Tag: Creativity

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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How Dropbox is Channeling Global Creative Energy Through a Bold Rebranding Effort

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Few companies have mastered the art of channeling creative energy through a focused rebranding effort better than Dropbox. On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew interviews CMO of Dropbox Carolyn Feinstein. Their shared love of creative energy and authentic storytelling makes for a podcast episode you don’t want to miss.

Carolyn discusses her passion for connecting deeply with consumers through stories as well as why Dropbox chose to “fix something that wasn’t broken” all on this episode. Be sure to listen to discover how Carolyn’s team shifted the market’s perspective about the well-loved company and its offerings.

With over half a billion worldwide users, Dropbox is among the best for workflow technology companies. Their ability to roll out massive internal changes while simultaneously conveying the right story to loyal consumers is encouraging.

Hear all about the challenges tackled, lessons learned, and joyful successes on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. Click here to listen now.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

How did Dropbox approach such a massive project? By following these three main ideas

Carolyn’s team is passionate about storytelling. She explains to Drew on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite that connecting people to one another through quality products and touching stories is the best way to begin a rebranding project. After realizing that Dropbox wanted to reinvent itself, Carolyn followed three main ideas that dictated their path: the art of storytelling, achieving buy-in from internal audiences, and listening to the voice of loyal customers. To hear how she skillfully knit these steps together into one successful mission be sure to listen to this episode.

Rebranding should not be incremental – bold actions conquer fear and allow your company to make huge strides forward

Dropbox’s biggest success throughout the rebranding process was persuading every member on the team that bold actions were the way to achieve ultimate success. Drew is also a huge proponent of the idea that incremental steps don’t move companies forward. Carolyn knew she needed to snap people to attention and have them understand that Dropbox is more than cloud storage. While there will always be some concerns about restructuring a brand’s identity, moving forward with confidence is the ultimate way to launch your company into the next chapter of success. You’ll surely learn from this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite so be sure to give it your full attention.

The crisis of modern work is “death by distraction” – hear how Dropbox is channeling the world’s creative energy and allowing people to work to their full potential

The modern workplace is plagued with notifications, emails, and deadlines. Carolyn and her team at Dropbox recognized this issue and wanted to solve it. Their solution? Streamlined services and products geared at freeing teams from monotonous and time-consuming tasks so they can unleash their creative energy. The goal? Global teams working on a united platform to create projects that will change the world. That’s why Dropbox continues to be a leader in workplace technology and creative storytelling. This interview is one you don’t want to miss.

What You’ll Learn

  • [0:30] Drew asks the question, “if it’s not broken, should you break it anyway?”
  • [2:00] Carolyn’s go-to story to share with marketers
  • [6:16] The biggest moment for Carolyn when she was with Electronic Arts
  • [11:03] The massive rebranding project Carolyn helped Dropbox navigate
  • [14:27] Shifting the consumers’ perspective of Dropbox
  • [16:57] How Dropbox handled the fear of changing a well-loved brand
  • [21:40] The internal rollout of Dropbox’s rebranding project
  • [23:57] Dropbox is becoming an eponym and approaching the level of Google or FedEx
  • [26:00] The art of a living, dynamic workspace product
  • [28:15] Distraction = death in the modern workplace, and how Dropbox is unleashing global creative energy
  • [31:08] The biggest lessons learned throughout this bold rebranding mission and the 3 main measures used to measure a storytelling effort
  • [35:06] Drew summarizes this inspiring episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite

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How Arrow Electronics Reinvented Storytelling Marketing and the Importance of Taking Risks

Posted on by Drew Neisser

In order to achieve storytelling marketing success, CMOs have to be willing to take risks. Even with all of the data and metrics available to evaluate, sometimes the best ideas come directly from human intuition.

On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew interviews Rich Kylberg, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Arrow Electronics. Arrow is a $24 billion global supplier for a wide array of technology and products, and Rich has helped them break into new ways of communicating internally and externally.

Throughout this podcast, Rich explains how his background in literature allows him to see marketing campaigns in new ways and why casting a vision internally is needed before you can communicate identity externally. Arrow’s groundbreaking SAM vehicle technology is revolutionizing many industries, and you’ll be inspired by Rich’s explanation of this pursuit.

Their conversation is a perfect mix of marketing knowledge and inspiration – you don’t want to miss it. Click here to listen!

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch.

How Rich helped Arrow create a common identity

When Rich joined the Arrow team, they had recently acquired over 130 companies and many hadn’t yet fallen in line with the overarching Arrow brand. Arrow was on the verge of becoming a holding company too comfortable in their own success, but Rich was determined to take some risks and create a guiding theme that would direct every employee and customer interaction. Thus, the phrase “guiding innovation forward” was born. Rich explains that “you have to inspire your employees before you can market your company externally” and this progress was essential for Arrow to continue growing. It created a conversation starter that is still being talked about today. To hear exactly how Rich achieved this lofty goal, be sure to give this episode a listen.

Why risk taking in marketing is so important

Rich and Drew are adamant about risk-taking in marketing – it’s one of the key aspects of being a Renegade Thinker. On this episode, Rich explains that the opportunity to attain exponential rewards are worth taking substantial risks and that the fear of mediocrity is often the driving force behind risk-taking. CMOs in any B2B environment should ask themselves these questions: What risks am I willing to take in my marketing? What will be the source of my courage? How am I going to prepare? After you consider these questions, remember that as a marketer you need to be empowered to try ideas, keep what works, and move past what doesn’t. Without risky marketing decisions, Rich and his team never could have developed the storytelling marketing campaign that moved Arrow into the future of connecting with clients and telling great stories. Be sure to discover the story on this episode.

Arrow’s innovative storytelling marketing campaign and how Rich and his team burst through the barriers they encountered

Arrow Electronics recently unveiled their latest storytelling marketing campaign, and it’s one that resonates with people across the country. When Rich and his team were connected with a former Indy Racing League race car driver who was sadly diagnosed as a quadriplegic after a crash in 2000, they came up with the SAM car technology – a car that would allow drivers with disabilities to regain their independence. When asked about the project, Rich’s team explained that “We hope the SAM car continues to drive technology innovation forward and inspire people to dream big because anything is possible.” Had Rich and his marketing team forgone risk-taking and stuck with what is “normal” and expected in the marketing industry, this amazing project never would have left the idea board. It’s sure to inspire you and your team to take marketing risks and delve into the unknown so be sure to get all of the details by listening to this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

What You’ll Learn

  • [1:25] Drew introduces his guest for this episode, Rich Kylberg of Arrow Electronics
  • [2:48] Rich’s favorite risk-taking story from his childhood
  • [8:00] How Rich’s educational background impacts his current career
  • [13:18] The story behind how Rich joined the Arrow team and how they created a common identity
  • [17:45] Taking the internal identity and transforming it into an external message
  • [21:55] Arrow’s program that brought their innovative ideas to life that enhance humanity
  • [27:30] The barriers Rich’s team encountered while developing the SAM technology
  • [33:00] Rich shares the best lessons he learned through the SAM journey
  • [37:13] Why you should bring in an outside firm to assist your company in storytelling
  • [39:51] The power of a plan on a page
  • [42:07] Drew summarizes his conversation with Rich

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Be Your Own Best Customer

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When Tom Libretto came to Pegasystems as Chief Marketing Officer in 2016, he recognized that the tech company was in the midst of a big change. Leadership was challenging many of their preconceived notions, and Libretto jumped right in to propel the changes. His first step was to get the lay of the land, so to speak, and understand what was working and what wasn’t, who were the star performers, and where the opportunities were for growth. Having worked at Lotus, Nokia, and Chase, Libretto brought with him an understanding of the discipline it took to effect change in a company. (To listen now, click here.)

For the smaller, more agile Pegasystems, Libretto knew he wanted to embrace real-time adaptive learning analytics. In this week’s podcast, he shares three takeaways for marketers to keep in mind as martech takes a hold on modern marketing.

The first takeaway is that if you’re selling a product to your consumers, you’d better be your product’s best user. One advantage Libretto had at Pegasystems is that their platform was one of the star performers. In fact, it was such an amazing product that they used PEGA to market, well, PEGA! Libretto described this as “drinking their own champagne,” but it helped convey a serious level of authenticity to customers. His team was also able to gain a unique perspective on their users’ issues and needs. And if the team ever created an update for the software they used in-house, it was automatically shared with their customers.

The second takeaway Libretto stressed is that the future of marketing is now. Some of us fear that the rise in cognitive artificial intelligence will put them out of our jobs, but the reality is that AI allows us to create a more personalized, seamless experience for customers. For example, with real-time adaptive learning analytics, Pegasystems is engaging in constant A/B testing. The time of “one-size fits all” marketing is in the past, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a need for storytelling. Marketers will likely always need human stories to engage with consumers on a deeper level. Technology simply makes it easier.

The final takeaway Libretto shared was actually one of the hardest lessons he had to learn in marketing, and that was, “Don’t be afraid to fail.” It’s in our nature to want to please our clients and sell products, but sometimes you must fail in order to learn. The most important part of failing, however, is learning from it. Libretto made sure his team knew to diagnose their failures, because then at least they wouldn’t make the same mistakes again. So, while Libretto wouldn’t tolerate all mistakes, per se, he made sure his team remembered: “If you’re not failing, you’re not learning.”

Engaged Employees Beget Better Marketing

Posted on by Drew Neisser

When you think about how companies motivate employees, you’ll likely think of human resources first. This wasn’t the case for Patti Newcomer-Simmons, Vice President of Marketing at Intuit. After she returned to the financial software company following a hiatus, Newcomer-Simmons realized that it was her responsibility to improve the lives of her employees if she wanted to increase company productivity. To empower her team to perform at optimal levels, she would need to invest time and energy into promoting employee engagement. (To listen to the whole episode now click here.)

Now, you might think that employee engagement simply means satisfaction with the company. Not so. When Newcomer-Simmons looked at metrics for Intuit’s employee engagement, she instead focused more on retention: Would the employee stay with the company even if they received a better offer from someone else?

Since her return to Intuit, Newcomer-Simmons significantly increased employee engagement—and thereby reduced turnover—which she described as one of her proudest accomplishments. So, if you’re wondering how you can do the same for your own company, you’ve found the right podcast! In this week’s episode, Newcomer-Simmons shared several principles that marketing leaders need to abide by to truly engage and empower their employees, ultimately translating that positivity into productivity.

The first of these principles was pretty simple: be open to your employees’ feedback. Newcomer-Simmons explained that there has to be some level of vulnerability on the part of any leader in the sense that he or she should always acknowledge that they could have done something differently. At Intuit, Newcomer-Simmons schedules monthly meetings and directly asks her teams for opinions on what she could do better in the future, what worked and what didn’t.

The changes she made in response to the feedback received weren’t always grand gestures. Sometimes it was as simple as being mindful of her presence or tone in meetings. Her openness and vulnerability allowed employees to feel as though their voices were heard, which translated to positive feelings towards their efforts and the company. Similar to how brands build loyalty with consumers, being open to feedback encouraged loyalty in Newcomer-Simmons’s team.

The next engagement principle Newcomer-Simmons shared was integrity. It wasn’t enough to listen to feedback and promise change—she actually had to do as she said. She refers to this as the “say-do” ratio. If she were to go back on her word after asking for constructive criticism, it could have been perceived as betrayal. Her employees would have been left discouraged, which would have eventually trickled into loss of engagement with the company. Because of Intuit’s limited window of marketing opportunities during tax season, it was vital to for Newcomer-Simmons to have all hands on deck, which was only possible if her employees were fully engaged.

The last principle she described was leading by example. Employees held to a higher standard than their team leaders and supervisors were at high risk of developing resentment towards the company. Or worse, they would do as their leaders did, which would cause internal conflict because of the discord in employee standards. Both would have negatively affected the company, which is why Newcomer-Simmons emphasized the importance of holding herself to the same standard as her team members. So, if you plan on to raise the bar and ask more from your team, be prepared to raise that same bar for yourself and lead by example.