The Damn Good Podcast

Welcome back! It’s season 2, and we’re starting, as always, with the big questions.
If you’ve had failed digital marketing experiences, it is only natural to be unsure about trying it again. In this episode, we discuss why some things fail, and others succeed, with seemingly no explanation offered.
In this episode, we discuss why this might be happening, and how to fix it.
[00:26-1:54] It takes ten years to become an overnight success.
[03:00-06:10] What does digital marketing success mean to me? Defining parameters, being realistic.
[07:00-12:49] What if this effort fails again six months from now?
[14:00-17:45] Feeding the ad monster, and where breaking even figures in all of this AKA should I be spending ad dollars at all?
[17:45-19:45] Positioning your brand the right way, and why saying one thing right, is better than saying many right things
[19:45-22:30] Who owns my digital brand, and marketing efforts?
[24:02] Topic-Al. There’s usually no better way to give a brand a lift than to rope in an influencer. But what happens when an influencer goes rogue and begins spouting ideas that you as a brand do not agree with?
We dive into the Adidas and Ye example and talk about why the right kind of influencer for your brand may actually be lurking elsewhere.
Oh! The Places You'll Go (When you click on these links)
Want to dance to the peppiest wedding song created this past year? Tune into Gulab Jamun Nahi Tha by OnlyDesi and Hanu Dixit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u36xh7UzUys
The other wedding dance video that went viral involved a certain famous pair of sunglasses, a bunch of wonderful dancers, and a decade of just keeping at it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGRdDEgSdvw
Liked it? Hit that big follow/ subscribe button the top right so you know when the next episode comes out.
We're on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/
And Instagram
@damngoodcommunity
@official_motley_crew
©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna
This episode was produced in collaboration with CrazyTok Media. The voice of Topic-Al for this season is Naivanya.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

All mentions of the metaverse aside, this one's a very 'meta' episode. For the final episode of this season, we look back at what we said during the season and test whether that advice still holds.

After all, in marketing, there's always a shiny new tool to buy, or advice to follow. And yet, good recommendations (yep, not even a sign of humility in us here), do tend to stand the test of time. 

So, should you start your own podcast as a marketing channel? Should you fall for that Instagram urge to show you the most irrelevant content? Maybe, let's just all chill out a bit instead. 

We'll be back with season 2 soon, and an announcement will be made on our website, LinkedIn profiles, yada yada...but do tune into the episodes you missed, and tune back into the episodes you didn't miss. 

Until then, if you have existential questions, speak to a therapist, but if you have marketing questions (or just need a Damn Good t-shirt), please reach out to us on LinkedIn.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/ 

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in 

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

Over time, Hasita's favourite marketing saying has become this- most people do not have marketing goals, they have marketing dreams.

Marketing campaigns can (and should) be creative and fun and even a bit outrageous. Marketing goals, however, need to be rooted in reality, plain hard facts, and be oftentimes, boring. 

How do you move from early traction to actual marketing? What marketing processes should you multiply and which ones should you kill?

In this episode, Aniiket Sengar, Director of Marketing Ops for Digbi Health talks us through the process of scaling your wins, testing everything, and knowing when to give up on a bad marketing plan.

Digbi Health is revolutionizing healthcare- they use individual health markers and targeted health plans to get us all to live the best life we could ever live. In under three years, they have achieved astounding business growth, and in this episode, Aniiket discusses how they went from a small marketing team to a full-fledged powerhouse in the middle of a pandemic.

Burger King's marketing is often customer-facing, and rather tongue-in-cheek. But even they couldn't foresee the disaster of a tweet thread that begins on the wrong note. A reminder to all of us to watch what we say.

If you have questions about what we say on this episode, reach out to us on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniket-sengar/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

Yep, one of us has a cold here, and it isn't the guest. We apologize in advance for the 'nn's that sound like the 'dd's.

Pranoy Thipaiah of Kerehaklu knows something, almost viscerally, that a lot of brand managers, marketing folk, and businesspeople miss- no one hangs out on social media to hear from brands. 

We hang out here, instead, to feel connected with the people and things that matter to us. Why, then, do we push so much of the product messaging? Why, then, as Pranoy says, do we "sell the sausage and not the sizzle"?

This episode addresses questions that we all must ask and ponder before turning a social media platform, and one as finicky as Instagram, into a sales channel. 

As a creator, Pranoy has spent the last four years on Instagram cataloging and chronicling his own journey with coffee on the family's estate. And what we get to see is a rich, diverse experience of coffee as it was, and as it will be. 

If you're wondering where the business outcomes are, Blue Tokai buys out several lots of Kerehaklu coffee, lets Pranoy take over their Instagram account, and features their coffee lots in their Producer Series. 

So let's just take a step back, look at Instagram for what it is- a means to connect, share, and tell stories- and let the business outcomes be based on engagement. If communities are indeed the future of marketing, there's no better place to build them today than on social media.

Kerehaklu is on Instagram @kerehaklu. We STRONGLY recommend following them.

And as always, we're on LinkedIn here

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

Existential crises aside, we ask this question (and get asked often as well)- do I matter in the larger scheme of (virtual) things?

Being on social media can be hard both for individuals and brands, and yet there is a reward for consistency, for having opinions and being able to articulate them in ways that benefit us and the people consuming what we put out there.

In this episode, we dive into how businesses and brand owners can play the social media game in beneficial ways, how much is too much, how little is too little, and that utopian sweet spot of social media as a marketing channel.

The Whole Truth Foods made a splash on Instagram recently by....choosing to quit Instagram entirely. Here's an excellent piece on why they did, and what it means for brands to choose not to play some games: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/storyboard18-shashank-mehta-on-why-the-whole-truth-is-on-an-instagram-break-8798041.html

Swiggy, meanwhile, took moment marketing and turned it into a real-life version of Pokemon Go, except this time, we're all looking for the elusive Swiggy partner who prefers to travel by horse.

Several of the examples discussed on this podcast are from active client case studies. If you'd like more details, please reach out to us on LinkedIn on the approach we take, and why we take it.

We're on LinkedIn here

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

Speaking of existential crises, do check out @nasawebb on Instagram to feel like a grain of sand on a cosmic beach.

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

After avoiding the subject for as long as possible (no we're just kidding, we've been dying to do an episode on LinkedIn), Subha and Hasita wade into the realm of social media. And what better place to start, than with the world's largest professional networking platform?

Looking at LinkedIn today, it is hard to see it as a professional platform sometimes. It is replete with opinions that we don't always agree with, or ideas that we don't quite comprehend. But it is also a land of opportunities- to learn, to observe, to eventually even share what we think.

Most conversations on LinkedIn are all about the action- how many posts to do, how to get a few thousand followers quickly, or how to make these posts go viral. 

We're shifting the conversation, however, to engaging more mindfully. Knowing that social media comes with its own quirks and fallacies, how can we play a positive-sum game? How can we lead conversations to a place where they help us all? How, even, do we get over the very real fears of constantly being in the spotlight? 

Where do we begin? 

This episode is focused on answering these very questions.

The funniest man on LinkedIn also happens to be a copywriter. Find him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveharland/

If you're generally curious about marketing, do give some of the folks mentioned on the podcast a follow. You can also tune in to Ep.5 of this podcast to hear Andrei talk about customer segmentation.

And of course, we're on LinkedIn here

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

We hear your frustration!

If you want to find out how successful a marketing team will be in the future, get them all to agree on how to go about building a website. Because of its front-facing significance, and its dynamic nature, and its role in reflecting evolving company goals, and its complexity in mapping.....and the list goes on, but we can count on the fingers of one hand the number of website projects that went precisely how everyone hoped they would.

But, if there were a mythical 'right way' to build a website, what would that be? 

That's precisely what Subha and Hasita dive into in this episode, covering aspects such as what to consider before starting a website project, who gets a seat at the table, who has vetoing authority, what you really need, and truly do not need, on your website, what platforms to choose, and so much more. 

RainKraft's website (www.rainkraft.in) is built on Wix. 

BluSapphire, the cybersecurity company mentioned in the episode, and Motley Crew's own website, are both built on Webflow and can be found here.

www.blusapphire.com

www.motleycrew.in

Got questions on what we say on this episode? We sure as hell think you would, given that websites give several business owners sleepless nights. We'd be happy to answer all questions and concerns via LinkedIn DM.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

Well here's a super-common question we get asked- if we don't really know our story, how can we count on a consultant to tell us?

Personally, we've grappled with this question quite a bit, too. However, having sat in on several brand strategy workshops now, we've come to understand that the role of a brand strategist is quite like that of a therapist- they have the ability to ask the right questions, to use their experience to form the best conclusions, and lead our brand picture from confusion to clarity.

What is branding? What is marketing? And what is brand marketing? Sometimes, it is so easy to get lost in the jargon. Joining us on this episode are Madhav Maheshwaran and Thomas Sehested, Strategy Directors for Stereo Associates in India and Denmark respectively.

Let's get our brand-related ducks in a row!

IndiGo, as a public-facing brand, seems to get its brand fundamentals bang-on and messed up, usually at the same time. In the episode, we discuss why a brand isn't just what we build, but what people perceive. Since the time that we recorded this episode, IndiGo has been in the news for the way it treated a specially-abled passenger. This just goes to show why it is so vitally important to know exactly who you are, and that's where a great brand strategist can help.

The Sweathead episode with the Senior Manager for Global Insights for The Lego Group can be found here: https://anchor.fm/sweathead-by-mark-pollard/episodes/What-I-Wish-I-Knew-About-Brand-Strategy-Ten-Years-Ago---Marcelo-Ferrarini--The-Lego-Group-e1g75d7/a-a7ks4mh

Attribution is a tricky premise to work with, and we're finding this to be true more of the time. In a rush to track clicks, opens, and sends, we're forgetting to build the relationships needed to sell better. Rand Fishkin of SparkToro dives into this here https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6930237848910471168

Got questions on what we say on this episode? Reach out to Hasita on LinkedIn at in.linkedin.com/in/hasita

Topic-Al is a podcast segment where we take ourselves and the world of marketing a lot less seriously. Topic-Al, the character, is a curious cat who you see on our podcast creatives and cover. Designed by Sahita Krishna, and voiced by Sahil Mahajan.

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

Genius. Billionaire. Playboy. Philanthropist. Who is this?

Subha and Hasita guessed two very different people, which made us think about ICP, or ideal customer profile.

Often, our best efforts to engage prospects fail because we don’t understand the real-world context of a client. We group them by age, by gender, by location and income, but never enough by their interests, their drivers, or their everyday pain points.

In this episode, Andrei Zinkevich tells us how to get our ICP right.

Andrei Zinkevich and Vladimir Blagojevic run FullFunnel.io and a wonderful community for B2B marketers. You can join the Trenches here https://trenches.community/

In this episode, Andrei talks about building your ideal customer profile by looking at past clients. But, what if you’re relatively new and don’t have past clients? This is where market research comes into the picture.

At Motley Crew, we almost never begin a project without market research being in the picture, or ask to sit in on active sales conversations and observe what clients actually ask for. More about this approach can be found at https://motleycrew.in/project/cybersecurity-digital-marketing

A transcript of the episode is available at https://www.motleycrew.in/post/the-damn-good-marketing-podcast-ep-5-icp-with-andrei-zinkevich

Topic-Al is a podcast segment where we take ourselves and the world of marketing a lot less seriously. Topic-Al, the character, is a curious cat who you see on our podcast creatives and cover. Designed by Sahita Krishna, voiced by Sahil Mahajan.

This episode was produced in collaboration with Audstory.

Tell us what you think of this episode!

We’re on LinkedIn here:

https://in.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

©Motley Crew Marketing Services- Hasita Krishna

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com

Welcome! This episode has Subha and Hasita discussing a topic that’s immensely close to their heart- content marketing.

CRED ads are a cult of their own, but how do you really go viral like they did? Should you indulge in moment marketing? Should you write blogs? Build case studies? We answer these questions and many more in this episode.

The viral Dollar Shave Club ad is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI

We bunged up on JK Rowling and what she’s now infamous for. Truly sorry. We do not stand for any and all kinds of discrimination that put any individual in a disadvantaged position.

The example involving a Crock-Pot, a house on fire, and a beloved characted can be read about here https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/01/this-is-us-jack-death-crock-pot-statement

The mishap with Peloton can be discovered here https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/12/mr-big-peloton-death-sex-and-the-city

Do you have feedback, thoughts, and comments? Subha and Hasita are here

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/

Check out what we do at Motley Crew at www.motleycrew.in

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-damn-good-podcast/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hasitakrishna.substack.com