Category: Show Notes

Drew worked on the team that launched the Panasonic Toughbook by driving a Hummer over it on live TV! 

That stunt turned heads, sure, but it also drilled the product’s promise into buyers’ brains: tough enough to survive anything. The best launches find that one thing that matters, makes it unforgettable, and builds everything else around it.

In this episode, Drew Neisser is joined by Guy Yalif (Webflow), Chris Pieper (ADP), and Ali McCarthy (Amplify Your Voice Studio) to talk about why great launches start with one magical thing: the product’s essence.  

In this episode:

• Guy shares how Webflow’s multi-product expansion demanded a rethink of what buyers really needed and why one-size-fits-all launches rarely succeed 

• Chris explains why the launch of ADP’s Lyric platform meant wrangling hundreds of voices into one clear story without losing focus on what matters 

• Ali breaks down why putting the customer’s pain first is key and why clarity always beats complexity

Plus: 

• Why understanding the customer’s pain points beats any feature checklist 

• Why selling everything at once kills momentum  

• How to keep the story tight so the team’s always on the same page 

• Why one person needs to own the launch story from start to finish

Tune in to hear how great launches find the product’s essence and turn it into a story buyers can’t ignore. 

B2B CMOs know positioning matters—but too often, it vanishes when sales starts talking.

In this episode, positioning guru April Dunford pulls back the curtain on the disconnect between marketing and sales and shares exactly how to build a sales pitch that wins.

Drawing from her book Sales Pitch and decades of experience, April shares a battle-tested framework for building pitches that set the context, overcome indecision, and spotlight your unique value—without overwhelming buyers or falling into feature hell.

Key Mistakes: 

• Mistake #1: Treating positioning as marketing-only 

• Mistake #2: Assuming sales will “get it” if you hand them positioning docs 

• Mistake #3: Building sales pitches without a clear, compelling structure

In this episode:

• Why positioning is the starting point for every winning pitch 

• How marketing can frame the problem so sales doesn’t chase the wrong story 

• Why leading with your company history stalls momentum 

• What smart pitch sequencing sounds like in action

This Episode Is For: CMOs tired of great positioning dying in a sales deck—and want to arm their teams with pitch narratives that close. 

Is your GenAI stack bloated, scattered, or underused? You’re not alone. 

In this Huddles Quick Take, GenAI advisor Nicole Leffer delivers a fast-paced, practical deep dive into what marketers are still getting wrong with GenAI—and how to fix it. You’ll also learn why Deep Research may be the most powerful feature you’re not using. 

Plus, Nicole shares how ChatGPT helped her build a full keynote deck (including visuals!) and how to stay on top of hallucination risks in strategic work. 

What You’ll Learn 

• 3 common GenAI mistakes marketers make—plus one just for CMOs 

• Why most teams only need one core tool (and which Nicole ranks highest) 

• How to use Deep Research to analyze competitors, build strategy, and repurpose content 

• Why great prompting starts with generous context and a clear goal 

Want more?
Catch the rest of the conversation on the CMO Huddles Hub YouTube channel or click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbdXnseUK-U    

Everyone wants to be in a category of one.

But until analysts acknowledge it, customers search for it, and competitors show up, it’s not quite a category—more a call you made before the market did. Creating one means walking a line between leading the story and waiting for the market to catch up. 

In this episode, Drew Neisser is joined by Bernd Leger of Cornerstone OnDemand, Charles Groome of Biz2Credit, and Jakki Geiger to share their insights into building a category from scratch. 

In this episode:

• Bernd shares how Cornerstone moved beyond LMS into “workforce agility,” backed by acquisitions, analyst engagement, and full-team alignment. 

• Charles explains how Biz2Credit is carving out a new lane in FinTech by naming the problem and using familiar language to build demand. 

• Jakki outlines what separates true category creation from disruption, and why team-wide clarity is the hidden work that drives both. 

Plus: 

• Why a real customer problem should shape your category narrative 

• How to bring analysts in without losing control of the story 

• What it takes to bring your team along when the category doesn’t exist yet

Tune in to learn how category creation starts, builds, and earns its place in the market! 

Marketing org charts may look innocent, but they’re loaded with meaning. Split your team into “revenue” and “corporate” and you’re sending a message, whether you mean to or not. Structure reveals philosophy. And in B2B, that philosophy had better be built for trust, speed, and results.

In this episode, Drew Neisser is joined by Kelly Hopping (Demandbase), Lesley Davis (Waggoner Engineering), and Gary Sevounts (Simpplr) to discuss how they’re shaping marketing teams that reflect clearer priorities, move in sync with the business, and operate at the pace growth demands.

In this episode:

• Kelly built her team around one goal: earning sales love. It reshaped her team’s structure, mindset, and KPIs. 

• Lesley explains how cultural clarity and cross-functional trust helped her team scale fast inside a complex org. 

• Gary shares how “Treasure Ops” became a full-funnel GTM engine, reviving stalled deals and tying ops directly to pipeline.

You’ll also learn: 

• Why your org structure should follow how your buyers engage 

• How AI is already shifting roles 

• How shared metrics and a single definition of success align marketing and sales

Tune in for a look at how marketing teams are being built to meet the moment! 

You can spend six figures on an event and still walk away with nothing but badge scans and a fuzzy sense of brand presence. But when you treat it as a full-funnel campaign, that’s when the impact starts early and lasts well beyond the event itself.

In this episode, Drew Neisser is joined by Ellina Shinnick (HUB International), Kevin Ruane (Precisely), and Isabelle Papoulias (EliteOps) to explore how teams show up with intention and turn B2B events into focused, cross-functional efforts that build brand, strengthen buyer confidence, and avoid the all-too-common post-event fade.

In this episode:

• Ellina breaks down HUB’s three-part event framework: Sales alignment, rigorous ROI auditing, and one bold theme that ties it all together. 

• Kevin shares how a shift from demand gen to brand-first events, paired with sideline plays and airport branding, led to unexpected revenue wins. 

• Isabelle gives the play-by-play on how startups can show up strong with limited budgets and purposeful sequencing.

Plus: 

• Why pre-event planning is where ROI starts 

• How to audit your event calendar for strategic fit (not just attendance numbers) 

• What actually works for post-event follow-up, and what to skip 

• Why one big creative idea can carry you through a whole year of events

Tune in to steal what works and rethink how events drive brand and pipeline!