Turning a brand into a household name | Steven Kalifowitz (Crypto.com)

Nov 19, 2024

Steven Kalifowitz, CMO of Crypto.com, shares his journey from HBO to one of crypto's leading brands. He dives into the art of transforming a brand amid regulatory hurdles and discusses managing million-dollar marketing budgets. There's insight on differentiating casual from heavy users and leveraging live sports for visibility. Kalifowitz also debunks myths around NFTs and explores the importance of authenticity in branding. His expertise in managing brand narratives shines as he emphasizes the need for constant engagement and strategic partnerships to foster trust.

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Intro

00:00 • 4min

Controlling the Brand Narrative

03:51 • 15min

Branding Strategies in Cryptocurrency

19:02 • 25min

Branding Strategies in B2B Markets

44:22 • 14min

Marketing Team Dynamics and Leadership

58:49 • 24min

Strategic Marketing and Viral Success in the Crypto Space

01:22:27 • 2min

Strategic Broadcasting and Brand Engagement

01:24:50 • 13min

Cinematic Storytelling and the Essence of Bravery in Advertising

01:38:04 • 3min

Brand Marketing Strategies and the Evolving NFT Landscape

01:40:38 • 3min

The Future of NFTs and Blockchain Integration

01:44:05 • 2min

How do you transform a brand into a household name, especially when that brand has a lot of regulatory restrictions? Steven Kalifowitz is doing just that right now with @CryptoComOfficial . When he came on board as the Crypto.com CMO in 2020, he brought years of experience as an Emmy-winning production manager for HBO and lessons from being a Director of Brand Strategy for Twitter. Along with discussing his strategy for transforming Crypto.com into a household name, Steven and Tim also discussed: 00:00 Intro 01:29 Managing million-dollar marketing budgets 05:58 The importance of continued awareness for established brands 13:05 Understanding and nurturing casual vs heavy customers 19:02 Buying the Crypto.com name 21:24 Becoming CMO of Crypto.com 24:58 Are brand strategy blueprints necessary? 34:44 Marketing a brand vs a commodity 53:57 Using live sports as a marketing tool 56:29 Are competitor pages useful? 58:56 How the Crypto.com marketing team is structured 1:05:42 What does Steven do as CMO of Crypto.com? 1:10:43 Leadership and management skills 1:18:48 Advertising at the Sphere and getting around advertising restrictions 1:26:35 Sports partnerships 1:33:45 Celebrity brand films 1:41:54 Are NFTs dead? 1:45:53 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Steven: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skalifowitz/ X: @skalifowitz Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _________________________________________________ Referenced in this episode: Byron Sharp - How Brands Grow: https://brandgenetics.com/human-thinking/how-brands-grow-speed-summary/ CPG/FMCG: https://cdp.com/glossary/cpg-marketing/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fastmoving-consumer-goods-fmcg.asp Fortune Favors the Brave ft. Matt Damon: https://youtu.be/9hBC5TVdYT8?si=qrj6nOB-VDY1yY5W David Oglivy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ogilvy_(businessman) Andy Gove - High Output Management: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Output_Management Patrick Lencioni - Five Dysfunctions of a Team: https://www.tablegroup.com/topics-and-resources/teamwork-5-dysfunctions/ Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People Andy Gove - Only the Paranoid Survive: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66863.Only_the_Paranoid_Survive Inevitable ft. Eminem: https://x.com/Eminem/status/1783859123614052845 The Moment of Truth ft. Lebron James: https://youtu.be/xynQFsPBE3w?si=5Xxr_Q3qacsR6BpV