The Knot’s Jenny Lewis is revitalizing online wedding planning

Jenny Lewis became The Knot’s chief marketing officer during an era of unprecedented demand in the wedding industry. Pandemic lockdowns drove widespread wedding cancellations and postponements in 2020 and 2021. Brides and grooms returned en masse in the years that followed, ready for more bouquet tosses and champagne toasts per capita than ever before. After seven years at Uber, Lewis joined The Knot in March 2022 and was spearheading the online wedding planning company’s rebrand by July 2023. The rebrand was meant to differentiate The Knot from the rest of the market, which was becoming increasingly saturated, company spokesperson said. Lewis led her team to roll out the brand’s first-ever integrated marketing campaign, with an ad titled “Free Celebration from Expectation.” The campaign has driven strong year-over-year growth in signups. In the first quarter of 2024, The Knot had its highest number of quarterly couple signups since 2019, according to a company spokesperson. Since joining The Knot Worldwide as CMO, Lewis has also become the president of both The Bump and The Bash, The Knot Worldwide’s parenting website and event planning platform, respectively. Read about Ad Age’s 2024 Leading Women here What advice would you give to your younger self? Follow the problem. If something isn’t working well, whether it’s an internal process or business goal, be the person to help solve it. With my team, I like to call this “opportunity spotting.” I promise you, if you become known for being someone who identifies opportunities and helps solve them, someone in the leadership at your organization will take note. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? Professionally? Joining Uber. It was a lateral move for a pay cut to an unregulated business with an uncertain future, but I barely even hesitated. As Sheryl Sandberg famously said, “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat!” My time at Uber was very formative and that marketplace experience ultimately led me to The Knot Worldwide. Now, I get the privilege of working alongside incredible leaders and marketing products that bring more joy to people’s lives while supporting small wedding businesses through our vendor marketplace. If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing and why? One of my favorite hobbies is architecture and design. It is not uncommon for me to pop into an open house on the weekends just for fun. In another life, I’d love to be a home designer. What should the industry do to encourage more women and people of color into its ranks? In a post-affirmative action world, I believe it’s more important than ever to continue investing in diversity and inclusion. As marketers, we are uniquely positioned to weave DE&I into both our internal and external strategies. Whether it’s a new product launch, advertising campaign, hiring pipeline, or promotion cycle, it’s critical that we keep diversity top of mind to ensure we’re creating progress not just within our industry, but our community at large. How will AI impact your job in the future? I wish I had that answer! I hope, and suspect, that it will free us all up to focus on more strategic tasks that are uniquely human. I also see a possibility that AI could actually create new jobs for marketers, as effective implementation of the technology requires skill and can lead to a boost in conversions. Time will tell, and I’ll be watching closely. Read about Ad Age’s 2024 Leading Women here

The Knot’s Jenny Lewis is revitalizing online wedding planning

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