New VP Kate Johnson is a little over a week into leading North Shore Bank’s marketing efforts.
For her first two years of college, Kate Johnson worked as a teller at Firstar Bank in Menomonee Falls. “Little did I know this would be a precursor to the majority of my career,” she says.
As the new vice president in charge of marketing for North Shore Bank, Kate brings over 20 years of experience to her role, about three quarters of it in financial services. She began her career in manufacturing, working for the West Bend Company and Bemis Manufacturing, and then went to Baird and M&I Bank before Associated Bank recruited her to launch a companywide sales enablement program, as well as manage the corporate events department and head up the marketing team for the private clients and institutional services division. She was back in manufacturing, working as a marketing manager for CNH Industrial, before she joined our team.
“It’s funny,” she says. “I’ve marketed everything from coffee makers to toilet seats to wealth management services for the ultra-wealthy, and it all comes back to understanding your customer and their pain points.”
Kate talked to Shorelines on Tuesday about the challenges facing marketers today, her management style, and of course, where you can find her when she’s not in the office.
Where are you from and where do you live now?
I grew up in Menomonee Falls and currently live in Waterford. My husband, Wayne, is from Illinois and worked there up until recently — so Waterford was the midway point for both of us in terms of commuting. Now he’s working in downtown Milwaukee, and the commute is actually shorter, so life is good.
And yes: He is a Bears fan and I’m a Packers fan, so we’re a split household in that regard.
Kate and husband Wayne golfing in Hawaii on their 15th anniversary last summer.
What attracted you to North Shore Bank?
I’ve always heard really great things about the bank – from customers as well as employees. When I saw that they were looking for a new marketing leader, I jumped at the opportunity. And as I went through the interview process, everything that I had heard was confirmed. What sealed the deal for me was when Jay McKenna shared with me what he liked most about being at North Shore Bank: Because it’s a mutual bank — not publicly held, and with no shareholders — he can place all of his focus on his employees and customers. And that’s what he uses as a guide for decision making: Is it good for my employees? Is it good for my customers? I’ve worked for publicly held companies for the majority of my career, and all too often I have experienced short-term decision making for quarterly earnings performance.
What do you see as the big challenges for a bank marketing team right now?
Keeping up with technology is one of the biggest challenges for any marketing department — both tools for targeting customers and prospects (think social media, online and display advertising, search, etc.) and internal marketing technology to manage, track, and report on campaign effectiveness and ROI. And of course, keeping up with banking regulations is always critical.
We are already using a lot of the core technologies out there in terms of prospecting and targeting. Where the opportunity is, maybe, is to leverage some of these technologies a little bit more — such as going beyond doing posts on Facebook to using it to build look-alike audiences, so we can reach out to prospects that look a lot like our existing customer base.
What’s your management style? What should people know about working with you?
I am a servant-based leader, meaning I believe my role as leader is to establish the direction and goals for the team. Then I focus all of my energy on helping my team achieve success based on those direction and goals. In essence, I work for my team. If my team is achieving their goals, being successful, getting recognized — then I’m doing my job well. If not, then I need to work with them to help remove obstacles, allocate resources, or adjust expectations.
The best manager I’ve had up to this point — that was his style, although at the time I didn’t know what it was called or that servant-based leadership was a thing. I just knew he made my job so much easier to do, because of the introductions that were made, the bridges that were built, the obstacles he moved out of my way. And ever since that experience, that’s just how I have led, because of the success my teams have had.
People should know that I am a “thinker” — which means I prefer to understand in advance the topics of a meeting or the questions you have for me, so that I can marinate on them and provide you with a thoughtful answer.
What’s the most fun part of marketing for you?
I love strategy. I love being a part of developing it, I love sharing it, and I love seeing how we’re doing — if we’re making strides toward whatever the goal is. When I was at Associated, for about a year or so, the marketing department reported to the chief strategist, so I learned a lot about strategy development: how to pull it out of people, how to manage it, how to measure it — kind of all of the keys to success. I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s about “Where do we want to be as a company, and where does marketing fit into that?”
Kate with Lincoln.
What do you do for fun when you’re not busy marketing?
My husband and I are both avid golfers, so on Saturdays and Sundays you’ll find us out on the course (at least when it’s not snowing and it’s above 50 degrees). When we’re not golfing, we spend time with our golden retriever, Lincoln. She’s 6 years old, going on 6 months old — she has lots and lots of energy.
And I’m not sure I would say I like doing this – it’s more of a necessary evil – but I work out in the morning at a local fitness studio. I’m much more of a class person when it comes to exercise, so I go to the 5:30 a.m. class: cardio kickboxing, CrossFit, and strength training.
Last of all, what kind of goals do you have for North Shore Bank’s marketing department?
Today is my seventh day at the company, so I’m taking the time to understand the company, my team, and the needs of my business line partners before setting any new goals. We’re focused on executing the marketing plan that was established for the current fiscal year.
I have to say, I am so honored to be working with such a great team. The tenure of each team member is unlike anything I have ever experienced. My mission is to continue building on the success of this team to support solid growth for the bank.