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Amanda Dyson is a B2B marketer, earth shaker and move maker. Dyson has spent the past nine years at JDA Software and worked her way up to Senior Director of Demand Generation. She now manages a virtual team for the $1 billion supply chain software vendor.
Despite working remotely, Dyson takes an active role in marketing campaigns, events, ABM programs and more. She embraces working as both a coach and player, and believe she thrives in a remote work environment.
JDA’s marketing approach includes a mixture of broad-based and ABM campaigns. Dyson developed an all-purpose campaign called “Digital Supply Chain For Dummies,” which is available in E-book or hard-copy format, as well as a webinar series. The guide was downloaded electronically more than 10,000 times and resulted in more than a dozen marketing generated opportunities, including a single-closed sale of more than $6 million. Dyson believes the key to success involves a focus on sales, innovation and staying physically active.
Can you share any particular achievements you are most proud of in your current role?
I partner closely in my role with the North America manufacturing sales team. It’s a common saying at JDA that, “everyone is in sales” and I take that to heart. In the last 18 months, we have increased our focus, resources and creativity on ABM. I am always looking for ways to engage our accounts on a personal, one-to-one level with effective and disruptive tactics. In a world with so much “noise,” I frequently ask myself and my team, how can JDA stand out to create personalized, memorable experiences for our customers and prospects that not only uncover new business opportunities, but also accelerate existing sales cycles and, most importantly, foster future long-term, strategic partnerships with our customers?
One example of effective and creative ABM is the “Digital Doughnuts” campaign. This campaign includes an account-specific, morning webinar on a particular topic (e.g. The Future of Digital/Autonomous Supply Chain), where contacts are encouraged to gather together in person for a 20-30 minute Web event. This helps foster better relationships with JDA, as well as the customer team on the project or challenge at hand. The JDA sales rep is highly involved in personally sending email invites, as well as hand delivering doughnuts to the office during the presentation of tailored content. It’s the bringing together of the digital (Web event) and physical (doughnuts!) worlds that makes this campaign memorable. The sales rep is the customer executive on the account and we want to give them as much face time as possible! The Web event is accompanied by a bespoke, printed solutions guide, templated videos and handouts, personal emails and follow up from the account team, including both sales and business development.
Why do you think innovation is important in today’s B2B marketing landscape? Do you see a need for traditional approaches to be transformed?
Innovation is important to break through the noise and stand out against your competitors. I think constant evolution versus a less frequent transformation of your marketing approach keeps things fresh. It’s also important to stay on top of trends. “Make supply chain cool again” is something else we say at JDA. Unlike B2C industries, we have to work a little harder in the B2B world to be cool. Innovation is cool — it’s high tech, high-touch and highly personalized. Take a traditional approach, like direct mail and breathe new life into it. Just because something is traditional, doesn’t mean it can’t be innovative. It’s all in how you treat it.
Do you feel like B2B marketing needs to shake things up a bit to avoid being boring and dry and how have you tried to address this?
Yes! One way we try to stay top-of-mind or “cool” is with JDA’s social media platforms, which are not traditional outlets for a B2B software company. Social media, more so than even the company website, has become the face of JDA. We have to be risk takers and cannot be afraid to fail. Marketing is lucky in that it’s one of the few departments in an organization that is given the liberty to try new things, be edgy and be provocative. We have to leverage consumer tools, stay on top of trends and build a strong social media presence to address this.
Any fun facts/interesting personal notes you would share that other B2B peers may find interesting?
I do my best thinking/brainstorming when working out — even if it’s just going for a walk. I make notes on my iPhone notepad of new ideas or things to try back in the office and share those with my team and sales. I think physical fitness leads to mental fitness and sometimes a change of scenery or just getting away from your office and computer monitor can evoke some of your best, most innovative ideas!
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Louis Vega took over the Dow Chemical Company’s Olympic and Sport Solution Business in 2014. He has since led the program with a revenue- and growth-focused mindset and skillfully leverages the company’s partnerships with Olympic Movement, NASCAR Racing and other sports franchises to create high-profile case studies, impactful events and other content. Dow Olympic and Sport Solutions was set to deliver $1 billion in incremental sales by 2020 but has already achieved this goal far ahead of deadline under Vega’s supervision.
In addition to his work at Dow, Vega serves as a mentor and role model for members of the LGBTI community. He was named on OUTstanding’s list of Top 100 LGBT+ Executives and serves on the board of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute, GLAAD and Out & Equal.
Can you share any details about how your team, or individuals on your team, have helped drive innovation? How has your whole team helped achieve results?
The Olympic & Sports Solutions team is relatively small and one of the most diverse teams at Dow. On my leadership team of seven people: two Americans including me, an Italian based in Switzerland, an Australian, a Singaporean, a Malaysian based in Australia and a Taiwanese. I am the only male. Our inclusive culture enables this diversity to become a powerful differentiator that brings fresh perspectives, global insights and new approaches to help us think differently and deliver results. From new business and partnership models to creative collaboration frameworks, I am proud of how this team finds impactful ways to use our sponsorship assets innovatively.
Why do you think innovation is important in today’s B2B marketing landscape? Do you see a need for traditional approaches to be transformed?
The B2B space is not a homogeneous space. As B2B marketers, it is fundamental and critical to be clear about your objectives, understand your target audience profile and deliver collaborations that engage them. This does not limit innovation, but rather helps you land on what will enable you to remain refreshing and relevant to your audience. Ultimately, it is about the customer experience and how you deliver the right experience for your customer segments.
How have you helped try to foster a culture of innovation within your team and organization?
Innovation requires the best talents and an environment that allows these talents to be their personal best. I strive to be a role model to all employees by bringing my whole and open self to work daily and embracing not only my sexual identity, but also my Latin American heritage and small-town, New Mexico upbringing.
While being a champion for the LGBTI community, I also believe that the inclusive workplace environment needs to embrace all diversity. In 2017, I joined Australia’s Male Champions of Change coalition, which works with influential leaders to redefine men’s role in taking action on gender equality. I am also a proud mentor to several high-performing women talents at Dow and guide them to bring their full potential to work.
Any fun facts/interesting personal notes you would share that other B2B peers may find interesting?
I have been recognized as one of OUTstanding’s top 100 LGBT+ executives globally and was recently named to Deloitte Australia’s 2018 Outstanding 50 LGBTI Leaders list. I am also a member of the Board of Directors of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute, which aims to achieve LGBT equality by building, supporting and advancing a diverse network of LGBT leaders. I also serve on the board for GLAAD and Out & Equal and represent Dow on a key White House task force for workplace equality. As such, I have been invited to a number of White House driven initiatives for LGBT equality.
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The webinar is not dead — sometimes traditional marketing tactics just need a modern approach and a fresh coat of paint to drive optimal results. Sudeep Misra was able to increase pipeline by applying a new, results-based strategy to the company’s webinars.
When Hortonworks decided to polish up its content, Misra developed an ambitious 30-day plan to revamp the webinar program. The process included four steps — each of which corresponded to a week’s worth of work:
In just a month’s time, the company was able to increase webinar attendance by 150% and boost engagement rates by 28%. Pipeline grew by nearly 120% as a result. When Misra is not working on webinar strategy or driving sales success at Hortonworks, you can find him playing Cricket in the Bay Area.
Can you share any particular achievements you are most proud of in your current role?
I revamped the integrated marketing campaign model by introducing campaign tiering, broader global campaigns, focused ABM campaigns, BDR call programs and more. I also introduced campaign planning methodology so we can execute campaigns strategically, influence more pipeline and close more revenue.
I have updated our campaign strategy model to involve sales, product management and various marketing teams, and have driven a partnership with marketing ops and other departments to onboard new technology, including predictive, marketing attribution, self-nurture content experiences and more.
Do you feel like B2B marketing needs to shake things up a bit to avoid being boring and dry and how have you tried to address this?
Absolutely! Everyone seems to say the same things, in the same way, using the same channels. We have worked hard on “what is in it for me” when we promote an asset/offer and try to align to the buyer journey stage someone is on. We look at “recency of engagement” and “engagement with similar programs” to enhance our segmentation and get more bang for our buck. We have also tried to give folks control of creating their own content engagement experience, impacting MQL velocity at the same time!
What does the future have in store for your efforts? Anything interesting planned?
I am looking forward to the Cloudera-Hortonworks merger and seeing how the programs shape up and bring value to our customers and partners.
Any fun facts/interesting personal notes you would share that other B2B peers may find interesting?
I played Cricket for my university team in India and still play club Cricket here in the Bay Area. I also won the “Marketing Game Changer” award at ON24 Webinar World.
