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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Battling Goliath: How to Win as the Underdog
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August 8, 2016
As my daughter was heading off to Copenhagen for a semester abroad five years ago, my “cheap dad” instincts went into high gear. With visions of thousands of dollars of long-distance cellular calls on my horizon, I suggested to her that we use a free messaging app that one of our client’s at the time had introduced. Her lightning response via...

Why IBM is Hiring Hollywood Storytellers
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July 26, 2016
It’s no secret that I'm a big proponent of storytelling as a relatively fresh way to approach marketing strategy and execution. Not only did it earn its own chapter in my book The CMO’s Periodic Table, I've featured other champions of storytelling like CMO's Douwe Bergsma (Georgia Pacific) and Darren Marshall (Steinway & Sons) on this blog. In my heart of...

Facebook Favors Friends and Family
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July 19, 2016
Facebook was built to connect people with whomever—and later, whatever—they wanted. However, recently Facebook has accumulated “far too much information for any one person to consume.” Seas of stories have overwhelmed users, as a feed full of actual news has inundated genuine conversations. Since their feeds had become so crowded, “people had started to share less about their own lives,”...

CMO Insights: Making Procurement Awesome
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July 19, 2016
When SAP acquired Ariba a few years back, newly appointed CMO Alicia Tillman was faced with the challenge of rebranding the company to include the qualities of both SAP and Ariba. Next, she had to consider how to best communicate SAP Ariba’s new brand identity to customers. It’s no surprise that social media, one of today’s most effective tools of...

An Inside Look at Dell's Influencer Program
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July 13, 2016
In the last few years, a number of brands have realized that to earning the trust of consumers isn’t something they’ll be able to accomplish on their own. The reality is that people trust people more than brands, which explains the emergence of influencer marketing. Instead of going straight to their target market, brands are now looking to a chosen...

Marketing Infiltrates College Campuses
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July 6, 2016
“Be strong. Stand tall.” These words of wisdom came from Duke University’s crane. Indeed, this is a construction crane that was set up on campus for renovations. Nowadays, intramural sports teams, dance groups, acapella groups, clubs, Greek organizations, libraries, and yes, even a construction crane are all active users of social media. On campus, it appears as though every possible...

CMO Insights: How to Build Customer Loyalty
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July 4, 2016
As you all know, I never pass up an opportunity to sit down with a marketer and hear which practices worked and which didn’t work for their company. I mean, what better way to learn more about this ever-changing industry than to listen to leaders in the field share their insight, the lessons they’ve learned, and the strategies they stand...

The New Rules of Social Customer Service
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June 28, 2016
It was impossible to predict the evolution of social media over time. Possibly the biggest change was the shift from connecting with friends to a new extension of businesses for workplace productivity and added customer service value. The importance of social media for business is increasingly immense in the age of overlapping social communities, and stepping up monitoring can help...

CMO Insights: How the Grammys Became More Than a One Night Affair
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June 26, 2016
The Grammys have brought us some of the best moments in television, and the most spectacular performances in music. From Michael Jackson’s moonwalk across the stage in ’88 to the Elton John and Eminem duet in ’01, and most recently Lady Gaga’s tribute to David Bowie, the Grammys have been the place for historical moments in music. And if you’re...