We sat down with Janinne recently on our blog to peel back the onion, get her take on marketing strategy and messaging, and find out what makes her tick. Here’s what we learned.
Elizabeth: So, since our readers can’t hear your accent, do you mind telling them where you’re from?
Janinne: Actually, yes, I do have an accent. That’s because I am originally from South Africa. Although, I’ve been in the US since late 1996 and am now lucky enough to be an American citizen. But, I do still have the accent.
Elizabeth: What brought you to the States?
Janinne: Well, I had just finished an MBA at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and had the opportunity to participate in an exchange program at the Snider Center for Entrepreneurial Management at Wharton/University of Pennsylvania. I jumped at the chance to work as a consultant at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) along with Wharton MBA students.
Elizabeth: Can you tell us about the clients you worked with?
Janinne: With an undergraduate degree in Journalism and psychology, the MBA was a fantastic learning opportunity for me around marketing strategy, among other things. What was really exciting at Wharton was the chance to see the theoretical concepts I had learned come to life. One of my favorite projects was working with a client who manufactured and sold life-sized artificial palm trees for hotels and motels along the Jersey shore. It was fun, it was funny, and it was a great lesson in production costs. Once we analyzed all of his costs, we realized that he was losing $60 on each tree he sold. Clearly, the implications for his business were dramatic. Our task was to help him streamline his manufacturing process and market the business to drive more revenue.
Elizabeth: Where did you go after your time at Wharton?
Janinne: I got a job as a product manager at a Philadelphia software company that specialized in sales force automation. This was a real baptism by fire as I had no technology experience. I was responsible for inbound product management and outbound product marketing. And that was the beginning of my career in technology marketing and marketing strategy in general. After that, I moved to Seattle and worked for Concur Technologies and RealNetworks before venturing into the start-up and consulting worlds.
Elizabeth: And what’s one of the biggest marketing challenges you’ve faced so far?
Janinne: That’s an easy one. I landed at RealNetworks as an Industry Marketing Manager for the enterprise and education segments. My job was to market RealServer (later Helix Universal Server), RealProducer and the enterprise version of RealPlayer. The challenge was that Microsoft had recently included the Windows Media technology into Windows Server and it was essentially free with purchase. It became critical to the job to understand what customers really valued about our products that was not available with the free alternative, and then be extremely disciplined about the messaging across every channel. Unfortunately, there was no silver bullet but we worked diligently to uncover every opportunity and turn that into a sale.
Elizabeth: Why did you decide to start Boost! Collective?
Janinne: I’d been working as a lone ranger for a long time – doing marketing consulting on my own and realized it would be much more interesting to bring together people with diverse but complementary skills to offer customers a much broader yet integrated set of services. My expertise, for example, is traditional marketing strategy, product positioning and messaging, content creation, product launches etc. But it becomes much more interesting for customers when we add you into the mix and include digital marketing and social media. Allison and Steven bring analytical rigor with their data-driven approach. Jill and Gretchen make sure that all the trains leave the station when they are supposed to and Jacqueline brings the magic of storytelling and a broad set of experiences gained in the nonprofit world. Together, I think we have something special to offer.
Elizabeth: I’ve heard you talk about the work you do with the CASA organization. What’s that about?
Janinne: I’ve been a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for about 6 years. This is an incredible program that takes volunteers, trains them and then has the Juvenile Court appoint them to be advocates for children who are in the process of becoming or already are dependents of the State. The role of the CASA is to form an independent opinion of what’s in the best interests of the child and to report back to the court. The court is particularly interested in getting input into what the permanent plan for the child should be – returning home to their biological parents or becoming legally free to be adopted. This has been rewarding and, at times, heartbreaking work.
Elizabeth: Finally, we must talk about Mollie, your labradoodle and muse.
Janinne: (smiling) Mollie is so much more than a pet. She’s our companion and she makes every day more fun. Whether we’re hiking or camping or kayaking (she has her own life preserver), Mollie comes along and brings her good nature, curiosity and sense of adventure. I highly recommend that anyone considering adding someone furry to their family considers a labradoodle. They’re the best.
And now, it’s time for a cup of tea.
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