Renegade Marketers Unite

Forrester. Gartner. IDC. These global market research firms can put your brand on the map, or they can tuck you into the doldrums of an undesirable quadrant. With a direct and well-trusted line to B2B customers, analyst relations are no joke, and the CMO plays an integral role in building up a mutually beneficial relationship that lasts. In this episode, CMOs Isabelle Papoulias of Mediafly, Carlos Carvajal of Q2, and Narine Galstian of SADA share their experiences navigating the world of analyst relations and the lessons they've learned along the way. Whether you're in the early stages of getting on the analysts' radar or refining the way you engage your analyst connections, this episode is packed with best practices, mistakes to avoid, and more. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

When Univar, the second-largest chemical distributor in the world, acquired Nexeo Solutions, the third or fourth-largest, VP of Global Marketing Rob Whitney had a challenging task on his hands. This M&A wouldn't be about absorbing a smaller company, it was about creating a whole new brand culture out of two strong organizations. Enter Univar Solutions. In this episode, Rob shares the story behind the brand consolidation, demonstrating a strong sense of what it takes to revamp a B2B brand that's more than just a coat of paint. Tune in to hear how the new brand story of "Growing Together" came to life as Univar responded to the pandemic, with marketing leading the way as the company pivoted to the ultimate form of customer service: solutions-based service. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Forget the notion of born leaders. Leadership is a skill that is that's learned through practice, and even trial and error. It is a skill that needs continual refinement and is always a work in progress. In this episode, we explore the path to leadership with CMOs Amy Messano of Altair, Bill Strawderman of GS1 US, and Toni Clayton-Hine of EY Americas. Tune in as we focus on the "Chief" of Chief Marketing Officer, exploring many aspects of CMOing, from how leadership adapted during COVID to how to lead while following the lead of your CEO. This episode is filled with unique insights into the different paths to leadership as well as tried-and-true ways to inspire employees and organizations to greatness. Don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

What does pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk have to do with network security? For one, his surname is the same as Gigamon's latest cloud visibility offering, Hawk by Gigamon. The solution enables customers to get a full 360 view of their hybrid infrastructures, making it easier to see—as Tony described in his Cameo for the brand—what could go wrong, what the backup plan is, and how to transform chaos into control. Tony Hawk's role as a Gigamon's spokesperson is just one part of a massive, marketing-led transformation for the brand. It all started in 2019 when Gigamon went private and brought on Karl Van den Bergh as CMO to lead the strategic shift. With an engineering background, Karl faced the challenge head-on, quickly building a predictive ROI model and ramping up brand awareness efforts across the board. Tune in for a seriously fascinating episode with a master marketeer, one who uniquely understands the value of how engaged employees, a clearly defined brand, and an award-winning demand gen engine can build the momentum a company needs to really soar (like, increasing pipeline by 6x soar). For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

What does B2B success look like? Some might say that it looks like $12 billion in annual revenue with over 60,000 employees serving more than 20,000 clients in 130 countries, and in that case, FIS is right on the money. So why did the financial services company decide to turn their focus to building brand awareness? In this episode, CMO Ellyn Raftery shares how FIS simplified its brand after acquiring Worldpay, streamlining a docket of 800+ products into 10 distinct categories and one brand story as it shifted into a B2B2C mindset. Tune in to learn how FIS developed the new brand, how they made it real, and how it's setting them up for even more growth in the future. Plus, learn Ellyn's secret to CMO longevity—she's been at FIS for 9 years! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

It's time to restructure your B2B organization. To trim down your MarTech stack. To reconsider which metrics matter. These are things that this episode's guests are all in agreement on, and taking it one step further, they also believe that the CMO is the one for the job. Tune in to hear from two of the three CMO to CRO authors, Brandi Starr and Rolly Keenan (COO and CRO of Tegrita, respectively), as we compare the future-thinking recommendations put forth in their book with those in Drew's new book, Renegade Marketing. To keep everyone honest, CMO Peter Finter of CyberGRX brings a bevy of real-world experience and insights to the table. Don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Of the B2B brands that became essential post-COVID, ABM Industries sweeps up. Literally. No, this isn't a show about Account-Based Marketing per se; it's about a facility services company that stepped up during a time of need to ensure that employees, customers, and customers' customers were safe. Tune in to this fascinating interview with ABM CMO Cary Bainbridge, where she shares how the company relied on the experts and adapted in real-time to help customers through a time of need. This is a lesson in pivoting under pressure, with great insights for marketers into co-branding, developing essential services, and more. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Wait, wait, wait… Renegade MARKETERS Unite? You heard that right. After 259 episodes, we're re-establishing a little bit more loudly and clearly what this podcast really is—a hub for renegade marketers. This is a podcast that records and celebrates fascinating stories from visionary B2B CMOs, a very specific brand of renegade thinkers in the B2B world. The name change falls right in line with Drew's new book Renegade Marketing: 12 Steps to Building Unbeatable B2B Brands out Oct 5th, compiling insights gleaned from 450+ CMO interviews, research studies of 200+ CMOs, and years of torture testing the prescribed strategies. In this episode, Drew the host asks Drew the author some hard-ball questions about the book, like why you should read it and what you can learn from this valuable marketing resource. Don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Ahh, work from home. A concept that became a hashtag overnight as the pandemic shut down offices around the world, relegating entire teams to Zoom squares. Zoom squares that moved away from the area, that enjoyed skipping a long commute, and that were able to maintain high levels of productivity despite the limitations. Zoom squares that nevertheless missed the creative spark that comes from in-person meetings. Now that things are opening up again, B2B businesses face a new challenge: figuring out what exactly their new policies will be when it comes to in-office versus remote work. In this episode, Khalid El Khatib of Stack Overflow, Ellina Shinnick of HUB International, and Mike Brannan of Centric Consulting share how their respective companies have adapted, offering heaps of insights into how to maintain a strong work culture, how to effectively communicate with hybrid teams, and what it means to be a good leader during these ever-changing times. Don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Ah, RFPs. Short for Requests for Proposal. Long for time-to-value. They're the bane of many a B2B business' procurement processes, frustratingly time consuming and full of friction in a fast-moving world. But they don't have to be that way, not according to VP Global Marketing Angela Earl and the team at RFPIO. They aren't here to tell you that the RFP process as it stands today isn't full of pain; instead, the RFP response SaaS brand is here to tell you there's another way. Tune in to hear how RFPIO is drinking its own champagne to both simplify and build confidence in a notoriously frustrating category, enabling sales teams in such a way that the RFPIO marketing team effectively delivers a whopping 90% of pipeline ("pipeline" being fully vetted Sales Qualified Opportunities, that is). Check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

If you build it, will they come? Not necessarily, especially not if all coverage and conversation about your brand is negative. Case in point—three years ago, D-Wave Systems had a 30 percent negative brand sentiment in the market, and the brand's team of quantum physicists all turned to marketing to save the day. In this episode, learn how CMO Jennifer Houston faced challenge head on without dwelling on the negative, developing instead a powerful new brand promise to highlight D-Wave's practical quantum computing capabilities. Effectively decreasing the brand's negative sentiment from 30 percent to less than 3, this is a remarkable story about the power of B2B branding—don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

No budget, no problem! Said no one ever. Except, maybe, the savvy CMO who's got the magic touch when it comes to making something out of nothing. As Gartner's CMO Spend survey showed marketing budgets being slashed across all industries in 2021, marketers are being asked to do more with less—and while that's absolutely a challenge, CMOs are stepping up to prove how important marketing is. Today's show features three CMO guests at start-ups, two of which had virtually no marketing staff when they came onboard. Tune in to hear a bevy of practical insights into how to stretch a small budget in big ways from Chi-Chi Liang of Alloy, JD Dillon of Tigo Energy, and Luanne Tierney, who had just left her role at Betterworks. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Low-code development platforms like Airtable are interested in turning software users into software creators, something growingly more important in a world of rapid digital transformation. That's just one of the reasons why Archana Agrawal was excited to join Airtable as CMO in March 2020—she saw the innate benefit of, in her words, "taking the power that was previously left in the hands of software developers and bringing it to the rest of the world." With a background in computer science and a rich marketing career, Archana was perfectly primed to help Airtable amplify its product to the world via data-driven marketing. In this episode, learn how Archana helped to build out a marketing function to match the scale of the company, growing the team from 4 to 45, partnering with sales and product teams, and working to improve time-to-value for customers. Check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

"When the going gets tough, the tough hug their customers." That's the theme that emerged early on in CMO Huddles, and the going at that point in April 2020 surely was tough. As the world shut down, customer retention became a top priority for many B2B brands, with astounding results—customer success strategy revealed itself to be a key growth strategy. Customer-centric marketing does not only increase the likelihood of cross-sell and upsell opportunities, it also cultivates a healthy set of customer champions who are more than happy to refer prospects (and what's more convincing to buy than a glowing customer review?). In today's episode, CMOs Marshall Poindexter of OpenEye Scientific, Jakki Geiger (formerly of Reltio), and Simon Schaffer-Goldman of Case Paper cover the ins and outs of building and maintaining great customer relationships—don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

After months of planning, Duck Creek Technologies had all of its ducks in a row for its flagship customer event, Formation, set to launch in April 2020. You might guess where this story is going—Duck Creek had to cancel the event and look for a virtual solution, one that wouldn't let all its content go to waste and one that would be as powerful as most in-person events are for so many B2B brands. In this episode, Senior Director, Global Marketing Lauren St. Amand shares how the insurance software company changed its course and developed vFormation, a digital engagement platform that was so much more than a virtual event. It was a solution to a world that would quickly become inundated with digital fatigue, a perfect lead-gen opportunity for Duck Creek partners, and, surprisingly, a way to reach more customers and prospects (and employees!) than ever before. This story is incredible—don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

If there's no partnership experience (PX) function in your organization yet, it's high time you made one. As this episode's all-star CMO guests can avow, a well-built and well-maintained partner ecosystem can do a lot for any B2B brand. Not only can it accelerate brand awareness and trust in the market, but a well-run partner marketing program can also directly and exponentially impact both pipeline and revenue. In this episode, learn why partnership marketing needs to be taken seriously, with real-world examples to prove it and a slew of incredible insights into both growing and sustaining a powerful partner program from CMOs Denise Vu Broady of Appian, Michael Welts of Wasabi, and Melissa Sargeant of Litmus. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

No two CMO playbooks are the same, but in all of them, agility is a prereq for success. The best CMOs are able to recognize the unique challenges of their organizations in the context of their growth stage and brand identity (or lack thereof), then develop the foundation for marketing-led, organization-wide success. CMO Celia Fleischaker is an expert in the custom build, with previous stints at Epicor and PROS and now taking on a new challenge at Verint, a $1.3 billion company that recently completed a massive spin-off of its cybersecurity services, cementing itself as a pure-play customer engagement brand. Tune in to learn how Celia moved from her past experience for her current one, adapting along the way as needed to deliver a resonant Verint message to inspire employees and customers alike. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

We haven't had a Drew-on-Drew episode in a while, so buckle in for a meta-conversation between Question-Drew and Answer-Drew for episode 250! That's right, Renegade Thinkers Unite has reached episode two-five-zero, and with so many interviews over the years, Drew has tracked the challenges that B2B CMOs have faced as well as the solutions they've implemented to lead their organizations to greatness. Pulling together these insights as well as those gleaned from Renegade Thinkers Live discussions and the confidential conversations at CMO Huddles, Drew reflects on three core issues that B2B CMOs are facing these days. Tune in to learn how CMOs are working to recruit and retain top talent, lead hybrid workforces, and preparing to meet their CEO's growth expectations for 2022. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

It takes special care to brew a post-acquisition stew. B2B brands need to determine how to properly blend the newly acquired brand into the established mix without jeopardizing the integrity of the branded house, and without losing the equity and loyal customer base of its sub-brand. In today's episode, CMOs Grant Johnson of Emburse, Kevin Ruane of Precisely, and Joshua Leatherman of Service Express share how they've successfully consolidated newly acquired brands, reflecting on best practices and mistakes made around the B2B world as companies work to build branded house empires. Tune in for a ton of great tips for B2B brand consolidation, from how to measure the value of an acquired brand to how to protect SEO equity in the process. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Transitioning from startup to scaleup sure does come with its growing pains. Marketing teams are stretched as they recruit for new and necessary functions, systemize demand gen efforts, and update their brand story in the market. Add in a global pandemic, a team spread across nine time zones, and a competitive labor market and you've got yourself an immense challenge. For Bynder CMO Andrew Hally, this is not his first rodeo. Bringing in lessons learned from scaling up at Allego, Andrew shares how his team adapted to advance the brand's growth phase in style. This is a fascinating episode about the marketing strategy behind two different scaleups, as well as why leading starts with listening and how to optimize intent signals in your category. Don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

You've no doubt heard of Honeywell, the publicly traded, multinational conglomerate among the Fortune 100 and list of top 100 US federal contractors, with stock in both the Dow and S&P. Around since 1906, Honeywell is a mega brand, bringing in over $32 billion in revenue with a global workforce of over 110,000. But what is it that Honeywell does exactly? That was the marketing challenge Joe Toubes encountered when taking on the VP of Global Marketing role in 2019—the market still associated Honeywell with a product it didn't even sell anymore. Tune in to learn how Toubes and his team revamped the Honeywell brand, solidifying a new message in the market and attracting top talent along the way. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Why should B2B organizations make employee engagement a high priority? According to Forbes, highly engaged teams are 21% more profitable. Employees that feel supported by their companies stay longer, perform better, and are less likely to get burnt out. They become cheerleaders for your brand, attracting other great talent and generating buzz that is nearly impossible to replicate any other way. In this episode, CMO Caroline Tien-Spalding of Aptology, CMO Jeff Perkins of ParkMobile, and Tanika Vital-Pringle, the founder of Brand Rebirth, discuss just how to develop employee-first cultures that will be able to withstand tough times, drive empathy, and enable employee loyalty. This profound and practical conversation is undoubtedly a lesson in the power of empathy—don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

The perfect B2B marketing metrics dashboard doesn't exist. Well, not in the way that you'd think. Every organization is at a different growth stage, has different opinions in the C-Suite, and has different strategic priorities, so it only makes sense that there's no one-size-fits-all measurement standard out there. Savvy CMOs know this—and they also know that not everything marketing contributes can be measured—but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. In this episode, we explore which metrics matter to the CMOs at three B2B organizations: Rebecca Stone of Cisco Meraki, Chandar Pattabhiram of Coupa, and Katie Risch of Centro. This insightful discussion is about how to demonstrate the value of marketing to the C-Suite, to your organization, and to the world at large. Tune in to learn about the best "brand-quisition" metrics, the state of attribution modeling today, why employer brand metrics are really important (even if no one thinks so), and more. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

In recent years, a significant percentage of consumers—from 72-76%, based on various studies—would rather bank with a local institution than a megabank. So why don't they? According to CMO Keith Brannan, it's because local banks marketing budgets don't stand a chance against the punching power of their larger counterparts. That's where Kasasa comes in, helping community banks and credit unions earn their rightful share of the market through a co-branded solution. Tune in to this fascinating episode to hear how the FinTech and marketing services brand makes buying easy for its resource-constrained customers, proof for why brands need to keep marketing in a downturn, how to use data to cross-sell and upsell a limited customer pool, and more. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

FUD, you ever heard of it? No, not Elmer Fudd, the Looney Toon set on hunting that wascally wabbit Bugs. We're talking about FUD, the acronym for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, a marketing tactic that focuses on the dangers customers face if they don't adopt a product. In the B2B cybersecurity world, FUD-based marketing is quite popular, and while it's effective in many cases, the negative approach can have unintended consequences on company culture and brand perception. Enter Dan Lowden of HUMAN, Kevin Sellers of Ping Identity, and Armen Najarian of RSA, three B2B CMOs in the cybersecurity world set on throwing FUD out the door and selling instead through values-based marketing. Tune in to this fascinating episode to learn how these brands have found ingenious ways to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market, why B2B brand values are essential to success, and more. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Category creation is the ultimate form of B2B brand differentiation. Think Salesforce and CRM, HubSpot and inbound marketing—these top-tier brands are the leaders in their category because they were the champions of it from the very beginning. It takes a lot of work to get there, however, and not all brands are made for category creation. This episode features three expert marketing execs who also happen to be veteran category creators—Chip Rodgers of WorkSpan, Gabi Zijderveld of Affectiva, and Bernd Leger (now at Mimecast). Tune in to learn the ins and outs of category creation, like how to engage with analysts to build credibility, how you know you're on the right track, and how to manage competitors as a category leader. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

If you're a B2B marketer and you've never heard of Forrester, you're probably not a B2B marketer. The world-renowned research and advisory firm has firmly established itself as one of the most influential of its kind, and in this episode, CMO Shirley Macbeth fills us in on how Forrester maintains its high status via ever-evolving brand strategy and dedicated brand activation. Having joined Forrester right when the world shut down in March 2020, Shirley dove headfirst into bringing Forrester's Bold at Work message to life and consolidating the recently acquired SiriusDecisions without losing its loyal customer base. Not only that, Forrester's marketing team drank its own champagne, using data to increase marketing spend and narrow down its list of key target personas from 20 to 5 (as well as its product set from hundreds to a handful). This is an awesome B2B brand story—check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

B2B success starts with carefully considered organizational design. Whether strategically allocating budget and staff across multiple marketing functions or managing a growing MarTech stack, organizational design is no easy task. In this episode, CMOs Kathie Johnson of Talkdesk, Anna Griffin of Smartsheet, and Melanie Marcus of Surescripts discuss how they've structured their marketing teams for today and tomorrow, aligning to C-Suite expectations and adapting to both predictable and unexpected change. Be sure to tune in to learn how the right B2B marketing structure can align Sales and Marketing teams, grow revenue, and transform marketing into an integral part of a B2B brand (and why DE&I should be a priority for building marketing teams). Check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Powerful narratives tend to follow a 3-act story structure: the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution. Act One is about establishing characters and their challenges in the world they live in; Act Two is about the actions they take in response to said challenges; and Act Three brings the story to a climax, effectively giving characters a new sense of who they are. In this fascinating episode, CMO Paul Stoddart lays out the 3-act story behind Epicor's recent brand development. Tune in to learn how Epicor identified where it was lacking, discovered a new purpose that aligned its brand strategy to its business strategy, and brought its new promise to life through its employees and customers, effectively transforming the organization from the inside out. To find the transcripts of all episodes, suggest future guests, or learn more about quite possibly the best B2B marketing agency in New York City, visit https://renegade.com/​

Artful marketers don't just chuck paint at the wall and hope people notice, they come with a full set of brushes and an eye for detail. It's this focus that can lead to some really effective, targeted marketing campaigns, and in this episode, we'll be exploring the medium called "Vertical Marketing." There's a lot to sift through when it comes to building a robust B2B vertical marketing program, but Ian Howells of Sage Intacct, Lynne Capozzi of Acquia, and Mika Yamamoto of F5 are great guides. Tune in to hear how they apply vertical marketing in the real world, where they've noticed mistakes, and why vertical marketing is here to stay. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

How is a CMO to roll out a new brand, purpose, and business strategy all at the same time? As Accenture's CMO Amy Fuller says, "Instead of focusing on speed to the answer, focus on inclusion of the process." This episode with Amy dots all the i's and crosses all the t's as she walks us through why Accenture decided to rebrand, how they developed their purpose, and how they've brought it to life and redefined their business strategy. With a wealth of insights into the true value of a dedicated brand development strategy, this is a lesson in one CMO's dedication to develop an everlasting purpose for ever-changing business needs—don't miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Which came first, brand or demand? It's an age-old question in the B2B world, especially for B2B CMOs who understand the delicate balance between growing a powerful, lasting brand and a demand gen engine that delivers results. Enter CFA Institute, a leading association of investment professionals with a global reach and a strong brand identity. In this episode, CMO Michael Collins shares exactly how CFA balances brand and demand while managing a robust MarTech stack, adjusting strategy where needed, and tracking key metrics to maintain a healthy data-oriented alignment with the C-Suite. Tune in to hear what has worked, what hasn't, and how CFA has driven growth within its close-knit community of Chartered Financial Analysts. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

When CMO Heidi Bullock joined Tealium in 2019, her mandate was to grow the company from great to greater. Tealium already had a solid standing in the customer data management space when she arrived, having reached over $100 million in ARR with no plans of slowing down. Heidi dove in immediately, directly reaching out to customers and partners to figure out how to level up the brand. Tune in to hear Heidi spill the tea on how Tealium simplified its brand story, infused it into the organization, and brought it to market with a flourish. This episode is a remarkable lesson in B2B brand strategy—you don't want to miss it! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Like any good magician, a great marketer never reveals their secrets. The best marketing is so good that it wows its target audience on the stage, but when that audience is a group of marketers, things become a lot trickier. It's like pulling a rabbit out of a hat at a magician's convention—your fellow marketers already know all the tricks of the trade, so they are that much harder to impress. In this episode, we spoke with three master CMOs of marketing to marketers: Norman Guadagno of Acoustic, Jamie Gilpin of Sprout Social, and Eric Eden of Postclick. In this insightful conversation, they share all kinds of tricks of the trade, from strategies to really engage the marketing community to how much MarTech is too much. Check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

When Johnny Smith Jr. joined Encompass Health as VP of Marketing, he was tasked with a tall order—to create a strong, growth-oriented marketing department. The change management job would involve a complete rebuild, but luckily for Encompass Health, Johnny's strategic approach to marketing transformation and diplomatic leadership helped them align the organization in 12 months. Tune in to hear Johnny's in-depth, step-by-step guide to building a marketing organization. From establishing guiding principles to aligning newly organized across strategic priorities, Johnny is a master in change management. Check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

The executive job search is all about taking a consultative approach. For CMOs, it's about using interviews to truly understand the pain points of an organization and to measure their values against your own. It's about setting expectations so that, once hired, the CMO be able to deliver both quick wins and big wins that have a lasting impact. And now, Post-COVID, it's also about doing all of those things virtually. This episode comes from a livestream we recorded in January 2021 with three guests who bring different perspectives to the CMO job search. Patti Newcomer-Small had just been hired as CMO at FMG Suite, Sara Larsen was in transition at the time (now she's CMO of Wolters Kluwer Health), and Brandon Palmer of Discover Podium coaches CMOs looking for their next gig. Tune in to hear how the job hunt has changed post-COVID as well as an abundance of useful tips for the search and that first 90 days as a virtual leader. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Joan Jett may not care too much about her bad reputation, but for B2B CMOs, it's a totally different story. Marketing executives know the incredible business value of a strong brand and, like this show's guest Rebecca Biestman of Reputation says, "Brand building and reputation building takes years and a lot of tiny acts." In this week's show, Rebecca joins Drew to discuss Reputation's recent brand refresh. The reputation management brand has not only shed its ".com," it's also established its new purpose-packed tagline and completely rebuilt its website. Tune in to hear some key learnings, like how Reputation built a brand and a demand gen engine simultaneously, why branding work is an integral part of corporate strategy, and how Reputation's prescriptive scoring system can help brands thrive. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

The events of the past year have been nothing short of disruptive. Life as we know it has changed, and while we (as individuals, as marketers, and as brands) are all looking forward to things going "back to normal," things aren't going to look quite the same as we remember. But that's not a bad thing—B2B marketers have proved over and over again that they are agile, resilient, and a true asset in the B2B world. In this special 230th episode, Drew explores the new normal for B2B marketers. Wielding the wisdom of hundreds of CMO interviews and countless insights gleaned in CMO Huddles, Drew covers how marketers have faced the challenges of 2020 head-on. Tune in to learn what an effective B2B marketing strategy looks like today, and how B2B marketers are changing the world for the better. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Since CMO Ran Avrahamy joined AppsFlyer in 2013, the SaaS mobile marketing company has grown from 12 employees to over 1,000, from a small tech startup to a worldwide brand. So, how exactly did AppsFlyer launch to such heights, and how did it adapt as it grew? Tune in to hear all about AppsFlyer's zero budget, guerilla marketing in the early days, and how its "Be Everywhere" mantra drove the company's growth. Ran also discusses how AppsFlyer has been helping all of its customers—whether they're in the travel industry or the cloud—through post-COVID challenges, as well as why B2B marketing has to (yes, has to) start with employees. For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

Prior to the pandemic, 40% of Sendoso's program spend went to physical events that brought in a significant number of leads and got prospects to close. Such a reliable source of revenue for the brand suddenly became redundant in March, and as customers scrambled to figure out how to adapt, the pipeline froze in April. Luckily, Sendoso had a strong foundation, with a fully scalable marketing program and a robust marketing team. The sending platform immediately shifted its focus to providing educational content to customers and adapting its marketing strategy to new buying behaviors. In this episode, CMO Dan Frohnen shares how Sendoso rebuilt its pipeline post-pandemic, transforming its product into a must-have via meaningful virtual events, powerful partnerships, and a special, Sendoso-style take on direct mail marketing. Check it out! For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegade.com/podcasts/

In-person events have always been gold for B2B brands. Accounting for 10-50% of B2B marketing budgets in 2019, B2B marketers relied on physical events as a massive revenue source, effectively filling the funnel with leads, closing deals, and extending customer contracts. This was not to be so in 2020. We all know the story—as marketers everywhere had to pivot to digital, events and event planning went virtual. Lift and shift was not going to work. Not only did B2B marketing teams face unanticipated technical challenges and a sea of new virtual platforms, they also had to figure out how they could actually engage attendees and nurture leads in a world of Zoom fatigue. This episode comes from a recent livestream, where CMO Mandy Dhaliwal (Dell Boomi), CMO Paige O'Neill (Sitecore), and CEO David Fischette (Go West Creative Group) shared everything about their virtual event experiences in 2020, both the good and the bad. Tune in for common challenges, creative solutions, and predictions for the future of B2B virtual events. Who knows, they may be here to stay. What You'll Learn in This Episode How to increase virtual event engagement Common technical issues & fail-safes for virtual events The future of B2B events Time-Stamped Highlights [0:00] Cold Open — This is Renegade Thinkers Live [1:13] Adjusting to the New Virtual Reality [4:25] How Sitecore Pivoted to Virtual Events [9:56] How Dell Boomi Pivoted to Virtual Events [14:46] Transitioning from Stage Presenter to TV Presenter [18:04] How to Mitigate Technical Issues [24:53] Common Technical Issues for Virtual Events [30:18] What Virtual Event Planners Can Learn from Broadcast Television [32:42] How to Nurture Virtual Events Leads [37:42] Tech Features Can that Increase Engagement [43:00] Should Content Lean Towards Authenticity or Slick? [44:45] What's Better, Live or Pre-recorded Video? [47:19] The Future of Physical and Virtual Events [52:49] How to Ensure Virtual Events Kick A** in 2021 For full show notes and transcript, click here.

If you have a product that would really help customers adapt to the world of remote work, how do you sell it to them while being mindful of budget cuts, layoffs, and a global downturn? Take a page from HackerRank's book. The B2B tech company's remote interview solution was just what their primary personas needed, and CMO Jennifer Stagnaro knew that the product needed to be endorsed with empathy and generosity. In this episode, Jennifer shares how HackerRank transformed the remote interview experience for the better, reaching out with useful, timely content and offering free solutions to customers and prospects in a time of need. These were the seeds that led to the best Q3 in the company's history. Tune in to hear how they did it, as well as how HackerRank is aiming to diversify the tech space one interview at a time.

Unless they were deemed an essential service, most B2B brands had to pivot their marketing strategy in 2020 to make themselves relevant in a world of digital transformation, lockdowns, and quarantine orders. This was especially challenging for brands that depended on in-person events—from the travel industry to the hotel industry to the restaurant industry, things were going to be tough. In this episode, Drew talks with CMO Dhanusha Sivajee of The Knot Worldwide (TKWW), a B2B2C brand that faced a unique challenge—TKWW's network of over 300,000 vendors were about to lose their livelihoods as engaged couples updated their "Save the Dates" to "Change the Dates." TKWW rose up to the challenge, quickly establishing a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) program for its B2B customers and compiling a comprehensive content library of best practices for the trials ahead. Not only does Dhanusha share how the brand created meaningful content for its customers in a time of need, she also discusses how it established itself as a thought leader and helped its vendors redefine the wedding experience. Tune in for a fascinating episode that exemplifies the value of putting customer care first, especially for B2B brands that are committed to finding truly creative, renegade solutions.

What do a premium content strategy and conversational AI have to do with driving revenue? Perhaps unsurprisingly, quite a lot! Content raises awareness and nurtures leads, and after the human handoff, Sales teams can use AI tools to assist them to close. In this episode, ringDNA CMO William Tyree shares a behind-the-scenes look at the AI-powered sales enablement platform's remarkable content strategy, starting with the acquisition of Andy Paul's Sales Enablement podcast. He also discusses why businesses shouldn't be afraid of conversational AI tools—they aren't here to replace Sales, they're here to augment and assist them. Check it out!

There are 50 honorees listed in TopRank's 2020 installment of Influential Women in B2B Marketing Who Rocked, and in addition of these amazing leaders, we at Renegade know that there are countless others worth celebrating for their contributions to marketing in the B2B world. This episode comes from our recent livestream show on the subject, featuring LogRhythm CMO Cindy Zhou, Skillsoft CMO Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek, and Charlene Li, the founder of Altimeter, author of The Disruption Mindset, and one of the women on TopRank's aforementioned list. Tune in to hear these inspiring leaders and role models share all about what it means to be a woman in the C-Suite, what progress still needs to be made, and how we can all work together to get there.

After nearly 7 years with Salesforce, 2.5 of which she served as CMO, Stephanie Buscemi announced on Twitter that she's saying goodbye. The 100+ (and counting) responses to her announcement have been overwhelmingly positive—a testament to her inspiring, compassionate leadership and her trailblazing, marketing-led initiatives for the cloud-based software powerhouse. We had the pleasure of interviewing Stephanie a few weeks ago, so this outpouring of admiration is no surprise to us. Her success epitomizes the core values that Salesforce has upheld from its start 21 years ago. In this episode, Stephanie shares just what it means for B2B brands that are committed to a capital-P Purpose, and why we truly believe that CMOs can change the world for the better. Tune in to hear how Salesforce has brought its values to life over the years, how said values informed their customer-first response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.

Anthony Kennada knows a thing or two about ANA's 2020 word of the year: "Pivot." In just 4 years, Anthony "pivoted" from Business Development Associate (BDA) at Box to CMO of Gainsight—an astounding feat for any marketer—and during his 6 years at the startup, he helped establish a category, growing the brand from $0 to over $100 million in revenue. Now, he's at Front, a start-up customer communication hub with a high-level story to tell. In this episode, Anthony shares how his experiences at Gainsight have informed his community-building, demand-generating efforts at Front—from how to develop a long-term, growth-focused brand strategy to how to bring employees, customers, and prospects together under one purpose-driven cause. Check it out!

It's not every year that Christmas falls on the same day as a new Renegade Thinkers Unite episode, so this one is extra special. The show focuses on the story of Keane Veran, a cancer survivor who, while undergoing treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) as an 8-year-old, was asked by Make-A-Wish to wish big. And wish big he did. In 2011, Keane and his family, including his older brother, Shaun, were flown to Washington DC to meet President Obama, in the White House no less. Nearly a decade later, this moving story about making a young boy's wish come true is truly powerful—it not only motivated Keane to keep on fighting, but it's the foundation that inspired the Veran brothers to start a wellness brand with a business model based on goodwill. A portion of every purchase from their company, Ouragami (OURA), goes to making a wish come true. It's a lesson in generosity that B2B and B2C companies alike can benefit from. Tune in to hear how marketers can play a very vital role in helping both OURA and Make-A-Wish help kids reach their biggest dreams, with advice and inspiration from Keane, Shaun, and the CEO of the Make-A-Wish chapter in Orange County and the Inland Empire, Gloria Crockett.

In the premiere episode of Renegade Thinkers Live, Drew was joined by CMOs Rashmi Vittal (Conversica) and John McCrea (Amplify.ai), to discuss all things conversational AI. We take stirring things up quite literally here at Renegade, so in this episode, we sipped in the latest AI marketing insights along with Letherbee's original label gin (which was amazing, by the way). It was a fun episode, filled with AI conversational marketing use cases, wisdom from Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and a Live audience Q&A. Even Google Chrome makes an appearance! Tune in to hear some incredible use cases, learn why John and Rashmi both say that "bot" is a terrible word, and see just how Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) can transform B2B marketing in a digital-first world.

What happens when you pair an identity security company and Terry Crews? An impressive, wildly successful influencer marketing success story, that's what. It was the final piece of the "Let's boost our brand awareness" puzzle that Ping Identity CMO Kevin Sellers was looking for. They had already identified their new brand identity and got internal support, now it was time to go big. This episode is all about the courageous, artful, thoughtful, and scientific marketing that goes into building brand awareness, all in the service of driving new customer acquisition. As Kevin shares, "You can't win business if you don't even get a chance to bid on the deal." Tune in for an inspiring story about brand differentiation, with ingenious marketing executions and measurable results.