In this episode, we will dive into an industry that is everywhere. We are more familiar with it than we think, and it keeps us guessing what comes next. We are discussing innovation, growth, and marketing in the technology industry. To talk about what is happening in this industry, we have Don McGuire, the Chief Marketing Officer for Qualcomm. With his knowledge of tech marketing, moving from B2B to B2C marketing efforts, and putting the consumer at the center of everything, this episode is incredibly relevant to any branding or marketing professional. So listen along to hear from an expert in an industry that is continuously making our lives better.
Guest
Don McGuire
KEY POINTS:
- Qualcomm’s industry and Don’s role in it.
- Don’s background, his career journey.
- Innovation is the game in the technology industry.
- Moving from B2B to B2C marketing.
- Audience led marketing calls for brand definition.
- Storytelling and collaboration between brands.
RELEVANT QUOTES:
“We’re the company that’s sort of connecting, um, everyone and everything in a more intelligently way through our, our roadmap and our products, um, and our technology, which is so pervasive.”
“In tech, you really also need to understand your product really, really well. Um, and so so that’s been something that, you know, I’ve kind of prided myself on as I’ve moved up through the ranks.”
“Innovation is moving very quickly especially in certain product categories and industries. So keeping up with that and always being on the forefront of that is really important, no matter what your brand or who you are. “
“So to remain relevant in that world, it’s really important that you have some fundamentals, and that, first understand your audience first and foremost, and I believe heavily in being audience led and everything that you do.”
“I get to bifurcate and my team gets to bifurcate on what we do both in a B2B world as well as in a more B2C world, depending on the brand and the story and the value proposition.”
“I have to be able to, and my team has to be able to evolve the story for that next generation, that next iteration of what the technology can do to deliver the experiences to the target audience.”
“You can collaborate on storytelling that’s not going to deter from your brand, but to actually help enhance your brand by partnering with other people that is helping to make your value proposition actually come to life.”
“The story I’m telling is about how what I do and what my product does or our products do is enable other products, um, to be great or be better or be more.”
“And so when we were looking through bios of different options when we got to Michelle Yeoh, we all looked in the room at each other and said, that’s it. Go get Michelle. She’s perfect for this. And we’re so happy that she agreed to do this with us and come along on our journey as we continue to tell this story.”
“But if we can deliver back to, to people’s days meaningful time, we could utilize speed in a whole new way, and really make our, you know, our lives more efficient.”
“So if you look at AI as world enhancing or experience enhancing, or you’re still in control, but you are using intelligence to make the experience better, um, that is kind of the AI that we’re talking about or delivering things faster to you or more complete to you.”
“It’s all about being where people want you to be, not forcing yourself on them. So the fundamentals are important. The long-term tool sets are coming, and so stay up to speed with that innovation cycle and what’s going on.”
“I would just say kind of avoid the shiny objects and avoid the fads, um, but continue to, to iterate and experiment. Um, at the end of the day, we’re marketers, we’re storytellers.”
“I think the next two to four years of technology innovation is going to make marketers jobs super exciting. And enable, actually enable us as marketers to deliver better for not only our audience or our consumer, whoever that might be, but also back to our business.”
