Ep 56: Doug Zarkin is the Chief Marketing Officer for Pearle Vision
Doug Zarkin is the Chief Marketing Officer for Pearle Vision, a title he's held for an impressive ten years! In this episode, we pick his brain about his marketing philosophies and find out how he is bringing sexy to optical retail marketing. Doug fills us in on Pearle Vision’s current undertakings and how the pandemic was bizarrely a time of exponential growth for the brand! We learn how their digital marketing plan has matured over the last few years and are reminded of the importance of offline marketing. We also find out why Doug considers himself to be a brand positioning snob and why humility is critical in the marketing world. Tune in to hear more about the relationship between brand and performance and for some astute advice for young marketers and aspiring CMOs!
Key Points From This Episode:
Getting you up to date with the big news in local marketing.
How the remote work environment has strengthened communication within the Pearle Vision team and the hybrid setup they’re moving into post-pandemic.
A fun fact about our guest, Doug Zarkin!
The history of Pearle Vision and its current undertakings.
At what age people generally start to experience vision issues and why.
The importance of proactive eye care.
The role of Chief Medical Officer in a household and the phenomenon of parenting your parents.
How Doug is bringing sexy to optical retail marketing.
Doug’s role at Pearle Vision and the growth he’s facilitated since he started 10 years ago.
The brand positioning of Pearle Vision and why Doug doesn’t believe in changing a brand’s positioning.
What is attributed to Pearle Vision’s growth during the pandemic.
How Pearle Vision’s digital marketing plan has matured over the last few years.
The importance of offline marketing.
How Pearle Vision approaches video storytelling.
Brand vs performance and the importance of humility in marketing.
Doug’s relationship with franchisees and what he wishes he’d done differently within the franchise system.
Doug’s career trajectory and the advice he received coming out of grad school.
What he learned from his experience working at Victoria’s Secret.
What Doug attributes to his success and longevity in his role of CMO at Pearle Vision.
What Doug measures himself and his performance by.
Doug’s advice for aspiring CMOs!
Tweetables:
“We’re focusing a lot of our efforts on reminding and educating consumers that proactive eye care, whether you're wearing glasses or not, is pretty darn important.” — @DougZarkin [0:10:21]
“I don’t think you change a brand’s positioning unless you are in a crisis.” — @DougZarkin [0:16:37]
“If your brand positioning is working and it allows you flexibility for growth, don’t deviate from it.” — @DougZarkin [0:17:16]
“Building a marketing plan is like creating a seven-layer cake. There are components to it and the size of those layers is what changes or what matures, based on what is going on in the world.” — @DougZarkin [0:22:28]
“You can’t drive choice without driving consideration.” — @DougZarkin [0:27:51]
“Get on the train at the end and work your way to the front because, by the time you are sitting in the C-suite or the conductor car, you’ll understand the roles and functions.” — @DougZarkin [0:34:12]