Yosi Heber spent over 15 years in top-level positions with titles like executive vice president chief marketing officer and senior executive at Kraft and Dannon where he invented the $900 million kids’ yogurt category. The founder and president of Oxford Hill Partners in Oak Park Michigan where his clients include Procter & Gamble Hyundai Capital and Nestle we sit down to learn his advice on successful marketing.

Embrace Your Inner Child

Lest you think that embracing your inner child would detract from your professionalism you should note that it is this inner child whom Yosi credits with one of his main career accomplishments — inventing the near-billion-dollar industry that is kids’ yogurt. Yosi left Kraft (where “the best part of working… was choosing which prize got to go in the cereal box”) and moved literally down the block to Dannon where he served as marketing director. It was this “kid at heart” who invented what is now a $900 million market — the kids’ yogurt segment.

“Back in the 1990s yogurt was just yogurt ” says Yosi. “We thought we could segment it.”

The process from there was complex: working with companies in France and Sweden to create a sweeter culture coming up with pricing strategies and introducing this brand-new segment to the market. They came up with Sprinkles and Danimals — both of which catapulted Dannon to even greater levels of success and made Dannon’s light yogurt the number one best-selling yogurt on the market.

The process may have been complicated but the secret to its success was simple: In order to prevail your idea needs to truly tap into your consumers’ needs. By understanding the need for a yogurt that kids and mothers alike would adore Yosi was able to create a revolutionary product that changed the landscape of the industry in a significant way.

Ask yourself: Have I incorporated all relevant technologies into my marketing strategy?

Or maybe you’re better off asking your kids. We won’t tell.

Just don’t bring them to board meetings.

“The Big Four”

Yosi identifies what he calls “The Big Four” — the four primary long term trends in marketing.

Mobile: You know how teenagers are always on their phones? Turns out they are quite literally always on their phones. Ninety percent of millennials say they are never without their phones even sleeping next to them at night so as to avoid even a moment’s separation. Mobile content accounts for 60% of digital media the average person checks his phone at least 200 times per day and 35% of e-commerce takes place through mobile interactions. To accommodate this new reality you need to ensure that you provide a welcoming mobile experience to your consumer.

Video: I really hope you remember this article. But the fact is you’d remember it five times better if it were a video. Videos on a landing page increase conversion rates by 85% and double your shopping cart.

Social Media: Social media is becoming increasingly important to the overall success of your company and “pay to play” micro-targeted posts are a huge part of that. Yosi elaborates that “Social media is tending to move from free… to ‘pay-to-play’ such as boosted posts or ads.” This form of marketing is cost effective and overall just plain effective.

Content: Content marketing is the name of the game. Branded content is relevant content generated by a company that is not overtly sales-y but serves to establish the company as a leader in its industry. It therefore boosts sales tremendously albeit indirectly.

Virtual reality’s not just good for marketing; it has real-life applications as well. Virtual reality has been adopted by the military for training purposes. It allows soldiers to properly prepare themselves for any situation that may come their way by creating realistic circumstances for them to navigate. Virtual reality’s also been proven useful in treatment for PTSD when used as a sort of exposure therapy.

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