7 Questions Marketers and Agency Leaders Can Use to Turn Their People Into Problem Solvers
Do your people and teams bring you problems, but no solutions? We often hear from CMOs and senior agency executives that their people don’t come prepared with recommended solutions, and when it does happen, they pass the buck for them to solve, think of a solution to execute, or for on-the-spot training. Unfortunately, most leaders […]
What Marketers and Agency Execs Can Learn from Marvel
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is enjoying an incredible run of success. An astounding nine of the films are in the top 25 in all-time box office revenue. All nine surpassed $1 billion at the box office. The number one film of all time – Avengers: Endgame – grossed an amazing $2.8 billion. It wasn’t always […]
20 Truths for Marketers and Agency Leaders
Over the years we’ve seen a lot, learned a lot, and developed some philosophies on what works when it comes to marketing, agency, and business leadership. Much of this learning has come from working with great people and great companies. The following is a list of 20 tips, themes, and truths we’ve observed over the […]
DiGo Agency’s Mark DiMassimo on How CMOs and Agencies Can Succeed Together
Written by Stephen Boehler with special guest Mark DiMassimo My friend Mark DiMassimo is a bit of a unicorn: nice, thoughtful, creative, strategic, caring… the adjectives go on and on. Mark is the founder of independent creative agency DiMassimo Goldstein, and has an incredible track record of success over the past twenty years. He’s a […]
Servant Leadership for CEOs and CMOs, With Cheryl Bachelder
Written by Stephen Boehler with special guest Cheryl Bachelder Over the years we’ve been lucky to have worked with a handful of fine servant leaders. Some companies – and their workforces – are blessed to have leaders focused on helping their teams succeed; most are not. Howard Behar’s It’s Not About The Coffee philosophies helped […]
Sargento Foods’ Erin Price on What B2C and B2B Marketers Can Learn from Each Other
Written by Stephen Boehler with special guest Erin Price Erin Price is the President of Food Service and Ingredients Division at Sargento Food, and the perfect person to answer the highly topical question of what business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketers can learn from each other. In her current B2B role she leads all business-to-business […]
WE’s Kass Sells on the Role of PR, Reputation Building, and Agencies in a Modern Marketing Mix
Written by Stephen Boehler with special guest Kass Sells Kass Sells is Global Chief Operating Officer and President of International at WE, one of the largest integrated communications agencies in the world. WE is independent, all about people — both their clients and their employees — and they believe in the power of communications to […]
Martin Agency’s Elizabeth Paul on Selling Your Competitive Strategy with the “Sameness Collage”
Written by Stephen Boehler with special guest Elizabeth Paul CMOs, senior marketers, and agency executives are often tasked with the critical challenge of differentiating their brand or business. Most companies in the same industry look and sound the same. Yet – there is a comfort to management in this similarity! Because of this comfort – […]
Creative Reviews: The CMO Guide to Getting These Right
Last week we covered a simple 5 question process that CMOs can use with their teams to evaluate creative. Now it’s time for the agency to present their work – how should you structure the meeting to be as productive and inspiring as possible? Effective creative review sessions are critical to the brand and the […]
CMO Guide to Evaluating Creative
Dear CMOs: Please teach your people how to evaluate creative! Marketers are constantly evaluating creative presentations. Much of it ends up fabulous – great creative that grabs the target’s attention, is memorable and accomplishes its objectives – advertising that changes feelings, minds, and behaviors. Behind the scenes, it is often very difficult for the client […]