209: Spinning a New B2B Brand Out of IBM

Imagine a globally recognized brand (say, IBM Watson Marketing) decides to spin out and gets packaged up and purchased by private equity. Imagine said brand not only has big name recognition, but also a handful of acquisitioned companies with some seriously loyal customers. So, you’re a brand-new company with 1,000+ employees, 3,500+ customers in 21 countries, and 5 major products; you need to build an infrastructure, culture, and brand from scratch. Top that all off with a worldwide pandemic, and you’ve got one seriously big challenge ahead of you.

Enter CMO Norman Guadagno. Joining Acoustic in 2019, Norman’s mandate was to create a brand, build a marketing organization, and build a company for the IBM carve-out. Daunting, yes, but in this epic episode, Norman shares how Acoustic has made a name for itself. From partnering with HR to establish a distinct culture to selling the new brand to existing customers, this jam-packed episode is a must for courageous B2B marketers everywhere.