As of 2021, the ‘Ask the CMO’ column will appear as ‘A Conversation With.’ That change has been brewing for some time to align with the changing face of the C-Suite and the expanding definition of marketing, but now it’s official! I look forward to continuing to explore the many different ways brands and their leadership are working to advocate for customers by placing them at the heart of the enterprise.
A Conversation with Wheel’s Up CMO Lee Applbaum on the Rightsizing of Instinct + A Return to Smiling … [+]
Billee Howard
With that all in mind, I wanted to do one of my first columns under the “new brand” with a CMO whose career has always been synonymous with a strong focus on customer-centricity and using marketing as a lever to enterprise growth.
Lee Applbaum is the new CMO of private jet darling Wheels Up where he has recently come on board to help democratize the brand. His focus will be on widening the aperture of the brand to be best attuned to the current environment, while also helping prime the company for its upcoming IPO. Lee has spent his career at iconic brands like Coca Cola, Target and Patrón. Following is a recap of our conversation:
Billee Howard: You are settling into your new position at Wheels Up. I’m so excited to hear more about that. Can you tell me about your new role and how you’re approaching it in this interesting environment?
Lee Applbaum: Yes of course, thanks, Billee. I’ve been very fortunate in my career to work for and with iconic brands like Coca-Cola, Target and Patrón. With Wheels Up, while private aviation is a less ubiquitous category than say soft drinks or mass retail, the brand is iconic in its own right. My job is to capitalize on that legacy to systematically build a trusted brand. We have a membership base that is incredibly loyal, engaged, and it’s the kind of brand I like to gravitate toward. A brand that has real swagger and embraces disruption has always been a sweet spot for me.
You may have seen our new memberships available at Costco– which could sound counterintuitive. However, that unexpected partnership generated considerable earned media and showed measurable growth in sales. That was the intention, it wasn’t just a clever PR play. Doing that kind of disruptive work, that change in perceptions, is a big part of what I am aiming to do in my role. I realize that we’re never going to be fully democratized in the classical sense, but McKinsey did a study pre-COVID that said ninety percent of consumers and businesses that can afford to fly private today, don’t. So, a big part of my vision is opening up the aperture, being transparent, accessible and inclusive.
Howard: I want to unpack the democratization idea in the context of the following: Everyone talks about the negative impact of COVID and needing to shift strategies to accommodate for behavioral changes in real-time. Some people are winding up on the wrong side of that, and some people are taking it as an opportunity to transform and thrive. The latter sounds like your democratization idea. Would that be fair to say?
Applbaum: We’re in a fascinating, interesting industry when you think about it in the context of COVID – it’s a bit paradoxical. On one hand, we have the unique ability to provide a level of safety and security for our members and passengers that allows families to come together, enabling high-risk individuals to move from place to place, either out of luxury or necessity. But on the other hand, we are a luxury in many ways, and we have to be cognizant of the challenges facing Americans and the world. We’ve got to be careful not to be tone deaf, just like all other brands.
For example, our marketing was scaled back last year. We’ve also always been a company that values philanthropy. That combination teed up an opportunity for us to do some good. We have a platform called Wheels Up Cares, and last year we put the power of the brand behind an initiative called Meals Up, which partnered with Feeding America. Our goal was to raise funds for ten million meals. We actually have already raised and inspired over fifty million meals through our ongoing support efforts because there are so many who are food insecure as a byproduct of COVID.
Overall, at a marketing level, like everybody, we’ve got to be very, very thoughtful. There is a luxury discretionary component and you can’t be unaware about that.
Howard: So, the takeaway from that would be that while brands scale back in certain areas, they can also work to be more purposeful to adapt to the times?
Applbaum: I can say with absolute integrity that this wasn’t exploiting a moment to be charitable. I’m proud that we have a long history, whether it’s with breast cancer, ovarian cancer, heart health, or military families. This was just an extension of who we are and a chance to do good.
Howard: That’s great and it strikes that authenticity cord, which is imperative. Moving on, as you seek to transform the brand, and be more responsive to what’s going on in the world, I’m interested in hearing how you are approaching customer insights and data to drive that transformation and get closer to the customer. What are your thoughts?
Applbaum: That’s a great question. We are seeking to democratize the space, and right now we have a robust group of members and passengers who fly with us. We’re fortunate to have access to rich insights from our members. First, we get data on how and where they fly, but more importantly, because it’s a fairly discreet community, we have very interpersonal interactions with our member experiences team. Our crew engages with our members and customers so we can get real-time, candid insights. Scaling this is going to be increasingly difficult, but we are focusing on leveraging data analytics, A.I., and other tools to analyze behavior to deliver marketing that’s targeted and relevant.
Let me give you an example. It’s cold in New York right now as we discussed before we started the interview. Knowing that, I can send you a message about the sunny, warm weather in the Florida Keys. If I can make an attractive offer – maybe it’s about price reduction, availability or a benefit from one of our hotel partners – I might be able to get you out of the snow and cold in New York. “Why don’t you fly down tomorrow? Here’s a plane waiting for you at Teterboro.”
Data, insights and analytics are critically important to achieving that type of experience. These tools have allowed marketers to become more efficient and effective for consumers. It means more targeted, relevant advertising and messaging. However, I still believe that great brands are largely built from instinct and there’s no substitute for it.
Howard: Instincts are as critical as the insights derived from data and technology. I couldn’t agree more. Having said that, alternative data sets are being thrown into the mix to complement zero and first party data to validate it, and augment it, not replace it. What are your thoughts?
Applbaum: You’re absolutely right. If I reflect on my career from the 90s, into the early 2000s, everything was about creative and instincts. Then the pendulum swung and it was all about big data, right? We were getting data scientists and marketing teams made up of more PhDs than brand marketers with CPG backgrounds. Now, the pendulum, fortunately, is moving somewhere back in the middle. What we’re seeing is a return to some creative instinct and real right brain excellence, but validated by meaningful data that is used to test our hypotheses. That balance between left brain, right brain is what makes for truly, truly world class marketing. Being honest, if there is a chasm between the data and instinct, I do air on the side of instinct. Maybe that’s because I’m used to dealing with discretionary purchases, which is a little bit different than some other categories where things are more predictable. Overall, a dynamic where a balance between data and instinct are checking each other, is super powerful.
Howard: Thanks for the insight and candor. I respect that. Let’s wrap up with the big trends going into 2021 all marketers should be on top of?
Applbaum: The Experience Economy is far from over. I would make a very strong argument that it has been reinvigorated because of COVID. It’s not going to be as much about a great pair of shoes or a very cool car, but it is going to be about who we spend time with, how we spend time with them, and where we choose to spend it. Those memories matter and should never be taken for granted. In that regard, COVID has been an accelerant for private aviation, and I’d predict all brands will feel that impact in one form or another.
The Super Bowl this year was also an interesting proxy on the tenor of advertising that we can expect as we hopefully begin to get COVID under control and then transition it into the rearview mirror. There was humor and much more positivity. Big brands were saying that it’s OK to laugh or to be silly. They were leaning into legacy and historical content that reminds us of a of a different, better time. My feeling is that the darker, more serious advertising, will continue to fade. Blue chip brands are looking at the type of research we talked about earlier to validate those instincts – the ones telling us that it might be OK to start smiling again.
