The Kula Ring

How do you inform customers what makes your company special in a way that they will actually care about? In this episode of The Kula Ring, David Gerson, Director of Marketing for TK Elevator, talks about how storytelling in manufacturing can create content that connects with customers, and shows them why your solution personally makes sense for them compared to the competition.

In order to understand the needs of B2B prospects and reach them through marketing, how can you provide a helpful experience? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Tracy Swartzendruber, the Marketing Leader of the Power Generation and Oil & Gas division at GE Digital, talks about how UX, cultural language, and feedback can help align your marketing with the ever-evolving needs of customers.

How can B2B manufacturers scale their account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Gladys Fernandez, the Director of Marketing and Demand Generation at Hitachi ABB Power Grids, talks about how she helped establish ABM at the manufacturer, from initial pilot campaigns to having every marketing campaign designed with an account-based approach. She shares best practices...

Should B2B manufacturers sell on Amazon, or do the challenges of maintaining control over branding and pricing outweigh the benefits? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Melissa Monteith, the former Channel Marketing Leader, Retail Channel Lead for Fluke Corporation, shares how the company successfully sells on Amazon. She talks about leveraging product content and integrating it with the Amazon exp...

Manufacturing marketers are skilled translators, often facilitating conversations between a buyer or engineer for another company. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Joana Rodrigues, Marketing Manager at Times Microwave Systems, talks about how her engineering background has helped her create successful marketing content that bridges the gap between the internal engineering team and the end custome...

For many manufacturers, the drive to build out their organization internally has been strong for the last five or more years in response to a rapidly-changing marketing and sales landscape. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Dan Ricklefs, Vice President of Marketing at Precision Pulley & Idler (PPI), talks about how the organization is expanding its marketing infrastructure after a series of succes...

How can manufacturers participate in podcasting in a valuable way? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Chris Grainger, Engineering and Services Manager at Electrical Equipment Company (EECO) and host of the EECO Asks Why Podcast, reflects on how the success of the podcast has impacted the organization. He talks about how the podcast has helped integrate the organization’s marketing, sales, and servi...

Some manufacturing marketers need to help customers envision how to use their solution while also learning how customers use their products. This week on The Kula Ring, Fin Watterson, Director of Product Marketing at Stratasys, talks about the role of a product marketer in a manufacturing organization, translating product information from the engineers and builders for customers. Additionally, he...

How can manufacturers use customer trends to inform their marketing decisions during critical changes in the marketplace? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Mike Kazmierczak, Vice President of Marketing, Digital Energy & Buildings End Market at Schneider Electric, shares how he’s using data and voice of the customer to optimize new marketing initiatives. Additionally, he discusses how Schneider Ele...

As trade shows and conferences continue in virtual forms for the foreseeable future, manufacturers must identify ways to optimize relationship selling. In this week’s episode of The Kula Ring, Ryan Carley, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Mason Controls, talks about how relationship selling has changed for his team during the pandemic, how they are adapting the sales process with new remote...

How do you cut through the noise on LinkedIn? Robert Johnson, General Manager and Business Development at MAC Prefab has close to 45,000 contacts on LinkedIn and has discovered how to keep them engaged. Building relationships on the business-focused social media platform has led to several successful business opportunities for Robert and MAC Prefab—especially since he started spreading positivity...

As manufacturers adapt to a digital-first product experience, how can industrial distribution channels evolve to add value to the chain? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Sean Donovan, Digital Channel Manager for the Americas at MSA – The Safety Company, says most manufacturers are interested in investing in distribution channels that want to grow their brand versus commoditize their products. He...

During an ERP rollout, manufacturing marketers in small and medium- sized enterprises often find themselves on the outside looking in. Sam Gupta, Principal Consultant at ElevatIQ, says marketers should be integrated into ERP initiatives because of their unique ability to identify new products and new markets. In this week’s episode of The Kula Ring, Sam talks about what marketers bring to the tabl...

Manufacturers who offer a broad range of solutions rely on face-to-face conversations with prospects in order to find the best fit, but the pandemic has reshaped the sales relationship into a virtual experience. In this week’s episode of The Kula Ring, Brian Wellhouse, Supplier Marketing Manager for Sensor Products at TTI, talks about how virtual prospecting drives the conversation to be more acti...

Video marketing is not new, but many B2B manufacturers are still searching for a strategy. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Allison Wagner, Marketing Communications Manager at Morrison Container Handling Solutions, shares how she helped make video the company’s biggest marketing tool. She talks about the resourcing effort, why video is important for manufacturers to invest in, and how Morrison le...

Like many B2B manufacturers, ARCA sells to a small number of very specific niche markets. Targeting a small list of banks and credit unions who could benefit from ARCA's cash automation and recycling solutions, their marketing team crafted highly personalized one-to-one account-based marketing campaigns and successfully generated awareness and opportunities within key accounts. Learn how ARCA succ...

Career development planning and performance assessment can be a challenge for internal marketing teams. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Ryan Benbo, Senior Director of Marketing at Vermeer, talks about the framework they have developed to coach and grow their marketing team's capabilities. Additionally, he discusses how Vermeer has been able to attract more than 70 talented team members to establ...

As younger prospects prioritize digital spaces for information-gathering and networking, how can manufacturers create influential, opportunity-generating content? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Adam Peek, Business Development and Channel Partnership Manager at Fortis Solutions Group and Host and Founder of the People of Packaging Podcast, talks about using social platforms to build a personal b...

How can manufacturers leverage their distributor relationships through ecommerce? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff Bercume, Director of CX Marketing at Berry Global, shares how the company’s subsidiary brand, Laddawn.com, operates as an ecommerce site with a distributor-first model. He talks about how the website’s workflow is geared towards distributors, and how this ecommerce configuration...

How can manufacturing marketers repurpose existing content for Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaigns? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Renee Tarnutzer, Marketing Director for Digital at Kerry for North America, talks about reviewing the company’s bank of content marketing in order to make it fit an ABM model. Additionally, she shares their process for compiling target accounts and optimizing co...

How can Lean methodologies and processes, which require iteration and imperfection, generate a robust marketing strategy? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jason Grizzi, Global Director of Marketing at Corning Inc, In-Building Networks, talks about how his team has applied Lean practices to shape their marketing operations. He shares tips for a successful Lean deployment and talks about why cultur...

As buyers continue to use multiple online channels to purchase, how can manufacturers optimize and manage product information? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Sherry Foster, Co-founder & Partner at AscendX Digital, discusses how manufacturers can effectively customize product information to support the customer journey on their own websites and third-party marketplaces. She also discusses the te...

How can manufacturers overcome channel conflict when setting up an ecommerce platform? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Kris Harrington, President and COO for GenAlpha Technologies, talks about how manufacturers and their networks can leverage the data-sharing and visibility into the customer relationship that ecommerce provides and shares solutions to common channel conflict issues.

In-person tradeshows and conferences are cancelled for the foreseeable future due to the pandemic, and the exclusive, time-boxed structure of virtual events has presented problems for interactivity. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Christopher Barger, Senior Director of Communications for SME, shares how his team has adapted SMX with virtual networking components and shares why networking should...

Legacy manufacturers that previously dominated their verticals now have to contend with new entrants who know how to create focused messaging in digital spaces. In this episode of The Kula Ring, David A. Stark, Digital Marketing Transformation Growth Leader, talks about the value of shifting from a tactical to a strategic digital marketing strategy as competition increases, and how to bolster bran...