B2B Marketing Blog - TopRank®

B2B Marketing views, news and interviews.

Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview with Influencer Marketing Wiz Amisha Gandhi, SAP

Caitlin Burgess
Caitlin Burgess
Influencer Marketing, Interviews

From emerging social media channels to the rise of artificial intelligence, the exciting cyclone of change often drops us marketers into unfamiliar territory—and we have to find our way home.

Thankfully, the marketing industry is flush with talented marketers leading the way, and we often look to them for tactical insights to navigate the winding road and avoid fields of deceiving poppies. However, in our thirst more knowledge, we often don’t get to see who these leaders are in full living color.

To bridge the gap between person and marketer, we’re kicking off an exciting new “Behind the Curtain” interview series—which, if you haven’t guessed, is inspired by Dorothy Gale and the classic film, The Wizard of Oz.


Behind the Marketing Curtain: An Interview with Influencer Marketing Wiz Amisha Gandhi, SAP

Digital Marketing Spotlight: Josh Mueller, SVP Global Marketing at Dun & Bradstreet

Josh Mueller Interview

Meeting and getting to know smart digital marketers is easily one of my favorite things about working in the marketing industry. I first meet Josh Mueller when he was at Director of Digital Marketing at Dell and I was presenting an integrated approach to search, social and content marketing. There was a palpable enthusiasm in the air for inbound marketing and it was exciting to see that kind of reception from a large company.

Fast forward to today and Josh is Senior Vice President Global Marketing at Dun & Bradstreet. He is definitely one of those people you want on your digital marketing team or more specifically, leading your team. He always seems to be two steps ahead, is results-focused and a genuinely nice human being.


Digital Marketing Spotlight: Josh Mueller, SVP Global Marketing at Dun & Bradstreet

Digital Marketing Spotlight: Amy Lamparske, Head of Social Media at 3M

Amy Lamparske

One of the great benefits of social media is the dual effect of creating access to people of influence while helping individuals with expertise and points of view become influential themselves. One of my connections that serves as a great example of this is Amy Lamparske, Head of Global Social Media at 3M.

Local events and blogging undoubtedly created mutual awareness, but I didn’t meet Amy in person until she was Director, Digital Marketing at Walmart and then again when she was Director, Digital and Social Media at General Mills. In her current role at 3M, I’ve been able to see Amy’s thought leadership in action in situations ranging from being a keynote speaker at the first Brandwatch user conference to host of a Conference Board event on Social Media. Each time was a learning opportunity because Amy provides a view into enterprise social media marketing and advertising that is deep, insightful and fast moving. I’m not alone in this sentiment:


Digital Marketing Spotlight: Amy Lamparske, Head of Social Media at 3M

Content Marketing World Keynote Interview: John von Brachel, Bank of America

John von Brachel Bank of America

One of the most valuable resources for just about any company is the talent, expertise and insight from internal experts and executives, especially when it comes to content marketing. However, understanding the best practices and putting them into action within a large, complex organization is another thing entirely.

That’s why we are fortunate to hear from Content Marketing World 2016 keynote speaker John von Brachel. John has a deep editorial background at companies ranging from Time Inc. to Merrill Lynch to his current role as SVP and Content Marketing Executive at Bank of America. These roles have positioned him with very unique insight into the role of content marketing at the enterprise level.

In this interview, John talks about his editorial background, how he stays current, motivating executive participation with content and a preview of his keynote and breakout session presentations at CMWorld.


Content Marketing World Keynote Interview: John von Brachel, Bank of America

Content Marketing World Keynote Interview: Kathy Sterio, GE

Kathy Sterio GE

Update: Kathy is unable to make it to Content Marketing World and Jenifer Walsh, director of customer engagement marketing for Current, powered by GE will be taking the stage in her place. 

Content Marketing within large, complex organizations is not for the faint of heart. Many big companies are legacy brands with years of history behind marketing status quo. Today’s business environment calls for constant innovation and for marketers that can champion the necessary change, there can be significant impact.

In that context, I introduce you to Kathy Sterio from General Electric. Her time with GE has spanned several decades and undoubtedly, she has observed and championed her share share of marketing innovation.


Content Marketing World Keynote Interview: Kathy Sterio, GE

Content Marketing World Keynote Interview: Stephanie Losee, Visa

Stephanie Losee
The digital world is often a small world. For example, when working with Dell on an influencer content program I met Dell’s Managing Editor at the time who seemed to be a cocktail of sophistication, intelligence and just a lovely person. She reminded me very much of Rebecca Lieb, another force of nature in the content marketing world. Why does this make digital a small world? Despite being based on two different coasts, they’re great friends!

This serendipitous content sage is none other than Stephanie Losee, who is now Head of Content at Visa, Corporate Communications. Along with many others, I’ve learned many important insights from Stephanie and I can’t wait to see her keynote panel at Content Marketing World in September.


Content Marketing World Keynote Interview: Stephanie Losee, Visa

Healthcare Marketer Interview: Rob Birgfeld, AVP, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at Inova

Caitlin Burgess
Caitlin Burgess
Digital Marketing, Interviews

Rob-Birgfeld

In today’s world, marketers in all industries are working hard to keep up with technological innovation and changing consumer trends. But for some marketers, major shifts in the very foundation of their industry are presenting difficult hurdles as well as great opportunities. Yes. I’m referring to you healthcare marketers out there.

Healthcare marketers are contending with an evolving industry landscape that not only involves new programs and regulations to abide by, but also new consumer expectations.

With that in mind, TopRank Marketing has tapped into the expertise of marketing veteran Rob Birgfeld, AVP and Chief Digital Marketing Officer at Inova, a nonprofit healthcare system based in Falls Church, Virginia. In this interview, Rob talks about how he came to the world of healthcare marketing, what he sees as the top three industry trends, and how his team is using digital marketing tactics to create a better experience for their audience.


Healthcare Marketer Interview: Rob Birgfeld, AVP, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at Inova

Digital Marketing Spotlight: John Bell, VP Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers

Digital Marketing Spotlight

Star light, star bright, which digital marketer is next in our spotlight? Well, it’s John Bell of course, Vice President of Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers.

John joined Travelers after 13 years at Ogilvy & Mather where he founded [email protected], a global social and digital marketing practice. There, John drove digital and social strategy and programs for major brands including Ford, Nestlé, IBM, DuPont and more.

In this interview, John talks about his transition from the big agency world to a big brand, lessons learned, innovation, data, martech, content, hiring and digital marketing priorities for 2016. So put on your shades, no not really, and dig in:

John H Bell, TravelersYou made a pretty big change from Managing Director at [email protected] to VP Enterprise Marketing at Travelers. What are some of the most transferable lessons you’ve learned moving from agency head to a senior marketing executive for a brand?


Digital Marketing Spotlight: John Bell, VP Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers

Digital Marketing Spotlight: Rishi Dave, CMO at Dun & Bradstreet

Digital Marketing Spotlight

Marketing executives are more challenged than ever to create effective organizations and operations to succeed in an increasingly converged, content and inbound marketing world.

In this latest TopRank Marketing Digital Marketing Spotlight interview, Rishi Dave, CMO at Dun & Bradstreet, talks about the strategic responsibility differences of entering a CMO role, advice on creating an effective inbound marketing organization, the importance of content, the convergence of marketing and PR and whether senior executives should focus on their personal brand.

Rishi Dave Dun & BradstreetIt’s been nearly two years since you moved from being Executive Director, Digital Marketing at Dell to your current role as CMO at Dun & Bradstreet. What are some of the changes you had to make in terms of your responsibilities, marketing organization and the change in industry?


Digital Marketing Spotlight: Rishi Dave, CMO at Dun & Bradstreet

Digital Marketing Spotlight: Jeff Marcoux, CMO Lead at Microsoft

Digital Marketing Spotlight

What is predictive marketing and what are the future marketing technologies we should be paying attention to?

To answer those questions and more, I am happy to share the next in our series of digital marketer interviews featuring Jeff Marcoux (@jeffmarcoux), CMO Lead, Worldwide Enterprise Marketing at Microsoft.

At Microsoft, Jeff has driven cross product and team collaboration, supported multiple product releases and believes that every touch point with a customer is a marketing experience – from marketing to sales to customer service.

In this interview, Jeff talks about the most fun job in the world at Microsoft, marketing technology and predictive analytics, marketing executive career advice and how he stays current in the digital marketing world. We also get to peek into his crystal ball for upcoming digital marketing trends.


Digital Marketing Spotlight: Jeff Marcoux, CMO Lead at Microsoft

Digital Marketing Spotlight: Tami Cannizzaro, Senior Director of Marketing at eBay

Digital Marketing SpotlightToday we begin a new series of interviews with digital marketing professionals from the front lines of marketing to executives in the C-Suite. Our goal? To shine a light on the secrets to digital marketing success through strategy and tactics, challenges and wins, technology, operations, best practices and a little social media fun.

Starting off the series is Tami Cannizzaro (@tamicann) Senior Director of Marketing at eBay where she is responsible for global demand generation and driving lead targets across four major business units.

In this interview, Tami talks about what she’s learned from her years at IBM in her new role at eBay, tips on choosing marketing technology, outsourcing vs. insourcing, the convergence of earned, owned and paid media and insightful career advice for rising digital marketers. Plus we learn what she really thinks about the top social networks.


Digital Marketing Spotlight: Tami Cannizzaro, Senior Director of Marketing at eBay

Joe Pulizzi (The Godfather) Discusses the Content Marketing Revolution #CMWorld

Joe-Pulizzi---interview-header-

Without anyone accusing me of exaggerating, I can safely say that Joe Pulizzi is a bona fide content marketing visionary. Joe started using the term “content marketing” in 2001, long before the rest of the industry caught on to its potential. In the past decade and a half, Joe has firmly established his thought leadership in the field, earning the nickname “The Godfather of Content Marketing.”

In 2007, Joe founded the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), which has grown into a vital resource for thousands of marketers worldwide. In addition to building a massive hub of marketing resources, classes, and training programs, CMI produces Content Marketing World, the world’s largest content marketing event.


Joe Pulizzi (The Godfather) Discusses the Content Marketing Revolution #CMWorld