The Kula Ring podcast is essential listening for manufacturing marketers who want to grow their digital presence and compete online.
Sponsored by Kula Partners—an agency committed to helping leading B2B manufacturers craft digital experiences that transform how they engage buyers, serve customers, and outpace their competition—The Kula Ring podcast features conversations about marketing, sales, and technology with top manufacturing executives from across North America.
The Kula Ring podcast is co-hosted by Kula Partners principals, Carman Pirie and Jeff W. White, both of whom are frequently sought after for their digitally-focused B2B expertise. They regularly share their insights with audiences including conferences like B2B Online and HubSpot’s INBOUND, the Gardner Manufacturing Marketer blog, and other podcasts focused on B2B marketing and technology.
Episode 51
Manufacturing Better Marketing, Sales, and C-Suite Alignment
Featuring Irina Kem, Director of Marketing at PACKPRO Systems
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.
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Episode 50
Customer-Centric B2B Channel Management in the Age of Amazon
Featuring D. Bruce Merrifield, President of Merrifield Consulting Group Ltd. and partner at Waypoint Analytics
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.
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Episode 49
Embracing Industry 4.0: Technology Adoption in Manufacturing
Featuring Paul Wellener, Vice Chairman, Deloitte LLP, and U.S. Industrial Products and Construction Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Paul Wellener—Vice Chairman, Deloitte LLP, and U.S. Industrial Products and Construction Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP—provides early insights into Deloitte and MAPI’s collaborative research on technology adoption in manufacturing, being released at the ManufacturED Summit happening September 16-18 in Chicago. He shares which factors are critical to success in digital transformation, along with different approaches to implementing digital practices in the context of Industry 4.0—offering manufacturers a way forward regardless of adoption level.
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Episode 48
Accelerating Digital Transformation in Manufacturing
Featuring Stephen Gold, President & CEO of MAPI
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.
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Episode 47
Managing a Major Campaign Pivot During a Product Portfolio Change
Featuring Jacki Lutz, Global Head of Marketing Communications and Intelligence of Sensata Technologies
Jacki Lutz, Global Head of Marketing Communications and Intelligence, talks with Carman and Jeff about how Sensata Technologies made a product portfolio change last year, causing them to pivot midway through a major marketing campaign. The campaign was centered on their legacy product, Schrader valves—a product they were no longer selling.
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Episode 46
Using Earned Media as a Source of Content Marketing
Featuring David Ward, Director of Public Affairs at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
David Ward, Director of Public Affairs at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, brings his public relations perspective to The Kula Ring, sharing insights on how manufacturing marketers can use earned media as a source of content marketing, the importance of internal communications, and how virtual reality (VR) is being used in marketing and public affairs.
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Episode 45
A Look at a B2B Digital Transformation with 20/20 Hindsight
Featuring Brian Richards, Digital Marketing Supervisor at Gardner Denver
Brian Richards, Digital Marketing Supervisor at Gardner Denver, shares his insights on how he led a digital transformation in his previous role at Knapheide Manufacturing—moving from push marketing tactics to pulling customers through their distribution network.
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Episode 44
Redefining Goals While Managing the Digital Transformation of Sales & Marketing
Featuring Kellie De Pooter, Global Marketing Manager at G&W Electric
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.
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Episode 43
How Manufacturing Marketers Can Get Buy-in for Digital Initiatives
Featuring Alex Lovdahl, Digital Experience Manager at Brandt
Alex Lovdahl, Digital Experience Manager at Brandt, talks with Jeff and Carman on The Kula Ring about getting leadership’s buy-in for digital marketing initiatives by using results to demonstrate their effectiveness.
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Episode 42
How Manufacturing Marketers Can Help B2B Buyers During Their Self-Directed Research Process
Featuring Google's Tarun Rathnam, Head of Industry for B2B Advertising, and Aaron Hite, Partner Lead
Jeff and Carman talk with Google’s Tarun Rathnam, Head of Industry for B2B Advertising, and Aaron Hite, Partner Lead, in this episode of The Kula Ring. With at least two thirds of B2B buyers preferring to conduct their own research online according to Google’s study with Comscore, they discuss how manufacturing marketers can adapt their marketing strategies to reach B2B buyers throughout their self-directed research process.
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