This week on The Kula Ring, Tara Vincar, Marketing Director at Alpha Controls, shares her journey of transforming the company’s marketing approach from the ground up. She discusses how she navigated the steep learning curve of the instrumentation industry, built a small but mighty marketing team, and gained executive buy-in for long-term strategy. Tara also reveals the early wins that fuelled momentum, the challenge of maintaining growth after the “newbie gains” phase, and how she strengthened collaboration between marketing and sales.

How do you transform scattered customer insights into a structured, data-driven approach to marketing and sales? Cory Peterson shares the journey his organization took—from early, informal customer interviews to a comprehensive digital customer journey framework. In this episode, Cory walks us through the process of mapping the customer journey, the evolution from a linear model to a dynamic flywheel, and the role of rigorous testing in refining digital interactions. He also discusses the challenges of attribution, the importance of integrating sales and marketing, and how even small organizations with limited traffic can leverage research to drive meaningful improvements.
Join us as we explore how a data-driven mindset can unlock deeper customer understanding and business growth.

In this episode of The Kula Ring, Todd Carroll, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at B&B Manufacturing, shares the remarkable growth story of a company that started in a garage and evolved into North America’s largest synchronous drive pulley manufacturer. Todd discusses how B&B has doubled its footprint, innovated manufacturing processes, and expanded its inventory to meet customer needs. He highlights the company’s “belted drive expert” philosophy, their hands-on approach to customer service, and creative marketing strategies like “Todd Talks” that blend humour and insight to drive awareness. Tune in to discover how staying close to customers and embracing change fuels success in the power transmission industry.

This week we explore the transformative power of automation in the food and baking industry with Doug Henderson and Jamie Bobyk from Apex Motion Control. Utilizing brand-new collaborative robots (cobots) to revolutionize manual processes, Doug and Jamie share how their team blends creativity and technology to solve complex challenges. They discuss the importance of video content in driving customer engagement, the humanization of cobots on factory floors, and the leadership needed to embrace these innovations. Tune in to discover why automation is reshaping food production and creating long-term partnerships.

Mitchell Jerine joins The Kula Ring this week to explore the evolving dynamics of sales and customer engagement.
We delve into the challenges and opportunities of this transition, including:
Differentiating through value-added services and solutions.
Overcoming internal resistance to change and navigating change management.
Leveraging technology to access untapped markets while fending off new competition.
Real-world examples, like GE’s IoT solutions and Caterpillar’s service-centric strategies, illustrating how manufacturers are driving innovation and redefining customer relationships.
Discover actionable strategies to transform your manufacturing organization into a solutions powerhouse.