Michael Blake, Director of Marketing for KM International, joins Jeff and Carman to discuss his company’s ecommerce launch, the evolution of their trade show strategy, and how he thinks video will be the differentiator between manufacturers that get ahead and ones that fall behind. In discussing these different marketing and sales tactics, Michael gets at the heart of KM International’s forward-thinking strategy: meeting their customers where they already are.

Irina Kem, Director of Marketing at PACKPRO Systems, is on a mission to smash the glass wall between marketing and sales. With over 15 years’ experience in B2B marketing, her advice to younger marketers is to get out of their offices and into important conversations happening between the sales department and the C-suite. Without a better fundamental understanding of their own business’s processes and pain points, Irina says marketers are setting themselves up for failure—but the path to B2B marketing success becomes clear in this episode of The Kula Ring.

D. Bruce Merrifield of the Merrifield Consulting Group and Waypoint Analytics brings over 40 years of B2B insight to this episode, in which he talks about how Amazon Business applied learnings from their overwhelming success in online consumer sales to take on legacy B2B distribution channels. Bruce says manufacturers need to radically transform their relationships with distributors—and distributors must reinvent their business models—not only to succeed, but to survive in the Age of Amazon.

In the lead up to the 2019 ManufacturED Summit happening in Chicago September 16-18, Stephen Gold, President and CEO of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI), shares his outlook on digital transformation in manufacturing. He discusses the dynamics shaping digital transformation in the industry—including its implications for marketing and sales—along with the highlights attendees can look forward to at this year’s conference.

Kellie De Pooter, Global Marketing Manager at G&W Electric, discusses her approach to redefining G&W Electric’s goals on this episode of The Kula Ring. To stay competitive in the marketplace, her new manufacturing marketing department supports product development and sales and manages new digital marketing initiatives.