Robin: Hello, and welcome to this edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies. I’m Robin Tooms, VP of Strategy at Savage Brands, and my guest today is Audrey Trevino, Global Branding Manager at MD Anderson Cancer Center. So Audrey, welcome to Brandonomics.

Audrey: Thank you for having me, Robin. It’s good to be here.

Robin: Well good. Well, your role is really interesting there at MD Anderson. You’re helping extend the global reach through these strategic partnerships, which is kind of fascinating in itself, but what’s even more fascinating is you’re kind of in the marketing and branding area. So, it makes me think, what is a marketer’s role in partnerships like these?

Audrey: So, I’m fortunate. I think that this is a fairly new area and a fairly new role for us. The reason is that a few years ago, MD Anderson embarked on taking our expertise out beyond the Texas Medical Center. We’re coming up on 75 years next year and we have a lot of information and knowledge and expertise to share, all for the betterment of trying to reach our ultimate mission, and so marketing’s role, to answer your question, I think is multifaceted. For me, it’s impossible to only categorize it as a marketing bucket. I look at things in a very holistic way: really trying to understand the impact that marketing has within the business structure; the model, the evolution, the objectives, and build off of that.

So, for me, I think marketing’s role is a holistic one, and the more holistically you can look at things and really try to understand, yes of course it’s about also executing against a plan that you develop, but it’s so much more than that; and I think that it’s different in terms of any size organization, in terms of coming into it and understanding what marketing’s role has been and what it could be, and that’s really why I feel very fortunate to be where I am today.

Robin: Good. Well, listen, do you have a quick example to share of that?

Audrey: You know, I think that expansion–we have a number of relationships outside of Texas, and one of which is in Arizona. We have worked very closely with Banner Health in Arizona; they’re our partner, Banner MD Anderson, and they have really embraced the fact that we’ve come together in a collaborative way to help them look at business impact and brand impact as it effects their expansion. So, as our program continues to grow and expand there with them, we work together early and have conversations about all of the what ifs, you know, so; how are things going to be impacted? What are things that we haven’t thought about? You know, to the point of actually trying to uncover things that you hope you don’t have to uncover, that don’t become the what ifs, but really talking about scenario planning and planning accordingly.

Robin: Well, I love what you shared, that the branders role is to think about the business and the business is to think about the brand and vice versa, so that’s wonderful. Great advice, Audrey.

Audrey: Exactly, thank you.

Robin: Well, thank you. This has been another edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies.