Category: Show Notes

Balancing Brand and Demand

Posted on by Melissa Caffrey

Which came first, brand or demand? It’s an age-old question in the B2B world, especially for B2B CMOs who understand the delicate balance between growing a powerful, lasting brand and a demand gen engine that delivers results. Enter CFA Institute, a leading association of investment professionals with a global reach and a strong brand identity.

In this episode, CMO Michael Collins shares exactly how CFA balances brand and demand while managing a robust MarTech stack, adjusting strategy where needed, and tracking key metrics to maintain a healthy data-oriented alignment with the C-Suite. Tune in to hear what has worked, what hasn’t, and how CFA has driven growth within its close-knit community of Chartered Financial Analysts.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How CFA Institute balances brand and demand
  • Why brand consistency matters
  • How CFA Institute optimizes its MarTech stack

Brewing a Simple B2B Brand Story with Tealium

Posted on by Melissa Caffrey

When CMO Heidi Bullock joined Tealium in 2019, her mandate was to grow the company from great to greater. Tealium already had a solid standing in the customer data management space when she arrived, having reached over $100 million in ARR with no plans of slowing down.

Heidi dove in immediately, directly reaching out to customers and partners to figure out how to level up the brand. Tune in to hear Heidi spill the tea on how Tealium simplified its brand story, infused it into the organization, and brought it to market with a flourish. This episode is a remarkable lesson in B2B brand strategy—you don’t want to miss it!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How Tealium simplified its brand story
  • How Tealium certified its employees on the new story
  • Key brand metrics: engagement, pipeline, velocity

B2B Marketers Marketing to Marketers

Posted on by Melissa Caffrey

Like any good magician, a great marketer never reveals their secrets. The best marketing is so good that it wows its target audience on the stage, but when that audience is a group of marketers, things become a lot trickier. It’s like pulling a rabbit out of a hat at a magician’s convention—your fellow marketers already know all the tricks of the trade, so they are that much harder to impress.

In this episode, we spoke with three master CMOs of marketing to marketers: Norman Guadagno of Acoustic, Jamie Gilpin of Sprout Social, and Eric Eden of Postclick. In this insightful conversation, they share all kinds of tricks of the trade, from strategies to really engage the marketing community to how much MarTech is too much. Check it out!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Best practices when marketing to marketers
  • How to engage marketers virtually
  • How to get the most out of your MarTech stack

One Marketer’s Change Management Playbook

Posted on by Melissa Caffrey

When Johnny Smith Jr. joined Encompass Health as VP of Marketing, he was tasked with a tall order—to create a strong, growth-oriented marketing department. The change management job would involve a complete rebuild, but luckily for Encompass Health, Johnny’s strategic approach to marketing transformation and diplomatic leadership helped them align the organization in 12 months.

Tune in to hear Johnny’s in-depth, step-by-step guide to building a marketing organization. From establishing guiding principles to aligning newly organized across strategic priorities, Johnny is a master in change management. Check it out!

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How to lead a change management initiative
  • How Encompass has built its marketing department
  • Why accountability is key for marketers

Finding the Perfect CMO Gig

Posted on by Melissa Caffrey

The executive job search is all about taking a consultative approach. For CMOs, it’s about using interviews to truly understand the pain points of an organization and to measure their values against your own. It’s about setting expectations so that, once hired, the CMO be able to deliver both quick wins and big wins that have a lasting impact. And now, Post-COVID, it’s also about doing all of those things virtually.

This episode comes from a livestream we recorded in January 2021 with three guests who bring different perspectives to the CMO job search. Patti Newcomer-Small had just been hired as CMO at FMG Suite, Sara Larsen was in transition at the time (now she’s CMO of Wolters Kluwer Health), and Brandon Palmer of Discover Podium coaches CMOs looking for their next gig. Tune in to hear how the job hunt has changed post-COVID as well as an abundance of useful tips for the search and that first 90 days as a virtual leader.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How the job hunt has changed for CMOs post-COVID
  • How to make an impact and lead virtually
  • Practical tips for CMOs in transition

How to Build a Great Brand Reputation

Posted on by Melissa Caffrey

Joan Jett may not care too much about her bad reputation, but for B2B CMOs, it’s a totally different story. Marketing executives know the incredible business value of a strong brand and, like this show’s guest Rebecca Biestman of Reputation says, “Brand building and reputation building takes years and a lot of tiny acts.”

In this week’s show, Rebecca joins Drew to discuss Reputation’s recent brand refresh. The reputation management brand has not only shed its “.com,” it’s also established its new purpose-packed tagline and completely rebuilt its website. Tune in to hear some key learnings, like how Reputation built a brand and a demand gen engine simultaneously, why branding work is an integral part of corporate strategy, and how Reputation’s prescriptive scoring system can help brands thrive.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Reputation’s rebranding story
  • Why brand work is a vital part of any B2B business strategy
  • How Reputation Score X can grow business value