Tag Archive for: Red Letter Day

Meet Dawn Boulanger

Dawn Boulanger is a 30-year veteran of the restaurant industry with experience in marketing, operations and franchising. She has spent the past 20 years leading the marketing functions for both quick service and casual dining chains. Currently working as VP of Marketing at Tri Star Energy, one of the Mid-South’s premier convenience retailers, she’s leading the development and launch of a new local coffee shop, White Bison as well as the marketing & branding efforts for the Twice Daily convenience stores. We’re super excited to hear her discuss convenience and shifting target audiences, as it’s clear that women are very much looking for fast and convenient solutions when it comes to food and coffee.

Representing women appropriately in marketing is important to Dawn because she feels that opinions and stereotypes that many adults have for others are established and can be difficult to change. She believes it is important that advertisers and marketers help mold the minds of our children by creating content that represents females in a positive way.

“I feel that young boys and girls need to see and hear depictions of women of all races, ethnicities, shapes and sizes in real situations to reinforce the message that women are strong, deserving of respect and equality”, explained Dawn. “These positive portrayals will help young people develop a more positive attitude about women – helping to lessen the negative stereotypes boys have of girls and helping girls to have more confidence and a stronger belief in themselves!”

Prior to her current role, Dawn was Vice President of Marketing for O’Charley’s, a regional varied menu casual dining chain. In addition to managing the marketing and product development functions for the brand, she served as a key member of the executive management team helping to formulate the company’s strategy and business plan development. During her tenure there, she supervised a major brand positioning project that helped to ensure consistent branding execution across all consumer touch points. Dawn has also served as VP of Marketing for Back Yards Burgers and as Director of Marketing for Captain D’s Seafood.

Want to hear all about convenience and finding your target audience? Dawn will share key research and case studies at Red Letter Day on Friday, August 17th in Nashville. Register here!

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Get to know Nashville Post

We’re so excited to announce that this year’s media sponsor is the Nashville Post!

Launched in 2000, the Nashville Post continued to be the most respected and established vehicle for business and political news coverage in Middle Tennessee.  Delivering a smart, engaged audience through a combination of online and print offerings, the Post allows you to reach the inboxes and mailboxes of high-level executives and business decision makers.

The Nashville Post audience not only has decision-making power in regard to business spending decisions, but also the disposable income for high-end apparel, fine dining, luxury items and personal real estate.  Delivering a consistent message to the Post audience will keep your brand top of mind when decision time comes and position your business to be among the best in the market. Thanks for your support of the third Red Letter Day in Nashville on August 17th!

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Hello Google Bulletin

Bulletin is a tool for publishing local stories straight to the web, with just your phone and we’re so excited to have them as a sponsor for this year’s Red Letter Day! Bulletin is a free, lightweight app for telling a story by capturing photos, videoclips and text right from your phone, published straight to the web (without having to create a blog or build a website). If you are comfortable taking photos or sending messages, you can create a Bulletin story and contribute to local stories and be the voice of your community!

Bulletin is currently in a limited pilot, available in Nashville, TN and Oakland, CA. To be considered for the pilot, please request early access. We’ll be using it at our event on August 17th so go ahead and ask for access now so you can play along!

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Thanks to First Tennessee!

First Tennessee has strong roots in Tennessee, going all the way back to 1864 when the bank got its start in Memphis, Tennessee. First Tennessee’s business banking services are nationally recognized in a wide variety of categories and they consistently deliver superior service and smart, solutions-oriented thinking. They were recently recognized as a Top 50 Company for Executive Women as well as Top Workplace and Best Workplaces for Parents and Best Workplaces for Diversity.

We’re so thankful for the support of First Tennessee as a sponsor of this year’s Red Letter Day!

 

 

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Meet our Presenting Sponsor Asurion

Asurion helps protect the connections that matter most. They assist the people around the globe balance the interdependence between life and technology. Asurion is the preferred provider of technology protection to the world’s largest wireless carriers, trusted retailers and popular device manufacturers.

Asurion’s 16,000 global employees support its 305 million consumers with an award-winning experience delivered through products and services that have set the standard in the industry.  While we are proud to have them headquartered in Nashville, they have offices around the world to help people manage their technology.  Asurion is a trailblazer in the development and implementation of global diversity and inclusion practices and we’re so honored to have their support of Red Letter Day this year!

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Thank you Valassis Digital!

Valassis Digital is a leading digital marketing intelligence company, providing a best-in-class data management platform and online and offline targeting capabilities that fuels superior display advertising and expanded media offerings, such as in-store campaign solutions, for advertising clients. Through proprietary technology, Valassis Digital creates meaningful marketing and advertising impact for businesses – from planning, delivery, and attribution. Valassis Digital taps into meaningful, actionable insights that drive better campaign performance.

We’re so excited  to have Valassis Digital on board as a sponsor of Red Letter Day this year and look forward to seeing what they bring to our event on August 17th at City Winery in Nashville!

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Meet Beth Sachan

As the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Music City’s iconic confection, Goo Goo Cluster, Beth Sachan oversees all marketing and public relations for the brand as well as the Goo Goo Shop and Dessert Bar in downtown Nashville. In addition to her role at Goo Goo, Beth is the creator of Eat. Drink. Smile., an award winning food & drink blog. Southern Living magazine recently named her as one of the 10 Southern Bloggers You Should Be Following.

She will be leading a panel all about Influencer Marketing and how brands of all sizes can learn more about this important and fun marketing strategy. Influencer marketing focuses on using key bloggers, influencers, celebrities, and thought leaders to drive your brand’s message by leveraging their influence to a larger market.   Brand trust is at an all time low.  Nielsen reports 92 percent of people trust recommendations from individuals—even if they don’t know them—over brands.  The result is that consumers will trust influencers over brands themselves.

Are you just as excited as we are to learn all about Influencer Marketing? Come hear Beth speak at Red Letter Day on August 17th and get your tickets here.

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Meet Yanika Smith-Bartley

Yanika (“Nikki”) Smith-Bartley is Vice President & Special Counsel – Diversity & Inclusion at Asurion and will be speaking about unconscious bias in recruitment and internal practices at this year’s Red Letter Day on August 17th.   At Asurion, she is a trailblazer in the development and implementation of global diversity and inclusion practices.  She is their first diversity and inclusion officer and spearheaded the initiative that won Asurion the 2018 “Diversity Game Changer” award from the Nashville Technology Council.

Nikki is originally from Cleveland, Ohio.  She is married to Brian Bartley and they have two sons, Grayson (6) and Harper (4). She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Fisk University and her Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University Law School.  She currently holds the position of Vice President & Special Counsel – Diversity and Inclusion at Asurion where she is responsible for development and implementation of global diversity and inclusion strategies for Asurion.  She also serves on Human Resources Leadership team providing legal advice and counsel and oversight on matters of equality, employment law compliance & HR policies and processes.

Before joining Asurion, Nikki practiced employment law at Baker Donelson, where she also served as a diversity inclusion trainer, Vice-Chair of the Diversity Committee and as a member of the Recruiting Committee.  She served as secretary for the Nashville and Napier Looby Bar Associations, is an alumnus of Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law, Young Leaders Council, and Harry Phillips American Inn of Court, and a past board member of Bethlehem Centers of Nashville and Nashville Electric Service, where she served as Vice-Chairman of the Board.

Currently, Nikki serves on the board of Nashville Public Television and the board of the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers’ Association for Women as Immediate Past President.  She is also an active member of the Kappa Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and served as their past parliamentarian and held the regional position of Tennessee Connections Chair. She served mock trial coach for the Harpeth Hall’s High School Mock Trial team for many years and regularly mentors young lawyers and women.

She also was a 2013 honoree for Nashville Business Journal’s “Top Forty under 40” and a 2017 honoree for Nashville Business Journal’s “Best of The Bar.”

We can’t wait to hear her speak at Red Letter Day on August 17th at City Winery in Nashville. Want to hear her speak? Get your ticket here. 

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Meet Anne McGraw

Anne McGraw is coming back to Red Letter Day talking about the social media insights to the “A Wrinkle in Time” promotion.  Just the social video campaign for the promotion received 27 million digital impressions.  Anne has been a pioneer in social media marketing for Nissan, from an online-only launch of the 100% electric Nissan LEAF to standing up the organization’s first ever social media command center.

As Senior Manager, Social Media Marketing for Nissan North America, Anne is responsible for strategic development and operational deployment of brand and campaign executions on social platforms. She joined Nissan in 2011 and has specialized in digital transformation programs, from an online-only launch of the 100% electric Nissan LEAF to standing up the organization’s first ever social media command center.

Anne will be joining Lanae Jackson, Multicultural Marketing Manager, this year for Red Letter Day as they discuss a Wrinkle In Time Case Study. Oprah called the movie A Wrinkle in Time the new Wizard of Oz for a new generation. It is based on a fantasy book written by a woman, whose hero is a teen girl.  It is produced by a woman, directed by a woman and starred in by a collective of important female stars.  The book has been banned and loved but finally made into a classic movie.  At Red Letter Day, we’ll learn why Nissan thought it was a great vehicle, pun intended, for a promotion.

Want to come hear Anne speak on August 17th in Nashville? You can get tickets for Red Letter Day here.

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Meet Lanae Jackson



Lanae Jackson directs Nissan’s multicultural, (African-American, Asian, Hispanic and LGBTQ), strategic framework that develops and implements key initiatives to increase awareness, drive purchase consideration and achieve sales objectives.

She also leads a cross-functional team, which oversees the marketing communications and media for the multicultural consumer segments, identifies trends, and tactics to achieve Nissan’s goals.

Lanae will be at Red Letter Day giving us insights to the “A Wrinkle in Time” promotion using a social video campaign and special integration with the nonprofit Black Girls Code.  Lanae says “Our mission is to engage with all consumers within big media moments, such as Disney’s “A Wrinkle In Time,” Habitat for Humanity’s “Home is the Key” giving campaign, the Mexican National Team partnership, BET Awards, Gay Softball World Series and Latin Grammy Awards.

“Representation matters and it is my responsibility to ensure women are shown in a multifaceted light,” explained Lanae. “I would like for women to see themselves accurately reflected in marketing campaigns…from in front of the camera to behind the scenes, so that everyone will #SeeHer.”

In this position, Lanae is particularly proud of her work in the recent marketing campaign to support the launch of Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” The digital campaign consisted of a social video series where Nissan highlighted African American leaders in the film and technology industries. It generated over 27M digital impressions.

Looking ahead, Lanae understands the changing cultural demographics in the United States and embraces the shift it will cause in advertising.  “The US is becoming more diverse and it is imperative that we create advertising that resonates in a culturally relevant and genuine way to audiences,” Lanae says.  She believes the “total market” marketing approach will become more common, however, “understanding and communicating cultural nuances will be key in building relationships and with a diverse audience.”

We are thrilled to learn more about Nissan and their partnership with Disney. Do you want to hear Lanae tell us more? Join us on August 17th in Nashville at Red Letter Day. Tickets here. 

 

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