Building Brand In A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE MARKET - plus some thoughts on a few of this year's Super Bowl Ads.

New sports leagues areemerging at record speed, giving advertisers fresh opportunities to engage live audiences. It feels like these leagues are formingas fast as Kevin Hart can drop a new commercial! 😆

On today’sBackwards Hat CMO Pod, we dive into the latest sports leaguesshaking up the industry and what’s on the horizon. We take a deep dive into:

🏀Unrivaled – A groundbreaking3v3 basketball league co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, bringing together the biggest stars in women’s basketball.

⛳TGL (TMRW Golf League) – Ahigh-tech golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, blendingsimulated indoor play with traditional golf for a fresh take on the game.

Fromnew marketing opportunities to the evolution of live sports entertainment, we’re breaking down what these leagues mean for the industry.

🎙️Which new league are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!

📢Like, subscribe, and hit the bell for more sports business insights!

#SportsMarketing #Unrivaled #TGL #Golf #Basketball #KevinHart #SportsBusiness #CMOPodcast

MIT study reveals when human-AI collaboration excels and where it falls short, urging organizations to rethink AI’s role in creative and decision-making tasks.

The report, published in Nature Human Behaviour, unveils findings that add nuance to our understanding of when human-AI partnerships can truly excel. Conducted by CCI affiliate Michelle Vaccaro and MIT Sloan School of Management professors Abdullah Almaatouq and Thomas Malone, the study raises thought-provoking questions about AI’s role in today’s workplace and beyond.
For years, the vision of human-AI synergy has driven organizations to integrate AI into processes, assuming it would enhance performance across the board. However, this comprehensive analysis of 370 different outcomes from 106 experiments reveals a more complex picture. Rather than proving universally beneficial, human-AI collaboration sometimes falters, especially in decision-making tasks.

However, the study found these partnerships often shine in creative pursuits, indicating potential for future applications that prioritize human ingenuity alongside AI’s technical prowess.

#ai #gtm #marketing #b2b #aihumans

On today's show I have an extensive conversation with Jeff Schaffzin about all things product marketing. From startups to large corporations our conversation covers product marketing and its impact on companies of all sizes.

Joining me today for a riveting AI & digital advertising conversation with Nikki Lindgren, Founder and Managing Partner at Pennock. Today's conversation covers the use of AI for agencies and how humans combined with AI can deliver the best results.

Plus we dive deep into digital advertising on TikTok, Google and across Meta's platform.

About Nikki:

Nikki Lindgren, an agency founder and startup advisor, is reshaping the landscape of beauty and lifestyle brand marketing with a human-centric approach.

As a trailblazer in scaling DTC businesses, Nikki excels in driving customer acquisition and revenue growth. Her innovative marketing strategies, blending talent, automation, and tools, have consistently delivered +65% month-over-month growth for clients. At the helm of Pennock, where she serves as founder and managing partner, Nikki has overseen the management of over $100 million in digital media. From high-growth tech startups to established household brands, Nikki guides her clients in leveraging their strategic advantages to achieve impressive ROAS.
Nikki's extensive experience spans a spectrum of marketing domains, including search engine marketing, pay-per-click, paid social, display advertising, remarketing/intent-based marketing programs, performance marketing, mobile/video marketing, organic search, app store optimization, native advertising, and influencer/blogger relationships.

Learn more about Pennock:

https://www.pennock.co/

Learn more about Stealth.ltd:

https://www.stealth.ltd/

How often does your company review your product market fit? The reality is most companies rarely review and analyze their product market fit.

1. Begin by talking to your current customers↳ Don't just send them a survey, actually, jump on a Zoom call.

2. Take a hard look at quarterly trends↳ It's always a good idea to analyze macro & micro trends in your market

3. Use multiple team members to analyze data ↳ Don't conduct product market fit reviews in a vacuum. The more eyes on the data the better.

If you're looking to conduct a product market fit review and need some advice feel free to DM me.

Delivering Sales and Marketing Alignment

One of the most important strategies of just about any B2B business is its social media channels. So why do so many B2B brands avoid a regular posting cadence?

Certainly, the answers to this question are different for every company. Still, the main reason tends to revolve around a devalued opinion of the effectiveness of social media channels on their bottom line. Most management teams do not connect the dots between social media and revenue.

Ask yourself this question: Why do some businesses have developer advocates? The companies that do recognize how important it is for their brand to build a relationship with their target market within the confines of the channels they use.

Social media channels like LinkedIn, YouTube, Meta, and even X provide companies with additional channels for brand exposure and revenue. Each of these channels also comes fully loaded with effective ad networks, which make creating brand awareness easier if you have the budget.

Consider how much your team may spend on a trade show; once you factor in all the costs, you are looking at a spend between $25k and $100k plus. Now, take half of that spend and run a social media test on any of the social media channels I mentioned; I'm willing to bet you will receive 5 to 10 times what you would have received at a trade show from a QSL perspective.

Posting on a regular basis is one thing, but it's the strategy behind that can turn your social media channels into one of the most important parts of your marketing mix.

As Axl Rose might say, "Welcome to the PLG Jungle."

In the jungle, many startups have solid products but little experience in acquiring customers. 

In general, PLG models almost always look attractive on paper. While there is nothing wrong with trying the strategy out, most companies eventually turn to traditional sales and marketing tactics to acquire customers for a reason.  

Yes, PLG models tend to work better for developer-focused products and solutions, but even then, most companies eventually turn to traditional revenue-generating tactics.

Why does this happen so often in the startup community? The answer is a combination of investor pressure, company leadership, and nominal custom acquisition experience.

Remember that a PLG model is just a fancy way of saying “Word of Mouth.” Ask yourself how much time and financial resources your company has for word of mouth to take hold.

Ultimately, if you find yourself at a startup and your company is going to market, I recommend running both a PLG model and traditional sales and marketing tactics to get your product to market.

The age-old saying that time is money certainly applies here. 

On today’s show, I chat with Mitch Duckler about a wide range of riveting marketing topics including the challenges AI poses for Brand Marketers, Gen Z “ME” vs. Gen Z “WE”, and more.

Duckler is the founder and managing partner at FullSurge, a brand and marketing strategy consultancy, and the author of the upcoming book “The Future Ready Brand.”

“More than a thought leadership book, The Future-Ready Brand is a symphony of marketing’s most relevant voices today and a compass for the complex, evolving world of branding.” – Guy Kawasaki, NYT bestselling author, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and original Chief Evangelist of Apple

Pre-order The Future Ready Brand (Amazon)

https://www.amazon.sg/Future-Ready-Brand-Influential-Navigating-Technologies/dp/B0CW7WTTFQ

Fullsurge

https://www.fullsurge.com/