The COVID-19 pandemic has made it critical for business executives to adopt strategies that ensure business continuity, customer stability, and revenue growth in the face of an unexpected and unprecedented period in history. This pandemic has completely changed the way we live, work, learn, and shop. Alexandra Michelle Gonzalez, a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and global marketer with over 25 years of marketing experience, sees how these changes have altered the way organizations engage and communicate with their consumers. Consumers in various areas across the world care about how a firm addresses societal concerns, such as the pandemic.
Alexandra is the CEO and Founder of Savvy Marketers LLC and has become an expert in giving strategic counsel to chairmen, presidents, and CEOs on Strategic Planning, Category Expansion, New Product Innovation, Equity & Positioning, Global Trends & Executional Excellence, Market Research, Design Thinking, and Operational Excellence.
An Inspiring Leader with an Endless Fighting Spirit
Alexandra’s journey to becoming a marketing leader began after graduating from college and having the opportunity to work in various industries such as: banking, food, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, and private equity. She worked with companies like Johnson & Johnson for over a decade, with the responsibility of managing several iconic brands around the world.
Over the years, Alexandra spent nearly 80% of her time traveling for work, and eventually, she and her husband decided it was time for them to have children. She says, “After welcoming our firstborn daughter, 14 months later, we found out I was pregnant with identical twins. At the end of my first trimester, the doctors warned me that one of my girls was going to be born significantly smaller than the other and I should consider abortion. I fought endlessly for my babies, because if I didn’t, who would? “
Alexandra gave birth to two tiny, but healthy, baby daughters after what felt like an interminable battle fighting for her babies in the O.R., surrounded by 18 physicians. Seeing them fighting in the NICU gave her tremendous inner strength and a feeling of purpose she didn’t realize she had. She recalls, “That’s when I realized I had a chance to put my years of expertise to good use and go on a new adventure.”
Alexandra has always considered herself a savvy marketer; she never takes no for an answer and is always thinking of ways to enhance her service to clients or discovering new ways to interact with consumers. She said she wants to build on that foundation. She says, “When I had a conversation with my husband about leaving the corporate world and starting my own company, he asked,” If you do it, what would you name your company?” I said, ‘Savvy Marketers.'”
Exclusive Innovative Marketing Offerings
At Savvy Marketers, they position themselves to be at the forefront of innovation across everything they do. By pairing cutting-edge technology with transformative marketing services, they ensure their clients have every need filled. Their offices have more than 10 Innovation Labs where clients can brainstorm and workshop ideas, along with over 15 unique services offered to help them disrupt their markets and thrive.
Their services are designed to assist clients in determining where to play and how to develop a strategic route to victory in order to transform their business. They provide: Strategy & Go-To Market Solutions across every step of the Consumer/Customer Journey, Brand Development, In-Depth Consumer Understanding via Multi-Dimensional Market Research leveraging Biometrics & Sentiment Analysis, and Global Trends.
They also provide Best-In-Class Modern Training & Development, Design Thinking & Experience Design seminars, Brand Footprints & Design, 3D Printing & Prototyping, Packaging & New Product Innovation, and UX Design for Websites and App Development, among other services.
“We focus on putting ourselves in the shoes of our clients and helping them identify the right strategies and go-to market solutions to help their business thrive in an agile way. We identify where their clients can win by discovering deep consumer needs, market gaps, and white space opportunities that will help them come up with a game plan of where and how their brands can win,” says Alexandra.
Understanding Consumer Emotions in an Innovative Way
Savvy Marketers goes beyond traditional market research by doing Multi-Dimensional Research using AI Biometrics and Sentiment Analysis. Because over half of human emotions are expressed through facial expressions, they can delve further into what consumers are feeling beyond what is said by using tone of voice, face recognition, and eye tracking technologies. Alexandra says, “This means, without fully utilizing biometrics, you are not getting a true reading on how consumers feel.”
Their award-winning bespoke Modern Learning & Trainings are delivered either in person or virtually and are adapted to the specific needs of each client. They are created to assist clients in developing the necessary capabilities and competences to educate and motivate their teams, as well as to identify which aspects of digital marketing they can disrupt the most and have the biggest impact on.
The team at Savvy Marketers also designs and builds Learning Management Systems (LMS), entirely from the ground up, with the brand and clients at the center of everything. They create a fully customized look and feel, while making sure the information is organized in a way that makes it as easy as possible to understand. They create and implement a number of modules to break everything up by section, followed by corresponding quizzes and assignments. At Savvy, everything is completely tailored for, and unique to each client to help them gain deeper understanding of their consumers and the categories they play in.
In terms of Digital Marketing, they offer clients a variety of services that include: social media listening, digital & social media campaigns, as well as helping their teams become social media savvy.
Changing Marketing Norms Due to the Pandemic
At the beginning of the pandemic, many of Savvy Marketers’ clients reached out about how they could transition their projects and services from face-to-face to virtual. In an industry with an emphasis on relationships, having to make that transition was a huge change that everybody had to adjust to in order to ensure they were able to fulfill all of their clients’ needs while working remotely.
By July, Savvy Marketers’ offices slowly started to reopen, but the challenges of the pandemic were still affecting the industry. People were staying at home; businesses were slow to return to offices, with some still working from home. This led to implementing health surveys, daily temperature readings, and UV light sanitation while wearing masks and practicing social distancing; completely new practices everybody had to fit into their normal routine. Alexandra states, “These practices allowed us to eventually bring in individual consumers for market research, slowly moving to smaller groups, to ensure we were able to answer our clients’ calls.”
Being a Leader
As the head of the company, Alexandra is responsible for the company’s reputation, locating and bringing in new clients, and distinguishing themselves from other marketing firms. “When clients come to our offices for workshops, I lead the sessions and help them connect the dots to figure out how they can win in their market,” says Alexandra.
She further added, “Our role is similar to being in an airport control tower. We act as the guiding voice in the control tower, helping clients navigate their pathway forward and helping them land flawlessly and successfully achieve their goals. “
A Risk that Changed into a Triumph
Alexandra’s greatest professional risk was leaving the corporate sector to establish Savvy Marketers. She ended up leaving fantastic salaries, bonuses, and stock options behind to start something from the ground up. She asserts, “My journey was self-funded, with no help from banks, which meant each decision was another risk to take. After many years of traveling and working, I knew I could use my global marketing and strategic expertise to help companies all over the world turn challenges into opportunities. I also knew I needed to have a strong sense of purpose, a clear vision, and the guts to invest in the right technology. “
Alexandra is delighted to have worked with so many individuals and organizations over the years, and to have built a multi-award-winning global marketing agency in the process.
Desire to Improve Service Efficiency
Alexandra wants to help organizations connect, develop, and engage with consumers in new ways. Consumers now expect more from businesses; Savvy Marketers aims to assist its clients in winning their hearts, not just by meeting their needs, but by also improving and providing better experiences.
She explains, “It’s not just about the brand, but how the brand is presented and how we want consumers to experience it across every step of their journey; it’s about the entire path to purchase. We strive to help our clients deliver those better experiences. “
A Symbol of Woman’s Empowerment
Savvy Marketers LLC is a female, minority-owned business. Due to this, embracing diversity, inclusion, and creative thinking are crucial in making sure the team can help clients spark breakthrough innovation. According to Alexandra, to work at Savvy Marketers, one has to be savvy. She says, “You need to be innovative, open to new possibilities, and eager to stay ahead by learning something new every day. I always want my team to challenge the status quo and step out of their comfort zones. “
As per Alexandra, at Savvy Marketers LLC, every day is a new opportunity to help their clients become better at what they do. That means constantly being on the quest for gathering deep consumer insights and helping to connect the dots by always placing the consumer at the center of everything they do.
Be Curious About Changes and Learn from Them
Alexandra’s advice for emerging entrepreneurs is to “be mindful of the brands and services you represent.” She describes how today’s consumers scrutinize a company’s values, whether they make a difference, and how they give back to the community, demonstrating how a company’s social position influences consumers. She suggests, “You should always put your heart, mind, and soul into everything you do and put your best foot forward, not only for clients and employees, but for your family and community as well.”
The top three traits needed to be a great entrepreneur, according to Alexandra, are inquisitiveness, creativity, and fearlessness. To be curious, one must always ask, “Why?” Questioning everything can lead to more efficient work methods or an altogether new approach to an old procedure. Creativity will help to think outside the box, finding the most innovative and inspiring ways to help clients better connect with and elevate their brand in the eyes of consumers. By being fearless, one is not afraid of taking risks. She says, “I would not be where I am today without taking risks and having a big picture mindset.”
