Tag: Drew Neisser

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

Connect With Carolyn:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

Best Strategies to Improve Your Marketing Technology Stack

Posted on by Drew Neisser

In this second installation of Drew’s interview with Eric Eden, CMO of Receipt Bank, they discuss additional strategies to improve your marketing technology stack. Be sure to listen to part 1 of this conversation on episode 71 of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

You have to have the right technology stack in place in order to be effective in today’s B2B marketing environment. After securing a budget and receiving buy-in from company leadership teams, selecting the right pieces to add to your stack is the next big step.

There are countless programs and applications available, but CMOs must avoid getting caught up in the newest, shiniest options on the market. By identifying your organization’s marketing and revenue goals you can then decide which programs will help you achieve those goals. Hiring the right staff and giving them the right training will ensure these pieces will positively impact your marketing efforts, which will drive leads to your sales team.

Don’t miss the engaging conclusion to Drew’s conversation with Eric – be sure to catch this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. Click here to listen.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

Marketing technology stack additions are expensive and extensive – ensure you know what it entails upfront to avoid disappointments later on

Adding a new piece to your organization’s marketing tech stack puzzle can be a complicated, lengthy process. In order to receive the highest level of buy-in from company executives, they have to understand all of the costs associated with the new product. Eric explains to Drew that CMOs have an organizational responsibility to outline all of the costs of the purchase, implementation, and staffing so that other key organization members are not caught off guard later on in the process. It’s better to have to fight harder for new team members upfront than try to secure additional budget figures after committing to a piece of technology. To hear Eric fully explain why being upfront when considering a new piece of technology is so critical, don’t miss his interview on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Why the people you hire to manage the technology can make or break its success

Very few companies already have the necessary team members in place to handle a new piece of marketing technology. Drew and Eric discuss the importance of having multiple employees that can handle writing a campaign, implementing the campaign, and then analyzing and reporting on the data. If you only rely on one employee to handle these tasks the chances of critical information going unnoticed rises significantly. Your organization’s tech stack team needs to be flexible, highly skilled, and knowledgeable about areas such as system security and data flow. CMOs need to be able to convey this necessity to company leadership in order for new tech stack pieces to be most effective. Eric explains that “You’ll avoid countless problems by hiring the right people with the right skills.”

Avoid “new and shiny” distractions to focus on what your business truly needs

There is an abundance of programs on the market that can satisfy any B2B marketing need. But Drew and Eric urge listeners of this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite to not be distracted by the “latest and greatest” programs or products. As the CMO of your company, you have the responsibility of identifying what it is you want to achieve and then finding a system that helps you achieve that goal. If you simply set out to build a marketing system, you can build layers forever. You should also avoid system overlap. Revenue goals and budget restrictions will also help you narrow down the available options. Finding the right piece of marketing technology and seeing it succeed within your company will be worth the extensive upfront research. You don’t want to miss this conversation and more, so be sure to give this episode your full attention.

What You’ll Learn

  • [0:30] Drew reviews part 1 of his interview with Eric Eden
  • [1:18] You have to understand all of the costs associated with implementing and staffing a new piece of technology
  • [6:03] Your tech stack team for new technology needs to be flexible and highly skilled
  • [9:54] Don’t get caught up in the new and shiny applications, focus on what systems will help you achieve your organization’s goals
  • [16:31] Narrowing your universe through account-based marketing (ABM)
  • [17:48] Using business intelligence to visualize your tech stack data
  • [20:15] Eric’s biggest frustration and challenge in B2B marketing technology stack spheres
  • [24:24] The future of B2B marketing technology and how artificial intelligence will impact the industry
  • [26:47] Final thoughts on marketing tech stack tools and the importance of product contract negotiations

Connect With Eric:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

Using a Refined Marketing Technology Stack as a Revenue Generator

Posted on by Drew Neisser

When Drew recently asked a crowd of CMOs how much revenue marketing should directly generate, most said 5-15%. However, Eric Eden, expert CMO of Receipt Bank, claimed that marketing should be a company’s main revenue generator, bringing in 80% of all sales.

This uncommon point of view is explained and detailed on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. Eric and Drew talk through the first two main steps of how to turn your marketing efforts into a revenue machine. They discuss the importance of having a solid foundation marketing technology stack, all of the details behind why evidence-based marketing is the norm, and how to secure a substantial marketing budget for your team. You can listen to part 2 of this interview here. 

You’ll learn a lot from part one of this conversation, so give it your full attention. Click here to listen.

Why a CRM is a foundational basis needed for any successful marketing or revenue-generating campaign

Eric explains on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite that without a functional and clean customer relationship management technology piece, your marketing will never turn into a revenue generator. He continues by saying that, “If you don’t have a good marketing technology stack that enables your demand generation engine, everything falls apart.” A solid CRM piece allows you to track leads, understand what is encouraging or hindering contract success, improves integration between marketing and sales teams, and is necessary when putting together a budget proposal. If a CMO is looking at upgrading a single piece of their marketing strategy, having a bombproof CRM platform needs to be at the top of the list. To hear why CRM technology is so critical, and to understand why Eric is so adamant about this piece of technology, be sure to give this episode a listen.

The importance of understanding evidence-based marketing to secure a substantial budget

Gone are the days where the phrase, “it’s complicated, just trust me!” can be successful in budget meetings with company executives. In order to secure the funds marketing teams need, CMOs need to understand how to articulate their marketing in in terms of data and evidence of success. The burden of proof lies with the CMO to persuade others why marketing as a revenue generator can work for the company. You have to determine how to frame things in such a way that makes people comfortable with spending dollars on marketing, build a common language that all teams and levels of employees understand, and prevent any misconceptions. Once you have set the stage and brought people over to your side of the budget debate, you can then begin to determine what percentage of the budget should be spent on each potential customer, and the ROI that would come from each prospective contract. This framing turns marketing into an investment, not a cost, and is the key to massive success. To hear Drew and Eric’s conversation surrounding evidence-based marketing and how it can ultimately be used to generate revenue, don’t miss this episode.

Transform your ordinary marketing campaigns into a massive revenue generator through automation

After a functional CRM piece, the next step to generate revenue is marketing automation –  the second most popular piece of a technology stack. Eric urges listeners of this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite to understand that automation cannot and does not happen overnight, or even within 90 days. A truly successful marketing automation plan can take upwards of 6 months to design and implement. But the time investment is 100% worth it. By hiring talented sales people and allowing them to actually sell your company, without getting bogged down by monotonous tasks, you are ultimately generating more revenue for the company. Automation allows more integration between the marketing and sales teams and setting the correct timeline expectations upfront will prevent mishaps later on down the line. Drew and Eric have a great conversation about marketing automation and the connections it has to revenue generation on this episode, CMOs in every industry need to hear it.

What You’ll Learn

  • [0:29] Drew introduces his guest for this episode, Eric Eden
  • [3:05] How to lay the foundation for marketing to become a revenue generator
  • [6:00] Why the burden of proof for success lies with the marketer
  • [8:27] What exactly is evidence-based marketing, and how do you define your strategy?
  • [13:57] Eric walks through his process for securing a substantial marketing budget
  • [22:02] The essentials for your company’s tech stack and additional layers to consider
  • [28:22] What’s the next step after creating a solid CRM piece?
  • [33:39] Why isn’t it more common to combine the first two layers of your marketing stack?

Connect With Eric:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

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

Connect With Rich:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

 

Provenir’s Marketing Risks and Their Path Towards In-House Communication Distribution

Posted on by Drew Neisser

The term “marketing risks” is not often heard in the financial technology industry, but Adi Bachar-Reske, Global Head of Marketing at Provenir, is making it commonplace. She has overturned the company’s communication strategies and is sharing her insights on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

In her conversation with Drew, Adi explains how Provenir went from using a third-party communication distribution company to handling all of their press releases and supporting content themselves. She also fully explains why Provenir seeks to help financial lenders make better, faster decisions.

Taking marketing risks is one way to ensure your company stands out from the competition, even though it takes courage as a CMO. Drew shares his top four qualities for entrepreneurs as well as why you should avoid too many micro-campaigns all on this episode.

You’ll enjoy Drew and Adi’s conversation, and it’ll leave you thinking, so be sure to listen.  Click here to listen!

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

Provenir’s main focus within financial technology and why empowering people to make better, faster decisions is so important

Provenir strives to orchestrate a company’s decision making processes for customers. Adi first experienced this decision-making dilemma after wanting to lease her third car from the same company in four years. Even though the company knew her as a customer and was familiar with her positive financial history, the company still made her wait over 48 hours before they would approve another lease agreement. She believes that decision making needs to be faster, more automated, and that you should never make a customer wait while you decide on whether or not to take their business because it gives them time to go to your competitors. That’s what Provenir prevents. They empower lenders to make better decisions faster and enables them to provide their customers with an even better experience. Adi shares some great anecdotes with Drew about why automating decisions is so critical to a company’s success and you don’t want to miss them.

The path towards in-house communication strategies

Even though working with public relations organizations has been an industry standard for years, Adi and her team at Provenir recently decided to create and distribute their own in-house press releases. This decision came after a few of their self-published blog posts received large amounts of feedback and engagement. Journalists were attracted to the company and they connected with their audiences even without the third party assistance. While bringing communications in-house, Adi realized that there were a number of needs that now needed to be fulfilled by their team: create a CRM database, produce content to follow up each press release, measure the impact, etc. No one could do all of this work on their own, which is why Adi has teams across the world working on these communication and marketing strategies. She tells Drew that there are always trade-offs for bringing work in-house, but that it was definitely a successful marketing risk that Provenir took. To hear all about Adi’s challenges and successes with this venture, be sure to listen to this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Taking strategic marketing risks can provide greater benefits, and your company can learn from Adi’s successes at Provenir

There are four main qualities that Drew encourages every CMO to have: courage, artfulness, thoughtfulness, and scientificness. Of these, he believes that courage is the most essential and the one in shortest supply. Taking marketing risks can be difficult but it is necessary even in financial industries. If your team decides to go after a risky marketing venture rather than going with the standard methods and it’s successful, the payoffs will be far greater. You can learn from Provenir’s recent in-house communications successes and adapt their strategies to your company. Taking the initial steps is often the most challenging part, and requires every bit of courage that you have as a CMO. For inspiration, be sure to check out Adi’s story on this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

What You’ll Learn

  • [2:07] Drew introduces his guest for this episode, Adi Bachar-Reske, Global Head of Marketing at Provenir
  • [3:33] Adi’s approach and philosophy for risk-taking in marketing
  • [10:17] Why Provenir decided to go with in-house communication strategies
  • [14:07] The content that Adi created and the mechanisms they used to direct customers
  • [17:00] Viewing new campaign strategies from an evaluation standpoint
  • [19:23] The full story behind how Adi brought Provenir’s marketing in-house
  • [21:10] Why you should avoid too many micro-campaigns that drive leads but don’t add up to a bigger story
  • [24:01] Provenir’s main goal as viewed through a car lease example
  • [30:00] Adi’s go-to inspirational resources for marketing risks and CMO advice
  • [32:42] Adi looks forward into the rest of 2018 and talks about the challenges she hopes to tackle

Connect With Adi:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

How DocuSign’s CMO Developed a Marketing Vision

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Developing a marketing vision through company-wide orchestration will allow you create more value while streamlining work. In today’s accelerated world, both customers and businesses want to spend less time on logistics and more time actually making a difference in their markets. DocuSign is one of the top businesses doing just that – allowing work to happen faster for over 200 million users across 188 countries.

On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew interviews Scott Olrich, the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for DocuSign. They discuss exactly what orchestration means in terms of B2B marketing environments, how to sell a marketing vision, and why courageous decision making should be a part of any CMO job description.

Scott is behind some of the biggest changes at DocuSign, rated as the 22nd best place to work in 2018 by Glassdoor. He shares his expertise with Drew in this interview and explains why ultimate orchestration will set you apart from your competitors in an exciting new way.

To hear why marketing visions are so important, be sure to catch this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. Click here to listen.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What orchestration means within a company and why it’s critical

When Scott started the orchestration process at DocuSign, the company was focused solely on making digital signatures easier. Now they are moving towards streamlining multiple components of doing business in a digital world. In any company environment, you have to understand where your organization’s broader category of business is going to go. Rather than focusing solely on the “now,” teams have to be able to see where the entire market is going in the future and set up systems to accommodate that forward growth. That’s where orchestration comes in. Essentially, orchestration occurs when a company’s marketing visions, products, sales teams, and senior leadership all subscribe to a new macro way of thinking about the company. This drives long-term success because as Scott explains, “People want to buy into the future! They just have to be given a reason to do so.”

The importance of not pushing the envelope too far 

The first step of orchestration is to develop a new marketing vision for your company. This clear vision and narrative of what you think the company should be will drive your products, marketing strategies, and internal educational components. A vision should teach and challenge people to think differently about the bigger picture issue, but you have to be able to back up this vision with real-world examples that people can understand. Orchestration does so much more than just improve response rates for one marketing campaign, it has the power to rework your entire business if you allow it. The biggest danger with orchestration? You want to avoid a disconnect between your product and the vision you’re trying to sell. If your marketing teams and product teams are not on the same page, customers will recognize this and be wary of your company. To hear Scott explain this challenge in full detail, be sure to listen to this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Why courageous decision making should be a large part of any CMO job description

As the Chief Strategy Officer and CMO, Scott has been charged with taking an already successful company and making it even better. On this episode, Drew asks Scott how he has the courage to take risky decisions and how he combats the idea of “if it’s not broken, why fix it?” Once you establish a clear marketing vision you have to subscribe to it 100%, go out and win over the rest of the company, and then sell it to your customers. There’s actually a formula for this type of courageous decision-making, and Scott fully explains each step in this interview with Drew. Your company and your career will greatly benefit from hearing his story, so don’t miss this episode.

What You’ll Learn

  • [1:10] Drew introduces his guest for this episode, Scott Olrich, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for DocuSign
  • [4:25] DocuSign’s current place in transactional happiness and what it means to be an orchestrated company
  • [11:54] What exactly does orchestration mean within a company?
  • [15:05] The importance of not pushing the envelope too far when it comes to selling a vision
  • [19:25] How Scott views the idea of a company narrative and how it can be used to sell your marketing vision
  • [24:29] Scott shares how he’s incorporating courageous decision-making into his current position at DocuSign
  • [28:59] Where DocuSign is headed in the future
  • [36:25] Drew’s summary of the episode, and why orchestration will set you apart from your competitors

Connect With Scott:

Resources & People Mentioned