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 98
How Contract Manufacturers Can Boost Supply Chain Transparency
Featuring Carl Breau, CEO, and Jean-Luc Hébert, Vice President, International Sales & Marketing, of Saimen
Is the key to being a successful manufacturing brand actually getting out of manufacturing? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Carl Breau, the CEO of contract manufacturer Saimen, and Jean-Luc Hébert, Vice President, International Sales & Marketing, discuss how manufacturers are handing over production to contract manufacturers so they can shift their core competency to marketing and product development. They talk about how COVID-19 has accelerated the need for supply chain transparency and the role contract manufacturers play in marketing the manufacturing of authentic products.
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Episode 97
How to Replace a Trade Show Presence During the Pandemic
Featuring Jim Cermak, host of the Trade Show University podcast
Manufacturing marketers rely on trade shows, but many have been cancelled since the pandemic began. How can marketers replace an in-person trade show presence, at least in the short term, and connect with prospects remotely? Jim Cermak, host of the Trade Show University podcast, talks to Jeff and Carman about how manufacturers are adapting to trade show cancellations and how to translate the elements of a good trade show booth into other kinds of wins.
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Episode 96
How an Industrial Marketer Creates Customized Content
Featuring Adam Beck, Director of Marketing at CADENAS PARTsolutions.
Industrial marketers eager to provide useful content to prospects can only get so far with lunch-and-learns and coffee mugs. This week on The Kula Ring, Adam Beck, Director of Marketing at CADENAS PARTsolutions shares how the company’s tool for creating 3D CAD models enables engineers and other stakeholders to create content marketing assets that improve lead generation.
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Episode 95
The Digital Strategy of a Network Manufacturing Platform
Featuring Aaron Lichtig, VP of Growth Marketing, Xometry
Aaron Lichtig, Vice President of Growth Marketing shares how Xometry uses a digital approach on going to market as a network-based manufacturing platform. The two-sided network uses content marketing to attract customer demand, and partner acquisition marketing activities to secure the supplier side of the business. Xometry’s overall marketing is based on Google’s See, Think, Do, Care model, which is discussed more on this episode of The Kula Ring. Aaron also has some great stories to share as a former Jeopardy champion and the host of the podcast, OK Xoomer.
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Episode 94
From Metrics to Relationships: A B2B Marketer’s Leap to B2B2C
Featuring Dirk Mortensen, Marketing Manager for ARB 4x4 Accessories, North America
What is the role of a B2B2C marketer? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Dirk Mortensen, Marketing Manager for ARB 4×4 Accessories, North America, talks about his move from B2B to B2B2C marketing. He talks about making the shift from a heavy metrics-driven B2B background in business equipment to creating B2B2C marketing programs for consumer goods where success is more dependent on emotional connection and empathy.
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Episode 93
How a Manufacturer Evolved Its Digital Marketing Over the Decade
Featuring Eoin Vincent, Senior Global Marketing Technology Manager at Olympus
The last decade has seen a dramatic change in the way manufacturers, marketers, and agencies approach the web. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Eoin Vincent, Senior Global Marketing Technology Manager at Olympus, shares his experience creating successful manufacturing marketing content over the last 11 years. He talks about how he manages his team as the work becomes increasingly digital and the evolution of marketing organizations from generalists to specialists.
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Episode 92
Using Video to Optimize Your Customer Base and Supply Chain
Featuring Darrin Mitchell, CEO of Trout River Industries
While other industries are overloaded with content, manufacturers operating in niche verticals have the unique opportunity to own the content space. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Trout River Industries Owner Darrin Mitchell talks about how the company’s 6-million-view YouTube channel and content marketing strategy have transformed the manufacturer from the “underdog” to industry authority.
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Episode 91
How Customer Collaboration Informs B2B Marketing
Featuring manufacturing marketing veteran Ahsan Javed
Digital marketing enables manufacturers to fine-tune their tactics down to their best-fit accounts, but it can also create a false expectation that each marketing engagement can provide a guaranteed ROI. In this episode of The Kula Ring, Ahsan Javed, manufacturing marketer veteran, talks about his customer collaboration framework and how his background in engineering and marketing guides his iterative approach to co-creating products and solutions.
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How B2B Manufacturers Can Avoid Channel Conflict
Featuring Kevin O’Boyle of InterMetro Industries
How can manufacturers optimize their ecommerce presence and avoid conflict with their sales channels? In this episode of The Kula Ring, Kevin O’Boyle, InterMetro Industries’ Director of Marketing and Digital Business Solutions, talks about guiding the manufacturer’s channel conflict strategy during a recent ecommerce launch.
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Episode 89
5 Tips for Manufacturers Launching Ecommerce Projects
Featuring marketing veteran Chris Rice
B2B manufacturers launching ecommerce environments need to shift how they sell and interact with customers in the marketplace. Chris Rice, Director of eCommerce, Sales, and Marketing, shares his top 5 must-do tips for getting an ecommerce operation underway at a B2B company.
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