The West Wing: B2B Marketing Lessons from Aaron Sorkin’s Emmy-Winning Show with Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at CSG, David Pendery

Everyone loves getting the insider view.

It’s like getting let in on a secret. There’s an exclusivity to it that’s all too appealing. 

So why not lure your audience in with the chance to be a fly on the wall in your story?

That’s one of the things we’re talking about today with the help of our special guest, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at CSG, David Pendery. 

Together, we’re taking marketing lessons from The West Wing including pitting two characters against each other with opposing views, going for the walk-and-talk, and much more.

About our guest, David Pendery

David Pendery is an award-winning creative, business-focused enterprise marketing & communications leader with extensive experience building brands and businesses, connecting stakeholder needs to company solutions and driving impactful results for 10-figure and Fortune 500 B2B and B2C organizations. He has more than 20 years of experience elevating the visibility, media sophistication and global internal and external interactions of diverse national and international public and private organizations in a wide variety of industries, representing some of the most well-known B2B and B2C brands.

What B2B Companies Can Learn From The West Wing:

• Give the fly-on-the-wall insider view. Let your audience in on the inside scoop of your story. David says in The West Wing, “ It was like you were a fly on the wall in these super secret conversations, right? The way it was written, I think is what was so successful about it.  You just felt like you were the secret observer and it drew people in.” And Ian adds that “ fly on the wall content is crazy valuable.  You feel like you are intruding on a conversation that you are not invited to. And like, that's incredibly cool for the audience.”
• Pit two characters against each other with opposing views. It’s an easy formula for a compelling plot, it’s repeatable, and it works every time. Plus you have one of the greatest writers - Aaron Sorkin - using it in his content. Ian says, “ The way that Sorkin wrote the show, is The West Wing happens in the west wing of the White House. So he would repeatedly say to his staff, ‘Our show is at its best when it's one of our characters that we love, they’re disagreeing with another character that we love, and they are on either side of something. And it is happening in the West Wing.’”
• Go for the walk-and-talk. In The West Wing, a character is often walking down the hallway and other staffers are coming up and updating them or giving them important information on the way. The movement gives the information immediacy and importance. Which are great attributes to lend your content. Ian says, “ I think it's an interesting thing to put your CEO or executive or whoever it is - your persona - and it's a really good way to get video content, right? It's like having them walking and having other people come up to them and jump in and do this. You never see that in B2B, never. You never see that. And it's funny. It's pretty cool.”

Quotes

*”The biggest thing is you've got to establish some credibility with the stakeholders. So I think it’s not really something you're going to be able to come in and do on day one, but if you can prove some value, if you can deliver on the results that you've been tasked with delivering, you'll build up this credibility bank and your stakeholders will let you push the envelope a little bit more.  That credibility allows you to be a little bit more experimental, a little bit more agile, and not get too hung up when things don't always work exactly the way you had hoped.”

*”Have your A players up front, make sure you've got the right people surrounding you. Having the right people in the right seats on the bus, so to speak, I think is super important because you wouldn't have that same sort of beautiful orchestration that you saw with The West Wing if it wasn't for the right blend of talents and personalities and experiences in all the right seats.”

*”Well, so much B2B marketing is so perfectly staged, right? You've got the perfect talking head and everything's polished and overproduced. You've got the perfect soundtrack and the perfect graphics and everything else. And I think sometimes just getting something a little bit more raw like that walk-and-talk kind of gives you that. It's a little unfiltered. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be the 15th take to get the talking points just right. It's just a real, authentic kind of moment that I think is a lot more endearing. And people are much more interested in something that isn't perfect, cause it's more relatable.”

Time Stamps

[0:55] Meet David Pendery, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at CSG

[1:41] Why the West Wing?

[4:00] The Origins of the West Wing

[11:52] Marketing Lessons from the West Wing

[26:24] Embracing Raw and Authentic B2B Marketing

[26:59] The Importance of Creativity in Marketing

[28:36] Understanding Customer Needs Through Direct Conversations

[30:57] Timing and Flexibility in B2B Marketing

[37:59] The Role of Personal Branding in Company Success

[43:54] Investing in Content and Brand Strategy

[47:03] Exciting Trends and Future Plans

[48:00] Final Thoughts and Advice for CMOs

Links

Connect with David on LinkedIn

Learn more about CSG

About Remarkable!

Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. 

In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Meredith Gooderham, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. 

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