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Q&A with Margaret Molloy, Global CMO, Siegel+Gale

Margaret Molloy, Global CMO of Siegel+Gale has a 20-year track record as a business-to-business growth instigator, achieved by uniting brand building with demand generation. In Siegel+Gale’s Simplifiers series, Margaret Molloy interviews business leaders who put simplicity to work.

Considered a "CMO whisperer," Margaret is a highly influential CMO and convener of panels and roundtables. She has been recognized by Forbes as one of the top 10 CMOs on Twitter. Margaret also serves as the New York Chair of the Marketing Society.

MEDIA 7: If we were to say to a bunch of people who know you, ‘Give us three adjectives that best describe you’, what would we hear?
MARGARET MOLLOY: Passionate, energetic and influential.

M7: What is your favourite part of working at Siegel+Gale?
MM: Both our ethos—helping brands realize the power of simplicity, and the strategists, designers, researchers, and writers who deliver on that ethos to our clients. Our teams are truly simplifiers. I believe that in our harried, cluttered world, brands that focus on simplicity, win.

"It's incumbent on brands to be relevant in order to be part of a conversation that drives their business forward. And to be relevant, you must be in tune with your customers’ needs."

M7: What is the ‘power of simplicity’ that you’re helping CMOs and brand leaders realize?
MM: Simplicity is the ultimate driver of brand loyalty. It inspires people to spend more with a brand, motivates employees to deliver on a brand’s promise and ultimately, drives financial gain for those companies that embrace it.

M7: At Siegel+Gale, how do you align sales and marketing to achieve your branding goals?
MM: There has always been a natural tension. A CMO’s job is to reconcile that tension by setting a vision for the brand and determining the resource allocation between short-term revenue targets and long-term brand value. At Siegel+Gale, we do not engage in random acts of marketing—all marketing is in the service of the brand and the revenue targets.

"A CMO’s job is to reconcile tension between brand-building programs and performance marketing by setting a vision for the brand and determining the resource allocation between short-term revenue targets and long-term brand value."

M7: Margaret, you were listed on Forbes Top 10 Most Influential Chief Marketing Officers on Social Media in 2017 and have won IrishCentral’s 2018 Creativity and Arts Award in Fashion and Design. How is social media transforming the marketing landscape and how do you see it evolving in future?
MM: In previous eras, a brand’s responsibility was to broadcast its message and product offerings to the community. Today, with the advent of social media, it has become a multi-party dialogue. The fundamental shift is from controlling the brand message to engaging constituencies (i.e., customers, shareholders, the community at large). Therefore, it's incumbent on brands to be relevant in order to be part of a conversation that drives their business forward. And to be relevant, you must be in tune with your customers’ needs. Social media is a great mechanism not only for engagement but also for listening.

"Simplicity is the ultimate driver of brand loyalty. It inspires people to spend more with a brand, motivates employees to deliver on a brand’s promise and ultimately, drives financial gain for those companies that embrace it."

M7: For your platform #WearingIrish, which channels helped you the most in reaching out to the target audience?
MM: I created WearingIrish to expose Ireland’s talented fashion designers to new markets and to showcase Irish fashion design on the global stage. Instagram is an obvious choice to reach shoppers and influencers; it’s a robust platform for any fashion brand because it's inherently visual.

In addition to Instagram, I leveraged my professional network on LinkedIn to build a broad-based board of advisors and potential collaborators for WearingIrish.

M7: What motivates you to get out of the bed in the morning?
MM: I’m a connector, and I get my energy from convening the marketing community via live events and other programs. On a daily basis, I host conversations with ambitious CMOs and brand leaders about their challenges. I relish the opportunity to connect marketing leaders with the team at Siegel+Gale because of our depth of expertise in helping our clients build brands.

ABOUT SIEGEL+GALE

Siegel+Gale is the simplicity company. We seek it, defend it and embrace it in everything we do to help brands reach their true potential. Simplicity is the centerpiece of the strategies we develop that reveal the unique truths of an organization, the engaging stories we create that connect brands with their audiences and the meaningful experiences we deliver that are both unexpectedly fresh and remarkably clear.

Since 1969, Siegel+Gale has championed simplicity for leading corporations, nonprofits and government organizations worldwide. We have offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Dubai, and Shanghai, but we’re willing to fly just about anywhere. We’re also not alone. As part of Brand Consulting Group, a division of Omnicom Group Inc., we have strong partners all around the world.

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