BrightWave’s First Quartermaster Award Winner

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Simms

I have wanted to do a BrightWave Employee of the Year award for quite some time. Like a lot of internal projects, client work and other priorities got in the way. We made it a reality this year and didn’t want it to be some lame award without much meaning or anything truly special. We wanted it to be reflective of the culture and company we have built which we think is unique

We happen to have a little nautical theme going at BrightWave. Obviously our name and logo nod to this but our conference room names are nautical and rumor has it our British Friday is inspired by the Royal British Navy.

So we came up with the Quartermaster Award (formally, The Email Marketing Quartermaster Award).

What’s a Quartermaster? – An able-bodied seaman entrusted with the steering of a vessel when entering or leaving a harbor. He is also involved with the use and upkeep of navigational equipment. On a pirate ship, the quartermaster had an almost equal amount of authority as the captain. He was elected and as such was the crew’s voice. If a ship was captured, the quartermaster almost always took over the captured ship. He maintained order, settled arguments, and distributed supplies. The quartermaster was in charge of all booty gained and distributed it among the crew. (Courtesy of Brethren of the Coast)

Brethren of the Coast

We told the team prior to voting that The Email Marketing Quartermaster should be awarded to the employee that just had an amazing year and impact on our business. Co-workers, clients and paparazzi all want a piece of him or her and have been uniquely impressed by their dedication, collaboration, passion and success. This person should embody the BrightWave values. The winner would get a nifty piece of hardware and a trip to a five star beach resort. That seemed to get people’s attention.

So what happened? Over drinks and great Italian food and among our friends and coworkers at our holiday party we presented this to a very deserving person.

Jessica Johnston Higgins had an epic year. She came in and joined the BrightWave team (already established as the leading email marketing focused digital agency in the country) and propelled them up a few notches. When she took over as Creative Director in February 2012, she elevated BrightWave’s client work and made the internal process smoother and team happier. In short, she built out a best of breed team in less than a year while maintaining an exceptionally high level of excellence in the agency’s creative work.

While I can go on and on about how she helped us achieve an Inc. 5000 listing or #70 on the 2012 Tech 200 of fastest growing technology companies but I think it is even better if you heard from her colleagues. Below are some excerpts from the nominations of Jessica from her BrightWave teammates for the first inaugural Email Marketing Quartermaster Award.

“Jessica exudes the characteristics that a Pirate captain would find most beneficial in a quartermaster. Although she does not say “arrgh” often, she does always intervene on projects when needed and truly has the customer in mind when creating the visual experience for an end user.”

“Jessica has brought a set of soft skills that have helped us build a culture and added a fresh perspective to BrightWave as an organization. I believe her arrival and subsequent work has been one of the true milestones of 2012 as we have a stronger future with her and last time I checked, we’re still sailing.”

“Not only has Jessica been extremely patient, helpful, and encouraging, but her personality and demeanor create a very pleasant working environment, which I enjoy immensely. Her knowledge, experience, and professionalism coupled with her ability to have fun and foster a laidback office environment set a great example for the type of company culture we should strive to nurture and maintain.”

“Jessica has demonstrated great leadership and positive energy in the office (whether it’s creating awesome comps, or planning a fun happy hour across the street). From a creative standpoint, she has not only built a solid team, but she has also consistently created designs that our clients love.”

“Jessica has demonstrated her leadership abilities in a number of areas from the moment she arrived at BrightWave. As our Creative Director she has a role that takes on many responsibilities, almost as if she is doing 3 (or more) jobs in one. She is the chief designer / art director who has to safeguard the quality of our creative product, and she is the head of production which requires her to be both technical and methodical in her attention to detail.”

“Jessica has also stepped up in the areas of strategy and coaching.“

The Quartermaster wasn’t the first award Jessica won – she previously picked up the prestigious Ron Swanson award and is shown contemplating its power, awe and implications.

“On top of all of this, Jessica is also the social committee (chair) who organizes most of BrightWave’s after hours events. This role is almost equally important to her day to day job in effecting the culture and Esprit de corps of the company.”

Quartermaster. Superstar. Employee of the Year. Jessica Higgins certainly qualifies for all 3 of these accolades based on her 2012 performance. Not only did she win the Quartermaster but Jessica was also selected by Atlanta Business Chronicle in their first-ever Employee of the Year special section.

Jumpstart Your Career by Excelling in These Four Business Elements

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Simms

We have spent a great deal of time in the last few months talking about doing a better job of on-boarding new employees and providing direction when it comes to professional growth.

Altimeter Group partner Jeremiah Owyang is an industry leader that provides excellent commentary on his blog on all things digital with an eye on what is disruptive.

I really like this recent post “The Four Elements of Career Management in Business” and have shared it around our office.

It’s a great cheat sheet for what any ambitious leader-in-waiting (or someone on the hot seat now) should focus on, as well as how to analyze what you may be spending too much time on or not enough in elevating your career.

BrightWave’s Spot on the Inc. 5000 List and What it Means

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Simms

We had the recent good fortune to be selected for the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States (#1,335 to be exact). This list is the Fortune 500 for the private sector and something just about every small business has their eye on achieving at some point. To certain followers, it means the companies have made the big stage. To some, it’s just a small step on the path to bigger and better things.

To me, it’s a proud accomplishment but it doesn’t really do anything per se for the company. Sure, it helps us to tout our continued success and growth and we find ourselves in pretty elite company (the list is based on 2011 numbers but includes newly public companies like Facebook and Yelp). I certainly see value on the marketing and recruiting front. It validates everything we have been working on for almost 10 years. It also makes me feel confident about our spot in the email marketing world as BrightWave was the only email marketing agency on the list.

I know our team is proud of the accomplishment but we have won a lot of awards and recognition before. They know it doesn’t change the path or mission of the company which is centered on managing world class email and digital messaging programs through exceptional client service.

The recognition definitely gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling but leaves me wanting more. Here’s a bit more on the honor:

The sixth annual Inc. 500|5000 represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy–America’s independent entrepreneurs. In a stagnant economic environment, the median growth rate of the 2012 Inc. 500|5000 companies remains an impressive 97 percent. The companies on this year’s list report having created over 400,000 jobs in the past three years, and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $299 billion.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/5000.

Our Inc. 5000 stats are below for the Inc. listing:

BrightWave Marketing Ranks No. 1335 on the 2012 Inc. 500|5000
No. 51 in Atlanta
No. 126 within Advertising & Marketing Industry
Three-Year Sales Growth of 230%

Be sure to check out my recent ClickZ article on the email marketing companies included in this list.

Like what you see? Want in on this rocket ship? Check out our job postings.

Hiring & What’s Important at BrightWave (including 10 things I look for in a first interview)

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Simms

Who we hire is one of the most important decisions we make as a company. As a services firm, your people are your product. As a relatively small and specialized firm, the stakes are even higher. When you consider the fact that our client retention rates are over 90% and we are focused on being a partner, not a vendor, it reemphasizes that every hire can derail the ship or drive internal and external successes.

Make sure your LinkedIn is complete and up-to-date.

In the past year, I have personally reviewed hundreds of resumes (and by resume I usually mean LinkedIn profile which tells me more – more on that later), interviewed scores of candidates and hired a bunch of new all-stars.

In part one, I will address the first two important things I look for when evaluating whether that person may be a good fit at BrightWave. In part two, I will address how to be well positioned to get an offer at BrightWave and have a successful career here at our fast growing agency.

Standing Out – just like a great subject line, getting noticed is paramount. Referrals from existing team members, partners and trusted friends and colleagues will ALWAYS work (at least in terms of getting noticed). I can’t emphasize that enough – whether it is fair or not. If someone I respect and know well sends me a referral, I will always connect with that person, even if the fit isn’t great. It doesn’t mean they will get an interview but I will try to provide honest feedback and direct them in the best way I can.

Networking and recommendations are so important, regardless of one’s career or role in a company, and I think a lot of people don’t do a great job on this front to the detriment of their career. Personality helps but someone that is active in the digital community also shows their ambitions and ability to go beyond the 9-5 requirements of most jobs. There are other ways of demonstrating this type of “above and beyond” characteristic, but I always want to get that sense that someone is capable of more than just fulfilling their job specs. A candidate looking for just a job and a paycheck won’t be a good fit here, whatever their pedigree may be. I think those folks may not know it but it usually comes across in many ways to the person across the table.

Of course, talented people that may not be type A individuals or well-connected can still stand out. A strong LinkedIn profile is a must these days regardless of age, experience or role. To me, this is often the barometer of how they will come across to a client. Are there typos, poor grammar or limited descriptions of their experience? Do they project a confident and polished appearance or just seem to mail it in? (Sidenote: I can usually spot who is polishing off their resume and looking for a new job via LinkedIn. Be smart and thoughtful in terms of how you broadcast your employment desires.

Fit & Feel – among the people we have evaluated and spoken to, we look for the same fundamental criteria, regardless of the internal role in the company. So a business development candidate and creative services prospect will be judged in a similar manner for the real key criterion which is this: Can they be successful at our agency? Essentially, are they the right fit?

This is highly subjective and not scientific, but – insider knowledge here - I try to determine 10 things within the first 15 minutes of my first meeting with a candidate:

Does this person really want to work at BrightWave?
Do they really want to and care about making an impact in their job?
Will they impact BrightWave’s culture in a positive manner?
Do they like our primary areas of focus (email, social, mobile), and will they, if they are not already, be a subject matter expert?
Will they be liked and respected by clients and colleagues?
Will they be an all-star in six months?
Will they thrive if the job description changed in 6 months?
Can they become a leader in our firm as we grow?
Can they perform in a fast moving and often stressful environment?
Would we want to have an adult beverage with this person regardless of the circumstances?

Some people are hard to read or interview well but aren’t up to the task in the long run. We have high employee retention here, so I view us as being successful in hiring and retaining great people that make significant impacts in our business and on behalf of our clients. Of course this is an imperfect criterion, but I have found thinking about each and every candidate in this context is as important as their relevant job experience, education, recommendations and all of the more traditional criteria.

I’d love to know what both job searchers and other people hiring find is in their secret sauce for finding the right people for their unique companies. Plus – extra points for anyone that interviews with me and references this post!

Numbers Game – Why Capturing Data Is Valuable to Marketers

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Thomas

Recently Starwood Hotels and Resorts announced the integration of Foursquare and Facebook check-ins into “SPG”, also known as Starwood Preferred Guest. The concept is simple; link your SPG account to your personal Facebook or Foursquare account and check-in at any participating property to earn points and “more”. The rules are basic at best – one check-in – per day, per guest, that must be tied to an actual SPG member and visit. For SPG the tactic is smart and immediately adds two additional channels to identify and target guests, allowing them to be on the forefront of Social CRM.

To less technology savvy guests the move might seem silly, but considering the SPG brand, customer demo, and increasingly competitive hospitality industry landscape, exchanging SPG points for additional data to score and target loyal guests is invaluable. This appears to be a classic case of Starwood staying ahead of the competition, offer something unique and compelling that increases the perceived value and potential point earnings of the current SPG program (a small but true differentiator for high-value and potentially influential members).

For marketers the question is simple, can this data be used to drive/increase guest loyalty? While it will take time for Starwood to determine if the initiative delivers incremental spend and visits and in-turn positive ROI, it does give Starwood something that cannot be minimized – additional data that can be used to better deliver more targeted and relevant communications to guests both online and off. Knowing that content relevancy drives engagement and ultimately correlates to revenue, marketers must be diligent in determining the best way to segment and deliver unique experiences to customers in the digital channel. This concept is increasingly important for brands on the customer service and marketing front – identifying what channels customers are active in and intelligently participating in those channels.

Viewing multi-channel customer loyalty programs through the lenses of an email marketer presents a novel concept – leverage email behavioral data to better target customers. While many email programs lack transactional data, the amount of behavioral data provides the data needed to immediately segment and target almost all customer communications. The theory is simple – a customer that has opened, read, or clicked the last 10 emails from a brand, should in theory be receiving much different content than a customer that has ignored the last 10. For many brands this goes against the “batch and blast” mentality that has plagued email marketers for quite some time. The same way Starwood is going to treat high value guests differently on-property than someone that stays once a year, almost all brands have an immediate opportunity to better speak to customers in the digital space. While the channels are distinctly different the principles are the same, treat customers based on known behavior, not assumptions.

I am sure many marketers shudder at the thought of manual segmentation, more dynamic content, or having to build out Facebook and Foursquare customer service teams. But as we can see with SPG’s social integration, speaking differently to customers based on what a brand knows can be executed with relative ease. Knowing the risk is limited, knowing you don’t always have transactional data to support a truly segmented email or social program, there is still an opportunity to subtly deliver targeted content. Next time you load a static email campaign, send a tweet, or post on Facebook, stop and ask yourself how much more valuable would your program would be if you applied what you knew about your customers, and most importantly, what are you doing to learn even more?

Delivering Happiness and Playing Dress Up: How to Cultivate Company Culture

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Brent

Much has been written lately about how to create company culture – just check out the 36,000 news articles Google has indexed in the past week on the subject. Hopefully this post will be indexed as well as I certainly have my opinion.

I have worked at BrightWave Marketing for 7 of the company’s 9 years and was fortunate enough to be Simms Jenkins first full-time hire. Even though the company doubled in size when I arrived, the simple act of hiring me was the first statement on the company culture – we are dedicated to customer service. He didn’t hire a programmer, a designer, or a business development position; he hired someone to take care of his clients. This decision and commitment to ensuring his clients had a dedicated resource to listen to their needs and goals, plan and execute a campaign, and report and recommend what to do next was BrightWave’s first statement to what the company culture would be for the foreseeable future. To this day, we still give every new employee a copy of Tony Hsieh’s book “Delivering Happiness“.

: Work Hard. Play Dress Up.

Nine years later, even though we are still razor-focused on serving our clients, I’ve noticed our culture is maturing as we grow and Simms is no longer the sole person responsible for defining it – we all are. The business owner of a company our size or larger can’t define the culture by themselves, they can only support, nurture and, most importantly, be a part of it. Don’t get me wrong, the CEO should certainly have a say in it but the company culture isn’t something that can be handed down from the top, it will feel forced. If you are a business owner, takes Simms’ lead and empower your employees to define it on their own and support them through the process.

I mean, look at the picture above. This is a picture of a company in the midst of organically growing their own culture. (NOTE: Our CEO is in there – I bet you can’t identify him.) All it takes is a modest budget, focused encouragement, and employees that get behind a movement. Kudos to my colleague, and field day co-champion, @_twojdesigns, for reminding all of us how important it is for our culture to not take ourselves too seriously. Have some fun, enjoy the people you work with and it’ll bring the best out of everyone and create a winning company culture.

1 + 1 = 3 Marketing

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Ryan

I recently watched this video (below) where Ken Burns talks about what makes great storytelling and it made me think the same thing applies to great marketing.

Maybe I should back up a little bit…marketing is storytelling.

Ken Burns mentions that great storytelling is when 1 + 1 = 3. That something extra that goes beyond the “2″ you would expect and that manipulates the consumer*. The manipulation isn’t bad or disingenuous, it’s just something that moves the person. It’s a motivation.

When I tell the story of a brand I know I need to tell the facts (1 + 1 = 2) but I hope I do it in such a way that motivates consumers to act. Not always “buy”, but act. The goal is getting them passionate enough about your story (brand) to want to do something.

*There is a point in time in this video that Ken implies that storytelling is akin to lying, or at least has aspects of lying. That is one area where marketing and storytelling differ.

Chapter Two: BrightWave

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Jay

I am beyond excited to begin the second chapter of my working life in Atlanta at BrightWave Marketing. The two questions being asked of me is, “What will you be doing at BrightWave?” and “Why BrightWave?”

Great questions. Let me try and provide answers while sharing some insight about the milestones and events of Chapter One that set the table for Chapter Two.

Chapter One probably actually started when I married my better half in 2001. From the day we said ‘I do,’ she was telling me how great it could be to live in Atlanta (she grew up in Columbus, GA and went to Emory). As it turns out, she wasn’t wrong. 8 years of experience in a small family travel business and 3 more in the non-profit world taught me how to solve problems, against all odds. Making something out of nothing was more than a motif – it’s just part of my DNA. It turns out that this was great preparation for what awaited me in Atlanta.

When we arrived in Atlanta in 2006, I had the great fortune of being recruited by an 8-year old digital agency called Spunlogic (now Engauge). I still remember an early conversation with the recruiter at the time where I was told that with my experience, I could be slotted as a designer, a developer or a project manager — take your pick.

Project management was where I wanted to be because I felt like I could play the proverbial ‘quarterback’ — leading a team in executing the ‘plays’ that spanned websites and email projects. Account management responsibilities soon followed with opportunities to work with brand names bigger than I’d ever imagined possible, adding even more experience with analytics, mobile websites and social media.

In 2010, I was given the opportunity to take what I’d learned about email marketing and drive excellence around the discipline within Engauge. I had the distinct privilege of assembling a team of rockstars who could help carry the email flag to all of our clients.

[Insert Fred Savage interruption of Peter Falk from ‘Princess Bride’] “If you had such a great team at Engauge, why did you move on?”

In the two years that I had connected with other email marketing industry experts and met other marketers responsible for their email programs at conference after conference, one nagging truth was impressed upon me that makes chapter two make so much sense:

More marketers need help with email marketing than I had ever imagined.

Now, substitute the word ‘email’ with ‘mobile’, ‘social’, ‘location-based’, and you get a glimpse of the enormity of what’s possible for marketers and, at the same time, what seems like a monolithic learning curve. I see an outsized opportunity to help more marketers strategically navigate the digital currents (as intimidating and as fast as they may seem) to benefit their customers and their companies.

A big part of my formula for helping more marketers involves partnerships with technology trailblazers (especially Email Service Providers) who provide the tools that can empower marketers to efficiently and effectively execute campaigns across multiple channels that include email.

Now about the ‘Why BrightWave?’ question, I can share the two biggest reasons.

Authority: If I remember correctly, I used Simms’ book as a training manual for one of my first campaign manager hires. (Yes, I read it, too.) The opportunity to collaborate and combine forces with Simms and the BrightWave team was something I honestly hadn’t thought of but not unlike peanut butter and chocolate, I knew it would be a win-win situation to be here.

Opportunity: I believe that marketers who understand email marketing are well-poised to tackle every other emerging 1-to-1 communications channel. Relevancy, value and the ability to measure impact to the bottom line are critical ingredients in marketing, regardless of channel.

I know that the team at BrightWave gets that and I’m prepared to help our clients win in the always-exciting and ever-evolving digital marketing arena.

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Lisa

Recently, I heard about an employer in Maryland who asked for an applicant’s Facebook password during an interview. The employer, in this case, The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, indicated that they wanted access to a candidate’s social media account for use in background checks. It has been reported that interviewers were looking specifically for gang related affiliations or activities and searched through photographs, wall postings and other personal messages to and from other members on Facebook.

Alarm bells went off.

Not because I’m concerned for the applicant’s privacy. Excellent candidates will reply with a graceful decline and move the subject back into the territory of why their skills and abilities are best suited for the position and the company.

What concerned me was the notion that the employer never paused to think about what that password would unlock. They were walking straight into a landmine – not a goldmine.

By using this password to violate someone’s privacy, the employer could potentially open up a whole host of EEOC claims against them even if they weren’t using this information for nefarious intent. The EEOC specifically outlines that information obtained in the interview or “pre-employment” inquiry should be:

“… limited to those essential for determining if a person is qualified for the job; whereas, information regarding race, sex, national origin, age, and religion are irrelevant in such determinations.”

And, really, what information could the employer have learned that couldn’t be fleshed out in a thoughtful and thorough interview?

The benefits of gaining this information certainly do not outweigh the risks of a potential lawsuit, much less the publicity it has engendered. If you want to show a candidate how out of step your company is with social media – just ask for the password to their private accounts.

BrightWave Marketing’s social media policy encourages all staff members to engage in social media in a thoughtful and respectable manner. Of course, proprietary information and anything that is confidential in nature simply doesn’t belong on social media. But, BrightWave believes that engaging others in creative and conversational platforms builds brand loyalty for our clients and delivers successful outcomes across many channels.

Remember, an interview is a two-way conversation. An employer who asks to pry into someone’s personal life may get the password – but they certainly won’t get the best candidate for the position.

(Photograph appears courtesy of psd on flickr)

Marketing Mysteries

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Thomas

At BrightWave (and any other job) it is easy to sit around and talk to your co-workers about TV. Regardless of how powerful the Internet is, it is pretty hard to find someone that is not watching hours of television every week.

When I first interviewed here, one of my favorite questions was what TV I usually watch. It is one of those tricky questions that can show a lot about a person with very few answers. It is also a question that can put someone like me in a very odd situation as I watch some pretty bad TV (not always). Without revealing all of my viewing habits, let’s just say one of my favorite formats is news magazines – Dateline, 48 Hours, 20/20, and 60 Minutes – Usually a tale narrated by a voice you hardly see as they interview detectives or witnesses. The story can be anything; I just enjoy the mystery and the hunt for answers.

Having worked in the agency world for the majority of my career I have come to learn one concept that all clients appreciate: investigation. You can search far and wide and it will be hard to find a client-side marketer that has never asked their agency questions of, “Why?”. The questions are not always difficult to answer, and, generally speaking, our team almost always knows the answer. But to truly deliver data-driven answers you always have to conduct a thorough investigation. And, almost always, the answers are going to be buried in a spreadsheet.
Working in the digital space we build and execute campaigns at lightning speed. Clients always need information fast, and they always will. The great advantage we have on the agency side is the enormous amount of shared knowledge our team has gained from many years of investigating the “why.” This all becomes increasingly important in the digital space as you can literally see successes and failures in real-time (to clarify, we are almost always investigating successes). Much like a good detective, we are looking for a set of answers based on the few clues available. There are the usual suspects: opens, clicks, “Likes”, shares, tweets, and my personal favorite – conversions. This sea of numbers will help answer a much bigger mystery, it will tell us what the campaigns are doing to drive real business results.

Next time you execute a campaign, next time you press the go button, think to yourself the wealth of information you are about to receive. Think about all of metrics you about to dive into. The amount of insight you deliver to clients will help them answer the “why” next time someone asks them.

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