(36:21):
just captured this so well, Because it's such a beautiful
piece of advice. Marketing has to take on board everybody's
goals in the company, think about how to synthesize that
now into our story and every campaign and every asset
that we create. And so it's a lot to take
(36:41):
on board. And oftentimes when someone comes to pitch something
to me, it's in it. You know, they're always lovely
and wonderful ideas. But I'll return and say, well, is
this going to drive revenue? Is this aligned to the
enterprise goal? Which of our enterprise goals. Is this working
(37:02):
in support of what kind of technology or what's going
to work to innovate this, or is this working in
support of a particular product. And within those questions you
hear the objectives of the CFO, the head of commercial,
the CIO, et cetera. And so that is such a
(37:23):
beautiful thing that you just said, is recognize you're not
just pitching to the CMO, but you're pitching to every
C suite executive because the CMO is responsible for synthesizing
all of that. So I didn't want that comment to
pass because it was absolutely brilliant, you know, on the
you know, my my championing of you know, women and
(37:49):
early talent and the future of talent. I often say
that it's a privilege for me to operate at this
level and to operate within this beautiful, world class brand
of Delta. And with that privilege, I have always first
(38:10):
and foremost recognized responsibility that comes with that. There are
a lot of wonderfully smart women in the world. I
was given the opportunity, and so I want to help
them get that same opportunity. And so how I can
help and how I can support them and advocate for them.
(38:35):
I think that's the number one way that women will
thrive is when women support women, and that is something
that I absolutely believe needs to happen, continues to happen,
and it will always happen under my leadership. The next
gen talent or early talent, you know, I'm a huge
(38:57):
advocate for them because they are representative of the way
the world is going. It's what they were born into.
They were born into a world of technology, they were
born into a world where influenced today is about social
media influence more than a traditional ad, which is legacy
(39:21):
in the marketing world. And so having that infusion of
talent to balance as we even started this conversation, you know,
the heritage with the innovation, and having that equally balanced
on both sides of the equation is the formula for
having a very well balanced value proposition that's going to
(39:43):
win on both sides of the spectrum of age or race,
or any level of demographic that exists. And so, you know,
I'm such a proponent for the next generation because of
how much they can help us lead through the decade
that we of course have to rise to.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Absolutely well, you know, Alicia, my only sadness today is
that this was a short flight. I wish we were
on a long flight because I could keep talking to you.
I could keep talking to you forever. But I get
to my most fun part of good company is when
I get to do the lightning round.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
What's one small habit in your daily routine that brings
you unexpected joy?
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Prioritizing my children first, always bingo.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
If you gave your younger self one piece of advice,
what would it be.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Wow? I would say life is hard, and there will
be a series of ups and downs, but you will
always be in control of your destiny and always you.
(41:00):
So when those try to bring you down, stay true
to you and just stay on your path. And I
would also say, never lose you. Never lose you know
that spirit and that energy that we have as children.
(41:24):
Never let anybody in the world take that away from you.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
That's a good one. That's a keeper. We've talked about mentorship.
Who was your mentor? Is there one mentor in your
career and one advice or bit of advice that that
person gave you that stands out.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
I would say, you know, I've been pretty intentional that
through every stage of my career, I've sort of I've
run towards different companies and different people because I always
want to be learning. When I was at American Express,
Ken Chenault and absolutely wonderfully his advice was ask for
(42:04):
feedback all the time, regardless of who the person is,
and it was a lot of part of his story.
He was always asking for feedback. He would interact with
someone and then he would immediately say, well, give me
some feedback on that interaction, because it matters. And it
matters not just from what you learn from the feedback,
(42:24):
but it matters because you asking that person, they feel
something special and they therefore then become more invested in
you and your success. And the more people that are
part of that, the better. And so, you know, that
was something that I will say I really held close
(42:45):
to me and you know, have made a common practice
in my leadership is ask for feedback always.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Looking back over a truly storied career and a brilliant future. Obviously,
is there an opportunity that you passed on that still
gives you that kind of what if? In business and personal?
I mean, is there anything that jumps off the page
at you.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
One of the things with me is I. I oftentimes
find that I'm a better listener than a talker, if
you will, And the listening it helps me process, it
helps me learn, it helps me really kind of contemplate.
And so I will say on the surface, I am
(43:34):
always looking forward because I truly believe that I have
no regrets at all. The only thing I'll say, you know,
it's a funny one. I mean, I've I feel like i've.
I'm a big fan of hard work, and I was
raised in a duel income household. My parents were both
(43:56):
in retail and you know, worked very very long hours,
and it was what we were raised in. And so
you know, for me, I do believe the secret to
success is hard work. And if I were to answer
the question that you said, is like any regrets, I
often say, well, what if I did exhale a bit more?
(44:17):
What would be different? Because I'm I Someone said, oh,
how you feel today? I said, I feel like I'm
out of breath. I run through my days out of
breath because there's so much and so much of that
is because I see so many opportunities and I'm always
running towards them, and so I often look back and say,
(44:37):
what if I just exhaled a bit more. Would would
my journey have been different? Would it have been better?
I don't think so, because I feel super blessed and
I love every aspect of my life. But I don't
think I have exhaled as much in life as I
maybe should be. And it's one thing I'm conscious about
(45:00):
as I, you know, kind of continue to roll through life.
Here is like stop, smell the roses a bit more
and just live in the moment.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Alicia Tilman, this has been a highlight for me to
be able to spend this time with you. As I said,
keeping the airline analogy. I'm sorry this was a short flight.
I've learned a lot today. I am certain that our
listeners will learn a lot today. And Alisha Tilman, it's
been great to have you on Good Company, and.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
It has been a pleasure of mine to be able
to spend this time with you and just have such
a wonderful conversation together.
Speaker 3 (45:37):
Alisia Tilman, thank you, Thank you. I'm Michael Cassen, thanks
for listening to Good Company.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Good Company is brought to you by Threasy Ventures in
iHeart Podcasts. Special thanks to Alexis Borger Pudel Our executive
producer and head of Content and Talent, and to Carl Catl,
executive producer at iHeart Podcasts. Episodes are produced and edited
by Mary Doo. Thanks for joining us, We'll see you
next time.
Good Company is a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We spend a lot of time studying our customers, not
just where they're spending, but we look at them overall
from a persona perspective. What are the brands that they're
most attaching themselves to. We want to make sure that
we have a value proposition and we have a strong
ecosystem of partners that really resonate with them, because if
we can build that, then that's an acquisition opportunity for us,
(00:27):
and it's also a way in which we can deepen
their engagement with us. Overall, these things all start to
get connected.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I'm Michael Cassen, and this is Good Company. Together we'll
explore the dynamic intersection of media, marketing, entertainment, sports and technology.
I'll be joined by visionaries, pioneers, and yes, even a
couple of disruptors for candid conversations as we break down
how these masters of ingenuity are shaping the future of business,
culture and everything in between. My bet is you'll pick
(01:03):
up a lesson or two along the way. As I
like to say, it's all good. Welcome to Good Company Today.
We're in for a masterclass in both marketing transformation and leadership.
My guest and friend, Alicia Tillman is not just Delta's
Chief marketing officer, She's the trailblazer redefining travel for the
(01:26):
modern era. With a career spanning industry giants like SAP
and American Express, Alicia has spent over two decades converting
bold ideas into game changing realities. At Delta, she artfully
fuses a century of legacy with cutting edge innovation, transforming
every customer touch point into a five star immersive journey.
(01:48):
Her fewest leadership has driven Delta to create unforgettable cultural
moments while simultaneously pioneering in flight experiences. Recognized by Forbes
as one of the world's more most influential chief marketing
officers and celebrated for championing the next generation of talent,
Alisha is the driving force behind a brand that's not
(02:09):
just enduring, it's reshaping the future of travel. Get ready
for a conversation that is sure to ignite bold new
visions for marketing and beyond. Let's dive in. Alisha, thank
you so much for joining me today our good company.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, I am humbled to be here and even more
appreciative to be your friend as well. So thank you
for having me.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
You know, I talked about a legacy brand, and there's
both the good news and bad news about a legacy
brand because by definition, it's established and it's legacy and
it's got history, and at the same time, the opportunity
to reinvent and reimagine and reanimate a brand that stands
(02:52):
for so much and is such a well loved brand.
It's not like you stepped into a hairball. You stepped
into a well established brand, and yet you get to
reinvent it. You know, I know you personally you kind
of like hairballs because that's fun and challenging. This was
a little different. It was great. You get to make
it greater. I'd love to begin by a conversation or
(03:15):
a thought starter about the balancing act that has to
go on between heritage and innovation. How do you blend
those two and how do you how do you navigate
that well?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I think it's a it's a perfect combination. I mean
some you know, many people sort of are you want
to go into the startup world, and I had the
privilege of spending some time there as well, And then
others want to be with very legacy established brands and
in many ways, I have both, right. It is this
(03:48):
sort of dumbbell where you know, there's equal parts heritage
and equal parts innovation, and that is Delta. So one
hundred years this year, you look.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Great for a hundred Alicia.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Thank you, thank you. I age, well, you know, the
oldest US airline, first airline to turn one hundred years old.
And I'm drawn to this challenge because, on one hand,
if we think about the journey that Delta has been on,
I mean, it's been a very storied journey. It's not
(04:27):
been one hundred years of just great health. It's been acquisition, bankruptcy, pandemic,
so many things that we know have really impacted the industry,
and let alone all of the challenges that you often
find with leadership and people and consumer behavior and new
(04:51):
entrance into the space and all those things that really
can erode the purpose of a company and the real
power of the brand. Yet you take Delta one hundred years,
category leader number one in terms of revenue and in
(05:12):
terms of operational performance, and you step back and you say, first, wow,
and then the second thing you say is well, how'd
you do it? And then the third thing you say
is like, well, what did the next one hundred years
look like? And if I were to start there, you know,
number one, it's a beautiful position to be in when
(05:33):
you're a leader, but it's also you know, one of
the more difficult ones because it's you're charting the course
of where you want to go. And there is incredible
things that exist on our journey right now, and one
such is consumers today are, yes, expecting a really superior product,
(05:57):
but that's become table stakes and it's the experience that
you wrap around the product, which is where the innovation lies.
And you know, you introduce into that all of the
movements from a technology perspective, you know, artificial intelligence being
the thing that all companies are enamored with. But I'm
(06:19):
a believer that AI is in fact going to shape
what the next one hundred years look like it And
as the leader in the space, how we embrace that,
how we adopt that, how it works together with us,
the one hundred thousand of us we have at Delta
to really shape this truly unique, highly personalized experience, Like
(06:44):
therein lies the just beautiful opportunity for us.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
It's so great you said that that you brought up
one hundred thousand people because I'm going to tell a
personal story. I'm a proud regular Delta flyer and thank you.
You know, I was fortunate, as you know, to do
a keynote interview with your chairman and CEO with Ed
Bastion in Las Vegas a couple of years ago when
he announced free WiFi that would be available on the
(07:11):
US planes. And about a month later, I was on
a Delta flight flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta and
I used the Delta one service, which I was privileged
to use. The experience that you have to be responsible
for isn't just when I get on the plane. It's
from the moment I make the decision, from when I
(07:34):
make the travel decision and I book my flight, and
I do all those things until I get to my location.
You own me, and that relationship matters from pillar to post,
from beginning to end. Why I think Delta is in
the vaunted position it is is this story. So I
get in the car and the driver turns to me
(07:54):
and said you're mister Casson, and I said, yes, yes,
I am. Said you're the gentleman who interviewed mister Bastion
in Las Vegas. And I was really taking like, how boy,
this is good consumer research? Like, how the heck would
he know that? And I said, I'm curious, how did
you know that? Is it in my profile, in my
(08:17):
you know somewhere? He said, no, that video was circulated
to the entire workforce of Delta, because that's how we're treated.
We're treated as part of a family. The information like that.
We've seen that, so we know who you are. I
was taken aback and you know, this is a story
(08:39):
about Delta and the culture that you're part of, that
you're a leader of. But that goes to that one
hundred year legacy, that team, that experience.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And that sharing of information. Right, Like we say time
and time again, things happening in our industry is inevitable.
It's how you manage it when it happens is what matters.
Something is always going to happen. And one of the
(09:13):
things we hear time and time again from our customers
is just over communicate with us. Even if you don't
have the answer, it matters. That's one thing we hear. Now.
The second on the gentleman knowing who you were and
knowing about an experience that you had with Ed and
(09:35):
It's amazing how surprised we get when those moments happen.
Yet in our personal lives, we sort of expect that
level of information sharing to happen because we're family, we're friends,
and that's what happens. Why should that not also happen
in business? Right? Like helping greeting people and learning about
(10:01):
them when they come on board where are your travels
taking you today? So that when they're going through their
experience in flight, they can greet them with much more
than just a hello or a goodbye, but they can
connect with them now on a personal level because they
were inquisitive about them, ever so briefly when they first
(10:21):
stepped on board one of our aircraft. And I hear
time and time again, Michael, when I have the privilege
of meeting someone new, and you know, naturally the conversation
always goes you know, who are you and where do
you work? And I'll say, oh, I'm Alicia Tillman and
I work at Delta, and immediately people light up because
(10:41):
of what you just did. As well. Everybody has a
great Delta story about an interaction with a Delta person
that surprised them in some way that was anchored in
an amazing delivery of a customer experience on some level,
and when somebody knows your name, or somebody remembers a
(11:05):
conversation you had had recently with them or someone in
their circle, that really matters to people today and is
at the core of the Delta experience. And sure, there
are going to be moments when the experience isn't as great,
but that sort of gets to my previous comment with Okay, well,
(11:28):
then how do you handle that and how do you
manage the journey of that.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
This is something that I subscribe to in my life,
not just in my business. I've tried my whole life
to not be judgmental, but particularly not judgmental about circumstances
people find themselves in. Where I do try to judge
people is how they deal with those circumstances, because you
(11:54):
can end up in circumstances that are beyond your control.
It could be your own fault, it could be somebody
else's fault, doesn't matter matter you're in the circumstance you're in.
What do you do then? How do you deal with that?
Whether it's adversity or positivity, doesn't matter. You know, owning
positivity is just as important as owning adversity or negative
(12:15):
you know, dealing with good news just as important as
dealing with bad news.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yes, and it's it's amazing how the psychology of that works.
It's it's it's uncomfortable to most people to have to
deliver bad news. But the challenge that that creates is
then when you deliver no news, the person on the
(12:40):
receiving end is very angry. But if you immediately own
it and deliver the bad news, it's amazing. Even though
it was bad news, people generally respond more favorably.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
To I totally agree, by the way. I hope the
millions of people who are listening to this podcast when
it goes live, we'll all agree with what I'm about
to say. We've all had that experience on an airplane
that didn't go the way we wanted. There's delays, you
missed your whatever it is, But you're so right, Alicia.
It's in how it's communicated. It's in the heart of
(13:15):
the person who understands and puts themselves in your shoes. Again,
Delta doesn't own that, but Delta is marvelous at that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Delta is marvelous, and we pride ourselves on how well
we communicate. And you know, hopefully you've noticed and your
listeners have noticed that our pilots are becoming much more visible.
I can't tell you how many planes I've personally been
(13:45):
on of late where the pilot comes to the front
of the plane and either she or he are incredibly visible.
Usually you hear the pilot and it's just over the
sound system on the aircraft. We're asking our pilots to
now position themselves more visibly and talk about the journey
(14:07):
they're about to experience. And oftentimes it's want it's either
we're going to have great tailwinds or headwinds, or there's
going to be some turbulence. And I will tell you
us now asking our pilots to become more visible time
and time again, I hear the passengers around me, particularly
in the moments where we're not going to be able
to have service for the first half of the journey
(14:28):
because there's going to be turbulence. If that's a situation.
People were so enamored by the fact that the pilot
stood in front of the plane to give the message
that the actual bad news part of that didn't even resonate.
What resonated was Wow, that was amazing that that pilot
(14:49):
just took the time to visibly stand in front of
us and tell us about our journey. And so we
are doing that more and more because it gets to
illustrate the point that you and I were just discussing,
which is it often doesn't matter if the news is
positive or negative. It's about how well and how consistently
(15:13):
you take ownership for delivering it.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
We're going to hit pause for a moment, but stay
with us after the break, We've got more insights to
share it. Let's talk about that customer engagement. Obviously, Delta
has been a leader in partnerships and collaborations and loyalty programs. Obviously,
(15:42):
the airline industry invented loyalty programs. I mean we think
of loyalty programs at the corner of grocery and you
refer to them as frequent flyer programs. I mean, you know,
it's something the airline industry invented. But yes, how are
you using that as as an area of the ability
to deepen that relationship with the consumer and have it
(16:05):
more ongoing, not just what I'm traveling, but you know,
an ongoing and a deeper relationship and your initiative that
I thought so much of the window seat shop, you know,
things of that sort. You know, you know, I love.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
To shop, so I mean, yes, yeah, So look, and
you're right because the frequent flier architecture is the architecture
that largely led every other category when they began to
move into the loyalty program space. That the architecture was
(16:43):
in fact invented by the airline industry in the nineteen eighties.
It's a very traditional spend and get model as it
relates to the core products that you're selling. So you
spend this much in tickets to oversimplify it, and then
you're going to earn a reward which is typically within
(17:06):
the travel space you know, upgrades or you know, and
now as things have evolved into you know, some partner
benefits as well. And so that's the sort of real
historical architecture that still largely exists. What we've learned from
our customers, and this is where your loyalty has to
move with the way that consumer moves in terms of
(17:30):
what allows them to attach themselves to a brand and
what keeps them coming back time and time again. And
one of the things that we hear is that because
they have such a trust in Delta, they want us
to help unlock other opportunities for them to use their
points with other brands that they love as well. And
(17:52):
so we've expanded our partnership model and we've got great
partnerships with organizations like Paramount Plus and Team Mobile, to
just name a couple. And these are categories that resonate
with Delta customers where we are offering benefits as part
of our rewards program now with partners as well, because
(18:15):
that's an expectation that consumers have today. The other thing
we've done is we've created what we call sky Miles experiences,
which really unlocks a world of these once in a
lifetime unbuyable opportunities. Think private dance lessons with the Radio
(18:36):
City rockets that you can.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Use yours you got me, you.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Can use your miles to now purchase that experience. And
we are curating experiences from categories that span everything from
sports and music you know, to the cations to destination
specific dining. Brands are not just buying into you, and
(19:07):
nor do they expect. Of course, they want the best products,
the best experience with your core product, but equally they
want us to help bridge into this larger lifestyle in
which they're operating in. And if we can do that
within the Delta environment, then we win well.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And also, and I think you've done a brilliant job
of this in cross Indie Stuy collaborations and partnerships of
that sort. I mean, you know, a legendary a partnership
you've had for all these years, and you know you've
been in both companies is with American Express. And I
featured that in can a couple of years ago talking
about that relationship and that partnership and how strong it
(19:51):
is and how deep it is. But I want to
talk about your view on the cross industry collaborations. We've
all been raised on some level with one is known
by the company they keep, So that's important as well
that the company you keep lines up with Delta's views
at Delta's heritage and Delta's brand value and all of
those things. Is when you do those collaborations, it has
(20:13):
to make sense, right. I like the ones that surprise
and delight like WHOA, I would never have thought of that,
But yes, they have to make sense.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
The reality is the more that Delta can play a
role or have an impact on some level with all
the different areas in which our customers are operating. So,
for example, our customers are not just flying, but they're experiencing.
They're dining, they're staying in hotels, they're going to catch
(20:45):
a Broadway show, whatever it is, a sporting event. Everyone
is traveling to something. And we've been known, certainly in
our category for delivering this beautiful, welcome, elevated and premium experience.
And if we can take that same experience and also
(21:07):
offer it by way of partners in those various categories
that I mentioned, sports, music, the arts, so if we
can kind of really continue to lean into our ecosystem.
We spend a lot of time studying our customers, not
just where they're spending, but we look at them overall
from a persona perspective. You know, we look at females
(21:31):
and what are the brands that they're most attaching themselves to.
We want to make sure that we have a value
proposition and we have a strong ecosystem of partners that
really resonate with them, because if we can build that,
then that's an acquisition opportunity for us, and it's also
a way in which we can deepen their engagement with
(21:52):
us overall.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
It's so interesting because you mentioned sports and I know
you've just made a big announcement about an expanded or
a deeper relationship with the PGA. I'd love you to
talk about that because I look at some of the
deals you've done, some of those collabs, as I would
say Uber YouTube, DraftKings the PGA, I'm curious the why
(22:13):
and the what. And I understand that, especially in light
of what you said about the ability to take skymiles
and create unforgettable, priceless experiences.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So there's a couple of things that we understand about
our consumer. Number One, consumers today are very much leaning
into premium, premium product, premium experience. The second thing we
understand is when they define premium and it's like, okay,
so what is it that is premium to you and
where are you putting your investments? And premium is often
(22:48):
defined US travel. You know, we cater to a premium traveler,
and PGA tour is a if we think about the
personas and who the fan is the PGA tour, it
is also who the Delta customer is. And so our
focus on establishing partnerships that help to bridge our Delta
(23:10):
customers into those moments that are a big part of
their overall lifestyle. That's meaningful for us. If we're transporting
our customers to a PGA Tour event, then we want
to be the official airline of the PGA Tour. But
on the other side of that, when they land at
a tour event, they will see Delta now having a
(23:33):
presence at that event. So that experience that they received
on board, that very welcoming, elevated caring experience, they now
will have a hospitality offering that they can lean into
and they're going to know that that's the service experience
that they're going to get there as well. So being
able to thread that across all parts of the customer's journey,
(23:57):
bringing them that experience that they've come to know and love,
and starting to put this into these tent pole moments
that we know that they're traveling to. That's how we
think about creating this true lifestyle experience around the core
Delta offering. We now want to expand that into these
different areas. And with PGA tor they are a leader.
(24:20):
They have values, they deliver and experience aligned to the
way we do. Their customers are those that we cater
to as well, and so it felt like a natural
extension for us.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
I want to switch gears for a second here, Alisia,
and I want to talk about the basis of what
I always consider the basis of marketing, which comes down
to storytelling on some way, on some level, it's about storytelling.
That's not your only job. You and I have talked
about this. The right job description of a chief marketing
officer shouldn't just be storytelling. There's so much more, and
(24:57):
I do want to talk about that. But content and
storytelling for the outbound messaging and the internal messaging is
so important, and you've been a leader in embracing that
and finding ways to its inject delta into culture, whether
it's you know, the participation in industry events. We talked
(25:20):
about the PGA, but whether it's south By Southwest or
Coachella or cees where you know, this year, celebrating that
hundredth anniversary, you had such a brilliant experiential moment at
the sphere and celebrating that hundred years in a way
that really caught the tension of the world really as
(25:41):
we all gathered in Las Vegas in January. But talk
about your view on content and storytelling from your perch
as a chief marketing officer.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Well, I will tell you I didn't start my career
in marketing. I was actually on the strategy side. M
and a finance side is sort of where I started.
And you know, when I thought about that, and you know,
was working on really large transactions, be it investments into
(26:12):
our business or joint venture types of relationships that I
was pursuing in order to make those partnerships happen. At
the core of our success was helping to articulate the
purpose for our existence as a company. What is our purpose,
(26:35):
how are you powering that and what is the effect
on the customer? And who is that customer that you're targeting?
And so time and time again, I was working to
architect that story and position it for whatever financial objective
it was that we were working towards partnership, acquisition, merger, etc.
(26:58):
And that was the most important thing that was going
to decide the fate of this business transaction that we
were on. And so when I took a step back
from that and I recognized what I was doing that
is at the core of any really strong, high performing
marketing team is that they have the ability to construct
(27:21):
the story of our purpose, our value, and why it's relevant.
And I'm oversimplifying obviously, no, but.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Those three concepts they line up. They need to for
proper decision making.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
For sure, and the foundation is always going to hold firm,
But what changes often is the context in which that
story has to be shaped. So today, customers may be
very focused on cost containment, so therefore you have to
(27:55):
tell the story about your brand in a way that's
going to help support a cost can tainment goal. But
maybe there's another point in time where a customer is
just uber focused on growth and strategic value whatever it
may be, this enterprise goal that they're focused on. So
now we need to shape a story that is relevant
(28:18):
and speaks to the value we add with that strategic goal.
And then that's the beauty of marketing because you have
the responsibility of holding everybody accountable to truly what your
core purpose is that should always be there and should
never change, but the context in which it operates, based
(28:40):
on the dynamics of the market or the dynamics of
the consumer wants and needs. That's where we're constantly shaping
and reshaping the story so that it is sellable and
is used as an engagement tool to help deeply more
engage with our customers as well.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Good Company will be right back after the break. I
wanted to talk about. You said something about the responsibility
of the marketer. One of the things that I've always
(29:20):
tried to counsel people on is you have to make
sure that responsibility lines up with authority. You have responsibility,
and you're blessed to work with a CEO like Ed
Bastian because I know personally he doesn't look at you
as just the storyteller marketer. You're his business partner. But
so often a chief marketing officer gets relegated to that
(29:45):
and yet is responsible in some way for the growth
of the company. Management doesn't always give the marketer the
levers that they need to deliver on what their job
responsibility is in a f anyway. So I always say,
if you give me the responsibility, you have to give
me the authority or the levers to pull or to
(30:07):
you know, exercise that authority so I can actually deliver
what you're asking me to deliver.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
That's exactly right. And I will say, Michael, time and
time again, I'm asked that question because marketers are challenged
in that. And often you find when somebody sort of studies,
you know, why is the CMO's tenure often shorter than
any other suite executive, or why does the marketer now
(30:36):
have the seat at the real table, which is when
the strategic decisions and where we want to head directionally
as a company are made. And I would say a
couple of things about that. Number One, we really need
to demonstrate as marketers that we understand our business. We
understand how we make money, what is in fact the
(30:58):
most valuable assets we have, and how we need to
position them to really manage against the revenue targets that
we do. And we really need to understand where these
unlocks are financially. Are we working to pay down debt?
Are we looking to grow new revenue streams? Is it margin?
Is it profitability? Is it revenue? What are all these
(31:20):
things and how do they all fit together? And so
that relationship with your CFO to understand that is really vital.
Alongside of that, you have to be an insatiably curious human.
Curious in the sense where you are always seeing the
opportunities that exist and you're thinking through the capabilities that
(31:43):
you have today or the capabilities that you can have
tomorrow by what you're living and learning outside of the
walls of your company. And how does that become who
you show up as every day? And I say, be
that most curious person in the room that's asking these
questions that are sort of pushing the company to think
(32:06):
differently at differently. Now some may say, well, I'm not
necessarily all that comfortable with kind of you know, talking
group settings. Well, first of all, you need you need
to start becoming that and you need to think about
your moments in which you deliver that. You know, I'm
great at like I like to read all the time,
(32:27):
so I'm constantly sending around to my team and you know,
my business colleagues and you know ed and others, Hey
I read this today. This made me kind of think
about this or that or I'm going to take it
upon myself to really start studying our customers at a
deeper level, because I am a believer that marketing's is
(32:49):
best place to best understand the customer because there will
always be endless amounts of information you can learn about
your customer that is going to play to the advantage
of every single person and in your organization more you know,
the more you represent, the more you're unpacking these endless
possibilities that we have. That data is giving access to
(33:11):
today and AI, the speed in which AI can bring
us more visibility on our customers, where they're spending, how
they're behaving. Be that person that is representative of that.
So that is just such an be invaluable, indispensable to
your companies. And that's you know, we talk about strategic
(33:35):
value and having those seats and being there a shape
growth and strategy. You got to think about how you
need to show up see exactly. Make sure you get
that invite every single time exactly.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
And I'll tell you you said so many things there
that I want to unpack. But you talked about the CFO.
You also sit next to a c IO or a
CTO and today the role of a c and you
have the advantage of having that financial background. But you know,
I've been counseling people today. When you're pitching a CMO,
(34:09):
remember you're actually pitching the CFO at the same time.
That's right, So you have to both have that financial
discipline and understanding and knowledge which you're fortunate to have
from your own experience. Number one. But today, and I've
been saying this for a long time, so I apologize
for repeating it. But today, the chief technology officer in
(34:32):
a company is making a lot of marketing decisions, and
the chief marketing officer is making a lot of technology decisions.
So you all have to kind of grab hands and
say kumbaya because the C suite that means something. But CFO, CMO,
CTO all have to be aligned and work together collaboratively
(34:54):
because it's critical for success in any company. By the way,
I'm not just talking about Delta, talking about any company,
but you as a CMO and as you're investing in
the next generation, I mean, you are world renown in this, Alicia.
I don't want to sound like I'm being sycophantic, but
you're really good and that's part of your reputation and
(35:16):
what brought you to the party as being sort of
a relentless advocate for investing in that next generation of
female leaders, but leaders in general. Okay, And so from
that perspective, I just love you to riff on that
because I don't know that I actually asked a question there.
I just kind of made a statement, which I'm notorious
(35:37):
for doing sometimes.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Well before we get to that. You just said something
so brilliant that I've actually never said before, and I
want to repeat because for your listeners. You said, when
are sitting across the table and you're pitching to a CMO,
realize that you're also pitching to the CFO at the
(35:59):
same time. But I would even thread that even further
to say, when you pitch to a CMO, you're pitching
to every person in the C suite at the company,
because that, in essence, is who marketing supports. I know
that when my team says, and I say this all
the time, this is why it's so brilliant that you
(36:21):
just captured this so well, Because it's such a beautiful
piece of advice. Marketing has to take on board everybody's
goals in the company, think about how to synthesize that
now into our story and every campaign and every asset
that we create. And so it's a lot to take
(36:41):
on board. And oftentimes when someone comes to pitch something
to me, it's in it. You know, they're always lovely
and wonderful ideas. But I'll return and say, well, is
this going to drive revenue? Is this aligned to the
enterprise goal? Which of our enterprise goals. Is this working
(37:02):
in support of what kind of technology or what's going
to work to innovate this, or is this working in
support of a particular product. And within those questions you
hear the objectives of the CFO, the head of commercial,
the CIO, et cetera. And so that is such a
(37:23):
beautiful thing that you just said, is recognize you're not
just pitching to the CMO, but you're pitching to every
C suite executive because the CMO is responsible for synthesizing
all of that. So I didn't want that comment to
pass because it was absolutely brilliant, you know, on the
you know, my my championing of you know, women and
(37:49):
early talent and the future of talent. I often say
that it's a privilege for me to operate at this
level and to operate within this beautiful, world class brand
of Delta. And with that privilege, I have always first
(38:10):
and foremost recognized responsibility that comes with that. There are
a lot of wonderfully smart women in the world. I
was given the opportunity, and so I want to help
them get that same opportunity. And so how I can
help and how I can support them and advocate for them.
(38:35):
I think that's the number one way that women will
thrive is when women support women, and that is something
that I absolutely believe needs to happen, continues to happen,
and it will always happen under my leadership. The next
gen talent or early talent, you know, I'm a huge
(38:57):
advocate for them because they are representative of the way
the world is going. It's what they were born into.
They were born into a world of technology, they were
born into a world where influenced today is about social
media influence more than a traditional ad, which is legacy
(39:21):
in the marketing world. And so having that infusion of
talent to balance as we even started this conversation, you know,
the heritage with the innovation, and having that equally balanced
on both sides of the equation is the formula for
having a very well balanced value proposition that's going to
(39:43):
win on both sides of the spectrum of age or race,
or any level of demographic that exists. And so, you know,
I'm such a proponent for the next generation because of
how much they can help us lead through the decade
that we of course have to rise to.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Absolutely well, you know, Alicia, my only sadness today is
that this was a short flight. I wish we were
on a long flight because I could keep talking to you.
I could keep talking to you forever. But I get
to my most fun part of good company is when
I get to do the lightning round.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
What's one small habit in your daily routine that brings
you unexpected joy?
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Prioritizing my children first, always bingo.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
If you gave your younger self one piece of advice,
what would it be.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Wow? I would say life is hard, and there will
be a series of ups and downs, but you will
always be in control of your destiny and always you.
(41:00):
So when those try to bring you down, stay true
to you and just stay on your path. And I
would also say, never lose you. Never lose you know
that spirit and that energy that we have as children.
(41:24):
Never let anybody in the world take that away from you.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
That's a good one. That's a keeper. We've talked about mentorship.
Who was your mentor? Is there one mentor in your
career and one advice or bit of advice that that
person gave you that stands out.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
I would say, you know, I've been pretty intentional that
through every stage of my career, I've sort of I've
run towards different companies and different people because I always
want to be learning. When I was at American Express,
Ken Chenault and absolutely wonderfully his advice was ask for
(42:04):
feedback all the time, regardless of who the person is,
and it was a lot of part of his story.
He was always asking for feedback. He would interact with
someone and then he would immediately say, well, give me
some feedback on that interaction, because it matters. And it
matters not just from what you learn from the feedback,
(42:24):
but it matters because you asking that person, they feel
something special and they therefore then become more invested in
you and your success. And the more people that are
part of that, the better. And so, you know, that
was something that I will say I really held close
(42:45):
to me and you know, have made a common practice
in my leadership is ask for feedback always.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Looking back over a truly storied career and a brilliant future. Obviously,
is there an opportunity that you passed on that still
gives you that kind of what if? In business and personal?
I mean, is there anything that jumps off the page
at you.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
One of the things with me is I. I oftentimes
find that I'm a better listener than a talker, if
you will, And the listening it helps me process, it
helps me learn, it helps me really kind of contemplate.
And so I will say on the surface, I am
(43:34):
always looking forward because I truly believe that I have
no regrets at all. The only thing I'll say, you know,
it's a funny one. I mean, I've I feel like i've.
I'm a big fan of hard work, and I was
raised in a duel income household. My parents were both
(43:56):
in retail and you know, worked very very long hours,
and it was what we were raised in. And so
you know, for me, I do believe the secret to
success is hard work. And if I were to answer
the question that you said, is like any regrets, I
often say, well, what if I did exhale a bit more?
(44:17):
What would be different? Because I'm I Someone said, oh,
how you feel today? I said, I feel like I'm
out of breath. I run through my days out of
breath because there's so much and so much of that
is because I see so many opportunities and I'm always
running towards them, and so I often look back and say,
(44:37):
what if I just exhaled a bit more. Would would
my journey have been different? Would it have been better?
I don't think so, because I feel super blessed and
I love every aspect of my life. But I don't
think I have exhaled as much in life as I
maybe should be. And it's one thing I'm conscious about
(45:00):
as I, you know, kind of continue to roll through life.
Here is like stop, smell the roses a bit more
and just live in the moment.
Speaker 3 (45:10):
Alicia Tilman, this has been a highlight for me to
be able to spend this time with you. As I said,
keeping the airline analogy. I'm sorry this was a short flight.
I've learned a lot today. I am certain that our
listeners will learn a lot today. And Alisha Tilman, it's
been great to have you on Good Company, and.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
It has been a pleasure of mine to be able
to spend this time with you and just have such
a wonderful conversation together.
Speaker 3 (45:37):
Alisia Tilman, thank you, Thank you. I'm Michael Cassen, thanks
for listening to Good Company.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Good Company is brought to you by Threasy Ventures in
iHeart Podcasts. Special thanks to Alexis Borger Pudel Our executive
producer and head of Content and Talent, and to Carl Catl,
executive producer at iHeart Podcasts. Episodes are produced and edited
by Mary Doo. Thanks for joining us, We'll see you
next time.
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