Although it seems like just yesterday we were reading about the rise of the millennials, a new generation is hovering outside the threshold of the corporate world. Generation Z is about to hit the workforce, and their unique motivations will force brands to reevaluate their internal and external strategies. While businesses have a few years…
Influencer marketing is gaining momentum across the marketing landscape, but rapid growth sometimes comes with growing pains. Consumer influencer marketing in particular has often nabbed the wrong kind of earned media.
One of the more notorious episodes: a 2017 video spot featuring influencer Kendall Jenner handing a Pepsi to a police officer at a staged…
They are the holy grail of B2B marketing: C-suite executives who open the doors, make the decisions and write the checks. And they are increasingly difficult to reach through conventional marketing channels. The key to getting inside is providing executives with something they need but can’t get elsewhere: relevant content.
In today’s digitally-driven B2B marketing environment — one which offers buyers easy access to access to an array of information and a plethora of opinions — companies no longer control exactly where or when customers or prospects encounter their brand. And with 68 percent of B2B buyers preferring to conduct independent research online, it’s…
Learning from one another’s experiences can really help B2B CMOs to flourish. This is what motivated us to create Huddle, an annual, invitation-only community of B2B marketing leaders that addresses their most pressing issues while empowering them with stories of peer success. The event is moderated by DeSantis Breindel and headlined by an…
Today, brands need to respond to market dynamics swiftly. And though they rarely have the luxury of lengthy planning and strategy phases, most marketing teams still aren’t built for speed — in decision-making or execution. So, how can teams infuse more agility into the marketing process?
1. Start streamlining at the C-suite level…
There has been much hand-wringing among marketers over the European Union’s recently implemented data privacy rules. Yes, they have important implications for marketers doing business in Europe. And it’s true that failure to comply can result in significant penalties.
But seen in the right perspective, the European Union’s General Data Protection…
Forrester researchers published a report about a new customer-centric era in business. As part of DeSantis Breindel’s ongoing relationship with Forrester, we’ve reviewed the report to summarize key findings for our readers — and offered our own analysis about what this change means for B2B brands.
Customer experience is king
Over the past…
What’s a talk trigger, and how can a company use one to strengthen its brand and drive business? Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin, co-authors and marketing experts, tackle this phenomenon in their aptly-titled book Talk Triggers, which demonstrates the importance of word-of-mouth marketing through a diverse collection of case studies…
SailPoint, a worldwide industry leader in identity and access management, had succeeded in winning over technical buyers with its superior products. But it struggled to connect with the C-suite and business executives who were becoming increasingly involved in security and IT purchase decisions— and who did not prioritize identity management as a critical IT…
The tsunami of information and opinion on customer experience (CX) can be a bit overwhelming. Here’s a short list of some of the articles we think offer valuable viewpoints and actionable insight.
The Future of the Customer Experience
This Harvard Business Review webinar looks at top CX trends and predictions, including changing customer expectations…
When we conducted external interviews as part of our work developing the Zelis Healthcare brand, one thing became clear: the healthcare payer and healthcare provider clients who worked with Zelis were obsessed. Not with the healthcare payments technology that got doctors and other providers paid more quickly. Not with the healthcare-claims integrity services that…
In today’s B2B marketing landscape, all B2B brands are content publishers and all B2B marketers are content marketers. We fulfill these roles at varying levels, but none of us can escape the importance of content – useful, relevant and accessible information – in the B2B buyers journey. Here are some of our recommendations for what to…
There is a common misconception about creativity that many of us fall victim to: you’re either born with it or you’re not.
It’s a good excuse when you are having trouble generating new ideas. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your vantage point), it’s just not true.
A slew of scientific research…
In the past few years, we’ve seen “authenticity” emerge as a theme in branding and design; this year, it has exponentially increased in importance and value. That’s understandable: in a world where “fake” news can dominate the political conversation and Instagram stars turn out to be imposters, consumers have become increasingly cynical.
A…
Dear Google, Apple, Adobe and Microsoft,
You may not know me, but I was created with great care and purpose. Every image, hue and letter. I am special. I have meaning.
I live in hearts and minds, in words and actions, in websites and ad campaigns and brochures. But mostly frequently, I live in Word…
It’s a topic on the mind of every B2B marketer these days: customer experience, that elusive moving target. Specifically, how to meet customer expectations when, as a brand, you are competing against every (predominantly digital) interaction your customers have ever had.
For many B2B marketers, keeping up with customers, not competitors, has become their…
A leading energy consulting firm had a proprietary methodology for significantly reducing energy costs (think seven-figure savings, each year). Though the company’s proprietary solution was extremely powerful, it was communicated in such a seemingly straightforward manner, that many prospective clients thought – mistakenly –they could build a comparable energy-savings program on their own…