Be Customer Led

Julie Roehm, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at Party City, was recently featured in a podcast titled Be Customer Led, hosted by Bill Staikos. Julie is a marketing whiz and has worked with multiple big brands.

During her current tenure at Party City, she has been faced with several challenges — the biggest one being the COVID-19 pandemic. Her marketing techniques are unique and she has made notable changes to guide the company through this trying time.

In this podcast, Julie and Bill engage in an interesting conversation about Marketing, Customer Experience, and B2B vs. B2C. Julie goes on to share her journey across multiple industries and how she started her own podcast, The Conversational.

The podcast begins with Julie tracing her journey from studying to being an engineer to entering the exciting world of marketing. Her professional career began with an internship at American Airlines, from where she went on to Ford and then Chrysler.

Julie started her own consulting firm, served as Chief Storyteller at SAP and did so much more, before meeting Jim Harrison last summer, who brought her into the world of Party City.

Party City is a publicly traded company with hundreds of retail locations across the United States and Canada where you can find the perfect costume, party theme, or inspiration for your next party. If you live in the U.S. and have organized an adult or kids party, there’s a good chance you’ve been to Party City or ordered from them online.

Read an excerpt of the podcast below, or listen to the original podcast here.

“People talk about B2C and B2B, and I’ve done them both at this point. At the end of the day, they’re not that different. Sure it’s different tactics, there are different tools, and the ways to measure are different too — I’m not trying to discount any of that. However, I think what is important to remember is that the person you’re marketing to is still a person, we’re all consumers. The people on social media are real people, so if you’re trying to connect with them in some sort of way that doesn’t feel natural to them in their personal lives, it’s going to be much harder to connect with them on any other level. Something brands do a lot nowadays is creating and following a customer journey — that works really well.”