Remarkable Content with Ian Faison

Every person on your team has strengths and…non-strengths.  So position them to make the most out of their top skills. It’s like how in soccer, you position your top goal-scorer as a forward, not running defense, right? The same is true with marketing.  In this episode, we’re drawing parallels between soccer and marketing.  With the help of our special guest, former Director of Brand Strategy, Sto...

Marketing is a serious business. Even when it’s silly. See, you still want your silly, funny content to be well planned, well-executed, and well distributed.  In this episode, we’re talking about how to take your sillies seriously. That’s one of the marketing lessons we’re taking from Hamburger Helper’s Watch the Stove Mixtape.  With the help of our special guest, HiBob CMO Sarah Reynolds, we also...

How are you celebrating your hero product? Better yet, how are you activating your audience to celebrate your hero product? 7-Eleven has a lot to teach us about that with their Bring Your Own Cup Day.  If you’ve never taken part, they encourage customers to bring in a vessel of choice to fill with Slurpee. They’ve seen people bring in cowboy hats, kiddie pools, even a prosthetic leg, and fill them...

The role of the marketer is changing.  Scott Galloway, aka Prof G, says that to be successful today, marketers have to act as “coaches, advisors and strategists” to their company. That’s what we’re talking about in today’s episode with the help of our special guest, VP of Marketing & Corporate Strategy at Verbit, Michael Rosman. Together, we talk about finding the right channel, being bold, and av...

The marketing terrain is rough out there. In many ways, traversing the roots, rocks and mud of extreme trail running is like navigating the shifting marketing landscape. Both demand endurance, adaptability and a strategic mindset. Those are a few of the things we’re talking about today.  In this episode, we’re taking marketing inspiration from extreme trail running with the help of our special gue...

A three-tier showstopper cake may have beautiful pipework and neatly done icing, but if it’s overbaked and dry on the inside, it’s not a good cake. The same is true for marketing. If it has no message but it’s beautiful, it’s not good marketing.  Focusing on substance over style is one of the many lessons we’re taking from The Great British Baking Show in this episode. Together with the help of ou...

Making big marketing investments is a huge deal. But lucky for you, we’re here to help. We’re bringing you five keys to deliver on a big investment. And we’re taking those lessons from the Olympics with the help of our special guest, VP of Marketing at AppsFlyer, Carolyn Bao. Together, we’re talking about capitalizing on a cultural moment, committing to the long haul, ensuring activation is fully...

“A rare thing.” That’s what co-creator Steve Levitan called “the incredible alchemy of elements coming together” that was Modern Family. He and Christopher Lloyd, who he’d worked with on Frasier, wanted to create a show that felt real. A show with heart.  And it took the right writers, characters, and actors to play them to make it happen. And it happened for 11 years, winning 22 Emmys. And in thi...

What do a marketer and a racecar driver have in common? You’re about to find out.  One thing we can say is that going as fast as you can leads to burnout. That’s one of the things we’re talking about in this episode. We’re taking marketing lessons from the 1990 Tom Cruise flick Days of Thunder with the help of our special guest, Director of Content Marketing at Fictiv, Ricky Frohnerath. Together,...

There’s an athlete right now that uses, knows and loves your product.  So why aren’t you partnering with them to promote your brand?  The global sports sponsorship market is expected to grow to almost $108 billion by 2030. And there’s around $1.3B in projected revenue this year from pro women athlete sponsorships.  Feel like you’re missing out yet? The message is clear: sponsor a pro woman athlete...

Morrissey, Taking Back Sunday, Alkaline Trio, Streetlight Manifesto… For dedicated fans, these are bands that bring back memories of checkered Vans shoes, studded belts, and paper wrist bands from each show. But some of them haven’t toured in years. So to see them all on one festival poster 20 years after their heyday made fans think it was too good to be true. It wasn’t, and it lived up to the hy...

Hooking your audience is one thing, but keeping them emotionally invested in your content is another.  So for this episode of Remarkable, we’re taking marketing lessons on doing just that from the Irish dark comedy, Bad Sisters. It’s a show about four sisters who plot to kill their diabolical brother-in-law, and the season starts with his funeral. Series creator, Sharon Horgan, says, “We had to ke...

“Each man carried, along with a sea chest, his own burdensome story.” - Excerpt from The Wager , by David Grann This is true not only for the men that sailed on the HMS Wager, but your audience and customers (minus the sea chests).  Just as David Grann took those burdensome stories from journal entries to write The Wager , so too can you use the burdensome stories of your customers in your marketi...

Doctor Who has been around for over 60 years and attracted over 12 million viewers. In our book, that makes it ripe with marketing lessons.  Because wouldn’t you also want your brand to be around for over 60 years, and to have that many eyes on your content at once? So in this episode, we’re talking about the long-running show with a cult following, Doctor Who . Together with the help of our speci...

What if you created a campaign so good, so coveted, that users looked forward to it every year?  And what’s more, non-users convert just to be a part of it. We’re referring to the viral marketing campaign, Spotify Wrapped, and how they made their marketing masterpiece. We’re doing it all with the help of our special guest, Head of Marketing at Postman, Justine Davis. Together, we talk about making...

John Cena says that in the early days of his career, he struggled to break through as a WWE superstar. Cena says that’s because “people didn’t know who I was. They couldn’t connect to John Cena coming out in different tights and boots every time. No one could attach to who I was.” He says, “As entertainers, we kinda want to attach. You try to work on your character so people will relate to them an...

Ask yourself: “What is the magic of my brand?”  Every brand has it. It’s the special offering your company has that no other one does. That’s where you focus the message of your content. And it’s one of the things we’re talking about today. In this episode, we’re learning from the magic of the world of Disney.  With the help of our special guest, Domo CMO Mark Boothe, we’ll talk about working your...

Before comedians ever get a Netflix special, they have to run the gauntlet.  Night after night, they’re putting themselves out there in front of judgmental crowds and trying to win them over. Sometimes they bomb, sometimes they face hecklers, and what may be even worse: silence.  Kathy Griffin once bombed so badly at a show in Montreal she said, “The audience was talking so much that they didn’t k...

Marketing is like comedy. It has to be bold, memorable and perfectly timed to hit home.  Great marketing knows how to turn heads, make an impression, and leave the audience wanting more, just like Midge Maisel. In this episode, we’re taking marketing lessons from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Together, with the help of our special guest, Head of Content & Brand at Close, Chelsea Castle, we’re talking...

What do marketers and competitive bakers have in common? Quite a lot, actually. Both work amid time constraints, follow recipes for success, and have to express creativity under pressure.   And there’s a lot marketers can learn from these competitive bakers, so that’s what we’re talking about this week. In this episode, we’re taking B2B marketing lessons from Food Network’s seasonal baking series,...

What do you need to do to make your brand famous?  You know how you could say “Seth Rogen” and people could easily recall that he’s an actor, they know he’s funny and associate him with Freaks and Geeks or Pineapple Express , for example? Well, with that same amount of ease, you want people to know who you are, what you do and to make positive associations with your brand name.  How do you do it?...

How much of the realities of your business do you want your audience to see? The truth is, there are benefits to baring it all. Especially when you’re a startup, showing your trials and tribulations endears your brand to viewers. It feels raw and real and trusting.  It’s a way to build an audience of dedicated fans. And in this episode, we’re learning about this kind of radical transparency from J...

We content marketers all want to put out high quality content all the time. But you might get writer’s block or just feel stuck sometimes.  And one of the best ways to get unstuck, to feel inspired and motivated to get better and better is to look to content creators who do their job really, really well.  So in this episode, we encourage you to be influenced by some of the top thought leaders in b...

The Kardashians are masters of marketing. It’s the way they live. From their TV show to their individual brands like 818 Tequila, Good American and Skims, the Kardashians and Jenners are marketing themselves.  So with the help of our special guest, Head of Marketing & Communications at Foursquare, Michele Morelli, we are taking marketing lessons from The Kardashians. We’ll talk about using the pow...

You may not think of people at work as your community, but they are.  And when you build strong relationships with your community, you get more done. It’s more creative. It’s more resourceful. The results are just better. That’s one of the things we’re talking about today with the help of our special guest, Senior Director of Brand & Digital Marketing at Collibra, Victoria Bowman. Together, we tak...