Confessions of a Marketer

Confessions of a Marketer

In each episode of Confessions of a Marketer, Mark Reed-Edwards talks with a marketing leader or thinker about the deepest challenges in our business. Luminaries such as Beth Comstock, Whitney Johnson, Jacques van Niekerk and more share their wisdom with Mark. The podcast is a must-listen for marketers around the world and has ranked consistently among the top-rated business and marketing shows.

On Episode 110, Chris Stefanyk, head of brand partnerships at Wattpad is on to talk about the power of stories. Wattpad works with global brands Kraft, AT&T, GE, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures to help them to harness storytelling to solve their marketing challenges. Wattpad has an audience of more than 55 million Millennials and Gen-Zs—and we learn about what appeals to those elusive audiences. Plus, we learn about Chris, his background, and the Wattpad story. 

On Episode 109, Jon MacDonald is back to continue our discussion of conversion optimization. This time, we talk about best practices—Amazon and the like. But Jon makes a point that you need to know YOUR data, and shouldn’t focus on your competitors because you don’t know whether that’s working. After all, you may have seen an A/B test. Plus we talk about how B2B companies can avoid having a leaky funnel and how there’s a lot to learn from your e-commerce colleagues. 

On Episode 108, Jon MacDonald is in to talk about conversion optimization. Jon helps brands understand the clicks and movements of their website visitors, and how to use that data to convert more existing visitors into buyers. His company, The Good, is an interesting operation that has worked with Adobe, Nike, Intel and a lot of other household names to help them squeeze more revenue from their e-commerce. In this first part, we get a look at Jon’s background, mistakes people make when they think about conversion, and how The Good helps. Oh, and as usual, we talk about data.

On Episode 107, we're back with Carman Pirie. Carman thinks that, from a tactical perspective, although B2B is different, people want consumer-like digital experiences in their B2B experiences. Plus, he shares some insights on working with an agency and says the secret to success is taking advice—listening. What a concept!

On Episode 106, Carman Pirie is in to talk about marketing, the metrics we watch, and lots more. Carman started out in politics and then came to marketing with an interesting point of view. All the technology we’ve thrown at the task doesn’t mean that we’ll improve lead flow. He says marketers focus on vanity measures and things that appear to show ROI but really don’t. Plus, the notion of the funnel is really flawed. He also tells us a much more useful metric that might not be as easy to illustrate in PowerPoint.<ul><li>Carman's company, <a href="https://kulapartners.com" target="_blank">Kula Partners</a></li><li>Carman on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pirie/?originalSubdomain=ca" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li></ul>

On Episode 105, we dig back in with David C. Baker on the subject of his new book. Anyone who’s a consultant—in advertising, marketing, you name it—is in the business of expertise. David’s new book (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Business-Expertise-Entrepreneurial-Experts-Convert/dp/1605440604/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Business+of+Expertise&qid=1571245916&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Business of Expertise)</a>, with all of his rich experience, is a must-read for those of us who sell our expertise. How can you make a difference in your client’s lives and make money at the same time? David has some answers. Plus, we talk a lot about storytelling, the in-housing of marketing, and purpose-driven companies.The book David mentioned: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Power-Stories-Daniel-Taylor/dp/0385480504" target="_blank">The Healing Power of Stories</a> by Daniel Taylor

On Episode 104, David C. Baker joins me to talk about building an agency and so much more. In this first part of our discussion, we have a bit of a philosophical discussion and then talk about how his skills, including being a pilot, prepared him for building an agency and being “the expert’s expert.” As an entrepreneur, he says he thinks like a pilot--things are never as good or as bad as they seem. 

On Episode 103, we're back with Steve Randazzo to talk about human experiences. In this second part of our chat, we delve more into the emotional connections that experiences can foster. Plus, Steve shares stories about experiences he’s created for Tractor Supply Company and Disney. Sure, it’s about emotion, but there’s a science to making an experience magical. Plus, we look at the future of experiences—with AR/VR and all of that. 

On Episode 102, we've got award-winning experiential marketer Steve Randazzo. Steve has had an idea for a book in his head for a while and finally was able to get it out this year. It’s about how brands can stand out in this cluttered world. We talk about the book, the work he does at his company around building experiences, and the “aha” moment he had that helped him change the title of his book. Oh, and we also talk about the key to a good customer experience. The key? Emotion. And that leads us into a discussion about B2B and B2C experiences.<ul><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/steverandazzo/" target="_blank">Steve Randazzo on LinkedIn</a></li><li>Steve's book, <a href="https://www.steve-randazzo.com" target="_blank">Brand Experiences: Building Connections in a Digitally Cluttered World</a></li><li>Steve's company, <a href="https://promotion1.com/" target="_blank">Pro Motion, Inc.</a></li></ul>

On Episode 101, we're back with Lindsay Pattison, chief client officer of WPP. In the second part of our discussion, we look at what it's like to manage such a large organization, the transition of WPP, and the advice she gives to clients on working with an agency. Have we been spending too much time on technology and programmatic work and not enough on creative? Creativity can make a difference. Listen and learn.

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