MarTech360 Interview With Leah Logan, VP Product Marketing, Inmar Intelligence

“The ability to connect consumer exposure points tied back to a record of preferences is the only way to truly add value at a personal level.”

Hi, Leah, could you walk us through your professional journey so far?

I actually started my career in digital display media sales, retail media specifically. I was a business development lead with new and emerging customers and my favorite part of the role was crafting solutions that solved for opportunities/issues for my clients vs haggling on CPMs and talking about unique reach. I moved from that role into an on-site role at Sam’s Club to help build their retail media program.

My focus was finding synergy between the monetization program, merchant and marketing priorities, again, ultimately benefiting the shopper. I loved connecting the digital components with some of the more traditional initiatives like in-club demos and direct mail and realized that I wanted more control over planning the complete journey for the shopper.

My next move was to Dr Pepper Snapple Group to lead all marketing efforts for DPSG (now KDP) at Walmart. My charter was to sell as many incremental cases at Walmart as possible and I was first turned loose to chase display opportunities. Every marketer knows that if you can get incremental merchandising in partnership with your campaign programming, you’ve won the ROI game.

But, I wanted to create long-term shopper behavior change. I worked very closely with shopper insights and conducted focus groups, surveys and even shopalongs. I wanted to know what actually creates an incremental behavior shift and, with our products, a lot of our opportunity was in purchase frequency. I found utilizing creators to put my products in new usage occasions and then amplifying to relevant audiences was a successful avenue to use. I worked so closely with Inmar (FKA Collective Bias pre-acquisition) that they offered me a job!

My work in Influencer Marketing started focused on maximizing our creator pool for alignment with our key CPG clients. The interconnectivity needed to ensure success for creators, brands, retailers and, ultimately consumers, is complex. This led me into a product ownership role where I was able to design products with all stakeholders in mind.

After Collective Bias was acquired by Inmar, my role was expanded to create solutions with influencer marketing, paid social, conversational commerce and shopper engagement solutions. Our entire portfolio strategy is centered around maximizing the commerce experience for the user and Inmar brings the integral data connection needed to do so.

What sets Inmar Intelligence apart from the competition?

This question is complex as Inmar Intelligence plays in many different industries from our healthcare solutions to supply chain to marketing technology. What makes us competitive within all of these environments is our focus on the consumer experience and bringing value to our clients with that in mind.

Within our Retail Cloud, our marketing technology division, Inmar is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of brands, retailers and consumers all by partnering with retailers and brands, with the permission of consumers, to utilize data that enrich that person’s shopping experience. Whether it’s personalized offers, dynamic personalized media, a conversational shopping experience or social commerce integrations; we are focused on maximizing value for all stakeholders.

Also Read: MarTech360 Interview With Ken Rapp, CEO And Co-Founder Of Blustream

How, according to you, has Marketing Automation impacted the eCommerce landscape?

The ability to connect consumer exposure points tied back to a record of preferences is the only way to truly add value at a personal level. Today while shoppers are plagued by rising prices and uncertain product availability, they need tools and support to assist them in purchasing to save money and time. Today’s shopper is a hybrid shopper and I think we’ll only see that grow with more personalized shopping experiences.

How are digital marketing technology trends shaping business strategies to effectively reach the target audience?

I think the ‘omni-channel’ approach has changed quite a bit. It’s not enough to just have different options for consumers but connectivity, or consistency at least, is the focus for many marketers. Obviously with my expertise and focus being in the social commerce space, I have seen social evolve from being an awareness/exposure point to being a key part of a commerce journey.

We actually are about to release some new data showing that short form video is now the number one driver of purchases in the social space. This is super interesting given that offerings like TikTok and Reels have very little actual commerce integration. But, consumers ranked these as the highest motivators in those decisions. Marketers have to truly design consumer first strategies to effectively drive results.

How do you envisage Product Marketing evolving, in the years to come?

Tomorrow’s product marketers will be core business decision makers. If a PM is solid on core competencies like understanding the market landscape, competitive threats, product strengths/weaknesses based on voice of customer feedback, this is who should be making business decisions.

My role on paper is a Product Marketing lead but I function much more like a business owner. I want to understand all impacts on the success of the product and have the autonomy to make decisions to maximize performance. Whether it’s an investment strategy, GTM plan or even sales structure; these businesses need a strategic leader that thinks beyond balancing a P&L.

Do go-to-marketing strategies help in more customer engagement?

Yes, strategies should be centered around customers and adding value. Today’s consumer is demanding more personalized marketing approaches that truly show value, either through time or money savings. We all have to ask ourselves, “does this marketing campaign provide actual value for the end user?”

According to you, how important are highly personalized communications and engagements across omni channel platforms?

More important than ever at this point. Shoppers are having a hard time finding what they need and also how to work within their budgets. Marketers who can add value and help to solve some of those challenges will be rewarded. Almost 80% of shoppers are willing to share data (transactional behavior, location, savings preference) to receive personalized marketing communications featuring offers, product recommendations and product availability.

Do you think Personalization marketing, especially for eCommerce businesses, is beneficial in delivering more relevant and promotional content and to improve customer experience?

Absolutely. Shoppers are looking for solutions in the shopping landscape. They have adopted hybrid shopping because of the benefit around ecommerce experiences that integrate things like incentives and provide product solutions all in one place. Consumers would rather share data to receive the personalized shopping experience than not provide the data and have to hunt for everything they need.

Could you name the apps/platforms that you use for marketing?

Inmar as a B2B company primarily uses publisher platforms in combination with owned channels, like email, to reach target audiences. We have seen quite the change in the event space and are, admittedly, still nailing down our go-forward approach. We lead with data and insights and create our strategy based on core buyer personas.

Our clients, CPG brands and retailers, are using all of our digital media solutions. We have seen an increase in TikTok and Reels requests as we see short form video content becoming a key format in driving commerce. Within the mobile and desktop display space, we continue to see more requests for video formats as well as innovations in targeting, like our Aki Moments optimization. It’s really less about ‘where’ and more about ‘how’.

What is the one piece of advice you would give to those who wish to enter the MarTech world?

Create consumer centric plans and clearly demonstrate the value you’re bringing to the consumer. Consumers will react with shopper loyalty and reward marketers who are truly adding value to their daily lives.

Thanks, Leah!