Beyond The Shelf

Building Global Content Infrastructure – with Church & Dwight's Julie Clifford

• David Feinleib • Episode 80

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This week we’re joined by Julie Clifford, Global eCommerce Acceleration & Capabilities Senior Manager at Church & Dwight.

Julie’s journey from art teacher to global ecommerce leader has one big throughline: helping others succeed. In this episode, she shares how that mindset fuels her work in marketing tech, content strategy, and digital transformation across markets worldwide.

We cover:

  • Why global consistency matters—and where localization still wins
  • How to balance creative agility with brand guardrails
  • Managing rights, risk, and nuance in global content workflows
  • The vendor framework Julie uses (save money, make money, or mitigate risk)
  • How her team is scaling content globally through partnerships—including their work with It’sRapid

Connect with Julie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-clifford-salesmarketing/ 

Get the It’sRapid Creative Automation Playbook: https://itsrapid.ai/creative-workflow-automation-playbook/

Take It’sRapid’s Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey: https://www.proprofs.com/survey/t/?title=ffgvd

Email us at sales@itsrapid.io to find out how to get your free AI Image Audit

Theme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.com

Producer: Jake Musiker

SPEAKER_02:

Keeping up with content creation for retail and social media, product detail pages, email campaigns, and print is a never-ending process. Brands need to stay ahead, but managing content across platforms is overwhelming. That's exactly what we're talking about in today's episode, and it's exactly why It's Rapid exists. Big brands like Pepsi, Mondelez, and Instacart use It's Rapid to automate their creative workflows, eliminating manual bottlenecks and wasted time while producing high quality content at scale faster than ever before. With It's Rapid, you can scale banner creation across multiple retail and social media networks, create above and below the fold images, videos, and copy for Amazon, Walmart, and other channels, build optimized content for email marketing campaigns, and produce sell sheets, catalogs, and print formats for trade shows and in-store promotions. If today's conversation gets you thinking and faster using our all-in-one content creation solution. And now, on with the show.

UNKNOWN:

Music

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Beyond the Shelf with Dave Finely. This show is an open exploration of the people and process behind e-commerce. Through conversations with innovators in the space, we learn the stories of these leaders and their strategies for e-commerce success. We publish new episodes every Tuesday morning, so be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And now, here's your host, Dave Finely.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome back to Beyond the Shelf. My guest today is Julie Clifford, Global E-Commerce Acceleration and Capability Senior Manager at Church& White. Julie has spent more than 15 years helping brands grow their e-commerce presence across global markets, and chances are she's played a role in marketing at least one of the household products you use every day. From dental care and deodorant to cleaning supplies and wellness essentials, she works across a portfolio of iconic brands trusted by millions. She began her career as an art teacher and has since become a global leader in marketing operations, content strategy, and the systems that power creative at scale. Whether she's building better workflows or mentoring future leaders, Julie brings clarity, structure, and a strong sense of purpose to every challenge she takes on. Julie, welcome to the show. How's it going?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thanks for having me. Things are going really well. You know, 2025 is not short on any kinds of surprises and new opportunities.

SPEAKER_02:

We first met, was it at Shop Talk?

UNKNOWN:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

some time ago. So that was very fortuitous. We really enjoy working with you.

SPEAKER_01:

It was actually just Shop Talk last year, ironically.

SPEAKER_02:

Just last year. That's the environment we're in. So no, but we've made tremendous progress together. So it's really fun. Take us back, if you would. How did you get your start in the space?

SPEAKER_01:

As you know, I am the global e-commerce... I oversee like the marketing technology and sales acceleration. And it's been a journey. I started out actually as an art teacher in Springfield, Illinois. I

SPEAKER_02:

love it.

SPEAKER_01:

But you know what? My husband's a teacher and has that deep passion. I myself, I'm still very involved in education as a school board member, but definitely that's not where my passions lie. Didn't know where they lied. But the truth of the matter is what I do today did not exist during that time. I don't want to disclose my age, but you know, going back about 20 years ago. So with that said, I actually started out just kind of getting my feet wet, working for some small companies, but eventually made my way into an agency, which really gave me that exposure into e-commerce and really loved so many things about e-commerce from the fact that you can really see changes, like the impact to the things you do. I love data and the insights and connecting those data points together. And then fast forward, like I ended up at Church and Dwight as an e-com brand manager over our hair and skincare products. And, you know, it really started building out this really strong team under Serby, who, by the way, if you missed it, she was in Forbes recently.

SPEAKER_02:

Saw that. Impressive. Amazing. She's a force in the industry. So incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

And so, you know, as I made my way through there, ended up on the global team and really trying to help build out capabilities at a global scale, taking my expertise to and experience from the U.S.

SPEAKER_02:

So you, first of all, how'd you get your first gig? You were an art teacher and now you're a marketing expert. What was in the middle there?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, life. No, I would say a big turning point was actually just truly having someone believe in me. a gentleman by the name of Rohan Ambrahali, again, another name in the industry, and really kind of planted some seeds of interest in my mind and went on to get my MBA. And from there, like I said, I entered into that e-commerce space, but I'd say, you know, always, always staying thirsty. Always looking for more knowledge. And this industry just keeps evolving and it just keeps growing. And

SPEAKER_02:

that's what keeps it fun. Now, you spent some time in an Amazon liaison role. Tell us a little about that. What did you learn there and how'd that work?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm a very scrappy person, you know. If we can't do it, I think about, well, then what can we do and how can we get there? And I have a real deep passion for, and that really drives me in this field. I love e-com provides data. I love that it's creative brain thinking. I love the visuals and storytelling and it's storytelling through data. But even then, when you're shopping on that e-com platform, storytelling is, through that product, taking people through a journey in a matter of microseconds, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Totally. Yeah. Now, you might be too modest to say it, but I'll say it. You were excellent at your last job, really, really good at it. And you decided to take this global role. What was your thinking and how's it been?

SPEAKER_01:

So I will say that it really terrified me at first. But I think it's because it was the unknown, right? I've never done marketing at a global level. But I think, though, for me, again, if something scares you, it means that you've made up your mind to do it and that you're going to take on this new adventure versus taking it for granted or being cocky. It's like, oh, but I really want to do big things. And It really leaned into a lot of my strengths, and I realized that that teacher in me, going back to my teaching background, I had a lot to share, and I had the tools on how to help get us there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you have just an amazing gift for having the vision. You've really shown us the path, I will say. And also what you said, channeling that teacher in you to share that expertise and bring the rest of us along on the journey. So thank you for that. How's it been? Tell us about Global. Are you on the jet all the time, flying around? Are you on Teams and Zoom? How does it work?

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, pretty much. This is where I spend about 70% of my time in this room working remotely. But what's kind of fun and interesting about it is you really do work throughout the day, which is To be honest, it's kind of exciting because it's not just a standard nine-to-five job. It allows me to lean into different areas of my life at different times, and I know that the work is always going to get done.

SPEAKER_02:

Incredible. Now, we're working together with you at It's Rapid on content. Will you kind of give us the big picture? What is going on in the world of global content? Why is that important? How do you think about it, just as kind of a context?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. So, you know, as you move globally, right, with the World Wide Web, right, and those fun little devices that we all have, like, we... as a world are very exposed to each other. And when you start thinking about brands, right, you want to be consistent in how you're showing up. Now, I do believe in localization, right? So you still need to take your branding and tweak it, if you will, to fit your different audiences within different markets. But in order to have that really hard-hitting, impact from your marketing dollars and your marketing investments. It's that level of consistency that no matter where I go, no matter where I see this brand, I am consistently having that same experience. One brand that always I think about with that is Coca-Cola. Yeah. It doesn't matter where you have encountered a Coke in the world or a Coca-Cola ad. There is this natural feeling that you get from it. And that's where I think it becomes so incredibly important. So I'm sorry, your original question.

SPEAKER_02:

No, well, sort of the question is content globally. And I think you're right on it. You know, consistency, the power of that, I guess, is really around the knowing the brand in all these different parts of the world.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it is so incredibly important that you show up consistently. Yeah. especially like 80% of people have smartphones around the world at this point.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. So you've got to have content. You've got to be consistent. And then to your point, you've got to have that adaptation for the local market. How are you doing or how is the organization doing content previously when they were taking content and deploying it in these different markets?

SPEAKER_01:

I think that our approach, has been similar to what you see generally, right, where you leave it to your local marketing teams to truly drive what they believe is best for their markets. But when you begin to spin that out, right, and, you know, we do have brand books, and we do distribute them globally, very common practice. One thing that ends up happening right is I think there's a different way to interpret it they're written in English and when you begin to interpret English in different languages you can begin to distill things down sometimes too in my role I have found that you know the way you say something in one language completely changes in another or doesn't translate at all and so how do you so like So I think that's where you still need to have strong localization. And it's definitely one of those hurdles and challenges I think we continue with, because how do we maintain brand identity without losing brand personality?

SPEAKER_02:

That's the fine line. What a great area. Now, you also work in different formats of content. We've worked with you on everything from PDP images for product detail pages. We were just talking about brand store. What are some of the other formats that you're thinking about or that are important when you're connecting with the shopper?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I mean, if you just walk yourself through a shopper journey, right, and all of those touch points. Actually, when you... think about even not just e-commerce, but let's take a step further and look at Omni, right? It's a blend of both physical and digital touch points. So I really think that the opportunities become endless within like adapting things, like in adapting a branding strategy that can really expand globally.

SPEAKER_00:

This episode of Beyond the Shelf is brought to you by It's Rapid. It's Rapid is the platform Pepsi, Mondelez, Instacart, and hundreds of other leading brands and retailers use to build personalized content at scale. Whether that's images, videos, or product descriptions for their product detail pages, shoppable videos or banners for their digital ad campaigns, or sell sheets for sales enablement, brands that use It's Rapid are able to produce high-quality, on-brand content on average more than 80% faster than category competitors. To find out more, please visit itsrapid.ai.

SPEAKER_02:

So we met when you were kind of, I think, on the lookout for some solutions that would help you create this consistency, but let you deploy locally. And what do you think about when you look for solutions in this area? I guess both from a product perspective, but also adoption. within these teams?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I mean, we need something that is intuitive, right? Because if you're asking a marketing person to localize maybe some artwork, like they themselves without involving a creative team, right? It needs to be quick. It needs to be easy. It needs to be something that also can be shared, right? And then on top of that, when you look at, let's say, artwork, you've got to create artwork that can be agile enough. When you think about language changes, you have some of the languages and APACs that when you write them out are this big. English is this big. Spanish and then German. And so you need to think about these things. You have some languages that instead of reading... left to right, read right to left or vertically. You need to be able to, so there's that whole translation nuance. You need to be able to easily manipulate things for that. You need to be able to, like when I think about some of the work that we're doing, you know, you want local, you want your local packaging represented in that image. You don't want to have everything be in German. And then all of a sudden you have a can that is very directly in English. What data has shown us is that you really begin to capture your audience when you personalize your messaging. And so how do you personalize it at mass? Well, let's just start with Simple things like language or packaging or even swapping in some of the talent. So this way they see somebody that is more representative of who they are or what they generally see in their society versus defaulting to, let's say, an American person.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, and one nuance of this is the files themselves. We've worked together on these layered files. First off, would you kind of just tell us for our listeners, when we talk about layered files versus static images and things like that, what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_01:

So layered files, right? Those are your things such as your Photoshop files or your Illustrator. So PSDs and AI files. And when you talk static, those are your JPEGs and your PNGs. So, you know, really important that you're always maintaining a solid library of layered files. I mean, I know you guys have that capability of going ahead and dissecting some of these flat files. And again, it is certainly much better than anything I could do. But definitely a more seamless process when we can actually have those layered files. Start with layered files

SPEAKER_02:

as the starting point. This is great. Now, the other side of the equation, if you will, we've kind of talked a lot about the opportunity. There's this aspect of managing risk when it comes to content. Will you tell us, what are some of the things that you're trying to manage for, especially on a global basis on the content front?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, when you talk about risk management from a content perspective, things that, as an American, things that we allow that we can say to the consumer might not be viable in other markets, right? A great example is in Australia, they cannot claim anything as drug-free. You cannot use that language. Versus here in the US, we sell a product called Viviscal. It's a hair growth supplement, but it is drug-free. It's a supplement. Right. So there's those risks there. I would say even a risk as far as misrepresenting the brand. So I'd always say that's another risk.

SPEAKER_02:

And then rights management, I suppose, might come into play.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct. Because all photography does have an expiration date or maybe even then because teams traditionally have worked in silos. Right. Do you even have global rights to the images? So that's another big one that we need that, again, need to make sure that we are watching as you expand your content out globally.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, you have your choice of vendors, of course. We're grateful that you decided to work with us at It's Rapid. But what do you look for? You know, you're evaluating all these vendors and technologies and opportunities. What are some things you go, I've got to have that or that's going to work for me?

SPEAKER_01:

With It's Rapid, but in my general process, so as somebody who evaluates marketing technology, I always... look at things through three different lenses. Is this technology going to make money for my company? Right? So, you know, is this technology going to save my company money? And finally, will this technology mitigate risk? Now, you have to hit at least one of those. And what's kind of great is, usually, if you're looking to implement something, right, we have to talk numbers, we have to talk impact. So all of these things are measurable as well. You know, so, you know, one thing that kind of drew me to It's Rapid is I just see so much value in making our marketing dollars work harder. Which, really saves our company money. Being able to align all of our markets on really great branded assets, that can increase conversion rates and that can lead to more dollars. And when we talk about mitigating risk, when we now get to a point where we are working together versus siloed, again, we really begin to see what is happening out there. evaluating what's out there. I know that there's this new plugin that you guys provide that can connect to some of our internal systems. So we're also mitigating the risk of losing the digital assets that they can automatically flow into our own dam. Digital asset manager, damn. Yeah,

SPEAKER_02:

yeah, exactly. The damn is digital asset management. And I've seen that you have kind of like this natural ability to at one moment be in the product and tell us things like, hey, here's a feature or capability that's really great, but this would make it even better. And then at the other moment, you can say, listen, we're thinking about how to train the teams, right? And how is it that you're able to sort of, or how do you do that mental shift, if you will, from being super hands-on on a product and then kind of moving that to what's the rollout going to be in the org?

SPEAKER_01:

So I was a teacher. Yes,

SPEAKER_03:

yes.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I think that because at some point we're all novice to the

SPEAKER_03:

tool. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. At some point, this is new. So I when when thinking through the training side of things, I just remember to always take it slow and really begin to and again, this is my data mindset.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

begin to dive into and dissect what am I doing? Why am I doing it? Right. Creating a little bit of that story. Right. So this way I don't get too far advanced or, you know, and two, I think it's really important just to focus too on what they need to know

SPEAKER_03:

to

SPEAKER_01:

be successful and knowing that, Hey, you know what, if we need to, you just begin to layer on trainings, layer on capabilities. You don't have to swallow the ocean in one day.

SPEAKER_02:

Great insights. Rules for the road. Now, we can't have a conversation these days without talking about AI and automation. What are some of the areas that you're excited about when it comes to AI and automation?

SPEAKER_01:

So I actually recently sat in on this virtual summit around AI. And There's always this thought of AI, it's going to take over, it's going to take over. And one of the most impactful things I heard was, no, AI can't take over. That really AI can only react to the data that it has available. And unless we start removing some of these safeguards against invading our emails, our health records, we're a little bit of waste. from it. But I, but it's those that don't lean into AI. Those will be the people that get replaced. Yeah. Right. Because I think AI, it's like every day it surprises me every day. I do find it more exciting because we're living in the history of the future and the things that are unfolding with it. And just in general, I find that incredibly exciting.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's a great space. We're seeing all sorts of use cases. We've seen it most recently around analytics capabilities. So it's super, super interesting. Now I want to zoom out. We got to talk about content. We talked about global, all kinds of different opportunities. On a more kind of a personal note, when you think about your career, who are some of the people that have influenced you the most? You mentioned two industry luminaries already. But are there other folks who have kind of helped you on the journey?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, first and foremost, I'd say my husband. There's no bigger advocate for me than him. During the times that I question myself, you know, just like anyone else, I have my days of imposter syndrome, right?

SPEAKER_02:

I get it. I hear you.

SPEAKER_01:

But he always reminds me, he goes, if not you, then give me a name of who? And I'm like, I don't know who. He's like, then you have.

SPEAKER_02:

Then it's you. Then it's you. Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_01:

Even the other day, we're just getting ready for bed. And he's like, you know, I'm just so proud of you. And I'm like, what did I do? And he's like, no, I just. Like when we first moved in together, I remember like just really kind of struggling to launch a career and just being in a low place. And he's just like. You're going to do it. I know you. You're full of tenacity, vigor, and grit. And sure enough, I would say my husband for sure. I'd say another person would probably be Stacey Ramstead. She is the new CMO at Church and Dwight. Just another person who really saw potential in me and has really opened that door and has really like helped guide me in building out the career that I've landed on today.

SPEAKER_02:

So great. Uh, now you've got, uh, you've got a family, you've got dogs. I've, uh, uh, we've talked about, uh, what do you like to do when you're, uh, you got some off time away from work?

SPEAKER_01:

So I would say that I'm a huge fan of the outdoors. Uh, love camping. I love hiking, uh, that, where I live down the road, there's a beach. So in the evening times, we'll just kind of head out there, go eat dinner on the beach. Otherwise I do a lot of community work. As mentioned, I'm on our school board. I'm also vice chair on a preschool growing with grace. I'm on our district 73 foundations board. So just, Just trying to stay active. I recently took on a mentoring role through the Veteran Affairs. So trying to help people who've previously served our country. Like, how do you enter into civilian life and grow that career? So working with the new mentee. So really excited.

SPEAKER_02:

Incredible. Julie, you're an inspiration on the personal front. You're an inspiration on the work front. I had a great time talking with you today. Thank you for the incredible partnership. And I hope you'll come back and talk with me again on Beyond the Shelf.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And, you know, I do, shamelessly, I'm going to put a plug in here for It's Rapid and just what an incredible company you guys have been to work with. Um, you've been so responsive to any feedback and to any ideas. Even if I throw out some big ideas, you're like, well, yeah, actually, actually maybe do

SPEAKER_03:

that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And, and it's, it's been quite a journey and I know we're still at the start of it, but looking forward to, you know, bigger things, um, as we look towards the future.

SPEAKER_02:

Most appreciated and just thrilled to be working with you. So come back on the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

that's it for this week's episode of beyond the shelf if you enjoy the show be sure to like subscribe and leave us a review it really helps us grow and feel free to share us with your colleagues so they too can hear weekly perspectives from the brightest minds in e-commerce you can also check us out on linkedin where we post clips from each episode share dave's takes on breaking industry news and much more beyond the shelf is a production of it's rapid our Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Beyond the Shelf.