Two weeks ago I added 2 marketers to my team. Both mid-20s and both impressed me in the interviews.
Disclaimer: I adore GenZ and have so much respect for their hustle and drive. I know they are going to do big things and change the world!
During our weekly marketing tag up these kiddos sat me down with a PowerPoint presentation to inform me my brand was all wrong. The following is a list of all the changes I needed to make if I wanted my business to succeed. You all, the amount of energy and restraint it took for me to keep a straight face during this meeting was truly heroic.
This is the cover slide for the 'Marketing Meeting'.
From the presentation:
Stop being so political including women’s rights and equality posts. Politics has nothing to do with candles. I had to remind them that the whole mission of MWCC was to give voice to real issues, set the feelings on fire and let that shit go.
Stop using profanity. I almost broke here…but didn’t burst out laughing yet.
Curate the social media feeds, especially Instagram. The feed looks like chaos and is not aesthetically pleasing. *slowly nodding my head* I said “yeah…life is chaos. I’m not going to curate my feed with some rose-gold bullshit, I like to keep it real and authentic.
This is the slide that killed me. I have so many questions. Like the goal here is to have candles floating in the middle of the road? Don't even get me started on the formatting.
Only post your blog notices on your personal social accounts and write candle related content only. I did actually laugh at this one. All I said was okay…continue…AND THEY DID!!! There was no stopping this dynamic GenZ duo! Like, ladies…read the room! Nope, they were so confident in their opinions.
James (21 YO Male) even tried to jump in and help educate them, to which the presenter said "You're not our target demographic, your opinion doesn't matter. It was so rude and disrespectful. I had to jump in on that one. Like she looked James directly in the eyes and dismissed him. Later, I told James that is what it is like for women in any corporation.
I let it go on mostly out of curiosity. I mean how could two college-educated marketers get a brand so wrong? I stared blankly, making direct eye contact with them as they informed me that I should personally take over Facebook because people my age don’t use TikTok. I’m 49.
I am very unclear on what a 'tubber ware' is???
The presentation ended with them explaining to me that to compete in the candle market, we needed to be more candle focused and less focused on me and my stories. *My eyes got so big at this point they nearly fell out of my face* I raised my hand like a student in a classroom and said…’Ok…my turn’.
I went through as calmly as I could and explained AGAIN (this was not our first conversation which is why they chose to do a formal presentation) the brand, my mission and that I wasn’t going to fit in a mason jar candle box. Our demographic is not Women Ages 35-54, It is any person 16+ that has ever felt unheard, unseen or under-represented. I am going to continue telling my stories and I will NEVER curate my social media feeds or hide my voice.
The ringleader continued to argue with me. Like, full-on telling me she knows more about marketing than I do. I looked her directly in the face and asked her if she has ever built a business with an organic social media following of 400K?
She kept going...I finally put both hands up and said "Full Stop, this is my business and I will run it the way I want to." She actually said "Good Luck."
I paused. Then said “I’m not feeling a good fit here and invite you to please leave.” I got up, went to my office, shut the door and just laughed in shock and disbelief. I called my husband and I was cry-laughing as I told him all about this ‘sit-down-talking-to’ I just endured. He said he was proud of me for not losing my shit. I told Joe ‘You know I keep my bitch locked up tight for everyone’s protection.”
So…back to Indeed to start the process over again. Wish me luck!
This week's Candle: I am putting my Generation collection on sale for $18 each!
Stay Malicious,
Lacie
Comments (70)
I guess I’ll be waiting to get the tip on Tuesday. 🤣🤣🤣
So I made a mistake and read the comments on this blog post…all it did was (as a Millennial) make me FUCKING ANGRY at Boomers and Gen Xers, per usual.
Everyone’s attacking the Marketers’ age and not their inexperience like they should be. This story isn’t Gen Z-specific. The Millennial-led SaaS company I work for has a Marketing team COMPLETELY made up of Gen Zers and our target audience is Boomers and Gen Xers. All 5 ladies (and 1 guy) TOTALLY KILL IT with keeping our prospects engaged and buying.
This story isn’t about a generational gap. It’s about an experience and skills gap. The 2 Marketers didn’t pay attention to MW’s current success, dismissed the Owner’s vision and established brand (literally where a company’s goals come from), and overstepped in trying to remake the already rolling wheel.
Marketing’s job is to elevate what’s already working, analyze what’s not, and make improvements to make the company stand out against competitors, not copy/paste everyone else to blend in.
It sucks that MW didn’t find a good Marketing fit, but that’s LITERALLY HAPPENING EVERY DAY. With Boomers (especially with Boomers tbh), with Gen Xers, with Millennials, and with Gen Zers. Going through several misses is par for the course for a hiring business. Has nothing to do with generational differences and I’m fucking tired of explaining shit like this to people 50+ WHO SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THIS. (<— That’s what the Millennial candle should really say.)
(Also, props to Lacey for making a blog post and product plug that irritated all demographics at once while also incentivizing those same demographics to buy something. Now THAT’S good Marketing.)
Please don’t ever change. Your candles smell amazing, but your labels make me feel seen and heard in this world. I LOVE THEM. I love your posts and I love the attitude. It is an attitude I want my daughters to have so they don’t take crap in this world.
And, James, you deserve to be heard.
As a GenX, 20+ year marketer with a masters degree, it sounds to me like they were spewing whatever words they remembered from school and/or used something like ChatGPT to create their presentation. As a follower of MWC, I might have suggested a focused content marketing strategy based on social listening. A marketer who asks what your goals are for the company and who takes the time to learn about your audience might be a better fit, regardless of which generation they are. Maybe they did that and still looked at it from their GenZ perspective. You definitely did the right thing letting them know they weren’t the right fit! Stay true to who you are and don’t try to be all things to all people!
Middle America has plenty of candles. If I want generic candles, I would buy generic candles. I do not want generic candles. If you really want a marketer, maybe James? He seems like he has a clue. Stay Malicious. From an abortion provider.
For real? I come to you because if I wanted Karen Candles I could go anywhere. When I want Keeping It REAL candles, I shop here. I mean ya know?
So very sad. If they were supposed to increase your sales, they needed to realize who your demographic is—US! We love the feelings (and verbage) you use. That’s why we buy your candles. So long, ya big babies!
This is where “Everyone gets a trophy” has gotten us. Bravo to you. Keep up the effing vulgarity and cuts-to-the-bone honesty.
With deep love and appreciation.
I hope they read every reply and get a f*king clue.
Gen X and damn proud of it,
Kelly
What the fuck, children? 🙄 If you’re wrong, I don’t wanna be right. And “I love you like a back alley hooker loves crack” was an epic win at my Gen X drag queen brunch meets intimate wedding ceremony in Hell, Michigan. Ordering more product now! Keep it real, sister!
You’re a better person than I would ever be! I sense the so called ‘brand’ experts will need a spanking (not in a fun consenting adult way), and sent to be bed without dinner. They can all go FUCK themselves out of the meeting. Stay maliciously truthful! 💜