How an Industrial Manufacturer Partners with Startups to Unlock New Revenue Streams

Featuring Ryan Knox, Director of Marketing & Innovation at Flexfab.
June 7, 2022
Flexfab is an industrial B2B manufacturer who designs and manufactures highly-engineered products in a wide variety of materials and designs for the aerospace, automotive, rail, and heavy-duty truck industries. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Ryan Knox, Director of Marketing & Innovation at Flexfab, talks about the company’s initiative to connect innovative startups with industrial companies to leverage emerging technologies within their manufacturing processes. Ryan talks about how Flexfab draws on existing relationships and industry connections to establish new revenue streams and foster innovation within industrial industries that are often overlooked.

A Manufacturing Brand Integration Playbook

Featuring John Eklund, Vice President, Marketing at ProMach
March 15, 2022
John Eklund, Vice President of Marketing at ProMach, joins Jeff and Carman on The Kula Ring to discuss his playbook for integrating multiple companies into their house of brands after they are acquired. From collateral updates and cross-selling to websites and a centralized tech stack, learn how ProMach brings their acquired companies into the fold.

Building a Better B2B Marketing Strategy with New Technology

Featuring Dan Ricklefs, Vice President of Marketing at Precision Pulley & Idler (PPI).
May 10, 2021
For many manufacturers, the drive to build out their organization internally has been strong for the last five or more years in response to a rapidly-changing marketing and sales landscape. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Dan Ricklefs, Vice President of Marketing at Precision Pulley & Idler (PPI), talks about how the organization is expanding its marketing infrastructure after a series of successful acquisitions. He discusses his playbook for creating marketing strategies, how the company is evolving its marketing tech stack, and the significance of adopting marketing technology as a tool for knowledge transfer to address upcoming retirements.

How a Manufacturer Leverages a Distributor-First Ecommerce Model

Featuring Jeff Bercume, Director of CX Marketing at Berry Global.
January 19, 2021
How can manufacturers leverage their distributor relationships through ecommerce? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff Bercume, Director of CX Marketing at Berry Global, shares how the company’s subsidiary brand, Laddawn.com, operates as an ecommerce site with a distributor-first model. He talks about how the website’s workflow is geared towards distributors, and how this ecommerce configuration can address capacity issues across manufacturing.

How to Evolve Your B2B Brand Message After an Acquisition

Featuring Cathy Dodd, Vice President of Marketing at PolyOne
March 3, 2020
Any time a manufacturer acquires new assets, the brand evolves along with their customer base. How do you manage your communications strategy to keep pace with mergers and acquisitions? Cathy Dodd, Vice President of Marketing for PolyOne, talks to Jeff and Carman on The Kula Ring about how PolyOne created a campaign called “Challenge Accepted” to bring clarity to their brand messaging across a broad range of industries using customer feedback, buyer persona work, and through consolidating their website to better serve as a solutions-driver for their customers.

How to Collaborate Effectively with Former Competitors


Featuring Cori Walsh, Marketing Specialist and Jake Jeffords, Director of Marketing and Global Account at Vermeer MV Solutions
April 9, 2019
In this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff and Carman chat with Cori Walsh and Jake Jeffords—two marketers who worked for competing manufacturers that have recently both been acquired by Vermeer. They discuss the challenges and opportunities that come with learning to collaborate with a former competitor.
