On this 233rd episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO of Vivaldi Group. Joachimsthaler’s company works to keep its clients ahead of the continually evolving marketing game by remaining innovative at the intersection of purpose and profit.
Originally from Germany, Joachimsthaler shares how academia brought him to Kansas of all places, and eventually landed him in New York, where he lives today. He looked at the option of going straight into the workforce after school in Germany but decided that “success in life is to minimize the time between graduation and retirement.” We then discuss how the marketing landscape has changed over the last 10 to 20 years. “The value shifts now the demand side where the consumers are,” and can no longer be providing better service alone.
Joachimsthaler then discusses the concept of his new book, The Interaction Field, and how “when everybody participates in an interaction field…everybody benefits.” We found ourselves in agreement that “value is creation,” and how the road to success involves many helping hands along the way. Nobody does it alone. Amid a global pandemic, collaboration amongst industry leaders is needed now more than ever!
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:
- After graduation, Erich made his way to the US to further his education and experience the world. 1:20
- Erich chose Kansas because of his desire to expand upon his small amount of English language. 2:00
- After being a professor for 15-20 years, Erich decided to make his way to New York, thus leaving academics. 2:55
- Vivaldi Group works towards helping new companies grow through innovation in new directions. 4:06
- Erich felt there were new ways of creating values for other companies, and that belief led him to write his new book. 5:37
- Brand marketing recently shifted from the supply side to the demand side, now focusing on the consumers. 6:20
- Everyone in the world lives in an interaction field through network technology in a specific ecosystem. 7:11
- Value is no longer created solely on better service but heavily focuses on the demand side in companies such as Uber. 9:00
- It’s no longer about how much money a company pumps into advertising. 10:10
- Around 2008, people began to realize that technologies that come together tend to mature at the same time. 10:42
- There are ways to be successful other than creating a platform by finding the right ecosystem, but innovation must remain successful. 12:35
- Many business models exist today that have proven successful, but these models evolve. 14:30
- McDonald’s has evolved its business model from a pipeline model to a platform model because it can directly interact with consumers on their phones. 16:00
- Companies can collect data points through customer interaction on their platforms to increase productivity and profit. 18:56
- Interaction fields create value by sharing collected data with every participant in particular industries. 20:44
- Leaders today must collaborate to benefit everyone and solve significant industry problems. 22:45
- Erich found that motivation came from different sources between Germany and his time in the United States. 26:05
- It’s vitally important to put love where your labor is; you will enjoy what you are doing for the rest of your life. 28:00
- From a book that he recently read, Erich learned that Einstein’s wife did a lot of the mathematical equations for him; nobody does it alone. 30:00
- The pandemic has shown the world that nobody finds success alone; many people help along the way. 31:38
- Companies like Alibaba excite Erich because they were able to create a network of commerce that connected a country before it ever existed. 32:46
- The brands that are creating something truly incredible do not even have to advertise because they are deeply integrated into consumers’ lives. 35:00
- There has been a massive shift in consumer engagement that has changed marketing from product branding to ecosystem branding. 36:11
Resources Mentioned:
- Vivaldi Group
- “The Interaction Field” (book)
- Erich Joachimsthaler
- Jean Tirole (Nobel Prize for economics)
- Uber
- McDonald’s Mobile App
- John Deere’s Open Network
- Alibaba, Ant Group Financial, Alipay
- Einstein’s Wife: The Real Story of Mileva Einstein-Maric (book)
- Marketing Today – Website
Subscribe to the podcast:
- Listen in iTunes (link: http://apple.co/2dbdAhV)
- Listen in Google Podcasts (link: http://bit.ly/2Rc2kVa)
- Listen in Spotify (Link: http://spoti.fi/2mCUGnC)
Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart:
- http://twitter.com/abhart
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanhart
- http://twitter.com/themktgtoday
- https://www.facebook.com/themktgtoday/
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-today-with-alan-hart/
Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.