Remarkable Content with Ian Faison

B2B content is often impersonal. It may be clean and polished and dialed in, much like an F1 race car. But as pretty as it is, it may blend into all the rest. But if you let your audience under the hood, that’s how you win them over. You show them your personality, that there are real people behind the brand.That’s one of the things we’re talking about today as we take marketing lessons from Drive to Survive. All with the help of the VP of Global Executive Marketing at Salesforce, Kexin Chen. Together, we talk about letting people under the hood, how confusion equals no sale, and tapping into new channels to open to the door to new audiences.About our guest, Kexin ChenKexin Chen is VP of Global Executive Marketing. In her role, she leverages the latest advancements in media, customer advocacy, and storytelling to spark engagement with CEOs and their leadership team. She’s run high profile programs like the Olympics, F1, and Cannes for C-Suite leaders to collaborate and share their authentic stories of driving change in business, industry, and society.Prior to Salesforce, Kexin was the second marketing hire at NextRoll where she built and scaled the marketing functions from the ground up.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Drive to Survive:Tap into new channels, open the door to new audiences. Go where your target audience is. If it’s social media, release content on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, etc. That’s often where you’ll find your younger audience members. Kexin says, “[Liberty Media has] done a really good job with focusing on digital engagement and stepping out of how do we actually not just think about the TV broadcast, but also think about all the social channels we have and get these drivers out on TikTok, on Snap, to reach that younger audience?”Confusion = no sale. It’s simple: your audience won’t buy what they don’t understand. So make it as easily understood as possible. Use their language. And if there’s jargon, explain it. Ian says, “You have to simplify  Everything to its most elemental sort of level. They had to demystify what Formula 1 was to explain like what this whole thing is.” And demystifying Formula 1 has transformed their audience. A 2021 Nielsen study says, “The fanbase has almost doubled since 2017. During that period, the average age of Formula 1 viewers dropped by four years, to 32, and female participation has doubled.”Let people under the hood. The success of Drive to Survive relies on the film crew’s ability to get up close and personal with the Formula 1 drivers. To be so ever-present that the teams forget the film crew is there, and be their most authentic selves. This gives viewers a real look at what it means to be an F1 driver. Ian says, “The mentality for this sort of stuff is like, ‘Well, if we let them under the hood, what if they see something bad?’ And it's like, ‘What if we don't let them under the hood and then they never come back?’” The idea is that by letting people under the hood, you attract the right audience and make that product-market fit that lasts. So show people an authentic view of your company and product, and gain your audience’s trust through transparency.Quotes*”If we are just trying to sell to [our audience], it's not going to work. And so we have to ensure that we're balancing educating them on the value of our platform and why it's going to completely change their organization. But also we want to build a really trusted relationship and figure out how to arm them with what it's going to take for them to actually be the champion and the star at their organization for bringing Salesforce.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet VP of Global Executive Marketing at Salesforce, Kexin Chen[1:44] Impact of Drive to Survive on Formula 1[2:48] Kexin Chen's Role at Salesforce[4:40] The Marketing Miracle of Drive to Survive[7:40] The Human Element in Sports Marketing[14:15] Global Expansion and Strategy of Formula 1[24:49] Engaging Executives and Building Communities[33:20] Final ThoughtsLinksWatch Drive to SurviveConnect with Kexin on LinkedInLearn more about SalesforceAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

Have you ever predicted your next campaign’s success with uncanny accuracy? You will. That’s because we’re bringing you marketing lessons this week from AT&T’s “You Will” campaign with the help of our special guest, Rokt CMO Doug Rozen.Together, we talk about demonstrating the future, using intrigue as a marketing tool, closing your copy strong, and increasing the frequency of your ads.About our guest, Doug RozenAs Chief Marketing Officer at Rokt, Doug Rozen leads strategy & execution for all Rokt’s global go to market efforts. Known for seamlessly exploiting the intersection of creativity, technology and data, Doug has been recognized globally for transforming companies through change & removing barriers in the business world. He’s been fortunate to be part of many major industry firsts and has become a trusted, go-to adviser in delivering modern marketing for some of the world’s greatest brands. Prior to joining Rokt, Doug served as CEO of dentsu Media, where he was responsible for 4,350+ media experts and $20+ billion in media at Carat, iProspect, dentsu X, 360i & beyond. Before dentsu Media, Doug was the first Chief Media Officer at 360i, where he helped them become a Forrester leader, MediaPost Agency of the Year, & AdAge A-list agency. He joined 360i from OMD, where he led digital & innovation activities globally at a critical period in our industry. Before Omnicom, Doug served as Chief Innovation Officer & General Manager at Meredith & created Carlson Marketing’s global agency unit including creative, media, mobile & social offerings. He also helped guide its acquisition by Aimia. Earlier, Doug served as Senior Partner & Managing Director at WPP's JWT, where as one of the first digital leaders he established digital@jwt and combined it with other direct and data offerings. Doug is a vocal cancer survivor and proud advocate for Stand Up to Cancer. He holds a BS in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has studied ecommerce at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and artificial intelligence at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Doug is an avid cyclist and skier, living in Connecticut with his wife, daughter and son.What B2B Companies Can Learn From AT&T’s “You Will” Campaign:Demonstrate the future. Show your audience the benefit of doing business with you. Give them a visual of the time saved or frustrations avoided by using your product. Ian says, “It speaks to the simplicity of consumer experience and product experience. [Identifying] pain points of, ‘Hey, this thing is annoying. I bet you something will fix that.’” And Doug adds, “I think as a marketer, part of my job is to help, both internally and externally, audiences understand the future and be ready for it. And so I think a key component of this campaign is that ability to predict the future. And have a point of view.”Intrigue is a powerful tool. Make your audience question and think about the possibilities if they were to buy your product. Start with a question. In the AT&T “You Think” campaign, they started each ad with something like: “Have you ever kept an eye on your home when you’re not at home?” Asking a question gets your audience engaged immediately by thinking of their answer. Have a strong close. This campaign is called the “You Will” campaign for a reason. Because each ad spot ended with the phrase, “You Will. And the company that will bring it to you: AT&T.” This campaign became iconic not just for its futuristic predictions, but for its strong copy. Doug says, “These commercials and these messages closed an ad as good as any I've ever seen. To me, this felt less like ads and more like little pieces of content.” Increase the frequency of your ads. Include two or three examples of the benefits of your product. It’s essentially fitting multiple ads in one, and uses the power of repetition. In each ad from the AT&T “You Will” campaign, they asked three questions. For example, “Have you ever opened doors with the sound of your voice, carried your medical history in your wallet, or attended a meeting in your bare feet?” And each question suggested a new technology AT&T was working on. Doug says, “A 30-second commercial would have three of them in a row. And so they get two or three of these in what was a standard spot length. And so you got frequency as part of that as well, which is just brilliant.”Quotes*”I don't care if it's 1 second, 5 seconds, 20 seconds or 20 minutes. Good pieces of content, branded content, need a beginning, middle, and end. And I think that's what [the AT&T “You Will”] campaign has. And I'd say 90 percent of campaigns don't have that. ”*”A key component of story building is data. The fact that research was the foundation to which then the stories came to life. I think a lot of times, building a story is about having that data and doing something with it in a really interesting way. And being okay that we don't know how to solve it, but we're going to craft a story about our role, even though we're in the process of solving it. That's bold.”*”I think it's important for all marketers to believe in your product. If you don't, then I think you're going to be missing the passion and zest that is necessary to be a good marketer. If you don't, how do you find the magic? To me, the magic is what makes marketing great.”*”That's such an important factor in today's marketing landscape, is just to know who you are, and more importantly, know who you're not. And if you're going to make a moment, really make it stand out and, and really trust yourself.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Rokt CMO Doug Rozen[1:51] The Impact of Storytelling vs. Story Building in Marketing[3:43] The Genius Behind Predicting the Future: AT&T's Marketing Mastery[15:35 Exploring the Role of Data in Product Success[22:04] Unveiling Brand Identity and the Power of Category Creation[23:16] The Art of Timeless Campaigns and Content Marketing Mastery[23:41] Reviving Classic Campaigns: A Nostalgic Marketing Strategy[24:27] The Evolution of AT&T's Marketing Strategy: A Case Study[25:22] The Impact of Leadership Changes on Marketing Campaigns[25:41] Sustaining Iconic Ad Campaigns and Brand Identity[30:40] The Strategic Shift in Marketing Approach at Rokt[33:03] Leveraging Employee Influence in Content Strategy[35:00] The Future of E-commerce and Content Marketing[41:37] Content Strategy Insights for CMOsLinksConnect with Doug on LinkedInLearn more about RoktAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

B2B marketers take themselves so seriously. A little self-deprecating humor wouldn’t go amiss. It makes your brand more relatable, your content more shareable, and builds trust by acknowledging your brand’s imperfections.  That’s one of the things we’re talking about today with Reveal CMO Isaac Morehouse. Together, we’re taking marketing lessons from the Emmy-nominated show, Silicon Valley, including using self-deprecating humor, showing the hero’s journey, and trusting your audience’s intelligence.About our guest, Isaac MorehouseIsaac Morehouse is the CMO of Reveal and nearbound.com, working to bring the era of Nearbound to B2B Go-To-Market. He believes that trust is the new data and the future of business isn’t about more crappy sales calls, ads, and spammy SEO-optimized content, but genuine connection to those buyers have faith in.He founded and now serves as an advisor to Praxis, and Career Hackers, and opting out of the education and career status quo to be your own credential remains near and dear to his heart.Isaac is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of freedom. He loves writing, building companies, his wife and four kids, a good cigar, and getting angry about sports.He’s given hundreds of talks and interviews, written over 2,500 articles, authored or edited eleven books, and helped thousands of people launch their careers and dozens of businesses tell their stories. He is a firm believer in learning out loud and daily commitment to creation.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Silicon Valley:Make fun of yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously - create self-deprecating content to make your audience laugh. Isaac says, “Content marketers, this is such a missed opportunity if you're not doing this. Make fun of yourself, make fun of your market, make fun of your marketing. Don't be precious. Accept and amplify the criticisms. The inevitable objections, if you can surface those ahead of time, get those up front in marketing. Poke fun at the things that you know people are going to poke fun at behind your back anyway.”Show the hero’s journey. Don’t just try to sell your product. Instead tell a story your product plays a part in, and include a beginning, middle and end. Isaac says, “It's so easy as content marketers to forget that very basic thing. Like, every story has a beginning, middle, and end. Every story should have a protagonist and should follow the journey. Make sure you're not losing that and just doing like, ‘Here's our product,’ right? Tell the story. That's what people can relate to. That's where they feel seen. If you're telling a story of a person facing adversity and achieving an outcome, I think [Silicon Valley] does that really well.”Don’t underestimate your audience’s intelligence. Don’t shy away from discussing technical or complicated topics, but do it in a way that’s understandable for anyone. Isaac says, “[Silicon Valley] does a phenomenal job of not running away from some of the complicated, complex concepts or insider jargon. I mean, they have discussions about, you know, letters of intent and legal contracts and stock preference stacks and waterfalls with exits. That's very insider lingo. They don't shy away from it. Because that's what makes it real and believable. But they do it in such a way that makes it understandable. Like if it's confusing, it's your fault as the content creator. You have to find a way. And this show does such a brilliant job of explaining these concepts in such a way that even outsiders can get the gist of it.”Quotes*”I think it all starts with the core of knowing your market, living in market. [Mike Judge] nails the little slice of the world that he’s trying to satirize so, so well. And I think with satire especially, you can only do it well when you are the subject you're satirizing. Like, someone from the outside trying to make fun of a group that they're not part of, it's going to come off as offensive. They're going to get some things wrong. But when you're able to make fun of the little cluster of the world that you live in yourself, you're going to get it so much more right. And it's going to be so much funnier. And at the same time, the redeeming qualities are captured.”*”For me, living in market is so crucial and the best way to live in market Is with a forcing function of daily creation. Because I know that's the only way I'm going to be close enough to the market and what's happening. If I have to come up with content every single day to put in this newsletter, I've got to figure out, ‘Where are the watering holes. What are people talking about? What are the conversations?’ And then I'm going to have to do near bound marketing, which means bringing other voices in, reaching the market through the voices they already trust.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Reveal CMO Isaac Morehouse[4:54] Behind the Scenes of Silicon Valley: Creation and Comedy[20:58] Content Marketing Insights: Humor, Realness, and the Hero's Journey[31:05] The Power of Storytelling in Marketing[32:14] Embracing the Hero's Journey in Business[32:54] Lessons from Silicon Valley: Making Complex Concepts Accessible[37:33] The Importance of Trust and Expertise in Content Creation[48:21] Building Nearbound: A New Approach to Partnerships[51:56] Executing a Community and Content Vision[56:21] Final Thoughts on Trust and Influence in MarketingLinksConnect with Isaac on LinkedInLearn more about RevealAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

There’s no shame in taking one good idea and reusing it. In continuing to improve and tweak it to get more juice for the squeeze. Especially when you’re struggling to come up with something new.That’s what J.R.R. Tolkien did in The Lord of the Rings. When asked for “more hobbits” by his publishers, Tolkien had to get crafty. Because he never meant for The Hobbit to have a sequel. That’s one of the things we’re talking about today with the Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs, Ryan Law. With Ryan’s help, we’re chatting about the power of iteration, world-building around your product, and much more.About our guest, Ryan LawRyan Law is Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs. He is a content marketer that’s worked with both startups and enterprise companies, including Google, GoDaddy, Clearbit, ProfitWell and Hotjar.Before Ahrefs, Ryan was CMO at the remote content marketing agency Animalz where he generated over 2 million pageviews for the Animalz blog, and ran workshops with companies like Andreessen Horowitz, Writer, Drift, Clearscope, Wynter, and BrightonSEO. He has co-founded a marketing agency, freelanced as a marketing consultant and copywriter, reviewed beers, designed t-shirts and tended bar. He is also the author of two novels, the host of the Ash Tales podcast, an amateur landscape photographer, and the guitarist for The Schrödinger Effect.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Lord of the Rings:Iterate, iterate, iterate. When you have one good idea, continue to work on it, improve it and iterate on it. Ryan says, “Much like Tolkien, all the best ideas are kind of iterative evolutions of previous and frankly worse ideas as well. And you see that in Lord of the Rings, I think. I love The Hobbit to bits, but in some ways it does feel like the MVP of The Lord of the Rings. You know, there are decisions that he made in that narrative that weren't quite fleshed out and didn't quite make sense that he then changed a little bit in the full series of books.”Build a world bigger than your product. You’re not just trying to make a sale. You’re trying to immerse your audience in your brand and culture. Ryan says, “Some portion of every company's marketing effort should go into the world building that surrounds their brand. You know, creating things that further their beliefs and their ethos and creating opinions and ideas that are not sales assets, but are just plain interesting and share how they think about the world as well.”Quotes*“Tolkien does it without being really ham fisted with exposition. He doesn't laboriously explain the history of everything and how it all interacts. He teases at it and he hints at it and he reveals it through the dialogue of characters. I think that's deeply rewarding for the reader. You're not spoon fed this stuff, you make the connections yourself, you're brought along the journey and he gives you credit for discovering this huge mythos and history beneath it. And that's a wonderful thing to do, not assume the reader is an idiot, but just write the things you find interesting, let them find the secrets that they're going to find for themselves. It's so deeply rewarding.”*“Search demands that you basically write to the consensus. Like there is a set body of information it expects you to share, and it rewards companies that show consensus with other articles. And I think good thought leadership is in some ways the opposite of that. You are challenging truisms, you're talking about the things that no one else is talking about. So the thing I'm trying to do at the moment is, I think a more fruitful framework for thinking about that is talking about information gain. So if you're writing SEO content, you still have to cover the core topic, but you can think, ‘What new stuff can I add to that?’ It's like an additive process. What new subject matter quotes or what new subtopics can we cover? What new research can we do? Cause it's very hard to reconcile those two from my experience.”*”Opinions are one of the most important things we're finding in content at the moment. A lot of people are very used to content marketing basically hedging bets. Nobody wants to say something very definitive. Mainly because content marketers, myself included, we're not experts in the things we're writing about. And we are, I think, wary of saying something that's wrong. And that generally leads to not saying anything at all. Being brave and willing to share a defensible opinion, that's something we're trying to do in all of our content, because it's a real differentiator and it's a good way of standing out when every other company is letting people make their own decision. Never make people think. Tell them what you're thinking yourself. ”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Ryan Law, Director of Content Marketing at Ahrefs[4:34] Exploring Tolkien's Creative Process and Challenges[9:39] Content Creation Insights and B2B Marketing Takeaways[17:10] The Power of Storytelling and Building a Rich World[23:11] Human Connections and Their Impact on B2B Marketing[27:29] Exploring Book Titles and Author Insights[28:16] B2B Marketing Insights from Fantasy Literature[28:49] Long-Term Content Strategy and Its Impact[31:54] The Evolution of Content Marketing in Large Companies[33:42] The Importance of Serialized Content in B2B[44:12] Exploring the ROI of Creative Content Marketing[50:04] Final Thoughts on Marketing and CreativityLinksConnect with Ryan on LinkedInLearn more about AhrefsAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

The fastest growing entertainment industry is not music and it’s not film. It’s video games. And they’re doing a lot of things right when it comes to marketing.Ever since arcades opened in the 1970s and Pong became popular, video games drew in a massive audience. So let’s talk about how the industry draws in all the eyes, ears, and thumbs.  In this episode, we’re chatting with the VP of Marketing at Hackuity, Skyler Schmanski. Together, we talk about how spending money doesn’t equal making money, and making money doesn’t equal business efficiency, and much more.About our guest, Skyler SchmanskiSkyler Schmanski is the VP of Marketing at Hackuity, formerly Head of the Marketing Innovation Lab at Tenable, and – prior to acquisition – Deputy Chief Marketing Officer at Alsid. He is also the Executive Producer of the award-winning, #1 tech podcast, The Hacker Chronicles, and a LinkedIn Top Cybersecurity Voice with extensive experience in demand gen and growth hacking across hypergrowth tech startups, scaleups, and multinationals. After calling France home for more than eight years, Skyler is now growing EU businesses from Madrid. What B2B Companies Can Learn From the Video Game Industry:Spending more doesn’t equal making more money. Making money depends on the efficacy of your campaigns; grabbing your audience's attention, speaking directly to them, and engaging them. And you can do that on a lean budget. Skyler says, ”When you drop 10 years and $500 million on a project, that doesn't always translate to a better project. Sometimes you see these lean teams of 10 to 20 people on $10 million producing something higher quality. And so I think there's that balance to strike there that yes, that unprecedented level of investment is a good thing, but it's not enough to simply grow your teams and grow your budgets in 2024. You need to be doing it smartly. Efficiency is the name of the game, pun absolutely intended, in 2024.”Making more money doesn’t equal business efficiency. Focus first on operating efficiently before investing in a larger team. Skyler says, “Maybe if you are hitting 50% of the same revenue that you'd be hitting with 50 people at five people, well, that’s remarkably more efficient. And in that case, you definitely want the more agile team and direct link to the studio culture we were talking about, where you just see this constant inflow of contractors. When you come back to that minimum viable product from a team structure standpoint, you start to think, ‘Okay, how do we operate as efficiently as possible?’ And then you build from that.”Quotes*”People would say, ‘Under promise, over deliver.’ I don't wade into that. I would say, ‘Promise and then deliver.’ It's as simple as that. You cut the BS, you cut the fluff. And if what you say works, works, you're going to have a pretty happy client base.”*”It's not ‘Do more with less.’ It’s ‘Do less things better.’”*”I'm a big proponent of ‘Done is better than perfect.’ So I'm not saying that you need that 4k texture pack and everything is flawless. Especially when you're a startup or a scale up, you're working toward a grander vision. And I think people are very willing to forgive some of the glitchiness if the underlying product is working, if it's delivering results.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Skyler Schmanski, VP of Marketing at Hackuity[3:21] The Evolution and Impact of the Video Game Industry[8:24] The Shift in Game Development: From Perfection to Patching[21:00] Marketing Insights from the Gaming World[22:14] Evolving Budgets in Cybersecurity and Gaming[22:50] Marketing Agility and Team Efficiency[24:06] The Essential: Making Games That Work[24:22] Marketing Strategies: From Email to Engagement[25:52] Under Promise, Over Deliver: A Marketing Mantra[29:00] The Power of Authenticity in Product Development[30:13] Innovative Content Strategies in Cybersecurity[32:07] Leveraging Thought Leadership for Brand Growth[34:42] Future Marketing Strategies and Cross-Media Impact[36:40] Closing Thoughts on Creativity and StorytellingLinksConnect with Skyler on LinkedInLearn more about HackuityAbout 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. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

In the early 2000s, showrunners Carter Bays and Craig Thomas were pitching ideas for sitcoms to CBS. And on only their second pitch, they struck gold. Why?Bays said, “It’s like the whole idea of ‘Write what you know.’ If you’re going to pitch someone and say, ‘Give me millions of dollars to write 100 or 200 episodes, you better have material. … Mine your life.”In this episode, we’re taking a look at the result: their Emmy nominated show, How I Met Your Mother. And with the help of our guest, Director of Content Marketing at AssemblyAI, Kelly Moon, we’re talking about marketing lessons from the show, including standing out, knowing your end goal, showing social proof that others trust you, and being the thing people want to come back to.About our guest, Kelly MoonKelly Moon is Director of Content Marketing at AssemblyAI. There, she builds and leads a team of content marketers who are focused primarily on increasing web traffic, and boosting signups and talk-to-sales hand-raisers. She serves as a key member of AssemblyAI's senior leadership team, driving the organization's content marketing strategy, and rolling up her sleeves to write copy and direct content across AssemblyAI’s website, social, email, customer stories/videos, and more. She also analyzes and monitors content effectiveness and holds each piece to the highest standard, and builds an internal and external content production team and develops a comprehensive content calendar designed to boost awareness, traffic, engagement, and conversions. Prior to joining Assembly AI in August 2023, Kelly served as Head of Content at in-app communications API platform, SendBird. She has also worked at Twilio as Director of Content Marketing & Organic Growth. What B2B Companies Can Learn From How I Met Your Mother:Stand out. Be refreshingly unique for your audience. Kelly says, “So many B2B companies struggle with standing out. In order to be memorable, we have to be different. Be different in our voice, tone and in our philosophy. Don't regurgitate what similar businesses are doing. But I think a lot of businesses struggle with actually executing on this. And they can do that by taking a stance on an issue, voicing their perspective on a hot topic, highlighting their in-house experts, and doing it with a sense of humor and lightness. And I think that's where How I Met Your Mother really nailed it. Because they would cover complex or emotional topics, but then there was always some levity toward the end to really balance things out.”Know your end goal. And work tirelessly to make that vision come to life. Kelly says, “When I think about content, I think about not creating siloed content and knocking one tactic out at a time, which is a problem I've seen in a lot of organizations. Instead, look at the entire journey and the story end to end in the same way that How I Met Your Mother producers knew what the end was going to be and all the episodes led up to that. So when it comes to content and just marketing in general, look at the entire journey end to end from a user's perspective and then figure out how each touchpoint connects to deliver an amazing experience.”Show social proof that others trust you. It helps build people’s confidence in your brand. Kelly says, “Show the world that others have decided that you're worth their time. And then after they've converted and decided to invest in you, how are you supporting them? And how are you giving them opportunities to provide feedback and respond to how things can be better?”Be the thing people always want to come back to. Prove your value beyond your product. Kelly says, “In the world of content marketing, it's not enough to just be about one topic. Go deeper and look at the related topics that people are interested in learning more about. As an example, say somebody wants to become a baker. They have ingredients at home to bake cupcakes, so they do some research on how to bake a cupcake, right? But it's not enough to just produce content or assets that just talk about how to bake a cupcake. You have to also talk about what types of cupcakes you can bake, what tools you should consider investing in versus not investing in, tips on keeping the cupcakes fresh… There are multiple pieces of content you can create to offer this complete package and resource of information for somebody.”Quotes*”I always challenge writers to think about what their angle is. I'll use an Assembly AI example. It's not enough to just be like, ‘What is a good speech to text model?’ You have to make sure that the piece of content is really layered and it's comprehensive. How can we make a piece of content really comprehensive? Because somebody that's thinking about a speech-to-text model is likely thinking about a bunch of other questions after that. And you have to make sure that you're not only considering all of those things, but that you then cover it in a way that's unique and there's some kind of a hook. And it has to have takeaways. What can they learn from it? What can they take with them?” - Kelly Moon*”My content strategy is showing up where people are and having a vested interest in what matters to them. And then delivering really useful information that people are actively looking for from the start of their journey until the end. We're building a foundation of trust with people. They’re going to remember us as a no-nonsense helper and hopefully leader. And then when they are ready to build with us, they're going to remember us because we were the ones who were there for them while other people were giving them a sales pitch.” - Kelly MoonTime Stamps[0:55] Meet Kelly Moon, Director of Content Marketing at AssemblyAI[2:02] Exploring Assembly AI with Kelly Moon: The Power of Speech AI Models[4:12] The Genesis of How I Met Your Mother: From Concept to Cult Classic[14:56] Marketing Lessons from How I Met Your Mother: Standing Out and Storytelling[26:26] Diving Deep into Character Auditions and Acting Choices[27:59] Celebrating Iconic Actors and Memorable Performances[29:51] Navigating Complex Relationships and Character Arcs[34:15] The Art of Crafting Catchphrases and Memorable Moments[38:19] Exploring Content Strategy with Assembly AI[45:30] Harnessing the Power of Speech AI for Business Innovation[48:15] Parting Wisdom for Content Creators and MarketersLinksWatch How I Met Your MotherConnect with Kelly on LinkedInLearn more about AssemblyAIAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

Vanderpump Rules is proof that a spinoff can not only be hugely successful, but be its own Sexy Unique Content. Not only did the show capitalize on the success of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but on the star power of Lisa Vanderpump.Those are a few of the things we’re talking about today with the Senior Content & Communications Manager at UserGems, Amber Rhodes. Together, we explore the marketing lessons of Vanderpump Rules, including capitalizing on the moment, using character-driven storytelling, and much more. About our guest, Amber RhodesAmber Rhodes is Senior Content & Communications Manager at UserGems. She joined the company in December 2021 as a Content Marketing Specialist. She is also the host of the podcast Everything’s Coming Up Marketing. Amber previously served as a Content Strategist at EmberTribe and a Communications Specialist at Galactic Fed. Outside of work, she likes to watch reality TV, read and hang out with her beagle.  What B2B Companies Can Learn From Vanderpump Rules:Capitalize on the moment. Take advantage of what’s working or effective and make the most of it. Lean into that strategy or tactic and see where it takes you. Ian says, “A lot of marketers try to capitalize on the moment, when they're trend-jacking or doing things like that. And you see a lot of great marketers creating moments, too.” Vanderpump Rules is a great example of capitalizing on the moment, because Bravo was seeing the success of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and combined that with the screen time and star power of Lisa Vanderpump to create a massive hit they knew would work, because it had already been proven popular on Real Housewives.If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you are already seeing results with your marketing, keep it going. Amber says that for your audience, “Sometimes people just like what's comfortable. They like the consistency, the repetition, the comfort. They like coming back to the same things. You don't need to always push it.” This applies to Vanderpump Rules too. Amber says, “The original cast is pretty much what stuck around. There was a time where they tried to add in new people and the audience was not having it. There was something about the lightning in the bottle of the original cast, and when they tried to add in other people and manufacture drama in that way, it just didn’t work.”Use character-driven storytelling. Focus on the people, their personal stories, their drama. Ian says, “The character is the key thing here. And in the B2B world, we are trying to create characters out of real people, out of the CIO or the VP of data. And we do an absolute crap job of creating the character a lot of times. They’re not quirky, they’re not weird. They aren’t mean or spiteful. They don't do all the things that make people human. And I think if we stop telling stories with rose-colored glasses, then perhaps we would find more authentic storytelling and more believable storytelling. Tell stories that have thorns, not just roses.” Vanderpump Rules is compelling because it explores a range of human emotion, not just the positive. Quotes*”I'm trying to find the feedback loop between social and content. How do we use content to distribute on social? How do we use social to listen to conversations that should then be content that we are creating? And create that wheel so that we're always having fresh conversations about the topics that we need to educate our audience on.”*”Original research is going to be a big differentiator for content teams. We'll ask the questions the same way that you do. No one else will be able to put your own spin on that data like you do.”*”I think that probably the best thing that you could do is ask for help early and often. You'll want to prove yourself [as a new content marketer], but there's only so much that you can actually know. So I think asking a lot of questions early and often, and getting used to setting expectations only helps everyone.”Time Stamps[0:55] Meet Amber Rhodes, Director of Content & Communications at UserGems[2:37] Exploring UserGems: Innovations in B2B Marketing[4:11] The Vanderpump Phenomenon: Lessons for Marketers[10:46] Marketing Mastery: Capitalizing on Moments and Character-Driven Storytelling[19:50] Behind the Scenes at UserGems: Content Strategy and Impact[31:11] Advice for B2B MarketersLinksWatch Vanderpump RulesConnect with Amber on LinkedInLearn more about UserGemsAbout 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. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

In a world with lots of content noise, play to the silences. Let your messaging be simple and clear, and even short. In this episode, we’re learning from the musician who let there be simplicity and space. Who played his trumpet in a sparse style so that each note was beautiful and carefully chosen. That’s Miles Davis.And with our special guest, Ben Lempert, Director of Content & Web at Heap, we’re talking about creating simple messaging, capturing different voices, leaving room for spontaneity, and the importance of feeling in your marketing.About our guest, Ben LempertBen Lempert is Director of Content & Web at Heap. He has been there for over 4 years, having joined in August 2019 as Head of Corporate Marketing. During his time in his current role, Ben has built a Thought Leadership Content Hub to curate all of Heap’s content and facilitate the stages of the buyer's journey, created the Heap Digital Insights Report, which generated thousands of leads and a 50% increase in content downloads, created the Digital Experience Insights Report series, which generated 6000+ downloads and bylines in Forbes and VentureBeat, developed creative initiatives including the Heap Comic Book and the Heap Explainer video series,  grew SEO traffic from 0 to 29,000+ visitors/month, increased social media followers by 100% over three successive years, and grew PR SOV 25% QoQ for nine successive quarters. He has over 10 years of experience in content strategy, brand, comms, creative, editing, and leadership.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Kind of Blue:Create simple messaging. Distill your message into plain but pointed language directed at your particular audience. Ben says, “What people respond to in Kind of Blue, and I think what people often respond to best in good content, is a simple, clear, open, direct message. I think a lot of companies get very complex in talking about the nuances of their solution and the technical advantages their product offers. I think it's worth it in the content world for most companies to think about what your fundamental message is, whether that's one sentence or one paragraph or four words. What's the thing that people will respond to that explains what you do and why it matters in a unique way? It's very hard to get to. I don't think many companies do it well. It's very easy to come up with something that's too abstract to be meaningful.”Capture different voices. Feature quotes from both your customers and colleagues in your content. Gather info and input from all of them and work it into your content. You don’t have to operate all alone on a marketing island. Ben says, “Jazz, like content, is a team activity. I think one of the great things about Kind of Blue is that there's room for lots of individual voices. When we think about representing our company through our content, it's worth recognizing that there are plenty of voices across the company. And they all have different ways of expressing what's important. So it's okay to vary the voice and story you're telling, as long as you have a fundamental story that is simple and clear. What's on top of it involves orchestrating these different voices in a way that hits people in different ways and allows for nuance and complexity to be added to your story.”Leave room for spontaneity. Yes, get your work done. But then leave a little time to experiment and play. Ben says, “We are all extraordinarily busy. But sometimes the best marketing comes from carving out time for free form group thinking. Brainstorming, coming up with ideas that are new and off the wall, having that be a prompt.”Mood and feeling matter. Instead of getting into the nitty gritty technical details, focus on how you make the customer feel. Ben says, “Kind of Blue has that impact on you because of the way it sounds. You're not listening to every single note and you're not listening to Coltrane saying, ‘Oh, he played a flat 13 there. Whoa, that's wild!’ It impacted you on a deeper, more emotional level. And we often forget that as content writers, that our audience are not robotic automatons. They're people. And we want to hit their emotions. That's where you reach people.” So ask yourself, “How do I want to make my audience feel?”Quotes*”[Kind of Blue] is one of the very few jazz records that most people who are not jazz fans own and listen to actively. And I think there are lots of reasons for that. And I think that gives us a pretty interesting lens for thinking about how content works, given that lots of content is directed towards people who may not be aware of the intricacies of your technical solutions, but still want to be compelled by what you have to say and want to be interested in it.” - Ben Lempert*”Miles was famous for having a very sparse style, very much interested in playing space. And for him, he was very actively thinking about how to play the silence and the space between notes as much as he was playing the actual notes. So he was super minimalist, would play one or two notes, but they would be absolutely beautiful and absolutely brilliant and took a sort of courage to play those one or two notes that very few musicians have. It's much easier to play a lot of notes and hope you get something right. It's much harder to have that one pithy statement and let it hang there.” - Ben Lempert*”Always strive to create a simple, communicable foundation that ideally everyone in the company can embody. And when the audience receives it, they understand right away. And then you build complexity on top of that.” - Ben LempertTime Stamps[0:55] Meet Ben Lempert, Director of Content & Web at Heap[4:37] Ben Lempert's Journey from Jazz Musician to Director of Content[8:47] The Making of Kind of Blue: A Revolutionary Jazz Album[10:20] Miles Davis' Vision and the Birth of Modal Jazz[23:59] Kind of Blue's Legacy and Impact on Jazz and Beyond[28:24] Exploring the Creative Process and Expectations[29:51] The Power of Minimalism in Music and Marketing[33:44] Improvisation: Jazz Lessons for Conversational and Creative Skills[36:12] Marketing Wisdom from Jazz: Simplicity, Emotion, and Spontaneity[48:38] Heap's Content Strategy: Blending Business Goals with Creative Storytelling[55:12] Embracing Experimentation and Spontaneity in Content CreationLinksListen to Kind of BlueConnect with Ben on LinkedInLearn more about HeapAbout 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. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

There’s a lot of great content out there. So why not find inspiration there? Sample it, remix it and make it your own.In this episode, we’re turning to one of the greats when it comes to sampling: the late rapper and producer J Dilla. Together with the help of our guest, Head of Marketing at Crowdcube, John Hills, we’re talking about borrowing from content that’s already out there, building your content IP, and never losing your human touch.About our guest, John HillsJohn Hills is Head of Marketing at Crowdcube, Europe’s leading equity crowdfunding platform. To date, they've helped raise over £1.4 billion for over 1,300 businesses and built up a community of over 1.7 million members. He joined Crowdcube in April of 2022. Prior to his current role, John led the marketing team at FrontFundr, Canada's leading equity crowdfunding platform. There, his team helped 70+ companies raise more than $90M and built up an investor community of over 32,000 people. He has also previously held marketing roles at Duuers and Founder Institute. Outside of work, he is a bass player, marathon runner and a record collector.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Donuts:Sample, sample, sample. Just like J Dilla samples from Dionne Warwick, The Temptations, Run-DMC and more on Donuts, you can borrow ideas from content that’s already out there too. You don’t have to come up with something totally original every time. John says, “When you're doing content marketing, the bar is incredibly high. You can feel quite overwhelmed. Like, I don't have the budget that Apple has, neither do I have the brand expertise or the people to do it. That doesn't mean that I can't have an impact. I can still be scrappy. I can still look at what's working and create things that are memorable and valuable for people. And so I think that you can just look at what's already out there and how you fit into that rather than feeling you have to create something new. You can take what's there, see what appeals to people and see how you can make that memorable and impactful as well.”Build your content IP. John says, “You could create a load of content and just farm it out. [But instead] why don't you find a problem that your customer really cares about, name it so you're acknowledging it, you're identifying it, and then exist only to solve that problem. You become known - you become synonymous - with that content IP.” For J Dilla, his calling card - what he was known for - was a horn sampled from Isaac Hayes. And John says, “​​I kind of think of that as his content IP. You know it's him. It's giving you what you want, which is a dopamine hit of great music. He's being there for you. And I think that's what we have to do as marketers too, right? Like basically find your Isaac Hayes horn and blast it where appropriate.”AI’s a useful tool, but never lose your human touch. John says “that's really what's going to land with people and what's going to resonate.” It’s like how J Dilla sampled from live recordings, which John points out have slight imperfections and variations from a studio recording. He says live recordings catch your ear, engage you more and are more memorable.Quotes*”Sampling is interesting because you're channeling your interests. You're like part curator, part creator. And like that is truly what a marketer is. It's just a perfect metaphor for modern marketing.” - Ian Faison*”If you want to engage and build an audience, you want to be known as someone that's bringing them the good stuff. You filter through. You know which places to look, which is what [J Dilla's] doing on the album. Like, ‘I know this really particular little piece of a song which I dug out from a record shop and turned into something that sounds really cool for you.’ In the same way we, as marketers, have an attention economy, right? So it's kind of ‘Why should you have to pay attention to me rather than someone else?’ I've done the hard yards and I'm bringing you the good stuff, packaged neatly in a newsletter or a podcast or on a social feed.” - John HillsTime Stamps[0:55] Meet John Hills, Head of Marketing at Crowdcube[2:44] Exploring the Genius of J Dilla and Donuts[10:39] Sampling in Music and Marketing: Creativity Unleashed[22:13] AI in Marketing: Keeping the Human Touch Alive[26:30] Crafting a Content Strategy at Crowdcube[27:42] Content Strategy: Educating Companies on Equity Crowdfunding[28:19] The Art of Content Distribution and Engagement[29:04] Crafting High-Quality, Educational Content[31:18] Innovative Campaigns: From Invoicing Templates to Cricket Burgers[40:25] Leveraging LinkedIn for Demand Generation[44:26] Broadening Horizons: Beyond Marketing Books[46:53] RecommendationsLinksWatch Parks and RecreationConnect with Jen on LinkedInLearn more about IntellimizeAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

We knew this day would come. The day where we finally talk about the one tech company all others look up to: Apple. The truth is that the behemoth has endured ups and downs to become one of the greatest brands of all time, and all under the leadership of Steve Jobs. So in this episode, we’re taking marketing lessons from Steve Jobs based on his biography by Walter Isaacson with the help of our guest, Jotform CMO Steve Hartert. Together, we talk about being insatiably curious about your customers, daring to fail, and exercising your creativity. About our guest, Steve HartertSteve Hartert is the chief marketing officer at Jotform. He’s had more than 30 years of B2B and B2C marketing management experience. Prior to Jotform, he was the president of Hartert & Associates, a marketing consultancy that worked with B2B and B2C companies. Steve has been actively involved in marketing internet companies since 1995. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona and an MBA from Cal State San Bernardino.What B2B Companies Can Learn From Steve Jobs:Be insatiably curious about your customers. Use their actions and feedback to inform your marketing. Appeal to what drives them and hook them emotionally. Steve says, “Look at how people use your products, your services… look how people use them. Really have a good, solid understanding of that customer's wants and needs. And sometimes they don't know what they want or need until you show them. Dare to fail. Experiment and strive for greatness despite the possibility of missing the mark. Steve says, “Business people and businesses in general pull back the reins because they're afraid of failure for some reason. But failure teaches you how to succeed.”Exercise your creativity. It takes practice stepping outside the bounds of traditional B2B marketing. But creative content makes you stand out from your competitors. Steve says, “How do you get the message out to people to want to now partake in your product or service? You have to be creative to get their attention and keep that attention and then make that product sell and continue to grow.”Quotes*”He just did what he thought needed to be done to create the right. work. And like that message to me is something that we so rarely do in marketing. Which is like, ‘What is the amount of work that needs to happen to create something great?’ And so often we say, ‘What is good enough?’ And you have to do that, right? You have to do things that are good enough sometimes. But if you want to make something great, you have to do a great amount of work.” - Ian Faison*”You need to sit there and look at the problem you're trying to solve from multiple angles. A lot of times what I have seen in marketing and in other disciplines of business is people sometimes get surrounded by ‘yes’ people. They don't want to hear a bad thing. ‘Oh, we're weak in this area,’ or ‘We're not good at that.’ You need to hear it. Because if you don't address the full 360 around your product or service, to be able to defend it when something goes wrong, you're just walking yourself into a trap. And that's just a big blind spot that a lot of people have.” - Steve Hartert*”[Apple] had about a hundred ideas on this whiteboard. ‘These are great.’ And then [Steve Jobs] said, ‘Okay, pick four of them because that's all we can do.’ So they ended up having to focus on what products they were going to be working on for the next two or three years. And now you've got such clarity in the focus that you can't make a mistake on what you're trying to do. And that's very important. When companies lose that [focus], they get distracted by shiny things, by the latest trend or something that they could pop out there so they can get the stock price up for the next quarter. And so they just kind of bob and weave rather than pushing through on a forward path and saying, ‘We're going to do this and it's going to be tough to get there, but we need to do it.’” - Steve HartertTime Stamps[0:55] Meet Steve Harter, CMO at Jotform[3:14] Exploring the Genius of Steve Jobs Through Isaacson's Biography[5:36] The Art of Perfection: Lessons from Steve Jobs[9:45] Marketing Insights and the Pursuit of Excellence[15:07] Crafting Content with Precision: A Marketing Deep Dive[23:07] Strategic Focus and Innovation: The Apple Way[26:22] Unlocking Marketing Success: The Power of Focus[28:43] Steve Jobs' Legacy: A Lesson in Creativity and Control[31:07] Marketing and Creativity: Connecting the Dots[36:18] Jotform’s Marketing Strategy[39:57] Content Creation: Telling Stories That Resonate[46:34] Advice for Crafting a Winning Content StrategyLinksRead Steve Jobs by Walter IsaacsonConnect with Steve on LinkedInLearn more about JotformAbout 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 Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.