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Mktg_Podcast-49: Sam Brealey on Small Business Marketing

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When special guest Sam Brealey joined us in episode 38, as we discuss marketing strategy and execution, specially for small businesses, but we didn’t have enough time to go deeper into marketing for the small business.  And there were several requests to do so.  So we are delighted to have Sam again to have a hearty discussion of what it takes to market for small and medium sized businesses/enterprises (SMB/SME).  We end with a discussion of the article Can I have your attention please?, by Sam Brealey and  Max Stricker, originally published in WARC in February 2024.  And yes, we also have the Cartoons of “the week”.  Join us!

 

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Mktg_Podcast-29: Social Media Wars, Crude Data, D2C

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Cartoon of the weak is about bad marketing and so we have to discuss the role of marketing and the importance of alignment between CMO and CEO, then it’s the unfolding social media wars with Meta’s new Threads app and Twitter, and the complications that can arise from Direct to Consumer (DTC) marketing. We end with Data-is-Oil and how crude data, like crude oil, must be refined and out to use before it has high value at smaller volume.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-27: Data, Driverless Marketing, Inclusivity

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The Cart (cartoon) of the week is about data and instigates a big discussion about complexity of marketing data leading to a future when “Driverless Marketing” might become a reality. The noble goal of moving your brand towards more inclusivity did not work out as planned for Anheuser–Busch. We end with a discussion of quotes and memes that have their heart in the right place but are too sweeping for their own good and make it sound like “you had to be there”!

 

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Mktg_Podcast-26: In Search of Ethical Marketing

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The Cart (cartoon) of the week is about mis-targeted ads despite all the data that online services have about their users. The challenges of Tupperware, the company that pioneered food storage containers, is next, and we end with a discussion of ethical marketing and a call for examples of successful and ethical marketing, as a counterbalance to too many stories where misbehavior is tolerated and even viewed as clever.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-24: Defining Success, Econometrics, Loyalty

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Shahin and Doug discuss a variety of hot topics in marketing, starting what marketing success means, which leads to the difficulties in digital attribution and interpreting data, and whether econometrics can be a solution (as suggested in a recent article in The Drum, “Digital attribution is dead! Les Binet tells us why marketers need econometrics in 2023”, by Samuel Scott). They also get deeper into how the concept of “customer satisfaction” actually correlates to product sales.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-21: Barbie, ChatGPT, HBS Product v. Financial Engineering

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Barbie-the-movie was announced and it is a big, and so-far effective, move. It also offers such a rich set of marketing topics for discussion. Conversational AI, ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) exceeded expectations at least for the first few interactions, impressed, disappointed, and scared, all at the same time while becoming a tool that marketing teams started testing and using immediately. A quote on impression data leads to a quick discussion again of the role of the CMO, while an old quote about Harvard Business School leads to product innovation vs. financial engineering.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-19: Rebranding Office, Low-Margin M&A, Brand Loyalty

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We start with Microsoft’s Decision to rebrand Office again, this time to Microsoft 365: eliminating “Office” and aligning “365” with the whole company. Retail mergers are next, and interesting because it’s a competitive low margin business. Buying vs. shopping maps well to online vs. in-store and we have a funny story to discuss that next. We end with meat alternatives and how difficult it is to grow in that market, and a big discussion on brand loyalty and brand love.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-18: Musky Texts, Distinctive, Data, Marketing Mix-It-Up

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The Twitter deal happened, but rewind the tape to when a trove of text messages was published, providing a glimpse into how people of note in tech discuss deals and strategies. So of course we have to discuss that. Then it’s off to another flare-up about “distinctive vs. differentiated”. Is “distinctive” distinctive or differentiated?! The continuing complexities of marketing data. And how your marketing mix needs to mix it up!

 

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Mktg_Podcast-15: Lead Generation

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Every company spends money on Lead Generation. Sometimes quite a lot. How do you determine your marketing mix and then match it to the sales cycle and buying behavior? Lots of moving parts here and we go over many of them: PR, SEO, funnel and buying behavior, lead qualification/scoring/nurturing, sales-marketing alignment, and lead flow. As usual, marketing metrics is an important topic and especially quality and meaning of data. We end with a few recommendations.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-14: Nudging, Growth Hacking, Ethics of Marketing

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When does “nudging” becoming “nagging”? Behavioral science is on the case with studies (one is critiqued here), on how choice architecture and publication bias impact what works and when.  We then move to “Growth Hacking”, discussing what it is and how dangerously close it gets to crossing ethical lines.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-9: D2C Retail, Personalization Data, Startups and TV Advertising

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Shahin and Doug discuss the value add of retail stores versus direct-to-consumer options, whether or not personalization works, and the potential traps of using data in marketing. They also examine the use of television advertising by startups, and whether hesitancy to use TV ads is about money or a larger push away from the “old” way of doing things.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-4: Digital Retail, Metaverse, Outsourcing

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We start with the news of Amazon closing their physical retail (not grocery) stores and the interplay between physical and digital commerce, which leads us to emerging applications of the Metaverse and the difference between the promise of a tech trend and the reality of today’s use cases. We end with a discussion of outsourcing and its impact on business profits and identity.

 

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Mktg_Podcast-3: Direct-to-Consumer, Distinctiveness, Color Management

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We discuss the challenges of “Direct to Consumer” marketing and its impact on Go-to-Market planning. From there, we go to branding and product advantage, covering differentiation vs. distinctiveness as well as the role of marketing, and we end this episode with the joys and complexities of color management, especially in the digital age. Join us!

 

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Mktg_Podcast-1: Wordle, Peloton, TikTok, Competition

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Wordle (recorded before it got acquired), marketing rants on Twitter, Peloton, Competitive Advantage, TikTok, and why CMOs are like radioactive material!

What started as a Marketing Meetup has now morphed into a 15-20 minute Mktg_Podcast.  Join Shahin Khan and Doug Garnett (and occasional guests) as they discuss news and happenings in the world of marketing, from the board room to customer programs. Give it a listen!