Spicing up the Global Creative Process at McCormick, with Leah Carlson, VP Client Services at Velir

Transcript

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Peter Crosby (00:00):

Welcome to unpacking the Digital Shelf where we explore brand manufacturing in the digital age.

(00:16):

Hey everyone. Peter Crosby here from the Digital Shelf Institute. Digital Transformation is in Leah Carlson's Blood from the first outside employee at a family run business to leading technology and web projects at the National Cattleman's Beef Association to six and a half years building out global creative content and growth capabilities at McCormick. And now at Digital Marketing Agency er, she has created a way of working across global teams to implement technologies and best practices that drive efficiency while still enabling local control. Leah generously joined Lauren Livak Gilbert and me to share the most impactful lessons from her journey. Welcome to the podcast, Leah. We are so excited to chat with you about your experience in global commerce. Thank you so much for coming on.

Leah Carlson (01:08):

Yeah, thanks for having me today. I'm excited to be here.

Peter Crosby (01:11):

So in your career you've led content, best practices globally. Like I said, you launched a global dam, you helped create an internal creative studio, so you are no stranger to change and what it takes for an organization to implement new concepts and drive growth on the digital shelf. So tell us a bit about your background and where you started.

Leah Carlson (01:33):

Yeah, I actually love change, which is kind of strange, but I think it's kind of my superpower. And I know we're here today to talk about my six and a half years at McCormick, but I wanted to share a little bit about my background beyond that as well, because I've literally been working in digital transformation my entire career, I think. So it's in a way sometimes I like to describe it as being an entrepreneur within corporate walls because I have always just been in this position where I've had to bring in new technologies or start new programs. And so I started out leading the first web experience and channel strategy for family owned waste and recycling management company. And then I moved into having my own business and launching websites for other small businesses. And then I was hired at National Cattleman's Beef Association. And so when I was there, I got to lead a number of MarTech initiatives, including bringing in their first dam as well. And then today I am the VP of client services overseeing digital strategy and solutions for associations. So I have around 20 to 30 clients under the Volle Agency, which is a digital and data services agency based out of Boston.

Peter Crosby (02:47):

So you had mentioned such an array of experience, all like you said, and sort of centered in transformation. So we have to know how you made your way from Baltimore and McCormick. How did you make your way there? What has your journey been like?

Leah Carlson (03:03):

I've been really lucky to live in a lot of different places. So grew up in Iowa, moved to Denver, that's where I was with National Cattlemen's. And then out of the blue I got a LinkedIn message and it was from McCormick. In fact, I didn't even think it was real. And they said, would you ever move across the country and come out to Baltimore and lead a global dam and global content best practices for McCormick? And about six months later I was packing my bags and moving across the country and starting my life in Baltimore, which is where I still

Peter Crosby (03:38):

Am. Did you find out how you came into their notice?

Leah Carlson (03:43):

Yeah, I didn't realize this at the time, but someone along the way mentioned that I had Widen, which is now Aquia Dam on my LinkedIn profile. So they'd already decided that they really liked the Widen platform and they said they were looking for people without experience. And so I was the lucky one.

Peter Crosby (04:05):

That's amazing. And so yeah, sort of tell us that journey. So you arrive at Cormick, a gal coming out of the train in Baltimore. And so when you arrived at McCormick, what were they trying to achieve? What were the business results they were going for that had them bring you in?

Leah Carlson (04:29):

Yeah, so when I came out, my manager at the time was building the first global team. And so the way that they were structured was every region did their own content and marketing. And there was this idea that if we could bring this centralized strategy initiative that we could start to find some scale across the organization, sharing, learning, reapplication. And I was really lucky to get to come right in to already having the support for the first global dam. And so it was almost like my role was split into DAM and technology and managing and building that program. And then it was split into working cross-functionally across the regions to bring the best practices and bubble those up and then share them out across the teams.

Peter Crosby (05:29):

So you were of the center of excellence model that they were talking about. You were really extracting the excellence from the regions across the world and then packaging it up into a set of best practices. That's really cool.

Leah Carlson (05:46):

Absolutely. Yeah. And I got to create a playbook for, I got to essentially find the top content pieces that we were creating at the time. So images, of course, recipes, we were starting to create a best practice around product information. I think there were like five to eight. And so we built an actual playbook around that. What does it look like when you're developing a best in class image? What does it look like when you're developing a best in class recipe? And so I got to compile all of that and then share that out globally as well. As I was leading the DAM part of my role, I got to bring in 30 consumer brands, the flavor solutions business. So that's the McCormick for chef's content as well as the business critical functions, corporate communications, hr, all of that lived within that dam. And so the role was really focused on how do we bring all of this together under one umbrella? It started to centralize our content initiatives.

Peter Crosby (06:57):

That's great. I mean, I always think of the way McCormick differentiates itself in a lot of ways, but one of the major ways they do that is storytelling for their customers. Like enabling and inspiring their consumers to stretch themselves as chefs and to introduce, I think that that's so powerful and that sort of creativity that fosters, you need to harness it and manage it and make sure that it gets into action out in the market. I imagine your role is really important to that.

Leah Carlson (07:32):

So some of the opportunities for scale there, we're thinking about leveraging content once and then creating multiple pieces of content that we could share across platforms, across regions, across brands. Because at the end of the day, when you think about McCormick, people know the spice with the red cap, but it's clubhouse in Canada, it's Schwartz in Europe, it's Dec Crow in Europe. And so a lot of these are still those core spices. And so the content really translates beautifully across markets, across regions, across brands. And so this is one way to centralize that and really scale it.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (08:13):

And in terms of efficiency and using one piece of content multiple times across different regions, that has a lot to do with creative and your creative studio and how you're creating that. And I know you had the opportunity to help create an internal creative studio, which if I'm being honest, is a huge question I always get from brands. Like should we do it? Should we work with an agency? Should we do it externally? So would love your perspective on what it was like to implement that creative studio and what you saw as some of the pros for having it.

Leah Carlson (08:45):

Yeah, it was definitely a journey. And so a couple years later after I'd been at McCormick for a bit, the organization was really building momentum. They were really developing that in-house, creative studio in the us and building that capability and operating as an internal agency, they were able to make it the case there for efficiencies around creating everything. So it's like they were really keying in on how much does it cost for us to pay an agency to do this versus how much efficiency and scale could we get out of an internal team doing this? And I guess to answer one of your questions there, one of the challenges to this model I think is that having that outward lens and the pulse on the trends, right? Because you're so focused on delivery that you don't have the outward lens to see what's going on as easily. And so when you work with an agency, an agency is really that team that brings that economy of scale into the equation and they can really look across their partner relationships across their clients and from industry events that they attend and have this broader 360 lens of the changing landscape. And so they can really bring that and bolster that. And so together, I think that's really where the magic happens in the partnership.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (10:04):

And would you say that in terms of building a brand and having that brand story told, that would be the pro side of having an internal in-house agency because they're internal people who know the brand, they understand the story. What I've seen on both sides, I love that point that you made that you need to know what are the trends in the industry. But if you have an in-house studio, they know the brand so well and are able to tell that story in a better way.

Leah Carlson (10:31):

Absolutely. So they are able to just very quickly get into the photo studio and create the thing versus the inefficiency of like, oh, hey, I got to call up my agency. I've got to do the scope of work and I've got to brief them and put all of these materials together. It just creates a much more agile way of working when you have that internal studio. And I think there's also just that natural feed off of the creativity and somebody comes to you with this idea and you're like, yeah, let's try it out. And you just can remove that kind of wait time.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (11:08):

And how did you bring together the creativity side and your op side to make it a creative operation studio and having the right efficiency using the right images across the board, sharing it globally. I feel like you're in that kind of sweet spot.

Leah Carlson (11:24):

Yeah, thanks for that question. I love it. It's really a passion area for me because like you said, I get to bring tech under one roof, build the process under that same roof and drive that efficiency to really bring together creative ops. And when the internal studio was in place to go global, they asked me to lead that first creative ops team. So it was such a huge opportunity and just really excited to step into that role. I was unique at McCormick because I really sat in that global role my entire time I was there. It was more just that as the studio changed and evolved and started to grow that US studio then became that global marketing team there. And so I got to roll in from that global lens where I was more getting to strategize and then move into more of this operational role.

(12:19):

So it was a really cool project for me and a cool opportunity to transition there. One of the first things we did was extend creative operations to essentially scale our standardized process and tech to establish a scaffolding and infrastructure for a lighter or pilot UK studio team. And so we basically took what we were already doing really well in the US and we said, okay, we need to make sure everybody is leveraging the same process. Everybody is leveraging the same tools and knows where things are located, what the process is from creative concepting through trafficking. And then we were able to really drive efficiency once we were able to kind of define that. And so to put it simply, it was really using that people process and technology framework and saying, what are we talking about here and how do we best drive it and look for any opportunities where things were off track in between. And so just shoring that up to make sure it was really efficient.

Peter Crosby (13:28):

When we've talked to other people that are in global roles, there's always that opportunity slash tension of regional requirements and needs and them wanting to execute clearly and being potentially grateful for what's coming at them from the global team, but also at McCormick. What was that situation for you of the relationship between the global function and the regions and how did that evolve over time and what was your work there?

Leah Carlson (14:02):

That's a great question. I do feel like I was uniquely positioned because I already had those global relationships. So that was something I had working for me where I already knew the people and we already had the momentum around DAM and we haven't talked about it much, but also around our pim, we had really good momentum around that program and we were able to then start thinking about how do we just scale and reapply there, leveraging kind of a similar program approach. And then we also had momentum around our CMS at the time too. And so I think when you pull these kind of concepts together, it's around the tooling and capabilities and when you can really get everybody on those same anchor platforms, then you're just going to drive overall efficiency and streamlined execution. So when you standardize that process that relies on those capabilities, people know where things are, how to access them when their counterparts are out on vacation, and there's no real waiting for someone to come back and share that asset with you or share that content with you. You can just keep rolling because you have access to those tools already and you're all working together.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (15:15):

And Lee, do you have any examples of a process or a project that made sense to standardize that at a global level that maybe was regional before that worked out really well for you?

Leah Carlson (15:27):

Yeah, I think one example that is interesting to talk about is thinking about global taxonomy. So it was really tough in the making. The US had an international kind of, I think at times called ethnic or even Asian classification for one of their brands, simply Asia. So that in the US often ends up in that international aisle in that grocery store. But when we brought the regions together, obviously our regions don't classify themselves as international. And so you really have to think about that global hierarchy from that overview umbrella lens to avoid your downstream tech debt and standardization cleanup down the road.

Peter Crosby (16:17):

Yeah, it's all your perspective. So what's international is different depending upon what country you're in. So that makes perfect sense that you would need to adjust what you're doing and give the regions the flexibility to tailor it for their needs, I would imagine.

Leah Carlson (16:34):

Yeah, exactly. If it's helpful. Another story I really like to talk about too is that I is around brand guidelines and translations. So I noticed it pretty early on when McCormick acquired the rect brands, Frank's Red hot, Frenches Mustard. And so I got to join the team in China when we introduced the brand and we basically all came together and started brainstorming on what that Frank's red hot brand would look like in the market. And I don't know if you guys remember this, but at the time the main spokesperson was Ethel. So I don't know if you remember that funny grandmother. She was shocking. Irreverent. But in the US that culture is funny and that persona works really well. It's attractive, but in China's culture it doesn't work, right? We have very different cultural rules around our elders. And so I remember when we were talking about Ethel, it was shocking and not in a good way. And so you have to think about how the brand shows up in each of those regions. You have to define that upfront and have those brainstorming sessions so that you can build the playbooks and the guides and then really be more efficient in the downstream with that.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (17:54):

And I feel like that's where global fits so well. You have global standardization and regional activation so that you can understand the culture, making sure that you have the right audience in mind, you're using the right language. I think one of the things that I've seen in the past to be challenging there is budget. Does the global team own the budget? Does the regional team own the budget? Who's creating the content? Where is it sitting? So I'm curious if you have any thoughts about what worked really well, especially if you change to a global structure from a regional structure, and any advice for people who are sitting in either of those?

Leah Carlson (18:30):

That's a fantastic question. I think at the beginning of my time when I was at McCormick and in that first global digital team, all of the regions kept their budgets internal, so they really could have full control over the choices that they were making. And we were more just the thought leader and strategy and collaborating from that perspective. And the temperature really did shift throughout my time at McCormick. And so it got to a point where, I mean, the tension that I personally felt in leading the DAM was that the teams didn't have to use the DAM because they weren't paying for it. And so they didn't have to use the tool. And if it felt inefficient to them, they could just make other choices and store assets locally. And that wasn't just that platform, it was across the platforms of why do we have to use this if we're not paying for it kind of thing. And so I think where you want to shift is everybody pays into the kitty a little bit. And so when everybody has that shared responsibility, they have the shared accountability. And I think that that tends to work a lot better.

Peter Crosby (19:46):

And I would imagine part of it, and you tell me sometimes what we hear from folks that are in a position like this is that they kind of go region by region, implement a pilot, get the data that shows that it does increase efficiency and stuff like that, and then everyone starts to get a little jealous that they're not getting those same results. Did that happen at McCormick as well? Did you sort of see that?

Leah Carlson (20:13):

Yeah, absolutely. So the way that I approached it was in my role, it was typically starting with the US because they were the most robust and had the most resources. We also liked to work with China as well because as we all know, China's always on the forefront of trends. And so getting to have that as part of our content team is just extraordinary because we could then borrow those trends and then scale them across other regions. And so those were kind of the two areas for innovation. But then we would often pilot things in say Europe because the team was excited. And so that's something I talk to people about a lot too, is you don't always have to start with the natural fit, and sometimes it's about starting with the team who's just most excited and most willing to be part of it, and then running with that momentum and then leveraging the good vibes that you're getting out of that.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (21:16):

Did you use that as your change management program to, excuse me, convince the other regions to get on board or showcase why it was important? Because this is a big change if you're asking them to invest and also they're taking on a new project, so there's always a change management element. I'm wondering if there's any other pieces that were helpful in that. Oh

Leah Carlson (21:36):

Gosh, absolutely. So I actually am change management certified. I went to Prosci for a few days and got to learn the different constructs of putting together a change management plan. And it's been really helpful throughout my career since I've had that. So there are really structural components to it, but to make it easy to understand, one of the things that I do, and I did this even prior when I was in some of my earlier career, is finding those stakeholders in the different teams and pulling them together. It's informal because you don't manage them, they don't report to you, but when you have those points of contact that you can rely on in your meeting regularly, you're naturally embedding that change into their teams as well because they're acting as your spokespeople across the regions or across the teams.

Lauren Livak Gilbert (22:35):

I love that. That's exactly what I did when I was on the brand side. You got to find your advocates and then have them advocate for you, especially if you're in a global regional dynamic because it's important to have everyone work together there.

Peter Crosby (22:49):

So Leah, to close out, I would love to, I know you've been at Valle, the agency now for around six months by the time this airs. And I'm just wondering what that transition has been like because you've come from a place where you found it very valuable, at least with the creative resources to have you guys provide a bunch of digital marketing services and technology services. But I was just wondering how that transition has been, what it's like being on that side of the house and how are you sort of putting it all to work?

Leah Carlson (23:23):

It's been such a fun transition. Thanks for asking. So I've been really fortunate throughout my career to have a lot of diverse experiences. I mentioned at the beginning of our chat today that I started working for a very small family run company. I was the first kind of non-family member coming in and leading marketing there. And then I worked for an association NCBA, the beef at What's for Dinner Team. And then I got to work for a very large CPG. And so when it came time to start thinking about what's next for Leah's resume, I was like, what do I want to do and how can I pull all of these themes together? And I started to think how fun would it be to get to work with a variety of clients and see a variety of different solutions and problems to solve. And so it was just a really natural transition for me. It is just very exciting to now get to work with a variety of teams leading that digital transformation change

Peter Crosby (24:25):

That is so fun. One, you're way more thoughtful about your career than I've ever been, which is an inspiration. I'm going to take a lesson from you in this late part of my career. But that's great. And I think particularly what we often hear is that there's so much change happening in e-commerce, in digital, in creative, and it's only going to get fiercer in this next decade of the digital shelf. And so it's finding that balance of what do you keep in house and what do you work with an agency with? And then that's a constant, I would imagine you're finding this that's a constant sort of wave. You help the client get great at something and then another opportunity comes up to it. And I was just wondering if you're sort of finding that it is sort of each client is at their own stage, at their own, sort of what they're capable of taking on and what they need expertise in.

Leah Carlson (25:25):

Yeah, absolutely. So a couple of the tools that I like to use for thinking about this is one crawl, walk, run. I think most people are familiar with some form of that. You don't have to jump out of the gate and have all of the best technologies and all of the best processes. It's sometimes using what you have and then identifying where you can make change in an agile way. You want to fly the plane and build it at the same time, which can be scary, but that's the best way to be iterative and learn and to grow and do the thing rather than having perfection kind of takeover. And the other thing that hot off the press is that we're building some maturity models and capability models within the org. And so what that helps us do is say, where is your capability today? Where's your ability to invest? And then how do we look at that and strategically build roadmaps to help you get from point A to point B to point Z and really work together and collaborate throughout that partnership along the way.

Peter Crosby (26:38):

Well, that's super exciting and incredibly necessary, so I can't wait to see how they develop and maybe have you back to talk about some of those models as they come to fruition. But Leah Carlson, thank you so much. I imagine if you're okay with it, people can reach out to you on LinkedIn if they'd like to connect up with you and are interested in sort of the experiences you've had. Absolutely. Cool. Awesome. Yeah, please do. Well, on behalf of all of Lauren and myself, we just really appreciate you taking the time to come and share your experiences and the trajectory of your career. It's super helpful to the community to hear about it. And thank you so much.

Leah Carlson (27:20):

Thanks so much for having me.

Peter Crosby (27:21):

Thanks again to Leah for sharing her lessons with us. Swing on over to digitalshelfinstitute.org and become a member for access to a wide array of best practices and research from the best in the industry. Thanks for being part of our community.