Ok! Welcome back to my podcast: The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman! Presented by Details Interactive. Here, you’ll take away 3 game-winning marketing plays every episode to take back to your team. I’m your host, Mark Friedman, and my career has been focused on direct-to-consumer marketing; direct mail, physical retail, and digital commerce.
This is Episode #14 and today’s guest is Joe Megibow. He’s the Chief Executive Officer of Purple. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and your other favorite podcast spots – subscribe and leave a 5-star review if you have your playbook!
What is The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman?
Mark Friedman (that’s me) knows direct-to-consumer marketing. The 30+ year industry veteran has served as the President of eCommerce at Steve Madden, Chief Marketing Officer of Brooks Brothers, mentor to dozens of startups, and even youth sports coach. You’ll take away 3 fundamental tips every episode to help your team knock it out of the park, and draw up strategies for digital marketing, eCommerce, customer monetization, and pivoting with the brightest all-stars in business. Do you have your playbook?
Podcast Episode #14: Joe Megibow – CEO of Purple
Joe Megibow, the Chief Executive Officer of Purple, adds his page to the Marketing Playbook. Hear how to align with your supervisors and peers to prevent major mistakes, how to constantly shape your message and differentiate your offering, how to look for ways to fill the gaps in your knowledge, how Purple is taking a breakthrough approach to the mattress industry, and Joe’s lessons from his time at American Eagle and Expedia. This episode covers everything from Joe’s thoughts on making mistakes to what makes Purple mattresses so dependable. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:
- How Purple is handling COVID-19
- Joe’s experience at Expedia
- Why is Purple a disruptor in the mattress space
- How do consumers view the mattress category
- How do you control the narrative of your brand
- Joe’s time at American Eagle
- How Purple creates viral video ads
- A charitable organization Joe’s passionate about
Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.
Let’s open the playbook. Ready? Break! Check out the episode, show notes, and pictures below for much more detail.
Show Notes
- Intro
- [0:24] The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman
- [0:26] Details Interactive
- [0:32] Connect with Mark at Mark@DetailsInteractive.com, on Twitter at @DetailsInteract, and on LinkedIn
- [0:43] Connect with Joe on LinkedIn
- [0:49] Thank you as always to Max Branstetter of the Wild Business Growth Podcast at Hippo Direct for producing this podcast. You can reach him at max@hippodirect.com to bring your podcast to life
- Joe’s Page of The Marketing Playbook with Mark Friedman
- [1:20] Purple
- [2:08] How Joe and his family are handling COVID-19
- [3:17] How Purple is handling COVID-19
- [3:51] SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), IPO (Initial Public Offering)
- [4:54] Brick-and-mortar, Mattress Firm, Macy’s
- [7:26] Wholesale, Retail, DTC (Direct-to-consumer)
- [8:42] Joe’s story
- [8:57] Topeka, KS
- [9:10] Cornell University
- [9:32] Engineering
- [9:41] General Motors (GM)
- [10:50] Chicago Booth
- [11:22] Marketing Analytics
- [11:32] Joe’s experience at Expedia
- [11:47] Management Consulting, IBM
- [12:10] Hotels.com
- [12:55] Microsoft
- [13:20] Facebook, Google
- [14:29] Why is Purple a disruptor in the mattress space
- [15:11] Dr. Scholl’s
- [18:50] Memory foam, Tempur-Pedic, Sleep Number
- [19:32] Early Adopter, Casper
- [20:17] eCommerce, Omni-Channel
- [21:27] How do consumers view the mattress category
- [22:07] IKEA, Amazon, AmazonBasics, Walmart
- [23:18] Leesa
- [24:34] Monty Python
- [25:56] How do you control the narrative of your brand
- [26:12] Pick and pack
- [26:19] PO (Purchase Order)
- [28:52] The Company Store
- [30:08] Tesla, VW (Volkswagen)
- [31:46] How COVID-19 impacts how mattresses are sold in stores
- [34:05] At Details Interactive, you can discuss your business with a seasoned direct-to-consumer marketing executive who’s helped launch and grow web businesses and integrate multi-channel marketing initiatives. Learn more at DetailsInteractive.com
- [34:48] Joe’s time at American Eagle
- [35:38] Test and learn
- [36:29] Chief Digital Officer
- [37:02] CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), IT (Information Technology), POS (Point of sale)
- [37:29] Bootstrapping
- [41:42] Pandora
- [41:49] How Purple creates viral video ads
- [42:06] Dollar Shave Club, Unilever
- [43:02] Goldilocks video
- [43:17] Kickstarter
- [43:42] Explainer video
- [43:58] Harmon Brothers, Studio C, BYUtv
- 2-Minute Drill
- [47:20] Dyson, hair dryer
- [48:52] iPhone, Camera app
- [49:20] Costco, Rhone
- [49:45] Something Joe wishes he was better at
- [50:10] A charitable organization he’s passionate about
- [50:51] HP 42S calculator, RPN notation, 12C
- This Week’s 3 Game-Winning Plays
- [51:35] Connect with Joe on LinkedIn
- [51:43] This week’s 3 Game-Winning Plays are as follows:
- Align with your supervisors and peers to prevent major mistakes
- Constantly shape your message and differentiate your offering
- Look for ways to fill the gaps in your knowledge
- [52:55] If you want to check out more pages of The Marketing Playbook, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast spot and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts
- [53:04] Connect with Mark at Mark@DetailsInteractive.com, on Twitter at @DetailsInteract, and on LinkedIn
- Theme Song: Jazzy Man Funk Rock – Auditone Music Library – provided by Jamendo
How can I work with Details Interactive?
That’s it! Today’s game ball goes to Joe Megibow. Thank you, Playbook Marketers, for listening. If you want to check out more pages of The Marketing Playbook, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast spot and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. You can also follow us on Twitter at @DetailsInteract and learn more at DetailsInteractive.com. Until next time, The devil is in the details.