Is the key to immortality for brands simply about finding the right moment for reinvention? When Ron Chemow’s Hamilton became Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway sensation, Global Head of Corporate Marketing Aniko Delaney recognized the opportunity for BNY Mellon to reach new audiences. Affectionately called the Hamilton campaign, “Invest In Our Legacy” managed to not only to honor BNY Mellon’s founder Alexander Hamilton but also to modernize the brand. So far, her team’s modernization efforts have paid off in big ways, with triple-digit increases in engagement and brand awareness on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook. In this podcast, we’ll examine how Delaney and her team capitalized on the Broadway Show, Hamilton, to help BNY Mellon’s marketing cut through. You’ll learn how to identify moments of opportunity for reinventing your brand, the importance of having a message that resonates across all social platforms, and the keys to keeping a seasoned brand relevant.

  Keeping a brand fresh means evolving with trends, but Alma Derricks, former VP of Sales & Marketing of the Retail Sales Division at Cirque du Soleil, knows that not every trend is right for every industry. As someone who runs towards moments of inflection, that’s exactly what Derricks walked into when she joined Cirque during an ownership change in 2015. Believe it or not, Cirque had relied on organic growth for over 30 years but finally found itself in need of an organized and inventive marketing strategy. With a diverse background in media and entertainment, Alma Derricks helped differentiate Cirque’s many shows and make them top-of-mind for show goers. She also launched SPARK, a brand extension of Cirque that serves as a learning laboratory for corporate teams. The new business took off and not only created a new way to access the brand, but also a strong statement about who they are. In this podcast, we’ll take a special peek behind the curtain of one of the world’s top-earning theatrical companies and the marketing that helped revive its brand. You’ll learn about identifying which trends are suitable for your business, making sure your company cuts through the noise, differentiating your product or service offerings, and more. While Derricks has since moved to another role, you’ll find that the insights she shares are timeless.

This episode will help you understand the state-of-the-art for CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and how forward-thinking businesses are capitalizing on CRM to improve customer experiences and drive revenue.    

In this podcast, you’ll learn about where to start your brand transformation, why your brand should be a “sage” instead of a “hero,” the importance of creating a tangible customer experience and the strategy behind CA's new ad campaign, "The Modern Software Factory." Over the last four years, CMO Lauren Flaherty repositioned CA Technologies’ global brand, helped it adapt to the fast-paced blur of digital disruptions and masterfully co-created an app with CNN to cover the 2016 presidential election. This app enabled CNN to experience higher-than-ever levels of engagement and reach while demonstrating the power of CA's technology. Flaherty has since initiated a similar co-creation venture with Eurosport, helping to make the brand more tangible.   Think of this episode as a master class in transformation B2B marketing. 

As Chief Revenue Officer, Meredith Kopit Levien is a driving force behind The New York Times’s digital transformation and their stunningly timely “The Truth is Hard” campaign. When the news became the news during the 2016 presidential election cycle, Kopit Levien’s challenge was not only to remind people why real journalism matters, but also to reach a new base of paid subscribers hungry for high-quality journalism, effectively changing the news category. What you’ll take away from this podcast, among other things, is why the story you tell is more important than how often you tell it, and why it’s important to adapt to the times—no pun intended—without losing sight of your brand’s core mission. In addition to sharing why and how the new campaign came to fruition, Kopit Levien provides an inside look at building T-brand, their highly successful content creation studio. Although she admits that The Times was late to the content creation game, they entered it with gusto hiring top talent and holding the bar extremely high – so high that they will and have told the client “no” when they don’t think an idea will in their publication. Noting that there are only 10 million people that pay for their news online, Kopit Levien says that the real work, is only beginning as The New York Times continues its transformation from print to all other current and future news channels. For example, The Daily, The Times’ first podcast has dramatically exceeded expectations and is now a coveted slot for their reporters. She also discusses a new channel on Snapchat Discover, yet another indication that her brand ain’t your grandmother’s New York Times!

When Tom Libretto joined Pegasystems as Chief Marketing Officer, he recognized that his new company was on the cusp of huge changes. Applying his experience at major companies like IBM, Nokia and Chase, Libretto dove headfirst into his role, first by assessing star performers, past successes and failures and opportunities for growth. The good news was that one of the company’s star performers was its own platform, PEGA. What you’ll learn in this podcast, among other things, is the importance of being able to “drink your own champagne,” as Libretto and his team have found it to be an invaluable source of authentic marketing, not to mention troubleshooting. Today, Pegasystems is considered a top vendor of software for customer engagement and operational excellence. As a leader in martech (marketing technology), Pegasystems provides a window into the future of automation and artificial intelligence, which Libretto breaks down over the course of the conversation. Without giving too much away, check out the podcast to hear about how Libretto helped the company achieve this amazing transformation.  

Described as both a bulldog and a warrior, Intuit’s VP of Marketing Patti Newcomer-Simmons built her reputation by seeking out the difficult challenges most mortals try to avoid. One such challenge was to dramatically improve departmental performance at a company that was already filled with “happy campers.” To do this, she first focused on the getting the metrics right. Rather than dwell on how satisfied employees were they with their jobs, she focused on employee engagement, a metric that corresponds with answers to questions like, “Would you stay with the company even if you received a higher offer from somewhere else?” Ultimately, through a series of actions, including adding new hires, moving team members around and aligning around core goals, Newcomer-Simmons helped drive a 30-point increase in employee engagement. In case you were wondering, that is a very big jump, especially when you consider that Intuit already enjoyed a very high employee retention rate. So, if you’re wondering how you can get your marketing team operating at a higher level, this is definitely the right episode for you.

Dara Royer sat alone at her desk pondering the seemingly impossible--how do you rebrand a global organization with only a $50,000 budget?  She knew in her heart of hearts that rebranding was not just a nice next step for Mercy Corps, but it was a critical requirement for the organization to realize its global ambitions. She also knew there is little glory in being right, what really mattered was getting the rest of Mercy Corps to join her on the journey and embrace the forthcoming change.  Royer's journey as Chief Development and Marketing Officer is chronicled in detail in this epidsoe and it is profoundly instructive for all businesses especially those with modest budgets and massive expectations.  And just in case you were wondering if we're hyperbolizing, the outcome of Mercy Corps rebranding was an increase in awareness, revenue via donations and recognition by the Harris Poll as the 2017 EquiTrend “Brand of the Year” and “Most Loved Brand” in the category of International Aid Nonprofits. Those are results that would delight any marketer and leads to the question, how the heck did Royer and her team accomplish so much with so little?  Well, without telling the whole story, let's just say that necessity is indeed the mother of invention.  

Digital rock star and Spotify’s Global Vice President for Growth & Marketing, Mayur Gupta, joins us in this week’s podcast to talk predictive marketing, lack of separation in online and offline worlds, and why quality beats quantity when it comes to consumer acquisition. With over 15 years of experience in leading the digital transformation, Gupta shares insights on how brands and marketers can ease into predictive marketing, and explains how Spotify is using this method to unify online and offline worlds, delivering relevant, contextual experiences for their users that inspires them to keep coming back for their musical needs. While most of us are driving into the future of marketing with limited visibility, Spotify’s Mayur Gupta not just sees what’s ahead, but also shares his vision with helpful precision. In this episode, Gupta talks about how he views marketing and innovation from the eyes of an engineer, and the importance of putting human’s needs at the top of the marketing ecosystem, which consists of technology, data, and storytelling. As the Global Vice President for Growth & Marketing at Spotify, Gupta emphasizes that you cannot effectively market only using technology, or data, or storytelling – the three are completely intertwined, and wholly dependent on the marketer’s understanding of unmet human needs. To see what’s ahead, just listen!

There are three salient features of creativity, regardless of the form it takes: It’s new, it’s everywhere, and everyone can do it. This week we switch it up on RTU to talk to the expert on creativity, Larry Robertson. Robertson’s latest book, The Language of Man, tackles the biggest myth about creativity, and that’s this notion that only a few rare people are capable of creative genius. In the podcast, Robertson talks about the two sides to each individual: one side (the left brain) is dedicated to order, pragmatics, survival; the other side (right brain) is dedicated to exploring, creativity, and thinking towards the future. Most often we prioritize the side of our brain that is dedicated to order, but Robertson says it’s important to give our creative brains a chance to play and discover as well. Ultimately, there has to be a balance between the two, but everyone is capable and equipped for creative genius.  

At one point in our inspiring conversation, Chandar Pattabhiram says "I've always believed that people buy candles not because they need candles, but because they need light." As CMO of Marketo, Chandar brings a floodlight to the world of marketing, leading to an episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite you won't want to miss.  Among his many illuminating ideas, Chandar espouses "engagement marketing" as the only way to overcome the radical shift in power from buyer to seller and proposes that we've entered the "engagement economy." Expecting a conversation about the science of marketing, marketing automation and perhaps the latest applications of artificial intelligence, his focus on engagement, the art of storytelling and advocacy provides a show that is as surprising as it is informative. Listen carefully and you'll discover some of the secrets to not just building customer loyalty but also the kind of brand advocacy that gets your customers shouting your story from the rooftops! 

Every brand strives to build emotional connections with its constituents but few have succeeded in the manner of Pete Krainik, founder and CEO of The CMO Club. Starting from scratch in 2007, Pete has built a remarkably collaborative membership of over 800 senior marketers that meet regularly in 22 US cities and several more around the world. In this episode, we’ll reveal some of the secrets to The CMO Club’s success in recruiting new members and creating unmatched event experiences.

Ryan Linders, VP CRM, Loyalty, and Marketing Analytics at Sally Beauty provides a rare glimpse into the initial phases of building a customer loyalty program from scratch. You'll learn how Linders got the program off the ground and how Sally Beauty provides value to customers and gets it back in terms of membership fees and on-going purchase loyalty. 

In episode 9, we take a break from big brand CMOs to hear from independent musician Will Dailey. Why this deviation? Well first, I’ve been trying to get an interview with Will Dailey ever since I saw him speak at a Content Marketing conference in 2016 because I was certain his story would inspire marketers big and small. Second, Will really is a renegade, having walked away from a major record label just as his career was gaining steam. This was an incredibly gutsy move that helped set the stage for his instructive approach to fan building. And finally, I secretly hoped Will would perform on the show, and amazingly, he did just that, making it easy for you all to understand why I’m such a fan!

Special Episode - A second report from IBM Amplify on Watson Marketing and Cognitive Computing. Drew Neisser talks with Amber Armstrong, IBM Director of Digital Amplification and Demand Generation. Explore the future of marketing and customer experience by delivering just the right content at the right time.  

Special Episode - Drew Neisser reports from IBM Amplify 2017. Live from the conference floor. Get an up-to-date perspective in this special report on influencer marketing with Amy Tennison, Director of IBM's "Futurist" influencer program. Also features interviews Brian Moran and Jason Falls, two IBM Futurists.  

Rich Honiball, is the CMO of the Navy Exchange (NEX), which generates over $2 billion in sales through over 300 retail stores worldwide that range from a 200 square foot “Micro Market”, a 24/7 vending operation, to a 200,000 square foot flagship store “that looks like a department store attached to an electronics store attached to a home store attached to a drug store.” In this episode, you’ll learn how NEX generates extraordinary brand loyalty through user-generated content and a fanatical devotion to customer listening and customer service.

When Elissa Fink joined Tableau she was one of 40 employees that helped orchestrate a user conference for 200. Ten years later Tableau has a staff of over 3,200, a user conference for 13,000 and revenue that exceeds a billion dollars annually. It’s an amazing success story that Elissa has not just witnessed – she’s played a vital role, bringing a combination of enthusiasm, smarts, willingness to try new things and a deep appreciation for using data to make informed decisions. If you aspire to be a leader at a fast growing organization, then this is a must-listen episode.  

Gina McDuffie of VER, one of the largest video/audio equipment providers in the world, shares how she helped evolve what was Video Equipment Rentals into VER, not just from a naming standpoint but also how they marketed and interacted with their global customer base. 

Lamenting the fact that the healthcare industry “says the same thing and blends into this mush,” Arra Yerganian is “working to change the conversation” about Sutter Health. To achieve this goal Yerganian is “leaning in when others lean away” and seeks to “embrace the digital experience and create one-to-one relationships for the 3.5 million people that we serve.” Believing that this promise needs to go deeper than marketing, Yerganian works in “really close partnership with Sutter’s patient experience folks, executive leadership and operations” to “lay the foundation for a new [customer] experience.” Yerganian joined Sutter Health’s not-for-profit network as its first chief marketing & branding officer in August 2015. “Recognized by colleagues as an innovator in residence, a marketing visionary and a customer experience evangelist,” Yerganian has lead a comprehensive repositioning of Sutter Health, which you’ll learn about in our podcast. Prior to joining Sutter Health, Yerganian served as chief marketing officer for San Francisco-based One Medical, an innovative primary care network focused on transforming patients’ experiences through improved quality and accessibility of care. Before that Yerganian served as CMO for University of Phoenix and held senior international marketing roles at Procter & Gamble, the Dial Corp. and Atari.

The notion of having a large-scale content studio in-house would be radical for many brands but that’s just the opening scene for David Beebe who “set out to establish [Marriott] as the largest producer of travel lifestyle content.” A veteran of Hollywood, Beebe has turned Marriott into a content powerhouse by “not asking for permission all the time” and by focusing initially on “really premium storytelling.” Noting that successful content needs to be scalable, built around a community and have a commerce component, Beebe advises, “You’re not making a commercial, you’re not talking about yourself and your features anymore.” David Beebe leads Global Creative and Content Marketing for Marriott International’s portfolio of 19 brands, which includes Marriott Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Bulgari, EDITION, Renaissance, Gaylord Hotels, Autograph Collection, AC Hotels by Marriott, Moxy Hotels, Delta Hotels, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Spring Hill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Protea Hotels, Marriott Executive Apartments, Marriott Vacation Club with over 4,200 hotels in 82 countries. Beebe leads a global creative + content marketing group responsible for the strategic and creative development of consumer facing creative, content marketing, influencer marketing, and real-time marketing with teams in Bethesda, MD, Hong Kong, London, and Dubai across four divisions, including Marriott Creative Agency (MCA), and in-house agency and Marriott Content Studio (MCS) an in-house studio that develops, produces, distributes, and monetizes original content including webisodes, documentaries, short films, television shows, magazines, books, animated series, and live programming. In short, when it comes to content, he’s a king.

As a long-time financial services marketer, you would expect Dan Marks to have the science of marketing down pat. And indeed he does, having built a predictive marketing spend model at First Tennessee Bank (see my book The CMO’s Periodic Table: A Renegade's Guide to Marketing!) and the marketing tech infrastructure in his current role. But Marks sees the trend towards data-driven marketing going too far, explaining that, “Just doing the science without starting with the purpose is a recipe for failure.” Embracing the art-side of his job, he encourages his team to “remember that we are ultimately serving people” and to look at what’s happening with people in other categories.” Dan Marks is the CMO for Hancock And Whitney Bank, a regional bank in the Gulf South spanning from Houston, Texas, to Tampa, Fla. At the bank, Marks is responsible for overall strategy and execution of marketing and leading a digitally enabled client-focused transformation. Recognitions have included the Presidents Circle CMO Award, “Top CMO on Twitter,” and “Top 40 under 40.”

With over 70% share of the premium tequila market, it would be easy for Patrón’s CMO to rationalize a conservative marketing approach. Instead, Lee Applbaum believes that success can only be found by “challenging long-standing norms in luxury and in spirits marketing,” and by “always staying ahead of the curve.” To these ends, Applbaum is focused on showcasing Patron’s authenticity as a handcrafted tequila via advertising, influencer programs, social media and an innovative Oculus VR experience. During is over 3+ years as CMO at Patrón, Lee Applbaum has launched successful line extensions (La Roca) and won numerous awards including two from The CMO Club. But what’s more impressive is that he has helped keep the growth streak alive as Patron continues to find new fans while maintaining a highly loyal following. Applbaum started his career at Coca-Cola in sales after earning his MBA at UMass Amherst. After Coca-Cola, he held increasingly senior marketing jobs at Schlotzsky’s, Footstar Athletic, David’s Bridal, Radio Shack and even spent 8 months in Melbourne, Australia working with Target. Most importantly, in addition to his strong marketing background, Applbaum knows how to mix the perfect margarita, a skill that comes in handy remarkably often in his current role.