{"id":5059,"date":"2023-10-15T18:32:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T18:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/?p=5059"},"modified":"2024-12-06T23:10:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T23:10:41","slug":"executive-insights-with-rashmi-hurst-joel-warneke-4-takeaways-from-their-interviews-with-louisville-and-cincinnati-business-journals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/executive-insights-with-rashmi-hurst-joel-warneke-4-takeaways-from-their-interviews-with-louisville-and-cincinnati-business-journals\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive Insights with Rashmi Hurst + Joel Warneke: 4 Takeaways from Their Interviews with Louisville and Cincinnati Business Journals"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Executive Insights with Rashmi Hurst + Joel Warneke: 4 Takeaways from Their Interviews with Louisville and Cincinnati Business Journals<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Leap Group<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two Leap Group network subject matter experts were featured in regional business journals this month to share insights on industry trends, artificial intelligence, and agency offerings.<\/p>

Rashmi Hurst, director of digital experience at (human)x, spoke with Lisa Benson from Louisville Business First. Joel Warneke, co-founder and -president of (matter), spoke with Jamie Smith from Cincinnati Business Courier.<\/span><\/p>

The two covered a lot of ground. Here are the top four things we learned from their Q&As.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"\"Lesson #1: Analytics are a top concern for clients today.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Hurst and Warneke are experienced in their niches. They\u2019ve seen trends cycle through the industry, while some have stayed. For Hurst, interest in analytics was a growing interest that has cemented itself as a staple of digital marketing.<\/p>

\u201cIn my previous roles within (human)x, I was very much in an analytics capacity. And over the past couple of years, I have really seen analytics grow from an add-on the clients are looking forward to, to the main show,\u201d Hurst said.<\/p>

Analytics is the concrete way of measuring progress and success. Brands don\u2019t just launch new campaigns and hope for the best. They want to track performance and optimize their messaging to maximize success.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cUltimately, everything that we take to market for our clients, none of it matters if it doesn’t work,\u201d Hurst said. \u201cFocusing on what’s working, what isn’t working, how can we be more nimble in addressing performance and marketing results transparently to our clients has become paramount, especially post-pandemic and as we navigate the climate today.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"\"Lesson #2: AI is here to stay \u2014 and those who aren\u2019t getting on board now are being left behind.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Of all the industry trends now, Hurst and Warneke agree that AI is the hottest topic.<\/p>

\u201cEverybody’s talking about AI,\u201d Warneke said. \u201cYou can’t get on LinkedIn or watch the news without hearing about AI.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

They also agree that, in their experience, AI, machine learning, and automation are more than a passing trend. AI has the potential to be an industry mainstay.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s here to stay,\u201d Warneke said. \u201cI think there are a lot of people who are afraid of what that looks like in the future. But for us, we’re embracing it. It’s helping us in our workflow ideation, how we concept things. We’re really tapping into things like Midjourney to create images that help set the tone for the visual expression of a brand. ChatGPT helps fill in a lot of gaps for us, but we still need to take that output in and take it to the next level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

While some in the industry have reservations about using AI, Warneke, Hurst, and the Leap Group network are embracing the growing technology.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI think those who are reluctant and not kind of jumping in are going to get left behind,\u201d Warneke said. \u201cWe\u2019re a technology-based company. We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to change our process and AI is just one more tool in our toolbox to use.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"\"Lesson #3: AI is only as powerful as the person behind it. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It\u2019s clear that machine learning, automation, and AI are helping to revolutionize the way marketers approach their profession.<\/p>

\u201cAI is changing rapidly,\u201d Hurst said. \u201cEvery single day, there is a new iteration of a platform that has launched, and we are left having to keep up to speed with what’s coming to market.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Some marketers are even wondering if certain roles will be obsolete with the exponential growth of chatbots and machine learning. While it\u2019s clear that AI is changing the industry, Leap Group believes AI is best used as a tool, not as a replacement for human expertise.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI think all of the GPT-4 technology and marketing automation that has come to play is only as good as the human that’s behind it,\u201d Hurst said. \u201cAt (human)x, we have started to hire what we call \u2018prompt engineers.\u2019 When we think about how we can control the narrative, the messaging, the outcome we’re looking for, we’ve really invested in that prompt engineering aspects so that we’re training the models to get the results that we want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"\"Lesson #4: Marketing agencies need to be flexible and adaptable to succeed. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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When looking for a marketing agency, clients want specialists, but they don\u2019t want to go to an excess of vendors to realize their vision piece by piece. They want a one-stop shop, but they don\u2019t want to sacrifice quality with generalists.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cClients are really looking for specialization, and to be able to customize an agency based on their needs,\u201d Warneke said. \u201cThat\u2019s how Leap Group is set up.\u201d<\/p>

The Leap Group network is made up of four specialized agencies: digital marketing with (human)x, branding and design with (matter), production with (spark), and media and search with (amp). When a client works with one agency, it\u2019s easy to pull in specialists from across the network when the need arises.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIf they come through the (matter) door to engage us on a branding project, their needs change and they need a website, we’re able to bring in those subject matter experts from elsewhere in the Leap Group team to help our client down that pathway,\u201d Warneke said. \u201cIf they don’t need those services, we don’t have to turn that capability on. It\u2019s a very flexible and customized approach that our clients have responded to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

This interest in flexibility has been amplified by issues of economic uncertainty in the last few years. Brands want to maximize the value of their spending by getting what they want, when they want it, without any unnecessary expenses.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cA lot of clients are moving away from that agency of record (AOR), big agency model, where they are buying stuff that they don’t necessarily need,\u201d Warneke said.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Executive Insights with Leap Group<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Analytics, AI, and agency flexibility were just the beginnings of Hurst\u2019s and Warneke\u2019s conversations with Cincinnati and Louisville business journals. Recaps of each interview can be found on the (human)x and (matter) blogs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Rashmi\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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To watch Rashmi Hurst\u2019s full Q&A, visit Louisville Business First<\/a>.<\/p>

To watch Joel Warneke\u2019s full Q&A, visit Cincinnati Business Courier<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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To learn more about Leap Group\u2019s flexible business model and AI offerings, <\/span>visit our website or contact us for a consultation<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leap Group Two Leap Group network subject matter experts were featured in regional business journals this month to share insights on industry trends, artificial intelligence, and agency offerings. Rashmi Hurst, director of digital experience at (human)x, spoke with Lisa Benson from Louisville Business First. Joel Warneke, co-founder and -president of (matter), spoke with Jamie Smith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":5064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[],"collection":[],"class_list":["post-5059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5059"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5118,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5059\/revisions\/5118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5059"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=5059"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leap.staging.ribbitt.com\/leap-group\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=5059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}