In Episode 8 of this season’s Digital and Dirt podcast, Ian welcomes Albert Thompson, Managing Director of Digital Innovation at Walton Isaacson, to discuss cultural advertising, strategic placement, and the crucial role that creative plays in reaching an audience.
Walton Isaacson is an insight and culture-driven media agency that provides full-service advertising to a roster of clients that includes Lexus, McDonalds, Amazon, and more. Albert explains how the culture-first approach the company uses to help brands target all market segments including Gen Z, Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ, and women is the biggest factor in making Walton Isaacson unique and successful.
Albert believes brands need to understand and even create cultural moments in order to thrive. He explains how marketers can use audience segmentation to go beyond categorizing people into broad groups, and how strategic placement can reach intended audiences based on behaviors and locations.
Ian and Albert discuss the value of OOH and the importance of relevant creative for reaching an intended market segment and achieving brand goals. Albert notes that culture lives within the human experience and shares why it is important for marketers to create a message that connects with consumers because experience is how consumers identify with the world. They discuss how consumers are emotionally-driven, rather than automation-driven, requiring marketers to respond to actions that happen above the funnel.
Lastly, Ian and Albert talk about how consumer purchase behaviors are generationally changing due to continued technological advances. Albert goes into depth on product cadence and the importance it has in targeting a particular group of people. Ian closes by encouraging listeners to check out Albert’s podcast on Spotify, The Transient Indentiti, which explores consumer truth and the role it plays in the continuous evolution in rules of engagement for marketers.
To learn more about Albert Thompson and Walton Isaacson, listen to the full Digital and Dirt episode available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and other podcast platforms!