The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

In this special episode, brought to you by Ceres Talent, a marketing staffing agency run by modern-day marketing matchmakers, we’re going to talk about planning for 2024, and what the experts are seeing as marketing leaders are identifying hiring needs and developing headcount budgets for 2024.To help me discuss these topics, I’d like to welcome Sue Keith, Corporate Vice President at Ceres Talent.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Ceres Talent website: https://www.cerestalent.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISThe episode delves into the significance of returning to the office, highlighting that it encompasses more than just resuming work tasks. It emphasizes the importance of in-person interactions and spontaneous conversations, such as hallway chats and impromptu whiteboarding sessions, in fostering innovation within the organization. These types of interactions are seen as lacking on platforms like Zoom, which lack the spontaneity and connection-building that comes with face-to-face communication.Furthermore, the guest, Sue Keith from Ceres Talent, underscores that being physically present allows for the development of what they refer to as the "connective tissue" of the organization. This involves getting to know individuals in different departments and areas of the company, such as operations, finance, or HR. Building these connections and understanding everyone's collective role contributes to a stronger sense of connection to the overall mission of the company.

Today we’re going to talk about headless commerce, what it is, how to do it well, and why it is making sense for more and more brands.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Jim Tattersall, Founder & CTO at Rotate°.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Rotate website: https://studiorotate.com/The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, Jim Tattersall from Rotate emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the customer experience over solely maintaining a system. They explain that when organizations focus too much on maintaining the system, it can cause teams to lose sight of their philosophy. This means that teams may become overly focused on the technical aspects of system maintenance rather than finding ways to enhance the overall customer experience.The speaker stresses the need for organizations to fully operationalize this customer-centric approach. They highlight the significance of clean and reliable data in this process. It is crucial for organizations to determine the source of truth for their data and where it should be stored.oices

According to a recent report titled “The Tipping Point for Travel Loyalty in 2023” from iSeatz, while 61% of consumers believe that the loyalty programs they belong to are helping them to save money and get more value from their travel experience, only 51% of them visit their loyalty program website first when making travel booking decisions. What’s worse - 63% of loyalty providers thing they are their members’ first choice. So there are some disconnects between what customers want and are experiencing, and what loyalty programs are providing.Today we’re going to talk about the state of customer loyalty programs and the role of personalization in improving customer retention and lifetime value.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Andy Hermo, Chief Commercial Officer at iSeatz.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!iSeatz Loyalty Series report: https://www.iseatz.com/loyalty-series-report?utm_campaign=Tipping%20point%20for%20Loyalty%20H2%20-%20Clone&utm_source=Press%20Release&utm_content=Download%20FormiSeatz website: https://www.iseatz.com/en/The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISAccording to the podcast episode, companies must prioritize understanding and meeting their customers' needs to improve their loyalty programs. One challenge is the lack of options and breadth of offerings in loyalty programs, which prevents customers from always choosing their loyalty program provider first. To enhance loyalty programs, customers expect a wide range of options that cater to their preferences and interests. Technology also plays a crucial role, and companies without modern tech stacks may struggle to keep up with evolving consumer needs. It is essential to invest in scalable and adaptable platforms that can incorporate advanced personalization capabilities. Additionally, dedicated and highly talented resources are necessary to drive a strategic loyalty approach. Relying on shared or part-time resources from marketing or finance departments may not be sufficient for effective loyalty program management. Therefore, companies should prioritize understanding and meeting customer needs, leveraging technology, and investing in the right talent to improve their loyalty programs.

In December of 2022, digital marketers in the healthcare industry were impacted by an expanded definition of PHI or personal health information in the HIPAA, or the health insurance portability and accountability act regulations, which are the the federal law in the United States that protects sensitive patient health incormation from being disclosed.While this impacts healthcare companies in the US most specifically, and our conversation today is going to center around healthcare marketers, there are lessons to be learned here for marketers in any industry or locale where consumer data privacy is under increased scrutiny and regulationsToday we’re going to talk about creating a HIPAA-compliance marketing technology stack, and how to not sacrifice marketing effectiveness while still protecting consumer data, in this case personal health information.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Ray Mina, Head of Marketing at Freshpaint.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Freshpaint website: https://www.freshpaint.comPrivacy First Framework Article: https://www.freshpaint.io/blog/privacy-first-framework-for-hipaa-complianceThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISn this episode, the speaker discusses the challenges faced by healthcare organizations in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare, where a compliance-driven mindset often hinders progress. This mindset is characterized by a tendency to avoid taking risks and halt all activities when problems arise. However, the speaker emphasizes that this approach is ineffective for achieving patient-focused outcomes. Instead, they suggest adopting a mindset shift that focuses on finding effective ways to address issues while still complying with regulations.To navigate the compliance landscape more effectively, the speaker mentions the availability of tools like Fresh Paint for healthcare organizations. They emphasize that although this approach may differ from traditional methods, it is not necessarily more difficult. The key is to embrace a mindset shift that prioritizes patient outcomes and adapts to the changing regulatory environment.The concept of "compliance by design" is also discussed in the episode, which involves incorporating compliance considerations from the start of any project or initiative. By integrating compliance into the operational side of healthcare organizations, they can avoid losing sight of patients and other important aspects, such as marketing. This approach allows organizations to use the tools that work best for them while still ensuring compliance.

Today we’re going to talk about the power of finding the right channel to share your expertise with others, while finding ways to continually learn more.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Jonathan Rivera, Founder of The Podcast Factory and Host of ResultsLeader.fm.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Podcast Factory website: https://www.thepodcastfactory.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, Greg Kihlström is joined by Jonathan Rivera, founder of The Podcast Factory and host of resultsleader.fm, to discuss the power of finding the right channel to share your expertise with others while continually learning. They share valuable insights and tips for marketers and CX professionals on how to create an agile brand. Tune in to gain valuable knowledge on marketing technology and CX.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re going to talk about using customer feedback effectively, and how businesses can take the wealth of information they collect from their customers to make better business decisions that help both the customer, their employees, and the business.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Adam Alfia, Founder of Real Time Feedback.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the importance of responding to feedback is emphasized, with both the host and guest agreeing on its crucial role for brands. They discuss the negative impact of sending surveys and not receiving any response, which makes customers feel like their feedback is being ignored. The guest, Adam Alfea, founder of Realtime Feedback, emphasizes that responding to feedback is a win-win situation for both customers and employees. Customers feel heard and valued, while employees receive recognition for their good work. Adam also suggests that brands should analyze the feedback they receive to identify areas of concern that need improvement. Overall, the episode highlights the significance of responding to feedback and using it to enhance the customer experience.The episode also explores how effectively using customer feedback can benefit businesses. The host introduces the topic and mentions that businesses can use the wealth of information collected from customers to make better decisions. Adam Alfea further discusses the importance of responding to customer feedback and recognizing employees for their good work. He advises brands to respond to customer feedback as a first step in improving their methods of collecting and implementing insights from customers.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re going to talk about how focusing on internal processes can provide both internal and external benefits to a business.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Nikhil Nandagopal, Co-Founder and CPO of Appsmith.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re going to talk about first-party data strategies and how to be successful in a world of cookie deprecation, evolving data privacy regulations, the evolution of data clean rooms, and retail media networks.To help me discuss these topics, I’d like to welcome Derek Slager, CTO & Co-Founder at Amperity.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Amperity website: https://www.amperity.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the speaker emphasizes the value of taking action and implementing real use cases. They highlight the tendency for people to get lost in the abstract and stress the importance of focusing on the details and putting ideas into practice. By engaging in real use cases and collaborating with others, individuals can gain valuable insights and learn from both laggards and leaders. The speaker also emphasizes that progress should not be hindered by the pursuit of perfection, and encourages listeners to go out and apply real use cases. They mention that customers who have done so have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of results they achieved. Overall, the episode underscores the significance of taking action and implementing real use cases to drive learning and improvement.In addition, the speaker discusses the crucial role of better data in achieving better results across various marketing technology use cases. They explain that at Amparity, everything is viewed through the lens of better data leading to better outcomes. This principle applies not only to traditional MarTech use cases, but also to upcoming changes in ad tech, data clean rooms, and retail media. The speaker suggests that better data is essential for achieving improved outcomes in these areas.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brands must meet customer expectations for a personalized experience throughout the buyer's journey. One key opportunity to achieve this is by leveraging AI-based tools that offer relevant images and videos. These resources educate customers, manage their expectations, and ultimately drive higher conversion rates while reducing return rates.Today we’re going to talk about enhancing the e-commerce experience using personalization and generative AI, and to do this we’re going to talk about some statistics in some research that was recently done by Cloudinary.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Paul Thompson, Head of Technical Marketing at Cloudinary.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Cloudinary website: https://www.cloudinary.com The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the importance of personalization and customization in enhancing the e-commerce experience and driving higher conversion rates is discussed. The host highlights a study by McKinsey, which reveals that 78% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases from companies that personalize their offerings. This underscores the significance of tailoring the customer experience to meet individual preferences and needs.The guest, Paul Thompson, further elaborates on how platforms like Cloudinary can facilitate this level of personalization. By leveraging their platform and APIs, businesses can create customized experiences and images for their customers. For instance, they can develop image target ads with localized text overlays or content specific to a user's location. Such customization fosters a more engaging and relevant experience, thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence these days in many areas of the business, and marketing is one that we talk about a lot on this show, but there’s a reason why - and that is because AI is fundamentally shifting the way we not only work, but the way we think about our work.Today we’re going to talk about AI as marketing team member, not simply as a tool you use in isolated instances.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Daniel Maloney, CEO & Co-Founder of Tailwind.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the importance of having a plan and a willingness to learn and improve when adopting AI tools is emphasized. The guest speaker acknowledges that initially, the quality of AI tools may be average, underscoring the need for a well-thought-out plan. The person responsible for exploring and implementing the AI tool must be willing to acknowledge its imperfections and be open to learning and finding ways to enhance it. This highlights the significance of having a growth mindset and adaptability when integrating AI into marketing strategies.The episode also highlights the importance of leaders initiating conversations with their teams about AI. This is crucial because the team may already be utilizing AI in ways that the leader may not be aware of. By creating a safe space for dialogue, leaders can quickly gain insights into the AI tools and processes their team is using, while also fostering an environment where team members can educate each other. These conversations can also help leaders understand the challenges and opportunities that AI presents in their specific work environment. Engaging in dialogue with the team allows leaders to gain valuable insights and knowledge about AI and its potential applications within the organization.Furthermore, the guest discusses how AI can be utilized as a tool to enhance workflows and improve efficiency. They suggest that individuals should focus on improving one specific workflow and begin exploring the various AI tools available for that purpose. By concentrating on a specific area, individuals can gain a better understanding of the AI tools that are available and how they can be integrated into their workflow. This targeted approach enables a more effective implementation of AI technology. Additionally, the guest emphasizes the importance of human oversight and intervention in checking the work done by AI tools, as they are not perfect substitutes for human capabilities. Human involvement is still necessary to ensure accuracy and quality. Overall, the episode highlights the potential benefits of incorporating AI into workflows and encourages individuals to explore the various AI tools that can support their specific needs.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices