Exceptions from the Drift Podcast Network 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 takes to become an exception.
https://drift.com/podcasts/exceptions
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 12 hours 31 minutes
episode 11: Zoom's Relentless Focus on Customer Experience
In 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...
episode 10: The Most Crucial Leadership Principle Most B2B Brands Miss
In 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.
episode 9: How First Round Capital Bet on Brand to Change the VC Industry
First 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...
episode 8: Creativity, Constraints and the Rebrand of Grado Labs
How 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.
episode 7: Data, Ego, and the Search for Truth with ProfitWell
A 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...
episode 6: Moving From Traffic to Audience to Community: Why Buffer Treats Their Customers Like Humans
On 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...
episode 5: Help Scout: Defining, Defending, & Challenging an Entire Industry
Customer 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...
episode 4: InVision
What 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...
episode 3: Wistia
Wistia 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...
episode 2: Gusto
In 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...