Podcast appearances and mentions of Kimberly A Whitler

Learn how to create strategic positioning. In the 42nd episode of the On Branding Podcast, Arek Dvornechuck interviews Kimberly A. Whitler, and we talk about brand positioning. Check out Kimberly's book!

If you think positioning strategy is a bunch of fluffy brand-purpose-laden statements mixed with a few dual-axis, positioning maps, you're in for a rude awakening. Because as you'll soon discover, that's not what professional positioning strategists do. Kimberly A. Whitler is perhaps most famous for her book on this topic, and positioning strategy is what we initially aim to talk about, but what comes out in the wash during this discussion are lashings of strategic wisdom any senior leader, serious about growth would be interested in. She has a wealth of experience spent working with brands like Coca Cola, P&G, Gartner, Forbes and even the US Department of Defense before more recently, becoming an academic. It's this combination of empirical research discipline and practical experience that forms such a killer combination. This episode is jam-packed with plenty of detailed explanations and stories from her career. Kimberly is currently an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and her approach is exactly in the hitting zone of this podcast. She's staunchly focused on work that helps boards, CEOs, and CMOs leverage marketing for strategic advantage. Unlike career academics however, she's not someone who drafts research papers for papers sake. Her work is meant to be implemented, measured and critiqued in the real world. It's for this reason her research wins award after award. Her book about Positioning is a must-read and I'd argue, probably more robust than the seminal book by Al Reis'. There's also nuggets of gold to be mined in her various online Forbes articles too which have collectively garnered over 4 million views. What mistake did Nike make with their brand position on a very divisive topic in North America? Is brand purpose valuable or is it just a bunch of a virtue-signaling PC corporate hogwash? Why is it critical to understand the difference between supply-side orientation, demand-side orientation, output orientation and through-put orientation? Why should you view positioning like a battlefield or the game Battleship? How you can use positioning strategy to attract employees in the hyper-competitive labor market? How do brands get brand purpose wrong? Which critical skill do CMOs need before they can progress into senior roles? Why shouldn't you source your positioning strategy from an ad agency? What's her take on the fad of ‘category creation' within the tech sector? What questions should you ask when hiring a CMO to avoid hiring a dud? Lots of questions. Lots of answers. Press play

George Corbin is a Board Director at Edgewell Personal Care and is the COO of Onriva, a next-generation, AI-powered, travel marketplace. In this episode, Alan and George talk about his career path, which includes consulting through the boom and bust of the internet, becoming Chief Digital Officer at Marriott, leading their digital transformation, and making his way to a position on Edgewell's board. Throughout their conversation they discuss lessons learned through leading digital transformation, what that means for the marketing function, and marketers should think about leading a digital transformation. George says, “The best marketers are transformation agents,” and sometimes that means getting really good at being insightful with your customers and looking at the data.  Listen in to hear more about digital transformations and the hot topics board members are currently discussing. In this episode, you'll learn: Getting digital transformation right Making your company a growth engine  Opportunities for marketers on a board Key Highlights: [02:00] George's wrestling match with an octopus  [04:10] George's start in marketing [10:34] Getting digital transformation right [18:57] Becoming a board director [21:48] Opportunities for marketers at the board level [26:11] Shifting to a mind of governance  [31:20] “Hot or not”—what boards are talking about [38:55] George's advice for CMOs [45:26] An experience that defines George, makes him who he is today  [48:33] George's advice to his younger self  [50:14] What marketers should be learning more about  [52:07] The brands and organizations George follows [55:42] The biggest threat or opportunity for marketers Resources Mentioned:  George Corbin Edgewell Personal Care Onriva Marriott Mars Kim Whitler on Marketing Today discussing marketers on boards Kim's research: When and how Board Members with Marketing Experience Facilitate Firm Growth, by Kimberly A. Whitler, Ryan Krause, Donald R. Lehmann Stoicism (Wikipedia) Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holliday Brands George mentions: Alibaba, Shopify, Onriva Alibaba's Erica Chan on Marketing Today Is Apple building an advertising platform? (9to5Mac.com) Follow the podcast: Listen in iTunes (link: http://apple.co/2dbdAhV) Listen in Google Podcasts (link: http://bit.ly/2Rc2kVa) Listen in Spotify (Link: http://spoti.fi/2mCUGnC ) Connect with the Guest: George's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgecorbin/    George's Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeorgeCorbin1  Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart: http://twitter.com/abhart https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanhart http://twitter.com/themktgtoday https://www.facebook.com/themktgtoday/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-today-with-alan-hart/ Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/marketingtoday See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Positioning for Advantage: Techniques and Strategies to Grow Brand Value by Kimberly Whitler About the Book: Most of us have an intuitive sense of superior branding. We prefer to purchase brands we find distinctive―that deliver on some important, relevant dimension better than other brands. These brands have typically achieved positional advantage. Yet few professionals have had the formal training that goes beyond marketing theory to bridge the “theory-doing gap”―understanding the specific techniques and strategies that can be used to create brands that attain positional advantage in the marketplace. Positioning for Advantage is a comprehensive how-to guide for creating, building, and executing effective brand strategies. Kimberly A. Whitler identifies essential marketing strategy techniques and moves through the major stages of positioning a brand to achieve in-market advantage. Introducing seven tools―from strategic positioning concepts to strategy mapping to influencer maps―Whitler provides templates, frameworks, and step-by-step processes to build and manage growth brands that achieve positional advantage. This book presents real-world scenarios, helping readers activate tools to increase skill in creating brands that achieve positional advantage. Brimming with insights for students and professionals alike, Positioning for Advantage helps aspiring C-level leaders understand not only what superior branding looks like but also how to make it come to life. About the Author: Dr. Kimberly A. Whitler is currently the Frank M. Sands Sr. Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business.  Previously, she spent nearly 20 years in general management, strategy, and marketing roles within the consumer packaged goods and retailing industries, managing global, U.S., and Eastern European-based businesses. She spent most of her career at Procter & Gamble and more recently served as the general manager of the Breakfast Division for Aurora Foods, the CMO of David's Bridal, the country's leading bridal apparel retailer, and as an officer of PetSmart, the U.S.' largest pet specialty retailer. She has written over 350 articles as a Forbes senior contributor and has published in Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Washington Post, Ad Age, and numerous academic journals and other publications.  Her Forbes articles have garnered over 3,500,000 views, and she has been ranked as a Top Five influencer of CMOs, a Top 10 influencer of Tech B2B CMOs, and a Top 100 MarTech influencer. She has been interviewed, cited, or quoted over 2,100 times, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, New York Times, NBC, ABC, USA Today, Entrepreneur, Fox Sports, Huffington Post, and a variety of international media outlets. And, interesting fact – she is an avid UVA men's basketball fan! Click here for this episode's website page with the links mentioned during the interview... https://www.salesartillery.com/marketing-book-podcast/positioning-advantage-kim-whitler

In this podcast session, I had the opportunity to speak again with Debbie Qaqish who is the Principal and Chief Strategy Officer of The Pedowitz Group – a Revenue Marketing™ firm that helps B2B companies and their marketing leaders transform marketing from a cost centre to a revenue centre. In it, we discussed the topic of marketing enablement, which is an emerging marketing function. Specifically, we consider what it is and how it could help B2B companies align marketing and sales to drive revenue growth. For those not familiar with Debbie, she is a nationally recognized thought leader, innovator and speaker on the topic of Revenue Marketing with more than 30 years of experience applying strategy, technology and process to help B2B companies drive revenue growth. She is also the author of the award-winning book – “Rise of the Revenue Marketer,” Chancellor of Revenue Marketing University, and host of Revenue Marketer Radio (WRMR). Debbie has been at the forefront of the marketing automation phenomenon, first as a beneficiary, and now as an advocate and expert. Having coined the term “Revenue Marketer” in 2010, Debbie is considered, by many, to be the “original” revenue marketer. Debbie is also a Ph.D. candidate, and her dissertation topic is on how the CMO adopts financial accountability in an e-marketing environment. Enjoy!   Show Links   Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn About Debbie Qaqish The Pedowitz Group [ARTICLE] What Is Marketing Enablement and Why Do You Need It? — By Debbie Qaqish [VIDEO] Thomas Barta — Keynote: The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader (2017) [ARTICLE] Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic (2018): Martech 5000 (actually 6,829) — By Scott Brinker [ARTICLE] The New Customer Journey Maze: 5 Implications For Marketers — By Kimberly A. Whitler   Books Mentioned   [BOOK] Rise of the Revenue Marketer   People Mentioned   Thomas Barta, Author: The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader Alex Simoes, Senior Director of Customer Experience Market Adoption at Sysco LABS at Sysco Scott Brinker, VP Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot; Editor at chiefmartec.com; Program Chair of MarTech Kimberly A. Whitler, Assistant Professor, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia