Mark Vandegrift
Welcome to another episode of the Brand Shorthand Podcast. I'm your host, Mark Vandegrift, and with me today is a very special guest, Tony Bell. Tony is our Executive Director of Client Services and Media here at Innis Maggiore, and he's joining us for today's discussion of multi-channel marketing. Welcome, Tony.

Tony Bell
Thanks, Mark. Happy to be here.

Mark Vandegrift
Well, before we get into who you are and a little bit of your background, we always like to do brand news. Lorraine and I always like to bring up a topic. know you're a listener of the brand shorthand podcast, so you know the drill. But our latest is around Target. And we got news that the CEO, Brian Cornell, is going to step down on February 1st, 2026, I think it is. And he's been there 11 years leading the company. Our listeners know we've brought up Target recently over the last couple years because of their different, let's call it interesting moves within the store. What they've focused on, some of the controversy they've raised up. And anyhow, it's interesting because they're just hiring within. The guy's name is Michael Fiddelke, I think is how you say it. He's been the COO for the last few years. He's a 20-year veteran of the company. So I don't know that hiring within is going to make a huge difference. I know the board and some of the key stakeholders and of course, all of the investors are worried that he won't make much of a difference with what's going on. But the CEO resigned amidst really declining sales. And we know, we believe we know why that happened because of the stance that they've taken within the woke world. So any comments on this?

Tony Bell
Yeah, I remember I used to call it Tarjay myself back when Target really owned that space of affordable style. Their ads were trendy. They were fun and spoke directly to their core customer. The positioning was spot on, intended there, sorry. But when I, you know, when I was in the store recently, I felt different. The front was cluttered with carts and stacked with online orders and pickups and stuff like that, the shelves in some areas were empty and a little bare. And honestly, I just didn't feel like it was the same store I used to know, the same Target or Tarjay that I used to know. I rarely go there anymore. So, an interim CEO from inside the company, can they make a difference? Maybe. He was there when Target was successful. But it's gonna take real focus. If I had three pieces of advice, it would be one, stay out of politics. As you said, we've talked about it a number of times. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, you risk alienating half of your customer base if you take a stand one way or the other. Go back to what made you Tarjay. Being the place for affordable style, that was your unique position and it worked. And then make sure the stores themselves reflect that position. Clean, trendy, stylish, and well-stocked. The store, the in-store experience has to match the brand promise. If they can do those three things, I think that they could get back on track.

Mark Vandegrift
Good. Yep. Always focused on the position. That's the key thing. had a conversation with someone I was actually interviewing for a position here yesterday. And it was neat because she had been in the world for advertising for 26 years, I think she said. And she said one of the challenges she always got were creative briefs that never had that one nugget. You know, what are we advertising? And she would always push back and say, no, I need the key thing. And we know here that's automatic, that's built in, baked in because of positioning. So yeah, if they get back to affordable style or affordable luxury, that's really the key thing for them. So good. Well, Tony, why don't you introduce yourself a little bit? I know we went right to brand news, but that's kind of what we're about here and tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do here at Innis Maggiore.

Tony Bell
Sure, Mark. As you mentioned, I'm the executive director of client services and media here at Innis Maggiore. I've been here for, in next month, it'll be five years. But I've been coincidentally in advertising for over 26 years, as you just mentioned, someone you talked to. And in my role now, I focus on making sure our client services team and discipline leaders have the resources they need, helping to keep clients on strategy, develop client relationships, and leading our talented media department, which you had on a few weeks ago, I believe, if I remember correctly. But before joining Innis Maggiore, I worked at a small agency first, and then I moved to a global agency with clients ranging from John Deere and Ford to companies and organizations in B2B, B2C, government and non-profit. So I've had the opportunity to see how strategy and media play out across many different industries and different types of client needs.

Mark Vandegrift
Good. Awesome. Give us one favorite hobby that you like to do.

Tony Bell
I camp quite a bit. I'm a camper with my wife and family. We do a lot of that. But sports is the other side of it. If I could combine those two, I would be all set.

Mark Vandegrift
So, you know, most of us know about you internally here about your awesome tailgate capabilities.

Tony Bell
Well, that's me combining the camping and the sports together. Because my son goes to Trine and plays lacrosse. So yes, we do that quite a bit.

Mark Vandegrift
Good, good. Well, let's kick off today's topic. Why don't you give a quick overview of what we mean when we say multi-channel marketing.

Tony Bell
OK, the technical definition first. Multi-channel marketing is a strategy that utilizes multiple separate communication and sales channels to interact with customers and maximize opportunities to reach them. It isn't just having a presence on Facebook, email and TV. It's about creating a unified strategy across all those channels so the customers have a consistent brand experience every time. Instead of treating each channel separately, multichannel marketing ensures that every touch point works together to move a customer closer to conversion. And more importantly, it ensures the brand's position is consistent across every channel.

Mark Vandegrift
Good, so you're really talking about two approaches. One is I can be on a lot of different media, right? But it can be all kind of, I would say, haphazard. Or it could be focused, right? It could be focused and every channel has a purpose to it. And of course it's different formats. So billboards, you know, nine to 14 words and TV tells the whole story, but it's always conveying the same position over time. Okay, so what are the advantages of that?

Tony Bell
Well, multi-channel marketing establishes trust. When people see your brand in different places, it builds credibility and encourages action. The marketplace is noisy. There's so much going on and the customers is always moving. They don't live in a single channel anymore. If you think about a multi-screen, you know, I mean, that's, that's what we're talking about is people are doing multiple things at one time. So multi-channel marketing provides the advertiser with more reach, better engagement, stronger data. If you think about it, cross channel tracking shows a fuller picture of the customer behavior overall. And finally, higher ROI. Integrated messaging across different channels delivers better performance overall. And when it's done right, it reinforces your brand position every step of the way, strengthening it in the minds of the customer. Statistics show that multi-channel campaigns can be 37 % more effective than a single channel campaign overall.

Mark Vandegrift
Yeah, and you know, a lot of times folks to your first point, they'll just go out and they'll trickle things on and they don't really understand that it takes a concerted effort. It also requires sufficient resources, right? So you don't wanna just do a little bit of this and a little bit of that and some other, that's probably the biggest mistake we see, but. What are some other big mistakes that you see businesses make with multi-channel marketing?

Tony Bell
Well, I think that Mark, and then if you think about it, one of the biggest mistakes is businesses making a decision or looking at each channel in a vacuum separately. You have to start with an integrated strategy that aligns with your unique position, business goals and media objectives. As you mentioned, the other mistake is trying to be everywhere at once without the resources to do it well. You need to reach a level of effectiveness in one channel before moving to the next. It doesn't make sense to spread yourself too thin. And finally, measurement is critical. Too many businesses fail to track performance properly. You have to know what is working and what isn't. Then of course, optimize, optimize, optimize, always.

Mark Vandegrift
Yeah, we had a client send me an email very early this morning. We're actually going back and forth on this. They wanted to bring the budget down a little bit. It's like, OK, well, first thing to do is take away one of these channels. That's the easiest way to do it. And they're like, well, I don't want to get rid of that. Well, guess what? If you're trying to knock a certain amount off, you don't want to bring both down and then your reach and frequency and the other strategies that we have toward properly and effectively reaching people that goes below a threshold where, okay, we have such little statistical data to even know if this is working because you're doing such dribs and drabs of any given media. It's better to take, if you have two or three media, take those budgets, put them all together and do one very well. I think of our client Custom Auto Body. You know, over the years they've done one specific medium and that's been the bulk of what they've done. Now they've tried some other things, but what is Custom Auto Body known for around here? Their billboards, right? Billboard, billboard, billboards. Well, guess what? I'm driving a car. If I get in an accident, billboard's a great medium to use. Why even bother with anything else, right? Own that. And they certainly own that. Now they've, they've done radio, they've done a little bit of search, things like that. Perfect way to go at it, but every year we know their budget primarily is gonna go into outdoor. And that makes sense to them.

Tony Bell
Yeah, it's really our starting point and then we build from there.

Mark Vandegrift
yeah, and then we build from there if there's budget left over, right? So that's really the critical thing. So do you wanna talk about the strategy behind that? Because obvious for a auto body group that they would pick a billboard, but talk about the strategy behind choosing which channel or channels are right for a client.

Tony Bell
Yeah, that's a great question. Of course, I would say call your media planner at Innis Maggiore first. But really, it starts with it does start with positioning. Your unique position should be the lens through which every media choice is made. Then you need to look at your audience. Where are your customers spending time? How do they how do they want to interact with you? If you're B2B, LinkedIn may work better than Instagram or CTV might outperform cable because It's more targeted. If you, if you're retail, for example, you know, maybe it's Google shopping or TikTok. Next, you know, what are your business objectives? Are you trying to build awareness, generate leads, or get repeat purchases? Different channels play different roles in, in the customer journey overall. So we have to make sure we're choosing based on those. And finally, resources. So you talked about it earlier. I talked about it. It's better to advertise in two or three or even one if you if your budget's really limited really well, than you know, than spread yourself too thin across six or eight of those tactics. Start where you can have an impact. The biggest impact measure what's working, then expand. I can't stress that enough. The right channel isn't about what's trendy or familiar to you. It's it's where your audience, your goals and your resources cross.

Mark Vandegrift
Yeah andcombining a couple of things that you said there, obviously positioning always leads the way. But if I'm trying to engage a prospect versus an existing customer for repeat purchase, if I'm doing my job well as a marketer, an example is a repeat purchase, I should have information about them because I've transacted. So if I have an email, then email marketing might be the obvious thing. Or if I have a mobile phone number, then texting might be the obvious thing. I think of Donatos. I don't see a lot of their ads, but I get their emails and texts all the time. And guess what? The timing matters. They know that I buy pizza usually Friday night is our pizza night. And I always get an email Friday around noon. Okay. So that's effective use of a medium, right? If they're trying to get a prospect, they don't know anything about them. Then, you know, who knows what they might use TV, obviously, since they're national would be a good choice. But there's a lot of different media that they could use in that. We had an example is we had a client that they were using network TV for their TV buy. Well, one, you don't have a lot of geographic control over that to their audience was maybe 20 percent. If that, so 80 % of your buy are wasted impressions. Now the cost per thousand on that is really low. So you have to ask yourself, well, if I pay only to get a hundred percent targeted impressions, what does that do to the cost per thousand? That's what you have to weigh. Is it better to waste 80 % of your impressions or is it better to be a hundred percent targeted to impressions for those that are going to buy your product? So there's just always that balance and that's part of what a good media planner does. Hello, that's what Innis Maggiore does. So it makes a lot of sense. Thinking through that, you know, kind of what I just mentioned there, do you find that there are some channels more effective than others or do you feel that there are channels that are maybe underutilized?

Tony Bell
Yeah, well, I wouldn't say that one channel is always more effective than another. It's like you said, you you have to it depends on the audience and your campaign objectives. It's less about picking one perfect channel and more about finding the right mix as you mentioned. Data shows 86 % of consumers use at least two channels before making a major purchase. It's just trying to figure out what those are With that said, I do believe there are channels that are underutilized. For example, connected TV is a great way to reach a more targeted audience and it's trackable. You know, people want to see results. They want to know if their campaigns are working, especially if they're looking into a new medium. This is especially true for B2B and companies with niche offerings. Many B2B companies would never think to use TV spots because of the waste that happens, as you mentioned. But with CTV, where you can go as far as to target decision makers in certain industries, it becomes an extremely valuable option. We've written some PositionistViews on and blogs on this. You know, if listeners are looking, they can check out the website and look at those. we've written them to talk more about how you can use this as a benefit for B2B and other businesses. On the other hand, some advertisers can place too much focus on the next shiny object. For example, utilizing every new social platform just because it's trendy, the trendy thing to do. You know, you have to be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, you know, Snapchat, X, name the next one. But that's not the case. If you don't have the content to remain consistent, it's not relevant to your audience or you don't have the funds to do it right. You shouldn't do it. It's easy to chase trends. I mean, you see so many people do it, but if those channels don't align with your positioning or your audience's perception of your brand, you're wasting an effort. You're wasting your effort. So the effectiveness isn't necessarily just about the channel. It's about picking the right channel or combination for the job that needs to be done.

Mark Vandegrift
Yeah. Yeah. And that's really the key. It's funny. I was sitting in a boardroom at one point in time, the CEO walks in and we had a great relationship. I mean, I think we had multiple folks in the room and he walks in and he goes, all I need is a MySpace page and we'll never need to do any more marketing. Now, I know our producer, Lindsey, probably wasn't even born when MySpace came out, but MySpace was the hot thing for a hot moment. And I think it's settled in as some niche music, like bands use it or something. I don't even know what it's used for today. But imagine as a CEO making that statement, all I need is a MySpace page and we'll never need to do any other marketing.

Tony Bell
Wouldn't have been the CEO for long.

Mark Vandegrift
Well, he was the owner, so yeah, he's still the CEO. But, you know, hearing the 10-year-old nephew or the neighbor boy down the street go, you should check out this new thing. And then all of a sudden the ears tingle and you go, oh boy, I better be in that social media. Well, everything finds its own level and nothing is like the savior of all media. So, with that in mind, why don't you share the process or maybe some of the key steps that go into implementing a media plan and why most of the time we're not going to say just go with one thing, but we'll have a multi-channel approach.

Tony Bell
Sure, so successful multi-channel marketing really comes down to four points. It's clear strategy rooted in your brand's positioning and then built around your audience and objectives. Two, creative alignment across all channels and tailored for each format. It's a little different between the different formats, but the messaging is basically the same. Coordinated, number three, coordinated execution to ensure all channels are working together. And then four, measurement and optimization. I always tie those two together because if you're not doing both, you're really not learning anything or adapting to what you have learned to be more effective. So that's what I would say are the four key points.

Mark Vandegrift
Good. Well, you know, without giving away client secrets or anything, is there an example of a client that we've worked with recently, maybe walk us through how you thought about various media, what to include, what to exclude, which is just as important, and how that made a difference for them.

Tony Bell
Yeah, so we work with Robertson Heating Supply, the leading regional distributor of Rheem and Ruud heating and cooling equipment in Ohio, Michigan, Western PA and some other touches some other states. A couple of years ago, they were running short seasonal campaigns focused on radio, mostly college football. They you know, they saw some success with that. It wasn't that it was doing terrible. They saw success, but they had no clear way to track incremental traffic to their contractors and the program wasn't really targeted to drive the outcome they were really looking for. So that's those goals and objectives we talked about. Over the last two years, we've shifted them to a multi-channel approach. So it's extending campaigns to 10 weeks per season, where they had four weeks before. So we've been able to use the budget a little more wisely and combining streaming video, display, social, and search while still investing some of those dollars in radio and streaming audio. So, using targeted media, and a dedicated landing page focusing on those dealers, the dealer trade area or the contractor trade area. We drive traffic directly to participating contractors. The campaigns coordinate messaging across channels to move prospects from awareness to engagement to conversion. So we're able to bring them along that journey. Robertson is now realizing much stronger results and has real numbers to show leadership in contractors the value of the marketing investment that they're making. You know, looking at a couple other brands that people might be familiar with. You have Coca-Cola's Share a Coke campaign. We all know that one where they're running TV, social, digital, plus changing their packaging, doing in-store display and events. This is a great example of offline and online channels working together. And then also you have Apple's iPhone launches. They do a great job starting with the keynote events and YouTube teasers. Everyone waits for those. Then there are social email updates along with the retail store events and PR coverage. They utilize all of these channels to build the expectation, create that hype and urgency, then close the deal. Before the next phone launch, of course. Which they did launch the new iPhone 17 lineup a couple of weeks ago, bringing out their new iPhone 17 Air, new Apple watches and the AirPods Pro 3. So we had that, that just happened. They do a great job.

Mark Vandegrift
Yeah, those are some good brands. Of course, most of our listeners will be like, well, I don't have Cokes and I don't have Apple's budget, but you presented Robertson. And I think that's a good example where it really comes down to matching resources, matching goals, objectives, figuring out where the audience is, figuring out what you can measure. All those things that you mentioned were really good, I guess, insights into the way that our minds think here at the agency when we're doing media planning. And that's really key because it's not something where you might do it once every year or once every five years. It's something we do every day. And that's really critical because we have the experience, we have the relationships with vendors. You know, when you're talking about buying outdoor or you're buying network TV those relationships are critical because we know what to ask for to get the right insights. So very, very important. And Tony, I just want to thank you for joining us today. Really appreciate that. Yeah, certainly. And thanks to our listeners. We always appreciate you tuning in. And if you haven't liked or shared or subscribed, told your friend or shouted from the mountaintop, please do so. And until next episode, have an amazing day.