The Kula Ring

The Summer Spotlight Series is back. We are going to be taking a second look at a great chat with David A. Stark: Legacy manufacturers that previously dominated their verticals now have to contend with new entrants who know how to create focused messaging in digital spaces. In this episode of The Kula Ring, David A. Stark, Digital Marketing Transformation Growth Leader, talks about the value of shifting from a tactical to a strategic digital marketing strategy as competition increases, and how to bolster branding with a strong digital presence in order to reach prospects.

In this week’s episode of The Summer Spotlight Series, we look back on our conversation with Ashley Riley. We talked about the power of process and alignment, specifically referencing the RACI setup to keep team members informed and accountable on where they fit into the organization. She dove deeper to talk about how she kept her workforce connected through the power of technology, process automation, and systems to give her team the tools they need to thrive.

Sales and marketing alignment is huge, and historically, sales and marketing haven’t been best friends. Steven Nghe, Head of Marketing and Communications at Kloeckner Metals, discusses when Kloeckner Metals realized that sales and marketing had changed, and they needed to change with it. He discusses the digitalization of more multidimensional and complex marketing practices that need to be enhanced for sales and marketing to make selling manufacturing more efficient. He also discusses how he gained trust from VPs on marketing being a worthwhile investment by exposing what marketing really is.

Using asymmetric marketing can help you stay agile in a highly competitive market, says David Koerner, the VP of Global Marketing for 75F. He and his team have found success by applying an asymmetric lens to their marketing efforts to attract and convert their customers. David believes that marketers need to think outside the box—he talks about examples from Burger King, Five Guys, and Southwest Airlines, where they targeted their audiences in unconventional ways to stay ahead of the competition. Hear more from David Koerner on this episode of The Kula Ring.

This week on the Summer Spotlight Series we are digging into data and exploring technology to undercover insights in your organization. We are featuring Ryan Knox, Co-founder of Bridge Digital explores the use of digital tools to create efficiency in all areas of an organization from IT, Marketing, Sales, and more. He discusses the benefits of extracting data vs. using specific tools to help organizations get results that helps them do their job better and the importance of creating excitement for internal change when implementing new technologies. Give this one a listen, it was great the first time and it is great this time!

This week on the Summer Spotlight Series, We are looking back on our conversation with Paul Dailey. While Paul was at Outback Power he was at the helm of transitioning to new technologies and growing their available market. Paul shares some fantastic insight on marketing in a growing industry and establishing a value proposition as customers' options expand. This was a great chat and we are so pleased to bring it back to our listeners.

This week in the Summer Spotlight Series, we are shining our light on Matt Canter and the wonderful conversation we had with him! We talked about objectives and key results methodology he used while at Greenfield Global. With Matt’s diverse background we get a well rounded look at the methods he describes. Utilizing automation and efficient systems with deep organizational alignment, Matt shares his successes. Whether you heard it then or it is new, you can learn something from this chat!

When word-of-mouth is how your product is marketed the most, what are the keys to influencing the messaging among peers? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Matt Fiddes, Founder and CMO of Agility Technologies, explains how they develop their products with the specific needs of their rescue worker customer base in mind. With their FIRSTLOOK brand, they build relationships to introduce the product at all levels in the rescue industry including trainers, influencers, users, and the public tax-paying community. He also describes the importance of customer service to gain a competitive advantage in the first responder community.

We got a chance to chat with Ashlei Urwiller from Norland International this week on the show. Which led to a few first on The Kula Ring! Ashlei and Norland are doing some interesting work in their marketing efforts that include broadening what their customers can do. We also talked about how Norland puts their own products to work for themselves, leading to a fantastic understanding of what their customers need in the field. This is a good one folks!

Kicking off the Summer Spotlight Series, we are going to feature Meaghan Ziemba. Her voice and presence is top tier, we loved talking to her then and are so happy to have her leading the charge in the Summer Spotlight Series. | Mavens of Manufacturing host Meaghan Ziemba started the live video broadcast series to help close the gender and skills gap in the manufacturing industry. The show is a place for women in the male-dominated industry to share their stories and support one another, as well as offer mentorship for women at the start of their careers. The Mavens community also works with the education system in the US to better inform young women and girls about manufacturing or engineering career pathways.