Interview with Bill McDonald
As Chief Marketing Officer for Capital One Financial Corporation, Bill McDonald is responsible for leading Capital One’s Brand Strategy and Architecture, Advertising and Event Marketing, Consumer Research, Showcase Value Proposition Development and Direct Marketing Creative Integration throughout North America and internationally. Since joining Capital One in 1998, McDonald has helped to lead the company’s rise to a Fortune 200 company with one of the nation’s most maverick and recognized brands. McDonald brought to Capital One more than 25 years of brand management and marketing experience that began with his 13-year run at PepsiCo, where he progressed from Assistant Brand Manager to Senior Vice President. In 1992, Bill left PepsiCo and joined the restaurant start-up, Boston Chicken, Inc., as Executive Vice President. At Boston Chicken, he eventually became Chief Marketing Officer, developing award-winning advertising for the Boston Market and Boston Carver brands. Bill earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration at the University of Texas.
When was the first time you used your professional skills to help a nonprofit?
My first year on the job. Like many associates, I had just moved to a new city and wanted to meet people and make a difference. I began working with Junior Achievement on a pro bono assignment, and it just happened to be in my sweet spot – marketing. Working with Junior Achievement, I was helping young kids to design a value proposition for a product to take to the market, to price the product and to basically get out and market and sell the product – and that was just falling off a log for me. It was a great way to get out in the community and meet some folks, and we made a significant difference there.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STATE OF PRO BONO SERVICE?
Pro bono service is still a very young and continually developing concept. There are two essential issues at the heart of pro bono service. One is that many community organizations still ask for money as opposed to a pro bono talent contribution. The idea that they would then use that money to buy needed services on the open market is not a smart economic solution. The other is on the side of supply, where a contributing organization is accustomed to making financial contributions, but not donating its talents. This breeds a tendency to think of philanthropy as a price tag, not as a long-term, sustainable community involvement program for its associates.
Doing a clothing drive, doing a canned goods drive or going out and building a house are all wonderful endeavors, but they’re limited. They’re limited to elbow grease and personal skills, and I would argue that you get a less than a one-for-one transference of ability. For example, I’m not a carpenter, so I’m going to give you less than a carpenter. When a person brings specific technical skills into an organization, the contribution is exponential versus the linear contribution of carrying boxes or wielding a hammer.
The contributions are far greater for both when the demand side organization says, “hey, I need your help, but not necessarily your money,” and the supply side people say, “wow, maybe there’s a way we can contribute and make a difference beyond the purely financial – let's donate our talents.”
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE MAIN NEEDS OF NONPROFITS WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING AND BRANDING SUPPORT?
I’ve never met the nonprofit that has too much funding, or too many technical capabilities. What nonprofits need more than anything is for the organization to market – for more talent, money, supply, space – whatever its own specific needs may be. Fundamentally, they first and foremost have a marketing challenge.
How does your department at Capital One engage in pro bono service?
At Capital One, we recognize that making pro bono work possible is an investment back in our associates. Many of our employees take on pro bono projects, and I have staff in place to support them.
Having done pro bono work for many years, it is so fashionable and on-point with the values at Capital One, that people rarely need the ‘why’ it's important; they usually need to know ‘how’ to get involved. So we have to simplify and lay it out for them. More importantly, associates absolutely need the resources and the time to go out and get involved, and we need to provide them with a message of encouragement and sponsorship. I reinforce it as a key part of our values. My job is to knock down any and all barriers to volunteerism and to just be a good sponsor.
I want our employees doing pro bono work to say - “I grew; I had fun; I made a difference.” It’s physically that crook of a smile and that bounce in a step that says, “I’m doing more on this planet than just walking around earning a paycheck.”
what do you see as the future of pro bono service in the FIELDS OF MARKETING AND BRANDING?
Historically, pro bono really began within the legal world with pro bono legal services. Then it moved to the advertising frontier, where it became the public service announcement – a free voice on television that was produced by an advertising agency, or promotional materials and collateral. Where it's going is providing the entire suite of pro bono marketing services – we provide marketing strategy and the ability to develop a marketing plan, help with pricing decisions, creative services and internet design.
The generations of young talent coming up through the enterprise today are not satisfied with just earning a paycheck – they demand more of themselves and their company as it relates to community involvement. Our job is to give them the best volunteer opportunity possible, and the best opportunity is right in an associate’s sweet spot – the marketing professional dealing with marketing. I think pro bono service is definitely the future of volunteerism.
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OTHER MARKETING LEADERS THINKING OF GETTING INVOLVED IN PRO BONO SERVICE?
First and foremost, a word of caution – if you declare failure before any journey, you're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is an easy sell to gather up a group of young, idealistic folks that want to touch their community and band them together. The nice thing about pro bono is that you don’t have to teach them how to contribute – they already know how, so you almost instantaneously get high productivity, because it’s using their professional skills versus wielding a hammer or using a saw. I'd say just jump in. Quit making excuses and make it happen.
Interview with Bill McDonald
As Chief Marketing Officer for Capital One Financial Corporation, Bill McDonald is responsible for leading Capital One’s Brand Strategy and Architecture, Advertising and Event Marketing, Consumer Research, Showcase Value Proposition Development and Direct Marketing Creative Integration throughout North America and internationally. Since joining Capital One in 1998, McDonald has helped to lead the company’s rise to a Fortune 200 company with one of the nation’s most maverick and recognized brands. McDonald brought to Capital One more than 25 years of brand management and marketing experience that began with his 13-year run at PepsiCo, where he progressed from Assistant Brand Manager to Senior Vice President. In 1992, Bill left PepsiCo and joined the restaurant start-up, Boston Chicken, Inc., as Executive Vice President. At Boston Chicken, he eventually became Chief Marketing Officer, developing award-winning advertising for the Boston Market and Boston Carver brands. Bill earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration at the University of Texas.
When was the first time you used your professional skills to help a nonprofit?
My first year on the job. Like many associates, I had just moved to a new city and wanted to meet people and make a difference. I began working with Junior Achievement on a pro bono assignment, and it just happened to be in my sweet spot – marketing. Working with Junior Achievement, I was helping young kids to design a value proposition for a product to take to the market, to price the product and to basically get out and market and sell the product – and that was just falling off a log for me. It was a great way to get out in the community and meet some folks, and we made a significant difference there.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STATE OF PRO BONO SERVICE?
Pro bono service is still a very young and continually developing concept. There are two essential issues at the heart of pro bono service. One is that many community organizations still ask for money as opposed to a pro bono talent contribution. The idea that they would then use that money to buy needed services on the open market is not a smart economic solution. The other is on the side of supply, where a contributing organization is accustomed to making financial contributions, but not donating its talents. This breeds a tendency to think of philanthropy as a price tag, not as a long-term, sustainable community involvement program for its associates.
Doing a clothing drive, doing a canned goods drive or going out and building a house are all wonderful endeavors, but they’re limited. They’re limited to elbow grease and personal skills, and I would argue that you get a less than a one-for-one transference of ability. For example, I’m not a carpenter, so I’m going to give you less than a carpenter. When a person brings specific technical skills into an organization, the contribution is exponential versus the linear contribution of carrying boxes or wielding a hammer.
The contributions are far greater for both when the demand side organization says, “hey, I need your help, but not necessarily your money,” and the supply side people say, “wow, maybe there’s a way we can contribute and make a difference beyond the purely financial – let's donate our talents.”
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE MAIN NEEDS OF NONPROFITS WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING AND BRANDING SUPPORT?
I’ve never met the nonprofit that has too much funding, or too many technical capabilities. What nonprofits need more than anything is for the organization to market – for more talent, money, supply, space – whatever its own specific needs may be. Fundamentally, they first and foremost have a marketing challenge.
How does your department at Capital One engage in pro bono service?
At Capital One, we recognize that making pro bono work possible is an investment back in our associates. Many of our employees take on pro bono projects, and I have staff in place to support them.
Having done pro bono work for many years, it is so fashionable and on-point with the values at Capital One, that people rarely need the ‘why’ it's important; they usually need to know ‘how’ to get involved. So we have to simplify and lay it out for them. More importantly, associates absolutely need the resources and the time to go out and get involved, and we need to provide them with a message of encouragement and sponsorship. I reinforce it as a key part of our values. My job is to knock down any and all barriers to volunteerism and to just be a good sponsor.
I want our employees doing pro bono work to say - “I grew; I had fun; I made a difference.” It’s physically that crook of a smile and that bounce in a step that says, “I’m doing more on this planet than just walking around earning a paycheck.”
what do you see as the future of pro bono service in the FIELDS OF MARKETING AND BRANDING?
Historically, pro bono really began within the legal world with pro bono legal services. Then it moved to the advertising frontier, where it became the public service announcement – a free voice on television that was produced by an advertising agency, or promotional materials and collateral. Where it's going is providing the entire suite of pro bono marketing services – we provide marketing strategy and the ability to develop a marketing plan, help with pricing decisions, creative services and internet design.
The generations of young talent coming up through the enterprise today are not satisfied with just earning a paycheck – they demand more of themselves and their company as it relates to community involvement. Our job is to give them the best volunteer opportunity possible, and the best opportunity is right in an associate’s sweet spot – the marketing professional dealing with marketing. I think pro bono service is definitely the future of volunteerism.
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OTHER MARKETING LEADERS THINKING OF GETTING INVOLVED IN PRO BONO SERVICE?
First and foremost, a word of caution – if you declare failure before any journey, you're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is an easy sell to gather up a group of young, idealistic folks that want to touch their community and band them together. The nice thing about pro bono is that you don’t have to teach them how to contribute – they already know how, so you almost instantaneously get high productivity, because it’s using their professional skills versus wielding a hammer or using a saw. I'd say just jump in. Quit making excuses and make it happen.
