Rebrand versus brand evolution. What’s the difference, and how do you determine which is right for you?In this episode of The Changemakers, Dave is joined by Nick Levesque, Creative Director at Asana, to discuss the nuances of evolving a brand expression.As Asana nears the end of its own brand refresh, it was a timely chat about the process. Nick and Dave delve into approaches to evolving brand image, the importance of distinctive brand assets, and the balance between maintaining consistency ...
In this episode of The Changemakers, brought to you by Shaped By - our creative director Tom Ovens lifts the lid on the secret art of sound design by interviewing freelance sound designer, Adam Legg. They delve into the intricacies of sound design including the definition, the process of creation, and the difference between a ‘meh’ sound, and one that’s impactful.Sound design in a B2B space brings so much to the table. It helps to control the pace, brings emotion, and can be a real differenti...
Even just a few years back, you would naturally think of pretty much any fintech firm as a challenger brand. A digital disruptor to a financial sector that badly needed disrupting.But today, fintech is fast becoming mainstream, if it isn’t already. And its “challenger brand” tag feels increasingly redundant, given the extent to which many established financial services firms are pivoting what they do to challenge fintech pioneers - especially when it comes to digital, UX and so on.One guest w...
Becca Chambers may be an award-winning technology brand-builder, storyteller, strategist and advisor.But when it comes down to the impact that her work has on the people that it touches, her tireless work as a neurodiversity champion and advocate is up there with any of those achievements.Becca has ADHD. She describes it as “a catalyst for my success in the creative world of brand, communications, and messaging”, and one of the driving forces behind her “scrappy get-sh*t-done attitude”.But fo...
“I don’t need much sleep. And I love to take on a good challenge.”Take one look at Christian Flaccus’ resumé, and it’s clear to see that both of these things are very true indeed.He founded his first business, an e-commerce startup, in 1997 - then swiftly went and set up his own agency (whilst still remaining on his startup’s board). Not content with that, at various points during his agency life Christian also started a record label (Brave & Dizzy Records), opened (and closed) one of the...
Ari Yablok is the Head of Brand at Island, the Enterprise Browser. If that sounds like a pretty simple description of what Island does, then there’s a very deliberate reason for that. And it’s a reason that has seen Dave fall completely in love with the brand strategy, identity, narrative and messaging that Ari has created for this Israeli startup that is going global pretty rapidly.Everything about Island exudes simplicity. The idea behind the product. The product itself. The experience of u...
Following staggering revenue growth of 46,000% between 2018 and 2021, cybersecurity asset management Axonius was unsurprisingly named as the fastest-growing cybersecurity company in America by Deloitte in 2022.That’s pretty damn awesome. But it also presented a very familiar problem that high-growth companies tend to face. They scale so quickly, with such a focus on perfecting the product and the platform, that the task of also building a cohesive brand message and narrative takes a bit of a ...
It’s time for another chat with one of our fellow agency buddies - and in the hotseat this week is the wonderful Kirsty Jarvis, founder and CEO of tech-specialist communications firm Luminous PR.We’ve recently been getting to know the Luminous team through our shared love of working with game-changing technology businesses. Their approach to building B2B brands and driving growth through tailored communications strategies is pretty impressive. So we were delighted when Kirsty agreed to take t...
Aaron Poe is a man who knows a thing or two about brand design. During his time in the agency world, he gave the Beats by Dre brand the distinctive identity that helped it get acquired by Apple. He led the 2018 rebrand of fintech giant Checkout.com, and the more recent evolution of the Square brand identity.Now, as head of Zapier’s brand studio, his esteemed talents are being put to great use in leading the roll-out of the rapidly-growing automation firm’s new visual identity.It’s a fun job f...
Some people are quite happy to simply coast along, and see where the wind takes them. And others constantly push themselves, always looking to grow and develop through experiences that test their existing skills and help them to create new ones.Matt Price falls into the latter camp. Each step in his career as a creative, whether to a boutique agency or the pristine corridors of Apple HQ, has been chosen deliberately to give him a new perspective on the craft of commercial creativity.Now, deep...
This is the first of two episodes in which we’ll be stepping away from our typical guest profile of in-house marketers, creatives and brand leaders, and getting to know some of Shaped By’s fellow agency buddies.And what a buddy to get to know. Kerry Guard is CEO and founder of MKG Marketing, a digital marketing agency that works with cybersecurity, data management and other fast-scaling tech firms to drive impactful growth.So what are the most pressing digital marketing challenges that tech f...
Until generative AI came along and took over every single conversation, one way to instantly ignite a ferocious debate in B2B marketing was to ask this question: “Should B2B companies be thinking like media companies when it comes to content marketing?”ZoomInfo certainly believes so. And when the go-to-market software, data, and intelligence company’s CEO Henry Schuck decided to turn his content marketing operation into an editorial media machine, he hired Meghan Barr to lead it.As an award-w...
It’s not every day that you get chatting with someone who, in the first five minutes, casually drops into the conversation that they “ran a couple of SWAT teams”.But this is an episode with a difference. And if you’re involved in anything to do with cybersecurity marketing or thought leadership, then it’s one for you.There ain’t no cybersecurity expert with more expertise than Steve Stone. From managing nuclear security and running counter-espionage operations for the US Air Force to then mov...
Whenever the conversation at Shaped By HQ turns to our favourite B2B brands, the same one always crops up: Drift.This unapologetically bold SaaS startup broke all the moulds when it created the category of Revenue Acceleration, and launched a vibrant and expressive new visual identity last year. So we were stoked when Andrea Carrillo, the firm’s Associate Creative Director, agreed to jump into the Changemakers hot seat and give us the inside story on Drift’s creative ethos.Originally from Col...
How can the application of creativity enhance product marketing?If there’s one thread that’s been running consistently through the 29 previous episodes of The Changemakers, it’s that product marketing is the unsung hero of B2B tech business growth.All of our guests who have spent time in PMM roles have said that time was invaluable to their success. Many product marketers go on to have successful leadership careers. So when the time finally came for a discussion on creativity in product marke...
Design leaders in tech don’t come much more visionary than this week’s Changemakers guest, Nando Costa. Nando is a Brazilian-American designer with an extensive background in visual design, branding, digital products and animation production. After spending the first part of his career in the agency world, Nando joined Microsoft in 2013, spending the next nine years working on projects such as the creative development of the HoloLens, various Mixed Reality projects and cross-platform versions...
In these 'soundbite' episodes, we'll be sharing moments from our Changemakers podcast that have made us stop and think, and we think will be valuable to you.This is from Episode 24 and our chat with Alan Cohen. During our conversation, he talks about cybersecurity and gives his thoughts on what businesses can do to stand out and make an impact in a world where their target audiences are often so bombarded by vendors, salespeople, and marketing activity.To cut through and make an impact on a v...
Heidi Joy Tretheway is one of those marketing leaders who, in her words, would “rather build a ship than sail it”.That’s why she’s always gravitated towards startups with huge growth potential. The challenge of creating a marketing function virtually from scratch, and turning that into a pipeline-building, the revenue-generating machine is one that Heidi Joy absolutely thrives on.It’s also a challenge that we haven’t really tackled on The Changemakers until now. So Dave gets deep into it with...
Being a CMO these days is not for the faint-hearted. It’s a role that is fraught with challenges. Yes, many have a seat at the top table, which certainly wasn’t the case a decade ago. But in return, the pressures on performance are enormous, even at the best of times - let alone in uncertain climates like this one.Some just aren’t cut out for it. But others thrive on those pressures because they know exactly how to inspire their teams to perform. That’s the mark of a true marketing leader - a...
In the second of our cybersecurity mini-series, Dave sits down with Mike O’Malley, seasoned tech marketing executive and recently-appointed CMO of API security specialists Noname Security.Mike joined Noname in the summer of 2022 to lead its marketing team into the next phase of the company’s rapid and impressive growth. Prior to that, he was Senior VP, Global Marketing at CyberArk, another pioneering cybersecurity firm. Mike’s career has also taken in senior marketing roles at VMware, CA Tech...