Confession: we love MailChimp. It’s our ESP of choice for ourselves and our clients. Their platform is so easy to use. But more than that, their branding is on point, their Instagram is worth following, and their marketing campaigns are inspiring.

Anytime we get the chance to look under the hood of MailChimp’s marketing, we immediately jump at it. Today’s Listen is one of those chances.

It’s an interview, from Marketing Today, with the CMO at MailChimp, Tom Klein. He’s got a bunch of awards for marketing, has an interesting career trajectory, and was named to Adweek’s 50 Most Indispensable Executives in Marketing, Media, and Tech in 2017. Basically, Tom knows marketing.

Marketers, meet Tom:

• (01:30) Tom started his career in accounting! Just goes to show how weird career trajectory can be.
• (03:50) He used to work at Chanel and is now at MailChimp, but he actually thinks the companies are pretty similar. Weird.
• (05:58) Marketing automation truly isn’t a bad thing. You shouldn’t automate all of your marketing, but parts of it? Absolutely.
• (07:35) When you automate simple parts of marketing, it gives you more time to focus on creating a great marketing message for your customers.
• (09:07) If you want to stay up to date with marketing and technology, Tom recommends you just pay attention. Look at everything through a marketing lense. Ask, “how could this new technology affect marketing?”
• (10:50) Where is MailChimp going? They’re trying to pull more digital marketing pieces under their roof.
• (15:22) MailChimp talks (and listens!) to their customers more than any company Tom has worked for.
• (16:19) How Tom stays true to the brand he inherited. He makes it a point to “keep it weird.”
• (20:17) They’re not too concerned with measuring data and proving ROI. They’re more concerned with using mediums that get their message across.
• (22:17) MailChimp tries to inspire their customers in their marketing.

So, so, so much more insight from Tom Klein in this one.

Anyone else shed a few tears over Nat Geo’s Instagram post on Tuesday morning? The one about the passing of Sudan, the last male North African White Rhino? Honest and eye-opening storytelling from Nat Geo as always…

So when we stumbled upon this post by Hootsuite, we thought it deserved some shine.

With more than 45 million fans on Facebook and 86 million followers on Instagram, National Geographic is one of the top non-celebrity brands on social media.

Hootsuite gathered some pointers from the Nat Geo’s social strategy, which is based on four core guiding principles.

They’re lessons that any brand, big or small, should keep in mind. So let’s check ’em out:  

1) Stay true to your brand
Here’s just one example of how Nat Geo does this so well: “In line with its commitment to social responsibility (a quarter of the company’s proceeds benefit the non-profit National Geographic Society), National Geographic launched The People vs. Climate Change campaign and #myclimateaction hashtag to encourage followers to share the actions they were taking to help protect the earth.”

Understand your brand promise, and stay true to it in everything you post on social. Look for ways to collaborate with your followers and get them engaged.

2) Go immediate
National Geographic’s live videos are not one-way broadcasts— they’re conversations with viewers. What real-time moments could you use to create a “happening now” dialogue with your followers and fans?

3) Harness the power of “wow”
You likely don’t have anything as dramatic to share as the inside of a shark’s mouth, but all companies can keep this principle in mind. Try to create and curate content that wows viewers every time. 

4) Embrace new technology
Technology and social tools are changing fast. Keep on top of the latest developments (hopefully we help you with that). Think about ways to apply new tools in creative ways to build a stronger connection with your audience!

There are some amazing examples in this one, so be sure to take a peep →  

No, not the game—but a resounding theme in the spirited new ad from H&M. Following a number of controversies for the brand this year, H&M appears to be making strides to fix its image with this progressive (and star-studded) ad spot.

Filmed by Adam&Eve/DDB in Buenos Aires, the ad opens with Elizabeth Olsen ditching her boring (male) dance partner in favor of a more exuberant woman. This cues up a livelier song (shout out Young MC) and sets off a chain reaction of women dancing with one another. Among them are Imanan Hamma, Andrea Valle, and Winona Ryder.

Energized women spilled out into the streets wearing H&M’s spring line as the men merely look on from the sidelines. This one is all about the women as the ad exudes a palpable message of female empowerment.

Is it enough to forgive H&M’s recent faux pas? We’ll let the consumer decide that one.