Kelly McDonald

Kelly McDonald is a nationally recognized marketing expert, with deep specialization in multicultural marketing and business trends, and she was named #1 on the list of “26 Hot Speakers” by Successful Meetings magazine.

McDonald is the author of How to Market to People Not LikeYou, named a top business book of 2011 by Inc. magazine’s 800-CEO-Read and Forbes. McDonald delivers up-to-the minute marketing advice for today’s diverse, dynamic marketplace. McDonald’s second book, Crafting the Customer Service Experience for People Not Like You, was released in November 2012 and has been featured in Fast Company and BusinessWeek. The book shows how companies, brands, and products struggling to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness can foster long-term loyalty and brand preference with exceptional and customized customer service.

She has been featured on CNBC, in BusinessWeek, on CNNMoney.com and on Sirius/XM Radio. McDonald works with clients such as Toyota, Harley-Davidson, Sherwin-Williams, State Farm and Miller/Coors. Her company, McDonald Marketing, has twice been named one of the top advertising agencies in the US by Advertising Age magazine.

As a professional speaker to businesses and organizations, McDonald shares marketing insights and teaches strategies and tactics for cultivating diverse consumers emotionally, rationally and with cultural relevance. Her topics are always customized to the specific industry and localized geographically as appropriate.

McDonald is high energy and high content. Her enthusiasm ignites audiences of every size. She is often chosen as an opening or closing keynote speaker to set the tone for a conference. She’s a great fit for business owners, retailers, associations, HR professionals, corporate clients and hospitality professionals.

Crafting the Customer Experience for People Not Like You
A “one-size fits all” approach to customer service is no longer viable. Businesses competing on service need to understand and cater to customers’ radical, ethnic, religious, generational, lifestyle and geographic differences in order to meet or exceed customers’ service expectations. This session will show how companies, brands and products struggling to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness can foster long-term loyalty and brand preference with exceptional and customized customer service.

How to Market to People Who Are Not Like You: The New Market Segmentation

Our marketing environment has become more complex, and consumers have become more sophisticated.  Diversity marketing is the new norm, and this doesn’t simply mean racial diversity.  Diversity comes in many forms: gender, race, age, lifestage, language preference, sexuality, and hobbies or special interests are all ways in which people’s differences are recognized. By recognizing these differences and tailoring your product, message or marketing efforts to reflect consumers’ uniqueness, you are validating the importance of a consumer group.

Social Media and Marketing: How to Use it to Grow Business in a Low Cost, No Cost Manner

Everyone has heard of social media and social marketing, and most everyone knows at least a little something about Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter. But there is tremendous confusion about how to use these tools for business marketing. With so much pressure on marketing budgets, social media and marketing is a dream come true, because it costs little or nothing to execute. But you’ve got to learn the ropes of how to do it effectively and correctly, to truly reach new and existing customers with relevance.

“Mommy Marketing:  How to Win the Hearts and Reach the Wallets of Today’s Modern Mom”

Today’s mom is different than every previous generation of moms.  They’re busy.  Whether they work outside the home or not, they work long and hard to manage their households and the well-being of their family.  For brands and companies, cultivating this important consumer segment means big bucks and fierce loyalty if you reach them with relevance

Come Together:  Generational Differences and How to Effectively Work with Someone Much Older or Younger than You

Matures. Boomers. Gen X. Gen Y. Or are they called Millennials? Why is Gen X called “X”?

Why don’t Boomers realize there’s more to life than work? And why don’t Millennials realize that their 5:00 pm yoga class does not take precedence over a client deadline? What happened to “paying your dues”? Why doesn’t my supervisor praise me and appreciate me for all the great things I do every day?

Changing Demographics & How This Affects Your Business, Today & Tomorrow

The 2010 Census numbers are in and the findings are startling and profound. One in three Americans is not White. Four states have “minority majority” populations. Young people increasingly are opting not to get married. Asians have the highest household income of any race or ethnicity. Rural communities are losing population fast.

Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that you understand the changing demographics of the communities and groups you serve. How can you best serve a local community or organization if you don’t know what your community looks like today

Diversity in America:  the Growing Impact on Work, Organization and Consumers

We all know that our society is becoming increasingly diverse and that no longer are cultures necessarily “melting together” into one homogenous group as in past decades. In fact, the modern phrase is that our society has moved from being a “melting pot” to a “salad bowl”, with clear distinction between different cultural groups.