On a recent flight to San Francisco, I rediscovered some great messaging hacks from the daughter and business partner of the man who “invented” positioning. I was reading her new book about the most successful consumer advertising slogans of all time. The more she talked about the techniques used to create these B2C messages, the more I thought about how well they translate to B2B messaging. The book is called Battlecry, by Laura Ries. In … [Continue reading]
When bad news happens to good marketing messages
Your core sales and marketing message is supposed to be evergreen. Sure, some details may change. But at the heart of your message is a fundamental brand positioning that should stand the test of time. You repeat it over and over again – to employees, customers, and the kid next door – so it becomes the one thing your company is known for. In a perfect world, this is easy. But what if something goes … [Continue reading]
LEADERVIEW: A CMO’s advice to young marketers
In this PitchMaps Leaderview, Rachel Spasser, previously CMO of Ariba and now CMO and Operating Principal at Accel-KKR, discusses how B2B marketing has changed in recent years – and what it takes to win in today’s world. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation with Rachel. PitchMaps: Could you tell us a little bit about your background, and what you’re doing now? Rachel Spasser: Sure. I’ve been in business development, marketing, and sales now … [Continue reading]