Here we cut the world of B2B marketing into digestible nuggets of inspiration, highlighting courageous individuals and ideas approximately two times a month. Want to contribute content to our blog?
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B2B Marketing: How to Rebrand
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July 2, 2018
It's inevitable that a new chief marketing officer will launch a new campaign within 18-months of taking the marketing helm. In many cases, this new work will be no more effective than previous messages, simply because it's like a new coat of paint on a rickety old house. However, when the new campaign is combined with an innovative product or...

B2B Healthcare Marketing: It's Time to Get Real
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June 25, 2018
Maybe it was his years on the agency side but Burt Rosen, chief marketing officer of HealthSparq, a health care software solutions provider, just refuses to speak health care. Describing the industry as an "echo chamber" that has "little to no idea how to talk to people," Rosen is a man on mission, looking to reshape not just the vocabulary...

B2B Marketing: Finding a New Name
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June 11, 2018
One of the most bizarre yet pervasive quirks of the business world is that everyone thinks they are a qualified marketer. The collective rationale is that because they consume products like other humans, their opinions must be valid. Well folks, I've witnessed a rocket launch but that doesn't make me a NASA scientist. Marketing is an increasingly sophisticated discipline requiring...

B2B Storytelling: Why Marketo Embraced Storytelling Over Science
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June 4, 2018
One might think that a conversation with Chandar Pattabhiram, chief marketing officer of Marketo, would eventually lead to the aspirational, grandiose vision of someone who believes automation is the future of marketing. While Pattabhiram certainly does feel this way, he also touts the power of a more human side of marketing, in the form of storytelling. Recently, Pattabhiram helped Marketo rebrand...

How to Give Your Content Moxy!
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February 27, 2017
Truth by told, most brands dabble in content.  Sure they're cranking out blog posts, images and even videos but few have allocated the resources to truly capture the hearts and minds of their target audience.  Here's when you know things are serious: The CEO believes in content enough to create a separate production department & fund it The CEO hires a content...

Why Big Ideas Still Matter
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February 22, 2017
Every once in a while I stumble upon a marketing campaign that makes me proud of my chosen profession.  You see, after more than three decades in this business, I still believe that great marketing can be a force of goodness for both brand and society.  Admittedly it's a lofty goal and not one a lot of marketers care about....

Embracing the Art & Science of Marketing
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February 9, 2017
When I first met Dan Marks in 2011 during his days as CMO at First Tennessee Bank, he blew me away with a model his team had built that accurately predicted the impact of an increase or decrease in ad spending. This was a particularly useful model as the bank like most businesses at the time was still in recession...

How to Rebrand on a NPO Budget
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January 23, 2017
If you ever wondered about the validity of the old proverb, "necessity is the mother invention," then you'll want to read word for word my extensive interview with Dara Royer, Chief Development and Marketing Officer of Mercy Corps and winner of The CMO Club's Officers Award. Like her organization, Dara works miracles on a minuscule budget and in the process...

Content Marketing on a Planetary Scale (from Mars)
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January 19, 2017
By 5pm, I'm typically famished. If we don't eat dinner until 8 or so, I'm approaching demonic, ready to rage at the slightest provocation especially if it threatens to come between me and my pointy fork. So you can picture the scene the other night at an otherwise lovely restaurant as our persnickety waiter decided to take several minutes to...