Category: Show Notes

Build a Better Brand Narrative and Create Apps People Actually Want to Use

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Becoming a great B2B company starts with one thing: creating a better brand narrative. The story you tell about your brand is the driving force behind every action your team takes. An influential brand narrative inspires quality product design and links every team member to your common values and goals.

Throughout this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew and Barry discuss why marketers need to go out and be the face of the company through making sales and speaking with customers. Barry also shares his best tips for creating apps people ACTUALLY want to use. You can learn from his clear insights that break down app design into a few easy ideas.

Click here to learn how to create the brand narrative you’ve always wanted.

What You’ll Learn

Professionals should do these 3 things in the B2B marketing industry

B2B marketers do more than create content to be shared. The best professionals break out of the marketing mold regularly and become salespersons for the day. By going out and talking to prospects, understanding their problems, and making sales they are better equipped to create campaigns that target the heart of a prospect.

Barry explains that marketing professionals should also do these 3 main tasks in order to best serve the company:

  1. Develop the “why change” and “why change now” stories
  2. Express and condense the brand narrative into 2-3 sentences that can be repeated by every team member
  3. Create authentic content that backs up the brand narrative

Here’s how to build a better brand narrative for your company

Drafting a better brand narrative goes beyond restating the company’s mission. A truly great narrative paints a picture to the customer that resonates deeply with their problems and need for solutions. Writing a better brand narrative becomes a process of deconstructing and reconstructing your company’s mission, values, core principles, and positioning. Barry explains this process in full detail on this episode. It’s not an easy road, but it’s one that 100% worth it.

Your app shouldn’t be just a mobile website – give it a job to do and problem to solve

Barry explains the 3 main types of apps: those used to waste time, those used to connect people together, and those used to save time. The entire idea behind productivity-based apps is to minimize the amount of time a user spends on the app itself. If you understand the fundamental reason behind WHY people need your app, you can use those insights to design a better, more efficient user experience. And remember, not everything should be about marketing within your app!

To hear more about why user-first app design is so important, and even more details behind authentic brand narratives, be sure to give this episode your full attention.

Timeline

  • [1:20] Barry’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment, and why marketers need to become salespeople
  • [15:20] Could machines take over a creative marketer’s job?
  • [18:35] Constructing a great narrative for your company
  • [25:57] Professionals do these 3 things in the B2B marketing industry
  • [32:40] Barry’s best advice for creating apps that people ACTUALLY want to use
  • [38:42] Barry’s #1 tip for designing great apps

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Marketing to Audiences 50+ and Future Marketing Trends, Live from PSFK Part 2

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On part 2 of this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite recorded live from the PSFK conference, Drew speaks with two guests about how marketers can relate to audiences over 50 and the importance of that audience in today’s society. They also discuss the value of looking ahead in marketing and the future marketing trends to keep in mind.

David Stewart, CEO/founder of Ageist, explains the disconnect between 50+ audiences and younger marketing teams. He shares insights that will change the way you approach marketing to older generations.

Dr. Devon Powers shares her knowledge on future marketing trends and how brands need to be thinking about their future interactions with customers.

Learn important B2B marketing trends and click here to listen.

What You’ll Learn

Marketers are missing the mark for audiences 50+ — here’s the solution

“Too many marketers are obsessed with the millennial generation,” explains David on this episode. Few brands understand what older consumers are looking for and they’re missing out on capturing their brand loyalty. He wants listeners to understand that people over 50 often feel invisible in the market, and if your company recognizes the value they add to society, you’ll be well on your way to capturing their dollars.

Focusing on values and aspirations is key for marketing to all ages

Campaigns focused on values and aspirations are two marketing trends that are always successful. No matter the age of your audience, these types of campaigns speak to every consumer. If you appreciate a consumer’s accomplishments and explain how your company can help them succeed even more, you’ll earn customers for life.

Here’s how you can identify future marketing trends

Devon explains that always evaluating your physical and online environments is key to understanding future marketing trends in your industry. Marketers need to be thinking about how their consumers identify themselves and interact with others. Those patterns and trends will dictate how they interact with your brand. If you’re always challenging your assumptions, you’ll be on your way to understanding where marketing trends are headed in the future.

Timeline

  • [1:18] Part 2 of the podcast recorded live at the PSFK conference
  • [1:55] Most marketers are missing the mark for consumers over 50
  • [8:10] How can you communicate effectively with the 50+ demographic?
  • [16:26] Dr. Devon Powers, researcher and professor, on future marketing trends
  • [23:57] Devon explains why challenging your marketing assumptions is key
  • [28:19] Here are your main takeaways from this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite

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3 Strategies to Build a Quality Brand, Live from PSFK Part 1

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Recorded live from the PSFK conference, Drew speaks with two professionals that explain 3 strategies on how to build a quality brand. Both guests focus on how a brand can help people think about big ideas and create change in their own lives and in their communities.

Jordan Schenck, Head of Global Consumer Marketing at Impossible Foods, explains how a brand can spark change across multiple business platforms. She and her team are always trying to go the extra mile by creating a brand that transcends the consumer world and focuses on starting important conversations that are continuing to make the world a better place.

Amber Case is a Research Fellow at MIT and is an expert in “calm tech,” an area of research that focuses on eliminating unnecessary tech systems by keeping the element of the human touch. She wants to see every marketing professional avoid distracting systems, and get back to the heart of working for a quality brand.

Click here to listen to these inspiring conversations.

What You’ll Learn

Creatively market your mission-led brand

Jordan explains that in order to effectively market a mission-led brand, you have to go beyond spouting off your values. People are always willing to follow a quality brand, but you have to first get their attention. Your job as a marketer working for a quality brand is to get people into the headspace of getting behind a message they can support.

Help people make beneficial decisions they can feel good about

Quality brands push people towards decisions that are better for their communities, themselves, and the world we all live in. That the mindset Jordan and her team believe in at Impossible Foods. They are always trying to go beyond being a consumer brand and start bigger conversations about how the brands we follow can ultimately influence and change the world.

Know when to use AI to make your life easier, not full of distractions

Amber is a supporter of calm tech – a method of using technology that allows you to still be human and not become immersed in complicated technology systems. She explains that quality brands are well designed and built for optimal human use. Truly great products take more time, but they can help people do tasks in a more focused, efficient way. If you choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) in your company, understand that AI systems still require human insights. If not, your data will be flat and not useful.

Timeline

  • [0:01] Drew’s overview for this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite
  • [1:38] Jordan Schenck from Impossible Foods is Drew’s first guest
  • [8:27] How Impossible Foods maintains brand integrity across multiple platforms
  • [10:49] Impossible Foods is helping people make decisions they can feel good about
  • [15:04] Jordan’s key insight into marketing a product brand
  • [17:14] Amber Case, MIT Research Fellow, is Drew’s second guest
  • [22:00] AI is not about replacing humans
  • [25:29] You have to know what can and cannot be automated

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Race Cars on a Cruise Ship? Surprises Abound in Travel Marketing

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Norwegian Cruise Line is a leader in the travel industry and an expert in product launch marketing. Their CMO and Senior VP, Meg Lee, is Drew’s guest for this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. Tune in as Meg and Drew talk marketing over a glass of champagne aboard Norwegian’s Bliss ship in NYC.

On this episode, Meg shares her tips on how to handle product launch marketing and the benefits of having diverse channels of marketing. She touches on how she sells fun, whether it’s through the authentic, smoked Texas BBQ (prepared off-ship!), or the electric race car track available to guests on the ship. Overall, she talks through how she completes her main job: filling 16 huge ships with excited travelers. 

Click here to listen to this entertaining and educational episode.

What You’ll Learn

Use a variety of marketing strategies when launching a product

Meg and her team at Norwegian Cruise Line recognize the importance of using many different marketing channels when preparing to launch a new ship. Using social, video, print, and word of mouth platforms allow the Norwegian brand to reach as many people as possible. It’s always important to curate and organize the content you’re developing so that the right message can be shared at the right time.

Relationships can be your best marketing strategies

In the travel industry, the best resource available for product launch marketing is travel agencies. The relationships Meg has built with travel agents are invaluable and offer an unparalleled level of expertise and knowledge to potential customers. Forming relationships in your own industry like these should be a top priority.

The benefits of using creative product launch marketing strategies

By using creative marketing for your B2B or B2C business, you can stand out from the competition. Creative ideas make your brand memorable and allow you to go deeper into storytelling mode. Without creative storytelling, you’re just sharing data and facts. Meg also urges marketers to never let fear be a driver of their decisions.

Timeline

  • [1:04] Meg’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment
  • [6:35] The customer journey for Norwegian Cruise Lines
  • [9:52] Why differentiation matters for Norwegian Cruise Line
  • [12:47] How the Norwegian brand leverages word of mouth marketing
  • [14:15] The challenges of marketing and selling a brand new cruise ship
  • [22:17] The role of B2B marketing in the travel industry
  • [27:55] How Norwegian Cruise Line utilizes video marketing strategies
  • [31:09] Meg’s “two do’s and a don’t” for marketers

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Here’s Why Your Brand Must Deliver on a Marketing Promise

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Creating the perfect marketing promise is one of the biggest goals for CMOs. But a marketing promise without a product to back it up will not succeed. On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew interviews Jennifer Deutsch, CMO of Park Place Technologies – a company that specializes in third-party data center maintenance. She shares her experiences in pairing the perfect marketing message with a brand-changing product and it’s an episode you don’t want to miss.

Jennifer shares her expert opinion on how your team can identify the “aha moment” for your brand. She and Drew also discuss how sales leads are directly connected to marketing and the importance of simple marketing.

Learn from Jennifer’s recent success with marketing promises – click here to listen now.

What You’ll Learn

A product MUST deliver on your marketing promise, or else it won’t succeed

If your CEO says “we don’t have a new product, but we need a new campaign” – consider finding a new company. Marketing without a deliverable promise isn’t really marketing, and it won’t make an impact on your customers. It’s the CMO’s job to find a position that supports a new product and then deliver on that marketing promise. A stellar new product and a foolproof marketing plan create a 1-2 punch that will fundamentally change perceptions about your brand.

Anticipating your customer’s needs will allow you to crush your competition

Jennifer and her team at Park Place Technologies have created the perfect tagline for their latest product and marketing releases, “Up-time is everything.” They recognized that for data centers and technology companies, “downtime” (where servers and technology aren’t functional because of repairs or unplanned incident) directly equates to lost profit. Jennifer and her team decided to passionately pursue the idea of “up-time” and make it a new cornerstone for Park Place Technologies. That was their “aha brand moment.”

On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Jennifer explains her process for internal and external rollout after identifying customer needs and creating a marketing campaign to support the product. They spent 1 month explaining the “why” and the inspiration behind the new campaign. This allowed internal audiences to buy into the new direction. Then, the global external rollout followed with digital and print marketing efforts. Combining these two rollout plans, just as Park Place Technologies did, will allow your company to see the greatest levels of success when delivering on a marketing promise.

Simplicity in marketing key, but hard to master

Effective marketing begins by simply understanding what makes your audience tick. Jennifer encourages CMOs to speak their customers’ language and identify their needs. After you’ve identified those puzzle pieces you can begin to craft messages that speak to those needs. Drew and Jennifer discuss why simple marketing is as valuable as gold, but why it’s so hard to perform in the right ways. Simplicity in the right places is genius, but simplicity in the wrong marketing places isn’t strong enough to make an impression on your customers. For their solutions on how to simplify your marketing while have it be backed up by a product, don’t miss this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Timeline:

  • [1:12] Jennifer’s diverse experience brings a high level of expertise to this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite
  • [2:35] Jennifer’s Renegade Rapid Fire
  • [12:02] How did Jennifer and her team come up with the idea of anticipating customer needs?
  • [17:46] What percentage of leads are driven by marketing?
  • [19:43] A new product launch delivers on your marketing promise
  • [23:53] How marketing & PR is directly tied to Park Place’s global leads
  • [26:24] Why simple is marketing is hard
  • [28:07] The biggest lessons Jennifer learned while at Park Place Technologies

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