How to See Beyond the Martech Hype from the Top of Mt. Stupid

There is nothing new under the sun. In my experience, most things touted as totally new are a natural evolution of what came before. And in the field of marketing technology – or martech – there is no shortage of examples. The Thomas Register may still live on as ThomasNet, but it’s hard to argue that traditional supplier directories were not bushwhacked by Alibaba and general purpose search engines like Google. SEO is likewise the technological descendent of naming your business AAA Precision Tool to gain the top spot in an [...]

How to See Beyond the Martech Hype from the Top of Mt. Stupid2021-11-17T10:55:00-06:00

3 Ways AI Can Translate Marketing Speak Into a Language Every Exec Understands

I like to use idiomatic expressions with my kids. A few simple words can convey wisdom and provoke thought about important things. Take for example “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” This saying opens the door to ponder things like ambition, risk, envy, and gratitude. One of my favorites is “Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees” to warn against the pitfalls of focusing on parts without considering them together as a whole. And to avoid the opposite extreme I will remind them that [...]

3 Ways AI Can Translate Marketing Speak Into a Language Every Exec Understands2021-11-17T10:59:52-06:00

The Answer Is Yes. Amazon Will Disrupt Your Industry Too

A looming challenge for your distributors could be a rare chance to gain a competitive advantage for your brand. The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, or frequency illusion, happens when something that you recently became aware of starts popping up everywhere. This happened to one of our clients following an annual planning session when we raised the topic of Amazon Business. Even before catching a flight out of Chicago he forwarded two news items supporting the idea that eventually every manufacturer will be impacted by the e-commerce juggernaut. All of a sudden Amazon Business [...]

The Answer Is Yes. Amazon Will Disrupt Your Industry Too2021-11-22T16:39:59-06:00