Back for another year, the 2016 Canadian Internet Marketing Conference (CIMC) will feature a powerhouse line-up of more than 30 of the world’s top minds and movers of the digital marketing industry. FreshGigs.ca got the awesome opportunity to have a pre-conference brain-picking sesh with each of the keynote speakers and panelists. Today’s Q & A is with Greg Plata, Team Lead, Sponsorship & Experiential Marketing for WestJet.
You’re responsible for one of the most viral marketing campaigns in history. How do you maintain your innovative edge?
The industry is a great catalyst when it comes to maintaining our innovative edge. Inspiration is everywhere and is the driving force behind our determination to remain relevant and insert ourselves in the conversation, without being redundant. We are fortunate to have the confidence in our leadership to approach each project with a blank canvas, and the opportunity to try something new and take a chance, the notion that we have permission to fail.
Today most of us have become very attached to connecting with people via social media. What would you say to someone who questions the value of in-person networking?
I would approach with caution. Someone who questions the value of in-person networking is missing the key component to any successful partnership. Whether personally or professionally, that is where trust is built. Trust is the foundation from where all great ideas (and teams) are bred. Connecting via social media is a great way to continue the conversation, or an opportunity to ignite one, however strictly limiting the relationship to an online experience would be doing both sides a disservice.
On the success of your Christmas Miracle campaign, you once said, “We plan for the effect, not the results.” How do you strike that balance between controlling a strategy and allowing room for creativity?
The strategy is a guiding principle, and is used as a tool to harness creativity to ensure a consistent message. It is impossible to set or define parameters around an individual’s experience and how they’ll react. Therefore, the importance of allowing elements of creativity throughout the entire process; from ideation, to concept and execution, is paramount.
Inspiration is everywhere and is the driving force behind our determination to remain relevant and insert ourselves in the conversation, without being redundant.
What drives the vision behind the way you communicate with your customers?
We’ve been fortunate to have been handed the keys to a great corporate culture and an established brand. We have garnered a lot of flexibility on how we can position and portray ourselves and how we can humanize our brand. CARE resonates throughout everything we do, not just as a noun, but as an acronym Create A Remarkable Experience.
Have you experienced your own Christmas Miracle moments? What lessons did you gather from them?
Through my eyes, it’s the little things that count. As cliché as it may sound, giving is always better than receiving. The feelings and emotions evoked from a simple act of kindness, surprise or whatever it might be, resonate far beyond that moment. Trying to replicate those sentiments on a larger scale is the challenge (and the fun part!) of a much larger piece of the marketing puzzle.
As Team Lead, Sponsorship & Experiential Marketing at WestJet, Greg oversees WestJet’s national sponsorship portfolio, and leads the evolution of the organizations Experiential Marketing efforts. Greg has developed and led several projects including the WestJet Christmas Miracle campaigns, #NYCASAP, Fly Away, Ultimate Vegas Upgrade, #YourOpenMoment & Share-A-Coke Plane. He was named to Marketing Magazine’s 2014 top 30 under 30, and has earned two bronze Cannes Lions, from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The CIMC runs April 14-15, 2016 at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish BC, Canada. For more conference and ticket info, click here.