May 28, 2020 | 3 min read

Unleashing the Power of Mobile Marketing with Brian Garofola

By: Patrick Emmons

Unleashing the Power of Mobile Marketing with Brian Garofola

Let’s say it’s almost lunchtime and suddenly you receive a text from your favorite local restaurant with a coupon. You read the text and think, “That does sound pretty good.” You head there for lunch, show your coupon, and get your discount. In a nutshell, this is what Vibes, a platform that helps marketers drive experiences and meaningful customer connections, is all about.

Today, Pat and Shelli spoke to Vibes’ CTO Brian Garofola about the underutilized power of mobile when it comes to driving customer experience. Brian discusses why text marketing and mobile wallet can bridge the digital and physical divide, thus increasing transactions.

Brian also mused on the power of mentorship and explained why he believes that leadership is not a destination, but an ongoing journey. He shared why he keeps the work in perspective and does his best to model a positive outlook for his employees. Listen to the episode for his insights.

*Please note this interview was recorded in early February prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

  • [00:24] - This week: Brian Garofola
  • [01:42] - Mobile marketing with Vibes
  • [04:26] - The innovator’s dilemma
  • [06:14] - Gary Vaynerchuk
  • [08:35] - Text message recruiting
  • [11:07] - Helping brands explode
  • [20:18] - Leadership with optimism
  • [23:57] - Evolving through mentors
  • [29:32] - Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps
  • [32:49 - Building trust and goodwill

Brian Garofola is the CTO at Vibes in Chicago. At Vibes, Brian is focused on connecting people with the brands they love through the power of mobile. Vibes delivers over a billion mobile experiences per month for some of the world’s leading brands like Home Depot, Chipotle, and PetSmart. Brian is responsible for the Product & Technology organization, including Engineering, Product Experience, Data & Analytics, Cloud, IT, and Security. He also served as the Vice President of platform engineering at CDK Global, a global provider of information technology and digital marketing solutions to the automotive retail industry.

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This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.

About Patrick Emmons

If you can’t appreciate a good sports analogy, movie quote, or military reference, you may not want to work with him, but if you value honesty, integrity, and commitment to improvement, Patrick can certainly help take your business or your career to the next level. “Good enough,” is simply not in his vernacular. Pat’s passion is for relentlessly pushing himself and others to achieve full potential. Patrick Emmons is a graduate of St. Norbert College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. Patrick co-founded Adage Technologies in 2001 and in 2015, founded DragonSpears as a spin-off dedicated to developing custom applications that improve speed, compliance and scalability of clients’ internal and customer-facing workflow processes. When he is not learning about new technology, running a better business, or becoming a stronger leader, he can be found coaching his kids’ (FIVE of them) baseball and lacrosse teams and praising his ever-so-patient wife for all her support.

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We interview leaders from early-stage start-ups to billion-dollar enterprises who distill their lessons from their victories and their failures. Learn how these high-performing leaders organize their teams, establish a growth-minded culture, and leverage new technologies such as DevOps and Cloud.