Media 7 | September 28, 2022
Heather Tenuto, Chief Revenue Officer at Zift Solutions, elaborates on her expertise in channel marketing, sales, and operations and how ZiftONE provides a streamlined and comprehensive channel management solution. Read on to learn more about her thoughts on IT channel partners and how cultivating a revenue strategy helps maintain a partner ecosystem.
Q.1. Tell us about your journey into channel strategy and indirect sales. How was it different from direct sales?
A.1. I started my sales career right out of college working for a Sun Microsystems reseller. I was on the direct side, but worked closely with supplier reps and took note of the difference in our jobs. I ended up leaving sales for two years to participate in NYC’s Teaching Fellows program. In that program, I was a 9th grade English teacher in a “hard-to-staff” high school in Manhattan. It was an amazing experience where I learned the power of influence in an environment where you often don’t have direct control. These skills served me well as I transitioned back into sales with a focus on building channels. Just like the classroom, enablement is key, and I was soon able to use my skills to develop and evolve channel organizations for highly transitional suppliers.
Q.2. How effectively do you think IT channel partners are adapting to dynamic buyer journeys? How has this shift impacted revenue prediction across the industry?
A.2. IT channel partners have come to realize that buyers are choosing the way they want to consume products and services; it’s left to the rest of us to adapt. IT partners can be more agile than their supplier partners. They are the first to hear buyer demands and often have the flexibility to meet them. However, this asks their supplier partners to be less rigid with programs to allow IT partners to meet the evolving demands of end-users. All this flexibility makes revenue prediction more difficult, but not impossible.
Read More
Media 7 | February 14, 2022
Sam O’Brien, CMO at Affise discusses Affise's powerful business intelligence tools and their sales strategies. Read on to know more about his thoughts on digitization and content personalization in his latest interview with Media 7.
Read More
Media 7 | January 19, 2022
Noel Hamill, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer at Forsta, takes us through his enriching professional journey and discovering the power of technology to create the smartest, most actionable fuelled by efficient and strong research. Read on to find out more about Forsta's powerful suite of tools that transcends methodological and data silos.
Read More
Media 7 | November 23, 2021
E-commerce marketers today need to be equipped with digital skills, agile processes, and the latest technologies to make the best out of the present landscape, shares Alun Davies, Chief Marketing Officer at Bidnamic, in this interview with Media 7. Read on to find out how a specialized skillset can make marketers highly valuable in dynamic and growing markets.
Read More
Media 7 | October 20, 2021
Jesse Wolfersberger, CEO and Co-Founder of Vrity, talks to us about how he combined his years of experience in quantifying data into building Vrity that helps brands attribute their purchase propensity shifts from their marketing and branding efforts, accurately. They are on a mission to help brands understand their true ROI from their values. Read on to find out more about the power of combining data science and written communication abilities, and how business leaders today can prepare to take on an AI-centric world, head on.
Read More
Media 7 | October 14, 2021
Dr Simon Biltcliffe, Founder and CEO at WEBMART, is also an eco-evangelist at Enviromail. He is an award-winning CEO, public speaker, and business expert. He is widely acclaimed for his talks on Marxist-capitalist business principles, alongside his talks on employee motivation and running a thriving 21st-century business. He founded an integrated print marketing agency, Webmart, in 1996, which is based on and run by these principles.
Read More
Media 7 | October 6, 2021
Monica Ho, CMO at SOCi, is a driven enterprise SaaS executive with a proven history of creating and implementing strategic branding and marketing initiatives that successfully boost sales and profits. She has solid experience in building high-performance teams and leading start-up businesses from early to late-stage development. She is highly adept at collaborating with cross-functional groups and working in both small and large teams. She is an extremely versatile and adaptable leader with a strong business vision and a talent for seeing that vision through to completion. She is also a seasoned public speaker with experience presenting at top industry and marketing events like the Mobile Marketing Association's CMO Summit, the Coca-Cola Data Summit, and eMarketer Attention.
Read More
Media 7 | September 30, 2021
Dmitri Lisitski, Co-founder and CEO of Influ2, has more than 15 years of experience in advertising, online media and e-commerce. He is a co-founder of BonusTec, an IT services company sold to GlobalLogic in 2006. Dimitri holds an Executive MBA degree from Columbia Business School and London Business School.
Read More
Media 7 | September 21, 2021
Yogeeta Chainani, Co-Founder and CPO at Swaarm, brings a unique perspective on career development, mentorship, and entrepreneurship strategies for women in the industry. She leverages her authority in the industry to advocate for women in IT and business leadership and strives to expand career opportunities for young people.
Read More
Media 7 | September 17, 2021
Mehdi Daoudi, CEO and Co-founder of Catchpoint, is on a mission with the most talented people to build a better observability platform and help companies deliver on their promise to their end-users and employees. Before Catchpoint, he spent 10+ years at DoubleClick and Google. He also ran the DoubleClick R&D for 3 years where he and his team built some really innovative products, like the AdExchance, Behavioral Targeting, Malware Defense Systems.
Read More
Media 7 | September 16, 2021
Mike Hicks, Chief Marketing Officer at Beezy, has 20 years of progressive B2B technology marketing experience, specializing in transforming disparate marketing silos into integrated demand generation engines that drive measurable pipeline. He has extensive experience leading global enterprise software marketing and demand teams, responsible for strategy, budgeting, planning, CRM, marketing automation, media and awareness, lead qualification, funnel management, renewals and upsell marketing. He is adept at creating a culture of sharing and alignment against a common set of objectives, across all functional teams responsible for bringing products and services to market.
Read More
Media 7 | September 14, 2021
Kate Bradley Chernis, Founder & CEO of Lately, is also a former marketing agency owner. She initially created the idea for Lately out of spreadsheets for then-client, Walmart, and got them a 130% ROI, year-over-year, for three years. Before founding Lately, Kate served 20 million listeners as Music Director and on-air host at Sirius/XM. She’s also an award-winning radio producer, engineer, and voice talent with 25 years of national broadcast communications, brand-building, sales, and marketing expertise.
Read More
Media 7 | August 27, 2021
Daniel Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer at Simplr.ai, has also served as VP of Marketing for Seismic and as co-founder of multiple companies including Indivly Magic and PrizeTube. He is currently also an official member of the Forbes Communications Council.
Read More
Media 7 | August 13, 2021
Darryl Praill, Chief Revenue Officer at VanillaSoft, is a veteran Vice President of Marketing, an occasional Vice President of Sales, and often a Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He understands quotas as well as strategy and tactics.
Read More
Media 7 | August 2, 2021
Shafqat Islam, CEO at Welcome, is a product and sales guy at heart, with a deep technology background. He loves to manage great teams and lead organizations through/above/around walls. Somehow he has combined optimism and perseverance to build the leading company in his industry. He is also a small angel investor in a few companies, including HomePolish, Engagio, Workflowy, Parsec and Snowe.
Read More
Media 7 | July 30, 2021
Tom Salvat, Founder and CEO at Concured, founded Concured to analyze people’s behaviour towards content at scale, in order to prescribe what content creators should create next to maximize engagement & ROI. Tom has spent the last decade working with the biggest brands in the world on their content & advertising challenges, in London, New York and Montreal. Tom was also named AI CEO of the year by the Global CEO Excellence Awards in 2018 and 2019.
Read More.jpg)
Media 7 | July 27, 2021
Andrew Addison, CEO at Purple Square, comes with over 20 years of specialising in the provision of data, application and other technical solutions for CRM and Marketing. He is focused particularly on Campaign Management & Selection, Analytics, Data Quality Assessment & Improvement and GIS. He has a strong fusion of Business and Technical knowledge to deliver appropriate and meaningful solutions to the wider business community.
Read More
Media 7 | July 19, 2021
Steph Hermanson, Chief Revenue Officer at Atomic Revenue, is highly focused on B2B companies with longer sales cycles in engineering, technology, real estate, professional services, and manufacturing. She can often be found on stage speaking about revenue operations, marketing ROI and analytics, content marketing, customer advocacy and customer experience, and social media. Need a dynamic and engaging speaker for your next event? She is available for a chat!
Read More
Media 7 | July 17, 2021
Jim Nichols, CMO at RevLifter, is a high performing leader with more than 15 years of digital and traditional marketing experience helping drive company growth by helping brands make the most of their marketing investments. His career is focused on finding barriers to growth across organizations and leading cross departmental teams to genuine solutions. He is a builder of more profitable and enduring client relationships and teams.
Read More
Media 7 | June 30, 2021
Jesse Moeinifar, CEO & Founder at Viafoura, is a serial entrepreneur with multiple successes spanning a range of industries, including real estate, digital media and software. Dedicated to innovation, Jesse is passionate about game-changing ideas and credits his accomplishments to assembling teams of smart individuals committed to solving challenging problems. Currently, Jesse acts as a mentor to young startups at the Founder Institute and is also an advisory board member for NuBinary, an organization that helps new companies with their technology development needs. When he isn’t building successful companies, Jesse enjoys the challenges of high-altitude mountaineering. He’s summited the highest and most difficult climbing routes across North America, South America, and Europe.
Read More
Media 7 | April 7, 2021
Michael Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer at Gather Voices, started his career as a political consultant and nonprofit fundraiser. He then spent six years in venture capital, specializing in internet start-ups and began See3 Communications, a digital marketing agency focused on social good. Today, in addition to leading Gather Voices, he teaches marketing at the University of Chicago.
Read More
Media 7 | March 2, 2021
Aaron Glazer, Co-Founder and CEO at Taplytics, is a graduate of the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management, majored in Corporate Strategy. Prior to completing his MBA, Aaron worked as a management consultant at Accenture. Aaron also co-founded an online startup where he oversaw thedevelopment of several online and mobile products.
Read More
Media 7 | January 29, 2021
Scott Rogerson, CEO at UpContent, comes with over 6 years of experience in the consulting industry. He has expertise in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations of all sizes and across various industries. Scott holds specific expertise in healthcare, medical devices, higher education, human services, and energy industries.
Read More
Media 7 | January 13, 2021
Neha Sampat, Founder and CEO at Contentstack, has been named as one of the “50 Women in Tech Dominating Silicon Valley” in 2015 and “San Francisco Business Times Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” in 2017. Previously, she has been the Founder and CEO of Digital Experience Platform (DXP) Built.io®, which was acquired by German software powerhouse Software AG in September 2018. Neha can be found appearing on keynote stages or expert panels discussing her experiences as an entrepreneur, a female leader, or her company’s role in the future of technology.You can also tune in to her newest endeavor, Dreammakers Podcast, where Neha interviews changemakers, visionaries and interesting people over a glass of wine.
Read More
Media 7 | January 11, 2021
Jeff Kupietzky, CEO at PowerInbox, helps businesses to monetize their email newsletters through dynamic content. He has also served in leadership positions with Oversee.net, X1 Technologies, Digital Insight, Siebel Systems and Loudcloud/Opsware.
MEDIA 7: Please take us through your professional journey of becoming the CEO of PowerInbox.
JEFF KUPIETZKY: I began my career in Silicon Valley at several high profile start-ups. I then moved to SoCal where I worked for Digital Insight and then Oversee.net where I had my first opportunity as a CEO. I joined PowerInbox 9 years ago and have been fortunate to have been in the same role since I began!
M7: What are the unique Email Marketing features offered by PowerInbox that sets it apart from its competitors?
JK: Firstly, we’re the only platform designed specifically for publishers, to help them reach and engage subscribers and grow revenue through multichannel messaging and monetization. We can help publishers end their reliance on third-party platforms like social media and search, to cut out the middleman, and build direct relationships with their audiences.
Secondly, our platform uses AI to learn subscribers’ preferences—the content and ads they want to see and that are most relevant to them and their interests—and then automatically sends more of what they want to them over the channel that’s most effective. Because it all happens automatically, and in a single platform, it makes it extremely easy and efficient, especially for small teams. Our customers often say that our biggest key benefit is that we offer a “set it and forget it” solution.
Read More
Media 7 | January 5, 2021
Tom Logan, Co-Founder & CEO at Cohley, is a Tech guy, a Sports Writer, and a Rom-Com lover. He helps to dictate Cohley's direction, monitor and emphasize its culture, and puts his colleagues in the best possible positions to succeed.
MEDIA 7: How did you come up with the idea of founding Cohley?
TOM LOGAN: The idea started to take shape while my co-founder Erik and I were working at a startup called Piqora, where we were focused on helping brands discover, get rights to, and utilize user-generated content (UGC). That content primarily consisted of smartphone photos posted on Instagram by brands’ consumers.
But there were a variety of challenges associated with that process, primarily around timing, content quality, and legalities.
It was right around the time that Piqora was acquired by a company called Olapic that Erik and I observed a major spike in the influencer marketing industry.
Read More
Media 7 | December 22, 2020
Sarah Assous, Chief Marketing Officer at Zoovu, is known for her skills in executing and delivering results across multiple positions and businesses. She is passionate about all things marketing and confidently leads a diverse team for innovating and executing work at a high standard.
MEDIA 7: Please take us through your career journey of becoming the CMO at Zoovu.
SARAH ASSOUS: It was always my ambition to work in the tech space...but it has been a journey. My first job out of college was with a business process outsourcing company, specifically in the insurance product development division (yes, you did read that correctly). I quickly realized that there was a lack of education and value messaging related to our services, so I advocated for a product marketing role. This was a pivotal moment in my career, by creating -and fulfilling - that role, I started my journey in marketing.
Five years later, I decided that I wanted more remit, responsibility, and a team, that’s when I joined Zoovu. Within 6 months of joining, I grew the marketing team from 2 to 10 members, rebranded the company, redesigned the website, and elevated our messaging and position in the market - it’s been a wild ride!
Read More.jpg)
MEDIA 7 | September 21, 2020
Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Messe Frankfurt is the Member of the Board of Directors of AUMA (Association of the German Trade Fair Industry); Member of the Board of Directors of UFI (Global Association of the Exhibition Industry), Member of the Executive Committee of the German Chamber of Commerce in Austria.
Media 7: You have been the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Messe Frankfurt GmbH for ten years now. How has Messe Frankfurt changed during your tenure as a CEO? What have been logistically the most promising, yet the most challenging project for you so far and why?
Wolfgang Marzin: Over the past ten years, Messe Frankfurt has strengthened and expanded its status as a global player in the events sector. Sales have almost doubled and around 1000 employees have been added. We have also established numerous trade fairs and events around the globe and acquired many new customers and partners. In addition, we are continuously investing in our home venue Frankfurt and are strategically developing the exhibition centre. We have intensified our commitment to complementary supplementary formats in virtual form, as these are becoming increasingly important in the marketing mix.
2020 has brought us an exceptional year, which presents the entire event industry with unprecedented challenges. We are therefore all the more pleased that events have been held in China again since July, and our first trade fair in Germany, Nordstil, was also held successfully at the beginning of September.
M7: Recently, Messe Frankfurt celebrated its 780th anniversary. It's incredible! Can you tell us about your company's strengths and core values? How does Messe Frankfurt offer consistent quality at all of its events?
WM: The greatest success factor in our 780-year history of trade fairs in Frankfurt is personal contact. Our aim is to provide our customers and partners with the best possible platforms for their business encounters - in Frankfurt and worldwide. This includes reliable quality standards, which we implement at all our events, as well as consistently high quality and flexibility in the planning, organisation and implementation of events. A major strength of Messe Frankfurt is its international orientation and global networking.
The group of companies includes a powerful global network of around 30 subsidiaries and more than 50 sales partners, responsible for 188 countries. We are there for our customers at home and abroad. With customised solutions and concepts, the individual events are tailored to the different regions in terms of space and time. Economic conditions, the diversity of cultures and religions, climatic conditions and, last but not least, an infrastructure that does not always meet international quality standards pose challenges. This is why it is so important for us to work with committed colleagues on site who are familiar with the linguistic and cultural conditions and special features of the regions.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | September 18, 2020
Leela Srinivasan, CMO at SurveyMonkey is a marketing leader whose journey has included significant stints in sales and management consulting.
She specialises in B2B marketing, customer marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, marketplace businesses, messaging/positioning development, demand generation programs, business unit strategy, pricing, strategic selling, content development, quantitative customer research, qualitative customer insights, global product marketing, field marketing, public speaking, building thought leadership, managing a team while working remotely. Also known to bust out a haiku or two and lead the karaoke charge.
Media 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
Leela Srinivasan: I went to Tuck Business School laser-focused on landing an investment banking internship. I reasoned that if I spent a couple of years post-MBA in equity research, I’d deeply understand the investment community and be well-positioned to move into my ultimate dream job: running investor relations for a public company.
In pursuing my plan, I ignored the very obvious signs that I should be in Marketing. I could do the quantitative work required for financial services — but the way I leaned into class assignments was a dead giveaway that Marketing better aligned with my passions than Finance. I love the blend of art and science, of strategy and creativity, and the need to drive actions while developing empathy for the customer. On the science part, we're continually improving our ability to measure and understand through tools and technology. The art part is harder to measure, but the importance of creating an emotional connection with your audience has only increased given the challenges of 2020.
Read More
Media 7 | April 20, 2020
Mike Dickerson, Chief Executive Officer at ClickDimensions is an experienced global executive with entrepreneurial passion for developing new businesses and building the teams to bring them to life. Mike has turned an idea on a bar napkin into a $250 million division providing mission-critical communications technology to the Global 1000. He has funded and founded three start ups, and was part of the executive team to take PGI private in a $1.1 billion transaction with Siris Capital.
Mike is interested in talking with anyone who wants to make digital marketing technology more accessible for the benefit of our 3,400 customers and 1,000 partners in the Microsoft Dynamics community.
MEDIA 7: Could you start by telling us a little about yourself? How has your journey been so far?
MIKE DICKERSON: I was born into a family of entrepreneurs and business pioneers, which meant I was exposed to grit and perseverance from a very young age. Raised by a strong female journalist and self-made businessman, the lessons my parents taught me proved to be ideal for a life as an entrepreneur, including the importance of ethics, integrity and hard work in measuring a person’s impact in the world.
Later, it was my passion for developing new businesses and building the teams to bring them to life that led me to found and lead three startups. A good friend, who has led or funded many companies, calls being an entrepreneur a character defect. This same defect drove me to a brainstorming session with a friend at a bar which became an idea on a napkin which then became a $250 million division providing mission-critical communications technology to the Global 1000. That story has a happy ending as I was as part of the executive team that took PGI private in a $1.1 billion transaction with Siris Capital.
Since 2017, I have been the CEO of ClickDimensions, an industry-leading marketing technology and services company owned by private equity firm Accel-KKR.
My journey so far has involved more than a few risks and obstacles, which have led to big rewards and the ability to work with tech talent across the world. New York Times Best-Selling Author Clayton M. Christensen once wrote, “How Will You Measure Your Life?” in which he described the honor and noble purpose of management. Most of us have to work and spend most of our waking hours on the job. I think about the difference between a team leader who understands teammates needs, and helps them do their best work and leave the job feeling energized for their life outside of work by the contribution they’ve made versus the lousy boss who leaves the company’s employees directionless, defensive and demoralized as they head home. I want to be the former.
Read More
Media 7 | April 15, 2020
Tara Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Incorta has over 25 years experience and success in global marketing for technology businesses in ERP, mid-market, SMB, security, industry offerings and has driven fast growth for multiple SaaS , IPO and public companies.
Ryan works with executives and board on planning, creation and execution of global branding, communications, sites, field programs, public relations, investor relations and demand generation.
MEDIA 7: When did you first start working and what was it?
TARA RYAN: My first job for a real paycheck was at 15 when I worked at a deli in Fresno, CA where I grew up.
M7: With over 25 years of experience in global marketing for technology companies, how has the demand generation for tech firms evolved, and how do you see it changing in future?
TR: Marketing used to be a stand alone, unautomated function and in all honesty, a bit of a mystery. Now marketing is threaded through every single thing we do in business and with technology innovations, there is a real understanding of it, the programs we run, the expected outcomes and even the real time analysis of successes and failures. We used to plan a campaign, process out the creative, media and execution and wait to see effectiveness – now we do all at once. I see the future going back to simplification and less is more. We have added so many tools and ways to analyze.
Read More.jpg)
Media 7 | April 14, 2020
Ryan Phelan, Marketing Chief / Fractional CMO at Origin Email has nearly two decades of global online marketing experience focusing on driving GTM strategies for high growth SaaS software and Fortune 250 companies. Ryan is a respected thought leader and nationally distinguished speaker with a history of experience from Adestra, Acxiom, BlueHornet, Sears Holdings, Hewlett-Packard (Global), Skype, First National Bank of Omaha, and U.S. Bank and others. In 2013 he was named one of the top 30 strategists in online marketing and is the Chairman Emeritus of the EEC Advisory Board.
MEDIA 7: With two decades of global online and email marketing experience, how do you see the online marketing landscape evolving as we tread through uncertain times?
RYAN PHELAN: What powers marketing best is that it's predictable and influenced by data. That has changed.
Here’s what’s coming in the next 12 months: At every level, from B2B to B2C, you have to throw your marketing plans out the window. These uncertain times not only detail the unpredictability of commerce but also highlight consumer unpredictability. Companies must start weekly strategy sessions that rely on following the news, statistics and customer sentiment. Start war rooms – virtual or not – that look at how to speak to different parts of the country.
These war rooms look at each channel to ensure that the message is consistent and ties into the socioeconomic channels in cities and states across the country. We also need to look at new ways of communicating with customers. Communications have to focus on the emotive and empathetic part of marketing instead of "Buy this." This is a challenge because it requires non-traditional, non-predictable thinking. It requires a strategic approach, which most marketers aren't used to taking. I've written often about the need to set down a strategy first and then figure out the tactics later. This need is more present and more fluid today than ever before. What's your strategy for this week? For next week?
That fluidity in the strategy-making process is going to be a challenge for most marketers. You can see this today in the absence of advertising from Fortune 100 companies. Rightly so, many have pulled back on ads to rethink their strategy. Finally, systems like CRMs are not designed to rapidly react to events or predict what will happen. All that investment we put into our systems to help us plan our marketing will now have to pivot. We will be reworking technology to fit in with a narrative that is not planned far in advance but created weekly. These uncertain times have created chaos and is testing the resolve and creativity of marketers across the spectrum.
Read More.jpg)
MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020
Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing.
MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about?
SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family.
M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia��s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace?
SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019
Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry.
Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller.
MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really.
M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand?
AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories.
You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | November 28, 2019
Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo is a marketer with over 18 years of industry experience. At Aprimo, Ed is responsible for the global brand and growth which includes all Paid/Owned/Earned media, Brand Experience, Product Marketing, Industry Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Strategic Communications, Content Marketing, Analyst Relations, Alliance Marketing, Public Relations, Events, Demand Generation and Account-Based Marketing.
MEDIA 7: What’s your superpower?
ED BREAULT: I would say it’s applying the full spectrum of art and science that is required in marketing today. Not just left or right brained, but whole-brained strategy. Being human yet data-driven and really understanding numbers and (the right) metrics to make connections to business drivers. Add storytelling to that, so I can effectively communicate to my team, the CEO and CFO as well as my Board of Directors on those metrics, and connecting all that we are doing in marketing to the mission of the business. Then quickly shifting gears to the art and creative aspects of marketing that are required to engage an audience and tell great commercial stories that take complex concepts and craft them in a way that is interesting for people to pay attention to. I have to be the ultimate point of truth for the brand.
M7: At Aprimo, how have marketing leadership roles and responsibilities evolved over the past few years?
EB: There are so many dimensions needed by marketing leaders today. There are several elements driving this evolution, it’s the new experience battlefront that is emerging and also marketers themselves driving changes. From a market perspective, there is a clear appetite for disruption and consumers are wanting more experiential elements to their buying experience and interactions with brands. Take a few direct to consumer disruptions like trialing products in-home, purchasing directly from a brand or even wanting to ensure that the producer’s trade practices are in line with the buyer’s or even a regulator’s for that matter. Then we want to try before we buy, and we emotionally care about the supply chain of products. Do we TRUST this brand to do business with them? Behind all of this is a story that needs to be told, and it is those marketers who know their audience well and make connections that will win the commercial game.
Back to the marketer, there are so many diverse backgrounds that marketers bring now and I’m really intrigued by those who have unconventional backgrounds because they contribute something uniquely new to the field. I love hearing about the marketer’s journey.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | November 21, 2019
Amy Barzdukas, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Poly is a marketing and communications leader with extensive experience in setting strategy, shifting perceptions, advising customers, digital marketing, revenue marketing, integrated marketing communications, and public relations in highly competitive product arenas.
Amy is known for her ability to create and execute winning turnarounds on a global scale.
MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
AMY BARZDUKAS: I was always destined for marketing, even if I didn’t know it. As a child, I collected promotional brochures. I was fascinated by how the words and pictures were used to drive action. My first job was as an advertising copywriter, and I’ve never looked back.
M7: How is Poly redefining the video conferencing experience for modern businesses?
AB: We’re in an unprecedented time of change in our industry. Voice and video services are moving to the cloud, and companies are changing how they approach their communications needs. Poly is the largest provider of the devices – video conferencing, audio conferencing, headphones and desk phones – you use to connect to these services so you can collaborate with your colleagues. That uniquely positions us to shape the video conferencing experience, and we’re doing so in four ways.
First, Poly has made both the Zoom Rooms and the Microsoft Teams video conferencing experience better than ever with our radically simple Poly Studio X video bars that deliver these experiences with no PC or Mac required. We’ve got decades of experience in understanding what makes meetings more human – for everyone in the room and those dialing in from other locations – and we’ve packed all of that into easy-to-install, easy-to-manage, and easy-to-use all-in-one powerhouses.
Second, we are bringing the world of AV and video conferencing into the modern app economy. Our Studio X series and Poly G7500 video conferencing devices run a common platform that can be updated and enhanced through a series of regular software updates. This Poly platform, built on Android, can run applications like a smartphone does today.
Third, Poly has introduced innovation that makes any video conference better. Our new Poly MeetingAI features use AI and machine learning to address the distractions that hit your senses in a meeting. We make it easier to hear what’s being said by blocking out the annoying noises that people make while talking, and we make it easier to see what’s going on in the room with the most advanced speaker tracking and framing, and our built-in production rules.
Finally, we are pricing our solutions in a way that completely resets the calculations on what it costs to outfit a room. The Studio X30, for huddle room and smaller spaces, costs just about $2,100, including the Poly TC8 touch controller. All you add is the cloud service and a monitor, and you have a room up and running for under $2,500. That’s easily under the cost of other solutions and with better audio and video quality.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | October 24, 2019
Jeanne Hopkins, CMO at Lola.com has profound expertise in data-driven, high-velocity customer acquisition and marketing organizations and inbound-based lead gen programs to support global demand for high-growth SaaS companies.
Jeanne is also the co-author of "Go Mobile"?, the #1 best-selling mobile marketing book. She has been named to Sales Lead Management Association "Top 50"? 3 years in a row and "20 Women to Watch" in 2015/14/13 & 2011.
MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
JEANNE HOPKINS: After graduation, I took my first job in the accounting department at Baystate Medical Center. At my annual review, I was told that I was too “noisy” for an accounting department. I went on to work at Milton Bradley Company’s in-house advertising agency, MB Communications, as editor of their in-house newspaper, and later recruited to LEGO Systems to do marketing programs. I found myself at a self-funded start-up tech company in 2000, where I was running an inside sales team and building digital properties to generate leads. I moved into software, digital marketing, and lead generation at companies like MarketingSherpa, then HubSpot, SmartBear, Ipswitch (now Progress Software) – it’s all been a fantastic journey.
M7: How is agile technology transforming corporate travel around the globe?
JH: Small and mid-sized businesses have to be fast and efficient amidst growth, and booking, re-booking, and managing business travel can seriously impede efficiency and productivity. Finance teams are trying to manage, control, and get visibility into expenditures. Travelers are trying to do their jobs and don’t have time for expense reports. And travel arrangers (executive assistants and office admins) have plenty on their plates. Finally, there are tools that are addressing these direct needs at small and mid-sized businesses. Consumers have had the ease of booking travel through sites like Kayak and big businesses can afford the services and fees associated with high-end travel agencies. But the middle segment has been left out. Now, agile tools like Lola.com are making it really easy for corporate travelers to book, re-book, and take the task of expense reports off the table. And finance teams are able to set up travel policies in minutes, and easily manage, control, and get visibility into expenditures. The corporate travel market is huge, and agile technology is making it much easier for travelers and companies all-around.
Read More.jpg)
MEDIA 7 | October 17, 2019
John A. Steinert, Chief Marketing Officer at TechTarget helps bring the power of purchase intent-driven marketing and sales services to technology companies.
With a strong drive to help customers achieve their business objectives faster and bigger, John and his TechTarget team connects the information needs of enterprise tech buyers and the go-to-market efforts of solution providers, ensuring that everybody wins.
MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
JOHN STEINERT: That’s easy. Marketing inspired me to get into marketing. I’ve always loved great communicators and the formats used in communications. As a kid during some pretty tumultuous times in American history, I was surrounded by great political, guerilla, and yes even commercial communications. Speeches, hearings, demonstrations, TV, advertisements, even album covers and t-shirts made a strong impression on me. Obviously, with the rise of the internet, long-tail video channels and social media, things have blossomed to an even more amazing level.
M7: How does TechTarget's Priority Engine™ support tech vendors to achieve their marketing and sales objectives?
JS: By helping companies see and interpret real buyer needs and preferences, Priority Engine first provides a relevant, permissioned basis for a marketer to intercept a buyer’s journey and then it assists users in taking very specific influencing and engagement actions. Because Priority Engine provides the actual permissioned people doing buying research, it saves tons of resource that’s commonly wasted chasing prospects who don’t have a need and leads that are actually dead ends. And because Priority Engine shares the real needs and preferences of the actual buyers with both marketing and sales when they share the platform, it enables far better conversion at every step, from funnel, to pipeline, through to renewal.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | September 26, 2019
Randy Frisch, CMO and Co-Founder at Uberflip has led the content experience movement, prompting marketers to think beyond content creation and focus on the experience.
Randy also co-hosts the Conex Show, a weekly podcast featuring top marketers and their strategies and secrets to success. His talks empower marketers with the strategies they need to capture their audiences, prove their worth, and align their vision.
MEDIA 7: If I were to say to a bunch of people who know you, ‘Give me three adjectives that best describe you’, what would I hear?
RANDY FRISCH: Determined, passionate, caring.
M7: From Flipbooks to the world’s first content experience platform in just 6 years. What are some of the top reasons that helped drive Uberflip to where it is now?
RF: We started as a solution that would allow marketers to share content to readers whenever they wanted and on whichever devices. People still want to consume content whenever they want. Think of the way in which we consume video content on Netflix or music content on Spotify. We’ve been successful in large part because we’ve been able to create a product that marketers need, that make it easier for their buyers to become customers. But that hasn’t been enough.
The differentiator for us is culture—the values we strive for as an organization (not just the work environment). I’ll share my 3 favourites here:
? H.U.S.T.L.E.: this one stands for Heart, Unique, Skill, Tech, Lean, Entrepreneurial. My co-founder, Yoav Schwartz, and I actually screen new hires for these traits.
? Valuable, Relevant & Consistent: this one comes from the initial definition of Content Marketing (“creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content”) by Robert Rose and Joe Pullizzi at the Content Marketing Institute. It only makes sense that our teams and employees should expect to be valuable, relevant, and consistent.
? Give Back: It’s important for us to give back to our communities and while we do this in numerous ways led by people across our team, one of my favourites is an annual charity ping pong tournament we host called Startupong which brought together startups in Toronto to raise $50,000 for Sick Kids hospital this year.
We’ve been successful mostly because we’ve been able to create a brand around engaging our team, our customers, and even our partners around these values.
Read More.jpg)
MEDIA 7 | September 17, 2019
Patrick Welch, President and CMO at Bigtincan is a top performing senior executive with 22 years’ experience managing, bringing to market and selling innovative software management solutions to various high value market segments.
Patrick is an inspirational executive with a strong track record of building loyal, high-performance teams and successful businesses in the B2B technology space.
MEDIA 7: You’ve an exemplary career growth record with 9 promotions in 14 years. What do you believe is your superpower for being able to achieve the outcome you desire?
PATRICK WELCH: A great wife and family. Also, I’ve been fortunate to be part of some great companies, that have found product market fit in the large, fast growing paradigm shift. It’s really seeing the opportunity in the market, then surrounding yourself with great people, executing and never wavering.
M7: You’ve been quite influential in growing Netegrity from start-up to $100 million+ in annual sales, showing your positive attitude of “growing-with-the-company instead of growing-within-companies.” How is the feeling of witnessing the company rise from scratch to the empire it is today, and what valuable experience have you derived from this?
PW: The journey is amazing, but it’s important to reflect on the ingredients for success. In Netegrity’s case, we had some amazing people, really focused on the enterprise customer, listening and building a roadmap with clients that allowed us to stay ahead of the competition and win big in the market. I also believe you need to create an ecosystem to embrace the customer and fit into their needs. Markets and products have a life span, so it’s crucial to ensure the company is constantly innovating while layering the tech on top.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | September 5, 2019
Tom O'Regan, CEO at Madison Logic is a global leader in account based marketing. In this role, O’Regan leads all company initiatives with an emphasis on positioning ActivateABMTM as the only truly global account based marketing platform built for B2B marketers.
Focused on driving Madison Logic momentum and enabling the Marketer to be the driving force for growth and change within the enterprise, O’Regan also sits on the Advisory Board of The Fiscal Times, both the Sales Executive Committee and B2B Operating Group at the IAB.
MEDIA 7: If I were to say to a bunch of people who know you, ‘Give me three adjectives that best describe you’, what would I hear?
TOM O'REGAN: Passionate, Optimistic, and Indefatigable
M7: Ovum has named Madison Logic a “Leader” in the Ovum Market Radar: Account-Based Marketing report. What factors have led Madison Logic to emerge as a leader in ABM?
TO'R: Ovum recognized the strength of our ABM platform in achieving predictable growth among the fastest growing B2B organizations globally. Specifically, the ability to leverage intent data to target the right accounts, measure ABM effectiveness, shorten sales cycles, and accelerate growth. The Ovum report also highlights Madison Logic's data gateway that allows CRM and MAP platforms to connect seamlessly including Salesforce, Marketo, and Oracle Eloqua.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | August 26, 2019
Jaime Punishill, CMO at Lionbridge is an innovative marketing, channel, and product executive with a proven track record for finding blue ocean strategies and delivering scalable business operations.
Jaime is also an expert in operationalizing design thinking, translating new concepts and trends into workable business plans and operations, and delivering pragmatic innovation within a large enterprise.
MEDIA 7: Could you tell us about your role and journey into marketing?
JAIME PUNISHILL: As Chief Marketing Officer for Lionbridge, I oversee brand, demand gen, corporate communications, marketing, and customer research. Interestingly enough, I’m not a classic marketer by training. I have spent most of my career on the product side and in digital transformation. I’ve been doing that since the mid-1990s. At some point, it became clear that marketing was the next area that universal digital transformation was going to overtake, and areas like user experience and many other digital functions that had been done separately were going to move under the remit of marketing. I slowly moved into the marketing universe and helped with big digital transformation in my previous company. That led me to take on all our brand, advertising, and integrated marketing. In that way, I ended up with a more traditional marketing role, and that led me to Lionbridge.
M7: As a CMO, what are the biggest challenges you face?
JP: One of the biggest challenges is the unbelievable explosion in the martech space. I get over 300-400 emails and dozens of phone calls every day from different vendors who are trying to push different tools to help optimize the new digital experience. Keeping track of the rapid pace of evolution and trying to integrate all those tools is single-handedly probably one of the biggest challenges for CMOs. It swallows historical challenges, like getting the company to buy into a new understanding of the digital universe, or getting people to appreciate customer research and customer feedback.
These are always challenges, but they are all lower in scale now than just sheer digital transformation and the volume of tools and resources that accompany that transformation. There’s so much noise, and it’s really hard to tell what’s real and what’s not real.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | August 19, 2019
Robert Rose, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of The Content Advisory has worked with more than 500 companies, including 15 of the Fortune 100 and provided marketing advice and counsel for global brands such as Facebook, Capital One, Dell, Ernst & Young, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, etc.
Robert is also an early-stage investor and advisor to a number of technology startups, apart from being a featured keynote speaker and workshop teacher at technology and marketing events around the world.
MEDIA 7: If we were talking a year from now celebrating what a great 12 months it’s been for you in this role, what would you have achieved?
ROBERT ROSE: We’re on a path to double the size of our business in the next 12 months. We’ve been quite blessed to work with some of the greatest brands on the planet, to help them sort out their content operations and strategy. So, a great year from us is continuing to work with more and more, and different, types of enterprises – while we increase our capacity to deliver the smartest content strategy and education.
M7: In what way is The Content Advisory transforming marketing practices and accelerating the strategic content marketing shift?
RR: Given our experience, and the number of companies we’ve worked with over the last 7 years, we’ve got a unique perspective on what works in content marketing. We’ve watched as Content Marketing has gone from this “nice-to-have” addition to demand generation and SEO, to a must-have, strategic function for adding overall value to the business. In other words, we’ve watched content marketing go from marketing tactic, to business strategy. The frameworks (which is really the output of our unique perspective) for setting a foundational operation model for content, along with how to create the teams, the governance and the measurement strategies are what set us apart for our clients’ success.
Read More.jpg)
MEDIA 7 | July 23, 2019
Jay Gaines, CMO at Forrester has over 20 years of experience in organizational design and leadership, marketing strategy and planning, marketing budget and operations management, demand creation, sales and marketing alignment, and digital strategy in a variety of b-to-b industries.
In this Q&A, Jay shares insightful thoughts about the audience-centric approach at SiriusDecisions and what marketing means to him.
MEDIA 7: How old were you when you had your first paying job?
JAY GAINES: I was 10 years old! I delivered newspapers in my neighborhood on my bike five days a week after school.
M7: You have been recognized as one of the top 10 CMOs in 2019 by The Silicon Review. What skills have enabled you to become a marketing industry leader?
JG: In my time at SiriusDecisions, I’ve had the good fortune to work closely with many amazing CMOs. That work provided me great insight into what makes for a highly effective and successful marketing leader. There are three primary skills that I think have helped me the most; first, to be a business leader and then a marketing leader. This means focusing on, being accountable for, and consistently reporting on marketing’s contribution to the same business goals that the CEO, CFO, board of directors and head of sales care about most. It also means always speaking the language of business, and avoiding marketing jargon when communicating with my colleagues outside of marketing. Second, is just being a good leader for my team by providing structure and clear goals, defending their focus, and promoting a culture of experimentation and rigor. Third, is constantly staying curious. Marketing is evolving so rapidly in terms of strategies, approaches, technologies, and measurement that part of any leader's job must be keeping up what’s new without chasing every new shiny object.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | July 17, 2019
Latane Conant, CMO at 6sense has always been keenly focused on leveraging data to ensure marketing programs result in deals, not just leads.
At 6sense, Latane helps sales and marketing leaders increase revenue by tapping into the power of predictive intelligence to uncover buyers who are ready to buy.
MEDIA 7: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
LATANE CONANT: The first thing I ever wanted to be was a lifeguard and swim coach. When I was 5 years old, I joined the swim team as one of the youngest swimmers. At 13, I was too young to be a lifeguard so I begged them to create a “JR lifeguard” position. This was essentially deck swabbing and towel service but I didn’t care. So they hired me and called me “young jedi”. The head lifeguard loved to play jokes on me. One time he gave me a ruler and said every deck chair needed to be 10 ¾ inches apart. There were 50+ deck chairs, but I went out and started measuring. Finally, after a few chairs, they called me over the loudspeaker to come back to the office and we all had a big laugh. Another time they took me down to the filter room, which was underground and pretty spooky.
BUT as a young jedi, I had to learn how the system worked. We descended under the deck and I climbed a rickety old ladder to look down into the pump. Another lifeguard in scuba gear was waiting underwater and jumped out of the filter tank and scared the bejesus out of me! Once I calmed down I thought it was pretty hysterical! My role could have been seen as pretty mundane - bathroom cleaning and towel folding - BUT I loved the people I worked with so much. I worshipped the lifeguards and swim coaches!
They kept me on my toes and in stitches all summer, so it’s still one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. I finally graduated to teaching swim lessons, with a focus on kids who did not swim at all and were afraid to go in the pool. Nothing was more rewarding than seeing someone do something they thought they could not, or actually loving something that used to scare them - like put their head underwater, dive off the blocks, or swim the butterfly stroke for a lap.
M7: Latane, you have always thrived on working with wicked smart people. How do you get the best out of them when there is a common notion that it’s difficult to make smart people work together?
LC: Talented people want to be able to do great work. Not the average, crank some blogs out or run an event, but truly cool and differentiated things. My job is to be a force field and ensure the team has the opportunity to try different things and do their best work. This means providing focus. A powerful focus tool we use is the V2MOM. V2MOM stands for Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Metrics. Vision is what you want to achieve. Ideally your vision makes everyone uncomfortably excited. Values are why it matters, what you believe, guiding principles for decision making. Methods are where the rubber meets the road and are the top things you will do to achieve the vision.
Under each method, it's key to detail out obstacles (so you can plan around them) and metrics so you know if the method is on track. What’s nice about the system is that it provides built-in planning and is time bound. So every quarter I get my team together and we revise our V2MOM. This builds consensus around the vision and how we are going to get there. Every method gets assigned an owner, which drives accountability. And we publically track the metrics weekly so everyone knows our progress. The interesting thing about the V2MOM is not what's on the V2mom but what is NOT on the V2MOM. Because the process requires hyper prioritization of what you are going to do in a given time period, it forces focus.
I’m pretty obsessed and love the V2MOM. I am happy to share more on how teams can adopt, implement, and use it. In fact, maybe in my next life, I will be a V2mom consultant!
Read More
MEDIA 7 | June 20, 2019
Kolja Eikelmann, CMO & Head of Marketing at PPG Industries is a forward thinking and result-driven Marketing expert with 20 years of experience in the FMCG marketing industry.
In this Q&A, Kolja shares his unique marketing experiences and gives us interesting insights about PPG Industries, a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, and specialty materials which is driving innovation, sustainability and color in the industry.
MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into Marketing?
KOLJA EIKELMANN: I wouldn’t be able to say when I first realised marketing was the path for me, but I think it’s been evident my whole life that I’m interested in the diversity that marketing allows. Since childhood, I have always been so fascinated with the details of a product, no matter what it is. I have an endless sense of curiosity and I think that was the major driving factor for me to enter the world of marketing.
I realised marketing might be for me when I discovered the unique opportunity it offers to be involved in all spectrums of the business; not just advertising, but also in creating solutions and analysing outcomes. The overarching goal is always to make a real difference and help people in their daily lives, and marketing allows you to both be a part of the solution as well as a witness to the outcomes.
My job with PPG is very colourful – just like my company! Within my one job title I get to explore innovation, creativity and analysis. This variety has always been appealing to me.
M7: You have an exemplary marketing experience of more than 20 years in the FMCG industry. How have the marketing dynamics changed over these years and what tactics do you feel modern marketers should adopt, to survive in this competitive world?
KE: As you would expect of any industry in the 21st century, marketing is constantly changing and increasing in complexity in this digital age. The increasing presence of digital media and the growing demand for ease-of-access online services, has resulted in the field growing broader than ever before. The possibilities now are numerous, but they are fragmented; you must be truly dedicated to the field to build the knowledge base of marketing tools required to thrive in such a climate. Ultimately, PPG wants to produce work that has the greatest impact on businesses, this was arguably easier in the past when you had a traditional, simple media mix, as opposed to now when success depends on mastering traditional media and online outlets, social media and digital advertising tools.
For example, it can be easy to spend a lot of money on Google ads that are expected to be high value, but instead, organizations might see greater return on sales if the money had been allocated to a faster and more agile response to SEO.
In marketing, it can be easy to get caught up in the creativity of the work – as that is most often our strength – but not fully immersing yourself in the analytical side of things is a mistake that is often reflected in outcomes. I would recommend that every marketer should always make sure to know their KPIs inside and out and try to get as familiar with Excel spreadsheets and analysis as they are with the creative work.
In this constantly changing modern landscape, marketing has become even more important than ever before. Specifically, in the paints and coatings industry, marketing was a late bloomer as it has been driven by shelf sales for so long. However, as an industry we are refocusing on innovation and purpose; and pushing the boundaries on what is expected from paints and coatings and what they can do. PPG aims to improve and protect the world through our products – but none of this is possible without proper marketing to support the business.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | June 13, 2019
Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH is an experienced businessman who has worked in many countries. He has dedicated more than 10 years to the intuitive method of language acquisition called the “Birkenbihl Approach” formulated by Vera F. Birkenbihl. Emil and Vera have worked together on the digitalization of this language acquisition method which has been incorporated into Emil's language-learning platform, Brain-Friendly.
In this interesting Q&A, Emil takes us through the Birkinbihl approach which is helping users worldwide to learn languages with ease.
MEDIA 7: Could you please tell us about your background?
EMIL BRUNNER: I started as a technician; then I changed to sales. In my heart, I’ve always been a salesman. I started my business as the first Xerox Partner in Austria, and then I managed a company selling office machines and equipment. It was my first time going into other countries, like Germany and Switzerland. In that business, I worked with many phone agents, so the company grew to an outbound sales call center. In the USA, I had my first technology experience and built an automated call machine. We then got the franchise partner of RTL Teleshop - it was after QVC the second largest in DACH, for Austria. I gained knowledge in TV-Power plus Sales power and found it fascinating. The next step was to automate the call center.
In 2004, we ran a call center in a pizza box (computer) for teleshop companies. In the States, we closed orders for up to 60% of callers fully automated, the rest were connected to the classical human call center. It had a great future, but I did it with the wrong people. So the company went bankrupt, and we went back to Austria.
After that experience, back "home" - felt so small, and we went on to start a software development business.
I began working and studying TV & Film making at the same time. My master's degree was a documentary film about "Teleshop and new technologies.”
I met Vera F. Birkenbihl, and she was one of the most successful scientists for learning methods and strategies and held a lot of live seminars - long before TEDx came up. I produced about 10 of those seminars, gaining many skills in the process, and that's when I found out about the language learning method. Me and language? I had trouble all the time while I went to school. I was sure languages were not for me. However, my son was a successful young developer and was interested and started to develop an app for language learning - using the brain-friendly Birkenbihl method. Which means, you never waste time cramming vocabulary and you don't need to learn any grammar rules.
I don't know anyone who’s happy learning vocabulary. About 90+% of all people using a language (mother tongue and foreign language) are not able to describe a grammar rule — only the teachers can do it. So there must be another way without the pain. And here it was!
I tried to learn English. The goal was to speak well without thinking about what to say. I just wanted to talk.
That's it. It took me more than a year, but I had an experience I’ll never forget. I was working on my phone with many customers and collecting orders. After a while, I put the orders from my notes into the computer. Wow! I had made a request for English courses - an order from a bookstore in Birmingham. How did I do it? Yes, I did it in English, and I didn't even realize it. It was automatic. The gap, switching from German to English, was gone - forever.
In the meantime, both my sons, Herwig and Gerwin, were now professionals in software development on the international stage. I had a Swiss partner and last year, I sold my shares to set up a new company with a new app - the Birkenbihl language learning movies. The digitalization of language learning - watch a movie and get the language. Based on subscription models, we sell it now in DACH, US, and European Single markets.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning, that I am the only one, who got the okay from Vera F.Birkenbihl (she died 2011), to follow the method of the new science of language learning and take it to the next level. I got the seal of approval for the "Birkenbihl Approach" to honor products they follow with the principle of "brain-friendly" learning method.
I have put all of this experience into a new book, the follow up of Birkenbihl's bestseller "Einfach Sprachen Lernen". I completed it with Katharina Rucker, she has been on board since 2008 and is still the best blogger for language learning knowledge. The book will be published in English in Q1-2020.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | May 20, 2019
Margaret Molloy, Global CMO of Siegel+Gale has a 20-year track record as a business-to-business growth instigator, achieved by uniting brand building with demand generation. In Siegel+Gale’s Simplifiers series, Margaret Molloy interviews business leaders who put simplicity to work.
Considered a "CMO whisperer," Margaret is a highly influential CMO and convener of panels and roundtables. She has been recognized by Forbes as one of the top 10 CMOs on Twitter. Margaret also serves as the New York Chair of the Marketing Society.
MEDIA 7: If we were to say to a bunch of people who know you, ‘Give us three adjectives that best describe you’, what would we hear?
MARGARET MOLLOY: Passionate, energetic and influential.
M7: What is your favourite part of working at Siegel+Gale?
MM: Both our ethos—helping brands realize the power of simplicity, and the strategists, designers, researchers, and writers who deliver on that ethos to our clients. Our teams are truly simplifiers. I believe that in our harried, cluttered world, brands that focus on simplicity, win.
Read More
MEDIA 7 | May 19, 2019
Paige O'Neill, CMO of Sitecore is an experienced, data-driven B2B marketer with enterprise and mid-market SaaS experience that ranges from Fortune 100 to late stage startups and stages in between. Her career graph uniquely combines extensive product marketing and PR / communications backgrounds resulting in an adeptness at creating brand stories and differentiated positioning.
In this thought-provoking Q&A with MEDIA 7, Paige shares her journey into the field of marketing and her unrelenting zest for technology.
MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into Marketing?
PAIGE O'NEILL: My journey started when I was a Ph.D. student at New York University, and I thought I was on the road to become a college professor, but one day I had an interview at a high-tech PR firm for a part time job. The enthusiasm for technology at that agency changed the course of my life. I felt enamored with everything I heard about “PR” – even though at the time I didn’t even know what it actually was – so I dropped out of the Ph.D. program and started a career working for IBM’s PR agency. I loved technology communications, but wanted to tackle messaging from a more technical perspective, which led to my interest in product marketing. The transition from technology public relations to a product marketing role wasn’t an easy one. It’s an uncommon trajectory and there wasn’t a precedent at the company I worked for at the time, so I had to build my own path. In the end, I hustled to prove that I could leverage the skills I learned through my communications-focused position and translate them to a more product-focused role. It took persistence to prove that point.
Read More
ONDECK | March 15, 2019
Tara O’Sullivan, the CMO of Skillsoft shares her insights on the impact of digital transformation on marketers and the need to focus on slashing the wide gender pay gap. With over 25 years of experience including B2B marketing in Ireland, EMEA and the US, Tara has extensive expertise in using marketing to effect change.
Here are her thoughts on women in marketing and the changing dynamics of the profession.
MEDIA 7: Tara, how old were you when you had your first paying job?
TARA O'SULLIVAN: 14 – I worked for my Dad photocopying manuals for software training. I loved the work, I loved being in amongst the team of people who were there. There was a lot of fun with the other people who worked there, and I learnt a lot of lessons on dealing with people, working on end user manuals which were like 500 pages thick, making sure they were all collated properly, the cover looked good – all to provide a real sense of the importance of the training.
Read More.jpg)
Staff Writer | December 12, 2016
We spoke with Gary Skidmore, the CEO of the Aberdeen Group, and asked him to share his insights on lead velocity and marketing performance. Gary has a well-established track-record of innovation in marketing acceleration from his time as a small business entrepreneur, global company executive and currently as CEO at the Aberdeen Group.
Here are his thoughts on what he’s seen work when it comes to sales and marketing speed.
DECK 7: What do you see as major impediments to marketing performance and ultimately more leads?GARY SKIDMORE: Simply put, marketers continue to get bogged down when they don’t have a clear understanding of who their best customers are, how they think and then what type of information might be most useful for them. When it comes to understanding customers, clarity helps to focus all marketing acceleration efforts (and related lead quantity and quality) on the things that matter to your customer. That’s a good thing.
D 7: How are leading companies addressing the issue of performance and velocity? GS: We see, from our Aberdeen Group research, that many companies continue to invest in data, predictive tools,
Read More