Meet an IDer: Jana Bender

Resource Center > Meet an IDer: Jana Bender

Resource Center > Meet an IDer: Jana Bender

Share this

About the Author

Intelligent Demand

We transform marketing into an irrefutable growth driver. Our clients love working with us because we drive the results they need and our people are awesome. Full-service + Award-winning + Best Places to Work.

Intelligent Demand is an integrated revenue growth agency. We exist to help transform marketers into revenue leaders. Any agency can create activity for their client. Most can create an ad, write and design a piece of content, and maybe even deploy campaigns in marketing technology stacks. Very few can do those things and connect the dots back to what’s most important — creating a scalable and sustainable revenue growth engine.

But how do we do it? It all starts with the talented and passionate marketers that make up the ID team. In this blog series we aim to introduce you to each of our superheroes behind the mission. So, without further ado, please meet… Jana Bender!

When did you start at ID?

I joined the amazing team at ID in July of 2020.

Where do you live?

I live in sunny Aliso Viejo, California (just above the Laguna Beach canyon).

What’s your career been like so far?

I fell in love with writing and storytelling from the first moment I put pen to paper. I relished how I could use my imagination to make any story come to life. I believe words have power. What you say, how you say it, and the words you use to tell your story must be delicately chosen. That’s what makes writing so rewarding.

Fun fact: In 4th grade, my teacher Miss Stevens encouraged me to enter a creative writing competition—and I won first place! That was it for me. At 10 years old, I knew I was destined to be a writer. So at San Diego State University, I studied journalism and psychology. What better way to entice readers than through the written word driven by insights on why people do what they do? Especially when you consider that 90% of human decision-making is unconscious. It’s true and spooky.

After college, I moved to San Francisco and began my career as a copywriter in a multicultural marketing agency. Inspired by the view of the Transamerica building and the cute guy sitting next to me, I was fortunate enough to work with amazing clients like Microsoft, Sony, Cisco Systems, and Nike. I was living my best life. 

Fast forward a couple of decades, two kids, a French bulldog, and five agencies later, I came upon the good fortune of working at Intelligent Demand. Now I get to do what I love with people I revere. We partner with clients who are so smart and so strategic—they make us better at everything we do. Sometimes it almost feels too good to be true.

What do you do here at ID? Describe your role.

As an Associate Creative Director of Content, I have the pleasure of working with a creative team that is next level. We ideate. We dream. We collaborate. We do daily “lunch-storms,” where we brainstorm to deliver unique campaign concepts to ensure we’re driving awareness, leads, and revenue for our clients. Best of all, we have a blast doing it.

Beyond bringing big ideas to life through provocative words and beautiful designs, everything we create is built on strategy. From discovery and competitive audits to personas, messaging architecture, and concepts—even as we create every ad, eBook, or landing page—it’s all filtered through a detailed strategy across every department.

But we don’t do it alone. We do it all in partnership—with our awesome clients, our savvy workmates, and our incredible leadership team. I feel blessed to be a part of an agency that truly lives and breathes its own value props: authenticity, passion, tenacity, and kindness. It all starts at the top with Mr. John Common, our fearless leader. ID is a good place to be.

What is your favorite part about ID? What drew you in?

I know, I know, everyone says “It’s the people.” But it’s true. I work with some of the biggest badasses in the business. From my first interview with Jamie Capozzi, our Executive Creative Director, I felt an immediate connection. We laughed, we clicked, and we began working together the next day. It was magical. Now, we’re bringing that magic to our entire department, agency, and client partnerships.

When did your journey in revenue growth begin and what have you found the most interesting?

The term revenue growth gets thrown around a lot in marketing. So much so, that it can sometimes feel like an overpromise. Sure you want to help your clients make money, but you don’t want to be in it for the money. Because that would be pretty superficial and remember we’re living the “Pura Vida” over here, baby.

At ID, revenue growth is our fight song. It’s the target, the strategy, and the end goal. Because if we’re not helping our clients drive revenue, what are we doing?

That’s why we champion our partners for the marketing mavens they are. We’re here to help them drive leads, lasting impressions, and revenue growth. It’s about making them shine and look like the heroes, not us. We’re just happy to celebrate their successes.

I’m not saying we don’t have a healthy dose of ego. We do. We’re human. We love accolades and awards. But more than that, we love results. You can create the most award-winning campaign on the planet, but if it doesn’t drive revenue growth, was it truly successful?

What are your passions outside work? Where can we find you on the weekends?

On the weekends, I love to go hiking, do some yoga in the sun, or hit the beach with my two teenage sons, Cole and Reed. If I’m feeling especially adventurous, I’ll pack up my paddle board and take it down to Dana Point with my Frenchie, Fiona. 

Somehow she can stand perfectly still on the board which is wild because she’s scared to death of the water. Maybe that’s because most Frenchies can’t swim. But yes, for all you animal lovers, she wears a life vest because she would sink like a stone. And that’s a tragedy neither of us would survive. Like most of us, many of my weekends are spoken for far in advance. I have a ridiculously large family, so even if I have no plans, there’s a birthday party, a baby shower, or an out-of-town wedding. Sure, it’s a blessing and a curse. But in all transparency, I feel pretty fortunate to be surrounded by the ones I love. 

The year 2020. We’ve been faced with a lot of challenges and the desire to see a change. What are you most excited to see come out of it? What have been the silver linings? Where would you like to see the world go from here? 

Wow, 2020 was life-changing. A global pandemic, rising death tolls, political unrest, racial injustice, and riots. Some days felt like we were living in a real-life horror movie. None of us could have predicted the rollercoaster of emotions, anxiety, and fear that we would be processing as the year unfolded. But it also put our priorities into perspective.

So thank you, 2020 for reminding us that we’re all in this thing called life together. That it’s about experiences, not things. It’s about quality time together, not winning the rat race. That every day, we should be grateful to see another sunrise. 

On a lighter note, wearing joggers and dress shirts, no longer commuting in soul-sucking traffic, and being home with our kids were little blessings. So many lessons 2020 has taught me. But most of all, every day you can choose to navigate life from fear or love. So, I’m choosing love.