Gia Lee

I kickstarted my marketing career through the M School, a 2-year specialized advertising program at Loyola Marymount University. During my time at the M-School, I was able to land internships at various advertising agencies in LA such as David & Goliath and RPA. All in all, I have always been interested in culture & community and found my place in impacting both areas through brand advertising and marketing.

I am currently the Chief Strategy Officer at NinetyEight and led the agency in winning ThinkLA's Startup of the Year in 2021. I spearhead all client acquisition and new business development efforts and have landed multiple clients for NinetyEight such as Paul Frank and Fabletics. As a Gen Z startup, we all wear multiple hats and you'll see me dabbling in Account Management, Strategy, and Influencer Management roles. I think as consumers and media evolve, it's extremely important for marketers to constantly adapt and be open to change. Though marketing is traditionally about pushing your brand agenda and messaging, I think the most successful marketers are the ones who take the time to listen and understand their audience not as consumers, but as people.

NinetyEight is a future-focused agency that creates collaborative relationships between Gen Zs and brands – driving our generation's voice to the forefront of digital marketing. As a company rooted in innovation, impact, diversity, and community, we strive to create a new generation of respectable yet resonant brands that work for consumers first. Our small but mighty team is driven by the hope of Gen Z and is focused on bringing Gen Z digital expertise to every brand that needs it.

To me, marketing communications is all about relationship building. When Gen Zs push for authenticity, they're really just looking for brands to connect with them in a real way on a day-to-day basis. It's about vulnerable and creative interaction that will ultimately lead to a loyal community. Marketing communications for the future generations will move from "selling" to connecting.

We reach Gen Z the Gen Z way: through unfiltered digital media, engaging in emerging trends, empowering the community, and building brands to rally behind. Ultimately, NinetyEight puts Gen Z in the driver's seat through the Koi Pond: a network of over 350 Gen Zs around the world. Through the Koi Pond, we're able to better understand Gen Z's changing attitudes, interests, and behaviors beyond our Gen Z team.

Our ideation process always starts with research and immersion. We're looking to understand everything about the brand and the landscape it exists in: Who are your consumers? What are their motivators, influences, interests? Who are your competitors? How can your brand stand out? Once we've answered key questions, we look to cultural and social media trends for a pulse on what's chatter-worthy among our audience. From there, we conduct group brainstorm sessions to build upon each of our creative ideas.

Our work with Paul Frank has been near and dear to our hearts having grown up with the brand. It's been an honor revitalizing Paul Frank for Gen Z and now getting recognized for the social media work we've done!

Winning the NYX Award definitely provides social proof and adds credibility for a relatively new startup like ours.

A brand comeback doesn’t happen overnight, but we are well on our way to restoring Paul Frank’s iconic status, especially amongst Gen Zs. The main consumer insight that drove our strategy was the idea of embracing the tension between nostalgia and innovation. Gen Z as a generation loves the idea of an old school product, but what’s key to remember is they won’t respond to old school values. Paul Frank already had that nostalgia factor, we only had to use it to our advantage. We hooked Gen Zs with what they know, but gave them a reason to believe by looking ahead to what they could be with Paul Frank.

We're a virtual company with a team that spans across 2 continents: North America and Asia. We use this to our advantage in garnering creative inspiration from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and cultures. It proves for a much more robust brainstorm process and is a big strength in our team's quality and breadth of ideas.

I think TikTok has been absolutely revolutionary to the world of marketing. It's allowed brands to peel back their perfectly manicured corporate layers, giving their audience a behind-the-scenes look on the brand. The nature of the algorithm has also leveled the playing field for many small businesses who may not have the scale in media/ad spend that large corporations have. I'm looking forward to seeing how social media platforms change, consumer attitudes evolve, and brands adapting to the two.

It's always essential to be on-the-ground consuming content on every social platform: TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, etc. in order to get involved with current trends. I personally utilize Pinterest often for visual inspiration. But the best resource of creative juice is to go out into the world and experience it: take a walk in the park, travel, meet new people, take on a new hobby. The best marketing communications ideas and concepts come about when you, as a person, are inspired.

I think the marketing industry is going to continue to move away from traditional advertising (TV, billboard, radio) and into digital advertising (Podcast, TikTok, influencer). The consumer voice is going to grow exponentially, with consumer input being a natural component of brand marketing. Though the metaverse is the talk of the town, I don't think it will be as widely used and adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha.