Julie Talbot (Speaker Prep)

Hello World,

The other day we were preparing to have a guest speaker for my advertising class. However due to circumstances out of our control (Superstorm Sandy) we were unable to meet Julie Talbot. So I thought I would go ahead and post my background and questions I had for here on my blog.



Background: Julie Talbot is Global Brand Manager for Burt's Bees Lip Category. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2003 with a marketing degree, and later went on to receive her MBA from Rutgers. She currently works in Durham, North Carolina and manages the lip category which is estimated at over 100 million dollars. Here are some of the questions I would like to ask her:

1.       Strategic issue the company/brand is currently facing: How do you expand your brand into other hygiene products while staying true to your values as a company?

2.       Current consumer/customer perceptions of the company/brand: Burt’s Bees is among the leaders in lip balm, however when it comes to other products they are not yet considered the market leaders

3.       Specific, current event question based on the insights you discover: With the new manager coming in from Clorox and his experience he brings, how do you think this will help Burt’s Bees continue to grow?

Until next time,
Andrew Haug