Blog

After two years on AAF Buffalo’s Board of Directors, including one as Treasurer and the other as Programming Chair, I’m beyond excited to step into a new role and lead our organization as President! 

Overall, our chapter is in one of the best positions we have ever been, both operationally and fiscally. My goal, through the efforts of the many talented members of our Board of Directors and countless others involved, will be to continue to expand on the strong programming and education initiatives we have already established.

I also plan to find unique opportunities to enhance membership value, for both our individual and corporate members, as it’s never been more important to us that we create valuable experiences for each and every one of you. 

We wouldn’t be where we are today without the ongoing support from the ad and marketing community in our city. You will continue to be the driving force behind challenging us for the better, encouraging us to test new initiatives, and never backing down from an ADDYs-sized risk. And for that, I thank you. 

I’d also like to thank outgoing President, Tim Bouchard, for all that he’s done for us during his two-year term. From cementing our Spotlight Speaker Series to massively expanding our student initiatives, we are the nationally recognized chapter we are today due to his efforts, coupled with those of past boards. 

To our Executive Advisory Committee and other past board leadership beyond Tim, thank you for being available to bounce ideas off and share thoughts on how we can continue to find ways to improve. I look forward to continued relationships with all of you. 

Lastly, to all board members, both those that are moving on and those continuing along the path with me, thank you very much for all of your efforts. What we do is a total group effort and wouldn’t be possible without the many hours, Slacks, emails, Hangouts, and determination each one of you put in. You’re a special group of people and I can’t wait to see what we are able to accomplish next! 

I hope to see everyone I addressed here at an event soon, and I am readily available for those who wish to reach out going forward!

After four total years on the AAF Buffalo board, one as Vice President and two as President, my term is coming to a close and what a journey it has been! I cannot say how grateful I am for how wonderful the club members have been in supporting my time on the board in this leadership role. You all truly embraced the spirit of the club and have supported our board as we created new programming, got involved in new community initiatives, and stepped up our ADDYs game (big time).

I owe a big thank you to everyone that helped make my term as enjoyable and successful as it was. Scott Bartels, Immediate Past President, who brought this club to a level of stability that allowed me to take multiple risks over the last two years. All of the other past presidents that have been a great support system for me. To each of the members on our newly established Executive Advisory Committee, for allowing me to bring your experienced participation into critical club conversations that will shape the future of our member experiences. To the board, who made me look like an all-star President, when you have really done all of the heavy lifting. You are all rock-stars. To every member that bought a ticket for an event (especially new ones like Spotlight Series and Signature Speaker), volunteered for events (BrandHack, Buffalo Prep Day), and continue to support our fundraising initiatives (Big Tip-Off) for our scholarship programs. Your impact on the success of this club and its future is by far the most valuable and means so much.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a part of injecting fun, purpose, and participation into AAF Buffalo’s club experience. My parting request is that you all continue to live in that spirit and keep the momentum going. We have something amazing here in this “run-down” city’s advertising industry and the club will continue to bring us all together to become even stronger.

Thank you again! I look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s club events!

Brands using storytelling to bolster their market presence and/or customer loyalty may seem like a cliché, but the reality is that most brands aren’t producing true storytelling and are coming up short, leaving them with little results to show for it.

David Beebe has been developing meaningful stories and consumer engagement pieces for some of the world’s top brands, including Marriott. In his talk, at AAF Buffalo’s new Signature Speaker event, David dove into the history of brand storytelling and some examples from the work he’s done.

Throughout history, stories of company growth tactics and customer participation have driven some of the most successful brands to the top of their respective industries. Michelin created the Michelin Star rating system that the culinary industry lives and dies by today. Michelin stars have also, in turn, grown local businesses worldwide. Guinness started recording amazing human feats in a book, that in itself became a business in the line of being the ultimate authority for impartial validation of amazing accomplishments. Yet another worldwide phenomenon.

To make things even more unpredictable, the customers themselves have changed. No longer are they all drawn to a limited number of exposure pieces for storytelling and advertising (newspaper, TV, and radio). They now have access to tens of screens each day and have thousands of messages and stories delivered to them daily. How does a brand stand out in that world? Not through a half-hearted, underfunded digital video piece. Thought, quality, and an impactful story are all critical to the creation of brand storytelling that delivers ROI.

Today, with the ability for customers to record and publish their own content on social media, brands can choose to tap into those contributions or ignore them. Customer ratings, Instagram photos, story videos are all real time customer stories that are published into the wild without the constraints of brand identity, voice and tone, or values driven messaging. The customer holds the honest truth and brands can shape that experience, but not script it.

Tapping into real-time customer interactions can make or break a brand. Ignoring public feedback will allow that feedback to overshadow a brand’s strategic messaging with the grassroots honest truth. If those messages aren’t aligned, you’re dead in the water. Some companies, like Marriott, have setup full departments of digital response teams to address and control the live customer interactions online.

Stories can come from the brand itself or the audiences it serves. The only question is, what is a brand doing to shape those stories to meet its own expectations of quality and customer experience? Brands need to be serious about these customer interactions and understand that the customer controls much of the narrative, so embracing their involvement is the key to success and the real return on investment.