The Rethink Marketing Podcast

On episode #142 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin get into interview mode and talk through some new and creative ways to answer the common sales prompt, "Sell me this pen." Spoiler alert: it's not about the pen! From creatively positioning the pen as a bridge-building tool to giving it away for free, Eric and Colin rethink ways to form great answers and standout from other candidate...

On episode #141 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin put together some easy check-boxes to determine when a marketing plan makes sense. There are many scenarios where it makes sense to throw out an annual plan in favor of agility and flexibility. There are also many business strategies that demand an annual marketing plan with dollars earmarked for initiatives with long time horizons....

On episode #140 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin speak with the "AI Nerd," Thomas Helfrich, about the importance of clear success metrics and how SMBs can leverage the power of organic social media. Thomas shares his guidance on leveraging virtual assistants and agencies aided by artificial intelligence and software to build audiences on social channels. What do marketing leaders n...

On episode #139 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin share some wisdom to recent college graduates about landing their first marketing job! If you aren't well networked, how do you get an organization to consider you? What is your professional social media footprint conveying? Most hiring managers can't stack rank people on an even playing field, because applicants are unique individua...

On episode #138 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin are joined by entrepreneur, author, social media guru, and coach Ramon Ray. After leaving the United Nations, Ramon jumped into his own startups, with multiple successful exits. Ramon speaks to empowering employees to build audiences on social media, providing engaging perks, and the allure of startup culture. You can listen to take5...

On episode #137 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin explore the pros and cons of empowering employees to build audiences online. Many of your team members may want to market themselves to create additional employment security, so what should marketing and business leaders do? Letting your people build personal brands can help businesses reach broader audiences, improve brand perceptio...

On episode #136 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin dive back into the topic of Fractional Marketing. We discuss the importance of expectations, measuring success, setting clear checkpoints, and understanding that in a "Fractional" relationship there must be a beginning, middle and end. We also weigh a couple questions in the process. Is it expertise or execution you are seeking? Also...

On episode #135 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin dive into the ideas of hyper-targeting, myopic segmentation, and the risks of shortsighted advertising. If 3% of you target audience is ready to buy today, what about the other 97%? Instead of trying to clone your top 5% of customers, what if you pursue lookalikes of the top 20%? All this and more is packed into this quick-moving cha...

On episode #134 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin are joined by author, speaker, media personality, and marketing strategist Laura Reis. Laura explains why perception matters more than reality, which is counterintuitive to most marketing leaders. She explains the important differences between positioning and branding, and provides guidance for new and established brands. With so man...

On episode #133 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin emerge from the depths of antisocial technology and have a lively conversation about the human side of automation. Do you have an automation strategy? Is it a “customer first” approach to automation or a “savings first” approach? If our people are a competitive advantage, why are we reducing their interactions with customers? Maybe i...

On episode #132 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin discuss a topic that used to be paramount to a successful career in sales: creating a sense of obligation. With a rise in the acceptance of socialist and Marxist thought, is there still a place for marketers and sales leaders to instill a sense of obligation with prospects? Is it antiquated to think that customers will want to recipr...

On episode #131 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin are joined by Prof. Josh Gildea of the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University to explore channel design, segmentation, understanding decision making units (DMUs) and more! Marketers should be aware of every single touchpoint that customers have with our brands, and Josh unpacks how to deliberately design those experiences. Ins...

On episode #130 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin discuss under-appreciated sources of innovation and how businesses can capitalize on them to create competitive advantage. Many innovation models can be broken into three basic steps: ideating, testing, and scaling. None of those three steps live exclusively within marketing, sales, or the executive team. Even sources outside the com...

On episode #129 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin kick over the echo chamber and attack some sales and marketing metrics myths. Measuring more is likely hurting your organization, so how do we rethink the right metrics? Productivity metrics likely don't align with your revenue success metrics, so we have a few suggestions we think you'll like to build authentic connections assisted...

On episode #128 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Colin flies solo interviewing marketing authority, author, speaker, and advisor David Meerman Scott. David shares his learnings from the Grateful Dead, advising growing companies, and claiming his own real estate online. He makes bold statements about Facebook's algorithm and insightful predictions about the future of content marketing. It's a can'...

On episode #127 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric, Colin, and special guest Drew Dinkelacker break down takeaways and rethinking from the 2022 cohort of the worlds most expensive commercials. From streaming services to SaaS, from beer to crypto, and loads of electric vehicles, there were winners, losers, and learnings! You can listen to take5: The Rethink Marketing Podcast on all major podcas...

On episode #126 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin are joined by multi-time entrepreneur, author, speaker, and investor Mike Michalowicz. Mike shares his wisdom on finding ideal customers, navigating social consequences, and getting to the root of ideal growth. How do I equip customers to defend their purchase decisions? Why is over-reliance on word of mouth harmful? From business sy...

On episode #125 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Colin and Eric explore the Grand Theft Auto in-game campaign requiring physical action. Pfizer, Druid, and Ogilvy launched an innovative and creative campaign within (and outside of) Grand Theft Auto. We should expect more of this in the future, and here are a few things modern marketers can learn.  You can listen to take5: The Rethink Marketing Po...

On episode #124 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin take a look at "Mr. Know It All" and yes, why he always loses! It's an easy trap to fall into as we try to close business and find new audiences in sales and marketing. We need to remember that humility is preferred over self elevation, and that while competence is part of what controls trust, it is the lessor part! Overcomplicating...

On episode #123 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin dive into why open rates are not good proxy for success.  When someone unsubscribes from your email blast, they have to open the email!  Why would we include active disengagements as part of a success metric?  Instead, what can we look at that measures outcomes versus actions?  If email is part of your revenue strategy, this is an ep...

On episode #122 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin are joined by explorer, entrepreneur, speaker and founder of Hydro Flask, Capt. Travis Rosbach.   This episode is full of reflection and continually points to the power of stepping out of your comfort zone to seek adventure in life and business. The story of Hydro Flask is the story of invention at its core. See a need fill a need, l...

On episode #121 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin uncover recent trends in marketing and sales emailing.  If you haven’t adjusted your approach to email the  past six months, you are missing out. Is your email strategy helping or hurting your personal brand?  How can you use email to get in a consideration set instead of trying to build rapport?  Why are we still trying to build tru...

On episode #120 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin lay the groundwork for an upcoming conversation with the world's leading authority on trust-based selling, Ari Galper.  As a salesperson, it's not prudent to be 100% honest all of the time but it's also a bad idea to lie and mislead.  So how do we think about the spectrum of honesty?  How can we sell in a vulnerable way without being...

On episode #119 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin are joined from Melbourne, Australia by author of The One Page Marketing Plan, Allan Dib!  Allan has grown multiple businesses using lots of marketing and sales advice and trial and error.  Now, he unpacks some of his “best of” wisdom for the Rethink Marketing audience!  Allan shares insights on myriad marketing and sales topics, but...

On episode #118 of the Rethink Marketing Podcast, Eric and Colin lay the groundwork for an upcoming conversation with author of the One Page Marketing Plan, Allan Dib.  We know the symptoms of bad products, but all too often, they win in the marketplace.  Is marketing to blame?  If having the best product is merely a great retention or reputation management strategy, how can marketing leaders reac...