/ A stakeholder through the heart. Chapter 1: The problem 04 slides Chapter 2: The reasons 09 slides Chapter 3: Some ideas 10 slides Chapter 4: Conclusion 01 slide A stakeholder through the heart. Why your senior execs are ruining your marketing and what you can do about it. SCROLL DOWN TO EXPLORE Chapter 1: The problem Chapter 2: The reasons Chapter 3: Some ideas So that’s the 7-step plan. Clearly, it’s no magic wand (quite the opposite, really, it’s hard work). If you take this path, and succeed, you will do amazing, market-moving, business-changing, career-zooming things. Things that will give you far more pride than the easy, un-opposed wins. Things that turn the ‘me-too’ marketing conveyor belt… …into a great and glorious career that is worth every ounce of your time and talent and energy. Chapter 4: Conclusion And do it in the most compelling way possible: by raising yours. Let's do this. GO BACK TO TOP Like this? Share this! (Make our day) Velocity is a B2B content marketing agency. Other rants About Velocity Comments Rich Schwerin, Digital Content Strategist, VMware | May 25th, 2018 PREACH! Fundamental and foundational skill = Building successful business relationships based on trust. Earning that trust by doing what you said you were going to do. None of our fancy Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Strategy magic bells & whistles amount to anything without continual stakeholder alignment – be it knowledge alignment, objective alignment, strategy alignment. Thanks for this post. Reply Doug Kessler | July 19th, 2018 Amen, Rich! Thanks for the comment. Lionel, MSource ideas | May 25th, 2018 I’ve just finished reading ‘Confessions of an Advertising Man’ by David Ogilvy (published in 1962). Echoes of Ogilvy in this post… tell the truth to the Client – or boss… be prepared to quit or fire the client… Great post as usual – and if you haven’t read anything by Ogilvy yet, do yourself a favor. He’s famous for a reason. I’m sure Doug has, (you used to work there, right?)I’m talking about anyone else. Reply Doug Kessler | July 19th, 2018 Thanks Lionel. Yes, I started my career at Ogilvy & Mather in NYC and read everything DO wrote. I bleed red (but, I guess, everyone kinda does). Lionel, MSource Ideas | May 27th, 2018 Almost finished ‘The King of Madison Avenue’ a great biography about David Ogilvy. Also highly recommend. Ogilvy was a fantastic and hilarious copy writer and writer of just about everything. What a wit. I’m about to start ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’ next… Reply Tami Demayo, NAVAJO Company | May 31st, 2018 Bravo–as always, a joy to read! The important stakeholders aren’t just the top brass, though. They’re often the product and campaign managers, who tend to come from an engineering or sales background. Their problem usually isn’t their years on the job; it’s a fierce loyalty to the product and company that makes it hard for them to see the customer’s point of view. Reply Doug Kessler | July 19th, 2018 Thanks, Tami. Very true. Stakeholders can come from lots of places. Managing different ones take different approaches but most of it stays the same: talk to them early, listen hard, actively engage. Thanks again. Julius D. | July 10th, 2018 Thank you for this truly amazing article. I have a question Doug. I have just been brought in to help out a relatively new fin-tech company with UI and UX tasks, as well as defining the changing nature of design strategy. As part of the discovery phase, I have been conducting lots of intense workshops with key stakeholders (CEO, CFO, COO, etc) about the changing nature of the company. The group which surprised me most – are the marketing team. Whilst all stakeholders had great energy and excitement to move forward and think about new products and new markets, the marketing team on the other hand seemed very lukewarm and non-engaged. And I am talking about head of marketing, team leaders, SEO experts, marketing consultants. There is probably a lot of complex issues under the table that I might not be aware of, but doesn’t it sound a bit strange and counter intuitive that the group who should be most excited about branding, visual language is sadly not the marketing team, but the more traditional board members…. maybe times are changing? I just cant get my head round how to make these guys more excited…. Reply Doug Kessler | July 19th, 2018 That is depressing, Julius, but not all that unusual, especially in B2B tech companies. B2B marketers have been unempowered for a long time — too often deservedly so. As the discipline grows up and marketers become more accountable, that’s changing. Not sure if in your client’s case this is a marketing leadership problem or maybe it comes form the CEO down, but it sounds like marketing isn’t valued there! (yet) Nat | June 29th, 2021 It sounds like there are some serious issues which you don’t have insight into, although I agree it is not uncommon in B2B space, or in companies which are product/project, not market orientated. Everyone cheers about the brand new shiny strategy apart from the marketing team who see it as commercially unviable. The passive vibe may also result from lack of strong marketing leadership – a good CMO poises their team for business impact, not a colouring department. Roger Parker, Published & Profitable | March 18th, 2019 Very inspiring doiwnloads, a welcome change of pace from hard-sell direct-marketing inspired hype. Perfect fusion of copy and design to project an appropriate image. Roger Reply Doug Kessler | March 22nd, 2019 Thanks, Roger! I think the designers and devs knocked this out of the park. It’s a tough brief: so much copy and a structure that makes cadence a challenge. They killed it. Much appreciated. Rob Birnie, DBM Motion Graphics | October 31st, 2019 Hi, I really wanted to read your article but I gave up due to the over-the-top way it’s presented! Others will disagree but I’m afraid I find it totally distracting and unnecessary! Reply Doug Kessler | November 1st, 2019 Thanks for that feedback, Rob. Sorry you didn’t like it. We’re exploring how to tell stories like this in digital formats but we surely don’t always get it right. It’s a steep learning curve! So it’s good to get your honest view. Mat | November 11th, 2019 Love this, and the way it is presented! Highly engaging and assertive, using the big letters to highlight key messages is highly effective. Thank you! Reply Doug Kessler | November 12th, 2019 Thanks! Rob (above) doesn’t agree but I’m glad it hit the spot for you… Irit Porat, GOARC - Safety 4.0 | December 14th, 2019 Loved it, Doug! Precisely addressing my pains, inspiring and beautifully presented. Thanks! Reply Doug Kessler | January 2nd, 2020 Thanks, Irit! 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