Marketing With Purpose Kit: Customer Connection in a Data-Driven World

**SPEAKER_1** (0:03)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Mike Liwski** (0:17)
Hey there, everybody. Welcome back and welcome to this week's Marketing With Purpose Kit. This special series of The Bliss Business Podcast, where we really explore what it takes to make marketing leaders have a real impact, create that impact that goes really beyond just the numbers. I'm Mike Liwski and in this week's episode, we're going to sit down with Dan Wheeler and we're going to explore really his leadership approach, the different strategies that drive performance, but that also create resonance with our audience. Together, we'll dive into what's working, what's not, and really the two topics that we love to talk about on this show, how purpose and empathy truly transform the way that a brand connects with people. So let's get started. In today's show, as I mentioned, I'm being joined by Dan Wheeler. He's the CMO at K9 Resorts. Now with a strong background in marketing, guest experience and innovation, he's scaled brands like Dunkin, Baskin Robbins, Wahlburgers and Uncle Julio's, as well as held leadership roles at Workplace Media and RAP Worldwide. Dan's also a club CMO member on InnoLEADS, their advisory board, and he enjoys cooking, fitness, the outdoor adventures with his wife, four children and their two rescue dogs, Roscoe and Pepper.
We're going to explore today on this show, really about customer connection in this data-driven world that we're living in. I'm so excited really to dive in. Dan, welcome to our show today.

**Dan Wheeler** (2:03)
Well, thanks for the kind introduction. It's almost like my mom wrote it. I've been looking forward to meeting with you.
I'm really appreciative of being on the pod today.

**Mike Liwski** (2:13)
Absolutely. We know you've got some amazing franchise experience and insights to share with our audience. Dan, really before we dive into our whole topic today, I wanted to hear why was the topic of customer connection in this data-driven world, the topic that you chose to explore with us today? What makes it so important right now?

**Dan Wheeler** (2:36)
Well, first of all, marketing with purpose in general is something that really weaves throughout my DNA. I've been really looking forward to talking about that broader topic as well. But the specific topic around human connections in a data-driven world, that's something that marketers are constantly dealing with. In today's day and age, data has never been more available and it's also pretty overwhelming too at the same time if you think about it. I mean, you can measure just about everything.
That doesn't always help us understand our customers better just because there's data available. What matters most is, as many people say, using that data to create more human experiences, not to replace human experiences. Here at K9 Resorts, we're constantly talking about the emotional side of trust. If you think about it, what we're all about is dog parents literally handing over a member of their family to us, right? So that human connection, that emotional connection is really, really important. If we don't connect on that level, all the dashboards in the world aren't going to help us. Data might give us the kind of the clarity, but it's really, to use your word, the empathy is where we get the most meaningful connection with our customers, especially given how important of a role we play in the lives of them and their beloved pets.

**Mike Liwski** (4:06)
Absolutely, right? That's absolute music to my ears. I love hitting on that point because with so much data and all this activity, that connection could really get lost. We pretend to lose our focus.
That's such a strong point. Now, we know as CMOs that oftentimes were pulled between these short-term campaign results or having to hit quarterly results.

**Dan Wheeler** (4:33)
I see CMOs right next door.

**Mike Liwski** (4:37)
Right? I know they're like just whispering to us in our ears. And then we've got the long-term brand building that we want to do, right? Because we're trying to build a long-term organization. So how do you, for example, ensure that marketing stays aligned with the company's growth goals, but at the same time, where do you find perhaps the biggest points of friction in trying to make that happen due to quarterly goals or short-term goals?

**Dan Wheeler** (5:04)
Well, I mean, I think it's a really good question, and it's definitely something we deal with on a regular basis as marketers. And I've had it throughout my career, and it's definitely true here, too. But I really, really value my relationship with our CFO. Here at K9 and throughout my career with the CFOs that I've worked with, because when you are aligned with the financial planning and accounting folks, you know you're going to be able to go to great places. But there's still that kind of tug of war that always happens around short-term results, long-term brand building. And I think one of the best ways to get through it anyway is just to be crystal clear about what growth actually means for your brand. And if you have alignment across the enterprise or at least across leadership on what growth means for your brand, then you can really do great things together. So for us, growth isn't just about opening more locations. That's definitely part of it, but it's not just about that. It's also about deepening loyalty and word of mouth among customers we already have. So I like to say we do both sprints and marathons. Sprints are where our performance marketing drives leads and bookings today for our franchisees. The marathon is where our brand storytelling comes in to make sure that we're building trust and relationships for tomorrow. So I think the friction usually comes in when either our teams or maybe even our franchisees, they're under pressure for immediate results.