Jamie LaRose, VP, Digital Marketing, Home Lending, Wells Fargo
In the fallout of the Great Recession, many professionals strove simply to maintain the status quo to keep their jobs, even at the cost of innovation. LaRose is not one of those people. After years cutting his teeth in the attrition-wrought agency world, he rose to marketing excellence through a fearless pursuit of innovation and a lucid approach to experimentation and pivoting. The impact of LaRose’s talent reverberates through Wells Fargo and other leading companies: He built the roadmap for and implemented Bank of America’s mobile marketing, optimized the enterprise CRM strategy at Baker & Taylor, and led the initiative to create journey maps by customer segment at Wells Fargo.
Defining moment: When I was laid off. [Being laid off] made me realize that I can overcome adversity fairly quickly after losing a job, which in turn gave me confidence to challenge the status quo and push boundaries without the fear of losing another job.
Words to live by: “Do or do not; there is no try.” – Jedi Master Yoda
Strategy shift: When I asked numerous leaders from different departments—including sales, technology, and marketing—what the customer experience was for a particular segment, I received many different answers. I realized that to deliver the best possible experience for our customers we had to crack the silos, develop a common understanding of the actual experience, and optimize touchpoints where applicable.
Up next: It’s mainly about customer data for me. Companies now have the ability to capture, synthesize, and enable huge amounts of customer data to make them smarter marketers and better businesses overall. I encourage my team to find ways to leverage new and existing customer data points to better segment and personalize customer touchpoints and experiences.
Advice to young marketers: Be fearless, challenge the status quo.
–Perry Simpson
