Everyone should be watching VistaPrint’s marketing leader, Heather Deschenes, Vice President of North America Marketing. She has earned her spot in the 2024 Marketers To Watch Series, in partnership with The Wall Street Journal, for her innovative track record and leadership approach.
Heather has been a part of and led marketing teams for more than 20 years. Her career started at Staples, where she worked across traditional and modern marketing mediums. In her current role, she oversees areas such as social media, brand partnerships, pricing/promotion, media mix and spend, and all go-to-market and seasonal plans with a hands-on approach.
Curious about the marketing leader behind VistaPrint marketing? Keep reading to learn Heather’s perspectives on the future of marketing, the innovative work she’s been leading, her best career advice, and more.
What gives me joy outside of work…
During the summer, it’s finding those majestic nights around a firepit catching up with my family and friends. In the winter, you can find me at the ski slopes, taking in the fresh air and snow. In between, you can find me at a field cheering on my kids!
Every marketer should listen to...
Uncensored CMO, hosted by Jon Evans. Jon and his guests do a great job unpacking the realities of marketing leadership. It’s a candid look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of our industry.
Future of Marketing
Q: What’s one thing coming down the marketing pike you are most excited about?
I’m excited to see how teams can integrate technologies like AI and machine learning into their marketing strategies. At VistaPrint, we’re harnessing AI to improve how we serve our customers and improve our processes.
From AI-driven content creation and tailored customer experiences to enhanced decision-making with data, brands adopting AI thoughtfully and strategically, without losing sight of who they are, will see it become an integral part of their marketing strategies.
Q: What widely accepted “marketing truth” do you wish the industry would evolve?
Marketing attribution. While it seems like a tidy way to grasp consumer behavior, attribution is more of a simplification than an accurate portrayal of reality and performance.
Assigning success to any one channel (or mix of channels) tends to be misleading because of the nuanced nature of the customer journey and the evolving digital media and data privacy landscape.
Attribution doesn’t account for the many interactions, both online and offline, that influence customer decision-making.
Q: What’s a prediction you have for Brand Marketing over the next few years?
The evolution of social commerce and social search has fundamentally transformed how customers discover brands and shop online. Social commerce is increasingly integrating seamless shopping experiences into platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where consumers spend their time.
Social search is improving in its ability to incorporate trends and real-time search patterns to serve up the right content to the right audiences at critical moments of interest.
These trends are particularly relevant to Gen Z and Millennials, who rely on these platforms for news, event discovery, shopping, and more. As these tools scale and become more sophisticated, it’s crucial for brands, especially those in the e-commerce space, to ensure their context mix reflects their customers’ interests and preferences.
Brand Marketing at Vistaprint
Q: How would you describe your work style as Vice President of North America Marketing at VistaPrint?
I’ve always believed that the most successful marketers are hands-on. Adopting that leadership philosophy has had an impact on my professional growth, but it’s also helped me understand what’s needed to balance strategy with execution across a marketing organization.
That context plays a big role at VistaPrint. I’m laser-focused on ensuring that our marketing activities position VistaPrint to drive sustained growth while building long-term brand equity.
Q: What’s the most pressing marketing challenge you’ve faced at VistaPrint in the last year, and what have you done to try to solve it?
The performance marketing trap. While performance marketing strategies like paid search effectively target ready-to-buy consumers and provide measurable results, they don’t significantly alter how people perceive our brand compared to competitors.
Performance marketing tactics are trackable and focus on immediate demand, but they offer limited insight into long-term brand perception.
To achieve sustainable growth, it’s crucial that we invest in brand marketing. This approach helps shape consumer perceptions, reduce price sensitivity, and highlight the breadth of our products and services.
As many marketers know, the balancing act between performance marketing and brand marketing is a bit of a dance. At VistaPrint, we’re embracing the challenge and experimenting with tactics like market and Designated Market Area (DMA) level tests to understand what a more mixed media portfolio can do for our business.
Leadership and Career Advice
Q: What leadership muscle is most important for marketers to exercise?
Embracing change. As marketers, we know the way things are today won’t be the way they are tomorrow. Technologies, customers trends, and purchase habits are in a constant state of flux.
When marketers get comfortable with change, they take calculated risks, drive innovation from concept to reality, learn from mistakes, and inspire others to do the same. This is a muscle that isn’t merely advantageous in marketing; it’s essential for long-term success.
Q: What’s the most game-changing career advice you‘ve received?
“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
Marketers to Watch is a recognition series to spotlight highly innovative and forward-thinking marketing leaders in the community. If you have someone you’d like to nominate for the series, apply here.
