Josh Blacksmith
SVP, Management Director, FCB Global
Winning ways: Josh Blacksmith has rocketed through the ranks since joining FCB (then Draftfcb) in 2012. Reigning over FCB’s CRM practice, he helps guide strategy for such leading brands as Toyota, Lexus, PACCAR, Sears, Jack Daniels, and State Farm. His leadership in integrated, data-driven marketing also extends outside of the agency as a member of the board of directors for the CADM (Chicago Association of Direct Marketing).
Defining moment: “I’d had my eye on DraftFCB, now FCB, since I was in college. Moving to Chicago and joining FCB was truly like realizing a dream—I’m surrounded by brilliant people every day. I now lead a team of professionals across several accounts who are dedicated to relationship marketing and we’re excited to be paving the way for the future of CRM within the agency.”
Words to live by: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ?Maya Angelou
Head swivel: “Relationship marketing is typically heavily focused on touchpoint planning, but we as an agency have started placing increasingly more emphasis on what it means to create good experiences for consumers. When predetermined communications streams are augmented by behavioral cues, you can begin to build deeper, more meaningful relationships. Every moment in front of a consumer is valuable; while developing an email program for clients, our teams treat each touchpoint with the same rigor as other teams might treat a 60-second spot.”
Good advice: “Surround yourself with good people, never lose your passion to keep learning, and regularly push yourself to break out of your comfort zone.”
First job: “My first job out of college was in direct mail sales. It taught me the importance of client service, as well as the importance of measuring return on investment. I still use a lot of those skills today in the agency.”
On your nightstand: “I’m reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. An understanding of the subconscious and unconscious is incredibly important in relationship marketing. Blink does a great job of demonstrating how complex human behavior truly is and why we’re able to make some decisions so effortlessly; it’s a fun study in behavioral psychology. I’m a strong believer in making decisions simpler for our brands’ consumers and working to achieve that by creating meaningful experiences and using behavioral economics to drive engagement.”
Favorite mobile app: “This isn’t a groundbreaking answer, but it’s LinkedIn. I use it as a professional Rolodex, it allows me to stay on top of industry trends, and it’s easy to follow what people are sharing and talking about.”
Click or tap here to read the stories behind the successes of the other Direct Marketing News 2014 40 Under 40 winners.
