Making content that’s truly original is something all content marketers want to do.

But then why does so much B2B content look and feel the same?

Today, we’re giving you permission to express yourself in content like you might express yourself in art.

In this episode, we’re taking marketing lessons from the Japanese collective of ultra-technologists known as teamLab.

Together, with the help of our guest, SVP of Marketing at Sigma Computing Erik Bower, we’re talking about defying convention, starting with the last mile, and more.

About our guest, Erik Bower

Erik Bower is SVP of Marketing at Sigma. Prior to joining the company in November of 2023, Erik ran marketing at startups like Daily and Amplitude. He owned growth and digital demand at Palo Alto Networks from $125M to $2.9 billion in 8 years. He is an AI patent holder and has been building ML based machine marketing engines since before 2015.

What B2B Companies Can Learn From teamLab:

• Question convention and then defy it. Don’t just fall back on the way things are usually done. Think critically about your content and make something truly original. Erik says, “Think differently about things that are sitting right in front of you, and ask questions like, ‘Why is the convention to do things this way in our industry? It doesn't make any sense.’ You always have to take things with that lens of questioning what actually works, and not work from some kind of template that you see other people do.” It’s like how TeamLab operates outside of convention. They create immersive experiences that are truly original.‍
• Start with the last mile. Plan how you’re going to promote your content before you make the content itself. Erik says, “Why wouldn't you start with the last mile? Like you're going to put all of this energy into creating this super expensive event or packaging up this asset,  and then the actual promotion of it is kind of like an afterthought that no one really pays attention to. Start with the last mile and work your way back. If you can't generate interest for this thing, then why are you producing it?”

*”Especially as it pertains to B2B marketing and tech marketing,  I think a lot of what you see is very rote. It's checkbox marketing. But I think that teamLab shows you that original ideas are still possible. I think you have to strive for what a boss of mine called the thumb test, where you put your thumb over the logo. Can you still tell that it's your brand? But go beyond that. Where every experience is innovative, engaging, and not rote. It's a challenge to stay fresh like that, but you can definitely achieve it.”

*”It takes that wild hair to just say, ‘I want to use this technology in a new way.’ So I think if anything, I have a reputation for having a wild hair. Think differently about things that are sitting right in front of you, and ask questions like, ‘Why is the convention to do things this way in our industry? It doesn't make any sense.’”

*”You always have to take things with that lens of questioning what actually works, and not work from some kind of template that you see other people do. Original ideas are still possible and important that you have them. You have to have a point of view.”

*”In order to make email marketing and these other things perform well, they have to be more and more micro-targeted to the persona,  the vertical, the use case for line of business. And then it also has to take into account the things that they've already engaged with, where they are in the funnel. And so it becomes this big matrix that's sometimes referred to it as ‘Battleship.’ And if you start to do that, you realize that you have a pretty insurmountable amount of content you have to generate. So you have to start to pick your battles and learn which ones are the highest value segments to focus your energy on content generation.”

Links

Check out teamLab

Connect with Erik on LinkedIn

Learn more about Sigma Computing

About Remarkable!

Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com.

In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK.

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