The Accidental Marketer Podcast

Wars, inflation, supply chain issues, soaring interest rates, pandemics — it’s easy to look at these current risks as reasons for underperformance. But is that the mindset of a successful strategic marketer? In this Accidental Marketer podcast, the team discusses how risk effects everyone, and how volatility can create huge opportunity.

What can we learn from the wins and the misses of 2022? On a special episode, we at the Accidental Marketer sat down and discussed our favorite stories from this year as we also anticipate what’s to come in 2023.

As inflation continues at a high level, marketers who have created strong brands are reaping rewards. How can marketers improve the strength of their brand image right away, so that they can whether inflationary times and weak business cycles in the future? Mary, Sean and Tom are all over this topic in this podcast episode.

Though many companies have successfully taken inflationary price increases this year, Netflix was not one of them. Earlier this year, Netflix’ seemingly benign campaign to increase fees by a few dollars cost them over 600,000 subscribers and $50+ billion in market cap! What happened? The team discusses what they believe to be the strategic mistakes that Netflix made, and how things could have been...

Inflationary levels not seen since the 1970’s are creating big economic challenges, and many businesses are looking to their marketers for strategic options. This new podcast season explores how inflationary times drive a range of approaches that marketers can use to help their companies navigate in these unique circumstances. Listeners will learn several steps for immediately reducing their risk,...

In this final episode of our short season covering the unification of Sales and Marketing, the team tackles the always interesting topic of metrics. Specifically, are there measures that will drive more Marketing and Sales collaboration in the post-pandemic world? The answer is yes — and the team dives into the specific metrics that should be focused on and evolved in companies that want better fu...

The seemingly permanent increase in virtual B2B sales calls will revitalize needs-based segmentation as a strategy. Marketing and Sales will collaborate better and adjust segmentation strategies to work in “the real world.” When executed well, these segmentation strategies will boost sales, deepens customer relationships and lead to a host of additional benefits.

Despite record sales, Pfizer recently announced big cuts to its sales force. What does this have to do with Marketing? A lot! Virtual sales calls will help marketers participate and analyze what really goes on at the point-of-B2B-sale. This will lead to more practical, powerful marketing strategies that will bolster the entire commercial function.

In this final episode of the “New Frontiers” season, the team examines strategies for scaling a platform business. Suppliers won’t sign on without trusting that the buyers will be there. Buyers won’t participate if there aren’t a significant number of suppliers. The team discusses different ways to solve this early-stage platform problem.

In this fifth episode of the “New Frontiers” season, the team discusses whether a company should start a platform business instead of — or in addition to — selling on someone else’s. Because successful platform businesses have huge market caps and highly-attractive economics, many B2Bs should consider the opportunity. We hope you enjoy the discussion and gain some helpful insights!

In this fourth episode of the “New Frontiers” season, the team dives deep on how to build a platform strategy. Given that most businesses should be at least experimenting with B2B industry platforms, Mary, Sean and Tom outline the key strategic considerations.

In this episode, the team analyzes whether B2B suppliers should join one of the exploding number of industry platforms. These platforms are Amazon-like businesses that aggregate and sell the B2B products of many manufacturers. The team discusses the pros and cons of joining. We hope you enjoy the discussion!

This week we dive deep into the topics of B2B industry ecosystems: the collection of related products and services that surround your offerings. The team outlines the strategic questions that inform your decisions about whether or not to participate in industry ecosystems: like should you be the hub of an ecosystem, a participant, or none of the above? They even suggest specific strategy tools tha...

In this initial Season 11 episode, Mary, Sean and Tom define the differences between ecosystems, platforms and marketplaces. More importantly, they make a case why these concepts are so important for B2B marketers to be thinking about now.

In this episode, we discuss dynamic pricing. Airlines and hotels change prices all the time based on current circumstances. Can a typical B2B do the same? The team discussed the pros and cons of dynamic pricing models. They also discuss what you must put in place to make dynamic B2B pricing work.

In this episode, we discuss a wide array of pricing models. You’ve already heard about subscription pricing, “pay per” models and the like. But how do you know which models make sense in your market? The team defines a wide variety of contemporary and traditional pricing models, but doesn’t stop there. They go on to describe the circumstances in which each model is appropriate and why.

This week, we look at an executional pricing issue: when your company offers pricing allowances and discounts to customers without discipline. Most companies don’t have a defined process for strategically deciding if and when to lower price. The end result is often that the “squeakier” customers — rather than the high potential ones — get lower prices. The team discusses how to bring tools and dis...

Our pricing-focused season continues with a look at measuring customer's perception of your offer. Customers are typically willing to pay more for an offer of greater perceived value. The issue is: most businesses mistakenly believe there is no reliable way to measure the perceived utility or benefit of an offer. In this episode, the team discusses why — and how — measuring value is not only possi...

Our new podcast season is all about pricing. The vast majority of B2B price-setters do not use the full arsenal of pricing methods available to them. They tend to make certain (wrong) assumptions and default to certain "easy" methods. In this episode, the team discusses the three major ways that B2B organizations set price, and what can go wrong — and right — with each approach.

In our season finale of art vs. science in marketing, the team tackles what may be the most important topic in business: differentiation. Long thought to be a process that is irrational and immeasurable, Mary, Sean and Tom make the case for the scientific calibration of any product or service's level of unique value. They show how a tools-based approach to maximizing and measuring differentiation...

When it comes to dividing markets, software and technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence are bringing new horsepower to segmentation analytics. But machines aren't yet highly accurate in inferring buyer's needs and motivations, which inform the most powerful forms of segmentation. The team discusses how marketers can best combine art and science to get maximum insights from s...

Certain strategic processes require you to rely less on data and more on qualitative observations. Influence mapping is one of them. Because concepts like influence and opinion are hard to quantify, the team debates which parts of influence mapping are art, and which parts are science. The discussion will help you master all aspects of this important strategy tool.

Today's 24/7 news cycle has combined with the relative informality and popularity of social media to create opportunities — and dangers — for brands. Listen in as the team shows marketers the keys to evaluating news-driven trends and knowing when to leverage or ignore them. The discussion covers specific, scientific steps that can be taken to capture opportunity and eliminate missteps.

Our season on the art and science of marketing continues with a deep dive into data analysis. Trying to find strategic insight simply by looking at data alone often leads to "analysis paralysis." Learn how marketers can use specific approaches to determine which data is helpful and which can be ignored. The techniques and tips shared will help anyone, regardless of their analytical skills, become...

Our new season on the art and science of marketing continues this week with a focus on science. Specifically: which parts of a marketers job require a more scientific — vs. artistic — approach? Surprisingly, the team comes to the conclusion that scientific marketing is only partly about leveraging data. Using a scientific process to develop marketing plans may be even more important.