Author Archives: swhartley

by | Monday, October 26, 2026 · 7:26 am

Calling all Data Detectives

Can marketers predict what customers will buy or are they just making educated guesses? Imagine you’re planning a pop-up experience for a new technology brand. Hundreds of students stop by, take photos, and interact with the product. Your campaign looks like a hit. But did anyone become a customer? That question is changing how marketers approach marketing research, data, and sales forecasts.

Experiential marketing agencies such as De-Yan and George P. Johnson are moving beyond attendance counts to measure consumer behavior, brand sentiment, and business outcomes. De-Yan discovered that visitors to a Louis Vuitton cosmetics installation spent an average of just 35 seconds interacting with a shade of lipstick. The finding helped the agency rethink how much content future experiences should deliver. Meanwhile, fintech company Chime is using AI-powered research and marketing tools to make faster decisions. Its marketing team uses simulated consumer segments, marketing mix modeling, and advertising performance data to explore how changes in marketing spending might affect business growth.

Here’s where marketing research gets interesting. Data isn’t just about reporting what happened, but rather it’s about predicting what might happen next. For marketers, that means connecting event participation and qualified leads to sales pipeline and revenue. But a lead isn’t a sale, and a forecast isn’t a guarantee. Marketers must test assumptions, compare results with appropriate benchmarks, and consider whether customers would have purchased anyway. The next time a brand claims its campaign was a success, ask three questions: What did it measure? What does the data predict? And did those predictions translate into sales? That is how marketers turn research into smarter decisions and propel marketing budgets into strategic investments.

Class Discussion and Activities

  1. If an event generates thousands of interactions but few qualified leads, should a marketer consider it successful? Why or why not?
  2. How could Chime use marketing modeling to decide whether to invest more in digital advertising, experiential marketing, or another channel?
  3. What are the risks of using AI-generated consumer research or simulated customer segments instead of interviewing actual customers?
  4. Forecast the next campaign. In small groups, design a marketing activation for a software company. Identify three KPIs, estimate how many qualified leads it might generate, and explain the assumptions behind your forecast. Then identify what additional data you would need to improve its accuracy.
  5. Investigate an AI marketing tool. Visit Google Analytics and Google Trends. Explore how marketers might use behavioral or search-interest data to identify customer demand. Select one trend or metric, explain what it might predict about customer behavior, and identify one limitation of using it to forecast sales.

Sources: Doerrer, Brandon (15 Oct 2026), Measuring experiential marketing—how brands track sales, sentiment and behavior, AdAge; Sloane, Garrett (15 Oct 2026), AI tools for marketing—how Chime brings research, creative and media in-house, AdAge.

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by | Monday, October 19, 2026 · 7:17 am

Global Brands Connect Across Cultures

What happens when an American cartoon character becomes the face of a Japanese food brand or a solar battery becomes a global marketing story by powering an isolated house in Iceland? Both examples reveal an important lesson in global marketing. Connecting a product’s value to the people, cultures, and experiences make it meaningful.

Consider KEWPIE mayonnaise. Its cherub-like mascot was created by American illustrator Rose O’Neill in 1909, but the character became closely associated with Japanese food culture after the brand adopted it. Now, KEWPIE is bringing the mascot back to the United States through a seven-week tour featuring food trucks, free samples, collectible merchandise, and a chance to win a trip to Japan. Rather than simply advertising mayonnaise, KEWPIE is using cultural storytelling, food, and shared experiences to build relationships with American consumers. The strategy connects the brand’s Japanese identity with a surprising piece of American history.

Meanwhile, energy company EcoFlow is taking a different approach. By installing solar panels and a battery system in an isolated Icelandic hunting lodge, the company demonstrates its technology in an extraordinary setting. The installation transforms a technical product demonstration into a compelling story about renewable energy, innovation, and independence. What connects these campaigns? Both make a product’s benefits tangible through memorable experiences. Yet their strategies differ. KEWPIE emphasizes cultural symbolism, community, and food, while EcoFlow highlights technological capability and sustainability.

For global marketers, the challenge is balancing consistency with cultural relevance. A recognizable mascot, a shared concern about energy, or a familiar food experience can help a brand succeed globally, but meanings and motivations may vary across markets. Successful global marketing requires understanding those differences rather than assuming consumers everywhere want the same things. Importantly, global brands do not just export products. They create stories, symbols, and experiences that help consumers understand why those products matter.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. How does KEWPIE’s American-origin mascot strengthen its brand story in the United States? Would the same story be equally effective in Japan or another market? Why?
  2. Why might a cherub-like mascot, Japanese mayonnaise, or a shared food experience mean different things to consumers in different countries? Referencing Geert Hofstede’s 6 Dimensions model of national culture, explore cultural differences using The Culture Factor’s country comparison tool.
  3. What consumer needs do KEWPIE and EcoFlow address beyond their products’ basic functional benefits? Consider emotional benefits, identity, convenience, and lifestyle.
  4. Which elements of KEWPIE’s campaign should remain consistent across countries, and which should be adapted to local markets? Explain your reasoning.
  5. Global Brand Makeover. In small groups, assign each group a country and ask them to adapt KEWPIE’s promotional campaign for that market. Students should develop a cultural symbol or creative concept, a promotional event, and a social media idea. Each team will deliver a short pitch explaining what they would keep consistent globally and what they would adapt locally.
  6. Design a Global Launch. Student teams select a product, such as a portable power station, reusable water bottle, or food brand. They choose two countries and develop a basic global marketing strategy for each. Then, teams identify the target market, positioning, promotional message, and one cultural consideration. Teams can submit a one-page plan or present their ideas to the class.
  7. Global Marketing Research. Each student will research one brand that markets products in at least two countries. Using official brand websites and credible outside sources, they compare packaging, advertising, pricing, product features, or promotional messages. Students can provide a brief comparison identifying three similarities, three differences, and one recommendation for improving the brand’s global marketing strategy.

Sources: Nudd, Tim, and Doerrer, Brandon (14 Oct 2026). EcoFlow brings solar power to the world’s loneliest house, Ad Age; Nudd, Tim and Doerrer, Brandon (14 Oct 2026) Kewpie brings its famous mascot home to America in new tour, Ad Age; KEWPIE Americas. (14 Oct 2026), More than mayo: KEWPIE hits the road to celebrate its century-old icon’s return to America [Press release], PR Newswire.

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by | Monday, October 12, 2026 · 7:00 am

Influencers are the New B2B Superpower

Would you trust a company because its advertising says it’s great or because someone you respect says it delivers? That question captures a major shift in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. When companies sell software, services, or complex solutions to other organizations, buyers rarely make decisions based on advertising alone. They seek expert opinions, peer reviews, customer experiences, and advice from people who understand their challenges.

That’s why B2B influencer marketing is becoming more important. Unlike celebrity endorsements, B2B influence often comes from industry experts, practitioners, creators, and customers whose knowledge gives their recommendations credibility. LinkedIn’s expanding creator tools reflect how marketers are making these partnerships easier to develop. But the goal isn’t simply to collect likes or rack up views. It’s to earn trust throughout the buying journey. Consider the difference between a company claiming its software saves time and an experienced user explaining how it solved a specific operational problem. The second message offers something advertising often struggles to deliver: credible evidence from someone with relevant experience. Customer advocacy takes this idea even further. Communities, independent reviews, and customer stories can help prospective buyers evaluate a solution before speaking with a salesperson. Meanwhile, trust depends on more than who delivers the message. Companies must also communicate consistently, use AI responsibly, protect customer data, and make their claims easy to verify.

An important takeaway is that visibility gets attention, but credibility helps turn attention into confidence. Influencer partnerships work best when brands collaborate authentically, share useful expertise, and build relationships over time. For future marketers, the challenge is not simply getting a brand noticed. It’s giving buyers good reasons to believe it. And in B2B marketing, trust isn’t just a brand attribute, it’s a competitive advantage.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. Why might a B2B buyer trust an industry practitioner more than a company’s own advertisement? Are there situations where the reverse might be true? Find examples of influence-centered campaigns on Influencer Marketing Hub.
  2. Would you choose an influencer with one million followers or an expert with 5,000 highly relevant followers to promote business software? What information would guide your decision?
  3. How much creative freedom should a company give an influencer? When might brand oversight strengthen trust, and when might it undermine authenticity?
  4. If a B2B influencer campaign generates few clicks but leads to several high-value customer relationships, should the campaign be considered successful? What metrics would you use?
  5. Design a B2B influencer campaign. In groups, students choose a brand from Brand Finance’s list of world’s most valuable brands or another source. Students select an influencer type, define the target buyer, develop a content idea, and identify two measures of success. Each group explains how its campaign builds trust rather than simply generating impressions.
  6. Investigate a real B2B brand online. Students select a B2B company and investigate its public marketing using LinkedIn and the company’s website. Then identify one expert or creator, one customer-proof source, and one signal of brand trust. Students then recommend one improvement and support it with links to their evidence.
  7. The credibility challenge. Give students three hypothetical messages about the same product: a company advertisement, an influencer endorsement, and a detailed customer review. Have them rank the messages by credibility, identify evidence that would strengthen each one, and discuss how undisclosed sponsorships or exaggerated claims could damage trust.

Sources

Bradley, Sydney (9 Oct 2026), Substack’s influencer marketing era has arrived, Business Insider; Herbison, Jenny (17 Feb 2026), Designing for trust: Four shifts reshaping B2B marketing in 2026, Forbes; Peters, Chris (5 Oct 2026), Time to move past the ‘WTF’ of B2B influencer marketing and embrace ROI of authority, The Drum; Tran, Karen, & Wright, Daryl (29 June 2026), B2B social media influencers have more influence than ever, Forrester,

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