5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Staci Pacheco, CMO at Enviroscent
It’s important to invest into brand building, because you need to create and drive awareness of what you stand for so you can connect with the consumer. We are also investing in marketing and advertising because we are a young brand. For us there is no clear separation of the two — we are communicating both at Enviroscent all the time.
As part of our series about “Brand Makeovers” I had the pleasure of interviewing Stacie Pacheco, CMO at Enviroscent. Stacie is a versatile and results-driven CMO with a solid reputation for driving revenue growth, improving brand health and utilizing data aimed at achieving business objectives. She has established herself as a driving force of the synergy of classical and modern marketing approaches, examining insights, establishing processes/KPIs and leading best-in-class marketing teams.
As a capable leader, her contributions extend to P&L Management, having managed global P&Ls up to $200M and marketing budgets of $20M+. As a result of her Lean Six Sigma background she has developed a strong understanding of establishing KPIs, metrics and visual management for creative services, insights, trade shows and digital tactics including social media, CRM, SEO, email blasts, and paid display.
Moreover, Stacie is a proven change agent skilled in driving continuous improvements and a professional with insightful experience in providing strategic vision and thought leadership in key areas such as marketing strategy, strategic leadership, CRM, demand generation, product development, innovation, and continuous improvements. She also builds high-performance teams that emphasize quality, content, insights and optimal productivity.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I had an older sister who worked in advertising and that influenced me a lot. I started out in graphic design in my undergrad, following in her footsteps, and ended up working for an advertising agency on the account side working for some great clients in retail and F&B industries. After a few years, I had an opportunity to make the jump to the client side working for Sealy Mattress and there I really found my passion for growing a brand, developing innovative new products, digging into consumer insights and managing the P&L for a business.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing or branding mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I have learned so much along the way, but one example that comes to mind is from my time working for Jarden Consumer Solutions. We really believed we had permission to play with our brand in the diagnostics industry. At the time we launched a line of blood pressure monitors at the retail level. Unfortunately, we underestimated the power of the relationship between the incumbent brands and the pharmacist. The barrier to entry was higher than we thought. Even though the consumer was interested in the product, and the retail buyers thought we were a fit, we couldn’t get past the recommendation of the pharmacist. Ultimately for that reason, the line was discontinued. The lesson here is the importance of understanding the consumer journey and how that maps through to a sale. Whether it’s in brick and mortar or online, understanding what influences purchase will determine your success.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?
I worked with former Proctor and Gamble employees at both Sealy Mattress and Sunbeam, and that taught me to apply the power of consumer insights. The importance of checking in and validating that you’re making the right decisions. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve? How are you going to market? Is your messaging resonating with that consumer?
I also realized that being in marketing isn’t a creative or analytical role, it’s a combination of both the right and left brain. As I matured, I realized that the balance of both is what makes you a successful marketer.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I have a passion for everything we do at Enviroscent. We have a relentless pursuit toward ridding homes of chemical air fresheners and toxins. We are putting together plans for cause marketing affiliations which will launch later this year. I’m passionate about helping people enjoy their spaces more without putting any bad stuff into the air.
What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
Preventing burnout at work for me is about networking and connecting with others in marketing — there’s so many people who are smarter than me and I feel inspired when I learn. It’s such an exciting time to be in marketing. There’s always a new tool and solution to apply. Consumers are more willing to share their insights. There are countless new ways to use big data.
At home, I’m a dedicated fitness enthusiast. I’m a nut. I work out every morning at 6 am, I do yoga. I make it a priority to give myself time. And most importantly, I make time to enjoy my kids.
Ok, let’s now jump to the core part of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
Brand marketing is focused on driving awareness of who you are and what you stand for. What you deliver as a company. Product marketing is talking about specific problems we are solving, the tangible product benefits.
For example, the Enviroscent brand is about ridding your air of nasty chemicals, by making products that are safer for people, pets and planet. In our product marketing, we emphasize the various forms and nature-inspired scents that can fit your home and lifestyle.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
It’s important to invest into brand building, because you need to create and drive awareness of what you stand for so you can connect with the consumer. We are also investing in marketing and advertising because we are a young brand. For us there is no clear separation of the two — we are communicating both at Enviroscent all the time.
Let’s now talk about rebranding. What are a few reasons why a company would consider rebranding?
In general, if you feel like you have a great solution to a problem but for some reason you’re not able to cut through the clutter with your brand and consumers aren’t connecting with it, it might be time to consider rebranding.
We rebranded from Pure to Enviroscent in 2019 because the Pure fragrance brand name was difficult to own and didn’t really stand for who we were. Enviroscent speaks more to our positioning as being safer for people, pets and planet. We were able to relaunch with a new brand, feel and tone to meet the needs of our target personas.
Are there downsides of rebranding? Are there companies that you would advise against doing a “Brand Makeover”? Why?
There are always costs and risks associated with a rebrand. It’s expensive to recreate all your marketing, brand and product materials. And if you’ve already invested in a community and in a retail presence, those are all at risk. You need to evaluate that on a company-by-company basis.
Established brands don’t always need to be made over. There’s a tendency for marketers to want to put their own stamp on things. It made a lot of sense for us because it was going back to our roots in a sense. If you’ve got a lot of equity and your brand is highly recognizable you need to be careful — or people won’t be able to find you.
Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Can you share 5 strategies that a company can do to upgrade and re-energize their brand and image? Please tell us a story or an example for each.
- Find inspirational brands that you think are doing it well. Who is doing it right and what are they doing? This is one of the places we’ve started. We admire and follow disruptive brands such as Goodr, Shinesty, Native, RXBar, Harry’s, Billie, PooPourri and Duke Cannon
- Invest in consumer insights. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of your personas unmet needs and wants and how your brand and product solution resonates with your target audience. Check your assumptions at the door and re-evaluate if you need to make adjustments.
- Find your customers where they are engaging rather than trying to always draw them to you first. Don’t go to Tik-Tok just because it’s the latest social media channel if your target audiences are not using the platform.
- Try new things and make adjustments all the time. On a monthly or even weekly basis. Don’t be afraid to change course when something isn’t working. Disruptive brands need to be nimble and adjust as they learn.
- Listen to your customers and seek out their feedback. Make sure your website has product reviews, make sure that your brand health metric is moving in the right direction. Even more importantly, respond to their feedback and make changes along the way.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job doing a “Brand Makeover”. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
RX Bar made over their brand by putting all the ingredients on the front of that package. The tone of their messaging really changed with that move. It was no B.S. It was authentic and refreshing and one needs to think about that for their own brand. Consumers appreciate when you’re honest about who you are.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Beyond just our mission at Enviroscent, I am passionate about reducing or eliminating exposure to toxic chemicals in our daily lives. My son and I are both cancer survivors and since we lack any family history of cancer, I firmly believe environmental issues caused us both to battle cancer at early ages. So, I try to be mindful about the chemicals that my kids and dog are being exposed to and choose to buy products that are safer.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Be passionate about what you do and have fun. Keep it in perspective.
How can our readers follow you online?
Connect with Enviroscent on Facebook (www.facebook.com/enviroscent), Twitter (www.twitter.com/enviroscent) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/enviroscent).
Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.
5 Things You Should Do To Upgrade and Re-Energize Your Brand and Image, with Staci Pacheco, CMO at… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
