New York, April 9th, 2020

Based in New York, Shivi Kundra is a marketing strategist at Blue Fountain Media (BFM), a digital agency that merges imagination with technology to deliver human-centric digital experiences.

Kundra manages the strategy and execution of creative and effective omnichannel marketing campaigns at BFM.

She started at the agency last year after previous work experiences in Northwestern University and Western Union, among others, and since then she has been engaged in diverse and exciting projects. In an interview with TIA, she described the role of marketing at BFM and her experiences at the agency.

Please describe a typical day at the agency

I typically start my day by grabbing my first cup of coffee and firing up my work playlist. I then catch up on emails, check my to-do post-its and prioritize my work for the day.

My day consists of internal and client meetings, brainstorm sessions, planning, and creating. It’s a whole lot of collaboration with other teams. Given the role I am in, I do a lot of research on the latest and greatest marketing trends and I spend a significant amount of time reading articles to see how I can best benefit my specific clients.

What differentiates can you spot on the way BFM’s approach to marketing from other agencies?

Blue Fountain Media is a leader in website design & development, and over the years we’ve built a successful niche in this market.

Having this background, we are focused on building strategies that keep the website as the single most important marketing tool. Our differentiator is that we use website as the cornerstone in an integrated marketing approach, all of which we have the ability to impact.

To create a remarkable piece of content, what do you need?

A remarkable piece of content is one that makes us stop scrolling. People have become very selective when it comes to the content they consume and are quick to swipe left if it is not worthy of their attention. A successful piece of content is timely, topical, concise, pointed and optimized to the platform.

I gave a talk last year on how to earn an audience’s attention in a time when everyone is competing for just one second of it. You can read my take on “thumb-stopping content.”

Which content marketing brand strategy has inspired you lately and why?

I loved Hinge’s latest campaign – “Designed to be deleted”. It worked so well because it tapped into the insight that a successful experience on a dating app would mean that we would no longer need it.

With this message, Hinge positioned itself as a means to an end and that takes courage. The messaging was super cheeky and playful and the creative direction was on point. This is a great example of a brand truly understanding its consumers and delivering value where needed.

Speaking about channels, which do you consider more and less important?

I think in 2020, we should continue to park a good chunk of our budget in Social (Facebook + Instagram + YouTube), Search (SEO + PPC), Email and Website. With this basic mix, one can’t really go wrong.

I would be remiss to not mention TikTok as an important channel this year. It is a huge opportunity but only if executed well – by being truly native to the platform. In terms of format, video, more specifically short-form video will continue to drive the highest amount of engagement.

A channel that has become less important would be Influencer Marketing. It has always been hard to measure the ROI of Influencer Marketing. And now with Instagram removing the like count, the basic metric for success – engagement – is now even more tough to ascertain.

How are you using data?

Throughout our strategy process for every client, we use data to inform all our directions and decisions. We conduct surveys, focus group discussions, and interviews to build our qualitative data repository and simultaneously use different tools & software like Google Analytics, SEMrush, Meltwater, HubSpot to evaluate the market and client data.

Our aim is to not only have access to the data to decide on a course of action but to use it creatively to build a competitive advantage for our clients. Spotify is a brand that is doing a fabulous job of using their consumer data creatively both for product development as well as for marketing.

When thinking of Media in the Modern digital age vs. before, what dissimilarity can you spot on how it operates?

The main difference in traditional media & digital media, in my opinion, is their purpose and metric to measure success. Traditional media or broadcast marketing is a one-way medium that is concerned with reaching a mass market without an expectation of any kind of engagement.

Digital media or online advertising on the other hand, is a two-way medium that cares about engagement and builds relevant content that is customized and targeted right down to the individual.

To explain this further, 23mm unique views on YouTube in a 3-hour window will be celebrated but when a broadcast event plummets to 23mm viewers, questions about its relevance are raised. 23mm YouTube viewers are likely to be more engaged than the 23mm viewers on the TV and that is where the difference lies.

Have misconceptions related to media changed over the years?

A common misconception that I often get from clients is about organic Facebook and Instagram and its metric for success. Back in 2018 when Facebook made changes to its algorithm, it negatively impacted a brand’s ability to reach its audience organically. This update to the platform made organic Facebook posts no longer a scalable tool for lead generation or conversion, but for increasing brand awareness and staying top of mind. Clients often make the mistake of judging organic content based on the conversions it generates.

Can you share the most effective marketing strategy you worked out?

I worked on a Content & Marketing strategy for RailWorks after we built them their current website. RailWorks had enjoyed significant success through word-of-mouth but still struggled to capture leads online. We developed and executed on an in-depth marketing strategy, deploying targeted campaigns that put RailWorks in front of critical decision-makers. As lead-gen campaigns encouraged new business, awareness campaigns introduced a new RailWorks brand – one built on trust, quality of work, and a ready to push the industry forward. You can read more about it here.

Any tips for brands trying to define their voice?

Brand voice is your brand’s personality. It is instrumental in building an image in the mind of your consumer. A great way to find your brand voice would be to use the concept of Golden Circle by Simon Sinek, something I use a lot. He talks about starting with ‘why’ when defining your business. It’s interesting because having your brand purpose locked in answers all other questions around your business.

In this industry or in life, have you had any particularly influential mentors?

My professors from grad school at MEDILL, Northwestern University – Jim Lecinski & Jonathan Copulsky! Both of them are exceptional teachers with vast knowledge and experience in Marketing.

A lot of my marketing brain and way of thinking comes from them and they’ve truly been instrumental in taking my career forward. I totally lucked out to get to learn and work with them.

What would you place in a time capsule to represent the best of our age?

Ah! There is so much about the times we live in that is representative of it. But if I were to pick one thing it would be Memes!! Memes/Gifs have built a language of its own and have proven to be a very successful content piece in marketing.

Thanks Shivi!

Learn more about Blue Fountain Media

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