Twitter Q&A with Cincinnati Marketing Legend Dave Knox
On Friday, May 25, AMA Cincinnati and our marketing community had the privilege of hosting Cincinnati Marketing Legend Dave Knox as our guest for a Twitter Q&A. It was our AMA (American Marketing Association) version of an #AMA (Ask Me Anything), if you will.
What it means to be a #CincyMarketingLegend
As we prepare to honor Dave and our other Cincinnati Marketing Legends, Jane Garvey and Ric Sweeney, at the 2018 Pinnacle Awards, we wanted to hear from Dave, the Legend himself, on what it means to be part of the second class of Marketing Legends:
It’s a true honor. Cincinnati is the town that built marketing and branding so it’s amazing to be considered in these ranks of our industry giants
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
His path to #CincyMarketingLegend in 280 characters or less:
My path has been the road less traveled for sure. While I started in Brand at P&G, I always took the roles that weren’t expected. But those “risky” assignments were the ones that paid off because they differentiated my career.
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
And on going where the market takes you:
Anyone that says they have a plan in their career is looking in the rearview mirror and pretending they did 🙂 I really went where the market took me for the most part. Thats been a big part of the fun. Things change so quickly today that you have to be ok with it
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
Influencers and go-to resources
The road less traveled can be tough to navigate. Where has Dave found inspiration along the way?
Another for @daveknox: anyone local you’d name as a major influencer in your career? #CincyMarketingLegend @AMACincinnati
— Amy Mersch (@amymersch) May 25, 2018
Dave couldn’t choose just one:
I have to name three. The first is @JimStengel. I had the fortune of starting my career at P&G while Jim was the CMO. He’s been an amazing teacher and someone that I am always learning from
The second would be @pblackshaw. While he’s not local right now, Pete was a major influencer for me and really taught me the ropes of social media. Also, he’s a fellow #TwinDad and taught me the importance of balancing family and your career
The third would be @tbkopp. While Tim is an Indianapolis guy now, he was born and raised in Cincinnati. We met in my early days at P&G and Tim is my guiding light when it comes to the world of B2B marketing. He was the first brand marketer to really cross over.
What about go-to resources?
I’m a ferocious reader. I have a list of around 40 blogs that I read constantly. I also subscribe to things like StrictlyVC to keep in touch with innovation. Finally podcasts like How I Built This and others are essential listens
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
On podcasts, my favorite new marketing one is done by @Terminus & @sangramvajre
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
Industry challenges and trends
Our community came prepared with their own burning questions for Dave about the industry.
The biggest challenges in B2B marketing today:
I think the biggest challenge in B2B is actually the complexity and speed of new tools. With things like Account Based Marketing becoming commonplace, the bar is raising higher and higher every day
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
How established brands can keep up in an increasingly digital and automated world:
I think the best way to stay engaged in where things are going is through the world of venture capital and startups. They can be the canary in the coal mine of where an industry is headed. For me, that is at the heart of Predicting The Turn
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
Predicting the Turn
Dave’s book, Predicting the Turn, was recently recognized as the Grand Prix Winner in the WPP Atticus Awards. We spoke with Dave a few months ago about the biggest takeaways marketers should gain from Predicting the Turn.
Read more: An Interview with Dave Knox
During our Twitter chat, we probed a little further about what Dave learned while writing his award-winning book:
The biggest lesson for me was write your passion and not just what you think the industry wants to hear. When I started to write the book, it was actually going to be about modern marketing. But once I started writing on the intersection of startups and big co’s, things clicked
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
A marketing and business paradox
We were lucky to also be joined by Ric Sweeney, a fellow member of our 2018 class of Cincinnati Marketing Legends, who asked Dave about one of marketing’s biggest paradoxes:
That tension is at the heart of not just marketing, but business as a whole. Leaders today have to think about 5 years from now but at the same time, be measured by quarterly results. Its about one foot in today and one foot in tomorrow
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
A question for the Cincinnati community
To wrap up, Dave had his own question for the community:
Sure I have a question for the community. What skillset, industry, etc does our community need to embrace in order to lead the nation in marketing for the next 10 years? How can #StartupCincy help that?
— Dave Knox (@daveknox) May 25, 2018
What do you think is critical to Cincinnati’s marketing success in the next 10 years? Join the conversation with @daveknox and @AMACincinnati.
Thanks to everyone who joined our Twitter chat today! Want to read more? Check out #CincyMarketingLegend on Twitter!
The 2018 Pinnacle Awards
We’ll join with the Cincinnati marketing community to honor our new class of Cincinnati Marketing Legends and reveal the category winners in a closed-envelope ceremony on May 31, 2018 at the Transept. Limited balcony seats are still available — grab your ticket before they run out!
[column parallax_bg=”disabled” parallax_bg_inertia=”-0.2″ extended=”” extended_padding=”1″ background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”” background_position=”” background_size=”auto” background_attachment=”” hide_bg_lowres=”” background_video=”” vertical_padding_top=”0″ vertical_padding_bottom=”0″ more_link=”” more_text=”” left_border=”transparent” class=”” id=”” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” width=”1/1″ last=”true”]
