WHAT’S THE STORY? WITH Meredith Groban Conte

Welcome to our interview series What’s the Story?, where we share conversations with some of the most fascinating, thoughtful and refreshing marketers, brand leaders, creatives and storytellers we’ve come across. Join us as they reveal what drives them in their personal lives, the greatest lessons they’ve learned, and what they predict for the future of the industry.

We spoke to Meredith Groban Conte, Vice President of Marketing at TEGNA, an innovative media company that’s one of the largest and most geographically diverse broadcasters in the country. Previously, she helped drive marketing strategy at Discovery’s TLC network and at National Geographic Channel. Read on to discover how her experience with both local and global audiences helped shape her perspective; what she believes is most important in building high-performing teams; and learn how both art and psychology influenced her career.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR CURRENT ROLE AT TEGNA?

In its simplest form, my role is to guide, grow and advocate for the marketing function inside the company. TEGNA is a $3B public company with 370 marketers working on 64 brands in 51 markets. Since my arrival in 2012, we’ve been on a journey to reinvent local news in the digital age.

From research to strategy to creative across B2C and B2B, my role is to set visions that help our teams unlock audience and revenue growth. Over the years, this has included everything from repositioning our sales force, to building an all-new brand identity for our stations, to designing experiential summits, to leading CSR efforts in support of disaster relief, and so much more.

YOUR WORK IN EVOLVING NEWS AND LOCAL STORYTELLING AT SCALE IS IMPRESSIVE; WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IN YOUR OPINION WHEN CONNECTING TO AUDIENCES?

Audiences today have very high standards so it’s important to me that the experiences we offer meet some sort of audience expectation, desire or need. Before building out any connection point, I ask a ton of questions. Who are we trying to connect with, what are they like, how do they live, what are their current perceptions, etc. In our world of big data, it’s easy to think of audiences on paper and as numbers, but that is dehumanizing and potentially detrimental to any strategy. Audiences are multi-dimensional and complex so it’s critically important to understand their emotional drivers and connect to them on a human level.

Once I have an in-depth understanding of who we’re trying to connect to, then it’s about unleashing the creative potential of our team to reach their audience in meaningful and impactful ways. I’m very proud of our local marketing teams at TEGNA who understand the unique relationship consumers have with journalism and work every day to push beyond the tropes of the genre. They have done some outstanding work bringing humanity to the fore.

HOW IMPORTANT OF A SKILLSET HAS STORYTELLING BEEN WITHIN YOUR CAREER?

Starting with my time at National Geographic, I’ve worked alongside some of the best storytellers in the world. That means I’ve had to be at the top of my game when telling the story of marketing, pitching the campaigns that would tell the story of their work, and concepting the stories that would motivate consumers and clients. Storytelling has been the heart of my career.

IF YOU COULD MAGICALLY MAKE ONE MAJOR CHANGE IN THE MEDIA WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

The media world is in constant change – that’s part of the challenge and part of the fun. That said, given the challenges the sector is facing today, I would figure out new measurement and monetization approaches such that the industry could truly invest in long-tenured careers, growth of the next generation of talent, and incredible, impactful storytelling all as a means to unleash profitability and positively impact society at large.

IT’S ALSO EVIDENT YOU SERVE AS A MENTOR TO MANY CURRENT AND PAST COLLEAGUES, WHO IS YOUR MENTOR OR SOURCE FOR INSPIRATION?

I’ve been very fortunate to have mentors along the way including my parents, professors, and former bosses. My Dad was a psychiatrist and taught me about human behavior at an early age. My Mom is a natural creative whose paintings hang in my house today and who instilled in me a love of beauty. I had college professors who took me off campus and showed me how vast the world truly was. And across my career, I’ve had bosses who taught me the power of optimism, humility, and leadership. Truly, there are so many people who have given me fuel over the years.

Ultimately, what they’ve all taught me is to stay as open-minded as possible so I can derive inspiration from anywhere – from fellow creatives, from global and domestic travel, from everyday people, from nature and so on. Simply slowing down and observing what’s around me often fills my journals, sketch books and other inspiration containers.

IN YOUR ROLES, OVER THE YEARS YOU HAVE BUILT AND NURTURED TEAMS – WHAT ARE THE MUST-HAVE TRAITS YOU LOOK FOR?

The best performance I’ve seen comes from a place of psychological safety, where team members feel comfortable speaking up, feel others have their back and feel they can come as they are. I tend to seek candidates who are generous of spirit, who can set a psychologically safe example and whose vulnerability and humanity can bring out the best in others.

YOU’VE WORKED FOR SOME OF THE LARGEST MEDIA BRANDS OUT THERE - FROM NAT GEO TO DISCOVERY AND TEGNA - WERE THERE ANY COMMON LEARNINGS OR SKILLS THAT TRANSLATED ACROSS THE BOARD FOR YOU?

One reason I consider myself fortunate is that I’ve been able to evolve legacy brands that carry deep meaning with their audiences. National Geographic, for example, is a brand that means way more to people than a coffee table magazine. That yellow border is iconic and represents people’s ambitions, family memories, connection to the world and more. Similarly, local brands at TEGNA weren’t just utility news and information brands but deeply trusted brands that were life-saving and eye-opening. What I’ve learned from leading brands with so much meaning is just how much care and feeding they need. Every touchpoint requires intentionality and in fact, a certain level of obsession.

AS SOMEONE WHO DEEPLY UNDERSTANDS MEDIA MARKETING; WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE – WHETHER IT BE OPPORTUNITIES OR CHALLENGES?

The current landscape is overflowing with opportunities so much so it’s overwhelming. And I don’t see it getting any simpler. New technologies, increasing regulations and ever-changing consumers make the landscape a constantly shifting set of tectonic plates. It’s a landscape made for resilient, open-minded, and disciplined leaders who love to learn and can regularly evaluate their strategies to remain relevant. It’s also a great environment for partnerships. The role of marketing is bigger than any one CMO. The most successful CMOs moving forward are going to be those capable of building strong partnerships internally and externally – with business partners, technology providers, agency partners and more. Leaders will not be able to master everything there is to master, so the landscape requires ego be set aside in the interest of learning and experimentation.

There is also opportunity for renewed commitments between CMOs and CEOs. These roles are innately complementary, yet I’ve seen too many headlines about the scrutiny and quick exits facing CMOs. I think it’s time to reset expectations, commit to what I call “aggressive patience” and ensure leaders in both roles are equipped to work in partnership and not at odds.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT FOR THE FUTURE OF MARKETING?

What excites me about the future is the same thing that excited me in the past. It remains marketing’s ability to tell stories that move people. We may be doing it in different ways today – personalizing experiences, leveraging technology, etc. – but the fundamental role remains the same and that’s what keeps me going.

YOU’VE HAD THE RARE EXPERIENCE OF BUILDING BOTH LOCAL AND GLOBAL MEDIA BRANDS; ARE THERE ANY UNIFYING FACTORS THAT TRANSCEND BOTH?

Regardless of the scale at which I worked, the commonality was always the consumer connection. Whether it was working with teams in Macon, GA or in Shanghai, I was only as strong as my ability to connect with the consumers on the ground. In every geography, my success was determined by my ability to understand the state of the audience I wanted to reach. It takes a lot of empathy and EQ to step into the audience’s life and then deliver messages that will be relatable and relevant. That to me was the unifying factor.

That said, when you can live, work, and play in the same markets as your audience, it’s certainly an advantage. Just the chance to observe first-hand gives you an edge that is harder to find when you’re on the other side of the world.

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF CAREER ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED?

Do what you love. Turn passion into profit.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR CURRENT ROLE OR EVEN PAST ROLES?

In every role, it’s the people and the journey you share together that gets me. I’ve been fortunate to pull some pretty great work. There was TLC’s live, transatlantic broadcast of a royal wedding in the heart of Times Square. And TEGNA’s multi-million-dollar fundraisers for natural disaster victims with Grammy award-winning artists. There was reinvention of troubled business units and repositioning of sales organizations. There were product launches and brand overhauls. My favorite things are those moments of exhaustion along the way you share with your team and that feeling at the end when you’re hugging and high-fiving, celebrating the people and the process that got you to the finish line.

WHAT’S GIVING YOU LIFE THESE DAYS?

I recently decided to step away from TEGNA so as I wrap up my final days here, energy is coming to me from the relationships I’ve built, the accomplishments my teams achieved and from the possibilities of what’s ahead.