With 7+ years in marketing and brand management, Elisa Bell’s expertise is thinking of campaigns holistically, all the way through the customer’s experience with the product or service.
Elisa Bell
Customer Experience Director, North America
Transurban
With 7+ years in marketing and brand management, Elisa has worked on campaigns for laundry stain remover, Brita and Glad Food products at The Clorox Company, as well as luxury clinical skin and hair care at Sephora. Her expertise is thinking of campaigns holistically, all the way through the customer’s experience with the product or service. With dynamically tolled (495 and 95) Express Lanes now here in the D.C. area, her current role with one of the world’s largest toll-road operators keeps her on her toes.
AMADC: What attracted you to the marketing profession? What keeps you inspired?
EB: Before I went to business school, I worked at Blackboard. Marketing had a seat at the table in terms of helping make game-changing decisions impacting product strategy. I had never worked in a function that helped drive business strategy and I wanted that experience. What keeps me inspired are the many facets of marketing. For example, I’ve been learning graphic design to have the ability to bring marketing strategy to life creatively. The marketing field is changing so fast so there is always something new to learn.
AMADC: We noticed that you recently changed roles to “Customer Experience Director” at Transurban. Congratulations! How does CX differ from Marketing, and why the shift?
EB: Like at most fast paced companies, roles can change and evolve. This has certinaly been the case during my tenure at Transurban. My team now shares leadership with our Operations function. With that change, my team was being pulled into meaty projects that needed extreme focus on the impact to the customer experience. While we still do marketing in the traditional sense, so much more of our responsibility centers around ensuring the customer is having the best experience possible. From what I’ve seen, I feel the marketing function is shifting to be about customer experience. It’s not enough to push out messaging, there needs to be engagement and focus on the customer lifecycle. For example, I led the effort to refresh the Express Lanes brand –look and feel and tone of voice. Not only did we completely redo the website but we rewrote the call scripts for the customer service center in the new tone of voice. My team has also shifted our social media program to encompass social care.
AMADC: How long have you been a mentor with the Marketing Mentors Network?
EB: This is my first time being a mentor for AMADC.
AMADC: What made you decide to join the Marketing Mentors Network?
EB: I’ve been both mentee and mentor, informally, in the past. Being on both sides of the relationship, I have learned much about navigating corporate America, as well as being true to what gets me excited and piques my curiosity. I wanted to participate in a more structured way, with someone I didn’t know. It has been great!
AMADC: What have you learned from your time in the program?
EB: I’ve learned that you will always discover something new, whether you are a mentor or a mentee. Ingrid, my mentee, has taught me so much due to our different marketing journeys.
AMADC: What is your favorite part about being a mentor?
EB: Being able to help someone discover the “right” answer or have an “aha” moment, as a result of sharing my experiences and mistakes that I’ve made along the way.
AMADC: What would you say to others considering becoming a mentor?
EB: Do it! Marketing isn’t a structured career with defined career paths. We can learn from each other, but we have to be willing to share.
AMADC: What advice do you have for up-and-coming marketers in your field?
EB: Network, network, network! Marketing can be challenging in the D.C. area, depending on your focus. Hop on LinkedIn, go to networking events, talk to your family and friends. Reach out to people and just offer to take them to coffee to learn about what they do. Most people will jump at the chance to meet someone new and tell their story.