Kellyn Smith Kenny (AT&T) | Reinventing and Redefining Trust in Telecom
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this insightful episode, Jim Stengel interviews Kellyn Smith Kenny, AT&T's first-ever Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, who has spearheaded what she calls the company's "Accountability Era" over the past five years. (11:45) Since joining in 2020, Kellyn has led an ambitious transformation backed by over $145 billion in infrastructure investments, focusing on reliability, transparency, and customer trust. The conversation reveals how AT&T has differentiated itself in the fiercely competitive telecom industry through three core pillars: network reliability, exceptional customer service, and fair deals for all customers. (34:14) Kellyn shares her journey from Division I athlete to C-suite leader, emphasizing the importance of being coachable, leading with both head and heart, and building meaningful emotional connections with customers while maintaining analytical rigor.
- Main Theme: How AT&T transformed from a utility-focused telecom company into a trusted, emotionally relevant brand through the "Accountability Era" strategy, demonstrating that even mature industries can achieve differentiation through customer-centric innovation and authentic brand building.
Speakers
Jim Stengel
Jim Stengel is a renowned brand strategist, former P&G Global Marketing Officer, and host of The CMO Podcast. He has helped hundreds of major brands discover and activate their purpose, believing that when a brand's purpose is clear, compelling, and authentic, profit naturally follows.
Kellyn Smith Kenny
Kellyn Smith Kenny serves as AT&T's first-ever Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, a role she has held since 2020. Her career spans prestigious organizations including Accenture, Hilton, Uber, Capital One, and Microsoft, bringing analytical rigor and creative leadership to every role. A former Division I athlete in skiing and softball, she also serves on the board of Invitation Homes and is a fellow of the Henry Crown Fellowship at the Aspen Institute.
Key Takeaways
Be Extraordinarily Coachable Throughout Your Career
Kellyn credits her success to being "extraordinarily humble and curious" and always asking "what can I be doing better?" (11:06) She shared how her father's coachability enabled his Major League Baseball career - he consistently adapted his pitching technique based on professional scouts' feedback, adding 5-7 mph to his fastball and perfecting his curveball delivery. This mindset of continuous learning and adaptation has become central to Kellyn's leadership philosophy. In business, being coachable means staying flexible, embracing feedback from diverse perspectives, and viewing criticism as an opportunity for growth rather than a personal attack.
Lead Enterprise-Wide Transformation, Not Just Marketing Campaigns
Rather than approaching brand building as a marketing-only initiative, Kellyn took a comprehensive enterprise approach. (21:58) She conducted 28 different studies, surveyed over 200,000 customers and prospects, and involved employees from across AT&T in co-creation sessions. Most importantly, she launched the new brand purpose internally first, ensuring employees were "incredibly inspired first and foremost" before communicating externally. This approach recognizes that authentic brand transformation requires every department - from technology to legal to customer service - to embody the brand promise in their daily work.
Focus on Simple, Fundamental Customer Needs
Kellyn identified that customers in the telecom industry want three basic things: "a network connectivity I can depend on, prompt and friendly service if there's ever an issue, and I want the deals to be fair." (37:57) Rather than getting distracted by flashy promotions or competitive advertising, AT&T stripped away the complexity to focus on these core needs. This led to the creation of the AT&T Guarantee, which proactively credits customers for service interruptions without requiring them to call and complain. Sometimes the most powerful differentiation comes from executing brilliantly on the basics rather than inventing entirely new value propositions.
Balance Head and Heart in Leadership Decisions
Kellyn describes her leadership style as "equal parts head and heart," using both analytical rigor and emotional intelligence to make decisions. (43:53) She builds diverse teams where members can "rebalance" each other - analytical minds paired with heart-driven customer advocates. The team uses Martin Luther King's concept of being a "thermostat" rather than a "thermometer" - actively regulating the room's energy rather than simply reflecting it. When meetings become too analytical, someone introduces emotional customer insights; when creativity runs wild, someone grounds the discussion with relevant data.
Invest Substantially Behind Your Brand Promise
AT&T backed up their brand transformation with massive infrastructure investments - $145 billion over five years in connectivity infrastructure and nearly $1 billion in customer care improvements. (39:21) This wasn't just marketing messaging; it was a genuine commitment to delivering on their promises. The AT&T Guarantee launched only after years of operational improvements that enabled them to detect network issues, measure service response times, and proactively credit customers. Kellyn emphasizes that sustainable differentiation requires both the promise and the capability to deliver on that promise consistently.
Statistics & Facts
- AT&T invested over $145 billion in connectivity infrastructure over the past five years, making them the largest investor in connectivity infrastructure in the United States. (38:41) This massive investment underpinned their ability to guarantee network reliability to customers.
- The company has seen a 50% reduction in the number of people customers need to talk to resolve their issues, and a 33% reduction in time to resolve customer issues through AI implementation. (31:46) These improvements directly support their customer service guarantee.
- Since launching their accountability era initiatives, AT&T's stock price has increased 71% over five years, with a 32% increase in just the first eight months after launching the AT&T Guarantee. (43:14) This demonstrates the financial impact of their brand transformation strategy.
