Arthur Andreasyan isn’t your regular CEO. The leader of one of the best rated mattress companies, Puffy, is a digital marketer first — and he knows a thing or two about leading successful global creative teams.
Driven by an absolute passion for e-commerce and all things marketing, Arthur leads a rapidly growing team of digital marketers and creatives in the ever-evolving online mattress space.
With an array of competition in the disrupted industry of bed mattress sales, you might begin to wonder what Arthur’s secret formula of success is at Puffy.
Arthur shares his entrepreneurial journey and identifies his top 5 tips for leading successful creative teams.
Passion for Digital Marketing
After graduating from Cal State University, Arthur dived into all things e-commerce, eager to test ideas and strategies. Years later, that’s where his passion still sits.
Like many in the industry, he believes e-commerce will hold the future for the majority of retail transactions. With years of experience in various industries, and many highs and lows along the way, Puffy’s CEO is no stranger to leadership.
Since the launch of Puffy in 2017, Arthur has assembled a global team of creatives, and he has put countless hours into creating foundations for his highly efficient creative teams who are both agile yet driven by a passion to create.
Creative leadership is a widely discussed topic across all sectors. Many businesses struggle to find the balance between giving their creative genuine freedom to explore ideas and concepts, while still generating a consistent return on investment.
How to Lead Creative Teams
Ensure your creatives are adaptable
Arthur’s first tip is to ensure creative hires are able to demonstrate an ability to be adaptable. E-commerce is fast. Unlike many traditional forms of marketing media such as billboards, TV commercials, radio, and printed advertising, which often affords creative teams more time, Arthur reminds us that digital can be ruthlessly quick.
“If you are running an e-commerce business you will need a wide variety of creative talent. While all creative talents have varying traits, they should all be adaptable. This will ensure the team can effortlessly transition as the business grows and new initiatives are introduced,” says Arthur.
Teach your creatives about data
As well as adaptability, Arthur creates a culture of data appreciation within all creative teams. He feels it’s important for all members of the team to make tactical decisions about how they use their time and talents based on results and objectives.
“A significant benefit of any type of e-commerce campaign is that everything can be tracked. We are able to quickly identify components of a campaign or new process that are performing well, and what might need optimization. Enabling the team to effectively assess data and proactively suggest better creative output strategies saves time and energy that can be used elsewhere,” says Arthur.
Make sure they understand the product
With thousands of 5-star mattress reviews, Puffy is well known f or providing customers with life-changing sleep experiences. Puffy CEO, Arthur, adamantly believes that in order to communicate and activate the best product experience, creative teams must have a comprehensive understanding of all products.
“It’s essential for creative teams to align on the key benefits of our memory foam mattresses and accessories. They need to know what makes our cloud mattress so different, and we keep teams well informed about how sleeping on a cooling mattress will help create deep relaxing sleep. The more the teams understand the value of the product, the better the creative output will be — ultimately our customers benefit from this,” says Arthur.
Hold your creative team accountable and celebrate wins
Brave creative decisions must also have a few layers of accountability. The Puffy creative team are encouraged to make bold creative decisions, as long as the team holds each other accountable for success and are able to derive learnings from the data. Arthur and the team at Puffy don’t shy away from breaking creative rules, as long as ideas and decisions can be backed up.
“Anytime I make a new hire, I like to look out for personalities who are not afraid to try unique approaches to problem solving and ideation. However, if the team choose to try something new, they have to back themselves. I think it’s important to encourage accountable decision making, and to always celebrate the wins and learn from each other’s trials and errors,” says Arthur.
Always encourage feedback and ideation
We all know that some of the best breakthrough marketing campaigns often stem from out of the box ideas. Arthur leads the Puffy team with encouraging energy to always table new ideas and initiatives.
“Ideas can be born anywhere and by anyone. When leading a creative team, always keep an open-door policy when it comes to new ideas and optimized processes. When creatives are suppressed, it shows in the quality of their work. Giving each member of the team a voice is critical to the success of any type of creative team, big or small,” says Arthur. To find out more about Puffy go to https://puffy.com.
