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Engineering speak meets marketing magic

Long road bridge disappearing into horizon

The bridge between product development and bringing a product to market can be a tricky one to cross. Without due care, the hard work of engineers can be lost in a sea of marketing messages. Technology expert Mogens Abel-Bache shared some insights with me into how marketers can help tech companies get their products into the hands of the people it’s designed to serve.

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Your company’s sustainability story needs a powerful strategic narrative

mousetrap with cheese

Have you heard the saying, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door”? The theory is that all you need to do is produce something innovative and people will come running to buy it. But that’s simply not true – as many businesses know.

In fact, there are over 5,000 patents registered for mousetrap designs – and lots more that don’t get registered for one reason or another. To become a success, your innovation needs a powerful, well-structured story – what we call a “strategic narrative” – and the exact same goes for sustainability innovations, too.

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The CMO’s opinion isn’t always appreciated

When the CEO of all too many B2B companies sits down to decide on the three- or five-year strategy, a select group of executives are typically asked to front up with factual data and strategic opinions: The Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Commercial Officer and the Chief Operations Officer. Equipped with their inputs, the CEO usually feels he or she has enough information to formulate the strategy (perhaps supplemented with external advice). Then, and only then, the strategy is explained to the CMO. Continue reading

What is a Marketer CEO? (Part 2)

What is a Marketer CEO?

In a previous post, I introduced several characteristics that define a Marketer CEO, as revealed in my study of marketing’s contribution to B2B company performance.

Continuing the discussion, I’ll explore more of these characteristics within themes of marketing performance and market strategy.

Marketing performance

With so much discussion among marketers about marketing metrics, you may expect this to be top of mind with CEOs, too. Marketer CEOs do have strong expectations of how marketing should perform, but perhaps not in the way you’d expect. Continue reading

What the B2B CEO really thinks of marketing

What the B2B CEO thinks about marketing

The role of marketing in B2B companies is often debated. For every story of marketing’s contribution to growth, there are probably another two or three of marketing fighting tooth and nail for budget, resources and, not least, mindshare from the B2B CEO.

After years of being part of this debate, I decided to find out what the B2B CEO and executive management really think about marketing. Over the last several months, I’ve conducted extensive research into understanding their opinions.

There is a growing amount of research into marketing’s contribution to performance at B2B companies. But while the academic research is fragmented, really only touching the surface, the practitioner research often seems to be a celebration of marketing and, indeed, quite removed from reality.

Like it or not, reality is the CEO. No matter how good the B2B marketing department thinks it is, it won’t get far without his or her blessing. Continue reading

Content marketing? Danish companies could lead the way.

Content marketing is about engaging your target audience with useful information that that helps them solve a problem or become better informed. It is not an exercise in directly promoting your products or services. Instead it involves encouraging and building dialog with interested parties, which can help position you as a trusted advisor and a credible, knowledgeable supplier who understands their industry and needs. Continue reading