1195: How to Ensure Marketing Has a Seat at the Boardroom Table w/ Mika Yamamoto

WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:11.949 Looking for a guaranteed way to create content that resonates with your audience? Start 2 00:00:11.990 --> 00:00:16.910 a podcast, interview your ideal clients and let them choose the topic of the 3 00:00:17.030 --> 00:00:21.390 interview, because if your ideal clients care about the topic, there's a good 4 00:00:21.429 --> 00:00:25.300 chance the rest of your audience will care about it too. Learn more at 5 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:33.780 sweet fish Mediacom. You're listening to be tob growth, a daily podcast for 6 00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:38.130 B TOB leaders. We've interviewed names you've probably heard before, like Gary Vander 7 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:41.969 truck and Simon Senek, but you've probably never heard from the majority of our 8 00:00:42.009 --> 00:00:47.009 guests. That's because the bulk of our interviews aren't with professional speakers and authors. 9 00:00:47.609 --> 00:00:51.000 Most of our guests are in the trenches leading sales and marketing teams. 10 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:56.479 They're implementing strategy, they're experimenting with tactics, they're building the fastest growing betb 11 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.960 companies in the world. My name is James Carberry. I'm the founder of 12 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.920 sweetish media, a podcast agency for BB brands, and I'm also one of 13 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:07.950 the cohosts of this show. When we're not interviewing sales and marketing leaders, 14 00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:11.790 you'll hear stories from behind the scenes of our own business. Will share the 15 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:15.189 ups and downs of our journey as we attempt to take over the world. 16 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:26.060 Just getting well, maybe let's get into the show. Welcome back to be 17 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:30.019 tob grows. I'm Logan lyles with sweet fish media. I'm joined today by 18 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:36.329 Nika Yamamoto. She is the chief marketing and customer experience officer. Over at 19 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:40.129 five, Mika, how's it going today? Going great are you? I 20 00:01:40.329 --> 00:01:42.769 am doing fantastic. It's a snowy day here in Colorado, so we've got 21 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:47.159 our fingers crossed for a white Christmas. We'll see how that turns out. 22 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:49.920 I am really excited to chat with you today. We're going to be talking 23 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:53.239 about the evolving role of marketing in the board room and some advice for other 24 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.840 marketing leaders as they navigate this changing landscape. there. Before we get into 25 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:01.469 that, though, Mica, I would love for you, as always that 26 00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:05.430 we do with our guests here, have you give us a little bit of 27 00:02:05.549 --> 00:02:07.629 your background what you and the team and five or up to these days. 28 00:02:07.789 --> 00:02:12.310 I would also like you to touch a little bit on your title. You 29 00:02:12.389 --> 00:02:16.180 know, chief marketing and customer experience officer is not a title we have regularly 30 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:21.139 on the show and I think it's a little bit interesting for listeners to Thankslogan 31 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:24.340 again for having me. In terms of my background, the consistent theme across 32 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:30.889 all of the brands that I've worked on, which include Amazon and Microsoft and 33 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:38.250 sap and Adobe and Marquetto are that the place that those companies are in when 34 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:43.289 I participated in in driving experiences in those companies where that they are looking to 35 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:51.199 target a different a different marketing segment or market segment or customer segment or looking 36 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:54.919 to launch a different product. And so thematically, what I what I focused 37 00:02:54.919 --> 00:03:00.069 on working on throughout my entire career is how does a company transform itself to 38 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:06.990 focusing somewhere else again on a new customer segment or somewhere else in terms of 39 00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:10.389 introducing a new products or a new channel into the market on the company's behalf? 40 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:15.939 And that's not similar to five. Five back in the day started leave 41 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:21.620 or not as gaming company and we quickly realize that being a load balancing company 42 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:27.020 probably would drive a lot more results for for our customers and for our shareholders. 43 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:30.370 So we became a load balancing company. But over time we've evolved to 44 00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:35.889 be a lot more. We've evolved in the in the security space, for 45 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:39.889 example, we've evolved and purchased, most recently, enginet, which is enabled 46 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:46.360 us to really focus on areas where we haven't been able to focus before and 47 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:52.280 looking at, you know, exploring areas for companies who are developing in, 48 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.469 you know, in the microservices environment. And so as we as we look 49 00:03:57.550 --> 00:04:00.110 at that evolution, we as that five, need to think about how we 50 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:04.069 run the business differently, including how we consider marketing. And so what we've 51 00:04:04.110 --> 00:04:09.030 been up to from a marketing standpoint is really looking at how do we take 52 00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:12.740 marketing as a roles and a company, and we, you know, we 53 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:15.939 were formally a, you know, really a hardware company, and how do 54 00:04:15.019 --> 00:04:20.100 we take marketings role in a in an enterprise focused hardware company and really evolved 55 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:24.329 it. If you look at born in the cloud company beneath, marketing plays 56 00:04:24.329 --> 00:04:28.610 a role in being very smacked out in the middle of being accountable to drive 57 00:04:28.769 --> 00:04:32.129 revenues and results for shareholders. It's not to say that marketing if you're not, 58 00:04:32.449 --> 00:04:36.050 you know, driving revenues, that marketing doesn't drive results for shareholders, 59 00:04:36.129 --> 00:04:41.519 but we're looking to play a role from a marketing stampoint and having that direct 60 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:46.959 line of accountability to drive revenues. So that's a transition for us at five 61 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:49.560 and so that brings us to the title that I have, which is chief 62 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:56.269 marketing and customer experience officer. We're moving into the notion of marketing playing the 63 00:04:56.310 --> 00:05:00.589 role of driving performance. Of course we have as our focus and our priority 64 00:05:00.670 --> 00:05:05.230 to deliver great brand experiences, but as we drive to look at how we're 65 00:05:05.269 --> 00:05:09.100 going to drive results on behalf of the company, how we're going to take 66 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:13.259 on that number, not the similar to how sales to take on the number 67 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:16.740 as well, to drive revenues. We need to look overall at the customer 68 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:21.490 experience. You need to look at how we move, as we transition into 69 00:05:21.529 --> 00:05:27.250 a software company, to look end end the customer experiences and not look at 70 00:05:27.250 --> 00:05:31.649 them in a philoid fashion. And so having one person and one executive with 71 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:38.959 the mandate of looking at our customer experiences overall, across all functions allows that 72 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.959 her view for able perhaps to be able to look at what those to optimized 73 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:47.160 customer experiences, to make them more steamless across across a company on behalf of 74 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:51.269 our customers and to make them as effortless as possible. Well, and we've 75 00:05:51.310 --> 00:05:57.709 seen consumer companies optimize that really significantly and I think that you know, from 76 00:05:57.750 --> 00:06:00.949 a BB standpoint, if we look at bed focus company is this is an 77 00:06:00.990 --> 00:06:04.500 area for companies who have more of a legacy, IE, weren't necessarily born 78 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:09.860 in the cloud. This is a masive transformation that all of us have either 79 00:06:09.899 --> 00:06:14.139 gone through or currently going through. Yeah, and on this show Makea we 80 00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:17.220 love to highlight marketing leaders that are in the trenches going through these things, 81 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:20.930 and so that background, I think, was more than just hey, hey, 82 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:23.970 you know, what are you doing? What are you guys up to? 83 00:06:24.529 --> 00:06:26.769 Because you're the guests in the show. But, as you mentioned, 84 00:06:26.850 --> 00:06:30.410 you are a legacy hardware company going through a transition, and so I think 85 00:06:30.569 --> 00:06:33.600 for folks who are specifically in that scenario they're going to take a lot from 86 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:38.680 this. Even for marketing leaders at companies who are, you know, Sass 87 00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:41.480 from day one. They were, as you say, born in the cloud, 88 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:45.319 there may be less of a transition here, but I think this changing 89 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.189 role of marketing in the boardroom is going to apply to a lot of marketing 90 00:06:48.269 --> 00:06:51.310 leaders. And so, as you've gone through this journey, a few of 91 00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:55.029 the things I'd like you to unpack. As you know, how you go 92 00:06:55.149 --> 00:07:00.870 about explaining marketing to those in the board room and to the rest of the 93 00:07:00.990 --> 00:07:04.139 sea level executive team. But before that I think you've got to start with 94 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:10.339 understanding what their view of marketing maybe can you, can you speak to that 95 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:14.819 a little bit on how you've how you approach that and what others might want 96 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:16.689 to be thinking about. That, then, is going to inform I think 97 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:20.089 the next thing we'll talk about is how, then, do you explain marketing 98 00:07:20.170 --> 00:07:25.250 to folks that? You've got to start with understanding where they are today before 99 00:07:25.290 --> 00:07:28.569 you can move the needle anywhere. Right. No, I think here about 100 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:31.800 me right. I think understanding from where you're starting to understand the perceptions of 101 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.480 what people might think. I mean an example here is we have here at 102 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:41.120 five as. We have a varied range of understanding of what marketing could do 103 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:46.189 and we have because people have come from path companies who have seen marketing take 104 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:50.310 on a roll of driving revenues and we've got people who have it entrenched in 105 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:56.430 their in their minds that marketing drives. To quote one of our one of 106 00:07:56.470 --> 00:08:00.699 our sellers, marketing provides donuts and sets up state dinners, and so we 107 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:05.100 have a very, very view of where people sit in their minds on what 108 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:07.579 what we can or can do, and I think moving your point is great 109 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:11.860 in terms of understanding where you're starting, because from where you're starting is how 110 00:08:11.889 --> 00:08:16.290 we need to start. The explanation. I mean for folks who understand and 111 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:20.290 have lived through a digital go to market motion where, you know, marketing 112 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:24.689 and sales have one go to market motion. It's completely seamless. There's very 113 00:08:24.769 --> 00:08:28.399 little explanation on the planet that we're trying to get to. It's just the 114 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:31.840 conversation then becomes how do we get from where we are to where we need 115 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.879 to be as a company? If we're talking about those who having too experience 116 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:41.990 or enjoy that type of benefit of, you know, marketing and sales, 117 00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:45.789 as an example, working in lock steps, there's a lot more education and 118 00:08:45.909 --> 00:08:50.669 describe having how that possible, and so knowing where we start is really important 119 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:54.029 to to understand where we need to go in terms of how we communicate. 120 00:08:54.629 --> 00:09:00.940 I say that the other important element is getting really clear on where you want 121 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:03.940 to go. So from a marketing standpoint in driving a transformation, and a 122 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:11.570 company standpoint overall, being able to really cleanly and and critically and simply describe 123 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:16.850 where you're trying to head by way of customer experience and result helps the find 124 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:22.210 a North Star and a point of view that then give people a for looking 125 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:26.600 view whatever headed and then and then you can back into you know, how 126 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:31.519 do we get there from where people's where we currently are in including where people's 127 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:35.720 mindsets it yeah, absolutely. I think you make a really good point about 128 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:39.470 understanding, you know, that point of view of the rest of the team. 129 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:43.070 Are there some tactical examples from your process now, because you know, 130 00:09:43.389 --> 00:09:46.470 whether you want to define it as you know, an uphill battle, or 131 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:50.789 you've got, you know, further to go in the way that you've explained 132 00:09:50.230 --> 00:09:56.059 your current situation, some things that you've done to explain really the power of 133 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:00.460 marketing to drive revenue? Is it, you know, about casting that bigger 134 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.860 vision? Is it about, you know, taking some of your best practices 135 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:07.809 in telling a story externally and taking those and finding a way to tell that 136 00:10:07.970 --> 00:10:13.809 story internally to the board members, to the other executive leaders on your internal 137 00:10:13.850 --> 00:10:18.649 team? Well, I mean I think that describing the power of marketing is 138 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:24.159 best is best done when you're not describing it in marketing terms. And so, 139 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:28.480 you know, I think every transformation and for everybody who has gone through 140 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.720 one would say it's an uphill battle. I think every everyone who's done so 141 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:39.429 successfully and driven a transformation successfully would say that the need to inspire people along 142 00:10:39.429 --> 00:10:41.470 the way and they need to tell us the story of where you're headed along 143 00:10:41.470 --> 00:10:48.029 the way is paramounts, and doing so in terms that other people use versus 144 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:52.419 and in an injecting the necessary newer terms that need to be understood. I 145 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:56.779 think it's really important. I think you know, you would mention Logan. 146 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:00.139 You know, how do you explain what marketing does? I think, if 147 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:03.330 by not explaining what marketing does and, more explain the value that marketing provides 148 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:09.529 in the terms that other people and other functions use, predominantly using the business 149 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:13.289 terms that we we use when we're talking about the performance of the company, 150 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:18.639 because those are those are words and terms that everyone can relate to. That's 151 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.960 how we measure our programs and success, and so we're able to telegraph the 152 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:28.639 value that marketing will provide in those terms. That Helps Telegraph where we're headed 153 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:35.230 in a Filoup, in a in a finer point than having to have a 154 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:39.710 Dacoda ring to have someone understands the marketing terms that we're trying to describe, 155 00:11:39.309 --> 00:11:43.149 and so I say that, you know, is we go through our transformation 156 00:11:43.350 --> 00:11:46.860 here at at five and mentioned that. You know, some people completely understand 157 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:50.860 the planet that we're headed to because they've lived on a similar planet before, 158 00:11:50.980 --> 00:11:54.500 because a company, and you know, the company they may have came from, 159 00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:58.379 had already gone through the transformation that we're about to we were about to 160 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:01.409 go on, whether it's moving from on premise software to software in the cloud 161 00:12:01.450 --> 00:12:05.649 or transitioning from being a harbor vendor into a service's vendor or software vendor. 162 00:12:07.529 --> 00:12:11.049 You know, there's blocks of companies out there who have gone through transformations and 163 00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:15.450 so if you're aware of where we're headed, that requires very little definition and 164 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:18.679 education on that to on that point. And so when we look at those 165 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.639 individuals, were able to rally those individuals. We call them the coalition of 166 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:26.720 the willing, and it's the people who just put where were headed right and 167 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:31.590 we're able to amass those individuals and not have to educate a lot on, 168 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:33.830 like I said, where we're going, just be able to help determine the 169 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:37.750 path that we need to go down in order to, you know, chip 170 00:12:37.830 --> 00:12:41.230 away at the gaps that sit between where we are and where we want to 171 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:46.259 go. That's an easier list. And so when those areas of the business, 172 00:12:46.379 --> 00:12:48.899 and in in for our area, it happens to be the you know, 173 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:52.299 the commercial business, we're able to move a lot faster with a lot 174 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:58.059 more people, because those individuals actually nowhere we're headed, and so we're able 175 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:03.090 to move at a broader scale in terms of processes, in terms of technology 176 00:13:03.129 --> 00:13:05.690 you want to put in place, in terms of metrics we want to put 177 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:09.169 in place, just because, again, there's less there's less institution know knowledge 178 00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:13.559 and there's less education that we need to then we need to take in describing 179 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:18.600 where we want to go. So describing and driving the power of marketing and 180 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.320 what marketing can do from a go to market motion is is a lot simpler 181 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.309 in some respects in that case, because there's a lot more people who know 182 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:30.830 who unerstwen we're going to go. So we can do more broad and faster 183 00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:33.710 changes. In that respect, the going broad its fast among a set of 184 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:37.870 individuals, where that may not be the case and the understanding of where we 185 00:13:37.990 --> 00:13:43.460 want to go isn't as well understood among abroad. I'm on a broad audience. 186 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:50.580 Going fast so as you down eventually and going big essentially seed more organ 187 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:54.659 rejection than it does momentum. And so what we've done in those cases where 188 00:13:56.370 --> 00:13:58.929 in areas of the business where there's, you know, there's less experience or 189 00:13:58.970 --> 00:14:03.210 last knowledge of the of the place we're going, because we've actually narrowed down 190 00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:07.730 the fields really, really to squeek, screetly. So among a Saban's least 191 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:13.240 sellers, for example, we've taken and only working with a various with a 192 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.519 dozen sellers, to be able to describe where we're going and help them on 193 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:22.639 a very, you know, onetone basis to understand this place where headed, 194 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:28.509 to be more data driven, for example in in driving and prioritizing customer decisionmaking 195 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:31.149 and where we start focusing with our customers when we're trying to drive, you 196 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:35.909 know, selling motions as an example. And so the ability to actually take 197 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:39.340 very few individual and be able to spend some one on time, one on 198 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:43.340 one time with them and describe where we're headed educate those people were we're headed 199 00:14:43.419 --> 00:14:48.059 allows us to be able to show momentum with a small group of people that 200 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:52.379 then helps bring along the broader set of individuals, because they can see the 201 00:14:52.460 --> 00:14:56.210 success of a very small group and then we can start to see, you 202 00:14:56.289 --> 00:15:00.970 know, success starts to start to motivate other successes and the desire to pull 203 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:05.450 information and pull the types of ways of working that we're looking to that we're 204 00:15:05.490 --> 00:15:09.840 looking to implement, versus it being forced on them in a broad way, 205 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:13.679 in a in a Broadway that again, like I said, you know, 206 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:18.000 usually results in some kind of organ rejection just because of the educational gap that 207 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:22.149 needs to take place before we actually make those types of broad, sweeping changes. 208 00:15:22.750 --> 00:15:26.669 So it really depends from a transformational standpoint, you know, the basis 209 00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:31.389 of understanding of the people that were trying to bring along with us in terms 210 00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:35.110 of the tactic we're going to take to to create a movement and really transform 211 00:15:35.190 --> 00:15:39.940 the entire company. Hey, everybody logan with sweet fish here. You probably 212 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:43.779 already know that we think you should start a podcast if you haven't already. 213 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:48.860 But what if you have and you're asking these kinds of questions? How much 214 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:54.129 has our podcast impacted revenue this year? How's our sales team actually leveraging the 215 00:15:54.169 --> 00:15:58.730 PODCAST content? If you can't answer these questions, you're actually not alone. 216 00:15:58.210 --> 00:16:03.210 This is why I cast it created the very first content marketing platform made specifically 217 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:08.960 for Bebi guesting. Now you can more easily search and share your audio content 218 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:15.399 while getting greater visibility into the impact of your podcast. The marketing teams at 219 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:19.629 drift terminus and here at sweet fish have started using casted to get more value 220 00:16:19.669 --> 00:16:23.750 out of our podcasts, and you probably can to. You can check out 221 00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:32.669 the product in action and casted dot US growth. That's sea steed dot US 222 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:38.940 growth. All right, let's get back to the show. Yeah, I 223 00:16:40.100 --> 00:16:42.299 like what you're saying there. It ties back to what we were talking about 224 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:47.450 earlier is understanding. Where you're starting. Understanding, you know, the the 225 00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:52.090 experience, the mindset of the folks throughout the organization and, as you point 226 00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:56.250 to, that will inform whether you go narrow or you go broad with the 227 00:16:56.490 --> 00:17:00.559 momentum. And where is that coalition of the willing? Is it a large 228 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:06.079 broad group? Is it small, narrow group, as you were talking about? 229 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:07.680 You know something that to me. What I heard you say, Maka, 230 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:11.519 was, you know, Express Your Business and your technical acumen with other 231 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:17.990 functional leaders by, you know, avoiding marketing speak and speaking in terms that 232 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:22.789 they understand, to kind of double tap back on that just for folks listening 233 00:17:22.829 --> 00:17:25.950 to this, as you've kind of been through this process, can you give 234 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:29.750 us a few quick examples of hey, maybe here are three that you want 235 00:17:29.789 --> 00:17:32.539 to avoid and here are three that you want to make sure you can speak 236 00:17:32.579 --> 00:17:34.900 to with confidence, as far as you know, business or technical terms that 237 00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:40.059 you might be hearing from your CEO or your chief product officer or, you 238 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:44.259 know, other folks on the executive leadership team. Absolutely, I think. 239 00:17:44.730 --> 00:17:48.089 You know, we just talked about how it's important to, you know, 240 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:52.809 describe the value of what marketing can provide, and the best way to do 241 00:17:53.009 --> 00:17:57.210 that is do so in terms that other functions understand, and that's the and 242 00:17:57.329 --> 00:18:03.279 that's using the terms that they they they that they use, frankly, whether 243 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:07.400 it's the, you know, the business value that they're they're realizing, or 244 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.079 whether it's a technical value or, you know, benefits that were providing to 245 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:15.309 our customers. I do think that, you know, we are stords of 246 00:18:15.349 --> 00:18:19.230 our customers and so from a marketing standpoint, we need to speak to our 247 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:26.190 products as well, or better than than than most people can within the company. 248 00:18:26.269 --> 00:18:27.500 And that's not most people. is in the you know, better than 249 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:33.059 the engineer's most definitely not. However, we need to be extremely technically proficient 250 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:38.299 if we're actually going to be able to effectively convey, convey our value to 251 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:42.930 our customers and also to be able to, you know, create effortless experiences 252 00:18:44.009 --> 00:18:45.809 for our customers. We need to empathize with them and therefore we need to, 253 00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:51.769 number number one, understand their needs, but also understand the technical nuances 254 00:18:51.890 --> 00:18:56.160 that we, you know, that we that we bring to them from a 255 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:00.759 customer standpoint and then so that's, you know, when appealing to and talking 256 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:04.039 to and dealing with product management functions or engineering functions or even support functions, 257 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.119 being able to talk to the to the you know, to our products themselves, 258 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:12.309 is is certainly necessary and required as a competency for actors in marketing, 259 00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:18.710 because no one should have to understand marketing terms other than marketing individual and, 260 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:22.390 you know, we need to be able to speak in terms that our customers 261 00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:26.779 speak, but also that our collay speak throughout the company, and the same 262 00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:30.900 holds true of business acumen, not only in the language that we speak, 263 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:36.220 but also the only way that we can actually drive maximum value as a function 264 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:41.009 is to really understand how we drive value from a shareholder standpoint and how that's 265 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:45.930 calculated and how that's realized, and that's understanding our commercial models. That's understanding, 266 00:19:47.089 --> 00:19:49.329 you know, how we how we actually make our money, so that 267 00:19:49.450 --> 00:19:53.240 you can translate the actions and prioritize the actions that we take. Is Marketing, 268 00:19:53.759 --> 00:20:00.720 into you know, into really maximizing the value for the company. And 269 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:06.079 so the important of business document and Technical Acumen drives a lot more credibility. 270 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:11.349 You know, again daytoday among peer sets, whether you're an individual contributor or 271 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:15.309 first line manager, but also in the Board Room when you're speaking about the 272 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:18.869 value that you're driving for the company and speaking to the overall company strategy itself. 273 00:20:19.029 --> 00:20:22.740 No one wants to have to interpret terms they don't understand and, you 274 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:26.259 know, and marketing terms aren't ones that they should have to understand. Everyone 275 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:30.420 understands at the company. You know what business value that we're driving out of 276 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:36.049 a company and again, understands how we deliver the shareholder value. You know, 277 00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:40.569 most people understand the technology that we're driving in the benefits of that technology 278 00:20:40.609 --> 00:20:42.410 for our customers, and that the language we need to use in order to 279 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:47.490 have a credible and meaningful conversation with our peers and our customers. Yep, 280 00:20:47.609 --> 00:20:52.240 absolutely so. I know that your passionate make up about being proactive instead of 281 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:56.839 reactive in explaining the value that marketing can drive, and I think you've you've 282 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:02.200 touched on that really well today. The opposite of this of, you know, 283 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:07.269 getting the board and the other executive team members to understand the value of 284 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:11.589 marketing is showing that you, as a marketing leader, have your finger on 285 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:15.869 the pulse and you have contributions to add to the overall strategy of the business. 286 00:21:17.069 --> 00:21:19.259 Can you speak to that a little bit? Make it as as you've 287 00:21:19.299 --> 00:21:25.140 looked as a marketing leader? You know, your advice to other marketing leaders 288 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:30.259 out there in how they can contribute to the overall strategy, not just tying 289 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:34.369 marketing into it, but having thoughts, opinions and value to bring to the 290 00:21:34.529 --> 00:21:40.170 overarching organizational strategy? I think you know. I think I think that's a 291 00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:44.289 great question in terms of saying, okay, how do we telegraph and how 292 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:48.960 do we participate, not just in description but actually in in action and and 293 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:52.559 feedback? How do we participate in driving the best, you know, the 294 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:57.200 best corporate strategy that could be out there to deliver the best value for the 295 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:00.869 company? Overall. You know, marketing is in a really great position because 296 00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:06.069 marketing gets to interface with the customer and so many different ways and gets to 297 00:22:06.150 --> 00:22:08.869 be the customers advocate and has so much information and data about the customer. 298 00:22:10.390 --> 00:22:14.470 And so I would say, I know, number one, understanding and how 299 00:22:14.589 --> 00:22:18.299 we how we make how we drive value in the in the market overall through 300 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:21.980 our product, but then understanding the voice of the customer and bringing that Voice 301 00:22:22.019 --> 00:22:26.180 of the customer into all the decisions we make so that we're not, you 302 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:29.779 know, you know, in only, you know, internally focused at looking 303 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.650 at how we can operate best internally, but they're also always thinking about, 304 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:37.450 you know, the end in mind and thinking outside in and thinking about the 305 00:22:37.490 --> 00:22:41.089 voice of the customer and whether it's are existing customers or non customers, or 306 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:45.119 feedback from customers from deals that we may not have made out of landed. 307 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:49.720 It's really important that we make sure that we bring that voice into the board 308 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.880 room, into every decision that we make. And so I think that, 309 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:59.109 in terms of proactively talking to the board or proactively talking to the senior leaders 310 00:22:59.150 --> 00:23:03.230 about where we want ahead, it's really doing so, you know, in 311 00:23:03.309 --> 00:23:07.430 the voice of the customer and being able to telegraph how, when we actually, 312 00:23:07.710 --> 00:23:11.390 you know, drived, you know, Actwi said, different processes that 313 00:23:11.549 --> 00:23:15.539 are differently on behalf of our customers, this is how and be able to 314 00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:19.059 drive a straight line into how that translates into shareholds or value. So, 315 00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:23.059 as an example, rather than speaking about the technologies that really draw, I've 316 00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:29.049 a customer customer engagement, whether it's, you know, you know, whether 317 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:33.089 it's, you know, talking about email distribution, or whether it's talking about 318 00:23:33.089 --> 00:23:36.049 how we're going to, you know, store all or customer data and a 319 00:23:36.089 --> 00:23:41.250 database. What I found more effective is actually to show the end experience that 320 00:23:41.369 --> 00:23:45.640 the customer will see and to compare and contrast with what they experience today, 321 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:48.359 and then they be able to show what we they will actually experience in the 322 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:53.000 future. Most people can resonate with the more simple lag on process, for 323 00:23:53.079 --> 00:23:59.309 example. So we're moving from multiple lawn and more complex law on experiences to 324 00:23:59.349 --> 00:24:04.390 a single law on experience. We're moving to more simplified means to to search 325 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:08.750 for the type of assistance that you need from a support standpoint. So actually 326 00:24:08.789 --> 00:24:15.059 showing the value or the customer experience and showing that simplified experience allows us the 327 00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:18.140 conversation, to be able to show the the you know, the value that 328 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:23.769 we're driving, because everyone can can it resonates with everybody has customers themselves, 329 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:29.769 to be able to look at look at those look at those experiences with, 330 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:32.970 you know, an eye for being a customer themselves, and then being able 331 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:37.089 to relay that into the actual value that providing the customers, versus going into 332 00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:44.720 technical diagrams or process diagrams that you know that that's really don't don't show the 333 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.640 true value of what the customer will actually experience. And so proactively having that 334 00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:52.839 point of view and showing them our stay are from the point of view of 335 00:24:52.910 --> 00:24:56.869 the customer has been a UN contracted that from where we are, you know, 336 00:24:56.230 --> 00:24:59.990 to where we are has been the most effective way of being able to 337 00:25:00.029 --> 00:25:03.509 telegraph the value or were able to provide when in it, when we actually 338 00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:08.539 accompany that with what that translates into in terms of growth. Yeah, I 339 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:12.460 really appreciate your perspective. Their Makin it goes back to, you know, 340 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:15.900 the the decision you guys have made as a team to have, you know, 341 00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:19.900 your role as chief marketing and customer experience officer and, you know, 342 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:25.410 the most quotable thing I think I take from this conversation is, you know, 343 00:25:25.650 --> 00:25:29.930 your advice there that marketing has a lot of data, a lot of 344 00:25:30.089 --> 00:25:33.130 feedback and a lot of input from the market and from the people that your 345 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:37.480 company is trying to reach and bringing that voice into the board room. We 346 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:41.279 all need to bring the voice of the customer into the Board Room because, 347 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.359 as you said, it's going to allow marketing to contribute to the overall strategy 348 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.759 and at the same time, what I heard you saying they're in that scenario 349 00:25:49.349 --> 00:25:53.109 is more of what we were talking about earlier, where you're showing marketings value 350 00:25:53.549 --> 00:26:00.990 in how you're improving and communicating the the possibilities to new customers and how your 351 00:26:00.869 --> 00:26:06.500 customers are going through their journey and what their experience is like when you take 352 00:26:06.579 --> 00:26:11.900 this approach of showing what the customer experience is like in in the boardroom. 353 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:15.819 So I think that's it's a phenomenal book into the conversation based on, you 354 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:19.930 know where we started it, talking about your role as marketing and customer experience, 355 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:23.809 both in your title make it. This has been a really fun conversation. 356 00:26:23.890 --> 00:26:29.569 I appreciate your passion on this subject and unpacking a few scenarios in your 357 00:26:29.650 --> 00:26:33.119 lessons learned along the way, as you guys are going through this evolution of 358 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.200 Marketings, roll in the Board Room. For folks who want to go a 359 00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.000 little bit deeper on this topic, ask you some follow up questions, or 360 00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:42.920 maybe they just want to stay connected with you and learn more about the team 361 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:45.279 over at a five. What's the best way for them to reach out to 362 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:48.670 you? They can read out to me on Linkedin or they can reach out 363 00:26:48.710 --> 00:26:55.109 to me on twitter. My my handle on vote is at Mika Yamamoto Eleven. 364 00:26:55.309 --> 00:27:00.190 So Am I aa Yamamoto eleven may be happy to do so. Perfect. 365 00:27:00.230 --> 00:27:03.579 Make It nice and easy. Make it thank you so much for joining 366 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:04.700 me on the show today. This has been a lot of fun. Thanks 367 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:07.619 the ton Logan. Have a good day. Good love with this. No, 368 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:21.730 thanks so much. Thanks, but we totally get it. We publish 369 00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:25.329 a ton of content on this podcast and it can be a lot to keep 370 00:27:25.329 --> 00:27:29.569 up with. That's why we've started the BDB growth big three, a note 371 00:27:29.609 --> 00:27:33.440 fluff email that boils down our three biggest takeaways from an entire week of episodes. 372 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:40.759 Sign up today at Sweet Fish Mediacom big three. That sweet fish Mediacom 373 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:41.359 Big Three