Toy stories: A conversation with CMO Julia Fitzgerald
With a wide-ranging career spent largely in the dynamic world of toys and games, marketing leader Julia Fitzgerald ’92 MBA, can testify to the power of creativity, resilience and strategic thinking.
She first stepped into the chief marketing officer role at VTech Electronics, familiar to parents for its kids’ toys that “turn game time into brain time.” That experience led her into the retail side of the industry and C-suite roles at KMart and Sears, before she returned to her passion for children’s education as CMO at Sylvan Learning. Next came a shift into the outdoor category, where she led marketing for decking company AZEK and then consumer goods company Thermos. Yet another opportunity took her into the nonprofit world, where she spent close to five years as CMO of the American Lung Association.
Last year, Fitzgerald went back to her roots, stepping into the CMO role at plush toy maker and retailer Build-A-Bear, bringing with her experiences from a breadth of industries. If there’s a throughline uniting her many roles, she says, it’s her passion for strategic marketing and working at mid-sized firms — where the constraints of tight budgets and small teams can spark imaginative ideas that punch well above their weight.
We sat down with Fitzgerald to chat about her professional journey and her new book, “Midsize: The Truths and Strategies of Marketing in Midsize Firms,” a best-selling career guide on Amazon.
What are some of the main points you make in the book about being effective in midsized companies and how that might be different from large companies?
When it comes to being effective in midsize companies, there are three key points to consider: budgets, resources and collaboration. Budgets in midsize firms tend to be smaller, necessitating a thoughtful and strategic approach to spending. It’s essential to prioritize ruthlessly and leverage creativity to maximize impact.
Additionally, in midsize organizations, resources may be limited, and there may not be separate departments for specialized functions. But this presents an opportunity for team members to wear multiple hats and gain diverse experiences, which can be invaluable for personal and professional growth. I’ve been able to grow my own skill set in these types of environments.
And then lastly, success at a mid-sized firm often hinges on cross-functional collaboration, even more so than at larger organizations. I think this is where the Kellogg training really helped me. While I understand how to be a proficient marketer, I also have a working knowledge of finance, operations and strategy that allows me to work more seamlessly across teams.
What lessons from your book have really resonated with your readers so far?
I wrote this as a book about marketing, so I was surprised how many people read it to inform their marketing career paths. In “Midsize,” I emphasize the concept of “player-coaches” – individuals who can effectively manage teams while remaining hands-on in their work. This resonates with many readers who see themselves in this role, balancing leadership responsibilities with a passion for their craft.
Furthermore, the notion that individual contributions are highly visible in midsize organizations strikes a chord with readers, as it speaks to the sense of fulfillment and impact that comes with working in such an environment. In a large organization, it’s easier to disappear in the layers. For people who are really excited about what they do, a midsize organization can be a great place to thrive. This point has resonated with readers who either tell me “This is what I love about my job,” or “This is what I’ve been looking for.”
You’ve spent a lot of your career in the toys and games industry, which requires so much creative thinking. Can you share an example of a time when you and your team had to be especially creative and what business outcomes resulted from that?
When I was at VTech, which makes electronic learning toys, we were initially struggling as a company. We had a great product idea for an educational video game called the V.Smile, but we didn’t have a lot of money to market it. We had a small TV budget, and we needed a creative campaign to really get our money’s worth. So, we launched an ad with the mother yelling upstairs to her kids, saying “You’ll never get into college if you don’t play your video games!” Which was the opposite of what parents were saying at the time.
And the ad popped all right! It created its own little PR media storm, and scores of parents wrote us angry letters, but the campaign worked. V.Smile ended up becoming a $100 million seller and toy of the year, and it put VTech back on a profitable path.
What should marketing students right now be doing if they aspire to become a CMO?
Seek out diverse experiences to build a strong foundation. This is one of the reasons I’ve really valued these midsize organizations, and why I wrote about them in “Midsize.” At VTech, I was able to take on all of the advertising because there wasn’t an advertising division. Professor Brian Sternthal had taught us advertising strategy at Kellogg, and VTech’s agency taught me how to execute multi-channel campaigns. After a couple of years, I was running the company’s global advertising plans.
At another organization, I stepped in where they didn’t have a defined communications department, so I had the opportunity to figure out how to run both internal and external communications, along with the core branding and marketing duties that were in the official job description.
For important digital advertising skills, I specifically moved from VTech to Sears/Kmart where I knew I could learn these skills with data sets one can only find at retail. It’s something to think about throughout your career: Whether it's taking on new responsibilities within your current role or seeking opportunities in different organizations, where can you get blocks of experience that you can build on?
Reflecting on your Kellogg days, what are some lessons that you learned at business school that you’ve carried with you?
The first lesson that comes to mind is the value of collaboration. Kellogg reinforces this as part of the MBA experience. It has become part of how I go to work. The second lesson is an outgrowth of group work: decide how you’re going to decide. Before jumping into the work, talk to your teammates — are we each going to do a piece of the assignment or are we all going to work through every element together?
Lastly, what would you say to somebody considering Kellogg for business school?
It’s the best investment. Kellogg prepares you for what you want to do, what you think you want to do, and for what you haven’t even dreamed of yet. The emphasis on group work taught me the importance of communication and collaboration, skills that I continue to rely on every day. Kellogg prepared me to progress with dynamic markets and to move from one business model to another, from large to smaller companies.
There are infinite ways to navigate a career. You’re only limited by your imagination, your ability to use critical thinking and the skills you learn at a place like Kellogg. It really does empower you.