Tag: leadership

Deloitte’s Global CMO Shares Her 4 M’s for B2B Marketers

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Growing a community of leaders – an important goal for many companies, but not typically the designated task of a CMO. Diana O’Brien, CMO of Deloitte, however, is not your typical CMO. Diana spends 50% of her time prioritizing building workplace culture and, in turn, the firm’s brand to provide better marketing services to clients. She spearheaded Deloitte University, which provides training to bring employees into the fold on brand alignment, culture, and continuing workplace education for every single Deloitte employee in the United States. Now, she is recognized as one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs by Forbes and is one of Business Insider’s Top 50 Most Innovative CMOs in the World.

Diana has been on the cutting edge of marketing, working for Deloitte since the 1980s. From creating a place where leaders can grow and employees thrive, to being the first CMO at Deloitte, she has a lot to share. On this episode, she brings a wealth of knowledge on the importance of creating a workplace culture of leaders, how your business’s brand and culture affects client relations, the necessity of being the voice of the customer at the leadership table, and so much more.

Be sure to listen in – Diana has insights you don’t want to miss!

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What You’ll Learn

Key things Deloitte focuses on in developing workplace culture

Diana shares that there are sequences followed at Deloitte University that are key to building employee culture. As a company, the art of empathy is massively important. This allows employees to understand differences and help people feel a sense of belonging. It teaches them how to communicate – to listen before you speak. Diana notes this is a foundational attribute as a consulting company. Empathy helps employees communicate better internally. It also vital when interacting with clients.

The art of story is also important. Employees are taught how to connect their story or stories to a client as well as the company as a whole. Stories are meant to inspire and spark action. Stories allow employees to connect the personal to why they do what they do. Be sure to listen to this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite to hear about other key items Deloitte focuses on in its employee culture.

How to get from customer insight to real innovation

Customer insight is defined as understanding who the customer is and where they are going. As a marketer, you are looking to co-create with the customer and join them in their journey. Typically the act of innovation comes out of Research and Development or a different business unit at Deloitte. Part of the CMO or marketer’s job is to communicate with these units so that they know what to create or where to look. They feed them information on where to look and what to do. Currently, real innovation is hard to find with many firms following market trends. However, Diana says that real innovation comes from the activation of an organization’s purpose. When an organization knows its purpose, it is able to innovate. Their change is based on their passion and purpose, which drives them to use their current skills to create innovation.

Make an impact that matters – creating a brand inside and outside company walls

Deloitte is committed to “make an impact that matters” – a phrase they have coined as their tagline. Diana mentions in this episode that she spends about 50% of her time on the internal activation of their brand idea. Deloitte chooses to heavily invest in its employees to make sure their brand is not just shown in the marketplace but also is pervasive within its own walls work. By creating a good workplace environment for its employees, it allows employees to focus on customer interactions. So, not only is Deloitte looking to make an impact that matters in the world, but also within its company. Hear more on how they do this in this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Timeline

  • [0:32] Who is Diana O’Brien?
  • [3:01] Why Deloitte University is the soul of the firm
  • [5:38] What Deloitte University taught Diana
  • [8:25] Face to face still matters in the digital age
  • [8:39] The three arts Deloitte focuses on
  • [18:58] From customer insight to real innovation
  • [25:43] The importance of organizationally elevated marketing
  • [31:13] Why the internal activation of a brand is key
  • [39:49] The 4 “M’s” of marketing

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Thoughts on Leadership, Accountability, and Building a Network That Spans a Lifetime

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Carl Neisser starts every new year with a list of learning goals. Last year, he aimed to master texting with his children and grandchildren. Throughout his lifetime of over 90 years, Drew’s father Carl has collected important lessons about everything from teamwork, to leadership, to continually building a personal network. Above all, he never stops learning and never stops caring about his relationships.

On this special 100th episode of the Renegade Thinkers Unite podcast, Drew and his Dad discuss the Neisser family legacy in marketing and business, and chat about why putting people first is the first idea that any Renegade marketer needs to understand. For Carl, listening is important, but retaining that information is even more crucial in becoming the player that your team can rely on. In an inspiring “like father, like son” fashion, Drew and his father will walk you through the steps to becoming a lifelong learner in marketing and beyond.

Listen here to celebrate 100 episodes of Renegade thinking.

            Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

Life lessons on how to build a network of relationships across the span of a lifetime

Great relationships with people from all walks of life should be an aspiration for people across the world – not just in B2B marketing. How can you begin to build a network of close friends and colleagues? Drew and Carl explain that it starts with simply taking the initiative to connect with them on a regular basis. Carl meets with dozens of people every month and always takes an interest in their businesses, ideas, passions, and families. This deep knowledge people allows him to make meaningful connections among people in his network – adding value to the lives of nearly everyone he meets.

Leadership, accountability, and the power of a great team

Leadership, while often complex and detailed, really comes down to a few simple strategies. Carl outlines his best advice for leadership all on this episode. For example,

  • Be honest, upfront, and supportive in your communication
  • Hold your team accountable in order to help them grow
  • Remember what people tell you, and make connecting with them a priority
  • Encourage authentic teamwork within your organization

Carl also learned how to keep a close eye on his competitors from the great Abraham Lincoln. By understanding the way they think, lead, and act, your organization can be better prepared to compete against them in your industry.

You can’t avoid failure, so learning from past mistakes is crucial

Everyone has known deep and painful failure, both in their professional and personal lives. The difference lies in whether or not you learn from your mistakes and move past them, or continue to dwell in the past. By approaching every day with Carl’s mindset of “every day is a learning day,” you can start to view mistakes as simply opportunity for growth. He encourages all Renegade marketers to stay humble, stay curious, and never stop learning.

Timeline

  • [0:29] Drew’s guest for this episode is his father, Carl Neisser
  • [5:50] Key leadership and teamwork lessons from Abraham Lincoln
  • [10:50] Teamwork is essential in many contexts, from sports to marketing
  • [15:30] Learning how to build and maintain a lifetime’s worth of connections
  • [22:17] The way you connect with people is important
  • [25:22] Treating failure as an opportunity for growth

Resources & People Mentioned

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Interview Questions that Build Better Marketing Teams

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The notion of a CMO building or rebuilding a marketing team is not an unfamiliar concept, especially on Renegade Thinkers Unite. Thinking back to the insights provided by Paige O’Neill, hiring a new team can be one of the first major tasks a CMO has to tackle in their first 100 days. When faced with this challenge, CMOs should always focus on designing a team that will align with the strategic goals of the company and that fills the current HR gaps. But one element of the process that is often overlooked is the interview—and more importantly, the interview questions. That’s where Kipp Bodnar comes in.

As a wine enthusiast, mechanical watch aficionado, and host of HubSpot’s “The Growth Show,” Kipp Bodnar, the CMO of HubSpot, loves learning from the people he interviews and encounters. Kipp’s recent article, “The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Interview Questions From HubSpot’s CMO,” made waves in the marketing community, discussing the best questions to ask in a marketing interview. On this episode, Drew turns the tables by asking Kipp to respond to the questions he wrote. Drew and Kipp also explain the best ways to hire for senior-level leadership positions and share how new professionals can prepare for the hiring process.

Click here to learn how to add these great insights to your own interviews.

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What You’ll Learn

The best marketing interview questions achieve these goals

Hiring top talent starts with asking the right questions. Kipp is an expert in sorting out expert applicants from the general pool, and he suggests CMOs use marketing interview questions that do the following:

  • Encourage open-ended responses
  • Identify if an applicant can problem solve
  • Discover if an applicant can simplify a complex topic and notice great marketing in other brands

The best applicants will demonstrate a high level of humility, motivation to learn, and an ability to listen. Getting great answers only comes from great questions. To hear the full list of marketing interview questions, be sure to listen.

Follow this advice when considering a senior-level leadership applicant

Hiring for a senior-level position is much different than hiring for marketing team members. Kipp shares his process for hiring leaders throughout his conversation with Drew. Kipp explains that during a 2-week hiring process, he will spend 20-30 hours with the applicant in a variety of settings (dinners, presentations, panel interviews, etc.) He says that if you’re going to be working closely with this applicant for the next few years, you must understand the essence of what that person is all about.

How can new marketing professionals prepare for an interview?

Preparing for an interview doesn’t have to be stressful. Kipp shares 5 main things an applicant can do to prepare for the interview process. Here they are.

  1. Become familiar with the company’s products/services
  2. Seek out and talk with existing company employees
  3. Do content research
  4. Understand the culture
  5. Come with questions of your own

The hiring process is a “unique mix of buying and selling,” as Drew explains. These insights from Kipp on marketing interview questions can help make the process smoother and more effective.

Timeline

  • [0:29] Drew explains the format for this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite
  • [2:51] The fine art of interviewing and hiring for a marketing team
  • [4:00] Use this question to know if your applicant can problem solve
  • [8:28] Use this question to see if the applicant puts the opinion of the customer first
  • [12:14] This question determines if an applicant can pull info from a set of data
  • [17:09] Is this applicant able to understand what good marketing is all about?
  • [21:04] Can this applicant seek out and absorb information on their own?
  • [28:16] Follow this advice for hiring a senior level position
  • [30:20] These traits help people make the senior-level cut
  • [34:24] Follow these tips for preparing for an interview
  • [36:46] The main relationship between marketing and sales
  • [39:20] This one question is what Kipp hopes for in every interview

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Road-Tested Tips for Driving a Marketing Department

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Without communication, businesses crumble. Sending a clear message is the only surefire way to get people to care about your brand. This need for coherence isn’t limited to the marketer-consumer relationship, however—all business branches should work in harmony in order to present a sharp brand image. Ann Davids, Senior Vice President and CMO of Direct General Insurance Company, specializes in coordinating her company’s identity on all fronts.

In this week’s episode of the Renegade Thinkers Unite podcast, Davids explains how a brand identity can become too abstract if it’s not managed well internally. It’s Davids’s duty to weave product language, internal language and consumer language together to create campaigns that customers and Direct employees can embrace.

Listen to the podcast above or continue reading for a summary of the episode.

Marketers should stay in close contact with their fellow departments, believes Davids. When the marketing department at Direct works in unison with the entire office, it can accomplish brand goals from all angles. Davids says, “I’ve often heard it said that marketing should make the rest of the organization uncomfortable. I couldn’t agree more. I’ll really advocate for anything the business needs, even beyond marketing if it helps move the needle.”

This strategy is mutually beneficial, Davids finds. In addition to orienting the marketing team’s attention to the overall business plan, she seeks to involve other business disciplines in Direct’s advertising campaigns. In previous years, Davids has laid out the blueprints of her team’s marketing strategy for all to see—literally—by distributing architectural blueprints in frames around the office. “We basically run our own internal campaign, and it tends to get people excited and raise intellectual curiosity,” Davids says. “We have people hand-raising to opt in to work on these things instead of having to recruit.”

The blueprints clearly illustrated the marketing strategies, but they also generated interest in the projects from the entire company. Let’s face it; if an organization can’t get its own team members excited about a campaign, how can it expect to make a lasting impact on consumers?

Speaking of impacting consumers, Davids notes how Direct aims to be, well, more direct. “We try to just always speak the customer’s language,” she says. “Whatever that happens to be for your particular customer, I think you have to really understand them and how they talk and process, and what they’re looking for.” Offering exactly what the consumer needs is only half the battle, however. Without clear, direct marketing, any campaign can fall flat.

Given the nature of Direct Insurance’s industry, it’s inherently tough to make consumers eager to engage with the brand, which is why Davids’s team goes the extra mile to make their experience enjoyable. Davids says, “A lot of people don’t want to pay for insurance, either, so we make it fun, we make it pleasant and we try to have added little surprises along the way that make it easier to do business with Direct Auto and Life Insurance.” These “little surprises” have resonated well with customers, she says.

Another challenge for Direct has been the transition to new marketing platforms. When the company knew it wanted to establish a strong digital presence, Davids was careful not to jump the gun with new channels. Her team decided that gradual changes would better suit the brand’s customers. “Our customer is still telling us that they enjoy other mediums, as well as digital,” says Davids. “They’re still heavy consumers of television and radio, so we’ve been careful in how we transition to digital.”

This kind of adaptability is an important piece of Direct’s marketing puzzle. Davids talks about the art of identifying the next big thing: “Really, what I consider state of the art is knowing when to jump on a trend versus waiting. Or how you might migrate within your own media mix.” Although her team is always looking for the next big thing, the marketing department acts slowly and steadily when integrating it into a campaign.

If Davids could offer just one piece of advice to her fellow marketing leaders, it would be to maintain a robust network of professionals. “I think you’ve got to find people that you connect with,” she says. “If you make investments in these relationships, they will be valuable. There’s nothing more valuable to me than my network and the mentors I’ve had over the years.” (these show notes were prepared by Jay Tellini.)

How to Lead When Your Company Gets Acquired

Posted on by Drew Neisser
Moths_around_a_light_bulb
Source: Dr John Brackenbury / Science Photo Library

Perhaps in a former life I was a moth. That might help explain why I am drawn repeatedly to the enlightening insights of a select eclipse of CMOs. [Just in case none of you are entomologists, it turns out that a group of moths is called an eclipse. Who knew?] Now as we fly by my uncertain metamorphosis and choice of metaphors, let’s shine the light on Judy Hackett, CMO of Dun & Bradstreet, the subject of three interviews, two shared panels and a chapter in my book (see page 99 Element Bb: B2B Content Marketing).

Judy, by the way, is a treat to chat with as she is always forthright, offering practical advice and real-world examples. This time our topic was leadership and the challenges presented when your company is acquired.  What’s particularly interesting is how her team managed to stay agile while working within the potential confines of the larger organization.  Not an easy feat which is among the reasons Judy received the Officers Award from The CMO Club late last year.  And as I reconsider reincarnation, you all can move on to wisdom of someone far less flighty.

Drew: Looking back over the last 12-24 months, what initiative under your leadership really worked well? What were some of the challenges you had to overcome? What were the results? 

What worked well: It was important for our newly acquired company to demonstrate rock solid performance the very first full quarter with Dun & Bradstreet.  We focused heavily on the success of our sales teams which resulted in beating both our top and bottom line targets for our division.  The sheer magnitude of what marketing and product accomplished in demonstrating value in our first quarter was impressive.  We completed a full rebranding in less than 30 days. We developed and launched a new concierge service for Hoovers and initiated several new product relaunches in the very first quarter as a combined company. But, it was our financial performance we could all take the most pride in.

Challenges: The biggest challenge for any small, nimble company is to stay nimble when you are acquired by a larger organization.  It’s really important to mentor your teams through that change-especially when it comes to avoiding certain large company trappings like meeting hell and PPT decks.  Setting clear goals with a focus on revenue success helped the team to prioritize what was truly important. Our division’s first quarter performance with the new company was a result of that focused effort.  Results speak volumes.  People forget that declined meeting [when the results are good].

Drew: When advising members of your team on cross-departmental initiatives, what do you tell them to do and not do to ensure success? 

Three things:

  1. If you are going to pitch something, defend something or oppose something, make sure it has strong business rationale behind it.
  2. Always have a plan B and be prepared to compromise.
  3. Try to remember that marketing is in a position of serving the rest of the organization.  Put on a service hat.

Drew: Did any of your marketing initiatives involve employee activation?  If so, can you describe what you did and how it worked? How did you get employees to care?  

We launched a new Hoovers concierge-type service for small businesses almost immediately after taking over the Hoovers business for Dun & Bradstreet. We wanted to make a sales impact quickly and in order to do so we had to build the service, train the teams and take it to market within two months.  Since we had no team to run it, we pulled in resources from across the organization to step out of their current roles and take on new responsibilities through the test and fulfillment period.  We got sales teams excited by creating a huge Formula One racing event and themed everything “off to the races.”  We supported it with direct marketing efforts, the likes of which Hoovers had not seen in years.  When the first sale was made, you could hear the celebration from Austin to Malibu.

Drew: Your company was recently acquired. Did that create some new leadership challenges and if so, how have you addressed these?  

There’s more dealing with public company policies and procedures and even politics, which can be challenging, but when it comes to heading up marketing and product for emerging businesses, thankfully I still have autonomy to lead our teams as I have done historically and with that I’ve been able to maintain our culture which is critical to our success.

Drew: Looking ahead to 2016, what is the single biggest challenge that you’d like to overcome?

Through our division’s work building and launching a suite of new credit and marketing products and services in 2016, I hope our teams can help affect a positive shift in culture at Dun & Bradstreet–one that resembles a more agile approach to product launches and go-to-market. Understandably, this is a big goal in a company that is large, global and public.