Exceptions
21 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsExceptions from Seeking Wisdom is a docuseries exploring how and why a handful of B2B companies have built brands to experience breakout success. For years, "brand" was a dirty word in B2B. But today, in an era full of choice and noise, brand has become THE go-to strategy for differentiating your company. Join Drift and your host, author and keynote speaker Jay Acunzo, as we journey around the B2B world to understand what makes these companies tick and experience for ourselves the power of brand. Learn what it take to become an exception.
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Episodes
Inside the Mind of a Global CMO (Sarah Kennedy Ellis, Marketo/Adobe)
June 19, 2019 10:00 - 38 minutes - 53.4 MBIn the series finale of Exceptions, we go inside the mind (and schedule) of one of the world's top CMOs, Sarah Kennedy Ellis of Marketo. We discuss the acquisition by Adobe, how brand affects her team's work and her own, and why the Exceptions exploration is the most important journey for modern marketers to make today. To our listeners: Thanks for your support of this series! Keep in touch with Drift at drift.com and host Jay Acunzo at marketingshowrunners.com.
Contently on What We Really Mean When We Say Brand Story
June 05, 2019 10:00 - 33 minutes - 46.5 MBIn the penultimate episode of Exceptions, we try to move storytelling back from buzzword to core component of our jobs as marketers. What does it take to tell a gripping story? What does a brand story do for a business, and how do we vet and tell stories nobody else is telling? We talk to Contently’s Editor-in-Chief Jordan Teicher to find out.
Earning Trust in a New Community with Toast
May 22, 2019 10:00 - 34 minutes - 47.2 MBWe've talked to lots of marketers marketing to marketers in this series, but how can we as marketers build a beloved brand in an industry that isn't our own? Today, we talk to the SVP of Marketing at Toast, Kevin Hamilton, to explore what it takes to earn trust in a new community, as they've done with restaurant owners. We touch on hiring, partnerships, events, and other approaches, and we reflect on how to grow an exceptional brand given these unique challenges.
Building a Brand for Technical Products with Twilio
May 08, 2019 10:00 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBOver the course of this series, we've profiled plenty of companies whose products make sense to most of us in business (not to mention the few companies who have the enviable task of marketing to other marketers -- ahh, the dream, right?). But what if your product is highly technical in nature? How do you market to technical people when your marketers are definitely not? And how do you balance the need to target enterprise decision-makers and frontline developers and technical team leads? All...
Solving Marketing's Work Crisis with Workfront
April 24, 2019 10:00 - 40 minutes - 56.3 MBIt feels like we say it every day: Marketing is changing. Fast. In this episode, we talk to Workfront's CMO Heidi Melin about what the future of work entails, why we're ill-prepared at most organizations, and what to do about it.
Scaling Without Breaking with Zapier
April 10, 2019 10:00 - 37 minutes - 51.3 MBIn this episode, we perform a live audit on Jay's workflow (it gets hairy) with Zapier's Head of Certified Experts Program, Jesse Parker, and we're joined by Zapier CEO and co-founder Wade Foster, who helps us uncover the one simple truth that can help solve a ton of problems encountered when scaling a brand.
Building a Speakeasy Brand with Animalz
March 27, 2019 10:00 - 33 minutes - 45.4 MBWhat if you could generate more business by building a brand that fewer people were aware of, rather than more? This episode runs counter to our conventional wisdom as marketers in the most refreshing way. Tune in to learn more about powerhouse content creator, Animalz, and the story behind their success.
How to Create & Own a Category with Optimizely
March 13, 2019 20:00 - 34 minutes - 47.5 MBIn this episode, hear why every brand is in the business of owning and leading a category in some way. We talk to Optimizely's CMO and their director of product marketing to understand how the company has successfully created and led their category, and we walk away with a few key pieces we can implement to do the same.
Special Edition: Why & How to Write a Book for Your Brand with Drift's Dave Gerhardt
February 27, 2019 11:00 - 46 minutes - 84.5 MBToday, we get a rare chance to go inside the process of writing a book with Conversational Marketing author and Drift VP of Marketing Dave Gerhardt. Hear why the company felt it was time to do so, how they plan to promote it (without derailing the team), and more details about the wins, frustrations, regrets, and celebrations companies rarely share publicly.
Stop Marketing Blind with Rand Fishkin & Casey Henry (SparkToro)
February 13, 2019 11:00 - 39 minutes - 72.4 MBHow do we divide up our time as marketers to build a great brand? Do we know? Do we have a PLAN to do so? In the Season 2 premiere of Exceptions, host Jay Acunzo goes inside SparkToro, the audience intelligence search engine, cofounded by former Moz cofounder and CEO, Rand Fishkin, and Casey Henry, formerly of Moz, HubSpot, and Wistia. The duo explains where brand fits in the earliest days of building a company, and they expose the issues with how most marketers spend time, especially when it...
Zoom's Relentless Focus on Customer Experience
February 05, 2019 15:15 - 38 minutes - 70.1 MBIn the Season 1 finale of #Exceptions, host Jay Acunzo goes inside a seemingly ubiquitous brand in the business world today: Zoom. In talking to the company's CEO Eric Yuan and head of marketing Janine Pelosi, we learn why they refuse to settle for conventional wisdom and how they orient their team to push past "best practices" to build an exceptional customer experience. Plus, the heartwarming story of a second-grade teacher connecting his students to countries across the world through the Z...
The Most Crucial Leadership Principle Most B2B Brands Miss
February 05, 2019 15:00 - 38 minutes - 71 MBIn this episode of #Exceptions, a revelation about leadership and team happiness and retention in B2B. Indianapolis startup Lessonly teaches us about the communication principle most needed but often overlooked across the corporate world. It's one that explains why customers send Lessonly unsolicited letters praising them, and why the company's VP of Marketing spent a recent evening alone in his garage, spray painting 700 toy llamas gold.
How First Round Capital Bet on Brand to Change the VC Industry
February 05, 2019 14:30 - 38 minutes - 44 MBFirst Round Capital is one of the most widely loved venture capital firms in tech -- no small feat for a VC firm to claim. Through their platform (VC for brand marketing and value-add projects), they've built the Harvard Business Review-of-Startups, hold 80+ events per year for their portfolio companies, and even help founders pitch them through a program called Pitch Assist. Today, host Jay Acunzo talks to First Round partner Bill Trenchard and how and why FRC bets on brand (and how that cha...
Creativity, Constraints and the Rebrand of Grado Labs
February 05, 2019 14:15 - 28 minutes - 52.3 MBHow to convince an old-school CEO (of a legacy brand) to push forward with a rebrand. We'll explore this and more in the latest episode of Exceptions.
Data, Ego, and the Search for Truth with ProfitWell
February 05, 2019 14:00 - 34 minutes - 62.3 MBA brand based on truth? That's what ProfitWell co-founder & CEO Patrick Campbell has set out to achieve. But what is a brand based on truth exactly? Well, it's about going deeper to cut through assumptions and push past egotistical decision making to find...the truth. With so many metrics, it's all too easy to pay attention to what makes us feel good, rather than what's actually good for our business. So how do you actually face the truth? We dive deeper in today’s episode of #Exceptions to f...
Moving From Traffic to Audience to Community: Why Buffer Treats Their Customers Like Humans
February 05, 2019 13:30 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBOn this episode of #Exceptions, we’re going inside Buffer. Buffer sells social media management tools for marketers, allowing you to schedule and analyze everything. It’s used by companies like Shopify, HelpScout, the Denver Broncos, and thousands more. The entire company is run on a platform of radical transparency. They’ve been publishing their revenues, metrics, and even employee salaries for years now. They’re truly walking the walk. Buffer doesn't just pay lip service to transparency. Bu...
Help Scout: Defining, Defending, & Challenging an Entire Industry
February 05, 2019 13:00 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBCustomer support professionals remove the obstacles and clear the way for your customers to appreciate your product or service. They are the front lines of your business, representing your name day in, day out. Often time, customers service pros may be the only face or voice of a company someone can connect to the business. Yet, these individuals, the ones bearing the flag for an entire organization, are typically overworked, underpaid, and underserved. Meet Help Scout. Help Scout hasn’t just...
InVision
February 05, 2019 12:30 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBWhat if your brand could be the battle cry, the rallypoint, the symbolic meeting place for your customers? What if your brand could transform your audience into a community of participants? That’s exactly what InVision has remarkably accomplished. They’ve found and listened to their community. They haven’t just provided solutions, they’ve understood the problem. They’ve created an elevated surface for their customers to have and share a voice. The InVision brand has built a platform. Is trans...
Wistia
February 05, 2019 12:00 - 46 minutes - 43 MBWistia is a company that markets a mission, not just a bunch of products. A few years ago, you might have described Wistia as a SaaS company that offers video hosting and analytics. But thanks to a major product launch this year, the company is in flux. They’re in growth mode, but they’re also in control of that growth. Like all other brands in the #Exceptions series, Wistia puts a huge emphasis on customer centricity. It’s one of the biggest reasons why more than 30,000 companies worldwide u...
Gusto
February 05, 2019 11:30 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBIn the very first episode of #Exceptions, we meet a company so excited about building a brand that it kind of feels like they name the whole company after how they feel. In this one, Jay explores Gusto, a SaaS platform that helps automate and improve your payroll, benefits, and HR processes. They launched in 2012 and employ over 500 people across San Francisco and Denver offices. They’re valued at over $1 billion. In 2018, Gusto was named to the Fintech 50 by Forbes. They’ve also made the lis...
Exceptions: Teaser Trailer
February 05, 2019 11:00 - 4 minutes - 4.25 MBJay Acunzo is the host of the podcast "Unthinkable." But now he's the host of something else: #Exceptions, the newest original Seeking Wisdom show. Exceptions will be a show about why brand matters so much in B2B. We'll dig up stories and ideas that companies haven't shared before. You can also expect a VERY different format from what we've done in past shows, which Jay explains in this intro episode. Use the promo code SEEKINGWISDOM when you get your tickets to HYPERGROWTH 2018 and save $500...