← Marketing Vanguard
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- [00:00]
LinkedIn Advertiser
Flowing ad budget on metrics that look great till the CFO sees them. That's bullspend. And marketers are calling it out in dashboard confessions.
- [00:10]
Warner Brothers Discovery Advertiser
I remember telling my boss, it'll be good for the brand when leads were slow.
- [00:15]
Vicki Lozano
Yeah, it. It wasn't.
- [00:17]
LinkedIn Advertiser
Cut the bull. Spend LinkedIn lets you target by company job title and more. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com campaign terms and conditions apply.
- [00:30]
Vicki Lozano
I think we have to build the brand and sort of leave the brand stronger than we found it, which with Crayola obviously adds its own sets of challenges when the brand is incredibly strong to begin with.
- [00:42]
Jenny Rooney
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Marketing Vanguard podcast. Coming to you live from Atlanta, where we're hosting Brand Week this week. I'm Jenny Rooney with Adweek, and I'm thrilled to be joined by Vicki Lozano. She's the CMO of Crayola. Vicki, welcome.
- [00:56]
Vicki Lozano
Thank you. Great to be here.
- [00:57]
Jenny Rooney
I mean, honestly, when you think about iconic brands, there are few as iconic as Crayola. It's reached a level of awareness that's in the upper echelon of brands, not just in this country, but in our world. Talk a little bit about kind of the moment that Crayola finds itself in right now.
- [01:14]
Vicki Lozano
Absolutely true. Most of the folks in the US and many other parts around the world have really grown up with Crayola, and their kids are growing up with Crayola. And I think for us today, we focused on how do you merge that incredible nostalgia and this incredible emotions that the brand tends to evoke with being relevant and really showing up in culture and showing up in the important conversation for today. And I think as we sort of reflect on where we are and also how we map out our path forward is merging the nostalgia with the future forward and the relevance for today is the key area that we're focused on. And a lot of work that we're doing, whether it's on products, whether it's experiences or content, is really focused on that goal.
- [01:53]
Jenny Rooney
Okay, so that is a big goal that's very ambitious, and we're going to unpack that in a minute. Talk a little bit about you for people who don't know your journey. Tell us a little bit about, you know, where you've been in your career and what got you to this place.
- [02:05]
LinkedIn Advertiser
Sure.
- [02:06]
Vicki Lozano
So prior to Crayola, my track has been where I worked in mostly Fortune 500 CPG companies, but working across various categories and brands from HBC to alcoholic beer and alcoholic beverages to confectionery. And when I first joined Crayola, I was kind of in that more of a typical marketing role. But since then have really had the opportunity to get involved and build out different parts of the business, including things such as starting up a location based entertainment business and really being involved in how do we really think about and shape our education strategy and how we show up in classrooms, how Crayola shows up in interactive when the canvas is not physical. So my journey through being involved in all those areas now really merging into the role as it stands today, which is really all of those touch points as a larger ecosystem and the ability not only to have the brand show up and be relevant in each of those spaces individually, but connect them in the way that for a consumer it feels a very consistent but also very connected and bigger than otherwise we might be able to make it. Because I think one of the things that most people don't realize about Crayola is that it's a brand that is bigger than a business. And on one hand it is incredible because we just have all this opportunity to really grow into the size and the power of the brand. But it also comes with some of the challenges that we have to be really smart about the ecosystem and the synergies in order really show up in a way that creates both scale and impact that goes beyond what we are able to do, you know, just to pay for 100%.
- [03:44]
Jenny Rooney
And so what's interesting in what you describe is that's what your growth path is. And you and I have talked about this. You don't need to build awareness. Everybody knows who you are. And a lot of brands have the flip challenge, which is like they actually have to build awareness. They have to build part of the consideration set. You know, you actually have the unique challenge of growing. You're a cmo, you still have to grow the category, you still have to grow. So for you, it's enfranchising it a little bit. Does that make sense? Like you have to have the brand show up in multiple places, the education, the live environments, where are you spending your time in terms of the growth priority? How would you rank order? What keeps you up at night when you think about this is the place and space and area that we need to push the brand?
- [04:29]
Vicki Lozano
I think I kind of look at my role, but also I think that probably applies to pretty much all CMO roles is I think we have to build the brand and sort of leave the brand stronger than we found it, which with Crayola obviously adds its own sets of challenges. When the brand is incredibly strong to begin with and how do you make it even better? And then two is at the end of our role, similar to anyone in the C suite, is to ultimately grow the business and to use the brand as a way of finding new opportunity for growth, new expansion. So whether it be on existing businesses, whether it's the new lines of business business, whether it's completely new revenue streams. So I think when I look at the growth opportunity, it's all of the above. Some of them will be because it really helps build the brand, helps it make relevant, top of mind engaging. Some of it may be because it's a new revenue stream and it's a new business opportunity. So if we're building out an LBE business, that is a revenue generating business with its own P and L. So how does that work? And then there's also what you were kind of poking at is how do you continue to grow in the spaces that you already play in. And for us, it's really around bringing the thought leadership to grow the category. It's not as much about share within the category, although that's obviously always nice. But for us, the big growth, the big expansion opportunity is going to come from redefining what the brand is, what this category means, the role that it plays and the importance that it plays in people's lives, whether it's kids or adults. And how do we use that in the way that breaks through to bring new people into the category. And that's ultimately the bigger growth opportunity.
- [06:01]
Jenny Rooney
I think also people probably have a sense of what career they might have. An old nostalgic. And you mentioned this like it's maintaining the nostalgia even as you think about pioneering. So where are some categories that you're kind of pushing into adults, for example?
- [06:16]
Vicki Lozano
So the brand since the beginning was really founded around creativity and self expression for kids. But we've always had this group of adults that were using it for themselves. And what we've seen is everybody remembers the explosion of adult coloring about 10 years ago. It's continued to sort of grow over the last two to three years. And as you look at where the brand is today, 57% of Crayola purchases over the last year were in households without any kids present. And that's actually up three points from calendar 2024. So not only is it big, but it's growing. And about half of them are adults that are using it for themselves. And it's that notion of the nostalgia that makes me feel good. But it's not because I want to feel like a kid again. It's because it makes me feel good and I want to. I want to use it for the joy of doing it for me as an adult, who I am today. So I think, you know, Crayola is not only already playing in that space, even though some folks might not realize it, but we're going to be leaning in and looking at ways that we can answer to those consumers who are looking for us, who are finding room for creativity and coloring as part of their everyday life, how we could meet them where they are in a way that is better, more compelling and more tailored to their needs. So it is a space that we're leaning into as well.
- [07:30]
Jenny Rooney
Well, what's interesting about that too is it's creating a different use case, arguably. So it's yes, it's creativity, it's exercising creativity, which was the original use case for when you were thinking about it for kids. But I would argue it's also therapeutic, it's relaxing, it's an escape from the, maybe the grind of day to day. It positions it in a different category, if you will. And what my mind goes to then is like, it also opens up your competitive set if you also think about it, because suddenly you're not just in the creativity space or the tactile drawing, coloring. Maybe you're competing against the glass of wine in the evening for adults, you know what I'm saying? Like it could be partnering with a glass of wine or partnering with a glass of wine. There you go. But it kind of expands your considerations, your competitive stuff in the best way possible. Likewise with kids, there's so many more things that are drawing their attention away. Obviously electronics, obviously the iPhone, that's really a biggest one. But other, any other things, gaming that are distractions or that are taking up attention from your target market, whether it's adults or kids. How do you think about that when you grow? Frankly, there's an element of your competitive set growth too.
- [08:43]
Warner Brothers Discovery Advertiser
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- [09:37]
Vicki Lozano
the way I kind of think about it, the brand is really based on this idea, is that creativity is essential. But at the same time, we're very conscious that when we communicate with different groups of our consumers, we make a different promise. When this is for kids and we're talking to kids, like some of our marketing efforts might do, we're really just promising them something very simple. They're going to have a lot of fun and they might show up differently, the experience might be differently, but at the end of the day, day, in a very simplistic way, that's the promise to kids. When we are talking to parents, we're promising them that we're going to be their partner to help them develop these softer life skills that their kids needs for their development. And there's a bunch of actually empirical research that proves it, which I'm not going to get to now. But it's a different promise that we make when we talk to a teacher. The promise that we make then once again, we're going to partner with them. Because teachers get into the profession to help impact the lives of kids and we work with them to help them use creativity as a way of, of improving learning outcomes. Because that's actually shown that hands on creativity helps you retain information and it helps improve your testing outcomes. So we make that promise when we talk to an adult woman who's using it for herself because she wants to recharge, to rebalance, like that moment of escape and sort of joy in the clutter day. The promise we make her is that the joy that she gets from the experience, it's not about the outcome, frankly, who cares? It's about the joy that she gets without any expectations from the act of simply doing so. Being really aware of those promises and being really clear within our marketing efforts as to who we're talking to, about what and what's that promise that we make? I think if you're really clear about that, a lot of other things around, whether it's, you know, messaging and the creative you use, or the media mix or the marketing mix that you use, a lot of it, it falls out from there because you're really clear on that objective.
- [11:28]
Jenny Rooney
Yeah. So that's what's interesting. It's almost like you can't control what other distractions, other elements are out there, you know, demanding time and money of your target. All you can control is your lane and where you focus and where you are consistent. And the promise, as you say, such a great way of thinking about it. Fun fact. I want you to tell me about the scent associated with Crayola crayons. This is probably perhaps a little known fact that you've shared with me, but I would love for you to share it with our listeners.
- [11:57]
Vicki Lozano
Absolutely. Well, you know, crayons specifically, which is the product you're referring to, can actually be quite a sensory experience. Right. So first it's the way that you open the box. People always check visually your eye sense, you check for the tips. Right. People get very upset if any of the tips happen to be broken. It's that visual. But then there's also like the sensory. You smell it. So the Crayola crayons is one of the most recognizable smells in the world, according to a study that was done at Yale. And what's interesting, it's number 18, I believe, in the list. It's the only one that is branded. Most other smells are generic, like coffee or bleach. It's the only one that's branded on the list. And I think it was about a year or two ago we actually trademarked the scent. So it is incredibly a sensory experience, that whole part of the unboxing, and it's one that actually triggers incredible emotional reaction from people because it smells like childhood.
- [12:51]
Jenny Rooney
You're gonna have to turn it into a candle line.
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Vicki Lozano
Maybe we will. Candle spray?
- [12:56]
LinkedIn Advertiser
Yeah, we'll figure it out.
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Jenny Rooney
It's a very pleasant scent. That's very cool. And you also said to me, like, and I had never thought of this, that no other crayons and there aren't that many other brands of crayons. And if there are, they're not as not nearly of the caliber or awareness that Crayola, I mean Crayola full stop, is the crayon brand in the world. But they don't have a smell.
- [13:16]
Vicki Lozano
Not that smell. No. And not that smell that is unique to the Crayola brand.
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Jenny Rooney
Okay. All right.
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Vicki Lozano
One of our special sauce. Yeah.
- [13:22]
Jenny Rooney
No, I love that. So what's on the horizon for you? What can we expect to see? We're coming down on 25, 26, obviously, you know, we're here at brand week, and all we hear about Are brand collaborations and thinking about social media creators, all the things AI. I mean, those are some of the biggest, most talked about issues. In that sort of mix of things, what are you paying closest attention to and where are you going to lean in?
- [13:46]
Vicki Lozano
I think first we're going to continue to lean into the bigger conversation around the role and importance of creativity. Because honestly, I think part of our job is to kind of help shift some of the societal conversation and valuation of how creativity is valued and nurtured on a day to day basis, whether it's in kids or in adults. That advocacy piece is going to continue to be a really important part of what we do, the way that we go to market. And I think whether it's AI, whether it's how social is evolving, you know, I think I'm really kind of fascinated by the way that media is evolving. There's no longer separate, you know, consumer media versus the retail media. Now social is actually part of media plan. So I think that whole landscape is a space that is evolving incredibly and I would expect to continue to evolve and one that we're definitely doing a lot of work and paying attention to. And then I think as we look at our expansion and growth opportunity, how we actually with the spaces that we lean in to continue to grow our core business, but also some of these new spaces and places on how we're going to evolve, such as how we lean in into the adult creativity, all of that I think is definitely on the growth. As I mentioned before, Crayola as a brand is actually bigger than our business and we have some big shoes to grow into, but that's the aspiration. We think we have a lot of opportunities both in the US and globally because it is such a global brand, but we're still pretty underrepresented in other parts of the world. So I think all of that really kind of forms the framework for the bigger strategic plan for this business and the growth trajectory that we think we could achieve.
- [15:16]
Jenny Rooney
I asked this question in all my podcasts, but who do you admire? What's a CMO that I should have on the show? Because you think they're doing some extraordinary things. You love the brand work they're putting out in the world world.
- [15:25]
Vicki Lozano
I love the work that recently that the Gap team is doing. I think just seeing how long the brand has struggled for and I think just the inspiration if it doesn't matter the trajectory, that if you do the right things, that are smart, that are creative, that are breakthrough, that's one of my personal kind of as a marketer, is it really making a difference? I know we look at it, we love it. That's great. But is anybody going to see it and is that actually going to move the needle? And clearly the work they're doing, you'd say yes, right? So I find those kinds of examples is pretty inspirational that you could really, you know, whether you're already growing and you want to accelerate that momentum or whether you are looking at a turnaround, that you're able to get that kind of traction and that kind of stickiness, I think is really inspirational.
- [16:12]
Jenny Rooney
Shout out to Fabi Torres. We had her here yesterday and I'll have her on the podcast.
- [16:17]
Vicki Lozano
Yeah, I think that'll be great.
- [16:18]
Jenny Rooney
Awesome. Vicki, thank you so much for joining me. It's been a pleasure. It's always wonderful talking with you and what better product to work with than something that brings the joy of childhood to all of us at no matter what age.
- [16:30]
Vicki Lozano
So thank you. Thank you. So great to be here and just always enjoy chatting about some of these things that are happening in the industry and happening with our brand.
- [16:37]
Jenny Rooney
Thank you so much.
- [16:38]
Vicki Lozano
Thank you. Thank you for listening to Marketing Vanguard, part of the Ad Week Podcast Network
- [16:43]
Warner Brothers Discovery Advertiser
and Acast Creator Network.
- [16:45]
Vicki Lozano
You can listen and subscribe to all
- [16:46]
Warner Brothers Discovery Advertiser
of Adweek's podcasts by visiting adweek.com podcasts.
- [16:50]
Vicki Lozano
Stay updated on all things Adweek Podcast Network by following us on Twitter dweekpodcast.
- [16:56]
Warner Brothers Discovery Advertiser
And if you have a question or
- [16:58]
Vicki Lozano
suggestion for the show, send us an email@podcastadweek.com thanks for listening.
- [17:06]
LinkedIn Advertiser
Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard but not the pipeline? That's bullspend and marketers are calling it out in dashboard confessions.
- [17:15]
Warner Brothers Discovery Advertiser
My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive
- [17:19]
Jenny Rooney
sounding metric I had impressed.
- [17:23]
LinkedIn Advertiser
Cut the bull spend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad NETWORKS. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com campaign terms and conditions apply.