The Kula Ring

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Nelson Bruton, Founder of Manufacturing Chats, joins Carman and Jeff to explore the role of live chat in modern B2B manufacturing websites. Nelson shares how real-time, human-enabled chat, not bots, can unlock conversions from prospects who would otherwise stay silent. Drawing from 20 years in the digital space, he outlines why staffing chat with internal teams of...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Phil Harris of Paulo Heat Treating shares an honest and insightful look into the often murky handoff between sales and marketing. Phil walks us through how fostering a shared understanding of responsibilities and handoff qualifications combats inter-team tensions and strengthens leads. He discusses the mounting pressure on sales teams, the demand for higher-qualit...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Casey Cheshire introduces the concept of "Disconnected Marketing," the slow, creeping separation between marketers and their customers caused by over-reliance on tech and automation. Casey shares how launching a podcast helped him reverse that disconnect by creating real, human connections with customers, starting relationships with generosity rather than a sales...

In times of economic uncertainty, many manufacturers instinctively pull back on marketing, but according to Una de Boer, that’s exactly the wrong move. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Una joins hosts Carman Pirie and Jeff White to challenge the idea that marketing should take a backseat when times get tough. She shares practical, data-driven strategies for manufacturers looking to grow revenue t...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Stephanie Nolan of Square Robot shares how submersible robotics is transforming tank inspections. We also dive into the marketing and sales strategies that innovative solution utilizes. Introducing cutting-edge tech into a risk-averse industry isn’t simple. Stephanie dives into the challenge of marketing something most people don’t even know exists, and how a full...

Bringing a new product to market is no small feat, especially in the B2B manufacturing space, where development cycles are long and expectations are high. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Stu Accola shares his expertise on the nuances of successful product launches, from crafting an effective go-to-market strategy to aligning marketing and sales teams for maximum impact. He breaks down the critic...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, we sit down with Fuad Hasanovic, Director of Marketing at Kamps Pallets, to uncover the fascinating world of pallet recycling, supply chain optimization, and sustainability. Kamps Pallets has evolved from a small operation retrieving discarded pallets to a nationwide leader in comprehensive pallet lifecycle management. Fuad shares how the company has embraced inno...

The world of 3D printing has seen vast changes in recent years. IP constraints on those early technologies lifted, and an explosion of offers and solutions hit the market, leading to the consolidation we are seeing in the industry today. But for Dani Mason and B9Creations success in this industry hasn’t been about outspending competition, it’s about out-listening them. In this episode, Dani shares...

Karlaa Gregory is transforming industrial marketing with AI, streamlining content creation and localization across global markets. By training a custom GPT with product catalogues and documentation, she ensures campaigns align with regional needs while maintaining brand consistency. Her AI-driven approach also includes persona-based marketing, tailoring content for engineers, procurement specialis...

How do you shift from traditional marketing to an inbound approach in the manufacturing industry? Josh Gravelle, Marketing Manager at Calvary Robotics, joins The Kula Ring to share his journey from TV production to B2B marketing and how he’s helped evolve Calvary’s marketing strategy over nearly a decade. Josh discusses the challenges and rewards of getting engineers involved in content creation,...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, we sit down with Alex Koepsel, Director of Product Marketing at Vention, to discuss the art of managing up and across in product marketing. Alex shares his journey from electrical engineering to product marketing, revealing how his technical background and entrepreneurial mindset shaped his approach to positioning products and influencing key stakeholders. We expl...

For decades, Pack-Smart has been at the forefront of packaging automation, seamlessly integrating robotics and software to deliver turnkey solutions. Yet, despite its technological leadership, the company relied almost exclusively on YouTube for lead generation—until now. In this episode of The Kula Ring, we explore how Pack-Smart is embracing digital marketing for the first time. With new strateg...

Deploying marketing automation at scale in the manufacturing sector comes with an array of challenges and opportunities. In this week’s episode of The Kula Ring, Carlicia Layosa shares her firsthand experience implementing and refining marketing automation strategies. She discusses the importance of data integration, audience segmentation, and behavior-based campaign triggers to create personalize...

This week on The Kula Ring, Tara Vincar, Marketing Director at Alpha Controls, shares her journey of transforming the company's marketing approach from the ground up. She discusses how she navigated the steep learning curve of the instrumentation industry, built a small but mighty marketing team, and gained executive buy-in for long-term strategy. Tara also reveals the early wins that fuelled mome...

How do you transform scattered customer insights into a structured, data-driven approach to marketing and sales? Cory Peterson shares the journey his organization took—from early, informal customer interviews to a comprehensive digital customer journey framework. In this episode, Cory walks us through the process of mapping the customer journey, the evolution from a linear model to a dynamic flywh...

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Todd Carroll, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at B&B Manufacturing, shares the remarkable growth story of a company that started in a garage and evolved into North America’s largest synchronous drive pulley manufacturer. Todd discusses how B&B has doubled its footprint, innovated manufacturing processes, and expanded its inventory to meet customer needs. He...

This week we explore the transformative power of automation in the food and baking industry with Doug Henderson and Jamie Bobyk from Apex Motion Control. Utilizing brand-new collaborative robots (cobots) to revolutionize manual processes, Doug and Jamie share how their team blends creativity and technology to solve complex challenges. They discuss the importance of video content in driving custome...

Mitchell Jerine joins The Kula Ring this week to explore the evolving dynamics of sales and customer engagement. We delve into the challenges and opportunities of this transition, including: Differentiating through value-added services and solutions. Overcoming internal resistance to change and navigating change management. Leveraging technology to access untapped markets while fending off new com...

The final instalment of The Kula Ring Holiday Series is upon us! Oh man, this week we cover something near and dear to Kula’s heart. We are discussing ABM and ABX with Jessica Woodside of WIKA this week. We dive deep into the nuts and bolts of embarking on the journey to an account based strategy and how to avoid some of the pitfalls. This episode is so packed with information we suggest taking no...

In another showcase of the Kula Partners team, Floyd Blaikie, Senior Strategist, 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.

Welcome to part one of The Kula Ring's Holiday series! This Holiday season we are going on an ABM journey, first up! 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.

BALYO is a global manufacturer of autonomous robotic forklifts. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff and Carman sit down with BALYO’s Global Marketing Director, Rob Patey, to discuss what makes marketing in manufacturing unique. They also talk about the challenges of digital marketing for manufacturing companies, the best way to find and reach customers online, and what sets BALYO apart.

Sarah Carson from packaging design and manufacturing company, Rohrer, talks about bringing together marketing and sales teams from two organizations, building in-house capabilities, and her approach to creating powerful sales enablement content.

This week on The Kula Ring we are taking a second look at an amazing conversation with John Joyce. Please enjoy! Customer demand for real-time data is driving manufacturers to build web-enabled systems to share information more efficiently across channels. In this episode of The Kula Ring, John Joyce, Global Marketing Director of Brennan Industries, talks about how he helped his organization make...

In this episode, we explore the fascinating journey of three long-standing companies that merged to create a unified entity while preserving the rich heritage of their origins. Amy Rodgers, Marketing Director at KMM Group, shares insights into navigating the complex challenges of integrating multiple brands, streamlining operations, and evolving a cohesive identity in a highly competitive industry...