This week, I’m sharing the thought leaders who have shaped my career.
My list focuses on the thought leaders I found through books and magazines.
Occasionally, one jumps on the list from a conference.
The list today is focused on the decade of the 2000s.
The Background
During this time, I moved into marketing at General Motors.
Saturn to be specific.
My roles spanned across brand character, CRM & Digital, and marketing strategy.
I also took on projects that involved business planning, retail strategy, and research.
At home, I had my son which brought a decade of two young children.
My learning continued to focus on books.
I was fascinated with design and branding and picked up everything I could find.
If I had to estimate, I likely read a book a month on these topics.
Leading to over 100 across the decade.
In addition, Fast Company continued to be a staple that I looked forward to each month.
Here are the thought leaders that emerged and put an imprint on how I think today.
My Top 6 Thought Leaders
The first on my list was introduced to me through Fast Company in the early 2000s.
Seth Godin: The Fast Company article most mentioned during that time was titled “Slowly I Turned…Step by Step…Inch by Inch…“. I find it interesting that this concept is the one I use today in both sustainability and personal development. I wonder if the idea was seeded from the article. When Seth launched his blog (2002), I started following the posts daily. Thousands of those posts were saved and used in conversations throughout my career. As a marketing and business thought leader, Seth has redefined how businesses build trust and stand out by championing permission marketing, storytelling, and authentic connections. He inspires people to think creatively and act boldly. His books were never at the forefront for me, but I have started picking them up over the last 5 years. Also, participating in the Carbon Almanac publication with Seth and a global team of volunteers has been a highlight of my career.
The next one on the list is a pair.
Don Peppers & Martha Rogers – These two were pioneers of one-to-one marketing, emphasizing customer relationships, personalization, and data-driven marketing strategies. Their books, including The One-to-One Future and Return on Customer, laid the foundation for my marketing perspective on CRM, loyalty, and customer-centric business models. While the internet was just emerging, their point of view helped shape my thinking on how brands engage with consumers in the digital era. While technology and data continue to advance rapidly, the underlying principles of creating relationships remain solidly the same.
The final four on the list all taught me different angles about building great brands. I have used their frameworks and thought leadership in work with both large global brands and 1on1 work with personal branding clients. Both companies and individuals can benefit from their point of view.
Kevin Roberts – As the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, Roberts introduced the concept of Lovemarks, arguing that brands must go beyond logic to build deep emotional connections with customers. His work shifted the focus from traditional brand loyalty to creating brands that inspire passion and devotion. I soaked up all three of his books on the topic and continue to use the concept of respect, trust, and love to take a brand relationship from that first introduction to a deep relationship. In many ways, the combination of this idea with the Peppers & Rogers work provided both the why and the how to my relationship marketing approach.
Scott Bedbury – A branding expert who helped shape two of the world’s most iconic brands, Nike and Starbucks, Bedbury emphasized authenticity, emotional storytelling, and brand consistency. I read his book A New Brand World right when it came out in 2003. This book provided insights into how great brands create meaning and forge lasting relationships with customers. Blending with all my other learning, this book moved me from the rational product features to the importance of the emotional side of branding and what drives us as consumers to make decisions.
Marc Gobé – A thought leader in emotional branding, Gobé explored how brands can connect with consumers on a deeper, human level. His book Emotional Branding highlighted the importance of sensory experiences, storytelling, and brand identity in shaping consumer perception and loyalty. His thought leadership shaped my understanding of how engaging our senses in brand experiences provides deeper connections and builds relationships. Understanding consistency across all touchpoints ensures the essence of a brand shines through in every interaction.
Alex Simonson and Bernd Schmitt. The final spot on my list is the book Marketing Aesthetics. While Lovemarks taught me about brand connections, Marketing Aesthetics taught me how we deepen a brand experience when we engage all our senses. Everything a company does communicates a message about who they are and what they believe in. This book taught me to be intentional about all 5 senses when designing brand experiences.
Summary
The 2000s shaped my perspective on marketing and how to build great brands.
As I look at the group of thought leaders I selected, I see how they shaped my career.
Their framework continues to shine in my work today.
I also realize that what they taught me was customer experience.
I was creating customer journeys and focusing on building relationships.
We didn’t have the terminology back then that we do now.
Yet, Saturn and these thought leaders were setting the foundation for a future of experience design.
Your Turn
Are you familiar with these thought leaders?
Are there any on the list that you want to explore further?
Who would you add to the list of marketing thought leaders who have shaped your perspective?