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Lex Josephs is vice president and general manager of Sam’s Club Member Access Platform. Prior to her current role, she held sales and partnerships roles at companies including Walmart, NBCUniversal, Pinterest, and Hulu.
Favorite project you’ve worked on? My favorite project I have worked on at Sam’s Club has been transforming, accelerating, and re-inventing an ads/data business to be both member-additive and profitable with our Member Access Program (MAP). It brings all the benefits of the Sam’s Club member-obsessed approach to the advertisers who advertise with us. This unique knowledge of our members powers MAP with real-time, first-party data on member search behaviors and transactions. We can build partnerships and ads that are additive to our members’ experience, while being extremely effective and efficient.
What’s your favorite ad campaign? My favorite ad campaigns are P&G’s “Thank You, Mom” and Google’s “Parisian Love.” They resonate with me both as a marketer and a mother, and I think their strength lies in how they tug at the heartstrings and speak to human relationships rather than overtly promote a product or service.
One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: While I attended the University of Michigan and interned in New York City, I was also hostessing, waitressing, and busing tables at night. Later in my career, I was simultaneously growing my family while working and pursuing an MBA. It was a lot to juggle all at once. That’s why I feel strongly about helping others understand the various levers they can pull and utilize each day, which has been crucial to my leadership approach.
What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? I’m excited about the connectivity between digital activity and physical sales. With real-time data, advertisers can see exactly which ads are driving revenue for both online and offline sales. This gives advertisers unmatched visibility and boosts efficiency at a time when they need to make fewer resources go further.
A trend I approach thoughtfully is the over-reliance on data analytics and metrics without considering the human aspect. While data-driven insights are valuable, it’s crucial to remember that behind every data point is a real person with emotions and preferences. The recent rise of made-for-advertising sites is a concerning example of marketers prioritizing ROI and profit over their audience and their experience, which runs counter to our philosophy at Sam’s Club. Balancing data with a member-centric approach ensures an authentic connection with our audience and helps us ensure we put people over profit, always.
What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? I enjoyed chatting with Sri and Peter from The CPG Guys and recommend tuning into their podcast episodes. They do a great job of welcoming various thought leaders, and I was impressed with their level of retail media insights and thoughtful questions.
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