Karl Van den Bergh: Confident Positioning Stands Out, Playing It Safe Gets Forgotten - Episode #56

Karl Van den Bergh: Confident Positioning Stands Out, Playing It Safe Gets Forgotten - Episode #56

Is your brand losing deals because you sound exactly like every other vendor in the market? In this episode of Connect To Market, host Casey Cheshire sits down with Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Market Officer of Illumio, to explore how marketers can connect to their market by knowing who they are and leading with authenticity in a noisy, AI-saturated landscape. Karl makes the case that the number-one requirement for market connection is self-awareness, arguing that companies fail when they haven't crystallized their mission, values, and brand, or when they're afraid to be who they really are. He explains why clear, consistent positioning is the foundation of effective marketing and how trust is built through genuine differentiation, not trend-chasing. Karl walks through Illumio's strategic pivot from technology-led messaging around "micro-segmentation" and "zero trust segmentation" to the simpler, more differentiated value proposition of "breach containment," sharing early campaign traction and the importance of CEO alignment in making bold positioning shifts stick. He also breaks down how bold, opinionated creative helps brands stand out, why AI can enable one-to-one marketing at scale while amplifying human-to-human experiences, and how resilience, experimentation, and a willingness to "break stuff" are essential for marketers who want to push boundaries and grow. In this episode, we cover: * Why knowing yourself as a company and marketer is the foundation for authentic market connection and trust * How Illumio shifted from jargon-heavy positioning to the clear, differentiated message of "breach containment" and the early results it drove * Using bold, opinionated creative to cut through a crowded market and make your brand memorable * How AI enables one-to-one marketing at scale while keeping human-to-human experiences at the center If you're a marketing leader struggling to differentiate in a sea of similar-sounding competitors and looking for a framework to simplify your message, own a category, and lead with authenticity, Karl's approach to positioning and brand courage is one worth stealing. 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode of Connect To Market. Connect with Karl: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlvandenbergh/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlvandenbergh/]  * Illumio: https://www.illumio.com/ [https://www.illumio.com/]  Ways to Tune In: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa [https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa]  * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920]  * Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d]  * iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/ [https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/]  * Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391 [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391]  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV]  Connect To Market is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts [https://ringmaster.com/]. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ [https://ringmaster.com/]

Melanie Brancaleone: Human Conversations That Drive Event Marketing ROI - Episode #55

Are your trade show leads filling your CRM but starving your pipeline? In this episode of Connect To Market, host Casey Cheshire sits down with Melanie Brancaleone, Vice President of Marketing at Testkube, to explore how marketers can connect to their market by getting in-person at events, where direct conversations reveal real language, context, and problems that forms and digital channels simply cannot capture. Brancaleone makes the case that the trade show floor is one of the most underrated sources of buyer intelligence, and that the marketers who treat events as listening posts rather than lead-collection stations are the ones who actually move pipeline. Brancaleone walks through her tactical playbook for working a booth: start with a human warm-up to build rapport, act as a buffer to route true prospects to technical teammates, and listen in on demos, especially when multiple prospects or even customers join, to capture the exact vocabulary buyers use for future campaigns. She draws a sharp distinction between event goals, separating net-new lead generation from advancing in-flight opportunities, and recommends meeting rooms for late-stage deals and founder or executive meetings to accelerate pipeline. She also tackles common event mistakes, advising against parties at large conferences and recommending differentiated plays like breakfasts in Vegas. On swag, she urges teams to prioritize lead quality over volume by tagging "swag only" badge scans and being intentional about giveaways. Post-event, she recommends a fast thank-you email with clear CTAs, immediate BDR follow-up, and long-tail tracking. She closes with a leadership philosophy rooted in measurement, testing, and building a culture that allows failure as a path to learning and improvement. In this episode, we cover: * Why in-person event conversations reveal buyer language, context, and pain points that digital channels and forms cannot capture * How to work a booth strategically by warming up prospects, buffering for technical teammates, and listening in on demos to harvest campaign vocabulary * Separating event goals between net-new lead generation and advancing in-flight deals, and using meeting rooms and exec meetings to move pipeline * Post-event follow-up that works: fast thank-you emails with clear CTAs, immediate BDR outreach, long-tail tracking, and tagging "swag only" scans to protect lead quality If you are a B2B marketing leader pouring budget into events but struggling to prove ROI or convert badge scans into real pipeline, Brancaleone's quality-over-volume framework is the tactical reset your event strategy needs. 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode of Connect To Market. Connect with Melanie: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-brancaleone-ms-mba-0005056/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-brancaleone-ms-mba-0005056/]  * Testkube: https://testkube.io/ [https://testkube.io/]  Ways to Tune In: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa [https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa]  * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920]  * Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d]  * iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/ [https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/]  * Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391 [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391]  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV]  Connect To Market is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts [https://ringmaster.com/]. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ [https://ringmaster.com/]

Melissa Beck: AI Is Changing How Buyers Buy, Is Your Marketing Keeping Up? - Episode #54

Are your buyers building shortlists with AI before they ever talk to your sales team? In this episode of Connect To Market, host Casey Cheshire sits down with Melissa Beck, VP of Corporate Marketing at Sumo Logic, to explore how marketers can connect to their market by staying "relentlessly close" to the buyer journey as AI reshapes how prospects discover, research, and decide. Beck makes the case that buyers increasingly use AI tools, communities, peer recommendations, analyst reports, and review sites to form shortlists before engaging any vendor, making AI visibility and presence in the right channels critical for any company that wants to stay in the conversation. Beck walks through how Sumo Logic is responding, from experimenting with tools like Profound to measure AI visibility to investing in organization-wide AI proficiency through an internal AI marketing summit and collaborative sharing of prompts and projects. She shares practical use cases including using AI for analyst report comparisons and building agents like a "brand guardian" workflow, while emphasizing that human connection and storytelling still matter because people buy from people. Beck also reflects on her path from aspiring journalist to comms and marketing leader, shaped by teamwork, curiosity, and continuous learning. In this episode, we cover: * Why buyers are forming shortlists using AI tools, communities, and peer recommendations before ever engaging a vendor, and what that means for marketing's role * How Sumo Logic measures AI visibility with tools like Profound and why tracking your presence in AI-generated answers is now a marketing priority * Building organization-wide AI proficiency through internal summits, collaborative prompt sharing, and practical agent workflows like a "brand guardian" * Why human connection and storytelling remain irreplaceable competitive advantages even as AI transforms every other part of the marketing stack If you're a B2B marketing leader wondering where your buyers are actually spending time and whether your brand is showing up in the AI-driven research channels that matter, Beck's framework for staying relentlessly close to the evolving buyer journey is the strategic reset your team needs. 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode of Connect To Market. Connect with Melissa: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissambeck/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissambeck/]  * Sumo Logic: https://www.sumologic.com/ [https://www.sumologic.com/]  Ways to Tune In: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa [https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa]  * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920]  * Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d]  * iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/ [https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/]  * Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391 [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391]  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV]  Connect To Market is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts [https://ringmaster.com/]. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ [https://ringmaster.com/]

Anne Murlowski: How to Personalize B2B Marketing Without Being Creepy - Episode #53

What if the key to better marketing isn't more automation but more empathy? In this episode of Connect To Market, host Casey Cheshire welcomes Anne Murlowski, VP of Marketing at Claravine and Host of the SaaSy podcast, to explore how marketers can connect to their market by focusing on individuals, not just companies or personas. Anne makes the case that in an AI-driven "do more with less" environment, the most effective messaging ties directly to a buyer's personal pain points, goals, and career motivators. She explains why account-level assumptions are easier but far less effective, and why narrowing your focus to a small set of high-fit accounts and partnering closely with sales is the real unlock for authentic personalization. Anne walks through practical tactics for researching buying committees without crossing the line, including summarizing a prospect's public LinkedIn activity with private AI tools, active listening for personal details, and thoughtful follow-up that builds trust instead of triggering alarm bells. She also dives into why clean marketing data is essential for reliable reporting and better AI outputs, shares how podcasting can be a powerful relationship-building tool beyond just content, and reveals the learning sources that keep her sharp, from LinkedIn thought leaders to curated Substacks. In this episode, we cover: * Why focusing on individual buyers instead of company-level personas drives stronger engagement and advocacy * How to research prospects authentically using AI tools and active listening without being creepy * The critical role clean marketing data plays in powering reliable reporting and AI-driven personalization * Why narrowing your target account list and partnering with sales unlocks more effective outreach If you're a marketing leader looking to cut through the noise of generic outreach and build real connections with buyers in an increasingly automated landscape, Anne's approach to empathy-driven, data-informed personalization is a playbook worth adopting. 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode of Connect To Market. Links: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemurlowski/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemurlowski/]  * SaaSy Podcast: https://saasy.podbean.com/ [https://saasy.podbean.com/]  * Claravine: https://www.claravine.com/ [https://www.claravine.com/]  Ways to Tune In: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa [https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa]  * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920]  * Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d]  * iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/ [https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/]  * Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391 [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391]  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV]  Connect To Market is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts [https://ringmaster.com/]. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ [https://ringmaster.com/]

Tim Hillison: The 4S Go-to-Market Framework: State, Scale, System, Signal - Episode #52

What happens when AI can replicate your marketing overnight, and your competitors sound exactly like you? In this episode of Connect To Market, host Casey Cheshire sits down with Tim Hillison, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Entry Point 1, to explore how companies can connect to their market by building defensible advantage as AI accelerates output and risks turning every brand into a commodity. Hillison argues that the smartest companies hire storytellers over playbook followers, and poses a powerful guiding question: what would your customers lose if they couldn't do business with you? Hillison introduces his "Four S" framework for building lasting competitive moats. He breaks down State (owning the language around a problem before anyone else, citing Samsara and Gong), Scale (compounding data that improves with every customer interaction, citing Vertiv and Duolingo), System (making your product so embedded in how customers work that leaving means reorganizing everything, citing Rippling and Stripe), and Signal (building data intelligence that explains why customers buy, stay, and expand, citing Harvey and Datadog). He also tackles the ethical implications of "AI-first" layoffs and urges leaders to be intentional about prioritizing human relationships even as they adopt new technology. In this episode, we cover: * Why naming the problem first and owning the category language is the most underrated competitive advantage in B2B * How compounding data and customer interaction loops create scale moats that competitors can't shortcut * Building system stickiness so deep that switching costs protect your business better than any feature ever could * Using signal intelligence to understand not just what customers do, but why they buy, stay, and expand If you're a marketing leader navigating the pressure of AI-driven commoditization and looking for a strategic framework to build real, defensible differentiation, Hillison's Four S model is a recipe worth studying. 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode of Connect To Market. Connect with Tim: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhillison/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhillison/]  * Entry Point 1: https://www.entrypoint1.com/ [https://www.entrypoint1.com/]  Ways to Tune In: * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa [https://open.spotify.com/show/01kCcPP1ib9MSE9aNb5SQa]  * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920 [https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/connect-to-market/id1822777920]  * Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b5c3fb03-482f-4496-bcd0-82c1d66fed3d]  * iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/ [https://iheart.com/podcast/282837141/]  * Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391 [https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/connect-to-market-6138391]  * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP_sn6_Cwun_qxaOz94Epgf6zdqeTFjJV]  Connect To Market is produced and sponsored by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts [https://ringmaster.com/]. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ [https://ringmaster.com/]