Author: admin

“Fearless” Marketing and the Power of Storytelling

Posted on by admin
No matter how dramatic or controversial, truly great storytelling in marketing doesn’t just boil down to publicity stunts. Rather, the most impactful storytelling is all about the message a company is trying to convey and how that message originates from its internal values. And in the case of the famous “Fearless Girl” statue that faces down Wall Street’s charging bull, it was the message about fostering a greater diversity in the financial industry that has had a lasting impact.

Stephen Tisdalle, CMO of State Street Global Advisors, was on the team that made the “Fearless Girl” statue. And although the installation made headlines all over the world, the campaign also prompted State Street Global Advisors to devote themselves to greater gender diversity in their own leadership and on their own boards. On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Stephen shares the internal challenges his team faced when developing the idea, the global reaction to the statue, and how this striking piece of storytelling marketing sparked a global-wide conversation about equality in the workforce.

Click here to learn all about impactful storytelling in marketing.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

Why did a statue of a ‘Fearless Girl’ in front of the ‘Charging Bull’ leave such an impression?

The “Charging Bull” statue that lives on Wall Street has been an iconic symbol for decades. On March 7, 2017, SSGA unveiled the “Fearless Girl” statue – a brave young girl that confidently faces the bull. She continues to serve as a symbol for greater diversity on C-suite level boards, and that’s exactly what Stephen and his team were trying to convey. That’s what makes Fearless Girl such a prime example of storytelling marketing – a piece that stands the test of time and represents values that span companies, states, and even nations.

You have to back up your storytelling marketing with action

Fearless Girl may have remained a simple statue with a brief amount of fanfare if it hadn’t been for SSGA’s actions that backed up the claims she made. SSGA has committed to increasing the level of diversity in their own boards, as well as encouraging their clients to do the same. Stephen explains to Drew that since her installation, SSGA has found that more than 300 companies added a female director, and to-date another 28 plan to follow suit. Fearless Girl also amassed over 6.5 billion social media impressions. However, if a company’s storytelling marketing campaigns are to leave a persisting impact, they must be backed with action.

Truly great marketing can flourish when its paired with important values

The genius behind Fearless Girl lay in her ability to convey values that should be important to companies of all sizes in all industries. Stephen explains that “authenticity is attractive,” and that people are drawn to marketing campaigns that are aligned with important values. He continues by explaining that companies and leaders need to “do well, do better, by doing good.” Storytelling marketing can be the perfect way to convey those commitments.

Timeline

  • [0:30] Stephen explains why State Street wanted to put a fearless girl in front of a charging bull
  • [9:50] Stephen and his team had to overcome internal concerns before moving forward with Fearless Girl
  • [15:29] Great marketing comes when you align with important internal values
  • [21:04] The true value behind Fearless Girl was in the actions taken across the world
  • [26:24] Stephen explains the future of Fearless Girl
  • [31:33] The storytelling process begins with a strong marketing focus
  • [38:48] Fearless Girl and how she has impacted the brand awareness of State Street Global Advisors

Connect With Stephen:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

 

How to Build Customer Loyalty By Understanding Your Company’s Data

Posted on by admin

When it comes to building customer loyalty, Dani Cushion believes that the creativity is in the data. In her role as CMO of Cardlytics, she and her team work under the power of “purchase intelligence,” or the ability to know where your customers are buying when they’re not buying from you. As Dani has learned throughout her career as a marketer, it’s all about defining who is loyal and figuring out why.

On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew and Dani discuss why defining your existing loyal customers can help you understand where you’re missing profits, as well as why using insights on aggregated data doesn’t mean creative marketing is dead. As Dani admits, “it ain’t sexy,” but working to have a extraordinary customer experience will result in unmatched loyalty.

Get to know your customers by following this advice – listen here.

                 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

“Defining your loyals” is step one in the process of building repeat business

Dani explains the importance of “defining your loyals” on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. She shares that one of Cardlytics’ clients earned an additional $6 million in sales, simply because they identified and retargeted a segment of their existing repeat customers. By knowing who your potential loyals are and the problem they’re trying to solve, you can tap into a new area of business.

Gathering insights from your data doesn’t equal the death of creative marketing

Cardlytics’ success is built on their ability to combine purchase data and creative marketing. In order to build customer loyalty, marketing teams need to use both strategies. Just because you’re aware of your customer’s data does not mean you should stop reaching out to them with engaging and creative marketing stories. Drew and Dani both agree that “the creativity is in how you use the data.”

2 do’s and 1 don’t for CMOs looking to build customer loyalty

Dani’s top 2 “do’s” for CMOs seeking a greater ability to build brand loyalty are to always look at the broad picture of loyal customers and to listen to what they’re saying. Without an accurate picture of what your customers want and their past buying habits, you won’t make much progress. She also encourages CMOs to never be scared to try something new. The most innovative marketing strategies to build loyalty only began because someone was willing to take a risk – and that someone can be you!

Timeline

  • [0:30] Loyalty and customer acquisition are both essential topics on Renegade Thinkers Unite
  • [1:51] Dani’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment
  • [15:54] The importance of building loyalty into your marketing plan
  • [20:00] Digging into the purchase behaviors for your existing customers
  • [25:35] Using analytical insights to understand customer loyalty
  • [33:13] Dani explains Cardlytics’ in-house loyalty program
  • [37:30] 2 do’s and 1 don’t for CMOs looking to expand their customer loyalty knowledge

Connect With Dani:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

The Key to Achieving Sales and Marketing Alignment in B2B

Posted on by admin

As the marketer of a software service product, Meagen Eisenberg isn’t just a CMO. She is also a salesperson, which is why her alignment with MongoDB’s sales team proves critical to the company’s rapid success. Through her influential roles at multiple B2C and B2B tech companies, Meagen can attest to the fact that any company, no matter its audience, can create a pattern of collaboration and success in creating a unified buying path.

From insights about demand generation, to Martech, to work-life balance, Meagen’s marketing insights apply to CMOs everywhere, whether you’re B2B, B2C, or even B2D. When reflecting on her career, Meagen shares that the alignment of sales and marketing teams has transformed companies that she has worked for, including MongoDB.

On this episode, you’ll hear Meagen’s top 5 ways to increase your company’s internal collaboration, as well as discover the engaging marketing strategies MongoDB uses to attract developers. She also explains why the marketing and sales funnel strategy isn’t dead, and how it can be used in innovative new ways. For more on B2B demand generation, check out our 6 tips in our special report, here. 

Learn why collaboration is the future of marketing by listening here.

                  Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

Meagen’s top 5 ways to increase your company’s sales and marketing alignment

Just like countless other companies, MongoDB has struggled with sales and marketing alignment, as well as collaboration between teams. As a tech company that offers a database as a service, Meagen has learned to overcome the challenges of managing teams made up of employees with varied skill sets. Developers, salespeople, marketers, and more all want MongoDB to succeed, but approach it in different ways.

From her years in both engineering and marketing, Meagen has learned how to create the ultimate environment of collaboration. Check out all the details behind her top 5 strategies for alignment on this episode.

  1. Understand your sales funnel and how it converts leads into customers
  2. Intentionally build all of your systems together
  3. Focus on authentic communication
  4. Identify the stopgaps in your sales system
  5. Invest in your tech stack (but don’t add more tools until you’re ready)

MongoDB uses creative and engaging strategies to hook their audience

After Meagen and her team built a solid team, together they were able to develop creative marketing strategies. They hook interested followers through live events, energetic brand advocates, and a speedy website that always delivers to their followers. They fill their robust website platform with content that educates and inspires. This content is found in many forms, such as white papers, blogs, thought leadership pieces, product demonstrations, and compelling customer stories.

Marketing and sales are about putting the right information in front of the right people at the right time

Alignment between your marketing and sales departments doesn’t happen overnight. Meagen and Drew discuss how a business that sells directly to consumers as well as to other businesses can approach their content marketing strategies. For example, when a B2B prospect visits your website, they most likely need to be connected to an account manager and salesperson that can address their specific needs and questions. A B2C prospect, however, is much more likely to explore your website and fill out an inquiry form all on their own – without ever speaking to a salesperson. The key in content marketing and sales is to make it obvious to your followers who you are and what you do, that way you can address their questions before they even think of them.

Timeline

  • [0:30] MongoDB is a massive resource for CMOs
  • [2:04] Meagen’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment
  • [12:16] Alignment between sales and marketing is critical – use these strategies to succeed
  • [16:03] Connecting with developers is key
  • [19:16] The sales funnel is not dead in today’s marketing world
  • [21:35] What’s the difference between MongoDB and a datalink system?
  • [23:11] MongoDB hooks their audience through a variety of creative marketing tactics
  • [30:32] Balancing B2B and B2C audiences for your business
  • [39:24] Meagen’s problem-solving thoughts for the challenges facing marketing

Connect With Meagen:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

Your Next Word of Mouth Marketing Strategy: the Talk Trigger

Posted on by admin

Far too many marketers believe that “competency creates conversation,” thinking that a word of mouth marketing strategy will simply appear out of thin air. Jay Baer, entrepreneur and author of his new book “Talk Triggers,” joins this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite to convince you otherwise.

Word of mouth marketing is essential to B2B businesses. After all, 91% of all B2B purchases are made because of its influence. Despite this overwhelming need, most B2B companies don’t have a specific word of mouth marketing strategy in place. As Jay shares, it’s all about doing something different in your company’s operations that makes customers chatter — a “talk trigger”. On this episode, you’ll hear about several successful talk trigger stories, like the ingenious DoubleTree cookies, along with the 4 main criteria any talk trigger needs to meet. Jay also shares his expert advice on following his book’s 6-step process to creating a successful talk trigger. His message on word of mouth marketing says one thing loud and clear: “same is lame”, so don’t just follow what the other guys in the industry are doing.

Learn how to get your customers talking in all the right ways.

                 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

What are talk triggers and why do you need them in your word of mouth marketing strategy?

Jay explains talk triggers as, “something that you choose to do differently that creates conversation.” They’re not marketing tactics, they’re operational choices that are designed to specifically generate discussions about your business. It’s the most important part of B2B that no one’s talking about – until now.

One of the best examples of a recent talk trigger is UberConference’s “I’m On Hold” song that plays in their virtual waiting room for conference calls. Instead of going with predictable “elevator music,” they had a unique song composed specifically for them that now generates conversations about their service every time users are on hold. Jay shares even more great examples all on this episode.

“Same is lame” – follow these 4 criteria to create a great talk trigger

Many marketers revert to mimicking successful strategies rather than create their own original ideas. But when your business starts down that path, you’ll be resigned to being second-best, rather than an innovative industry leader. Jay explains that to break out of this pattern and start creating great talk triggers that enhance your word of mouth marketing strategy, your trigger needs to follow these 4 criteria:

  1. Remarkable – it needs to be worthy of remarks from people outside of your traditional audience
  2. Relevant – it cannot simply be about gathering attention
  3. Reasonable – different enough to be remarkable, but not so “out there” that people are wary of the offer
  4. Repeatable – a talk trigger isn’t just a one-time stunt

Jay’s insider advice for entrepreneurs looking to avoid getting stuck when creating talk triggers

On this episode, Jay warns marketers of 2 main “sticky points” to watch out for when developing talk triggers. As tempting as it may be to sit around coming up with fun marketing ideas, the best talk triggers don’t come out of one or two brainstorming sessions. He encourages marketers to consider using a third-party company that can have an objective look at your business while researching what resonates with your audience.

He also explains the importance of measuring you talk trigger’s impact. By sending out a survey to your recent customers and followers, you can begin to understand what’s been working and what didn’t. For the full list of questions to consider asking, be sure to listen to this episode.

Timeline

  • [0:30] Word of mouth marketing expert, Jay Baer, is Drew’s guest for this episode
  • [7:02] What are talk triggers and why are they important?
  • [8:25] Word of mouth marketing is 100% critical for B2B businesses
  • [12:05] Marketing departments shouldn’t be the only ones developing talk triggers
  • [15:51] Same is lame – the 4 criteria to follow to create great talk triggers
  • [26:19] The 5 types of talk triggers
  • [30:48] Take a look at this example of talkable empathy in the B2B space
  • [37:28] Learn from Jay’s 6-step process and work through the “sticky” points by considering these 2 things
  • [45:58] 2 do’s and 1 don’t to follow when creating talk trigger

Connect With Jay:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

Marketing for Non-profits: Telling the Story and Measuring Brand Awareness

Posted on by admin

Catherine Davis knows how marketing for non-profits differs from marketing in the for-profit sector — and she succeeds at both. From building her marketing foundation at Leo Burnett and Diageo to her current role as the CMO of Feeding America, Catherine has mastered the ability to distill powerful stories into tangible pieces that entire populations can connect with. Through strategic brand tracking strategies and working to solve an issue that she is passionate about, Catherine is proving that the role of a CMO as a storyteller has never been more important.  

As Renegade Thinkers Unite meets its 101st episode milestone, Catherine Davis and Drew sit down to discuss why a career in marketing does not have to be linear to be successful. Catherine also explains how to capture individual stories, overcome challenges in brand awareness, and manage a non-profit CEO’s expectations. In this episode, Catherine will walk you through what it takes to communicate what your organization stands for and how to break down big issues into personal stories.

You’ll be inspired to make your marketing matter — catch the full story now.

                 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

Catherine works to capture individual stories – a skill she learned early on in her marketing career

Catherine picked up on 2 major lessons that have laid the foundation for her career in marketing for non-profits. The first is to identify and select a marketing strategy. Then, you have to break down that strategy into emotional and logical components that can be woven into stories, statistics, and campaigns.

She explains that people find it much harder to dismiss individual stories from real people struggling with hunger. By encouraging people to have conversations about the bigger issues in America, even if they aren’t necessarily “measurable,” Catherine can begin to see how the tides are turning for the hunger problem.

Measuring progress in marketing for non-profits – it doesn’t come down to quarterly reports

Both Drew and Catherine agree that you can’t begin to measure your non-profit’s success if you don’t use a brand tracking study. Even Feeding America, the 3rd largest non-profit in the United States, couldn’t measure their level of brand awareness without using a study – one that gave them valuable feedback into their brand and messaging. Catherine and her marketing team discovered that across a 2 year period, Feeding America’s level of brand awareness and passion for solving hunger went up from 24% to 51%.

Catherine explains that measuring the impact of a campaign often doesn’t occur after just a few months – solving an issue like hunger can take a decade or more for progress to be made. She outlines how to maintain support from your CEO and more on this episode.

Key pieces of advice for CMOs in non-profits

There are a few key takeaways from this episode that every CMO should hear. Catherine explains that in order for marketing for non-profits to be effective, CMOs need to be 100% clear on who the organization is and what it stands for. Then, you must execute in a way that people understand – avoid academia-type language that isn’t easily understood. Finally, you cannot assume that people believe in the same ideals as you do. By speaking with a single, focused, and passionate voice, you can find success in your marketing efforts.

If you visit the Feeding America website and donate now (tag Renegade Thinkers Unite,) the Renegade Team will match up to $250 in gifts from listeners. What a Renegade way to make a difference today in the lives of fellow Americans. #SharingIsCaring

Timeline

  • [0:30] Having a foundation in classical marketing strategies allows Catherine to flourish
  • [13:01] Feeding America and its place in the American non-profit industry
  • [17:55] Catherine works to capture individual stories – because people can’t ignore a person’s story of hunger
  • [20:47] Catherine’s proudest marketing moment at Feeding America
  • [24:45] The biggest differences being a CMO for a non-profit vs. for-profit organization
  • [32:38] Bridging the gap between brand awareness and unawareness
  • [35:43] 2 do’s and 1 don’t for CMOs of non-profit organizations

Connect With Catherine:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

Thoughts on Leadership, Accountability, and Building a Network That Spans a Lifetime

Posted on by admin

Carl Neisser starts every new year with a list of learning goals. Last year, he aimed to master texting with his children and grandchildren. Throughout his lifetime of over 90 years, Drew’s father Carl has collected important lessons about everything from teamwork, to leadership, to continually building a personal network. Above all, he never stops learning and never stops caring about his relationships.

On this special 100th episode of the Renegade Thinkers Unite podcast, Drew and his Dad discuss the Neisser family legacy in marketing and business, and chat about why putting people first is the first idea that any Renegade marketer needs to understand. For Carl, listening is important, but retaining that information is even more crucial in becoming the player that your team can rely on. In an inspiring “like father, like son” fashion, Drew and his father will walk you through the steps to becoming a lifelong learner in marketing and beyond.

Listen here to celebrate 100 episodes of Renegade thinking.

            Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

Life lessons on how to build a network of relationships across the span of a lifetime

Great relationships with people from all walks of life should be an aspiration for people across the world – not just in B2B marketing. How can you begin to build a network of close friends and colleagues? Drew and Carl explain that it starts with simply taking the initiative to connect with them on a regular basis. Carl meets with dozens of people every month and always takes an interest in their businesses, ideas, passions, and families. This deep knowledge people allows him to make meaningful connections among people in his network – adding value to the lives of nearly everyone he meets.

Leadership, accountability, and the power of a great team

Leadership, while often complex and detailed, really comes down to a few simple strategies. Carl outlines his best advice for leadership all on this episode. For example,

  • Be honest, upfront, and supportive in your communication
  • Hold your team accountable in order to help them grow
  • Remember what people tell you, and make connecting with them a priority
  • Encourage authentic teamwork within your organization

Carl also learned how to keep a close eye on his competitors from the great Abraham Lincoln. By understanding the way they think, lead, and act, your organization can be better prepared to compete against them in your industry.

You can’t avoid failure, so learning from past mistakes is crucial

Everyone has known deep and painful failure, both in their professional and personal lives. The difference lies in whether or not you learn from your mistakes and move past them, or continue to dwell in the past. By approaching every day with Carl’s mindset of “every day is a learning day,” you can start to view mistakes as simply opportunity for growth. He encourages all Renegade marketers to stay humble, stay curious, and never stop learning.

Timeline

  • [0:29] Drew’s guest for this episode is his father, Carl Neisser
  • [5:50] Key leadership and teamwork lessons from Abraham Lincoln
  • [10:50] Teamwork is essential in many contexts, from sports to marketing
  • [15:30] Learning how to build and maintain a lifetime’s worth of connections
  • [22:17] The way you connect with people is important
  • [25:22] Treating failure as an opportunity for growth

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew