You’ll have to forgive me as I share some Kool-Aid. Recently, CJP began representing an integrated marketing and technology firm. One of the things their CEO Stacey Haefele regularly talks about is the concept of front-line branding or “below the line branding.” This is the idea that every enterprise, whether large or small, must take steps to enable its employees and sales force to represent the brand in an open, honest and trustworthy way (an idea quite akin to that of our own CEO, Jen Prosek, who believes that each member of the “CJP army” must be a brand ambassador at all times). And in a recent conversation, Ms. Haefele took this idea a bit further, outlining that trust must be developed on the front line through personalization and empathy.
This idea was driven home to me over the last few days. This past weekend, I was fortunate to have been invited to participate in Quinnipiac University’s first annual “QU Media Mashup” – a conference hosted by the School of Communication for graduating seniors to learn about various media industries and what to expect as they begin their careers. Throughout the weekend, I met dozens of students, all eager to learn and eager to network.
