

OnBase: Smashing Sales and Marketing Misalignments
Demandbase
Sunny Side Up is now 'OnBase', the no-fluff, all-impact B2B podcast bridging the divide between sales and marketing. Hear from the sharpest minds in B2B as they share revenue-boosting tactics and lessons straight from the frontlines and help you solve your toughest challenges.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 14, 2023 • 38min
420 | Forging the Future of GTM: Enterprise vs. Growth ABM
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Tara Quehl interviews Davis Potter, diving deep into the intricate realm of Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Davis, a seasoned ABM practitioner, delineates the nuances between growth ABM and enterprise ABM strategies, spotlighting the crucial considerations of resource limitations and tiered methodologies. The discussion delves into key performance indicators, focusing on escalating contact engagement and burgeoning revenue, essential for gauging ABM effectiveness. As the conversation unfolds, the transformative potential of AI takes center stage, envisioning a future of scalable personalization and automated ad optimization.
About the Guest
Davis currently leads the ABM function at Telesign, and the CEO of ForgeX, a B2B market research and advisory think tank specializing in Account-Based Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies and Generative AI. He has experience launching, optimizing, and scaling ABM programs within hyper-growth VC-backed startups, mid-size organizations, and some of the world's largest and most renowned enterprises.
Connect with Davis Potter
Key Takeaways
- ABM methods vary: Choose growth or enterprise based on launch speed and account coverage.
- Account engagement and revenue growth are core ABM success indicators.
- AI revolutionizes personalization at scale, elevating ad messaging and account intelligence.
- Contact engagement categorizes interactions, enabling focused actions for specific contacts.
- Deal velocity, sourced, and influenced revenue metrics measure ABM's revenue impact.
- Differentiate between tiered accounts for resource allocation and strategic alignment.
- Growth ABM adopts a tiered methodology for efficient account prioritization and faster testing.
- Personalized ad platforms driven by AI optimize and iterate messaging for better results.
- ABM evolves with AI, enhancing personalization, account intelligence, and ad optimization capabilities.
- Prioritize account engagement for both overall contact interaction and core buying group involvement.
- Growth ABM offers a streamlined approach, allowing faster testing and resource allocation within tiers.
- Enterprise ABM demands deeper one-to-one or one-to-few interactions, requiring more resources.
Quote
“In growth ABM, you're able to test and iterate so fast within your tactics.” – Davis Potter
Recommended Resources
Newsletter:The Pleiss is Right by Tyler Pleiss
Shout-outs
Désirée Daniels – Head of ABM & Industry - Retail, Fashion, Beauty & Consumer at Google
Alessandra Fagone – Director, Global Revenue Marketing - Acquisition and Customer Growth at Workhuman
Akriti Gupta– Marketing Director at LinkedIn
Connect with Davis Potter | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Sep 14, 2023 • 22min
Ep. 421 | Mastering Marketing: Strategies for Success in Changing Landscapes
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Michael Malone interviews Kathy Neumann, CMO of Rent., about mastering marketing strategies for success in changing landscapes. Michael welcomes Kathy to the show and delves into her extensive background in retail marketing, discussing how it has shaped her current role as CMO at Rent.. Kathy emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer motivations and solving their problems by marrying consumer insights with technology trends. She talks about the challenges of maintaining consumer-centricity and avoiding personal biases in marketing strategies. The conversation shifts towards the impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation, with Kathy highlighting how the pandemic accelerated the adoption of mobile-first and digital experiences. She shares insights about her approach to building teams, focusing on hiring for attitude and aptitude, and cultivating a culture of curiosity and adaptability. Kathy also discusses the successful rebranding of Rent. and the crucial role of engaging employees in the transformation process. She emphasizes the significance of internal engagement metrics and external client feedback in measuring the success of a rebrand.
About the Guest
Kathy joins us from Rent. where she has been CMO for the last year and a half. During her tenure at Rent. she has led a complete relaunch of the company including branding, product architecture, and company culture, resulting in a reversal of business trends from declining business to double-digit growth.
Kathy's background is steep in consumer, digital, and brand marketing across brands such as Chewy, Carter's, Lands' End, and Victoria's Secret.Connect with Kathy Neumann
Key Takeaways
- Perspective shift: View industry challenges from the consumer's point of view, not just personal perspective.
- COVID-19 accelerated digital adoption and mobile-first mindset, impacting consumer expectations.
- A curious attitude is crucial when hiring for marketing roles; look for adaptability over current expertise.
- Embrace progress over precision and encourage trying new ideas within the marketing team.
- Successful rebranding involves rallying the entire organization around the "why" and fostering engagement.
- Metrics for internal success: Employee engagement, referrals, swag requests, and pride in the brand.
- External metrics include traffic, conversion rates, engagement, and feedback from customers.
- Navigating chaos: Maintain curiosity, recognize evolving industry trends, and stay adaptable.
- Rebranding isn't just about visuals; it's about transforming culture and aligning the entire organization.
- Communicate the "why" of change multiple times in different ways to ensure understanding and buy-in.
- Embrace disruption by focusing on where the industry is headed and adapting accordingly.
Quote
"You can't stretch standing still, so I applaud people on my team that try new things, and we celebrate the failures by learning what we can out of those interactions and quickly course correcting, but if you're not moving, you're not growing in today's environment.” – Kathy Neumann
Recommended Resources
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Shout-outs
Susan Sachatello – Chief Marketing Officer at Compeer Financial
Matthew Doerrs – Vice President of B2B Marketing at Rent.
Connect with Kathy Neumann | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Sep 7, 2023 • 13min
Ep. 419 | Unlocking ABM Success in a Resource-Constrained Landscape
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Devan Cohen interviews Dan Radu, the founder and president of Macro, a digital marketing partner specializing in ABM programs. Dan shares insights into the concept of Account-Based Everything (ABE), emphasizing the importance of aligning marketing, sales, and customer success teams around a common account-focused mindset. He discusses the challenges faced by organizations operating in a resource-constrained landscape and highlights key metrics like account engagement score, opportunity creation probability, and deal size that drive ABM success. Dan underscores the significance of collaboration between teams and the role of agency partners like Macro in operationalizing go-to-market strategies. He provides step-by-step guidance on effectively implementing ABM, from tiering accounts to evaluating channel performance.
About the Guest
Dan is the founder & president of Macro, a digital marketing partner helping global marketing teams run ABM programs. For the past 10 years, the team serviced enterprise-class clients working as a natural extension of their team.
Connect with Dan Radu
Key Takeaways
- Account-Based Everything (ABE) is a mindset aligning marketing, sales, and customer success around account engagement.
- Prioritize limited resources by focusing on ideal customer profiles and joint team efforts.
- Metrics: Track account engagement score, initiative impact on opportunities, deal probability, and size.
- Collaboration among teams is crucial; cross-discipline experts can bridge gaps effectively.
- Agencies like Macro help operationalize go-to-market strategies, adapting and executing with expertise.
- Ideal clients for agency support are global marketing teams needing regional assistance and tech expertise.
- Challenges include aligning diverse objectives, integrating systems, and replicating successful tactics.
- Start with understanding account-based readiness and the need for external partnership.
- Assess current account-based marketing efforts to determine readiness and approach.
- Efficient operationalization involves tiering accounts, monitoring buying signals, and defining partner roles.
- Consistent attribution models enhance performance tracking; and avoid frequent changes.
- Maintain accurate account data, ensure team alignment, and adopt an account-based everything mindset.
Quote
"Account-Based Everything (ABE) is a mindset aligning marketing, sales, and customer success around account engagement." – Dan Radu
Book:- The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Shout-outs
Geoff Linton – Co-Chair Market Council at the Canadian Marketing Association and Founder of Connect Digital Hub
Connect with Dan Radu |Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Aug 31, 2023 • 25min
Ep. 418 | Journey of a Sales Titan: Unveiling Career Insights and Leadership Secrets
Devan Cohen interviews Kevin Chen, VP of sales development at Pure Facts Financial Solutions. They discuss the importance of discovering one's 'why' and playing to win. Chen emphasizes the evolving role of sales development and advises embracing AI and technology. He highlights the significance of maintaining a healthy balance and the impact of mentors and continuous learning.

Aug 31, 2023 • 50min
Ep. 417 | Innovating Beyond Boundaries - Inside Mitel’s culture of Innovation
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Tyler Gambardella interviews Tyler Haney, a marketing and operations expert, about the innovative intersection of data science, automation, and creative problem-solving. Tyler Haney shares his journey from building websites in college to becoming a pivotal force in driving data-driven decisions at his current organization. Exploring the synergy between his interest in smart home automation and his professional pursuits, Haney discusses how leveraging technology to create efficiencies in one's daily life can inspire similar creative approaches in business operations. Drawing parallels between his passion for home automation and the world of marketing, he emphasizes the importance of finding practical solutions that enhance quality of life while applying a similar mindset to solve business challenges. Haney delves into the role of predictive modeling and data-driven dashboards in optimizing sales processes, shedding light on his team's recent endeavors to predict gaps in the pipeline and strategically reallocate resources. With insightful anecdotes and a passion for utilizing technology creatively, Haney's expertise offers a compelling glimpse into the exciting future of data-driven business innovation.
About the Guest
Tyler is an experienced digital and demand generation executive who is passionate about using data and analytics to drive business results. With a deep background in marketing and information science, Tyler focuses on breaking down complex processes into simplified concepts to help teams improve efficiency and gain back time for intellectual curiosity and creativity. Tyler has led marketing teams in the technology, healthcare, and retail sectors and holds an MBA from the University of Kentucky.Connect with Tyler Haney
Key Takeaways
- Smart home automation inspires creative problem-solving in business operations.
- Leveraging available tools creatively can solve problems effectively, improving work efficiency.
- Home automation principles apply to marketing and sales, enhancing decision-making.
- Predictive modeling and dashboards optimize sales by predicting gaps and reallocating resources.
- Balancing human input with AI-driven predictions results in actionable insights.
- Data-driven decision-making can improve accuracy and efficiency in various processes.
- Navigating automation requires understanding limitations and making thoughtful adaptations.
- Creative thinking applied to technology can lead to successful problem-solving in diverse domains.
- Strategic automation choices can boost efficiency while considering practicality and costs.
- Applying data science to marketing enhances understanding and predictions of market behavior.
- Embracing automation's potential requires embracing both successes and failures to drive growth.
- Effective automation solutions often stem from addressing real-world inconveniences and simplifying complex processes.
- Integrating historical data and predictive models can aid in resource allocation and decision-making for business growth.
- Recognizing cognitive biases and heuristics can inform more strategic communication and decision-framing.
Quote
“Automation is about what makes you more efficient or what makes your life easier or better in some way." – Tyler Haney
Recommended Resources
Blog:
- Lifehacker
Book:- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Connect with Tyler Haney | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Aug 24, 2023 • 22min
Ep. 416 | Transformational Journeys: Insights into Equisoft's Evolution and Strategies for Success
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, Devan Cohen interviews Vikas Kalra, a marketing professional with 15+ years of experience. With an MBA, Lean Six Sigma certification and a background in economics, Vikas discusses his journey from managing large accounts in paid search to his current role as a marketing leader at Equisoft. Based in Toronto, Canada, Vikas balances his professional life with his role as a father of two and his interests in spirituality, travel, and tea. He is a certified tea sommelier and a travel advisor in Ontario. Vikas sheds light on Equisoft's transformational journey, strategies for success, and the pivotal role of face-to-face interactions and events in their ABM space. He also discusses the synergy between sales and marketing enablement, and how they work together to nurture target accounts through effective CRM management and data-driven approaches.
About the Guest
Vikas is a seasoned marketing professional with over 15 years of expertise across diverse functions in the marketing landscape. He holds an MBA, Lean Six Sigma Certification, and a BA in Economics, which has fueled his passion for data-driven and process-oriented strategies. Currently based in Toronto, Canada, Vikas balances his professional life with his role as a father of two. Beyond the business world, Vikas has a deep interest in spirituality, travel, and tea. He is a certified tea sommelier and a travel advisor in the state of Ontario.
Connect with Vikas Kalra
Key Takeaways
- Vikas’s primary objective is to manage a healthy pipeline of prospects and nurture existing ones.
- Diverse digital marketing functions and integrated approaches have shaped Equisoft's growth.
- Face-to-face interactions are crucial for building trust in long sales cycle markets.
- Trust is essential in the insurance sector for major digital transformation projects.
- Events play a significant role in breaking through the noise and connecting with prospects.
- ABM strategy relies on data integrity, CRM management, and sales-marketing collaboration.
- Sales and marketing enablement ensures synergy for successful ABM execution.
- Successful marketing involves balancing digital efforts, event participation, and effective CRM usage.
- Strong data utilization and meaningful interactions underscore successful marketing endeavors.
Quote
“Action is key. Action is critical. CRM plays a big role in that." – Vikas Kalra
"Growth is hidden in tweaking your existing processes, starting somewhere subtle, not in completely restructuring your processes."– Vikas Kalra
Recommended Resources
Books:
Measure What Matters by John Doerr
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Connect with Vikas Kalra | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Aug 24, 2023 • 24min
Ep. 415 | Uncovering the Challenges and Opportunities in a Marketers’ Content Strategy
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Ryan Schimmel engages in an enlightening conversation with Zari Venhaus, Vice President of Corporate Marketing Communications at Eaton. Zari, a seasoned professional in product marketing, brand management, and audience-focused marketing, delves into the intricate landscape of a marketer's content strategy. The discussion centers around the crucial aspects of understanding target audiences, setting clear objectives, and integrating generative AI into marketing efforts. Zari underscores the significance of balancing creativity and process, noting that a strategic foundation is essential for successful execution. The dialogue delves into leveraging AI tools for enhanced efficiency, while Zari also acknowledges the need for cautious optimism as AI's legal implications are navigated.
About the Guest
As Vice President of Corporate Marketing Communications at Eaton, Zari is responsible for driving enterprise brand positioning, content strategy, and marketing operations, and supporting Eaton’s digital transformation.
Over the last 20 years, she has built her career with roles in product marketing communications, brand management, and audience-focused marketing. Her focus is on building dynamic, customer-focused marketing teams that deliver business results.Connect with Zari Venhaus
Key Takeaways
- Zari emphasizes the importance of audience understanding for effective content strategies.
- Marketers need to target specific audiences, avoiding the mistake of targeting too many.
- Effective content strategy requires understanding business, buyer decisions, and audience funnel placement. -
- Successful content strategy involves knowing customers, their needs, and content usage timing.
- Zari recommends close collaboration with sales teams for valuable customer insights.
- Message mapping and cross-functional teams help build customer-focused value propositions.
- Team development involves setting clear competencies, tools, and training paths.
- Turning ideas into actions requires clear objectives, testing, and scalable processes.
- Generative AI can enhance content creation and ideation, yet cautious implementation is advised due to legal uncertainties.
- Embrace standardized processes and AI tools for efficiency, freeing time for strategic work.
Quotes
“At the heart of any content strategy is the audience.” – Zari Venhaus
"The best way to drive a successful content strategy is to take as much information as you can about your customer and understand why they would be using the content you're creating and when." -– Zari Venhaus
Recommended Resources
Newsletter:
Joe Pulizzi’s Newsletters
Blog:
Content Marketing Institute
Book:
- Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- Everybody Writes by Ann Handley
Connect with Zari Venhaus | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Aug 17, 2023 • 27min
Ep. 414 | The Power of Process – Shifting Perspectives to Tackle Challenges Holistically
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Ryan Schimmel interviews Greg Graham, a seasoned marketing operations expert, on the critical role of end-to-end testing, the value of adopting a macro view in marketing strategies, and how leaders can tap into their team's collective intelligence. The conversation delves into the importance of thorough testing, highlighting real-world examples and emphasizing the need to trust nothing and test everything. Greg's insights shed light on bridging the gap between individual tasks and broader perspectives within marketing teams, suggesting collaboration across functions and mapping out processes to drive value. Moreover, he explores effective ways for leaders to harness their team's experience before seeking external consultants, from reorganizing teams for improved collaboration to fostering controlled changes for fresh insights
About the Guest
Greg Graham is an expert in diagnosing, simplifying, and resolving demand generation problems to improve business performance. He particularly enjoys helping businesses that have great products and technologies but want the scale effect of a modern marketing and sales engine with the customer at the center. His approach to scaling revenue retention and growth is grounded in Six Sigma principles and has been recognized in multiple company awards. His hands-on approach increases productive leads, builds trust across sales, marketing, and technology teams, and shortens sales cycles lowering operational costs and building greater customer trust and enterprise value.
Connect with Greg Graham
Key Takeaways
- Shift perspective to view challenges holistically, driven by process optimization.
- Prioritize human relationships and avoid getting lost in complex tools and measurements.
- Start by being effective before scaling with technology. Don't overcomplicate tasks.
- Remember the human touch in communication, ensuring emails and interactions are relatable.
- Focus on interconnectedness in campaigns; avoid building disjointed components that lack cohesion.
- Thorough testing guarantees accurate outcomes, uncovering potential issues throughout the process for improvement.
- Collaboration across departments fosters comprehensive views, enhancing solutions and efficiency.
- Effective leadership optimizes team structure and encourages creativity to harness collective expertise.
- Controlled organizational changes spark fresh ideas, breaking routines and fostering adaptability.
- Storytelling and branding connect emotionally, conveying purpose and engaging audiences effectively.
- Diverse podcast guests enrich discussions, offering varied viewpoints and experiences.
- Process mapping and inter-departmental collaboration streamline efforts for value-driven results.
- Strategic team changes stimulate growth and rejuvenate dynamics for long-term success.
Quote
"Trust nothing, test everything... You can sit around a table and concoct these brilliant ideas, only to have one little single thing break and the entire campaign goes."– Greg Graham
Recommended Resources
Book:
The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Shout-outs
Daniel Sieger – Founder and Chief Storyteller at Stories for Good
Kent Peterson – Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at McGraw Hill
Joseph Lapin – VP of Marketing at Bisk
Connect with Greg Graham | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website |

Aug 17, 2023 • 25min
Ep. 413 | Unveiling the Future of Streaming and Connected TV
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Brian Hopper interviews Minnie Dimesa, Executive Vice President of Advanced Media & Marketing at ICON Media Direct, discussing the future of connected TV and the exciting concept of "clean rooms". Minnie provides her expert insights on how big publishers like Roku, Disney, and Samsung leverage secure data-sharing environments to offer advertisers more accurate consumer targeting capabilities. The discussion extends to the infancy stage of clean rooms, their potential applications in future planning, measurement, and attribution, as well as the role of beta programs in figuring out the best use cases for this technology. Minnie also discusses her favored industry resources and the professionals who inspire her in the B2B space.
About the Guest
Minnie is EVP of Advanced Media & Marketing at Icon Media Direct, an independent Performance Media agency in Los Angeles California. As EVP of Advanced Media, she drives the Advanced TV practice forward to ensure that Icon maintains its leadership position of innovation in the industry. She is a veteran marketer with vast experience working across many industries.
Connect with Minnie Dimesa
Key Takeaways
- Clean rooms are environments where data is shared securely between publishers and advertisers, improving targeted advertising efforts.
- Big publishers like Roku, Disney, and Samsung are venturing into clean rooms, still in their infancy.
- Clean rooms help in future planning, and understanding where customers view content and what type they're viewing.
- Beta programs are a significant part of working out the best use cases for clean rooms.
- EMarketer is a go-to resource for Minnie, providing topical and relevant research in the media and marketing industry.
- Media Post is another recommended resource, keeping one up-to-date with the marketing world.
- The technology from Rembrandt allows for the dynamic insertion of product placements, creating a unique viewing experience.
- The company uses automatic content recognition technology to get granular, deterministic data about linear television.
- This technology aids in combining measurements from linear TV and streaming TV, giving a holistic view.
- Convergent television, a combination of linear television and connected TV, is the new frontier in TV advertising.
- ACR technology has a transformative effect on TV advertising, providing a higher level of measurement accuracy.
Quote
“[OTT] is no longer a little niche play or channel that a few people are dabbling in and experimenting with. It's something that needs to be part of the day-to-day discussions when we talk about media." - Minnie Dimesa
Recommended Resources
Newsletters
Insider Intelligence’s eMarketer Newsletter
MediaPost
Shout-outs
Julian Mintz – Head of US Brand Sales at Roku
Omar Tawakol – CEO at Rembrand
Danny Reuben – Senior Director of Sales at VideoAmp
Connect with Minnie Dimesa | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website

Aug 10, 2023 • 22min
Ep. 412 | ABM-driven Strategies for Thriving in Today's Market Space
Episode Summary
In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Erik Blaze interviews Mary Gilbert, CMO at Folloze, who shares her expertise on navigating the new marketing landscape and ABM-driven strategies. The conversation covers the concept of agility as a prominent factor for CMOs, the importance of customer engagement as a valuable asset, and the need for a holistic and personalized approach. Mary emphasizes the shift from traditional demand generation to ABM on steroids, combining insights, targeting, and measurement. They also discuss the integration of third-party and first-party intent signals, the transition from outreach emails to a value-added engagement approach, and the significance of ABM-driven demand gen.
About the Guest
Mary, CMO at Folloze, has over 20 years of experience in leading integrated B2B marketing organizations. She led digital transformation for Microsoft, HP, and Cisco, introducing B2B buyer journey alignment. Mary launched early ABM programs for companies like Centrify, Microsoft, and Ingram Micro CloudBlue. Passionate about team culture, organizational effectiveness, and digital transformation, she offers a unique perspective on market dynamics.
Connect with Mary Gilbert
Key Takeaways
- The concept of agility has become increasingly prominent in the minds of CMOs, as companies need to adapt quickly to the digital-first environment and evolving market dynamics.
- Engagement is the new currency of pipeline momentum, serving as a beacon of insight and guiding every action of the entire go-to-market team.
- CMOs must effectively drive engagement and utilize it as a valuable asset for building a robust and predictable pipeline.
- Traditional go-to-market strategies and conventional demand generation methods, such as relying solely on MQLs are losing momentum in today's landscape.
- The integration of third-party and first-party intent signals provides valuable insights for personalized engagement and supporting buyers throughout their journey.
- Ineffective use and understanding of data systems can be a common hurdle for organizations, and it's important to have experts who can maximize the potential of marketing technologies.
- Centralization and decentralization need to be balanced in organizational design to empower frontline marketers and enable personalized experiences while maintaining brand integrity.
- Revenue teams should transition from solely relying on outreach emails to providing a holistic engagement approach that focuses on value creation for customers.
- Aligning sales and marketing metrics and strategies and developing coordinated plays that support personalized information and leverage intent signals is crucial.
- Breaking down silos and ensuring everyone has access to the same experience platform and data helps create a seamless experience for buyers.
- Marketing operations (MOPS) teams play a vital role in transformation and should be considered a valuable resource for insights and strategic implementations.
- ABM-driven demand gen model is gaining popularity among CMOs as a means to not only survive but thrive in the current market space, offering scalability, personalization, and agility.
- Leveraging available data and insights enhances decision-making and optimizes team efficiency, resulting in an enhanced buyer experience.
Quote
“Technology is moving way faster than humans can adapt, and we're all still trying to catch up.” – Mary Gilbert
Recommended Resources
Books
Scott Brinker’s Chiefmartec
Sam Jacobs’ Pavillion Community
Shout-outs
Jon Miller – CMO at Demandbase
Jessica Kao – Senior Director, Marketing Operations and Martech at Cloudflare
Jason Widup – VP of Marketing at metadata.io
Connect with Mary Gilbert | Follow us on LinkedIn | Website |