Learn from the insights and experiences of one of the greatest marketers of all time―Sergio Zyman!

Monday: MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Today, I’m excited to feature a memorable and popular marketer, Sergio Zyman. Zyman is known as one of the most savvy leaders in business and a leading authority in global marketing, branding, and strategy. He is the chairman and founder of Zyman Group and the former chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company, where he became popular for the “New Coke” campaign. Throughout his years of hands-on marketing, Zyman has created a set of principles that are proven to translate marketing strategies into positive business results. Keep reading to learn valuable lessons from Zyman’s 30+ years of experience in the industry. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Learn from the insights and experiences of one of the greatest marketers of all time―Sergio Zyman! Sergio Zyman: Chairman and Founder of Zyman Group Major food and global companies. Industrial manufacturers. Popular retailers. Global telecommunications powers. These diverse groups of clients have sought out Sergio Zyman’s marketing expertise. As the founder of Zyman Group, he has helped different businesses, from the largest of the Global 1000 to high-tech growth companies, improve their marketing results by providing the guidance they need from hoping to planning, art to science, guessing to knowing, and random success to planned success. Zyman doesn’t agree with the traditional rule that conceptualized marketing as an art form with vague commercials and awareness messages. He passionately advocates a vision of scientific, process-based marketing as the driver of sales and profits. He upholds that success in marketing is about “selling more stuff to more people more often for more money, more efficiently.” Zyman’s marketing career includes tenures with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble. He is best known for being the outspoken CMO of Coca-Cola, where he boosted the company’s worldwide annual sales volume from 9 to 15 billion cases. This led TIME Magazine to name Zyman as one of the 3 key pitchmen of the 20th century! Aside from being a great marketer, Zyman has also published a few books about visionary marketing, such as “The End of Marketing,” “Building Brandwidth,” and “Renovate Before You Innovate.” Now that businesses and other sectors are grappling with unprecedented market uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Zyman’s advice is for business firms and organizations to continue to operate and build their growth strategies for a post-COVID world. According to Zyman, what differs COVID-19 from other major disrupting events in the past is that the current pandemic has fundamentally changed everything we do―how we eat, buy, sell, get information, and communicate with others. Because of this change, it has become a must to utilize and maximize available resources, technologies, and tools. Zyman doesn’t believe in thinking outside of the box because he thinks the box doesn’t exist. He said: “If you look at how people buy, you can make the process easier, better, and more profitable so that they want to buy more from you. Are you trying to satisfy the way you want to sell, or are you trying to satisfy how people want to buy from you?” For Zyman, if businesses don’t start to do things differently in a time where there’s a significant shift in the way things are done, they’ll “die” in some capacity. As an independent professional, what main takeaway can you learn from Zyman’s insights about the strategies you should employ in a post-COVID world? Changes in the business landscape come with reminders that you should also keep on renovating and innovating your models and strategies to continue to serve your clients better. This means there’s a call for you to not be complacent if you want your business to grow in terms of sales, profits, reach, networks, and customer base. Keep in mind Zyman’s definition of marketing success, which is about selling more products or services to more people more efficiently! Otherwise, if you don’t start keeping up with the times NOW, chances are you might lose some of your valued clients or customers to your competitors or lose out on a lot of opportunities to enhance your brand. In other words, your brand might “die,” as how Zyman termed it. Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn.     Stay tuned for next Monday’s MicroBusiness Marvels! Universities and colleges all over the world now include Marketing as a field of academic study. All thanks to this great Professor, Philip Kotler. Learn more about Philip Kotler on next week’s MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels!