Christine Göös on Evolving Brand Marketing & Storytelling Success

Join us for an engaging interview with Christine Göös, a distinguished figure in the marketing industry known for her expertise in brand marketing and creative copywriting. In this discussion, Christine shares her career journey, highlighting her motivation and the experiences that shaped her specialization.

We’ll explore key strategies for effective influencer marketing in today’s digital landscape, the impact of podcast hosting on marketing approaches, and her methods for developing innovative marketing campaigns. Christine will also share insights on TikTok marketing, reflect on her award-winning work, and discuss the future of marketing.

This conversation offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable perspectives from a seasoned professional in the ever-evolving field of marketing.

Career Journey

MTS – Can you share your journey in the marketing world and what motivated you to specialize in areas like brand marketing and copywriting?

Christine – Coming from a third-generation circus family (my grandfather acted in Fellini movies!), I’ve always loved storytelling and knew I was going to pursue a creative profession. I found my outlet in applying storytelling to commercial work and knew from the moment I stepped into an agency that I wanted to make my career in advertising.

Influencer Marketing Insights

MTS – What are some key strategies for brands looking to effectively collaborate with influencers in today’s digital landscape?

Christine – BDB has been around for a decade, and the biggest shift we’ve seen is an evolution of the relationship between creators and brands from a media buy to a business-building partnership. Brands will be and should be investing in strategies that drive sales and brand love both short and long-term. We believe that creators will become the cornerstone of reaching the masses. But it isn’t one size fits all; you’ll have to build connections with different niches by partnering with creators that have the right audience, not the biggest one.

Brands should also look to experiment with emerging technologies like generative AI within the creator space. We have launched our innovation unit, Muse, to facilitate that. We’ve collaborated with brands like LOEWE to launch content that merges AI with creator ingenuity. We’ve learned that 59% of creators have already been asked by brands to use generative AI. First-mover brands should find the right way to use AI as a creative muse in their work and investigate the benefits while mitigating risks first with the right strategic partner.

Podcasting Experience

MTS – How has your experience as a podcast host influenced your approach to marketing and content creation?

Christine – I’m always pitching podcasts at new jobs (and have something in the works right now at Billion Dollar Boy). That aside, podcasting has allowed me to get closer to the target audience I am trying to reach by interviewing creative and marketing leaders. I think we’re only scratching the surface on podcasts. It’s one of the only content formats people can consume while doing something else, making it a perfect complement to adding value to people’s days instead of distracting them. 

Our current show, House of Content, explores the intersection of culture and creator economy. Producing the show is a great push to think about content marketing from an entertainment angle, as you get real-time feedback on what’s popular and what people want to listen to.

Creative Process

MTS – What is your approach to developing creative and impactful marketing campaigns, and how do you stay innovative?

Christine – We are lucky to have an award-winning strategy department at BDB. You can’t launch breakthrough work without leaning on original thinking for insights and guidance. Another competitive advantage in the line of marketing we do is having close and long-standing relationships with creators and knowing who to work with on different projects. We dedicate time to understanding their unique position in the industry and how brands can collaborate with them to launch strong campaigns and ensure their voice comes through.

On the notion of staying innovative: you have to stay hungry. I try to spend time studying the undercurrents of what is happening in social media to find potential ways in for brands, and for BDB as an agency.

TikTok Marketing

MTS – Given your experience with TikTok marketing, what unique opportunities does this platform offer for brands, and how can they best leverage it?

Christine – On TikTok, brands should be thinking about their long-term storytelling strategy and what their organic social presence is beyond just trend-hijacking. While tapping into memes or viral moments has its place on a brand’s social channel and can be very effective when executed correctly, that can’t be the only way you present yourself. You’ll lose your brand in the process if you don’t produce anything original. 

The other opportunity I see is investing paid media into the best-performing creator content. Many marketers still think with their paid social brains and believe they need to produce separate ad creatives to run on the platform when they could be turning their existing creator assets into Spark Ads on TikTok.

Award-Winning Work

MTS – Could you discuss a couple of your award-winning campaigns and what made them successful?

Christine – I was very lucky to work with some of the best creative minds back at TBWA. Most notably, we launched a Eurobest Grand Prix-winning branded entertainment concept as a sitcom; in each episode, a fictional ad agency created real campaigns for real brands that aired right after the series. There’s no doubt the campaign’s success came from how meticulously the creative leaders I worked under at the time protected the idea and were uncompromising in execution.

Challenges and Solutions

MTS – What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your marketing career, and how did you overcome them?

Christine – Building out my professional brand from scratch after moving from Europe to New York was definitely an uphill battle. I sought out high-visibility activities, such as PR opportunities, LinkedIn content, podcasting, awards and nominations, and networking at industry events to stay top-of-mind. It’s a long game, but I would recommend it to anyone looking to differentiate in a highly competitive market.

Future of Marketing

MTS – Based on your extensive experience, how do you foresee the future of marketing evolving in the next 5–10 years?

Christine – I always say that the 2010s–2020s were the performance and paid social era, and now we’re going back to brand marketing, but it will manifest itself in different forms. The next decade will be dominated by creator marketing and advertising, it is the fastest-growing segment with digital video overtaking television. Both paid and organic social will engage a higher volume of niche segments through creators.

Effective Brand Storytelling

MTS – As the 2021 Storyteller of the Year, what are your key tips for effective brand storytelling?

Christine – Your story is only as interesting as the audience’s reaction and engagement. That should be your compass over internal opinions of how your company should be positioned.

Brand Marketing vs. Performance Marketing

MTS – How do you balance brand marketing with performance marketing to achieve the best results?

Christine – Performance marketing will only work to convert a finite pool of potential customers, which is why you need brand marketing to build the audience for future conversions. I’m a firm believer that companies prioritizing long-term brand growth will sustain the business over aggressive performance marketers seeking quick wins. Airbnb is a great example of that; they essentially turned off performance, and their business did not suffer at all.

Content Marketing Strategies

MTS – Can you share some successful content marketing strategies that have worked well for the brands you’ve managed?

Christine – In B2B marketing overall, we need to shake the Hubspot inbound mentality and start thinking brand-first versus churning out content for the sake of it. You need a simple and memorable message to seed through in all messaging, comms, and channels. For example, at the software company Celtra, we positioned the product and the category as creative automation over the course of multiple years, resulting in a successful exit.

Outside of that, I love a good newsletter. (We’re launching a new one soon at BDB, so stay tuned!)

Social Media Trends

MTS – In your perspective, what are the upcoming trends in social media marketing, and how should brands prepare for these changes?

Christine – We’ll be seeing a lot more long-form content on social media; audiences want to put on a 10-minute video while they’re, e.g., getting ready for the day so they don’t have to keep scrolling all the time. 

Theme-wise, self-development or “glow-ups”’ are huge right now. People are interested in up-leveling their health, skills, careers, style, and even looks. However, this trend is underpinned by people being tired of spending a lot of money to keep up, and so brands will have to toe the line of how realistic or accessible the services and products you need to improve your life.

PR & Communications

MTS – How have PR and communications evolved in the digital age, and what are your strategies for managing these effectively?

Christine – While channels change and media outlets’ approach to what they cover may shift, a good story is a good story, and it will always persevere. You can have the best PR department or agency in the world, but if you don’t have well-spoken thought leaders who are passionate about the industry, the company’s mission, and POV, you won’t stand out.

Lessons from Podcast Interviews

MTS – From interviewing leaders in the creative and brand space, what are some key insights or common themes you’ve noticed that are crucial for success in marketing?

Christine – Talent plays a much smaller part than one would expect. The most successful creative and brand leaders I’ve met are curious, hungry, and put in the hours. Moreover, they are humble in the process and don’t assume they know it all. There’s a difference between having a vision to execute and bulldozing over others because you don’t keep an open mind for different perspectives that could make the work better.

Advice to Young Marketers

MTS – What advice would you give to young professionals aspiring to make a mark in the marketing world?

Christine – The journey to where you want to get is not linear, so you might have to take some detours to get to your dream role. My first agency job was coordinating brand events because that was the only open role, and I gradually worked my way to a creative position.

The other thing I would recommend is building your personal brand early, prioritizing that, and not building your identity around where you work, but rather what you do and what makes you stand out.