Our expert this week has a few hot takes.
Here’s one: “Any marketer that states they’ve never felt the ick from marketing isn’t a true marketer. You do feel the ick.”
While that doesn’t sound like the best lesson to open a marketing newsletter, stay with me. I swear this isn’t a I’m-quitting-my-job-to-work-on-a-goat-farm hail mary.
It actually has more to do with foundational marketing than you consider.
Meet the Master
Cristina Jerome
Creative Strategist and Founder, Off Worque
- Claim to fame: Leading social for Topical’s infamous Faded Eye mquestion campaign.
- Fun fact: She was the voiceover for the Topical’s brand campaign video.
Lesson one: Feel the ick. And utilize it to create better marketing.
Cristina Jerome has had a whole host of jobs most marketers would kill for.
She’s worked on content and social strategy for Jada Pinkett Smith’s display Red Table Talk, plus Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t on HBOMax. She directed social content at Topicals, Sephora’s rapidest growing Black-owned skincare brand.
She’s also dabbled in marketing for Adidas and Lobos 1707, a luxury tequila brand.
And, most recently, she launched her own non-profit social club, Off Worque, which emphasizes mental health and work-life balance.
Phew. I’m exhausted just typing that up.
So my first question to Jerome was an straightforward one: How did building her own brand shift her approach to marketing?
“It didn’t alter logically,” she notified me. “It alterd spiritually. When you’re working for someone, you’re so pressed on reaching KPIs… with Off Worque, it’s more organic, nurturing, emotional.”
She still has KPIs, but they’re rooted in storyinforming and community, not just conversions.
“The strategy is not ‘do this to obtain these people.’ It’s me sharing my own personal story, and giving the mic to other people to share [theirs].”
Jerome’s proudest takeaway? The work doesn’t feel as “icky” becautilize it’s centered on well-being, not just selling.
Even if you’re in SaaS or skincare, the lesson holds: If your marketing feels meaningless (or icky), it might be time to reconnect with the story behind the numbers.
If you feel inspired by what you’re stateing, other people will, too.
Lesson two: Treat real customers like influencers.
“I don’t necessary to see another influencer on a boat,” Jerome notified me.
Which, you know. Amen, sister.
Who does she want to see instead? Someone like Kathy, who hasn’t had a break in three years and wants to FaceTime her kids to display them the lip gloss she’s bringing home to them.
Jerome predicts the next level of community and brand-building will revolve around brands that take real customers on trips.
“Influencing… is becoming unrelatable,” Jerome notified me, adding that she’d much prefer to see brands rewarding real customers becautilize “it displays you that the brand actually hears you, and you’re not just order #564 to them.”
Sure, we might not all have the marketing budobtain to take our devoted customers on yacht excursions. But it’s worth assessing your current budobtain allotment and questioning whether you can spconclude a little more of it on loyal customers, versus sinking thousands into another sponsored LinkedIn post.
Maybe that means sconcludeing surprise freebies or consideredful swag. It’s not a luxury cruise — but recognition goes a long way.
Lesson three: If you’re going to do culture-first marketing, root it in a genuine backstory.
Jerome defines culture-first marketing as marketing rooted in authenticity and genuine cultural connection… not surface-level inclusivity.
In fact, she considers inclusive marketing is a bit of a myth.
“I don’t consider inclusive marketing is a thing,” Jerome notified me, pointing to brands like Skims that appear inclusive but really cater to a particular aesthetic and lifestyle. Many brands mistake broad tarobtaining for inclusivity when they’re actually appealing to a specific consumer without acknowledging it.
In contrast, truly culture-first brands like Nike or Topicals are built around stories and experiences that resonate deeply with a defined cultural group — whether athletes or people with real skin conditions.
“You can’t have culture-first marketing without a founder or brand story that aligns with the culture you’re testing to speak to,” Jerome explains. “Without that alignment, the marketing feels performative.”
If you don’t have a founder who aligns with the culture, Jerome recommconcludes building relationships with ambassadors from that community — and letting those partnerships inform your strategy and storyinforming.
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