Vince Hudson hails from Shreveport, Louisiana and attended Dillard University in New Orleans. While he credits Dillard, his mentor Henry Sullivan, and the Inroads program for preparing him for “Corporate America”, he credits nearby Xavier University for the Procter and Gamble opportunity. He proudly admits that he sneaked into Xavier’s career fair, which subsequently led to the P&G job offer.
Vince joined Procter and Gamble in 1993 in the brand management function as a brand assistant on the Fixodent brand where he learned marketing from the ground up – targeting a niche market of consumers in the 50+ age group. His next move took him from Oral Care to Respiratory where he worked across the NyQuil, DayQuil and Vicks brands. His first Brand manager assignment took him into the internet space (pre-bubble-burst), where he led efforts in e-commerce and consulted with on-line retailers on marketing and promotions.
The next brand manager move for Vince paid off big for P&G shareholders as he developed and launched the record-setting Crest WhiteStrips brand. He spent his last brand manager assignment expanding that brand globally. His success on that brand led Vince to be promoted to Marketing Director of the gastrointestinal (or GI) category in 2002, where he revamped the Metamucil brand equity, boosted Pepto Bismol with the “dancing symptoms” campaign, and managed P&G’s largest brand “launch” ever – Prilosec (which topped the largest brand previously launched: Crest WhiteStrips). These back-to-back successes set the stage for Vince to assume the Marketing Director job on the Costco team, one of P&G’s top customers, where he marketed to the “shopper” versus the “consumer”. Most recently (just this month), Vince moved from Seattle (where Costco is based) to the east coast to serve as marketing director of CoverGirl - North America. He is looking forward to this challenging role in the heavily competitive world of beauty.
Vince has earned the respect of his colleagues with several internal marketing awards, and his accomplishments have received national accolades, including Brandweek’s “Marketer’s of the Next Generation” and, most recently, Ad Age’s “Top 40 Marketers Under 40”. He has also been spotlighted in Fast Company magazine.
Vince’s personal passions are marketing (of course), hip-hop music (he’s Jay-Z’s #1 fan), and discussing and writing about “Love and Relationships” . His passions have led to national TV exposure on the Today Show for P&G and a brief appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show -- “talking relationships”. He recently facilitated a “Relationship Symposium” at the National Black MBA association’s national convention in Orlando, FL.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
What do Dating and Relationships have to do with Marketing and Strategy.
I sometimes start business meetings or class seminars with a riddle. One typical one I use goes: It is why we are here today talking Marketing. It the reason why we are here talking this topic today. All hat we do – in the end is for it. No matter what we accomplish, if we don’t have it —we can’t claim success. When we achieve it --, we want to keep it by any means necessary. A competitor can have it also, but we want to make sure we have ours first. What is the “it” that I speak of? Profits! That’s what every group of American Business people give as the answer to the riddle – and they are right. Marketing is for profits in corporate America. Now when I give relationship seminars I give the same riddle. It the reason why we are here talking this topic today. All hat we do – in the end is for it. No matter what we accomplish, if we don’t have it —we can’t claim success. When we achieve it --, we want to keep it by any means necessary. A competitor can have it also, but we want to make sure we have ours first. What is the “it” that I speak of? Their answer to the same riddle is … Love. Yes – just like businesses are in the business of finding consumers to partner with them to get profit. These women were in the business of finding consumers to partner with to give them love. In America – we have become very astute at generating profit, but are still lagging behind in love. This is because the country was built on capitalism -- and you do best what you do most. We have perfected the art of getting consumers to buy, re-buy, rent, lease, our goods and services to make billions of dollars. And to continue the industrial revolution perfected “systems” and “principles”, and “tools” that lead to business success. But, to lead the world in innovation was no mistake – it was very calculated. But this thing called love. The greatest thing. A lifelong mate. This still eludes us. If the country would have spent one tenth of the time it spent on creating infrastructures for “loving relationships” as it did for “growing corporations” – what a wonderful world it would be. So – that is the task that I have taken on. I want to use the world’s best thinking on business and marketing to share insights which will maximize anyone’s ability to “build profitable relationships”.
Well if you paid money for this book (and I hope you did) J you have some interest in the opposite sex –unless you bought it buy accident trying to learn about relationship marketing used in the advertising industry. Why “put effort in?” Well the answer is that you put effort in to get something out. If your objective is to acquire a college diploma, you don’t expect to get it without taking action to get it. You have an objective. You make choices to achieve your objective
I sometimes start business meetings or class seminars with a riddle. One typical one I use goes: It is why we are here today talking Marketing. It the reason why we are here talking this topic today. All hat we do – in the end is for it. No matter what we accomplish, if we don’t have it —we can’t claim success. When we achieve it --, we want to keep it by any means necessary. A competitor can have it also, but we want to make sure we have ours first. What is the “it” that I speak of? Profits! That’s what every group of American Business people give as the answer to the riddle – and they are right. Marketing is for profits in corporate America. Now when I give relationship seminars I give the same riddle. It the reason why we are here talking this topic today. All hat we do – in the end is for it. No matter what we accomplish, if we don’t have it —we can’t claim success. When we achieve it --, we want to keep it by any means necessary. A competitor can have it also, but we want to make sure we have ours first. What is the “it” that I speak of? Their answer to the same riddle is … Love. Yes – just like businesses are in the business of finding consumers to partner with them to get profit. These women were in the business of finding consumers to partner with to give them love. In America – we have become very astute at generating profit, but are still lagging behind in love. This is because the country was built on capitalism -- and you do best what you do most. We have perfected the art of getting consumers to buy, re-buy, rent, lease, our goods and services to make billions of dollars. And to continue the industrial revolution perfected “systems” and “principles”, and “tools” that lead to business success. But, to lead the world in innovation was no mistake – it was very calculated. But this thing called love. The greatest thing. A lifelong mate. This still eludes us. If the country would have spent one tenth of the time it spent on creating infrastructures for “loving relationships” as it did for “growing corporations” – what a wonderful world it would be. So – that is the task that I have taken on. I want to use the world’s best thinking on business and marketing to share insights which will maximize anyone’s ability to “build profitable relationships”.
Well if you paid money for this book (and I hope you did) J you have some interest in the opposite sex –unless you bought it buy accident trying to learn about relationship marketing used in the advertising industry. Why “put effort in?” Well the answer is that you put effort in to get something out. If your objective is to acquire a college diploma, you don’t expect to get it without taking action to get it. You have an objective. You make choices to achieve your objective
Love is a feeling -- can it be strategic??
“What is this thing called love”
We have to start here with 2 distinct definitions for 2 separate thoughts that many people erroneously use interchangeably. The two terms are “love” and “in-love feeling”. That in love feeling can be called infatuation. This is that tingly feeling that you get when you are (as my preacher in Louisiana used to say) “wrapped up tied up, tangled up, in love.” This feeling is what poets have written about, what romance movies use as the theme, and what singers are serenading for. If that feeling was all that there was to it --- you would not get any value from this book. That feeling comes from inside and is not at all strategic. Strategy is about choice and you don’t choose to fall in love. Listen to the phrase “fall in love”—it’s not intentional. Who “falls” intentionally? Who is intentionally, “head over heels”. Falling in love is fantastic (yes, I’ve been there). It is a euphoric feeling like no other, but my point here is that as the quote goes, “Love is not in the falling – it is in the getting up”. You can fall by accident, but it takes “intent” to get back up. This book will be about intent – what you do intentionally. Companies may get lucky and “fall” into profits every once in a while, but it’s not sustainable. For the most part they “intend” to make profits – it’s their purpose. So this will be about what I will call purposeful Love, sustaining Love. I have researched Love for years and the best definition of it came from Eric Fromm in his 1956 masterpiece on the topic, called “The Art of Loving”. Fromm gave love 4 dimensions
1) Knowledge
2) Care,
3) Respect, and
4) Responsibility.
The difference in a “feeling” and these dimensions of love is that a feeling takes no effort, but “Relationships” take effort. This book won’t help you find love as a “feeling”. I can no more teach or consult you toward feeling in love as I can direct you toward feeling hot or cold. If you can’t feel that feeling of being in love – it is psychological and I recommend a psychologist. (Just like if you can’t feel hot or cold you should see a physician.) Get the point? – feelings are a spontaneous response to external stimuli (like heat). It is stimuli and response (like most feelings) – you see someone that is attractive or fills a void in your life, or that you “feel” want to “merge” with and grow with and you get “wide open”. It’s just like a person who walks around the corner in summer and feels a cool breeze – it feels fantastic. But when the wind dies down (like it usually does) or the person changes environments – they feel different. Even if they try and replicate the feeling – they can’t because it left just as soon as it came. JZ says “Grand opening – Grand Closing” And those who study relationships have correlated the speed and intensity that stats a relationship to the speed and intensity that it ends. Build your relationship on a feeling – and it will last as long as the feeling. Build your relationship on friendship, and decision, and passion and it will last as long as a sufficient combination of those three exists. You may fall into and out of love twice before finishing the book. This book is designed to help you find love as an objective. Don’t get me wrong – that “feeling” is the bomb. Movies are written about it for a reason (it’s sexy). That feeling should be present – but like any feeling it will come and go and be sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker. That’s how feelings go. That feeling is a part of the equation for sure. It is the cement that holds and patches up the pyramid built on friendship, passion, and decision, but is not the foundation of the pyramid. So, can you boil the “feeling” down to principles and strategies? Heck No. But, can the “active choice” process of love have strategies – well – of course, if you apply Relationship MANagement.
We have to start here with 2 distinct definitions for 2 separate thoughts that many people erroneously use interchangeably. The two terms are “love” and “in-love feeling”. That in love feeling can be called infatuation. This is that tingly feeling that you get when you are (as my preacher in Louisiana used to say) “wrapped up tied up, tangled up, in love.” This feeling is what poets have written about, what romance movies use as the theme, and what singers are serenading for. If that feeling was all that there was to it --- you would not get any value from this book. That feeling comes from inside and is not at all strategic. Strategy is about choice and you don’t choose to fall in love. Listen to the phrase “fall in love”—it’s not intentional. Who “falls” intentionally? Who is intentionally, “head over heels”. Falling in love is fantastic (yes, I’ve been there). It is a euphoric feeling like no other, but my point here is that as the quote goes, “Love is not in the falling – it is in the getting up”. You can fall by accident, but it takes “intent” to get back up. This book will be about intent – what you do intentionally. Companies may get lucky and “fall” into profits every once in a while, but it’s not sustainable. For the most part they “intend” to make profits – it’s their purpose. So this will be about what I will call purposeful Love, sustaining Love. I have researched Love for years and the best definition of it came from Eric Fromm in his 1956 masterpiece on the topic, called “The Art of Loving”. Fromm gave love 4 dimensions
1) Knowledge
2) Care,
3) Respect, and
4) Responsibility.
The difference in a “feeling” and these dimensions of love is that a feeling takes no effort, but “Relationships” take effort. This book won’t help you find love as a “feeling”. I can no more teach or consult you toward feeling in love as I can direct you toward feeling hot or cold. If you can’t feel that feeling of being in love – it is psychological and I recommend a psychologist. (Just like if you can’t feel hot or cold you should see a physician.) Get the point? – feelings are a spontaneous response to external stimuli (like heat). It is stimuli and response (like most feelings) – you see someone that is attractive or fills a void in your life, or that you “feel” want to “merge” with and grow with and you get “wide open”. It’s just like a person who walks around the corner in summer and feels a cool breeze – it feels fantastic. But when the wind dies down (like it usually does) or the person changes environments – they feel different. Even if they try and replicate the feeling – they can’t because it left just as soon as it came. JZ says “Grand opening – Grand Closing” And those who study relationships have correlated the speed and intensity that stats a relationship to the speed and intensity that it ends. Build your relationship on a feeling – and it will last as long as the feeling. Build your relationship on friendship, and decision, and passion and it will last as long as a sufficient combination of those three exists. You may fall into and out of love twice before finishing the book. This book is designed to help you find love as an objective. Don’t get me wrong – that “feeling” is the bomb. Movies are written about it for a reason (it’s sexy). That feeling should be present – but like any feeling it will come and go and be sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker. That’s how feelings go. That feeling is a part of the equation for sure. It is the cement that holds and patches up the pyramid built on friendship, passion, and decision, but is not the foundation of the pyramid. So, can you boil the “feeling” down to principles and strategies? Heck No. But, can the “active choice” process of love have strategies – well – of course, if you apply Relationship MANagement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
