Manage Your Media Strategy with an Ever Changing Climate

Alyssa Carswell | May 5, 2022 at 8:30 AM

It Is Time To Pivot

With an ever-changing economic climate, it is difficult for businesses to expect what to do when push comes to shove. What is your media strategy and how will you pivot?

In one of our recent podcast episodes, we are joined with media expert Mary Ann Pruitt. She shares her experience and tips with targeting customers and maintaining your business through change and shifts in business. In this blog, Hollywood Branded shares how to manage your media strategy with an ever changing climate.

A Little More About Mary Ann

Mary Ann Pruitt is the CEO and President at Mosaic Media, a collection of media buying experts and creative strategists who negotiate, purchase, and monitor advertising space and air time for agencies and small businesses of all sizes. With over 20 years of experience, Mary Ann started her career media by working as a senior sales executive for some of the nation's largest media outlets.She's been named as a top women in media by Synopsis Media and has made it her mission to empower others with the knowledge and tools to create a perfectly tailored media buying strategy.

Interview Transcript Highlights

Question: I'd love to start off by letting our listeners know a little bit about you. How did you start your journey and end up here today?

Answer: It's so funny I actually started as a graphic designer right out of high school. I never thought in a million years I'd end up in media, the way I am now, so in my journey through college, I found a love for statistical data, economics, marketing and that's actually what ended up happening and combining where I found my love for media. Data will always tell us a story and in media that is such a true true thing that we can hang our hat on so that's actually my journey is starting let's start in design and the very creative part of my brain fell in love with the left side of my data.

Question: When you're working with one of these various clients all over the United States or internationally, and you're starting to work with them on their media strategy for the first time, what's the first step? How do you launch this process so that you know that they are going to be successful at what you're endeavoring to do?

Answer: The first thing is to collaborate together and actually come together as a trusted team. When things go south is when you're not trusting the team that you're working with and I'm a big believer in trust. I'm a big believer in building that trust with all clients, no matter what...The biggest mistake that we see is actually treating all generations as the same in media. In today's world we have five working generations, that's the first time in American history that we've ever had this. I cannot reach the 78 year old man, the same way, I am an 18 year old man. I have to think about strategically, who is that target, how is each target individually influenced Who are they influenced by.

Question: Are you finding that brands are targeting consumers who are older than when you first started your career 16 years ago.

Answer: So it's so interesting and actually now a little over 20 years ago...and I had the fortunate experience to be able to start my career right out of high school. I went and I worked for college and I was able to learn a lot more, and I feel like that was such a tangible, you know just a leg up that I had because of the fact that i'm applying everything i'm learning in college, but in the real world. So when I started that career the evolution of media, I can't even tell you in the last 20 years what i've been able to see it's significant it's we went from TV, radio print...now, it really is that more broad targeting and individualized broad targeting right like it's that.

Question: How are you working with brands, right now, who are in dealing with the ups and the downs... there's covid, there's Russia and Ukraine, there's the economy, there's whatever is the next slap across her face is going to be happening?

Answer: Yeah and right now I think so many people are feeling the panic of when's the next shoe gonna drop. When is it going to drop ,what's going to happen as opposed to I you know, I think, years ago, it was more natural for us to expect the good. Now we've come to it, whether it's trauma or whether whatever it is, over the last couple of years, we have come to expect the worst and it's not we we have to change our mindset, to try to find the good wherever we possibly can. To expect the good wherever we possibly can to write you know it's a it's a mindset, but with that the biggest thing for brands and what's most important is consistency...you need to stay consistent in that and not knee jerk react to the ebbs and flows know what your brand is and stay in the lane of your brand.

Question: What are other hints suggestions that you have for brands in this space, right now, and the climate that we're in.

Answer: The climate that we're in, first the consistency is there. If you have not honed in on who that ideal customer is, do it now and figure it out, because it's going to be we're not going to have a choice and five years of whether or not to hone in. We need to hone in and that's where your competitors are, if you aren't and if they're not a competitor, yet they will be. So really hone in on that and really it's not it, you know not to just like make it as simple as possible, but really own it own who it is build all your content towards them.

Check Out The Podcast!

Mary Ann has so much great information on how to keep your strategy consistent with an ever-changing climate. Check out the podcast below to learn more about how to properly pivot and how to stay ahead of your competitors!

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