#KatieTalks – Details, episodes & analysis

In this insightful episode of #KatieTalks, I sit down with Zora Artis, a globally recognized expert in strategic alignment, brand experience, and leadership. Zora shares her wealth of knowledge on how leaders can drive meaningful change by aligning purpose, vision, values, and brand promise across their organizations.

We kick off with a memorable story from Zora’s stay at the Four Seasons Hotel, where a thoughtful gesture turned a routine stay into an unforgettable experience. Zora explains how leaders can cultivate a culture where employees are empowered to go above and beyond, creating lasting loyalty that justifies a premium for the brand.

We also explore Zora’s groundbreaking Three C Plus model, designed to help organizations embed purpose and values into their daily operations. Zora illustrates the power of strategic alignment through examples like Bon Jovi’s brand loyalty, Queen’s iconic Wembley performance, and Taylor Swift’s perfectly orchestrated concerts. These examples provide a powerful blueprint for organizations striving to achieve the same level of cohesion and impact in their brand experience.

Zora also shares her research, which shows that only 13% of organizations are truly aligned, and discusses the barriers leaders face in achieving alignment. Finally, we explore the intersection of AI, leadership, and wisdom, and how leaders can maintain a balance between curiosity and experience in a rapidly changing world.

**Key Topics Discussed:**

1. **Creating a Culture of Exceptional Experiences:**

   - How a thoughtful gesture at the Four Seasons Hotel provides a lesson in building lasting loyalty through unforgettable customer experiences.

1. **Strategic Alignment in Action:**

   - How aligning purpose, vision, values, and brand promise can empower leaders to create brand experiences that resonate emotionally with customers and stakeholders.

1. **The Three C Plus Model:**

   - How Zora’s innovative model helps organizations embed purpose and values into their daily operations, ensuring alignment across all touchpoints.

1. **Lessons from Bon Jovi, Queen, and Taylor Swift:**

   - What leaders can learn from Bon Jovi’s sustained brand loyalty, Queen’s iconic performance, and Taylor Swift’s perfectly orchestrated concerts about creating cohesive, impactful brand experiences.

1. **Overcoming Barriers to Alignment:**

   - Why only 13% of organizations are truly aligned and how leaders can overcome the significant barriers to make alignment a core strength.

1. **The Role of AI in Leadership:**

   - How leaders can balance a beginner’s mindset with wisdom to guide their organizations through technological and cultural shifts.

**Tune in to discover:**

- How to foster a culture where above-and-beyond experiences become the norm, not the exception.

- The importance of alignment in driving meaningful change and creating unforgettable brand experiences.

- Insights into overcoming alignment challenges and the role of AI in shaping modern leadership.

In this episode of #KatieTalks, I sit down with Bec Dyce, a highly credentialed expert in digital marketing and social media, particularly in the B2B space. Bec shares her insights on how it’s critical for B2B marketers to adapt to the ever-evolving digital landscape, with a focus on leveraging platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, and podcasts to create meaningful engagement and long-term success.

We explore the profound shift in how users interact with search engines, with many now relying on zero-click searches, and what this means for B2B strategies. Bec also emphasizes the importance of delivering real value to collect first-party data as the digital landscape continues to shift.

Bec shares a compelling case study from our recent collaboration on a graduate recruitment strategy for a consulting firm. With a modest $1,600 investment in a TikTok campaign, we achieved a 300% increase in views and applications. We discuss the importance of understanding platform demographics and how to maximize ROI in a B2B context.

Key Topics Discussed:

1. The Impact of Zero-Click Searches on B2B Marketing:

• How the rise of zero-click searches is changing the game for B2B marketers and what strategies they should employ to stay ahead.

• A case study on using TikTok to drive significant engagement in a B2B setting, resulting in a 300% increase in views and applications, and why this platform shouldn’t be overlooked.

• How B2B marketers can harness the power of LinkedIn, TikTok, and podcasts to stand out and build lasting connections with their audience.

• Strategies for maintaining personalized marketing efforts while respecting user privacy in a rapidly changing digital environment.

Tune in to discover:

• The latest trends and opportunities in B2B social media marketing.
• How to stay ahead of the curve in a world increasingly shaped by digital innovation.
• Actionable insights from one of the industry’s leading experts on maximizing your B2B marketing efforts.

My guest today is the formidable Maz Farrelly, former Executive Editor of Format Entertainment at the BBC in London (think Big Brother,  Celebrity Apprentice + Q+A on ABC) and now CEO Whisperer and Social Commentator.  Maz's content has over 8 billion views and you're going to want to take a listen, she's fantastic.

We cover a lot of topics including the work that Maz does with senior business leaders.  The starting point in any such gig is a 'boring audit' a concept that I love.  We discuss the fact that many professionals and leaders consciously make themselves less interesting  and tone themselves down in professional settings.  Whereas, the way to be most impactful is to be charismatic and interesting, Maz draws stories out of leaders. 

Drawing on the 10,000 plus interviews that she has conducted over her career Maz coaches leaders to be more impactful saying that when she first meets a person she knows from our attire how wealthy, educated and confident a person is.  We all make these judgements, and Maz teaches how to improve the way that you come across.  The other key components that she teaches are:

• Body language what does it say about you - do you smile, make eye content
• Content what you say
• Delivery how you deliver it?

We also discuss the fact that Covid19 'stay home and wear a mask' messaging isn't hitting the mark.  Maz talks me through the way that she's approach it: scary, called 'how to kill your friends', infrared - virus moving, then one little domino, very scary.  We recorded this during stage four lockdown in Melbourne, I'm a strong advocate of her suggestions; Dan and Brett if you're listening!

Katie Talks is hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on Twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

Back on the podcast is Richard Yetsenga Chief Economist and Head of Research at ANZ.  The first time I interviewed Richard turned out to be the last week that we were working in an office. 

I have been listening to a lot of Richard's commentary and analysis through the pandemic and I was keen to explore some of it in more detail.  We talk about inequality, technology, climate change and geopolitics - all of which are being particularly impacted by the pandemic.

We also cover the 20 minute suburb, social housing and the increasing influence of voters under 35.  We cover a lot of interesting ground, you'll be smarter at the end of the episode. 

Katie Talks is hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on Twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

*You can follow Richard at @ricyet.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

In this Covid19 period of significant change, how we work and connect with each other, both within and outside our organisations, is critical to the success of the strategy. 

My guest today is Jon Burgess a thought leader in people advocacy and collaboration.  Jon is also a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School.  This podcast is a conversation about connectedness.  Jon's great passion is helping leaders and organisations to develop and maintain a competitive advantage through a deeper approach to relationship building. 

Since the world and business landscape have changed so dramatically, Jon has been engaged by organisations globally, who have started reinvesting in greater connectivity during, for post COVID, both within and outside their organisation.

Our podcast includes some additional expertise from Deloitte chairperson Tom Imbesi and Senior Deloitte Partner Grant Hyde. 

Grant. Partner Deloitte.         https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/profiles/grant-hyde.html 

Tom. Chairman Deloitte.       

https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/profiles/tom-imbesi.html

Jon. Founder, Kwan              

https://www.kwan.com.au/people

We examine blind spots and how an organisation determines that their leaders and teams have the connectedness required, with relevant people around them to deliver on the organisation’s strategy.

Katie Talks is hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on Twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

My guest today is Richard Yetsenga Chief Economist and Head of Research at ANZ Bank.  This was always going to be interesting, throw into the mix a slightly tumultuous global pandemic and voila you have a great conversation.

We discuss Richard’s approach* to using Twitter in terms of the way that he publishes and influences dialogue. It was also interesting to hear that Twitter has been a key source of information for him as Covid19 evolves at a rapid pace. Central to this discussion is the importance of trustworthy content and we talk in detail about this critical issue. 

The ability to stay informed about news across the globe is vital for Richard and it’s always interesting to hear how influential time poor people do this. We discuss ‘reading aggressively’ and his go to publications.

We also talk about the fact the Alanis Morissette has a lot to answer following a study that Richard describes which charts song lyrics from the 1990s to now show a steady move from focus on love to more around hate. Isn’t it ironic?! 

Katie Talks is hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on Twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

*You can follow Richard at @ricyet.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

My guest today is Bronwyn Bate - CEO and Founder of Mettle Women, a social entrepreneur turning empathy into action.   This is a remarkable influencer story.  As a (former) court reporter Bronwyn met lots of inspiring women but realised that when domestic violence victims don't have financial independence, 52% who have escaped dangerous situations return to the system. 

Bronwyn made good use of her communications background and recognised that an important mechanism for success would be to get women into work.  And so harnessing the power of a conscious consumer, she founded Mettle Women Inc a social enterprise which creates sustainable employment paths for survivors of domestic and family violence. 

I came across Mettle on Twitter in the lead up to Christmas and loved the concept, including the fact that many of their products are made by small local Western Australian organisations.

The ingenuity of Mettle Gifts has been recognised by Marie Claire magazine, whose April Australian edition will feature Bronwyn and her team.  You can read more and shop at https://www.mettlegifts.com/

Katie Talks is hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

Katie Talks is back for 2020 and my first guest is an interesting one.  Graeme Bowman is well known as a keynote speaker, writer, corporate comedian and hoax speaker.  Graeme uses his 34 years' experience in the arts to raise consciousness around the ways that systematic patriarchy plays out within male dominated organisations. 

You may wonder what a self-professed 'old straight white male' can do about this. I did too, listen for some fresh perspectives.

Hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

This episode of #KatieTalks is an interview with organisational psychologist, aka Cultural Change Whisperer, Board Capability advisor and beekeeper Stella Voules.

If you're interested in culture this is the podcast for you.

We cover a range of fascinating topics including the way that leadership has evolved over the last decade, with a significant increase in access (to leaders) and transparency.  Stella talks about how this started in Silicon Valley with a firm antiestablishment movement which can be witnessed well beyond the corporate world.  We talk about how this as created a shift in power dynamics, with employees having more of a voice than ever before.We explore the opportunities in all this for leaders and employers, citing Edelman Trust Barometer findings that people trust their employer much more than government or the media. 

We hear why Stella is such a big fan of futurists and about highly innovative organisations that employ them, without a position description and give them three months to explore the organisation and determine where they can have the most impact!

Another interesting topic is why when founding JOST, Stella and her business partner ignored advice that they appoint one CEO rather than both act as co-CEO, and why this is proving to be a highly successful approach.

Hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on twitter or Katie@bennett-stenton.com.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.

This episode of #KatieTalks delves into some interesting themes with Recruiter, Coach and Professional Services Trainer Katherine Mountford, including how pivotal LinkedIn should be in building one's personal brand and eminence.  We build on this theme exploring a recent blog that Katherine wrote after she interviewed a senior leader who said that they 'don't do digital'.  It elicited some pretty strong feedback on both sides,

Katherine has a number of tips (six in fact) for professionals looking to move from one industry to another which is something that this interviewer recently did.

We also explore the concept of a balanced life and Katherine talks us through her personal check list to manage energy levels and the demands of a new consultancy with her many other passions.

This is an upbeat, interesting listen and you'll be sure to finish feeling ready to incorporate a few clever tips into the way that you work. 

Hosted by Katie Bennett-Stenton, who you can find at @KatiebMarketing on twitter or katie@bennett-stenton.com.

Disclaimer this podcast is a personal project, not associated with my professional role.