The Kula Ring

This week, Paul Drabble joins the show to dive into the transformative impact of electrification in material handling and construction. Paul shares insights into the brand’s approach to market entry, focusing on raising awareness and educating potential customers before introducing product pitches. He emphasizes leveraging in-person events and webinars, supported by a robust network of subject mat...

In this episode, Liz Shovlin Burnett joins The Kula Ring again to explore the challenges small and mid-sized manufacturers face in talent acquisition and adapting to modern growth strategies. Liz highlights the pressing talent shortage in manufacturing and shares insights from the IMTS trade show, where a surge of women in manufacturing roles is helping to bridge the gap. She also discusses how te...

In this week’s episode, Lucy Chen discusses long-term strategic marketing planning and how to move from working in isolation to collaborating effectively. We explore how to keep a clear long-term vision while dealing with short-term pressures. Lucy shares her approach to aligning teams, highlighting the need for patience, accountability, and welcoming ideas—even if they feel awkward at first. She...

In this episode, Adam Kimmel dives into the evolving role of business development in the manufacturing sector. Traditionally focused on transactional sales and quotas, business development is now shifting towards a more strategic approach, emphasizing partnerships and deep customer understanding. Adam shares insights on how discovery sessions with clients often reveal gaps they hadn't considered,...

On this week’s episode of The Kula Ring we are joined by Caleb Rule. Caleb is a fractional CMO and bonafide CRM expert. We had a chance to sit down with Caleb to discuss CRM ownership within different organizations. We also dive into how new technology implementation sometimes puts a spotlight on failings within an organization. If you are experiencing that pain, don’t worry, we also discuss how t...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Nate Calvert, VP of Marketing at KCooper, dives into how his company addresses the challenges in the manufacturing and supply chain space by adopting a customer-first approach. Nate highlights the shift from a product-centric model to one that revolves around solving specific customer problems. KCooper leverages international supply chains and innovative technolog...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, we delve into the challenges and opportunities surrounding trade show marketing for manufacturers. Joined by Jim Beretta, founder of Customer Attraction Inc., they explore the importance of developing effective trade show strategies and measuring ROI. Jim shares insights from his own experiences, highlighting the need for a data-driven approach while balancing the...

In this episode, we sit down with John Koehler of KK Tool to discuss the unique challenges of managing a family-run manufacturing business. From the pressure of modernizing marketing efforts to the critical role of recruiting and retaining top talent, John shares his insights on navigating industry consolidation and keeping small businesses competitive. Tune in to hear how family enterprises can a...

This week on The Kula Ring we are joined by Jay Suggs. Jay has spent a considerable amount of time investigating what makes an effective team. He was the head of Johnson Controls’ diversity and inclusion initiative, and he gives us a look at what it takes to create an inclusive work team where everyone feels supported and brings something unique to the table; assembling the Avengers as he calls it...

Defining an ideal customer and sourcing a target account list to match should be easy, but it isn’t. On this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff and Carman discuss how to craft an ideal customer profile (ICP), identify tools that can help, and warn about pitfalls along the way.

In a showcase of the Kula Partners team, Floyd Blaikie, VP of Strategy, explains how manufacturing marketers can benefit from developing a strategy with multi-year goals before getting started with ABM. Then with this roadmap, they can better align with sales to gain early wins. Floyd also provides tips on avoiding common ABM missteps.

In this week’s episode, co-hosts and Kula Partners principals, Jeff White and Carman Pirie, talk about niche orientation marketing. They talk about the Niche Navigator, a model and exercise they created to assess and understand where businesses fall ranging from low to high niche market orientation. Listeners can look forward to learning examples of niche market orientation, learn pitfalls that co...

Almost everyone agrees that talking to customers is a good idea, but sometimes manufacturers find that one particular department seems to stand in the way: sales. Salespeople functioning as customer gatekeepers can be a real problem. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff and Carman explore how manufacturers can move past a culture of gatekeeper salespeople towards a future where serving customers...

In a world where technology is continually reshaping our industries, the line between human intuition and artificial intelligence remains an important topic. Join us as we explore the evolving landscape of manufacturing marketing, looking at how innovation and AI are redefining the way we connect, create, and communicate. This episode of The Kula Ring with Jarid Hockert reflects on the synergy bet...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, we delve into the art of bringing personality to B2B manufacturing marketing. Join us as we explore how authenticity and human touches can transform a brand's presence, making it more relatable and engaging. Our guest shares insights on leveraging social media, maintaining a balance between fun and professionalism, and the importance of strategic, consistent conte...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, we welcome David Starck, Senior Director of Corporate Marketing at ProMach. David shares his unique journey from a background in graphic design and copywriting to leading corporate marketing strategies for a company with over 50 brands. They discuss the challenges and opportunities of managing a diverse portfolio, the creative approaches to marketing in the manufa...

This week The Kula Ring is sitting down with Allison Myers from Fives Intralogistics, she shares her unique insights on transforming complex challenges into clear, actionable strategies. Discover the nuances of modern B2B manufacturing marketing and how you can still use some of the methods marketers used before social media overran our lives.

On the Kula Ring podcast this week, we had the opportunity to speak with Jim Cahill, the Chief Blogger and the Head of Social Marketing at Emerson Automation Solutions. Since 2006, Jim has been cultivating Emerson’s social media presence and digital brand. Over his 33-year career at the company, Jim has witnessed a lot of change in marketing, starting with the introduction of internet marketing in...

The Kula Ring this week is digging into digital journey optimization with Jon MacDonald, founder of The Good. Jon shares insights from his extensive experience helping brands like Nike and Xerox improve user experiences and conversions. Discover how understanding consumer psychology and optimizing digital touchpoints can transform your approach to marketing and sales in the manufacturing sector. Y...

This week, The Kula Ring is diving into transforming marketing operations with Cory Kniepp, Director of Strategic Planning and Marketing Operations at Nidec Motor Corporation. We look at how industrial manufacturers are leveraging data-driven insights and AI to revolutionize marketing strategies, bridging the gap between B2B and B2C marketing approaches. We explore the journey from traditional mar...

This week The Kula Ring returns to the world of packaging. We are talking to Stephen Clysdale a self-proclaimed “packaging nerd” and a man who has his pulse on the recent developments in packaging technology. We break down some of the work that is going into packaging sustainability and the innovations that are around the corner. This is a great conversation that any manufacturer that uses packagi...

This week on the show we are talking about bringing an organization up to speed with organizational marketing and sales alignment. We met with Matt Lukens who has brought his wealth of experience from working with larger on-demand manufacturers to Flex Interconnect Technologies to revolutionize their marketing prowess. We discuss the technology that he is implementing as well as the changes to fra...

This week The Kula Ring is featuring Thomas Lewis, a marketing expert with 28 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Thomas chats with Jeff and Carman about his philosophy on what makes an effective, well-aligned marketing team, making sure that transparent communication and cross-organizational buy-in are achieved and fostered. We get into the nitty-gritty of how he creates this atmos...

The Kula Ring is joined by Pierre Tannoux this week. Pierre has worked with some incredible B2B and B2C manufacturing organizations in his career and he sits down with us this week to share some of what he has learned. We talk about big bets, those marketing strategy moves where you put all the chips on the line. We also talk about the pitfalls of pilot programs and how to avoid them. This episode...

This week The Kula Ring is all about Thought Leadership. We are sitting down with Sean O’Brien who has successfully integrated a thought leadership-backed marketing strategy at his highly specialized industrial manufacturing company. We discuss a myriad of ways to distribute this type of work and how to develop the key people within your firm to be excellent examples of thought leaders.