Author: Melissa Caffrey

Penguins spend 75% of their lives in the water, actively positioning themselves exactly where they need to be to hunt and survive. It’s intentional placement. Strong brands do the same. They know where they belong and commit. Too many don’t. They drift, hoping the market finds them. You’ve got to stake your spot and give your marketing something to stand on. 

In this episode, Drew brings in Marni Puente (SAIC) and Sara Larsen (Wolters Kluwer Health), two marketers who’ve learned that positioning only works when it’s clear, repeated often, and owned beyond marketing. They get into how to break the cycle of repositioning, earn internal trust, and lay the groundwork for durable growth.

In this episode: 

• Marni shares how a tight positioning strategy anchored SAIC’s rebrand and became a decision filter across the org 

• Sara explains how to drive clarity in a matrixed enterprise, aligning stakeholders without watering down the message 

• Both guests reflect on the power of internal alignment as the real test of a strong position

Plus: 

• How to test positioning with internal and external audiences 

• Why simplicity is your signal when it comes to clarity 

• What positioning unlocks across marketing, sales, and culture 

• How to build buy-in that lasts beyond launch

Tune in to learn how focused positioning gives every team a north star and puts your brand strategy to work across the business. 

You can’t game the Gartner system. You can’t fast-track a Forrester mention. But you can show up prepared, relevant, and consistent. Analyst Relations is the slowest move on the board and the one that defines how your company is positioned on calls, in rooms, and across the category. 

To trace the full arc of this relationship, Drew is joined by Dan Lowden (Blackbird.AI), Lorie Coulombe (Equity Shift), and Lynn Tornabene (Anteriad). These are marketing leaders who’ve built analyst trust from scratch, played the long game, and seen the ripple effects hit pipeline, brand, and board-level confidence. They’ve turned AR into an amplifier, and they’re here to show you how to do the same.

In this episode: 

• Dan on building analyst trust without budget through clear positioning and repeat engagement 

• Lorie on prepping spokespeople and leading briefings with relevance over polish 

• Lynn on aligning teams and delivering consistent, high-value analyst touchpoints

Plus: 

• What analysts want from a briefing 

• Why your first 20 minutes set the tone 

• The biggest mistake CMOs still make in prep 

• How to turn analyst feedback into team clarity

Tune in to learn how consistent, credible AR earns analyst trust and long-term traction in the market. 

Joelle Kaufman has been both a CRO and a CMO—and she’s here to tell you: if sales and marketing aren’t on the same page, you’re leaving revenue on the table. 

In this Huddles Quick Take, Joelle outlines the three most common mistakes CMOs make when trying to align with sales—and how to avoid them. From pipeline goals to budget tension to attribution battles, Joelle shares how CMOs can build better partnerships that actually drive revenue. 

What You’ll Learn: 

• 3 alignment mistakes that keep marketing and sales at odds 

• Why obsessing over MQLs sends the wrong signal 

• How shared pipeline goals help unify teams 

• The real problem with attribution finger-pointing   

For the rest of the conversation with Joelle, visit our YouTube channel (CMO Huddles Hub) or click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64XHb_E7UT4.  

Get more insights like these by joining our free Starter program at cmohuddles.com.  

ABM falls apart fast when teams jump in before locking down who they’re chasing, why it matters, and how it’s all supposed to run. Sales pushes one list, marketing builds another, and no one agrees on who actually matters. No shared ICP? No clean data? Well, no chance. You need a strategy.

Guest host Jon Russo (B2B Fusion) corrals Heidi Bullock (Tealium), Patti Newcomer (Centerbase), and Bindu Chellappan (Corpay) for a breakdown of how they’re keeping their ABM engines running clean. Think pods with purpose, seller-first workflows, and data that matters.

In this episode: 

• Heidi on running pods that bring marketing, sales, and CS into one motion 

• Patti on aligning across the funnel and why ABM needs ownership 

• Bindu on activating firmographic and intent data with shared definitions

Plus: 

• Where alignment really starts 

• Why trust beats tech every time 

• How AI is speeding up the grunt work without losing the signal 

• The metrics that actually tell you it’s working

Tune in to learn about what breaks ABM, what fixes it, and how to keep teams pulling in the same direction. 

Let’s face it, most marketing metrics don’t travel well to the CFO’s office. 

Pricing power is different. It’s measurable, margin-backed, and proof that your brand is strong enough to charge more without losing volume. 

To help make sense of it all, Drew brings in Chris Burggraeve, Founder of Vicomte and author of books on marketing and business strategy. Together, they discuss what pricing power means, how to measure it, and why it’s the most powerful way to communicate marketing value to your CFO and C-suite.  

In this episode:

• What pricing power means and how to measure it 

• Why brand strength drives profit, not just visibility 

• How CMOs can align with CFOs through finance fluency 

• The tools and mindset needed to link marketing to valuation 

• How pricing power bridges marketing metrics with financial outcomes

Tune in for a clearer way to connect brand, margin, and market strength. 

️ In this Drew-on-Drew episode, Drew puts penguin hat-Drew in the hot seat as they riff on how B2B CMOs are getting smart and a little scrappy with Generative AI, finding what works and sparking fresh energy across their teams.

It’s a fast-paced convo sparked by real stories from marketing leaders in the thick of GenAI, testing big ideas, fielding questions from curious CEOs, and rallying their teams behind the experimentation. Throughout, both Drews dish out the practical, the surprising, and the just plain fun ways marketers are experimenting with GenAI. 

Expect smart plays, one very silly penguin hat, and a few “why didn’t I think of that?” moments.  

Key Takeaways:  

• Build your own Executive GPT and walk into every boardroom meeting three steps ahead 

• Outsmart shallow C-suite prompts with better inputs and smarter thinking 

• Turn team learning into an AI challenge that brings the fun back to marketing 

• Tap into Customer GPTs and synthetic research to surface insights you didn’t know you had 

• Get ready for GEO because AI-first search is already reshaping the game

Tune in for a few GenAI moves you’ll wish you tried sooner!