Ep 21: GNC’s Chief Brand Officer Ryan Ostrom on emerging from Chapter 11 and How Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Central to the Brand Strategy
The question of whether you should focus on digital or traditional marketing is a non-starter. Instead, you need to be wherever your consumers are — that’s the best channel to reach them. This key insight comes from today’s conversation with Ryan Ostrom, GNC’s Chief Brand Officer. We start our episode with Ryan by clearing the elephant in the room, as we ask him about what GNC did to overcome their Chapter 11 filing. Ryan opens up his playbook and talks about how he redirected customers from their recently-closed locations to new storefronts. We explore more of GNC’s marketing approach as Ryan shares their brand and customer-first marketing philosophy and how distribution channels influence their branding strategy. While the pandemic has damaged many companies, we then chat about how COVID has increased GNC’s relevance. After discussing the vital roles that loyalty programs, franchisees, and on-the-ground associates play in GNC’s branding, Ryan unpacks how he adapted their content to target the emerging ‘exercise at home’ market. Ryan reflects on his career highlights before emphasizing that marketers need to find solutions in both traditional and digital landscapes. We touch on the evergreen importance of brick and mortar stores, geo-targeting your market, and GNC’s relationship with third-party products. Near the end of the episode, Ryan shares some top advice for new marketers. From Tik Tok’s impact to the ever-changing customer journey, we wrap up our discussion with a lightning round of questions. Tune in for an informative episode on emerging from Chapter 11 and the central role that brick and mortars play in brand strategy.
Key Points From This Episode:
Introducing today’s guest, GNC Chief Brand Officer Ryan Ostrom.
Ryan shares details about his hidden talent.
Hear how GNC overcame their Chapter 11 crisis and how this impacted their marketing.
Redirecting customers from closed locations to other storefronts.
Why Ryan uses the title ‘Chief Brand Officer’ instead of ‘Chief Marketing Officer.’
How their many distribution channels affect GNC’s branding strategy.
How the pandemic has made GNC’s products more relevant than ever.
Insights into GNC’s loyalty program and their mix of corporate stores and franchisees.
The breakdown of marketing responsibilities between GNC corporate and franchisees.
Why GNC has positioned its associates to be their competitive advantage.
Shifts in GNC’s content strategy due to COVID-19.
Ryan reflects on what he learned from his previous professional roles.
Why marketers need to evolve the ability to sell in both traditional and digital landscapes.
The need for brick and mortar stores and how they feed digital growth.
Using physical storefronts and geo-specific targeted ads to market to customers.
GNC’s focus on creating first-to-market products and their relationship with third-party products.
Why the conversation around digital versus traditional is a non-starter.
Ryan shares details about how he manages along with top advice for new marketers.
Hear the differences between leading and managing before Ryan answers our lightning-round questions.
Tweetables:
“Restructuring GNC allowed us to accelerate our strategy. We had a three-year plan to fix this business and we were able to do that in three months.” — Ryan Ostrom [0:03:45]
“Our franchisees are performing because they know their community.” — Ryan Ostrom [0:13:50]
“Our associates are what leads our brand. They're the people who engage with our consumers daily. And that's our competitive advantage.” — Ryan Ostrom [0:20:37]
“Stores are playing a big part in the growth of digital, especially when you consider ship-from-store. There’s always going to be a need for brick and mortar, it’s just about making a distinctive in-store experience.” — Ryan Ostrom [0:27:35]
“The customer journey is ever-changing. And it's about making sure that you're on the pulse, because right when you get it right, it changes again.” — Ryan Ostrom [0:44:221]