3 Keys to Launching a New Brand in a Complex Market

Adam Gelles, Editor
In today’s marketplace launching a new brand is difficult. Last year, we launched several brands for clients: some were product brands and one was a new corporate brand. From these experiences, we identified three keys to launching a new brand in today’s complex marketplace successfully. Key #1: Consistency Once the brand is designed and guidelines written, it’s key to have executional consistency across all your marketing and communications activities. At first glance this seems obvious, but the devil is in the details. Keeping a brand consistent is not just making sure the logo is the same. But ensuring the tone… Read More

3 Rules When Selecting your Event Sponsorships

Adam Gelles, Editor
Event sponsorships have long been a tool for B2B marketers to connect our sellers with buyers. As we return to in person events, selecting the right event sponsorship investments are evermore critical. Over the years, I’ve managed both small and large event sponsorship budgets from $50,000 per year all the way to several million dollars per year. But there are 3 cardinal rules that I use to evaluate event sponsorships and sponsorship ROI. Rule #1: Industry Impact As companies grow, the position of a company in its industry grows in importance. Choosing the right event can demonstrate your leadership in… Read More

3 Keys to Measure Public Relations

Adam Gelles, Editor
Public Relations is an important element of a B2B brand’s toolkit with which to go to market. But measuring success in PR is elusive. Most PR folks measure the quantity of deliverables (e.g., placements). But the real science is measuring PR’s contribution to the overall marketing mix and, ultimately, the business. This is particularly important in larger organizations where PR and Marketing are usually run by separate leaders. Here are a few keys to measure your PR success in the context of overall marketing / comms contribution to your business. PR is Part of MarketingFrom a business driving set of… Read More

3 Tactics to Ensure Marketing Planning Success

Adam Gelles, Editor
Over the years I’ve seen hundreds of variations on the marketing planning process from nimble startups to large enterprise marketing organizations. And there are 3 tactics I see that elevates marketing strategy development that work all the time. Swim in the “Blue Ocean” The famous business book by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim, Blue Ocean Strategy, is about creating and capturing uncontested market space. My corollary for marketing strategy development is going through the same approach for your go to market. That is, ideation on developing a creative business idea that can drive your marketing forward. This can be… Read More

CES from a B2B Marketing Perspective

Adam Gelles, Editor
Last week I joined 100k+ people in Las Vegas for CTA’s Consumer Electronics Show. A great time was had by many, for sure. But, I thought I’d review my experience through the lens of an experienced B2B marketer. Here are a few notable lessons. It’s NoisyTo give you a sense of cacophony, there were over 3200 exhibitors at CES this year. That’s a lot of logos, brand messages, and products features to remember — never mind absorb. On top of that its Vegas, baby and there is a myriad of distractions. For B2B Brands, a memorable experience is the key… Read More

RMS: The Key to Make Sure the C-Suite Embraces Your Marketing Plan

Adam Gelles, Editor
One of the key challenges I see with many heads of marketing is the lack of the ability to communicate the value of marketing’s efforts in terms of business value. This gap translates into a fundamental challenge of ensuring the executive ranks and line of business owners are engaged in your marketing planning efforts. As I say all too often, if you plan marketing in terms of activities (e.g., website traffic or MQLs) then you are tactic of the business. But if you plan marketing in terms of revenue or growth then marketing has a seat at the c-suite table.… Read More

3 Keys to Strengthen Brand Equity

Adam Gelles, Editor
Your brand is an asset to your company and over time will deliver increased financial value. The more people place trust in the promise of your brand and what it stands for, the more your brand builds equity. Higher equity yields increase pricing elasticity, improved customer retention and increased sales. Here are 3 Keys to Strengthen Your Brand Equity: Key #1: Brand Consistency Who are you and what do you stand for as a company? Why should people choose you? What makes your company different? Establishing a solid brand identity through consistent messaging, artwork, brand voice, and so forth is… Read More

3 Ways to Ensure Your Event Strategy Aligns with Your GTM

Adam Gelles, Editor
As B2B marketers events has always been an imperative in our marketing efforts. But ensuring our event plans are aligned to our go to market is always a bit of a challenge. And some industry events are boondoggles and provide little or no business value. Here are a few ways to ensure your Event strategy conforms to your overall go to market. Key #1: Analyze The Event AudienceLooking across hundreds of event plans that we’ve evaluated over the years one big misstep is investing in events that don’t have the right audience to support your business and marketing strategy. It’s… Read More

3 Keys for Effective PR Storytelling

Adam Gelles, Editor
Having great PR is paramount for a B2B brand to accelerate revenue. Throughout the years working with many PR firms and practitioners, I’ve discovered a consistent pattern. They are great storytellers. And when you dig deeper on what makes them great storytellers is that they push themselves / clients to improve their efforts in three key ways: Key #1 – Have a PerspectiveB2B brands need a point of view. B2B companies and their public facing leadership, need to be able to articulate this POV across a myriad of topics that impact customers, shareholders, partners, and employees. A point of view… Read More