How do you empower your team to embrace challenges and learn from mistakes? What does it take to create a truly safe space for your team to innovate and experiment without fear? And how do you strike that crucial balance between giving accountability and ensuring your marketing hits its targets?

In this episode, we hop into these questions and more with Andrea Alter, a marketing executive at Workday with over twenty years of B2B experience, including time with the Big Four. 

Andrea started with a degree in French literature and international economics, which she credits for developing her critical thinking and storytelling skills. Now at Workday, Andrea leads marketing across Europe and Africa, emphasizing the growth and learning involved. 

You’ll hear her perspective on leading diverse, multicultural marketing teams across Europe and Africa, and learn how to empower your team to tackle challenges and grow from mistakes. Additionally, you’ll learn more about Andrea’s leadership philosophy, what’s on her desk right now, and how she would use the triple-time marketing budget. 

Book recommendations mentioned in the episode: 

•  Storytelling With Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

•   Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

• Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone by Mark Goldstone

Let’s step into the world of AI with Helena Kappen, Chief Marketing Officer for Microsoft Sweden!

How is AI truly transforming B2B marketing? How can AI be more than just a tool, but a 'transformational engine' for your marketing? What strategies can B2B marketing executives implement to leverage AI effectively? And how can you, as a marketing leader, ensure you’re not just keeping up, but staying ahead? Where to start? 

In this episode, you’ll hear directly from a top CMO at Microsoft about navigating this AI transformation. Helena shares a practical way to think about how AI can transform your organization on three different levels and how you can contribute to these levels. 

You’ll hear concrete examples of how you can utilize AI as a marketing leader and what types of AI Agents you can build to enhance your productivity as a leader. Additionally, Helena tells more about the newly released Chief Marketing Manager Agent for Copilot and how to take advantage of it.

Helena has worked at Microsoft for almost 10 years, holding five different roles, including positions in Western Europe and industry marketing management. In this episode, you’ll hear more about her background and her way of thinking about leadership.

Get in touch with Helena. 

Learn more about the Chief Marketing Manager Agent in Copilot. 

Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Pia Posio, an experienced leader and the current VP of Communications, Marketing & IR at Glaston Corporation. Pia has navigated significant organizational changes and has deep expertise in leading through transformation. With a long career, she has previously worked, e.g., at Wärtsilä and spent over 15 years at IBM in sales and marketing.

In this episode, we're diving into the critical topic of change management and communications. Pia will share practical tips and strategies on how to effectively drive change, manage stakeholders, and maintain momentum in the face of constant evolution. 

You will learn about the changes from the marketing director's perspective, what to consider before the actual change happens, how to convert change impulse into a meaningful narrative for different stakeholders, thinking “What’s in it for them”. Pia shares practical strategies for handling change, emphasizing that it's not always a matter of choice but rather a necessity, whether planned, forced, or evolutionary.

Additionally, you will hear more of Pia’s thoughts about the differences between change and continuous development, the wheel of Influence in dealing with changes, and how important it is to address emotions and potential reactions during the change journey.

Connect with Pia on LinkedIn. 

Learn more:

https://www.prosci.com/blog/change-management-communicationhttps://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-be-a-good-storytellerhttps://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-communicate-organizational-changehttps://www.bitesizelearning.co.uk/resources/change-curve-management-modelhttps://positivepsychology.com/circles-of-influence/ 

Let’s step inside the world of professional services marketing, a space where brand recognition is high, strong executive relationships matter, and knowledge is key. It’s a world where the lines between selling and consulting blur, and understanding the true value of marketing can be a unique challenge.

Where does marketing fit when consultants are also driving sales? What happens if marketing stops? And can marketing truly be a competitive advantage in this space? In this episode, you can listen more about the role of marketing in a unique environment: a Big Four professional services firm.

Our guest, Matti Salakka, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing Lead at KPMG, will share insights on marketing in a high brand awareness environment. Currently, he leads marketing at KPMG Finland, where he has been working for around six years. Prior to joining KPMG, he focused on the digital landscape within a technology company.

In this episode, you will hear more about marketing and the importance of brand in professional services. Professional services firms are often seen as content powerhouses. You’ll hear more about whether this provides a unique advantage and how it translates to marketing success. When everyone has access to great content, how do you truly stand out?

Who should own the customer experience within a company in a B2B complex industry? How do you measure its impact? How do you translate strategic vision into actionable, data-driven initiatives that drive real results? Why is marketing uniquely positioned to lead customer experience initiatives and drive organizational alignment? And where to start if you work in an industry where customer experience has not traditionally been a priority?

Today, we discuss customer experience and retention with Bita Popovic from Trimble. As the Global Head of Customer Retention Marketing, Bita has a diverse background in customer success leadership, marketing, sales, and engineering. She shares her insights on the importance of breaking down traditional silos so that customer experience (CX) becomes a shared responsibility across the entire organization.

In this episode, you’ll hear more about the evolution of customer experience: From buyer experience to the full customer journey, how to balance short-term and long-term goals, what is the cost of inaction, and what the future of customer retention looks like. Bita shares practical advice for marketing executives to implement immediately to improve their customer experience efforts. 

Connect with Bita on LinkedIn.

In this episode, we welcome Sirpa Ikola, a seasoned business leader with a global career in the telecom, consumer electronics, and energy industries. Currently, she is Vice President for Strategy and Development, and the Country Sales Director for Home and Distribution & Power Products at Schneider Electric Finland.

With nearly 20 years in telecom at Ericsson, Nokia, and HTC, she has led international marketing and sales teams across Europe and Asia before transitioning to B2B marketing and leadership in the energy sector. In this episode, she shares her thoughts and learnings on how to succeed at the executive level and work with and in management teams.

One key factor for success is adopting the mindset that sales and marketing are connected aspects of a single spectrum. Both functions need to work together to realize their synergy in both the short and long term.

In this episode, you will also hear about Sirpa’s leadership philosophy and her perspective on the differences between leadership in B2C and B2B environments. Are there significant differences, or is leading simply leading? And what is good leadership?

Additionally, Sirpa offers insights on how marketing leaders can navigate management teams, the challenges and opportunities they face at the executive level, and how to create a cohesive story that aligns with business value.

Reach out Sirpa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirpaikola/

This episode highlights a conversation with Patrícia Namba, Senior Global Marketing Communications Manager from Atlas Copco. With over 15 years of global experience in marketing, communications, and sustainability, she shares her thoughts on working in a decentralized company.

Patrícia has an interesting and somewhat unconventional background for someone in marketing. She studied law before switching to communications and marketing. As she puts it, "That's the beauty of academics: We learn how to learn." This background has equipped her with strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, allowing her to analyze various perspectives and understand the bigger picture before making decisions.

In this episode, Patrícia shares her insights on working in companies that operate in a decentralized manner. If someone were to start a new role in a decentralized company, what tips would she offer?

Working in a decentralized company is all about collaboration – joining forces to drive better outcomes. But how can you ensure that global and local teams work together effectively rather than operate in silos? How can you take successful local marketing initiatives and scale them for global impact?

You’ll hear more about the power of co-creation, collaboration, and scaling in decentralized marketing. Patrícia emphasizes the importance of working closely with customer-facing teams to achieve better outcomes. 

You’ll also hear how to balance structure and flexibility in decentralized marketing, and how to make global campaigns work across regions with vastly different team sizes and resources, why co-creation with local teams is essential, and what key lessons new marketing leaders in decentralized organizations should keep in mind.

Connect with Patrícia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-namba/ 

The links and resources mentioned in the episode:

Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/en 

Forrester: https://www.forrester.com/bold/ 

B2B Insiders: https://open.spotify.com/show/5f59iqzShvJc7Hb7dMaiRP?si=7665188f7037416b

In this episode, we’re joined by a seasoned marketing and communication leader with nearly 20 years of experience in Sandvik, a global, stock-listed engineering company. As Vice President and Head of Marketing and Communications, and member of the business area segment management team at Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions, Sandra Anderstedt leads a global team with 8 employees.

In this conversation, she shares insights on one of her favorite topics: setting and following up on goals and targets, as well as empowering team members by providing them with clear responsibilities and expectations.

You will also learn about the organization's innovative ambassador program, which engages experts from across the company to contribute valuable insights into marketing. We discuss the strategy behind this program, including its structure, the factors that encouraged voluntary participation, and how it continues to provide value.

Additionally, you'll discover more about Sandra's interesting background and her successful approach to leading the marketing and communication team. What is Sandra's leadership philosophy? What has motivated her to remain with the same organization for nearly 20 years? How does she handle ad hoc requests while guiding her team in managing their workload?

Get in touch with Sandra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-anderstedt/ 

The links and resources mentioned in the episode: The Eisenhower Matrix: https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/