The race director told us at the beginning of Stage 5, "so like the Pioneers, the last obstacle you face on the trail are getting around the Cascades. Here you see Mt. Bachelor on the left and the 3 Sisters to the right. So let's get this over with, the scenery was...
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Rethinking the Painkiller vs. Vitamin Metaphor: A Better Way to Play the B2B Game
I've never really liked the old 'Painkiller vs. Vitamin' selling metaphor. And I've been repeatly drawn to this topic, maybe because I hear this old meme so often. It's too simplistic and often becomes an excuse for sales teams when they miss their numbers, with the...
Category Lessons from Club Volleyball???
My son Owen is a high school club volleyball player. While he isn't near the tallest, at almost 5 ft 10in and still growing, he definitely is the giant of our house. And his height DEFINITELY comes from Mom's size. Owen plays setter. Setter is, as I have learned, the...
“Steambust” Gravel – Unfinished Business in the High Colorado Furnace
TLDR: So here's the not so long of it - I "dnf'd" at my "A" race. Finishing only 58/100 miles. Beautiful scenery, bitter disappoint and friendships old and new... My post from that day kinda sums it up: It's now 96 hours later and I am so ready to NOT rehash the whole...
Done and Dusty – TahoeTruckee Gravel Recap – My First Timed Race!
It started with a nice Thursday midday drive from the Bay area up to my AirBnB on the Truckee River, that is, until I noticed that my driving directions were telling me 1hr and 40 minutes for the last 45 miles. Hmmm, must be a crash ahead. Sure enough, just 9 miles...
Vanquish the Vitamin, Pass on the Painkiller, Let’s Make Magic!
It's a conversation as old as the hills in the B2B marketing world: VP of Sales to CMO - "We need a painkiller, our product is a vitamin" CMO to VP of Products - "Sales says we need a painkiller" VP of Products to CEO - "But our customers can't live without it" CEO to...
April Fundo and Welcome Recovery Week
On Saturday, I completed my April fundo (100 kilometer ride). This was my 3rd 100K ride of 2022 and my goal is to ride a fundo in at least 9 of the 12 months. I am now at 3/4 through April, so on track. I couldn't round up any of the usual suspects so I headed out on...
My Strength Training Routine
While I was at the gym, my very long time friend and now cycling confidante John N texted me and asked me, "do you use dumbells or what?, I want to add weight training to my routine". I replied, "At the gym, I'll write it up for you..." So here's my 2x/week Strength...
OLD MAN ROLLING – What’s this All About?
I've started this new blog category on my business site (that's me in orange, second from right in photo), but do plan to make it it's own thing! Here, I am hoping to chronicle my journey as a "later in life" cyclist, to share my story of the last two years when I...
The (Secret?) Power and Beauty of the #CategoryMeme
A client of mine recently launched their new Category initiative. They are both a technical and customer innovator in a hot, but crowded market, like pretty much all B2B technology innovators are. Their CEO views their #CategoryMeme as one of of their "Secret weapons"...
Spreading the #CategoryMeme – Enabling, Embedding and Incentivizing
Spreading your #categoryMeme is the third step in our Penetrate, Replicate, Spread framework, and takes off right where Replicate ends, with Enablement, then goes to Embedding and Incentivizing #CategoryMeme spread. We discussed enablement of #CategoryMeme replication...
Reproducing the #CategoryMeme – Simplify, Enable and Reward Your Marketplace
In order for a #CategoryMeme to spread, the third step of our Penetrate, Replicate, Spread framework, first, it must replicate itself, and do so as Brodie says, "faithfully". What does this mean? Our prospects and other market participants must be able to easily...
Name It, Frame It and Spike It ! #CategoryMeme Penetration – Entering the Market’s Mind
In my last post, I discussed the 3 steps to Category Success, borrowing from the work of Richard Brodie. These steps were: Penetration – The Category must enter the mind of market participantsFaithful Replication – The participants must be able to mirror and replicate...
Launching to Leading; Five Years Later and Still More Relevant Than Ever
When you write a business book, especially one where you set up the problem with market trends, you always worry that the trends you have identified are temporary or will end soon, making your books relevance plummet. To combat this, you really need to try to pick...
I’ve Been Infected, Not with Covid, But with A Mind Virus- #CategoriesAreMemes #PassItOn ;)!
Before DancingCats, TidePods, BucketChallenges and other "memes" took over the internet, a branch of social science called Memetics was actually built around the idea of Memes. The term Meme was coined more than 40 years ago in the landmark book by Richard Dawkins...
Everything I Ever Learned About B2B Messaging…In One Picture!
Sometimes, you just have to net it out! After nearly 14 years as a GTM messaging advisor, this is one of those times. The other week, a client looked at my Messaging Hierarchy and asked, “what are the message deliverables out of this project?” a question I get a lot. And then I realized I had never mapped deliverables to my 4 M Model of “Method, Money, Magic, Mythos”
Story AND Strategy, The Yin and Yang of B2B Go To Market Success
A few years ago, after completing an engagement with Lee Hecht Harrison in working on the narrative for the launch of what became known as their "Active Placement" service, their then CRO Kevin Gagan said to me: "Ken, when we started, we thought the strategy should...
Five Tips on Hiring Messaging Help
Having written last on the "5 DIY B2B Messaging Mistakes" I've decided to address another challenge, hiring "Messaging Help", that consultant, agency or firm that's gonna help you get it right. And while I admit I have a biased view here, in the sense that I am a...
Five DIY Messaging Mistakes Start-ups Make
Messaging, after product and funding, is arguably the third key thing to get right for early stage B2B start-up success. Yet just the other day, a friend of mine who is a well respected Venture Capitalist said to me, "You know Ken, most of our early stage company...
Building, Telling and Scaling Your Transformational Go To Market Narrative – Why, What and How – On Demand Webinar
View this on demand webinar and learn how companies like FireEye, SkyHigh and FastSpring leveraged my storytelling framework to establish and grow market and category leadership.
Creepy Customer Care, Thanks But No Thanks?
Get Out and Engage! - Why You Need Both Customer Empathy AND Intimacy to Drive Aligned Engagement Do you know what keeps your customers up at night? What gets them excited in the morning? Have you walked in their shoes? Do you seek to understand before being...
Five Bad Messaging Habits Every B2B Brand Should Break
In my post of November 4th, I outlined the Five Messaging Habits of Highly Successful B2B Brands, in this post I'll take on 5 Bad Habits to Break. We all have bad habits, both in our personal and professional lives. Over the years, I've noticed 5 Messaging Habits that...
ForgeRock – Access the Future
Challenge: ForgeRock is a leader in the Identity and Access Management space. Having been founded in 2010, ForgeRock has broad platform capabilities and an amazing global customer base. ForgeRock's platform provides solutions across both employee, customer and IOT...
The 5 Messaging “Habits” of Highly Effective B2B Brands
View the recording of my 5 Habits Webinar here Market Leaders do it better! When you are a follower, it feels like you are pushing a boulder uphill while your rival leader is like a snowball rolling down. So what are some of the messaging habits that Market Leaders...
DeepFactor – Launching Into A Developer Blind Spot
Challenge: DeepFactor was founded by two industry veterans who deeply understood some of the challenges across security, performance, and compliance that face today's software development teams. Having built an initial product, DeepFactor needed to translate the...