Building Brands Through Experience Design

June 8th, 2021

by Josh Janowiak

Agencies and marketers alike are addicted to storytelling. The advent of so-called content marketing has been the equivalent of a speedball coursing through the craving veins of marketers who think that every problem can be solved by telling a better story. Soon they are going to miss a window of opportunity that will quickly end up in someone else’s portfolio. If marketers and agencies don’t come to terms in a hurry with the structural factors that have set the stage for experience-driven brand building, CEOs are going to tap other resources to do it instead. Experience design is the next frontier for brand-building.

Key Topics

1. Experience Design
2. Customer Experience/Service
3. User Experience
4. Solutions vs. Products

Russ Klein

CEO, The American Marketing Association

Russ Klein has quarterbacked teams for many of the world’s foremost brand names—holding top marketing and advertising posts at Dr Pepper/7UP Companies, Gatorade, 7-Eleven Corporation, Burger King Corporation, and Arby’s Restaurant Group. He has held leadership positions with Leo Burnett and FC&B advertising agencies. Russ serves on the board for PopSockets LLC listed as #2 on Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies in America.

His Burger King body of work, where he served as CMO/President, was recognized by ADWEEK as “The Advertiser of the Decade” for the 2000’s…a distinction belonging to Nike and Budweiser in previous decades. Klein was again recognized as a seminal influence behind Burger King’s recognition at the 2017 Cannes ad festival for marketing creativity; referencing several of his most popular campaigns including: Burger King’s groundbreaking digital campaign, “Subservient Chicken” Ranked as the 6th greatest campaign of 21st Century by Ad Age Digital Ad of the Decade by the Wall Street Journal – Klein was responsible for “Whopper Freakout” Highest recalled advertising campaign ever measured by Nielsen’s IAG Research among all advertisers

Klein’s innovation teams have generated billions in annual revenue including Keebler Soft Batch Cookies, Kleenex Softique Tissues, Burger King; TenderCrisp Premium Chicken Sandwich, Angus Steak Sandwich, Chicken Fries, Apple Fries, and Arby’s; Hot Turkey Platform, Beef Brisket Platform, and King’s Hawaiian alliance.

Klein’s impact on business performance as a CMO is unrivaled; being the only CMO to lead marketing for three major LBO-IPO consumer product deals that have garnered returns to shareholders of 447%, 442%, and >10,000%; each shattering records at the time for growth and shareholder return, over the course of his career. Under his marketing leadership Burger King same-store-sales grew at a 5.2% CAGR for almost seven straight years without a single negative month, while worldwide revenue grew over 45% during that same period.

As CEO for the American Marketing Association, Russ is charged with the historic transformation of the AMA to become the essential community for marketers.

Klein was nicknamed “Flamethrower” by an industry publication for his managerial risk-taking and provocative advertising; but he now aspires to be the torch bearer for all marketers.

Klein is also architect of the seminal theory, Brand = Experience Story aimed at advancing the discipline of Experience Design for businesses. His work on “Tension in Advertising” is taught around the world as an educator resources from the Marketing Science Institute. He writes and teaches as one of the leading experts on building brands through experience design.

His vision for the future of marketing is “A world in which everything is bought, and nothing is sold.” Klein also consults enterprises on marketing capabilities and strategic planning. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Harvard Business School Advance Management Program.

Connect with Russ on LinkedIn or by email at rklein@ama.org

Links & Resources

• Phillip Kotler
  • The Father of Modern Marketing
• J. Walker Smith
  • Chief Knowledge Officer at Kantar
• Never Eat Alone-Keith Ferrazzi
  • The bestselling business classic on the power of relationships, updated with in-depth advice for making connections in the digital world.
• The Count of Monte Cristo
  • It’s Russ’ favorite book, you should read it!
• Sliding Doors
  • Sliding Doors is a 1998 romantic comedy-drama film starring Gwyneth Paltrow . The film alternates between two storylines, showing two paths the central character’s life could take depending on whether or not she catches a train.
• AllSides.com
  • Unbiased news does not exist; All Sides provides balanced news and civil discourse.
• My AMA Daily Newsletter
  • My AMA Daily is an AI-powered daily newsletter from the American Marketing Association. The newsletter features the latest original content from the AMA, as well as news, how-to’s and thought leadership from around the web.

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