Shaping the Ecommerce, Digital Marketing, Social Media Landscape
On October 5, my good friend and host of the wonderful Delivering Ecommerce podcast, Chris Parsons, asked me to co-host our second live Ecommerce Q&A. We added another member this time in Joseph McConelloque. We had a great time and took questions from people all over North America.
Can’t wait to do part 3. But in the meantime, it’s below if you’d like to have a look.
I was supremely honoured to be on Episode No.3 of Chris Parsons’ new podcast, Delivering Ecommerce, where he and his guests will discuss all things Ecommerce and Digital.
On this episode, we talk about Ecommerce, Leadership, Digital Transformation, The Cozy Shop, Retail, my new book launching in 2021, and my favourite musical (spoiler alter: it’s Frozen II).
You can view or listen to the podcast on various channels linked below:
YouTube: Delivering eCommerce Episode 03 with Johnny Russo VP, Marketing & Ecommerce at The Kersheh Group
Spotify: Delivering eCommerce Episode 03 with Johnny Russo VP, Marketing & Ecommerce at The Kersheh Group
In January of 2021, Avenue Code asked me to be featured in a Spotlight Series about Digital Transformation. We had a great chat about how to transform businesses digitally, how to prioritize digital investments, and how data plays a key role.
Thanks to Avenue Code for featuring me, and for Retail Insider for publishing it.
Here is the excerpt of that article as it appeared:
By Avenue Code
COVID-19 created a unique opportunity for accelerated executive buy-in on digital investments supporting e-commerce. Avenue Code chatted with Johnny Russo, VP of Marketing and Ecommerce at The Kersheh Group, to get practical tips on how to prioritize digital investments that yield a high ROI.
Avenue Code: Tell us about your career path. How did you get to where you are today?
Johnny Russo: I studied journalism and wanted to be a TV sports broadcaster but ended up channeling my writing expertise into marketing. After only two weeks, I fell in love with marketing, advertising, and branding, and I knew it was where I wanted to be. I immersed myself in research and reading to learn all that I could. Digital was emerging at the time, which made it easy for me to get ahead of the curve in learning about SEO, email marketing, social media, etc.
I should note that I’m still very passionate about writing. I run my own blog, and I’m in the process of writing a book that presents tangible, bite-sized tips for leaders. These tips are a combination of my research and my own learnings as I transitioned from management to executive-level leadership, and they cover both what to do and what not to do.
[Read more…]
The Digital Enterprise is an online news publication that aims to address an organization’s journey to transforming digitally and embracing digital. Maintaining a sharp focus on the multiple facets of digital transformation, The Digital Enterprise provides in-depth features, updates on technology innovations, and best practices from industry leaders.
One of their contributors, Damin Babu, reached out to me and asked if I would like to be part of a Champions of Change series to talk about Digital Transformation. Below is the interview, or you can visit The Digital Enterprise for the originally published interview: Interview with Johnny Russo, AVP, Digital Marketing and Ecommerce at Mark’s.
Thanks to Damin and The Digital Enterprise for asking to take part in this series.
*This post was originally published on www.thedigitalenterprise.com on October 10, 2018.* Link to original post:
Interview with Johnny Russo, AVP, Digital Marketing and Ecommerce at Mark’s.
Johnny Russo: Thanks for asking me to be a part of this series. Mark’s is a leading apparel retailer in Canada. Known as L’equipeur in Quebec, Mark’s is part of the Canadian Tire Corporation. Mark’s has 385 stores in Canada, making it one of the largest retailers in Canada. I am the Associate Vice President of Ecommerce and Digital. So if you break it down, my team gets traffic to the site, tries to convert it online or send traffic into our stores, and we help ensure the post purchase journey meets and exceeds the demands of the customer.
JR: I don’t know if there was just one moment. A few years ago, Mark’s was a very traditional retailer. So media was very much print, TV, and newspapers. Social Media and Digital Media budgets were very small. The Digital team was not developed. Our site was lacking functionality. And not a lot of emphasis was placed on Ecommerce. Fast forward 3 years, and Mark’s budgets have significantly increased in Digital, and Digital now has a seat at the table. We’re close to becoming a digital-first retailer. And along the journey, we’ve won several awards for Email, best-in class Omni-Channel retailer, customer experience, etc. So it’s been a nice pat on the back for the team that we’re headed in the right direction.
So I don’t think it was necessarily a problem we set out to solve. It was more a realization that the time was now for our Digital Transformation to commence.
JR: For our Digital Transformation to succeed, there were a few pillars we needed to build, some mid-course, others that we still may add. But for us the main pillars are: People, Partners, Culture, Education, and Data/Change Management. So the challenge was understanding each of their impacts, and how to build those pillars, while not forgetting that you still need to drive sales and traffic. So embarking on a Digital Transformation, and still having the team focusing on driving revenue, can be a challenge, but you all become stronger for it. Agile and scrum have also been helpful. We have a lean team, so getting stuff done quickly is paramount, and cross functional communication is vital.
Location-based Marketing has never been this important. That statement would have been true in 2010, 2015, and today in 2018. The power of your mobile device, the constant improvement in GPS location services (especially as it relates to retail locations), geo-targeted Digital Marketing campaigns that are gaining more prominence and are getting more efficient, and the fact that consumers seem to be more open than ever to receive notifications via mobile or email if they are near one of their favourtie stores, and the offer is tempting enough. Add in the proliferation of social networks that know your location, and voice search, and this is a fun time to be a marketer trying to drive traffic to physical locations.
However, Marketers are also entering a new age in the integration of enterprise strategies with local tactics and channels, making local marketing and personalization even more complex.
For those that don’t read AdAge, you should start. It is one of the best news sources for anything Digital, and the ever evolving advertising, branding, and marketing industry definitely needs a reliable go-to. So I was thrilled when AdAge and the DAC Group asked me to give my thoughts in their 2nd Annual study on The Promise and Power of Local Marketing: rapidly evolving technology and an experience-driven economy are making local more vital than ever.
It’s always exciting when you read and love a news publication, and then one day, they ask you to be quoted for an an article, blog post or study.
Click below to see the entire feature.
The Promise and Power of Local Marketing
I have been following blogs for over 15 years. I have also written blog posts for many of the companies I have worked for. So it only made sense that I finally (yes, I said finally) made the plunge and launched my own blog in 2015. So what … Read More
I have 13+ years experience in the Retail, Start-up, Technology, and Manufacturing industries. I have led growth and strategies in Ecommerce, Digital Marketing, Marketing, Branding Social Media, Mobile, and Omni-Channel … Read More
Working as the Vice President of Marketing & Ecommerce at The Kersheh Group, an apparel retailer and manufacturer that specializes predominately in kids sleepwear. The Kersheh Group manufactures and markets sleepwear for boys, girls, adults, and the entire family. Our cozy, … Read More