Stan Phelps
Chief Solutions Officer at Synergy Events
Author, What’s Your Purple Goldfish How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth
“I believe the longest and hardest 9 inches in marketing . . . is the distance between the brain and the heart of your customer. Successfully making that journey is the holy grail.
I am looking to change the paradigm of marketing. Focus on the customer and their experience, instead of the chasing the prospect. Drive value and give little unexpected extras through a concept called marketing lagniappe.
Are you ready to cut through the clutter? How do you stand out in a ‘sea of sameness’? Can you win customers and influence word of mouth? What’s your signature brand experience?”
What do you do when you’ve held your dream job? Dream bigger. Stan works with Synergy’s clients to provide consumer experiences that are memorable, meaningful and on-brand. Driven by client objectives. Inspired by bold vision. The result: programs that win big.
He gained this know-how through a career filled with “dream jobs” for global mega-brands in sports including adidas, IMG and the PGA of America. Stan joined adidas immediately after finishing his graduate degree, moving to Portland, starting work and studying for the bar all at the same time. Over the years, he held a variety of marketing positions. A highlight? Working in Yankee Stadium as Brand Marketing Manager for adidas’ partnership with the team. A native New Yorker, Stan was on hand as they won the World Series not once, but three times, even riding in the celebratory parade (“one to tell the grandkids.”) Thinking it couldn’t get any better, Stan had to stop and pinch himself when adidas asked him to manage Global Tennis Sports Marketing and relocate to Amsterdam. A lifelong tennis player and former assistant coach at Villanova, he jumped at the chance. Stan’s career wasn’t the only thing to change from the experience: it was on a flight to Amsterdam that he met his wife, whose mother was Dutch. Some time later, they got together on first dates in locations that were in convenient locations such as Prague, Paris, Cape Town, Seattle and NYC.
Today, Stan works with Synergy Events as Chief Solutions Officer. He takes a wide look at marketing with the premise of finding unique ways to engage customers – an approach that he’s held since his very first job as a kid. He explains, “my first job was working in a Carvel and I loved the idea of creating something with the customers, even if it was just decorating cakes and making banana splits.” While at Synergy, Stan started a blog to provide insight for how emotionally charged engagement between brand and customer can create loyalty. His “9 Inch Axioms” are guidelines to help brands make the journey between customer’s head and heart, the toughest, but most critical distance to span. This important concept and fun approach received acknowledgement from the blogosphere and his site was ranked in the top 40 for all content marketing blogs in 2009.
You might suspect that Stan never sleeps. In the midst of all this activity, he still finds time to tweet, blog and create additional content with clear purpose and an innovative vision: to inspire people about the value of customer experience. Through social media, he helps to position Synergy as a thought leader in the experiential marketing industry.
Stan’s ideas have recently expanded to include the Purple Goldfish Project, helping brand managers understand the value for creating signature moments. He provides examples of those who are accomplishing this in big and small ways, each creating an “unexpected moment that makes people want to be drawn in and talk about that experience with others.”