January 27, 2025 • 30 mins
Discover the secrets behind some of the most successful marketing campaigns with Maria Alonso, the brilliant mind behind Fortune 206 as she talks with host Peter Woolfolk. With over 15 years of experience and a portfolio boasting iconic campaigns like Dove's Real Woman, Maria reveals how authentic storytelling can revolutionize marketing strategies. This episode promises to redefine your understanding of brand loyalty as we explore the essence of cultural diversity and sustainability in storytelling. Maria's expertise with industry giants like Coca-Cola and Starbucks offers a firsthand account of aligning brand values with consumer expectations through powerful narratives.
We'll uncover the art of crafting a compelling brand story that strikes an emotional chord with audiences while maintaining clarity and focus. Throughout our conversation, Maria shares invaluable strategies for identifying a brand's core message and effectively communicating it across multiple platforms. Our discussion highlights the growing influence of data-driven decision-making and the role of technology in tailoring marketing efforts to meet modern demands. As we look to the future, learn how brands can harness user-generated content and AI to create resonant stories that connect with today's conscious consumers. Join us for an inspiring dialogue brimming with insights to elevate your marketing game.
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Episode Transcript
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Announcer (00:03):
Welcome.
This is the Public RelationsReview Podcast, a program to
discuss the many facets ofpublic relations with seasoned
professionals, educators,authors and others.
Now here is your host, PeterWoolfolk.
Peter Woolfolk (00:23):
Welcome to the Public Relations Review Podcast
and to all of our listeners allacross America and around the
world.
Now, this podcast is ranked byApple for being among the top 1%
of podcasts worldwide, so letme say thank you to all of our
listeners and guests for makingthis possible.
Now, if you enjoy our podcast,please, we'd certainly like to
(00:45):
get a review from you.
Now a question to the audienceAre you familiar with the power
and persuasion of storytelling?
Well, my guest today willprovide you a fulfilling and
satisfying overview of thebenefits of storytelling.
The founder of Fortune 206, sheis a marketing expert with over
15 years leading successfulglobal advertising campaigns.
(01:05):
She is also a member of theacclaimed Ford Magazine
Communications Council.
So, maria Alonso, welcome tothe podcast and thank you for
joining us from SeattleWashington.
Maria Alonso (01:17):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's great to talk aboutstorytelling and maybe even
showcase some of the campaignsthat storytelling really had an
impact during my career.
So thank you so much for havingme.
Peter Woolfolk (01:30):
Well, why don't we begin a bit more about your
background and how you got intothis storytelling piece?
Maria Alonso (01:37):
Yeah for sure.
So I started my career workingwith a huge advertising agency,
golby, and I think I was luckyenough to work on the Dubb Real
Woman campaign, which I mean, ifwe talk about storytelling,
that is just the best exampleabout storytelling, right?
(01:58):
So I started my career beinglike an account executive center
account executive but reallygot to be involved with just
storytelling from like differentwomen and showing the media.
At that time, everything youwould see in the media would be
models and people that were justhave the perfect body and what
(02:20):
Duff did was actually showcasingreal women and being part of
this campaign and telling thatstory and also showcasing real
women and I mean from thecasting to working with them in
photo shoots.
Everything was pretty surrealand I mean I'm lucky enough that
(02:42):
the campaign got a bunch ofawards at the time.
It was pretty innovative.
All the people that I workedwith were really, really excited
to make a difference because itwas actually portraying a real
woman in all these commercialsusing the product and showcasing
bodies in all shapes and forms.
(03:03):
So I mean I think I was justreally lucky to be a part of
that from the get-go and then,shortly after that, I got the
opportunity to work with otherhuge brands.
I got the opportunity to workwith Coca-Cola and I think I was
lucky enough because the brandI worked with was Ciel, which is
(03:24):
a water bottle, and I was luckyenough because the brand I work
with was Ciel, which is a waterbottle, and I was the account
person.
I was the brand manager for AllLatin America and the brand was
actually going through a littlebit of a shift because we wanted
to be more sustainable.
So we wanted to be a littlemore conscious in terms of the
(03:46):
environment and truly bringsomething to the environment as
opposed to keep accumulatingwaste to the environment.
So the bottles were actuallystarting to be making from
recyclable plastic.
So it was just really great tosee that shift on the brand.
And then that shift on again,storytelling, right, like, how
(04:07):
do you tell the story to youraudience?
How do you make sure that youraudience relates to the cause?
How do you find, like peoplethat align with the cause so
they can talk about your brand,your brand?
How do you start doing, um,like different, different
(04:29):
initiatives that talk abouttaking care of the environment,
and not just doing likepublicity that says, hey, we're
made of a recyclable plastic,but actually walking the walk,
actually doing like campaignsand working with like different
organizations and trying tobetter the world.
So I think that was just againlike another great campaign that
(04:53):
I was part of.
That I got to just kind ofspearhead it from beginning to
end and I got to be a part oflike the very beginning, of like
okay, how are we going to pivotthis?
Who are we going to partner upwith?
What's the story that we'regoing to tell our customers and
how are they going to relate tothe story and the cost that our
brand has?
So, again, just prettyrewarding, to be honest.
(05:14):
Then, after that, I got theopportunity to work with
Starbucks and just kind of likesimilar.
I worked with a Latin Americapiece of business and again just
similar making sure that theproducts tell the story for
Latin America, that it's notjust one size fits all, because
I think what many brands do isthey actually take the product
(05:36):
from the United States and theyjust put it in a different
market and they hope it fits,but many times that's not the
case, right, like many times youneed to localize it, you need
to do research on your customer,you need to do research on what
story is really going to alignto your customer.
So your product is successful,so you feel like you're
(05:59):
connecting with your customer,so you feel like you're actually
making a difference and you'rejust another product in their
shop, but you're actually likeconnecting with your customer
and that's when you're going tocreate much of the loyalty with
your consumer.
And ideally, I mean asmarketers, we want to create
that loyalty, we want to createthat relationship with our
(06:22):
consumers so they become loyaltyconsumers as opposed to just
like a one-off right.
So I mean again, just likepretty challenging trying to
figure out what are the productsthat fit Latin America and
trying to really individualizedifferent countries in Latin
(06:42):
America, because I think alsowhat happens in Latin is many
times it's just like all Latinright and, if you like, actually
looked at Latin America with afine comb.
They're very different cultures, like if you see Colombia and
you see Mexico and you seeBrazil.
They're all completelydifferent.
They all relate to differentthings.
(07:02):
They all have a similar storybut a different story.
So you want to make sure thatwhen you bring your products to
these places you tell a storythat's actually gonna be
relatable to them.
So, again, just like reallyrewarding.
And then from there I got theopportunity work, work with
global campaign whichosen, whichis a sponsorship campaign for
(07:25):
an NGO, and again, all aboutstorytelling Our Chosen campaign
.
Actually the thing that we wereseeing is we actually were not
getting that many peoplesponsoring that many millennials
sponsoring children with theNGO.
So we just kind of stop andthink and we're like, okay, what
is it that we can do to getmillennials to actually be
(07:49):
engaged, like, what story can wetell?
And from the data that we foundout is we found out that
millennials actually wanted to.
They wanted the people thatwere sponsored to choose them as
opposed to them choosing thesponsors.
So usually the way it works foradditional sponsorship is you
get to see a few kids from a fewdifferent places and you decide
(08:12):
which kid are you going tosponsor.
So Chosen was actually switchedon that it actually gave the
person that was going to besponsored the power to choose
the person that was going to besponsored, the power to choose
the person that was going to besponsoring them.
So I mean really, reallygroundbreaking, really
fulfilling.
And we decided to name thisChosen because you are being
(08:35):
chosen, and also World Vision,the NGO that I was part of.
It's also a faith-basedorganization.
So again, it's the whole ideathat we're chosen by God.
So I mean just by doing that,like in the first, like three
months that we launched thecampaign, we increased our
market share by 25%, weincreased our revenue by 30%.
(08:55):
And again it's just like thatstory that you're telling.
Right, it was a story of thekid actually has the power to
choose you, of the kid actuallyhas the power to choose you.
And also another thing that wesaw in that campaign was that
the people that were sponsoringthe child would stay longer
sponsoring the children.
So again, it's because theyfelt that connection, because
(09:17):
they felt that being relatableto the kid that was choosing
them.
And again, it's just all aboutthe story that you tell.
There's many stories and that'swhy I love marketing and
advertising.
There's 20 ways to slice a cake, but it's the story that you're
going to choose that's going toresonate best with your
(09:38):
audience.
Peter Woolfolk (09:39):
Well, let me jump in here a second, because I
mean, you said a lot to us nowand, pardon me, I was just
looking at an article you wroteabout crafting an effective
brand story and you've got some,uh, bullet points here.
So if I let's talk about thebullet points and, for instance
and you've covered them, butlet's talk about things such as
authenticity, how important isthat in terms of crafting your
(10:00):
story?
Maria Alonso (10:01):
for sure.
So I do talk about like a fewbullet points, and the first one
is authenticity, um.
Second one is knowing youraudience, uh.
The third one is a clearmessage.
Fourth, emotional appeal find aspiritual and verbal element.
I mean with the very first one,which is authenticity, I mean
again, I think it's just likecrucial when it comes to
(10:22):
storytelling, that you'reauthentic, that you're giving
message to your consumer thatthey can relate to, that seems
honest, that doesn't damage yourbrand's reputation and it
aligns to your brand's valuesand missions right.
So you want to make sure thatwhen you come with any kind of
(10:42):
messaging, it's not somethingthat you're posting as a brand
to get more followers, or it'snot something that you're
posting as a brand to get moreconsumers, but it's something
that is authentic to your brand.
That seems like natural,because consumers nowadays and I
mean, I think honestly, they'vealways been, they've done their
(11:02):
research.
They're really smart.
They want to make sure thatwhat they bring into their
household is something thatrelates to their values.
So, as a brand, you want tomake sure that you stand for
those values, that you alignwith that vision and that you
tell the story to your consumers, that they're gonna align to
(11:23):
that vision and you're gonna endup having again like loyalists.
You're gonna have theseconsumers that are gonna keep
consuming your product and notjust buy a one-off, so people
that relate to the same thingsthat you relate to as a brand.
Peter Woolfolk (11:37):
Well, as you said I think it's important and
you might touch on that again isthat that means you actually
have to know your audience andunderstand who they are and what
their values are.
Maria Alonso (11:47):
Absolutely, and that is just like number one.
Like I always start all mycampaigns with doing research in
terms of, okay, who is ourtarget audience, who is it that
we are trying to increase ourtarget audience towards, and
what do they like and dislikeand how can my brand fit their
(12:07):
likes and dislikes and how can Itell a story that's going to be
able to get their attention,that's going to be able to get
them as a consumer?
Like that is just the firstthing that I start.
I think doing a campaignwithout knowing your target
audience and knowing what yourtarget audience wants and likes
(12:28):
and dislikes, I mean it's justkind of just closing your eyes
and throwing a dart and hope itsticks.
Announcer (12:33):
I mean, it's just kind of just closing your eyes
and throwing a dart and hope itsticks.
Maria Alonso (12:36):
It's just not going to be effective.
It's probably going to be awaste of your money.
You're probably going to bereally frustrated.
So that initial research is soimportant, like do the work
beforehand and test honestly.
Test honestly like I am a hugefan of just kind of like AV
(13:01):
testing or doing pilots and seehow how they, how effective that
they, that they work, becausethat also it's really.
It's really going to help yourbrand in the long run if you
start doing like three monthpilots and you find out, okay,
what's the data on that, andthen go back and take the
information from the data andpivot.
I think nowadays we're so luckythat most of the advertising
(13:24):
that we do is digital right, soyou can pivot fairly quickly and
, like you can do a campaign onMonday and you can get three
weeks later.
You can get a bunch of data andsee if it's resonating with
your audience or not.
So I think we need to besmarter about the messaging that
we're putting out there.
Yeah, the other thing I think,and the message of the tools
(13:46):
that we have, the fact that wecan pivot early.
Peter Woolfolk (13:49):
Well, you know, the other thing that you
mentioned, of course, was havinga clear message, and I think
that's very compelling.
Maria Alonso (13:57):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean doing a clear messagejust.
I mean, again, telling acompelling story that has just a
clear and concise message andjust make sure you avoid
overcomplicating the narrative,like there is no reason to just
kind of overcome, overcomplicate the narrative or the
message.
You just want to make sure thatyou focus on the core message
(14:17):
that you want to convey and doeverything you can to make sure
you get that crevice, thatmessage, across.
I think many times what happensin marketing is a lot of
products start throwingdifferent messages and you get a
very confused consumer becauseyou don't know exactly what the
(14:39):
brand is standing for.
So that's why it's reallyimportant to make sure that you
have a few clear messages andthat's why you keep saying over
and over because that's reallywhat's going to resonate with
the audience that beingrepetitive, making sure that
you're saying the messages indifferent outlets, making sure
that they're hearing the samestory from different voices and
(15:02):
from different outlets like thatis really what's going to make
the consumer come to you andwhat's going to make you being
able to connect with yourconsumer right.
Peter Woolfolk (15:14):
Well, you also mentioned emotional appeal.
Talk a bit about what isemotional appeal as you deliver
your message.
Maria Alonso (15:20):
Yeah for sure.
So when I talk about emotionalappeal, I talk about
incorporating elements of justkind of a bulk emotion, so
elements that, whether it's likejoy or sadness, inspiration,
nostalgia, anything that's likean emotional connection, it's
going to be just reallysignificant to enhance the end
(15:41):
of your story, the end of yourstory.
So, for example, if I go back tothe campaign that I did for the
NGO that I was a part of, likeif I go back to Chosen, again,
that emotional appeal of you'rehelping someone, you're
connecting with someone, you'responsoring that person and you
(16:02):
have that one-on-onerelationship like that speaks
really loud.
That speaks louder than words,because you're having your
consumer connect in an emotionalway to your product in this
case, the sponsorship product.
Also, many times the aspect forexample, when I worked with a
(16:25):
brand for Coca-Cola that we wereactually being a lot more
conscious in terms of theenvironment and we were making
our bottles from recycledplastic.
Again, if you are connectingthat with your audience in terms
of, hey, we care about theenvironment and you have an
(16:45):
audience and a consumer thatcares about the environment, you
have that emotional connectionand that's going to go a long
way and that's what's going tomake your consumer become a
loyalist, as opposed to just aone-time purchaser.
Peter Woolfolk (17:02):
Well, you know, you got into some other areas
that I think are important, andthat is implementing the
strategy for your storytelling,and I think that's very
important that our listenersmight need to know a bit about.
You know, such as you mentionedhere, identifying your brand's
core story.
Maria Alonso (17:16):
Exactly exactly.
I think.
Like identifying your brand'score story.
Like identify what your brandstands for, right, determine
what makes your brand unique.
Like the first thing that I askwhen I'm working with a brand
is what's your unique sellingpoint?
Like why would people want tobuy you versus another product?
And that issue that's justreally important.
(17:37):
Like knowing how are youdifferent from the competitor,
what makes you unique, what isthe brand's core story that
you're going to tell?
And many times it could bepersonal experience, like it
could be that someone starts aproduct out of like, out of
something that happened to them,and they have that emotional
connection with a product andthat story could be your unique
(17:59):
selling point.
Like many times it starts aboutnecessity, right.
So, for example, there's a lotof like free and clear like
products.
So maybe there was someone thatwas like getting rashes and had
eczema and they created thisdetergent.
That's free and clear and theyhave that connection with that
(18:20):
product and they have aconnection with the product they
created.
Then again, that's a uniqueselling point and that is the
story that they're going to goout and tell right.
And I think those are justreally powerful stories because
you're really passionate aboutsomething that perhaps wasn't
there before, that you created,and you want to make sure that
everyone that had that problem,like maybe again going back to
(18:45):
the free and clear, like maybeyou want to connect with all the
people that have eczema andthey use all these other
detergents, that have a bunch ofperfumes and have a bunch of
things, and when they throwtheir things in the washer they
come out and they get rashes anditches.
And again, connecting,identifying what your unique
(19:05):
selling point and connectingwith your consumer that's just
what's going to get you the mostfor your box.
That's what's going to get youpeople that identify with your
brand.
Peter Woolfolk (19:16):
Mm-hmm.
So let's say, now that you'vedeveloped what your delivery
message and so forth are.
You mentioned also aboutleveraging multiple channels as
a way to deliver this story andadvertising package you put
together.
Let's talk about the multiplechannels that could be available
to you.
Maria Alonso (19:35):
For sure, and I think I touched a little bit on
this, but again, it's just likegiving that message to your core
audience through differentchannels.
So different channels could belike social media, it could be a
blog, it could be a video, itcould be a podcast, it could be
like the apps that you seeonline newspapers, at homes, tv,
(20:01):
Like.
All those are differentchannels and if you keep saying
the same message in all thesedifferent channels, then you're
going to resonate with theaudience.
Like there might be someonethat's been driving on a highway
and they see an out of home andthat out of home has a message
that connects with them.
So when they get into theircomputer and they're like
(20:22):
checking their email, and thenanother, like a banner, comes
out with the same message forthe same product, like I think
eventually they'reself-resonating that message or
those messages with that productand if it's something that they
connect with, they might do adouble click.
I mean, at the end of the day,you want them to want to know
more about your brand, right?
I mean the first thing about abrand is you want to?
(20:43):
create awareness.
You want to know more aboutyour brand, right?
I mean, the first thing about abrand is you want to create
awareness, you want to make surethat people know that you're
there, but then after that, youwant to make sure that they're
learning about you andeventually you want to make sure
that they are purchasing you,right?
Like that's just the funnelthat it goes to for advertising,
that we use in marketing, butagain, it's just showing these
(21:06):
messages, making sure thatyou're putting them in a lot of
different outlets so you can hityour consumer throughout
different points of theirjourney.
Peter Woolfolk (21:17):
Well, I certainly agree with that, and
one of the things that you do isalso perhaps mention.
So why not create a calendar sothat you can deliver these
messages at different parts ordifferent times of the year,
maybe through differentactivities going on throughout
the year as well?
Maria Alonso (21:33):
Exactly exactly.
When I create a calendar forthe products that I work with, I
make sure that my contentcalendar has again.
What messages am I going togive?
What stories am I going to tell?
Have again.
What messages am I going togive?
What stories am I going to tell?
And make sure that I tell thesestories in my social media, in
my emails, in my TV, in myat-homes, in my newsletters?
(21:54):
Making sure that I'm tellingthe same story in different
places so I can hit the sameconsumer throughout their
journey.
But then I can also hitdifferent consumers.
It might be just one that justlikes to read on paper, right,
so this person might actuallyread my article in the newspaper
.
Or there might be someone thatis at home when they drive at
(22:17):
home.
So it's just making sure thatyou're being repetitive and just
kind of doing that completelylike go-to-market campaign.
Peter Woolfolk (22:28):
And now that obviously we've created the
story and we've gotten that outthere, then of course we have to
measure and find out exactlywhat results.
How well did it do?
So what are some of the stepsthat you suggest in terms of
measuring the output that youproduced?
Maria Alonso (22:45):
Measuring and being able to pivot and adapt.
It's so important and that'swhy I love technology and I love
where we're going, because youcan do a campaign and then you
can see how it performs afterthree weeks and you can see
whether your visual isresonating with the audience.
(23:05):
You can see if your copy isresonating with the audience and
if not, you can tweak it andtry something else.
And that's what's so importantabout looking at the data and
making decisions with the data.
I think right now we're just solucky that we have a ton of data
we can really make reallyeducated decisions.
(23:27):
I mean, honestly, like 15 yearsago we just didn't have that.
We didn't have like digitaladvertising wasn't as big as it
is, like we couldn't pivot andadapt within like three weeks,
like we didn't necessarily havethat.
And I think right now we're inthe stage that we can really
make educated data decisions andwe can measure them, we can
(23:52):
adapt, we can pivot and there isreally no reason, if you do all
the research on your audienceand on your customer, that
you're going to be able to hitthem where it counts right, that
you're going to be able to tellthe story that's going to move
them.
Peter Woolfolk (24:09):
You know, as we come to a close here, one of the
things I think is importantbecause you mentioned
millennials and millennials arebig in terms of sustainability
and social responsibility Talkabout how you let them know that
sustainability and socialresponsibility is part of your
marketing product.
Maria Alonso (24:28):
if you use yeah, I think sustainability, to be
honest, is right now more thanever.
It's really important because,like you said it, it's like all
these like Millennials and Gen Z, like they want to make sure
that the brand that they'reconsuming cares about the
environment as much as they careabout the environment, that
(24:50):
it's not just a brand that isgoing to be like creating waste,
but it's actually going to dosomething about it.
So what I've been seeing a lotfrom like different products is
they all have this kind of likearm of sustainability.
And there's a lot more productslike, for example, like Roppies
it's a shoe that's made out ofrecyclable material and like
(25:13):
that.
There's just a lot more in themarket.
And again, it's telling thatstory to your consumer, telling
them what you're doing and makesure that they connect with that
story, and I I mean it could be.
You could do it as a brand andstand for sustainability
regardless, which I think youshould or you can find out what
moves your target audience andtry to create arms of
(25:38):
sustainability that moves yourtarget audience specifically,
right, like I think that's whereall this data that you have can
be useful, but, again, makingsure that you're doing something
with sustainability.
That, I think, has become thecore of most brands right now,
because us millennials and GenZs, we want to make sure that if
(26:01):
we're buying a product, thatproduct is going to do something
for the environment, likethere's going to be something
good that's going to come out ofit.
I think back in the day itwasn't that way, but now it's
really important to make surethat you're doing good and that
the brands that you'repurchasing are doing good for
the world as well.
Peter Woolfolk (26:23):
Well, Maria, let me say that you provided us
with a lot exceptionally, a lotof valuable material.
Is there anything you thinkthat we need to know that maybe
you haven't mentioned yet?
Maria Alonso (26:34):
Well, I think I did cover a ton.
I mean again likesustainability, social
responsibility, Again, like theconsumer, just really values.
That I'm really excited to seewhere storytelling is going with
all these like tools that wehave, like user-generated
content, AI, like all these likedifferent tools that we can use
(26:56):
to tell a better story andlearn faster from the data that
we get.
So I'm just really excited tosee what the future holds,
especially on storytelling,because that's really the core
of any brand.
Peter Woolfolk (27:14):
Well, my guest today has been Maria Alonzo,
founder of Fortune 206 and anexpert storyteller.
I certainly hope that you'vebenefited from her wealth of
information that we've deliveredtoday and, of course, I
certainly want to thank Mariafor being a guest on the Public
Relations Review Podcast andhope that you've enjoyed her and
(27:34):
, if you have, we certainly liketo get a review from you.
So let me say thank you andjoin us again for the next
edition of the Public RelationsReview Podcast.
Announcer (27:45):
This podcast is produced by Communication
Strategies, an award-winningpublic relations and public
affairs firm headquartered inNashville, tennessee.
Thank you for joining us.
Music, music, music, music,music.
Welcome.
This is the Public RelationsReview Podcast, a program to
discuss the many facets ofpublic relations with seasoned
professionals, educators,authors and others.
Now here is your host, PeterWoolfolk.
Peter Woolfolk (00:23):
Welcome to the Public Relations Review Podcast
and to all of our listeners allacross America and around the
world.
Now, this podcast is ranked byApple for being among the top 1%
of podcasts worldwide, so letme say thank you to all of our
listeners and guests for makingthis possible.
Now, if you enjoy our podcast,please, we'd certainly like to
(00:45):
get a review from you.
Now a question to the audienceAre you familiar with the power
and persuasion of storytelling?
Well, my guest today willprovide you a fulfilling and
satisfying overview of thebenefits of storytelling.
The founder of Fortune 206, sheis a marketing expert with over
15 years leading successfulglobal advertising campaigns.
(01:05):
She is also a member of theacclaimed Ford Magazine
Communications Council.
So, maria Alonso, welcome tothe podcast and thank you for
joining us from SeattleWashington.
Maria Alonso (01:17):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's great to talk aboutstorytelling and maybe even
showcase some of the campaignsthat storytelling really had an
impact during my career.
So thank you so much for havingme.
Peter Woolfolk (01:30):
Well, why don't we begin a bit more about your
background and how you got intothis storytelling piece?
Maria Alonso (01:37):
Yeah for sure.
So I started my career workingwith a huge advertising agency,
golby, and I think I was luckyenough to work on the Dubb Real
Woman campaign, which I mean, ifwe talk about storytelling,
that is just the best exampleabout storytelling, right?
(01:58):
So I started my career beinglike an account executive center
account executive but reallygot to be involved with just
storytelling from like differentwomen and showing the media.
At that time, everything youwould see in the media would be
models and people that were justhave the perfect body and what
(02:20):
Duff did was actually showcasingreal women and being part of
this campaign and telling thatstory and also showcasing real
women and I mean from thecasting to working with them in
photo shoots.
Everything was pretty surrealand I mean I'm lucky enough that
(02:42):
the campaign got a bunch ofawards at the time.
It was pretty innovative.
All the people that I workedwith were really, really excited
to make a difference because itwas actually portraying a real
woman in all these commercialsusing the product and showcasing
bodies in all shapes and forms.
(03:03):
So I mean I think I was justreally lucky to be a part of
that from the get-go and then,shortly after that, I got the
opportunity to work with otherhuge brands.
I got the opportunity to workwith Coca-Cola and I think I was
lucky enough because the brandI worked with was Ciel, which is
(03:24):
a water bottle, and I was luckyenough because the brand I work
with was Ciel, which is a waterbottle, and I was the account
person.
I was the brand manager for AllLatin America and the brand was
actually going through a littlebit of a shift because we wanted
to be more sustainable.
So we wanted to be a littlemore conscious in terms of the
(03:46):
environment and truly bringsomething to the environment as
opposed to keep accumulatingwaste to the environment.
So the bottles were actuallystarting to be making from
recyclable plastic.
So it was just really great tosee that shift on the brand.
And then that shift on again,storytelling, right, like, how
(04:07):
do you tell the story to youraudience?
How do you make sure that youraudience relates to the cause?
How do you find, like peoplethat align with the cause so
they can talk about your brand,your brand?
How do you start doing, um,like different, different
(04:29):
initiatives that talk abouttaking care of the environment,
and not just doing likepublicity that says, hey, we're
made of a recyclable plastic,but actually walking the walk,
actually doing like campaignsand working with like different
organizations and trying tobetter the world.
So I think that was just againlike another great campaign that
(04:53):
I was part of.
That I got to just kind ofspearhead it from beginning to
end and I got to be a part oflike the very beginning, of like
okay, how are we going to pivotthis?
Who are we going to partner upwith?
What's the story that we'regoing to tell our customers and
how are they going to relate tothe story and the cost that our
brand has?
So, again, just prettyrewarding, to be honest.
(05:14):
Then, after that, I got theopportunity to work with
Starbucks and just kind of likesimilar.
I worked with a Latin Americapiece of business and again just
similar making sure that theproducts tell the story for
Latin America, that it's notjust one size fits all, because
I think what many brands do isthey actually take the product
(05:36):
from the United States and theyjust put it in a different
market and they hope it fits,but many times that's not the
case, right, like many times youneed to localize it, you need
to do research on your customer,you need to do research on what
story is really going to alignto your customer.
So your product is successful,so you feel like you're
(05:59):
connecting with your customer,so you feel like you're actually
making a difference and you'rejust another product in their
shop, but you're actually likeconnecting with your customer
and that's when you're going tocreate much of the loyalty with
your consumer.
And ideally, I mean asmarketers, we want to create
that loyalty, we want to createthat relationship with our
(06:22):
consumers so they become loyaltyconsumers as opposed to just
like a one-off right.
So I mean again, just likepretty challenging trying to
figure out what are the productsthat fit Latin America and
trying to really individualizedifferent countries in Latin
(06:42):
America, because I think alsowhat happens in Latin is many
times it's just like all Latinright and, if you like, actually
looked at Latin America with afine comb.
They're very different cultures, like if you see Colombia and
you see Mexico and you seeBrazil.
They're all completelydifferent.
They all relate to differentthings.
(07:02):
They all have a similar storybut a different story.
So you want to make sure thatwhen you bring your products to
these places you tell a storythat's actually gonna be
relatable to them.
So, again, just like reallyrewarding.
And then from there I got theopportunity work, work with
global campaign whichosen, whichis a sponsorship campaign for
(07:25):
an NGO, and again, all aboutstorytelling Our Chosen campaign
.
Actually the thing that we wereseeing is we actually were not
getting that many peoplesponsoring that many millennials
sponsoring children with theNGO.
So we just kind of stop andthink and we're like, okay, what
is it that we can do to getmillennials to actually be
(07:49):
engaged, like, what story can wetell?
And from the data that we foundout is we found out that
millennials actually wanted to.
They wanted the people thatwere sponsored to choose them as
opposed to them choosing thesponsors.
So usually the way it works foradditional sponsorship is you
get to see a few kids from a fewdifferent places and you decide
(08:12):
which kid are you going tosponsor.
So Chosen was actually switchedon that it actually gave the
person that was going to besponsored the power to choose
the person that was going to besponsored, the power to choose
the person that was going to besponsoring them.
So I mean really, reallygroundbreaking, really
fulfilling.
And we decided to name thisChosen because you are being
(08:35):
chosen, and also World Vision,the NGO that I was part of.
It's also a faith-basedorganization.
So again, it's the whole ideathat we're chosen by God.
So I mean just by doing that,like in the first, like three
months that we launched thecampaign, we increased our
market share by 25%, weincreased our revenue by 30%.
(08:55):
And again it's just like thatstory that you're telling.
Right, it was a story of thekid actually has the power to
choose you, of the kid actuallyhas the power to choose you.
And also another thing that wesaw in that campaign was that
the people that were sponsoringthe child would stay longer
sponsoring the children.
So again, it's because theyfelt that connection, because
(09:17):
they felt that being relatableto the kid that was choosing
them.
And again, it's just all aboutthe story that you tell.
There's many stories and that'swhy I love marketing and
advertising.
There's 20 ways to slice a cake, but it's the story that you're
going to choose that's going toresonate best with your
(09:38):
audience.
Peter Woolfolk (09:39):
Well, let me jump in here a second, because I
mean, you said a lot to us nowand, pardon me, I was just
looking at an article you wroteabout crafting an effective
brand story and you've got some,uh, bullet points here.
So if I let's talk about thebullet points and, for instance
and you've covered them, butlet's talk about things such as
authenticity, how important isthat in terms of crafting your
(10:00):
story?
Maria Alonso (10:01):
for sure.
So I do talk about like a fewbullet points, and the first one
is authenticity, um.
Second one is knowing youraudience, uh.
The third one is a clearmessage.
Fourth, emotional appeal find aspiritual and verbal element.
I mean with the very first one,which is authenticity, I mean
again, I think it's just likecrucial when it comes to
(10:22):
storytelling, that you'reauthentic, that you're giving
message to your consumer thatthey can relate to, that seems
honest, that doesn't damage yourbrand's reputation and it
aligns to your brand's valuesand missions right.
So you want to make sure thatwhen you come with any kind of
(10:42):
messaging, it's not somethingthat you're posting as a brand
to get more followers, or it'snot something that you're
posting as a brand to get moreconsumers, but it's something
that is authentic to your brand.
That seems like natural,because consumers nowadays and I
mean, I think honestly, they'vealways been, they've done their
(11:02):
research.
They're really smart.
They want to make sure thatwhat they bring into their
household is something thatrelates to their values.
So, as a brand, you want tomake sure that you stand for
those values, that you alignwith that vision and that you
tell the story to your consumers, that they're gonna align to
(11:23):
that vision and you're gonna endup having again like loyalists.
You're gonna have theseconsumers that are gonna keep
consuming your product and notjust buy a one-off, so people
that relate to the same thingsthat you relate to as a brand.
Peter Woolfolk (11:37):
Well, as you said I think it's important and
you might touch on that again isthat that means you actually
have to know your audience andunderstand who they are and what
their values are.
Maria Alonso (11:47):
Absolutely, and that is just like number one.
Like I always start all mycampaigns with doing research in
terms of, okay, who is ourtarget audience, who is it that
we are trying to increase ourtarget audience towards, and
what do they like and dislikeand how can my brand fit their
(12:07):
likes and dislikes and how can Itell a story that's going to be
able to get their attention,that's going to be able to get
them as a consumer?
Like that is just the firstthing that I start.
I think doing a campaignwithout knowing your target
audience and knowing what yourtarget audience wants and likes
(12:28):
and dislikes, I mean it's justkind of just closing your eyes
and throwing a dart and hope itsticks.
Announcer (12:33):
I mean, it's just kind of just closing your eyes
and throwing a dart and hope itsticks.
Maria Alonso (12:36):
It's just not going to be effective.
It's probably going to be awaste of your money.
You're probably going to bereally frustrated.
So that initial research is soimportant, like do the work
beforehand and test honestly.
Test honestly like I am a hugefan of just kind of like AV
(13:01):
testing or doing pilots and seehow how they, how effective that
they, that they work, becausethat also it's really.
It's really going to help yourbrand in the long run if you
start doing like three monthpilots and you find out, okay,
what's the data on that, andthen go back and take the
information from the data andpivot.
I think nowadays we're so luckythat most of the advertising
(13:24):
that we do is digital right, soyou can pivot fairly quickly and
, like you can do a campaign onMonday and you can get three
weeks later.
You can get a bunch of data andsee if it's resonating with
your audience or not.
So I think we need to besmarter about the messaging that
we're putting out there.
Yeah, the other thing I think,and the message of the tools
(13:46):
that we have, the fact that wecan pivot early.
Peter Woolfolk (13:49):
Well, you know, the other thing that you
mentioned, of course, was havinga clear message, and I think
that's very compelling.
Maria Alonso (13:57):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean doing a clear messagejust.
I mean, again, telling acompelling story that has just a
clear and concise message andjust make sure you avoid
overcomplicating the narrative,like there is no reason to just
kind of overcome, overcomplicate the narrative or the
message.
You just want to make sure thatyou focus on the core message
(14:17):
that you want to convey and doeverything you can to make sure
you get that crevice, thatmessage, across.
I think many times what happensin marketing is a lot of
products start throwingdifferent messages and you get a
very confused consumer becauseyou don't know exactly what the
(14:39):
brand is standing for.
So that's why it's reallyimportant to make sure that you
have a few clear messages andthat's why you keep saying over
and over because that's reallywhat's going to resonate with
the audience that beingrepetitive, making sure that
you're saying the messages indifferent outlets, making sure
that they're hearing the samestory from different voices and
(15:02):
from different outlets like thatis really what's going to make
the consumer come to you andwhat's going to make you being
able to connect with yourconsumer right.
Peter Woolfolk (15:14):
Well, you also mentioned emotional appeal.
Talk a bit about what isemotional appeal as you deliver
your message.
Maria Alonso (15:20):
Yeah for sure.
So when I talk about emotionalappeal, I talk about
incorporating elements of justkind of a bulk emotion, so
elements that, whether it's likejoy or sadness, inspiration,
nostalgia, anything that's likean emotional connection, it's
going to be just reallysignificant to enhance the end
(15:41):
of your story, the end of yourstory.
So, for example, if I go back tothe campaign that I did for the
NGO that I was a part of, likeif I go back to Chosen, again,
that emotional appeal of you'rehelping someone, you're
connecting with someone, you'responsoring that person and you
(16:02):
have that one-on-onerelationship like that speaks
really loud.
That speaks louder than words,because you're having your
consumer connect in an emotionalway to your product in this
case, the sponsorship product.
Also, many times the aspect forexample, when I worked with a
(16:25):
brand for Coca-Cola that we wereactually being a lot more
conscious in terms of theenvironment and we were making
our bottles from recycledplastic.
Again, if you are connectingthat with your audience in terms
of, hey, we care about theenvironment and you have an
(16:45):
audience and a consumer thatcares about the environment, you
have that emotional connectionand that's going to go a long
way and that's what's going tomake your consumer become a
loyalist, as opposed to just aone-time purchaser.
Peter Woolfolk (17:02):
Well, you know, you got into some other areas
that I think are important, andthat is implementing the
strategy for your storytelling,and I think that's very
important that our listenersmight need to know a bit about.
You know, such as you mentionedhere, identifying your brand's
core story.
Maria Alonso (17:16):
Exactly exactly.
I think.
Like identifying your brand'score story.
Like identify what your brandstands for, right, determine
what makes your brand unique.
Like the first thing that I askwhen I'm working with a brand
is what's your unique sellingpoint?
Like why would people want tobuy you versus another product?
And that issue that's justreally important.
(17:37):
Like knowing how are youdifferent from the competitor,
what makes you unique, what isthe brand's core story that
you're going to tell?
And many times it could bepersonal experience, like it
could be that someone starts aproduct out of like, out of
something that happened to them,and they have that emotional
connection with a product andthat story could be your unique
(17:59):
selling point.
Like many times it starts aboutnecessity, right.
So, for example, there's a lotof like free and clear like
products.
So maybe there was someone thatwas like getting rashes and had
eczema and they created thisdetergent.
That's free and clear and theyhave that connection with that
(18:20):
product and they have aconnection with the product they
created.
Then again, that's a uniqueselling point and that is the
story that they're going to goout and tell right.
And I think those are justreally powerful stories because
you're really passionate aboutsomething that perhaps wasn't
there before, that you created,and you want to make sure that
everyone that had that problem,like maybe again going back to
(18:45):
the free and clear, like maybeyou want to connect with all the
people that have eczema andthey use all these other
detergents, that have a bunch ofperfumes and have a bunch of
things, and when they throwtheir things in the washer they
come out and they get rashes anditches.
And again, connecting,identifying what your unique
(19:05):
selling point and connectingwith your consumer that's just
what's going to get you the mostfor your box.
That's what's going to get youpeople that identify with your
brand.
Peter Woolfolk (19:16):
Mm-hmm.
So let's say, now that you'vedeveloped what your delivery
message and so forth are.
You mentioned also aboutleveraging multiple channels as
a way to deliver this story andadvertising package you put
together.
Let's talk about the multiplechannels that could be available
to you.
Maria Alonso (19:35):
For sure, and I think I touched a little bit on
this, but again, it's just likegiving that message to your core
audience through differentchannels.
So different channels could belike social media, it could be a
blog, it could be a video, itcould be a podcast, it could be
like the apps that you seeonline newspapers, at homes, tv,
(20:01):
Like.
All those are differentchannels and if you keep saying
the same message in all thesedifferent channels, then you're
going to resonate with theaudience.
Like there might be someonethat's been driving on a highway
and they see an out of home andthat out of home has a message
that connects with them.
So when they get into theircomputer and they're like
(20:22):
checking their email, and thenanother, like a banner, comes
out with the same message forthe same product, like I think
eventually they'reself-resonating that message or
those messages with that productand if it's something that they
connect with, they might do adouble click.
I mean, at the end of the day,you want them to want to know
more about your brand, right?
I mean the first thing about abrand is you want to?
(20:43):
create awareness.
You want to know more aboutyour brand, right?
I mean, the first thing about abrand is you want to create
awareness, you want to make surethat people know that you're
there, but then after that, youwant to make sure that they're
learning about you andeventually you want to make sure
that they are purchasing you,right?
Like that's just the funnelthat it goes to for advertising,
that we use in marketing, butagain, it's just showing these
(21:06):
messages, making sure thatyou're putting them in a lot of
different outlets so you can hityour consumer throughout
different points of theirjourney.
Peter Woolfolk (21:17):
Well, I certainly agree with that, and
one of the things that you do isalso perhaps mention.
So why not create a calendar sothat you can deliver these
messages at different parts ordifferent times of the year,
maybe through differentactivities going on throughout
the year as well?
Maria Alonso (21:33):
Exactly exactly.
When I create a calendar forthe products that I work with, I
make sure that my contentcalendar has again.
What messages am I going togive?
What stories am I going to tell?
Have again.
What messages am I going togive?
What stories am I going to tell?
And make sure that I tell thesestories in my social media, in
my emails, in my TV, in myat-homes, in my newsletters?
(21:54):
Making sure that I'm tellingthe same story in different
places so I can hit the sameconsumer throughout their
journey.
But then I can also hitdifferent consumers.
It might be just one that justlikes to read on paper, right,
so this person might actuallyread my article in the newspaper
.
Or there might be someone thatis at home when they drive at
(22:17):
home.
So it's just making sure thatyou're being repetitive and just
kind of doing that completelylike go-to-market campaign.
Peter Woolfolk (22:28):
And now that obviously we've created the
story and we've gotten that outthere, then of course we have to
measure and find out exactlywhat results.
How well did it do?
So what are some of the stepsthat you suggest in terms of
measuring the output that youproduced?
Maria Alonso (22:45):
Measuring and being able to pivot and adapt.
It's so important and that'swhy I love technology and I love
where we're going, because youcan do a campaign and then you
can see how it performs afterthree weeks and you can see
whether your visual isresonating with the audience.
(23:05):
You can see if your copy isresonating with the audience and
if not, you can tweak it andtry something else.
And that's what's so importantabout looking at the data and
making decisions with the data.
I think right now we're just solucky that we have a ton of data
we can really make reallyeducated decisions.
(23:27):
I mean, honestly, like 15 yearsago we just didn't have that.
We didn't have like digitaladvertising wasn't as big as it
is, like we couldn't pivot andadapt within like three weeks,
like we didn't necessarily havethat.
And I think right now we're inthe stage that we can really
make educated data decisions andwe can measure them, we can
(23:52):
adapt, we can pivot and there isreally no reason, if you do all
the research on your audienceand on your customer, that
you're going to be able to hitthem where it counts right, that
you're going to be able to tellthe story that's going to move
them.
Peter Woolfolk (24:09):
You know, as we come to a close here, one of the
things I think is importantbecause you mentioned
millennials and millennials arebig in terms of sustainability
and social responsibility Talkabout how you let them know that
sustainability and socialresponsibility is part of your
marketing product.
Maria Alonso (24:28):
if you use yeah, I think sustainability, to be
honest, is right now more thanever.
It's really important because,like you said it, it's like all
these like Millennials and Gen Z, like they want to make sure
that the brand that they'reconsuming cares about the
environment as much as they careabout the environment, that
(24:50):
it's not just a brand that isgoing to be like creating waste,
but it's actually going to dosomething about it.
So what I've been seeing a lotfrom like different products is
they all have this kind of likearm of sustainability.
And there's a lot more productslike, for example, like Roppies
it's a shoe that's made out ofrecyclable material and like
(25:13):
that.
There's just a lot more in themarket.
And again, it's telling thatstory to your consumer, telling
them what you're doing and makesure that they connect with that
story, and I I mean it could be.
You could do it as a brand andstand for sustainability
regardless, which I think youshould or you can find out what
moves your target audience andtry to create arms of
(25:38):
sustainability that moves yourtarget audience specifically,
right, like I think that's whereall this data that you have can
be useful, but, again, makingsure that you're doing something
with sustainability.
That, I think, has become thecore of most brands right now,
because us millennials and GenZs, we want to make sure that if
(26:01):
we're buying a product, thatproduct is going to do something
for the environment, likethere's going to be something
good that's going to come out ofit.
I think back in the day itwasn't that way, but now it's
really important to make surethat you're doing good and that
the brands that you'repurchasing are doing good for
the world as well.
Peter Woolfolk (26:23):
Well, Maria, let me say that you provided us
with a lot exceptionally, a lotof valuable material.
Is there anything you thinkthat we need to know that maybe
you haven't mentioned yet?
Maria Alonso (26:34):
Well, I think I did cover a ton.
I mean again likesustainability, social
responsibility, Again, like theconsumer, just really values.
That I'm really excited to seewhere storytelling is going with
all these like tools that wehave, like user-generated
content, AI, like all these likedifferent tools that we can use
(26:56):
to tell a better story andlearn faster from the data that
we get.
So I'm just really excited tosee what the future holds,
especially on storytelling,because that's really the core
of any brand.
Peter Woolfolk (27:14):
Well, my guest today has been Maria Alonzo,
founder of Fortune 206 and anexpert storyteller.
I certainly hope that you'vebenefited from her wealth of
information that we've deliveredtoday and, of course, I
certainly want to thank Mariafor being a guest on the Public
Relations Review Podcast andhope that you've enjoyed her and
(27:34):
, if you have, we certainly liketo get a review from you.
So let me say thank you andjoin us again for the next
edition of the Public RelationsReview Podcast.
Announcer (27:45):
This podcast is produced by Communication
Strategies, an award-winningpublic relations and public
affairs firm headquartered inNashville, tennessee.
Thank you for joining us.
Music, music, music, music,music.
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