This week, Erica's chatting with Amy Gaston: a dynamic, vision-driven leader passionate about creating best-in-class brand experiences, previously Director of Experiential Marketing at Magnolia in Waco, TX. In this episode, you'll walk away with Amy's top tips for planning excellent experiential events for brands of any size and her lessons learned in thoughtful leadership throughout her career.

Here's a peek at what we cover in this episode:

[00:02:50] - Amy walks us through her early career experience as a teacher and coach, going to graduate school for sports management, working in the athletic marketing department at University of North Texas on game day promotion and tailgating experience, then shifting to Magnolia - first as an executive assistant to Joanna Gaines and then moving into the role of Director of Experiential Marketing.

[00:08:16] - How the team at Magnolia makes every single encounter matter to their guests by paying attention to every detail and truly valuing the investment that customers are making in supporting the brand.

[00:12:10] - Amy shares some of her favorite projects from her time at Magnolia, like their annual Spring at the Silos and Silobration events. She chats through the logistics that go into each event and the team that makes them possible, and explains why events can be so important for your brand.

[00:20:30] - Amy uncovers her top 3 tips for experiential marketers: understanding who your audience is/what they are coming to your brand to solve, identifying what your brand's goals are for the specific event or experience (brand affinity vs revenue generating), and experiencing a variety of industry events to make note of the mindful elements that made them special and evaluate whether your brand can replicate a similar experience.

[00:23:50] - Erica and Amy discuss what makes a thoughtful leader and why Amy says "winning" is ultimately about caring for people.

Grab a drink and listen in to this week's Marketing Happy Hour conversation!

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Other episodes you'll enjoy if you enjoyed Amy's episode:

Empathy in the Workplace + Humanizing Your Brand | Ally Golden of Upwork

How to Build Brand Loyalty | Kara Salazar of Southwest Airlines

Telling a Cohesive Brand Story | Melissa Santell of FoodxFeels

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