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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Marketing Clean Water, A Career Journey
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September 22, 2016
My son asked me the other day, "Which superpower would you prefer Dad, teleporting or flying?"  I knew my answer right away but I was surprised when he told me most of his friends choose the other option.  As it turns out, these folks just want to get to where they want to go which makes the idea of teleporting...

How Mobile Social Local Transformation Begins
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September 13, 2016
If you're currently working for an organization that needs to pull itself into the MoSoLo (mobile social local) era, you're going to want to read this extensive interview with from start to finish.  Such a transformation is neither rapid nor guaranteed to work without a number of factors coming together:  An internal catalyst Senior management buy-in An external expert /...

Keeping the Customer Front and Center
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September 7, 2016
Gripping tightly to the lifeless plastic handle I could only muster a fainthearted "hit it" to the speedboat skipper 50 feet away. This was to be my third and final attempt to rise above my skis and frankly I was already drained and shivering. The first effort had ended in a face plant with skis scattered across the surface like an old-fashioned yard sale. The second...

CMO Insights: How Rebranding is Done
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August 29, 2016
Reinventing your brand is a lot harder than it sounds. Legacy perceptions, perhaps one's that you worked for years to engender, are extremely hard to dispel.  Xerox spent years trying to convince us they weren't just a copier company with modest success. Then there's the need to get both management and employee buy-in which can be as hard as changing customer perceptions....

CMO Insights: How to Use Marketing to Help Your Customers
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August 23, 2016
Jim Collins famous “hedgehog” concept proposed that great businesses were greater still because of their profound focus, doing one thing better in their marketplace than anyone else. Recently, a number of service companies have taken a not so obvious way to become better at their core business and that’s by operating businesses in other areas. Stay with me as I...

How BBVA Compass Banks on Purpose Branding
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August 14, 2016
When you think of banks, or any financial institution for that matter, I doubt you are overcome with heartwarming images of improved welfare and social care.  Unless you're among the few that have had a warm and fuzzy experience, most likely your relationship with your bank is mainly transactional -- a deposit made here or statement issued there.  Interestingly, there is at least...

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,”...