Today, we kicked off Atlanta’s first CMO Breakfast, and I got to share the stage with two of the city’s top MarTech leaders, Kurt Uhlir from Sideqik and Kyle Porter of SalesLoft. They both delivered compelling talks to a diverse audience that included leaders from Mizuno, Delta, UPS, and Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) to name just a few.
Our formula for the CMO Breakfast is essentially: 1 Part Networking, 1 Part Great Talks, and A Splash Of Yum.
Check out CMObreakfast.com and get on our mailing list so you can join the fun each month. Our first event sold out, so being first to know about it will help make sure you get in.
There was delicious food thanks to our amazing sponsors at MailChimp and to Atlanta’s Octane and HomeSpun.
Marketers at brands had a real chance to mingle.
The talks got rolling on time and the content was awesome.
I actually almost teared up during one of the talks. So, you know it was good stuff.
Kurt Uhlir shared how influencer marketing has evolved, is delivering huge results, and had actionable tips for marketers. Two of my biggest takeaways were:
- Influencer Marketing works best when part of a strategy, not an individual campaign, and;
- Today’s ability to tap into the long tail of influencers, thanks to technology, is where much of the sustainable magic is at.
If you want to learn more, join Sideqik’s Influencer Marketing Survival Series and watch my interview with Kurt where he talks more about influencer marketing.
Kyle Porter jumped into his talk sharing SalesLoft‘s many successes in marketing and scaling but more importantly a particular mistake he made this year. While not everyone in the room has met Salesforce’s Mark Benioff (especially not while being escorted by his security detail), Kyle helped show us how easily the lines between doing the right thing and doing something else can easily blur.
In the end, Kyle reminded us that the success of your brand boils down to empathy. Staying laser focused, not just on the operational details, but on really understanding your customer and connecting with them on an emotional level. Businesses really win when they help their customers succeed.
Having worked in user experience design for so many years, talking to and watching customers in order to learn from them and build better products, Kyle’s talk really resonated with me. In fact, many of the best marketing agencies and design firms we work with are focused on not only helping their client’s brand succeed but helping their client get promoted. It was a vivid reminder of something many of us know we should be focused on all the time, but also a real world example of how easy it is to take your eye off the prize and get distracted.
Watch my interview with Kyle that same day as he touches on marketing empathy and organizational culture.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this first event a reality including MailChimp, Atlanta Contemporary, the Agency Spotter team, and all of the fantastic volunteers!
Based on the conversations I had at the CMO Breakfast along with a few emails and tweets this afternoon, I am excited to help bring more of Atlanta’s marketing, digital, and design community together at a new CMO Breakfast each month in 2016.
Related articles:
- Introducing Atlanta’s First CMO Breakfast Series
- About the CMO Breakfast
- CMO Talk: Influencer Marketing with Kurt Uhlir of Sideqik(Video)
- CMO Talk: Marketing Empathy with Kyle Porter of SalesLoft (Video)
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