Morning Brew for Marketing Executives

“Spend less time discussing the value of marketing. Spend more time understanding how you can impact strategy and help execute it.” This perspective defines the leadership philosophy of Susanne Ejsted Isaksson. With experience from global companies like IBM and HPE, as well as Universal Robots, Susanne has worked with growth in complex, high-paced environments where clarity, not activity, determin...

How do you move a massive $19 billion company – the world’s largest IT service provider – to a customer-centric strategy in just a few years? Katrin Marquardt, who leads Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for Financial Services and Insurances at Kyndryl in Germany , joins us to share their journey.  Kyndryl, which spun off from IBM in 2021, instantly became a global enterprise with 75,000 employees and...

In this special solo episode, host Jani Hovila takes the mic alone to wrap up the first full year of the Mavenfirst podcast. It has been a journey of 15 recorded episodes, 12 published conversations, and lots of learning.  Why did we decide to launch a podcast in the first place? What was the business case and the goals? Jani shares more about the strategic reasoning and filling a "white spac...

Stop being the flyer factory: How do you transform a decades-old industrial B2B marketing team into a strategic, data-driven revenue engine? In this episode, you will hear more about leading marketing at traditional maritime technology company Danelec as it has shifted from hardware to software and data.  Our guest is Asbjørn Severin , SVP of Marketing and Communications at Danelec. Asbjørn joined...

How do you navigate the shift when your lean marketing team of nine integrates with a corporation that has a global marketing headcount of 85 professionals? What can you learn when getting buy-in from top management that you should produce up to 343 videos in-house? And how do you communicate marketing's business value when direct attribution is "delusional”? From using videos and humor t...

What is the role of marketing in an industrial brand that has one of the highest retention rates in Europe? And what is the leadership philosophy behind running the commercial engine with a strong focus on customer experience? In this episode, we sit down with Matti Tiitinen , VP for Sales and Marketing at Valtra, a key member of both the European and global Fendt/Valtra leadership teams.  Valtra...

Today, we’re excited to welcome Viktor Wallström , the Senior Vice President and Head of Group Communication and Sustainability at Saab. With an impressive career, Viktor has established himself as a thought leader in crisis management and communication within the defense and security sector. In addition to his position at Saab, he serves as a Board Member of several organizations, including the S...

How do you empower your team to embrace challenges and learn from mistakes? What does it take to create a truly safe space for your team to innovate and experiment without fear? And how do you strike that crucial balance between giving accountability and ensuring your marketing hits its targets? In this episode, we hop into these questions and more with Andrea Alter , a marketing executive at Work...

Let’s step into the world of AI with Helena Kappen , Chief Marketing Officer for Microsoft Sweden! How is AI truly transforming B2B marketing? How can AI be more than just a tool, but a 'transformational engine' for your marketing? What strategies can B2B marketing executives implement to leverage AI effectively? And how can you, as a marketing leader, ensure you’re not just keeping up, bu...

Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Pia Posio , an experienced leader and the current VP of Communications, Marketing & IR at Glaston Corporation. Pia has navigated significant organizational changes and has deep expertise in leading through transformation. With a long career, she has previously worked, e.g., at Wärtsilä and spent over 15 years at IBM in sales and marketing. In this ep...

Who should own the customer experience within a company in a B2B complex industry? How do you measure its impact? How do you translate strategic vision into actionable, data-driven initiatives that drive real results? Why is marketing uniquely positioned to lead customer experience initiatives and drive organizational alignment? And where to start if you work in an industry where customer experien...

In this episode, we welcome Sirpa Ikola , a seasoned business leader with a global career in the telecom, consumer electronics, and energy industries. Currently, she is Vice President for Strategy and Development, and the Country Sales Director for Home and Distribution & Power Products at Schneider Electric Finland . With nearly 20 years in telecom at Ericsson, Nokia, and HTC, she has led int...

This episode highlights a conversation with Patrícia Namba , Senior Global Marketing Communications Manager from Atlas Copco . With over 15 years of global experience in marketing, communications, and sustainability, she shares her thoughts on working in a decentralized company. Patrícia has an interesting and somewhat unconventional background for someone in marketing. She studied law before swit...

In this episode, we’re joined by a seasoned marketing and communication leader with nearly 20 years of experience in Sandvik , a global, stock-listed engineering company. As Vice President and Head of Marketing and Communications, and member of the business area segment management team at Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions, Sandra Anderstedt leads a global team with 8 employees.   In this conversatio...