{"id":77114,"date":"2025-12-01T19:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/?p=77114"},"modified":"2025-12-01T19:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:27:07","slug":"use-the-ick-to-create-better-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/use-the-ick-to-create-better-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Use the Ick to Create Better Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"hs_cos_wrapper_post_body\">\n<p>Our expert this week has a few hot takes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"blog-post-body-featured-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hubfs\/53\/Cristina%20Jerome%20for%20Blog.png\" alt=\"Cristina Jerome on marketing foundations\" style=\"width: 524px;\"\/><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s one: &#8220;Any marketer that says they&#8217;ve never felt the ick from marketing isn&#8217;t a true marketer. You do feel the ick.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27\" id=\"hs-cta-bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27\"><!--[if lte IE 8]>\n\n<div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div>\n\n<![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/53\/bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" height=\"58\" width=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/53\/bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27.png\" alt=\"Click Here to Subscribe to Masters in Marketing\"\/><\/a><\/span><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/p>\n<p>While that doesn&#8217;t sound like the <em>best<\/em> lesson to open a marketing newsletter, stay with me. I swear this isn&#8217;t a I&#8217;m-quitting-my-job-to-work-on-a-goat-farm hail mary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It actually has more to do with foundational marketing than you think.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Meet the Master<\/h2>\n<h3><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=1080&amp;height=1080&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Cristina Jerome\" style=\"height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 1080px;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=540&amp;height=540&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png 540w, https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=1080&amp;height=1080&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png 1080w, https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=1620&amp;height=1620&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png 1620w, https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=2160&amp;height=2160&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png 2160w, https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=2700&amp;height=2700&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png 2700w, https:\/\/53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net\/hub\/53\/hubfs\/Cristina%20Jerome.png?width=3240&amp;height=3240&amp;name=Cristina%20Jerome.png 3240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\"\/><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>Cristina Jerome<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4><em><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">Creative Strategist and Founder, <\/span><\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">ff Worque<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%;\"><strong>Claim to fame: <\/strong>Leading social for Topical&#8217;s infamous Faded Eye mask campaign.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%;\"><strong>Fun fact: <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">She<\/span>\u00a0was the voiceover for the Topical&#8217;s brand campaign <a href=\"https:\/\/cristinajerome.com\/blogs\/news\/social-media-roll-out-and-strategy-for-topicals\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">video<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Lesson one: Feel the ick. And use it to create better marketing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Cristina Jerome has had a whole host of jobs most marketers would kill for.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;s worked on content and social strategy for Jada Pinkett Smith&#8217;s show <em>Red Table Talk<\/em>, plus Issa Rae&#8217;s <em>Rap Sh!t<\/em> on HBOMax. She directed social content at Topicals, Sephora&#8217;s fastest growing Black-owned skincare brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;s also dabbled in marketing for Adidas and Lobos 1707, a luxury tequila brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And, most recently, she launched her own non-profit social club, <a href=\"https:\/\/offworque.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>Off Worque<\/span><\/a>, which emphasizes mental health and work-life balance.<\/p>\n<p>Phew. I&#8217;m exhausted just typing that up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So my first question to Jerome was an easy one: <strong>How did building her own brand shift her approach to marketing?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It didn&#8217;t change logically,&#8221; she told me. &#8220;It changed spiritually. When you&#8217;re working for someone, you&#8217;re so pressed on reaching KPIs\u2026 with Off Worque, it&#8217;s more organic, nurturing, emotional.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She still has KPIs, but they\u2019re rooted in storytelling and community, not just conversions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;The strategy is not &#8216;do this to get these people.&#8217; It&#8217;s me sharing my own personal story, and giving the mic to other people to share [theirs].&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jerome\u2019s<\/strong> proudest takeaway? The work doesn\u2019t feel as \u201cicky&#8221; because it&#8217;s centered on well-being, not just selling.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even if you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n<p>If you feel inspired by what you&#8217;re saying, other people will, too.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Lesson two: Treat real customers like influencers.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>I don&#8217;t need to see another influencer on a boat,<\/strong>&#8221; Jerome told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Which, you know. Amen, sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Who does she want to see instead? Someone like Kathy, who hasn&#8217;t had a break in three years and wants to FaceTime her kids to show them the lip gloss she&#8217;s bringing home to them.<\/p>\n<p>Jerome predicts the next level of community and brand-building will revolve around brands that take <em>real<\/em> customers on trips.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Influencing\u2026 is becoming unrelatable,&#8221;<\/strong> Jerome told me, adding that she&#8217;d much prefer to see brands rewarding real customers because &#8220;it shows you that the brand actually hears you, and you&#8217;re not just order #564 to them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sure, we might not all have the marketing budget to take our devoted customers on yacht excursions. But it&#8217;s worth assessing your current budget allotment and questioning whether you can spend a little more of it on loyal customers, versus sinking thousands into another sponsored LinkedIn post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Maybe that means sending surprise freebies or thoughtful swag. It\u2019s not a luxury cruise \u2014 but recognition goes a long way.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Lesson three: If you&#8217;re going to do culture-first marketing, root it in a genuine backstory.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Jerome defines culture-first marketing as marketing rooted in authenticity and genuine cultural connection\u2026 not surface-level inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, she thinks inclusive marketing is a bit of a myth.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think inclusive marketing is a thing,&#8221; Jerome told me, pointing to brands like Skims that appear inclusive but really cater to a particular aesthetic and lifestyle. <strong>Many brands mistake broad targeting for inclusivity when they&#8217;re actually appealing to a specific consumer without acknowledging it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In contrast, truly culture-first brands like Nike or Topicals are built around stories and experiences that resonate deeply with a defined cultural group \u2014 whether athletes or people with real skin conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t have culture-first marketing without a founder or brand story that aligns with the culture you&#8217;re trying to speak to,&#8221; Jerome explains. &#8220;Without that alignment, the marketing feels performative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t have a founder who aligns with the culture, Jerome recommends building relationships with ambassadors from that community \u2014 and letting those partnerships inform your strategy and storytelling.<\/p>\n<p><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af\" id=\"hs-cta-e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af\"><!--[if lte IE 8]>\n\n<div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div>\n\n<![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/53\/e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" height=\"613\" width=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/53\/e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af.png\" alt=\"Click Here to Subscribe to Masters in Marketing\"\/><\/a><\/span><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Published by Dralys Blog \u2013 Stories | Insights | Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Discover more on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dralysstore.com\" target=\"_blank\">DralysStore.com<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pld-like-dislike-wrap pld-template-2\">\r\n    <div class=\"pld-like-wrap  pld-common-wrap\">\r\n    <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"pld-like-trigger pld-like-dislike-trigger  \" title=\"\" data-post-id=\"77114\" data-trigger-type=\"like\" data-restriction=\"no\" data-already-liked=\"0\">\r\n                        <i class=\"fas fa-heart\"><\/i>\r\n                <\/a>\r\n    <span class=\"pld-like-count-wrap pld-count-wrap\">    <\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our expert this week has a few hot takes.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":77115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[74,34,65,176,45,177,10],"class_list":["post-77114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dralys-insights","tag-dralys","tag-e-commerce","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-ecosystem","tag-innovation","tag-smart-shopping","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Cristina20Jerome20for20Blog.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77116,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77114\/revisions\/77116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}