Marketing, Micro-influencing, Sir Jackie Stewart, South Korea, Surrealism and #10
Approaching this year with utter randomness
Hello readers.
I hope you’re off to a good year and feeling healthy in all areas. Be kind to yourselves.
“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.” René Magritte.
What do you see?
Surrealism
IndyCar kicks off its season opener this weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida on a street circuit adjacent to the Salvador Dali Museum.
Here is Spanish ex-IndyCar driver Oriol Servia talking to the Dali Museum Director at this race back in 2011 (Servia sports a Dali design on his helmet). You’ll never guess who produced this piece. 😉
10 years in Software
Ten years ago, Amanda Leet called me with a job offer to join ExactTarget.
I had a competing job offer from an agency, but I chose ExactTarget because it was the more intimidating option. I knew very little about B2B and zilch about SaaS. I strongly believe that growth occurs when you are intimidated and uncomfortable. The last ten years have led to significant professional growth.
Entering tech changed my life and altered my career path in unimaginable ways. I’m incredibly thankful to everyone that played the role of supporter, mentor and coach. So many of you took a chance on me and I am now doing everything I can to repay that. Being a CMO is an absolute honor - and I still pinch myself (not literally, but you get the idea). If I can do this, you certainly can. As the great Rob Schneider said - “You can do it!” Thank you. 🙏
I am thoroughly enjoying my new role with Reachdesk and excited to see what kind of company we can build.
PS. The Reachdesk Marketing team just launched a refreshed brand and website. I adore it.
5 Questions with a Marketer
Each issue features a marketer I admire. In this case, I am thrilled to introduce you to Esther Flammer. I had the pleasure of working with her at both Return Path and Conga. My experience with her me a better marketer and leader and I am even happier to call her a friend - despite her belief that Butterbeer is real.
Let’s jump into the questions!
Where do you work and what is your title? How would you describe your role to an alien? An alien lands and walks up to you and asks, “Hey, tell me about your job?”.
I am Head of Wrike Marketing at Citrix. My company makes it easier for people to do the best work of their lives, and my job is to make sure everyone knows that!
What is your favorite thing about Marketing? And most frustrating.
My favorite thing about Marketing is that we have the most holistic view to drive business strategy. We have our finger on the pulse of ever-evolving market and industry trends, make critical decisions to stay ahead of the competition, find messages and channels that resonate with every key audience, deliver innovative and personalized experiences, and drive leads and pipeline that contribute to revenue growth, all while motivating and mentoring high-performing smart and creative teams. Our jobs aren’t ever getting easier, but it’s a fun challenge!
There are plenty of frustrating things, but one that is top of mind now is that there’s never enough time or resources to be able to do it all - so prioritization, focus, short-term sprints, and politely saying “no” is absolutely critical. A marketer’s job is never done.
What do you want every CEO and Board Member to know about Marketing?
When done well, Marketing is uniquely positioned between product, sales, customer success, HR, finance, and operations to effectively facilitate and unify the vision and strategy of each department. Marketing’s internal partnership, coupled with our knowledge of external market and customer insight, makes us a critical partner to business success.
What individuals inspire you? What brands inspire you?
My family inspires me everyday. They will always be my #1 priority over work any and everyday. My team also inspires me - I love working with talented professionals who constantly surprise me with smart and innovative ideas.
We actually did our annual kick off last month using Lego as our theme. I consider myself a bit of a Lego expert - only because my boys are obsessed with them - but they are actually quite an inspiring brand, focusing on brand values of Learning-through-Play. Lego’s consistency and innovation over the years, as well as their marketing strategies of licensing, partnership, and experiential channels are pretty genius.
What advice would you give to aspiring marketing leaders?
Marketing really is all about understanding your buyer, so don’t forget to talk to your customers and always put yourself in their shoes. This is true for every single function in marketing, and it’s crazy how often I see marketers not taking the time to truly understand how or why their buyers buy.
In terms of career progression, don’t be afraid of lateral moves. It’s important to get some breadth of experience across all different functions within marketing and understand how they all work together, even if you plan to specialize in one function the rest of your career.
Thank you Esther!
The accidental micro-influencer
I ended up on some PR email distribution lists. It’s fun to receive random pitches, see what’s coming out and occasionally get offered products. I’ve received a fair amount of outreach - product, opportunities to interview experts and live Zoom events. Here are a few brands that have impressed me.
I LOVE the Nudge Oral Care Box and specifically the mouthwash. Quality product and I’m a sucker for simple and clean branding. Not to mention a real commitment to product development; fluoride free toothpaste, alcohol free mouthwash, bamboo toothbrushes & biodegradable floss.
Meat. Yep, I received a box of meat. A dream many of us share. Stemple Creek Ranch hooked me up with a variety of their offerings - everything from jerky to bacon to broth to NY Strip. I’ve not gotten through all of it yet, but I am so in sync with their philosophy:
Honesty, transparency, and quality are cornerstones of our fourth generation family ranch. We work in sync with Mother Nature, and are committed to progressive carbon farming practices that fight climate change and enhance our ecosystems.
I connect with brands that have a clearly articulated and authentic mission.
Additionally, I realized I love a good candle - especially from a company that is involved in 1% for the Planet. Thank you Broken Top Brands!
I love being a micro-influencer! And I apparently have more products on the way.
I’m just waiting for them to find out I’m no Kylie Jenner….yet.
Behind the Lens
Sir Jackie Stewart is one of my motor racing heroes. He is a racer by definition, but his advocacy around driver safety has saved countless lives and influenced car design, track configurations and driver equipment. I love this quote from him.
I would have been a much more popular World Champion if I had always said what people wanted to hear. I might have been dead, but definitely more popular.
10 years ago, I was on my last work trip for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the 50th running of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and arrived late to a group driver shot featuring Sir Jackie himself.
Mad at myself for being tardy and excited at seeing someone I admire, I slid in front of the other photographers (most likely ruining their shots), crouched down and quickly snapped this photo. I lickety-split-ed out of there to avoid the wrath from fellow photographers. I then grinned as I previewed the image feeling pretty, pretty, pretty good. Photography is often down to great timing and a little luck. This was definitely the case here.
Consumption
My version of brain food.
Newsletter: I recently signed up for Anti-Racism Daily. You should too.
TV: Leslie and I love Queer Eye and season 6 did not disappoint. An Austin trip is definitely in our future, as well as seeing Blacklight in concert. We also loved the the Queer Eye Lego set even though there is a lawsuit around Antoni’s leather jacket. Who knew?
I loved The Book of Boba Fett, despite the cheesy bike gang group.
This month has had a pretty intense South Korean focus and I am not mad about it. In fact, these shows are all incredible:
All of Us Are Dead (Great & unique take on a Zombie series)
The Silent Sea (Space drama meets Sci-fi)
Sisyphus the Myth (Modern day time travel awesomeness)
Movies: I’ve started this year with an eclectic approach to movie watching (both old and new) and I am loving it. Here are all the one’s I’ve watched and recommend.
42 (The story of Jackie Robinson)
Diego: The Last Goodbye (So-so documentary, but I feel such a connection to Maradona)
I am Not Your Negro (Powerful)
Da 5 Bloods (Great story and great acting)
Birth of Cool (Documentary on Miles Davis - what a messy genius)
Eternals (My fave Marvel film in recent memory)
And I’ve had the fun experience of introducing my oldest son to Napoleon Dynamite, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, The Waterboy and Wayne’s World. #boydad
It’s a wrap. If you’ve made it this far, wow. Have a great rest of the month.
Much love, Daniel