Listening to how executives choose what to trust.
I contributed to a C-suite marketing plan grounded in ten team interviews, helped conduct the primary research, shaped audience recommendations, and presented the work to Florida Trend executives.
Team contributor · Fall 2023 · Interviews, competitor review, personas, PowerPoint
How could Florida Trend become more relevant and visible to C-suite readers?
10 team interviews: seven in person and three virtual.
Interview support, follow-up questioning, synthesis, and presentation.
A full marketing plan and executive presentation.
Statewide business publication and academic client partner.
Understand the person behind the C-suite title.
The project could not rely on age, job title, or broad assumptions about how executives consume information. We wanted to hear how leaders actually discover business news, which sources earn their trust, what makes them investigate a topic more deeply, and where Florida Trend fit—or did not yet fit—within those habits.
The team paired that primary research with a brand review, market and competitor analysis, SWOT, segmentation, personas, and a recommended marketing approach.
Ten interviews made the audience less abstract.
10
team interviews
Vice presidents, CEOs, shareholders, and CFOs
7 + 3
interview format
Seven in person · three virtual
1
complete plan
Research, recommendations, and an executive presentation
My interview questions moved beyond preferred publications. I asked how leaders found information, how they checked credibility, whether they wanted a quick summary or a long read, and what made a topic worth following further.
Discovery, trust, and depth were connected decisions.
Topics often came before loyalty
Some participants followed an interesting issue wherever it appeared, then looked across sources instead of beginning with one publication.
Trust was actively tested
Interviewees described checking the source, following citations, contacting writers, or comparing coverage before settling on a view.
Short and long could work together
A concise overview helped leaders decide whether a topic deserved the time required for deeper reading or listening.
Relationships still mattered
Peer sharing, trusted journalists, professional conversations, and in-person connections could all influence what earned attention.
Ask the prepared question—then listen for the more useful one.
Prepare
Work from a shared interview guide covering news habits, trusted sources, media formats, credibility, and Florida Trend awareness.
Interview
Help conduct executive conversations and use follow-up questions to clarify why a preference or behavior mattered.
Synthesize
Connect interview themes to audience segments, personas, the competitive review, and the broader marketing problem.
Present
Help shape the recommendations and present the team’s plan to Florida Trend executives.
The plan linked channel ideas to observed audience behavior.
The team’s recommendation set emphasized a stronger digital presence while preserving the credibility, depth, and relationship-building that made business media valuable to the interviewees. Ideas included professional social channels, video and short-form entry points, email, and more frequent executive-focused events.
The project concluded with a complete plan and a presentation of those proposed directions to Florida Trend’s executive team.
A full marketing plan with research behind the recommendations.
01
Brand and market review
Company context, publishing trends, and the environment surrounding Florida business media.
02
Competitive analysis and SWOT
A structured look at brand, product, channel, and market alternatives.
03
Primary research
Ten executive interviews, transcripts, and themes drawn from news-consumption behavior.
04
Segmentation and personas
Audience definitions that made the C-suite target more specific and usable.
05
Marketing strategy and presentation
Recommended digital, content, and event directions presented to Florida Trend executives.
Good strategy should sound like the people it is meant to reach.
This case demonstrates primary research, active listening, audience synthesis, market analysis, recommendation development, and executive presentation. Its strongest lesson was the bridge from conversation to plan: first understand how people make an information choice, then design the marketing around that behavior.