In a recent episode of Marketing Week’s podcast series, Sarah Barron, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Domino’s, emphasized the significance of consistency when “babysitting” brands in today’s hyper-personalized marketing landscape.
Particularly in an era marked by rapid changes and innovations in marketing, the timeless value of brand consistency has become a guiding light for successful brand custodianship.
In the podcast episode titled “This Much I Learned,” Barron highlighted the transformative power of data in modern marketing. She stressed that data, especially in a brand as data-rich as Domino’s, has revolutionized the way marketers understand and cater to consumer preferences.
At Domino’s, a staggering 50,000 to 100,000 lines of data are collected weekly, enabling hyper-personalization to become the new standard in their marketing strategy. Barron and her team are on the frontlines of this evolution, particularly in a business environment where 85% of orders are now digital.
However, she emphasized that despite the data-driven era, the core principle of marketing remains unchanged.
“The customer must be at the heart of everything you do,” Baron stated, noting that even amidst the influx of data and the allure of hyper-personalization, understanding and meeting customer needs remain paramount.
Domino’s has celebrated remarkable successes in recent years, with revenues surging by 7% to £600 million and a consideration score of 55% achieved against a challenging economic backdrop. Barron attributed this achievement to a philosophy she holds dear “not reinventing the wheel when it comes to marketing and branding.”
Likening marketing to babysitting a brand, she stated, “In marketing, you babysit a brand for a few years and hopefully you leave it in a better shape than you find it. You don’t reinvent it. You take it and you polish it.”
Additionally, the Domino’s CMO believes that consistency is the linchpin in brand custodianship.
Speaking further, she advised against tampering with established brands and instead advocates for driving salience and excitement through a consistent approach, adding that maintaining brand consistency is the key to building emotional connections with consumers.
During the podcast, Barron also touched on several other pertinent topics, including her preference for keeping insight and creative teams separate to optimize their performance, the importance of mastering specific skills in career advancement, and the balance between performance and brand marketing.
She also shared insights into Domino’s successful ‘Yodel’ campaign, which, while irking some customers, surprised others.
