The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

Today we’re going to talk about how agility can help an organization maintain good employee and customer experience, despite tumultuous times. We are also going to talk about how the role of great employee experience is to make sure that employees are enabled to find balance between their work and personal lives, and that, when done well, one benefits from the other. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Nancy Greatrix, Director of Human Resources and Becky Lechner, Employment Brand Manager, from Room and Board.

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Today we’re going to talk about startups, and the importance of ensuring your teams are able to maintain agility throughout your development and growth. This means knowing how to configure your teams with both internal and external resources, and even when to build things internally versus externally. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Dan Moore, CEO and Co-Founder, Vaporware. Dan co-founded Vaporware to help entrepreneurs take their software ideas to market. Over the past 6 years, he has helped Vaporware deliver thousands of iterations across dozens of apps in 4 main industries (Healthcare, HR, Real Estate, and IT) - ranging from the first MVP versions to modern iterations on mature solutions. With a strong belief that anyone can become the next big software as a service company, he leads Vaporware in helping business founders pivot their business through process automation, technical modernization, and software innovation

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Today we’re going to talk about agility in teams, and how productivity, psychological safety, and an agile approach work together for the benefit of organizations and those who work within them. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Duena Blomstrom, an accomplished author and Co-Founder and CEO of People Not Tech. PeopleNotTech offers a revolutionary machine learning-powered software solution in the form of a work tool that checks and improves Psychological Safety in teams.

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Today we’re going to talk about keeping your company agile and the value of learning, iterating, and optimizing your business. Too many times companies spend vast amounts of time and effort creating something that is either not exactly what the market wants, or is not a feasible product or service for the company to offer as it grows over the long term. Instead, an agile approach of creating and learning while being continually open to change and improvement can yield the best results. Today we’re going to hear from someone who did just that and has built a highly competitive product while inventing new solutions to challenges along the way. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome David Wachs, CEO of Handwrytten, a handwriting service for brands.

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Today we’re going to talk about the freelance economy and why it’s important that freelancers, contractors and the self-employed protect themselves and their future with insurance, retirement, and other methods of planning ahead.

Many freelancers are passionate about what they do and become independents so they can focus more of their time on what they love doing. They often find, however, that they need to learn about a wide variety of things such as accounting to send clients invoices, project management, and many other skills. This is in addition to ensuring that they are planning for their futures and the well-being of their families. Insurance, retirement, and other methods of planning are often taken for granted by full-time employees, but freelancers have to source and purchase this on their own. This can be prohibitive from both a time and cost perspective.

To help me discuss this topic, and offer some potential solutions, I’d like to welcome Steve Blair, who is part of the team at CareerGig, where he is VP of Benefits.

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Today we’re going to talk about the freelance economy and why it’s important that companies use verification and assessments to reduce risk and hire the best possible candidates. One of the great things about the Web is that it is an often open place where people can participate from different locations and backgrounds. While in many cases this works well, companies can often have a hard time differentiating between freelancers and contractors who claim to have certain credentials and skills. How do you verify and certify that the person you are hiring is an expert at what they do before it’s too late? To help me discuss this topic, and offer some potential solutions, I’d like to welcome Kelly Painter, who is part of the team at CareerGig, where she is VP of Sales.

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Today we’re going to talk about the importance of customer and patient experience, and how training can play a big part in teaching empathy and understanding to improve it. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Jennifer Thompson, President of Insight Marketing.

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Part 3 of 3: In times of disruption, organizations are forced to pivot in unexpected ways. While you can plan for potential events, it isn’t until a change occurs that the organization is tested. At the root of an organization’s response plan is data. When organizations understand how to leverage and optimize their business data solutions, data becomes a competitive advantage. Change is constant. How organizations adapt to change is the variable. In this 3-part series of The Agile World, TEKsystems Data Analytics and Insights leaders discuss data’s evolution from a supporting asset, to a mission-critical component to success and the catalyst for change.

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Part 2 of 3: In times of disruption, organizations are forced to pivot in unexpected ways. While you can plan for potential events, it isn’t until a change occurs that the organization is tested. At the root of an organization’s response plan is data. When organizations understand how to leverage and optimize their business data solutions, data becomes a competitive advantage. Change is constant. How organizations adapt to change is the variable. In this 3-part series of The Agile World, TEKsystems Data Analytics and Insights leaders discuss data’s evolution from a supporting asset, to a mission-critical component to success and the catalyst for change.

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Part 1 of 3: In times of disruption, organizations are forced to pivot in unexpected ways. While you can plan for potential events, it isn’t until a change occurs that the organization is tested. At the root of an organization’s response plan is data. When organizations understand how to leverage and optimize their business data solutions, data becomes a competitive advantage. Change is constant. How organizations adapt to change is the variable. In this 3-part series of The Agile World, TEKsystems Data Analytics and Insights leaders discuss data’s evolution from a supporting asset, to a mission-critical component to success and the catalyst for change.

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A discussion about next best action and its role in enhancing the customer experience with Jean Belanger, Founder and CEO of Cerebri AI.

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Today we’re going to talk about how to focus on customer experience and what that means within an organization. While it’s often said that everyone in a company has a role in customer experience, my guest today would say that, while true, if you don’t have people whose role it is to focus on CX specifically, your organization can’t truly be successful at it. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Augie Ray, VP of Customer Experience, Gartner.

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Today we’re going to talk about the importance of customer experience in a membership organization. Also, since our guest is from the American Marketing Association, we’re going to talk a little bit about the relationship between marketing and customer experience. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Jennifer Severns, Chief Experience Officer at American Marketing Association.

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Today we’re going to talk about company culture and how to maintain and develop great employee experience in a fast-growth, global organization. We’re also going to talk about how to develop and train the best and most effective types of leaders for your organization. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Joy Sybesma, Chief People Officer at Dataiku.

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Today we’re going to talk about how enterprises who remain agile can achieve great success in building great experiences for their customers. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Aileen Cahil, an author, speaker and customer experience expert who has worked with several Fortune 100 companies and gotten great Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, and Marketing results through a data-driven, customer-centric and agile approach.

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Today we’re going to talk about the value of a holistic digital experience. Too often organizations spend time optimizing a few channels to make sure that they are performing well, but they fail to look at the bigger picture. Customer experience is a key differentiator in today’s competitive marketplace, and organizations that embrace digital experience as more than the sum of its parts will get ahead and stay ahead. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Eric Stahl, SVP of Digital Experience at Salesforce.

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Today we’re going to talk about the importance of being intentional with your brand’s experience, and why great company culture and customer experience are critical to success. Great customer experience is created from motivated, engaged employees who feel both valued and valuable to an organization. While that sounds straightforward, it is often easier said than done. Even for Fortune 500 brands, the transformation required to become an experience-led organization requires people, processes, and technology to all be in alignment to the benefit of both customers and employees. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Antonia Hock, Global Head of The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, a thought leader in customer and talent experience, and who was recently named to Luxury Daily’s Top 25 Women to Watch in Luxury.

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I'm joined by John Friedman, Sustainability Manager at WGL. Both employees and consumers are increasingly motivated to support companies who share their values. Whether this is the company that employees choose to work for, or companies that customers...

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Today we’re going to talk about the importance of the employee experience and how organizations of all kinds can remain competitive in the current job market, while paying attention at all the key stages in the employee journey. To help me discuss this topic, I welcome Felipe Cofiño, VP Human Resources and Organizational Development, Signal Financial Federal Credit Union.

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A discussion on Mergers, Acquisitions, and the Employee Experience. We talk about how technology can assist enterprises with time to value and sales enablement, ultimately benefiting the customer experience as well. Today we’re going to talk about...

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Today we’re going to talk about Diversity, Inclusion, and the Employee Experience. Employee experience has an increased focus at leading companies around the world. This enhanced experience has many aspects, including people, processes, and technology. Today we’re going to discuss how technology is a key component in employee experience, as well as the role that diversity and inclusion plays in EX. To help me discuss this important topic, I’m joined by Robert Ruelas, VP End User Computing, Americas, VMware.

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Part 3 (of 3) of a series brought to you by TEKsystems where we will discuss content and CX. Today, we’re going to talk about the real-world application of content strategy in today’s enterprise, where personalization at scale is critical. To...

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Part 2 (of 3) of a series brought to you by TEKsystems where we will discuss content and CX. Today we’re going to talk about technology and its role in enabling a great content strategy in today’s enterprise, as well as some of the challenges that...

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Part 1 (of 3) of a series brought to you by TEKsystems where we will discuss content and CX. Today we’re going to talk about how content supports business outcomes, the critical importance of a content strategy in CX, and data’s role in a content...

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Today we’re going to talk about the importance of values and culture in the employee experience. As companies continue to compete for both talent and customers, experience becomes a differentiating point. Brands that don’t put their employees first will not be as competitive in a marketplace driven by experience.

I'm joined by Dr. David Rodriguez, Global Chief HR Officer, Marriott International to the show to discuss this important topic.

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A discussion about customer journey orchestration and its power in creating great customer experiences with special guest Tim Claytor, SVP Partnerships at Kitewheel.

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I am joined by Charlie Oliver, Founder & CEO of Tech 2025. Technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, automation and many others promise better data, better access, and better ways of reaching customers. But what about the customers’ perspective? How will these technologies help customers solve their challenges more easily and offer a better customer experience with products and services they regularly interact with?

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I'm joined by Sherif Mityas, Chief Experience Officer at TGI Fridays. Today we’re going to talk about the customer journey and the modern restaurant experience. Personalization, automation and customer journey orchestration are playing a larger role...

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A discussion about organizational culture and employee experience with special guest Traci Schweikert, VP Human Resources of POLITICO. 

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I'm joined by Frans Mahieu of Kimberly-Clark. A discussion of the importance of employers being intentional about their branding and experience for potential and existing employees.

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In this episode, I talk a bit about my new book, The Agile Consumer, which discusses the continually evolving brand-consumer relationship. As consumers have more choice, options, and agency to make purchasing decisions, their power increases in the dynamic. This also means that brands need to find new ways to reach and provide meaningful solutions to their challenges.

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It's important for brands to cut through the clutter and meaningfully reach their customers. The agile brand will be successful in an age of continual disruption because it finds a way to meaningfully connect with people. That doesn’t mean...

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I feel it’s important to address one other key aspect of brands that is part of the “new normal.” It’s not enough to simply make a great product, or offer an amazing service. It’s also not enough to simply engage with our audiences on a regular basis. There needs to be something more, and truly successful brands have tapped into this. Just as an agile brand must establish a bi-directional relationship with individual consumers to be successful, there must also be a symbiotic relationship with the world at large. This can play out in ways that impact society, the environment, or other areas that have a large cultural impact.

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This is the third of four episodes related to brands and storytelling. The best way to make your brand’s story memorable is to relate it to your audience. What is challenging in this is that, in a continually changing world, any of the following may be true:

● Your audience’s tastes change over time. ● You are appealing to multiple audiences, often with different values. ● Your company is going through transformation whether through acquisitions or changes in the market. ● Your products or services are evolving over time. With all of the changes, different focus areas, and competing or conflicting tastes, you have your work cut out for you. Fortunately, by focusing on the essence of what makes your brand unique you can cut through the clutter and find a way to relate to your audiences. You may be able to filter your brand’s values through a slightly different lens for each audience.

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This is the second of four episodes related to brands and storytelling. It’s time to stop thinking in the broadcast mode of marketing. Simply saying something isn’t enough. Claiming to be the best, the fastest, or the friendliest means nothing without proof, and the proof isn’t just statistics, but meaningful interactions that build relationships.

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This is the first of four episodes related to brands and storytelling. Think about the last time a friend or colleague told you about a brand or product they like. Chances are, one of the things that stood out was something they learned while reading about the product, reading its history, or maybe even using the product. People like to share something new or unexpected about brands they love with their friends, family and colleagues. Giving them something they can use to teach others motivates them to embrace and remember the information. In the act of teaching someone else, they also build greater affinity for your brand or product.

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Part 5 of how to create an agile brand. To create a holistic customer experience, it’s important to use those channels as a means of two-way communication, rather than to deliver one-way messaging directed at consumers. Instead, engage in a dialogue with your customers, and even if you’re not actively communicating with them, listen to what they have to say. As I’ve often told potential and current clients who were reluctant to fully engage or participate in social media, people are talking about you whether you are present on the platform or not.

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Part 4 of how to create an agile brand. We need to stop thinking only in terms of the individual channels we reach customers through. Instead, we have to think of our customers in terms of their overall experience with our brand. As noted, customers are becoming more and more “device agnostic” and you could even say they are “channel agnostic” as well. Whether they choose to visit a store, or shop on their phone, text, tweet or even make a good old-fashioned phone call depends on many external factors brands can’t anticipate. To combat this, we must make our communications, marketing, commerce and customer service agile and channel-agnostic as well. This is what creates a great customer experience.

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Part 3 of how to create an agile brand. It’s also not enough to just be adaptive. Without culture and processes for easy collaboration both internally and with external partners, being truly agile will not be possible.

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Every day, threat actors are working to penetrate your organization’s perimeter and access unauthorized, sensitive and confidential information. No organization is immune. Early detection is critical.

Identity is at the core of security. Organizations that can seamlessly manage and maintain user access to business information and data will not only decrease the likelihood of a breach—and the financial, reputation and brand equity threats that accompany compromised data—but they will also eliminate service disruption, establishing a competitive advantage over their less-protected peers. In this episode of The Agile World, brought to you by TEKsystems, we discuss the critical importance of an identity access management (IAM) program.

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Part 2 of how to create an agile brand. When thinking about evolution versus revolution, you need to know when to take which approach for your own brand. You may need to take each of these tacks at different times. Generally speaking, you don’t want to continually take a revolutionary approach because you run the risk of alienating loyal customers. They may follow you through one reinvention, but too drastic change too often may not inspire the loyalty which is also critical to a successful brand.

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Part 1 of how to create an agile brand. While it seems that it’s only in the age of technology that everyone complains about being too busy and things moving too quickly, this isn’t the case. As early as 500 BC, Heraclitus said: “the only thing that is constant is change.” You need to find ways to take advantage of change and use it for your advantage.

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Just as past generations had their own unique relationship to brands, this dynamic will continue to evolve over time. Let’s take a look at a few aspects of branding as they relate to the generations which will shape our economy and society over the decades to come.

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I go through the principles of an agile brand: • Our highest priority is to add value to people’s lives through meaningful interactions and tangible benefits that brands offer to customers. • We believe brands play an important role in society, and when they are managed properly, they can add value to people’s lives. • We believe change can be a force for good and branding and marketing need to change to best serve their customers and society. • We believe the future is bright and technology can be a force for good in the right hands and with the right motives. • We believe that to make a great brand is to tie a core set of values to the products and services delivered. • We also believe the world is in continual motion, and the ideas and thinking we currently share are subject to continual evolution as the practice of branding evolves.

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Netflix is a great example of a brand that has continued to disrupt, innovate and remain agile over time. From its beginnings up against the behemoth Blockbuster, to its current disruption of traditional television and home entertainment, I trace its roots and how it has stayed agile after all these years.

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I go through the Agile Brand Manifesto and talk about valuing continual improvement over maintaining status quo.

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I go through the Agile Brand Manifesto and talk about valuing staying true to company values over doing what you can to generate profits.

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I go through the Agile Brand Manifesto and talk about valuing dialogue with customers over broadcasting one-way marketing messages.

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I go through the Agile Brand Manifesto and talk about valuing long-term customers over short-term sales.

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Last part of a multi-episode discussion of what changed to cause the need for agile brands. Data is readily available and plentiful, which empowers businesses to make quicker decisions that are informed by real-time information.

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