Corinne Sklar says that taking risks, driving creativity, and fostering inspiration are the steps that will create a passionate and successful marketing team. “If you have an organization that’s willing to allow people to go beyond—to extend themselves—there’s a sense of pride and a sense of creativity that’s born out of that,” Sklar says, “which I think has made me a better marketer—and a better leader.” In fact, Sklar says that she takes a personal pride in her marketing team at the digital-focused business consulting firm because when people are themselves they bring their individual talents and views to their work. “I’ve been able to grow—and so have the people who I work with—because I have others around me, mentors, who encourage me to always be myself,” she says. “That’s key to success.”
Marketing strategy: I look at marketing as three legs on a stool, and, ultimately, if you want to be a successful marketer, I strongly believe that you need to have a focus on all of these: a blend of creative and brand strategy, a focus on technology, and data.
Winning ways: I’m extremely proud of an internal campaign we have at Bluewolf: Going Social. We have gamified external and internal collaboration. In other words, our employees are earning points and rewards for collaborating and sharing knowledge. So, just by sharing posts on their LinkedIn pages or earning a certain Klout score, they’re rewarded for being social. It’s a program that we’re constantly iterating on.
Defining moment: The defining moment—or moments—for me has been having people around me, particularly my leadership and mentors, who’ve encouraged me to be myself. They helped me realize that people want my ideas. I felt empowered.
Trend watching: One trend is the focus on the mobile mind-set. Recently, Google announced that it will rank sites and properties on whether they are optimized for mobile. So, anyone who’s doing search marketing should think mobile first. A second trend is to stop thinking about marketing as B2B versus B2C. The lines and barriers are starting to fall away, and you’re seeing less distinction between the two.
Words to live by: Speak your mind; have ideas. Be a thousand times yourself, and think freely. People look for authenticity. It drives your career.
Good read: I usually read several books at once. Right now I’m reading two business [books] and one personal book: Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business; Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage; and a recent biography about [Abraham] Lincoln.
Good advice: Pay attention to technology, and get to know data. And don’t forget what it means to come up with creative campaigns. Be bold.
