Centricity Introduction 0:04

Welcome to the Best Kept Secret videocast and podcast from Centricity. If you're a B2B service professional, use our five step process to go from the grind of chasing every sale to keeping your pipeline full with prospects knocking on your door to buy from you. We give you the freedom of time and a life outside of your business. Each episode features an executive from a B2B services company sharing their provocative perspective on an opportunity that many of their clients are missing out on. It's how we teach our clients to get executive decision-makers to buy without being salesy or spammy. Here's our host, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Centricity, Jay Kingley.

Jay Kingley 0:43

I'm Jay Kingley, co-founder and CEO of Centricity. Welcome to another episode of our Best Kept Secret Podcast, where I'm happy to welcome Sheila Steinmark, who is the founder and CEO of MOG XP, an experiential marketing company focused on serving larger companies, from a half-billion all the way up to the largest multinationals that are out there. She is based in Plano, Texas. And for those who aren't Texan, think Dallas Fort Worth area, although she tells me, Plano is where all the action is, when it comes to large corporations being headquartered there, Sheila, welcome to our videocast podcast.

Sheila Steinmark 1:28

Hi, Jay. Thanks for having me.

Jay Kingley 1:30

So Sheila, you know, you're in a really interesting space, which is this concept of experiential marketing. And I think that, definitely, the wind is at your back. And I think that the business world has a long way to go to fully embrace what it is that you're trying to do. So tell me, in your experience of working with these larger companies, what's the thing that you're saying to yourself, guys, you're just not quite there yet. You're not embracing exactly what you need. You're there's an opportunity here, that you're still leaving on the table, what would that be.

For sure. How does authenticity fit into what you're talking

Sheila Steinmark 2:10

For me, it's about most marketing, people think about the pretty pictures, the pretty people, and that that's going to change buying habits, buying habits change, based on taking a consumer and a brand and, and bringing them together. And when you're able to do that it changes buying habits. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. And when you walk away from an experience, where you engage with a brand ambassador that represents a company, people think, Oh, I know somebody who works there, and they get it, they make that connection that they don't see someplace else, as some of the other types of marketing are great for awareness, but they truly don't change the true buying habits. And when you start looking at that, you really have to look at the operations and logistics that go behind having an experiential marketing campaign. Because it's, again, not just the pretty pictures, it's about laying out the plan that allows you to know how many people are going to come through what the objectives are of what you want to do, instead of immediately going towards, okay, I want this type of program. You lay out, what is it I'm trying to accomplish, and then you do the math. And if you do your throughput models, and you go through the process, you know whether or not that the tactic you're looking at actually gets you to where you want it to be

It's major. Because what happens is brands talk to or about things that they don't really have the equity to play in. They have to be true to who they are. So prime example is cause marketing. You have brands who are talking about causes that don't ladder into who they are or what they do, or they're talking to a demographic that doesn't fit their culture. And people see that and they immediately get turned off by it. I've had clients who will want the top-of-the-line vehicle for a brand that is really blue, blue-collar, middle-class working class, that that wouldn't own that type of vehicle. So it just comes off as un, untrue to who they are in genuine. So if that makes sense, right? And I would imagine also the opposite is true with

Jay Kingley 5:00

Is that if your audience that you're speaking to expects to hear your voice on a certain topic or cause you better not be sitting on the sidelines with your mouth shut. And so you both have the when do I engage in when should I not engage that you've got to figure out to really connect with your mark.

Sheila Steinmark 5:21

Absolutely, otherwise, it becomes disingenuous by not stepping in, it is just as bad as speaking on something you have no business speaking on.

Jay Kingley 5:31

So if those are the issues, talk to us a little bit about how companies need to reframe their thinking and change how they're looking at this opportunity.

Sheila Steinmark 5:41

So often brands specifically look at the pretty pictures, what are the ads going to do for me? And instead, it is, what is consumer engagement? What does the consumer want to hear about? What do they want to know about? So if you can do that you do a day in the life of a client or a customer? And look at those touchpoints? When is it relevant to them? When are they open? What media is appropriate for the time of day that they're, they're most open to listening to your message? And when will they truly act? And then doing the math? How can you do the math without really putting that model together? Of what do you want to get out of it? So if you're able to do that it is how many people are you going to touch? How long are you going to touch them for? What type of engagement is it going to be? And then what is the value of that. And then you can decide whether or not this avenue makes sense. So they really have to shift their thinking and do a lot of the prep work upfront. And an early on, versus a lot of it is, oh, let's kick off this great program. And then we'll do all the analytics at the back end and figure out what it delivered. Nobody's going to deliver upfront, and then you build the program to get you to where you want to be.

Jay Kingley 7:12

I had an old mentor of mine who had this wonderful saying, which was, it's easy to be creative when you are unconstrained by the facts. And what I love, from what you're telling me is the importance of math and as an engineer, I love math, but math in models, and tying that into the creative side of the house, that he just can't be while this is a tremendous creative effort, without doing the hard work that supports that and brings those if you will, As the old saying goes to the right and left sides of the brain together to marry it so that you're going to have the best opportunity to make the impact that you're looking for.

Sheila Steinmark 8:00

So often, people get locked into certain tactics. And they don't look at what the outcome is supposed to be. In my perfect example is, everybody thinks that if you have the right commercial on the Superbowl, your brand is going to explode. So how many times on Monday morning after the Superbowl? Have you been telling a friend about a commercial that you loved, made you laugh and you thought about it, and it's what a great commercial, and then you go back and you can't remember the brand? So if you can't do it in a way that's authentic, that makes it memorable, and actually drives sales? Why are you doing it? You just miss

Jay Kingley 8:45

You, I think put a very good perspective out there. So for those in our audience who were sitting there saying she's got a point, which I hope is most of them. What would be the benefit of them making this change? You know, what, what would you expect to see, and I know you're a bottom-line person, but talk a little bit about how the impact that this can have on a company?

Sheila Steinmark 9:07

Well, on the company itself, it's about reaching their goals. And so if you start with the planning upfront, it allows them to meet their goals and deliver what they're supposed to do to their shareholders. Now for the individuals, the people who are growing brands and are responsible to the corporation and to their shareholders. It's having a good night's sleep knowing that your programs are delivering. You've done the risk management, you know what your deliverables are, you know what your throughput is, you've taken the risk out of it, and that the activation you create, whatever that programming might be, will be as good on the last day as it is on the first day. So think about spending 10 months out on the road on a tour. And the last day is in the heat, of September or October, and you've got a brand ambassador out there after being out there that long, and on the 10th month, on the 10th hour of that day, are they still going to engage people? Is the consumer still going to get a great experience? And are they still going to have a smile on their face? And if you did it, right, they do.

Jay Kingley 10:27

And I think you make a good point on sleeping at night, we all have seen the statistics, the executive has the shortest tenure before they get fired as the CMO. And there's just a lot of stress in the marketing departments of large corporations because of what's at stake. And so typically, you know, the CEO didn't come up through the marketing ranks. So it's a little bit like, Well, where's the magic, and if they don't see the magic, then it's time for a switch. And that that's not going to make you sleep through the night.

Sheila Steinmark 11:01

The right planning. And doing the map upfront, having all the plans in place, allow you to have a consistent experience, and deliver on objectives. And if you can't do those, then it's time to look at a different tactic

So for, for me, it is, you need to sit down with your team, you set your expectations, you set your goals, and you lay out the plan, then you look at creating your whatever that program may be, what is that programming, you brainstorm it, then you go back and remodel it against your objectives, then you start laying it out? So how many days? How many locations? Or is it going to be a video? Is it going to be face to face, any of those types of things? So it's about the mindset of planning the execution, then going back and reevaluating, you adjust and you continue on. And for me, it's you can't start planning soon enough,

Jay Kingley 11:15

And I think could not just delivering on your objectives, but setting the right expectations. Sometimes, the objectives that you're being asked to meet are not realistic, and then being able to enter into a constructive dialogue with the rest of your executive team about what is and is not realistic, isn't a really important part of setting objectives. And expectations. Because As the old saying goes, the definition of happiness, Sheila is the difference between reality and expectations. And my corollary to that it's a lot easier to change expectations than is reality. So doing that upfront work and making sure everyone is aligned, it's got to be critical. So you've articulated a fairly compelling rationale for making this change. So now I think if I'm in the audience, I'm saying, all right, Sheila, what is it that I need to do? What are you going to tell me?

Sheila, thanks, and we're gonna be right back after this short break to learn more about you.

Centricity Sponsorship 12:07

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Jay Kingley 14:07

Welcome back, everybody. Let's continue our discussion with Sheila Steinmark of MOG XP, and let's find a little bit more about her business and her own journey. So Sheila, let me start with understanding for the clients that you work with, in addition to what you've just talked about, in the first part of our program, what are some of the other pain points that you solve? And why are these such a challenge for your clients?

Sheila Steinmark 14:38

It's about driving consumer interaction. One of the things that clients really, really struggle with is understanding where to spend their dollars to meet their consumers. And so we take the pain out of that by doing the planning for them, the operations, the logistics, and the planning, making sure that that the i's are dotted, the T's are crossed, I worry about the things that most people roll their eyes at. So I've presented to some of the largest groups, the largest companies in the world, where the board has been made up of entirely engineers and had to talk the numbers. And when it comes down to it, it's not the stuff that people really want to talk about. They want to talk about the pretty pictures, they want to talk about the wow factors. And you get to that, by being able to deliver spot-on planning, activation, and execution. If you can't get to that part, you can't get to the Wow.

Jay Kingley 15:46

So Sheila, one of the things that we tell everybody who is in our Centricity program, is that when you focus on what you do, you sound an awful lot like everybody else who does what you do, which is the definition of advertising, I mean, of average, and I know that we don't have many clients who are looking to hire you, they're looking to hire average. So that really begs the question, what is it that makes you and MOG XP great at what you do,

Sheila Steinmark 16:16

Being able to take creative and make it come to life, consistently day after day after day, and deliver against objectives, and beat those deliverables, time and time again. We offer value to our clients, which everyone says they want to do, but it's about the numbers. It's about doing the math upfront that nobody wants to do.

Jay Kingley 16:41

All right, so my last real question for you is, I encourage all everyone in our audience to go to LinkedIn, look up Sheila, she's got a really interesting background and resume. But I want to get to the why you've, you are where you are. So Sheila, what are some things and whether it's your personal life or your professional life, that would explain the why behind the what it is that you've done?

Sheila Steinmark 17:07

Well, my first Why is every morning, I think about my daughter, I have a 21-year-old, and she has always been my purpose, my reason to get up in the morning and push harder and be a better example, and to succeed. And then, of course, my military career, I spent 20 years in the Army. So 14 years in the National Guard, six years on active duty, where I learned about operations and logistics from the very best in the world. And they taught me to look at things differently to cut up the puzzle and the pieces in and create puzzles out of it. And think about it differently and think about the things that nobody else does. And it's always driven me. And they'll I think we that then turned around and really gave me the strength and the push to start my own business. And it's the one thing I regret that I didn't do sooner. And I think once we find our place in business, we realize, Oh, we should have done this sooner. But the pieces have to align and you have to have the right opportunities, and you have to be ready. And for me starting my business really, really has been that pivotal piece to me in moving forward.

Jay Kingley 18:26

And how long have you had MOG XP

Sheila Steinmark 18:29

Just over nine years.

Jay Kingley 18:30

Congratulations. That is a great achievement. And I love your background story. I think it explains so much and it's so wonderfully motivated and driven. My hat's off to you. Well, Sheila, if we've done our job on the show, you are no longer going to be a best kept secret shouldn't be out there. People know about you. And I'm sure there are people in our audience who are going to say, I want to continue the discussion with Sheila and learn more about her provocative perspective. So Sheila, how best for people to get in touch with you

Sheila Steinmark 19:04

My email is always a great way of doing that. And it Sheila@mogxp.com, my website, my LinkedIn, any of those work. And of course, my phone number, which you'll find on on my LinkedIn page and my website.

Jay Kingley 19:20

Excellent. And we'll put that in our show notes. Make it easier for our listeners to reach out to you now. before we say goodbye Sheila, I'm gonna put you a little bit on the spot. As much as I like you. I like our audience even better. And I like our guests to be able to offer something of value to the people that are listening. So Sheila, what can you offer our amazing listeners.

Sheila Steinmark 19:48

My first thought is a white paper. I have a great white paper that I use to help people just rethink what they're doing. So if when they reach out to me, they tell me they saw me on your, on your podcast, I would love to give it to them. And the other is I always welcome a consultation. If people just want to sit down and pick my brain for half an hour, I would ask that they're actually a brand, not somebody trying to sell to me, but a brand who is looking at in, you know, changing the way they want to do things. I'm happy to give them some insights on where they need to start based on who they are and what they need to accomplish.

Jay Kingley 20:31

Excellent. Well, I encourage everybody to connect with Sheila on LinkedIn, reach out to her grab the white paper, and as she said, if you are a brand I would struggle to think of a better 30 minutes use of your time than sitting down and Sheila tapping into your expertise. So I thank you for being a guest on our Best Kept Secret videocast and podcasts and to all you out there. Let's keep on crushing it. Take care