“The absolute worst thing you can do is nothing.”

– Danny Gonzales, President of Optimum Productions and CEO of Industrial Sage

Nearly every business function is currently undergoing some kind of digital transformation today: procurement, supply chain – even sales and marketing. If you are a small company on your way up, digital provides the means for carving out a niche from which to build a brand and gain market share. If you are larger and have been around for a long time, it means you can’t afford to dismiss newcomers to your space – no matter how small they seem.

Danny Gonzales is the President of Optimum Productions and CEO of Industrial Sage. He uses his multi-media marketing expertise and love of analytics to help manufacturers grow. He regularly works with manufacturers and has done research to learn more about the trends and objectives guiding their approaches to marketing and sales.

In this interview, Danny talks about the trends taking place across the end to end supply chain, especially from a sales and marketing viewpoint:

• The demographic shift taking place in the consumer population and how that is affecting marketing requirements for both B2B and B2C companies
• How preferences for content are shifting and which channels covey the most credibility to the widest possible audience
• The critical need for even B2B marketers to balance education and entertainment in their messaging and campaigns

[00:00:05] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio Broadcasting Life Supply chain capital of the country, Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now Radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the technology’s the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

[00:00:29] Hey, good afternoon. Scott Luton here with you, Liveline Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome back to the show. Also on today’s show, we’re going to take a unique approach here, more unique for us. So we’re gonna be talking about the trends taking place across the End to end Supply chain, especially from a sales and marketing viewpoint. You know as well as we all know more than ever before. Companies are working hard to make their organizations and their offerings more visible and findable. We’re gonna be chat with a subject matter expert. That’s going to shed light and expertise on some of these best practices and you’re going to enjoy hearing from it. So I will interest Danny in just a second. But to our audience, quick programing note, like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio, you can find our replays on a variety of channels, Apple, podcasts, SoundCloud, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast from. As always, we’d love to have you subscribe so you don’t miss anything. Quick note we thank our sponsors for allowing us to bring these best practices and innovative ideas to you. Our audience. The Effective syndicate. Vector Global Logistics. ProPurchaser.com. Spend Management Experts. And many more. You can check out our sponsors on the show notes of this episode. OK. Let’s welcome in our special guest today. And now you’re going to enjoy this as much as I have. We’ve enjoyed that. The pre-show conversation. Danny Gonzalez, founder of Optimum Productions and host of Industrial Sage. Danny, how you doing? I’m doing great.

[00:01:53] Thanks for having me here. We’re happy to have you on. We’ve talked about this for quite some time. We keep running into each other at outstanding events like the Georgia Manufacturing Summit. And if any of your listeners were at the summit, you saw an incredible video just like last year, this past October, we saw great video that kind of gets you jazzed up about the manufacturing industry. And that is one of your productions, right, Danny? Absolutely. Yeah. Well, and I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about this year at this year. I can’t pick which one I like better. The last couple of years have been it’s just one of those moments at 8:30 in the morning that gets, you know, gets you revved up about, you know, what you’re about to hear about, you know, thought leaders from across the manufacturing space. So let’s before we dove into your sales and marketing expert insights, you’ve been doing this quite some time and that as we were talking about in the pre-show, that is arguably more important than ever before. Right. Folks are kind of riding the digital media. The writing, the relationship. So there are all kinds of different ways to make sure their capabilities and their supply chain chops or manufacturing chops or what have you are readily available and readily seen. But before we get there, let’s learn more about Danny Gonzalez. So, Danny, tell us about yourself and for starters, where’d you grow up?

[00:03:15] Ok. So I’m basically born and raised here in Atlanta, Georgia. There’s about three of us. I’m one of them. You know, the joke is, you know, so many transplants here. So I was actually born at Crawford Long. How far back are we going here? So, you know, basically here in Atlanta, we moved around a little bit and and ended up making our way back to Atlanta. We lived in New Hampshire for a little barely. Yeah, hard to have. So just a little bit north, a place called Center Harbor. So right on like Lake Winnipesaukee in Guam is gorgeous up there. Called, too. And a little chilly. Yes. Hundred percent. So I came running back to the south. And and then it lived in Alabama for a little bit, came back to Atlanta, graduated from St. Pius. OK. And then and then it still was too warm for me.

[00:04:07] So I went and went and lived in Mexico for a year and then came back. So. Oh, what’s so funny? You know, we should start with this. We’re kind of flipping the script on Danny Gonzalez here today. Danny typically is the person interviewing the subjects. And I think it’s always challenging someone that does that as well. It’s always challenging when the tables turn. And we’re we’re posing the questions to you. So thanks for playing along with our game here. All right. So let’s talk about so clearly you moved around a lot, a lot of different venues. Been back in Atlanta for roughly how long? Jenny.

[00:04:40] Why can’t you math right now? So 2001, 2002, something like that. Yeah.

[00:04:45] All right. So what else did you do prior to forming and founding Optimum Productions and of course, the well-received Industrial Sage Line of work and content.

[00:04:56] Would you do prior? Yes. So. Well, basically, I started off. In college and, you know, a video production company, and I you know, where I really started that actually goes back before when I was in high school, I had some buddies who were into doing video stuff. And I thought, man, these guys are a bunch of nerds, you know? And and I found out later that I’m one of that Miura, one of, you know, I’m a nerd. So the big piece was when I after I graduated high school, I went did some missionary work and I lived in Mexico. I kind of alluded to that a little bit earlier. And I was down there for about a year. And we were doing a lot of like youth work and youth development work. I was in a town called I was Columbus, which was about five hours north west of Mexico City. And I think right now is about a population, about a million there. And they actually had, believe it or not, this video editing suite, you know, with a computer and everything. And so I met one of the other guys there who had made like these funny little videos. And so I thought, well, that’s kind of cool. He said, well, I’ll show you how to do it. And just I ended up falling in love with it. Wow. This is super cool. So I came back to Atlanta and started college and started getting my degree in accounting because I don’t know why. Lu just painful. Know it’s painful. You know, that they say is there’s no such thing as a creative accounting. But I discovered very early on that that is a misnomer. There are very creative accounts. But they tend to find themselves in jail. So I wanted to make sure that I channeled that creativity in a positive manner.

[00:06:33] And so anyways, so this goes back. This is gosh, when I hear you describe that it’s not necessarily a stay, just has been your blood. And it just took maybe that that conversation, that introduction to a specific technology or approach that just made it come to the forefront. Maybe that’s it. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So I don’t want to die more into what the company does before that. You know, clearly, you’ve been an entrepreneur for quite some time. And I’m sure if you embrace the Starbucks, you’ve been doing it for a while. But what do folks there’s that there’s there’s probably a wide variety of assumptions out there when it comes to what an entrepreneurial lifestyle is. You know, day in and day out, you know, the journey for some, the struggle in the trenches and you name it, the highs and lows. What what are some of the things, some of the aspects related to that journey that you think are under appreciated?

[00:07:28] Well, to get a real honest answer, you should ask my wife. She’ll still tell you that. She’ll tell you the real deal. I think some of those areas that are definitely underappreciated are, you know, there’s a certain sense of if you make a transition from I’m an employee over to, you know, I’m going to be my own boss one day and I’m going to do this. And it’s it’s going to be amazing. I don’t have all this freedom and I can barely go on vacations whenever I want. And that’s just a farce. It’s not true. I mean, yes, you can obviously get there, but it takes a lot of hard work. And I think especially in today’s, you know, on demand world in which Supply chain might know a little bit about that, is that we you know, you tend to want it now. You want it quickly. And that, you know, without putting in hard work and pain, it’s wet in tears. And and it takes all that. And I think another misnomer is that you think I’m going to have no bosses. And, you know, actually, you actually you increase your amount of bosses exponentially. They’re called customers. Right. Right.

[00:08:24] So we you know, we at this summit this year, we both heard from the Panji executive, the gentleman just retired and the name will come to me. But he talked about the inverted pyramid. And then to our audience, this went when this gentleman became plant manager of a large Panji plant down in south Georgia.

[00:08:45] A lot of folks said, well, you’re you’re going to be the king. Congratulations, high fives. But this gentleman really turned that on its head. And instead of it being a stand, a standard pyramid in terms of how your view and leadership. It was an inverted pyramid. Right. Yeah. And he was at the bottom. The employees and workforces at the top.

[00:09:03] And, you know, Danny, earlier this week, we had a technology entrepreneur that founded his own firm, and now they’re 50 something or so employees strong. And he use that same inverted pyramid approach because he much like you were sharing, you know. Yeah. Not have a boss. I’ll be my own boss. And like you said, freedom. But, boy, from that inverted pyramid approach, customers, the team members, you are the folks wife, significant other, you name it. The folks that you have to honor these commit commitments to. I’m not sure if it’s easier if that’s easier than having a boss. I don’t know, even though even the world’s worst boss may be. But speak. What I heard you say that the pressures that come even when you know that notion is you can have all this freedom, that that isn’t always the case.

[00:09:51] Right. Yeah, totally. I think what you’re talking with was that thing was where Warner or Washington? Yes. Yeah. There’s an amazing presentation. And I think. That notion of that servant leader aspect is that, you know, instead of I’m here to for people to serve me, I am as a leader. You know, I need to look at my team and be able to say, hey, how can I help you achieve your goals, you know? So I’m still learning that one. Yes.

[00:10:15] But as we all are. But you weren’t awash in that great, great pool. Great speaker. I want to say he’s getting now that he’s retired from PDG, I think he is getting into the consulting space. I think he moved to Florida so he could play more golf.

[00:10:28] Yeah, golf was a big thing. I think he said like three to six months. He was going to focus on that. Yes.

[00:10:32] Get his handicapped down. But well-deserved after 30 some odd years with PSG. OK, so now let’s shift gears. And so thanks for giving us your take on that answer there. So many different aspects to the entrepreneurial journey that unless you’re in it and in the trenches, it’s tough to kind of, you know, have a full appreciation for so hours Optimum Productions Been in your blood. And as part of that, Industrial Sage has been in your blood for a long time. And we we we heard about that switch that was flipped where it came front and center not too long ago. Tell us more about what the company does.

[00:11:09] Yeah. So optimum. Well, answer sort of two pieces. Altero I’m really basically helps companies to better grow by using video. Video is definitely a very hot and it’s very important. It’s an amazing tool for for sales, for lead nurturing. And so we help primarily B2B companies with that. Industrial Sage was an initiative that we started about two years ago with essentially as a media company focused on sharing best practices around sales and marketing for the manufacturing Industrial space. So we’ve been doing it for around two and a half years in one hundred and some odd episodes where we’ll interview where do an interview just like Sheer. We are here talking to, you know, a subject matter expert talking to manufacturers, the CMO or or talking to other service partners to just really share, you know, what they’re doing in the industry to to really address some of the challenges that a lot of companies are facing today relative to sales. Marketing. That’s right.

[00:12:06] And that’s how you look. A study that sells a marketing growing revenue and growing that brand presence that brand, but market position that is that that’s keeping some of the leaders of leaders up at night. Right. And from what I’ve noticed, following you and your organizational own social media, I think you are working with the big Fortune 500 firms down through the the mom and pops and all points in between.

[00:12:33] Is that right? Yeah. I mean, we. Yes, 100 percent. I mean, we try to focus on middle market, but yeah. Definitely there are outliers for sure. Mm hmm.

[00:12:42] Ok, so as CEO, founder, CEO of the organization, where do you where do you spend your time? Number one. And number two, what you love.

[00:12:51] Where do you love to spend your time the most in the business or outside the business? Well, let’s take the business first. OK. So inside the business where I spend most of my time is a very good question. Tell me more pride, more in sales and strategy standpoint is just, you know, developing relationships, helping to to bring in more strategic sales and then just helping to map out sort of long term strategy for for for some of our clients and for us. And then as far as where I enjoy spending time, I’m kind of split a little bit. This is where that that accounting and the creative side. I very much enjoy analytics and looking at numbers and figuring out things and plans and strategy and all that good stuff. But then I can totally get lost in the creative side and coming up with a messaging and a story that really helps to drive results for customers, some love that.

[00:13:42] Speaking of analytics, I think you had compiled some manufacturing industry survey related related to the summit, right? Yeah, kind of get a sense of what’s top of mind for leaders. And I think we were both there at the summit where we were asking about first time attendees. And it was it was blown away by how many folks had stumbled across the summit in its biggest year. All right. Anyway, so, so so analytics and and data is a second love, maybe, huh?

[00:14:14] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that’s where the you know, the funny thing is the whole accounting thing. Why wanted to do that originally as I want to go in the FBI. Really? Yeah. And you know, there’s four areas of special agent in accounting is one of them. And it’s like forensic investigation, kind of. I mean, that’s one area for sure. You know, a lot of crimes, there’s a paper trail. But it’s also a frame of thinking that it makes you kind of. And so that I guess they kind of look towards that. So I I think I’ve discovered now with the data and analytics that we have now with these amazing tools online, with the digitization and, you know, marketing technology, Sheer of everything, right? Everything. Yeah, 100 percent of everything that. Yeah. There’s stories in those numbers. And it’s it’s finding those numbers and then most.

[00:14:59] Certainly finding out what that story is in the numbers stories is what folks, regardless what sector, what industry. That’s what folks consume. Right. 100 percent want to hear Januaries. OK. Let’s. So since you asked the question outside of the business and in the one hour of free time a week now you’ve got a family. Generous. OK. So where do you spend your time when you have a moment outside the business?

[00:15:28] Where do you love to spend that time? It’s a great question where I would like to spend it. That doesn’t necessarily mean I am spending it there, but I actually got my pilot’s license about close to two years ago. So that was been sort of one of those bucket list things that I wanted to do. And so, you know, I try to get up in the air when I can.

[00:15:47] So do you fly out of it? So you’re up in north Atlanta and you come north Georgia, you fly out of. What? What airport is your favorite one to fly?

[00:15:56] Well, again, it’s sort of a theme with me. You know, the whole county and creative. So one would think north. Actually, I’m flying out of the south and flying on a. And in Peachtree City. OK. Part of that entrepreneurial thing is I actually did some trade out with one of the schools there. They need some help from some sales marketing. And I said, hey, we might be out to help you guys out. Why don’t you guys let’s do a little little barter. Outstanding. So that’s that’s kind of outstanding.

[00:16:18] That is that creative accounting. I love that. OK. So let’s move from talking about your organization and the business and what it does to kind of go abroad or in terms of your observations. Owen, you know, there’s not a great war coin for the sake of complaining of this interview industry in Supply chain marketing. But whether it’s manufacturing or Logistics or Lu freight tech, which is a hot space, supply chain, whatever you want, call it. I’d love to learn from your perspective. What are companies doing right that you’re seeing day to day out and then what? Where do you see some of the wrong approach is being taken?

[00:16:57] Great question. So in this case, like like you mentioned, there can apply sort of across the board to where we’re seeing companies doing things right relative to wrong. Is most companies realize that just like within the supply chain industry or manufacturing or what have you, then there’s a digital transformation taking place. I think everyone can agree that that’s happening. The same thing is happening to your sales and marketing as well. There was a great presentation. I went to Kintner who gave us they’re talking about four pillars of innovation. And you’re always going to focus on, you know, let’s look at lean manufacturing. Let’s look at what’s happening in the plants and the operations. But there’s this fourth pillar of that sales and marketing piece that kind of gets like, you know. And I think that what they’re doing right is saying, OK, we need to fit. We need to do something different. And because we’re seeing challenges like maybe we’re losing market share, maybe we’re the 800 pound gorilla. Several years ago and now we’re being eaten up. All these competitors are coming, you know, and putting messages out in the market that are true or not true. But they’re getting there faster and they’re starting to eat up market share. And they want, you know, the absolute worst thing you can do is nothing because it’s there’s a little company we can name a lot of them right now. But there’s a company called Blockbuster. And what happened with that story between Blockbuster and Netflix? And it’s a very interesting story. And it wasn’t something that was overnight. It was something that happened. It was a it was a it was a sort of a slow progression that happened over years and years and years. And Blockbuster, 800 pound gorilla didn’t didn’t pivot jerai. And they made an adjustment and it was too late. And I think that is that is incumbent upon all companies at this stage in the game, particularly supply chain and manufacturing companies that can kind of have legacy marketing.

[00:18:48] That’s a good point. Going back to the blockbuster example, if I’m not mistaken, didn’t think Blockbuster had the opportunity early own and a low valuation of purchasing Netflix. I think so. They couldn’t quite wrap their head around the value or or or the sustainability of the model. Right. But holy cow. And you know, if that had happened. I’m curious, given the bleeding edge of on demand content that Netflix is really driving, I wonder how much slower that that evolution because all of that you we we left cable years ago. Yeah. To get on demand from Hulu and Netflix and Amazon and all that stuff. Right. And without Netflix as early and on the UPS, was it the early adopters and the trail blazers? I wonder how much slower that would have progressed had blockbuster balled it and kept that initial model where they were going try to kill it. Yeah. Yeah. That or they kept mailing out. Yeah. You know the disks.

[00:19:48] Yeah. It was it. I mean all of that you know because they did make that pivot and they did. They they had their model and actually subscribe to it. And it was it was a I thought it was a great model.

[00:19:57] But it when you were still getting the disc a couple of times or. Whatever. I guess you’d order a couple get it and then send it back so you could.

[00:20:03] You could. Yeah. And it’s early days, right? Yeah. And one of their competitive advantages was that instead of you actually having to ship it and wait for, you know, to wait for that other one to come in the mail, that you could actually go and return it at at a location so you could speak. You could turn that around a lot faster. But again, too late. And then they started moving into the hole, you know, leveraging that nexus of technology and where we were at the time relative to, you know, four to three years before you. You couldn’t do that. But they took a hundred percent advantage of it.

[00:20:32] I was late to the game with the Netflix and then the other own demand. But gosh, where we are now. And just to convenience and the choices. Yeah. You know, the choices part. What stands out. Yeah. One of these stands out the most for me now. Yeah. Okay. So let’s keep talking. You know, you mentioned a couple of things. Well, legacy marketing, I think, before we took the Netflix departure. Explain more in your mind where you’re seeing organize and your experiences, where you’re seeing organizations kind of cling to that.

[00:21:06] Yeah. So it’s a little bit of a complicated answer. But let’s look at the shifting. Number. What I think the shifting dynamics are demographics. You know, right now we have these big bad millennials that are coming in. And you know that there was a study done by Google back in 2015. They talked about how the B2B buyer was nearly 50 percent millennial and or influencer. We can you know, you can do math and you can that number is going to increase. Okay. That’s right. All right. Well, that’s interesting. Let’s look at the boomers, the baby boomer generation. Well, they’re technically half the size of millennials that are coming in. So you had a lot of jobs as they’re now retiring, a lot of your jobs that are need to be filled and they’re being fast tracked. Yeah, because whichit which Gen X, which is kind of in between, there is half the size of the boomers. All right. So so you’ve got, you know, big you know, a lot of boomers who are retiring and then you have a smaller demographic that is taking those jobs, but there’s not enough to fill those. So then you have always millennials that are coming in. That’s one thing, right. Number two is how do millennials and even just us in general, how do we consume content? How do we buy? You know, the whole reason why the supply chain industry right now is just growing by leaps and bounds.

[00:22:28] You could pin it on one company. You could pin it on it. You know, you could you could talk about the Amazon effect. Right. Talk about the fact, the fact that this upcoming holiday season, how many of your viewers or listeners are going to step foot in a retail location to buy a present? Mm hmm. How many of them are going to buy through Amazon or some other way? And percentage wise, how much even if they do step into a retail location, how much, you know, you know, percentage wise? I can tell you right now it’s going to be largely online. And so it’s interesting. And we look at Amazon and you go whatever you want, essentially right at your fingertips, 2 days or less. Unbelievable. You can have at your doorstep. So what is that doing even on a consumer mind? Let’s look at B2B. The expectation as me, as a buyer, as a consumer. I have a reasonable expectation to have that same exact experience, even if it’s been beaten. And that is the challenge and that’s the opportunity right now. You hear a lot of, you know, talking about customer experience, being very picky. Now you’re starting hearing about it being customer obsessed and you know, and it’s really unpacking. How do my buyers buy? And I think that is the biggest challenge, that from a sales and marketing standpoint that a lot of manufacturers, supply chain companies are facing.

[00:23:51] Some are leaning in to that that inarguable reality that that’s evolving and some are choosing the kind of kick the can from. What we’re seeing. But I’ll go back to. So make sure I get this right. So as we’re seeing the demographics change, which is inarguable, right. The generational transfer and as we’re seeing the Amazon effect, certainly change buying patterns and that’s across generations. Right. Yeah. We were both by our family members that are that are buying definitely older and younger than they did, you know, five, two years ago maybe. Are you seeing despite all that change, is is without a doubt moving forward, we’re not seeing as much change as many companies lean in to new ways of engaging the consumers with content. Are you. Are you seeing as much or little bit? Where do you where do you see that?

[00:24:50] Sure. So I think maybe it might be a little bit subjective, but we might have some of these answers in our survey that you mentioned. Yes. Before as we’re kind of looking into, you know. So last year we did a survey with with about a hundred fifty manufacturers talking and it was a 52 page report. You can go get it on our site. And we basically looked at how many people were actually spending more in digital marketing. And it was the vast majority of it was 60 percent. I can’t remember spending more or spending more saying we need to do this now, whether they’re spending right or wrong on it. You know, if you’re spending from $0 to $1, obviously that’s a big increase. So obviously, it’s a little subjective there. I am seeing, at least anecdotally, a lot of people are talking about they’re talking about it and they’re starting to make those those moves. I think that, you know, they’re kind of struggling a little bit. Right. But by and large, most are making that move. Now, there’s a big question of how much. I think there’s a there’s a huge opportunity right now for companies that really understand it, and they get it to double down and give you some great examples. I mean, even just like what you guys are doing here and creating lots and lots of content, there’s, you know, getting your message and helping people, other companies to be able to get their message out there is important. I’m you know, I’m I’ve been following, you know, freight waves. And what, you know, Craig Fuller is with what those guys are doing over there. I’m a big fan. I mean, they are creating content like there’s no tomorrow. And that’s really that is the opportunity in that that we’re going to that is there right now. Right.

[00:26:30] And there is a wide less being consumed, right? Yeah. Except there’s a demand for it. There’s a you know, someone told me not too long ago in the podcasting landscape, there’s such a demand for the spoken word and there’s more credibility in some ways being offered or being being hung on the spoken word. But. So I’m hearing it so more companies have kind of realized the direction they may be taking. And now is the greater question and you know, is the greater ambiguity in, OK, what path do we take? Yeah. Is that kind of what you’re saying?

[00:27:11] Yeah, hundred percent. I mean, you when you look at, OK, you know, we need to go digital. What does that mean? Well, that can mean a million different things and can be sold. We need paper click ads or we need to be on you know, we need to be on Twitter now or we need it, you know? What does that mean? There are over, I believe now the status over seven thousand marketing technology platforms or software is out there and it’s growing exponentially. So you start kind of dipping your toe into this a little bit. Well, you know, you can be blown away really quick, very quickly.

[00:27:42] All right. So we’ve talked about some of the trends, some of the things companies are getting right. Some things are they’re not. Not so much getting right. So in the realizations that I’m hearing, you speak around these leadership teams that are kind of OK, finally drinking the Kool-Aid, because that’s where we’re we are. Let’s keep. I want to pick your brain, Daniel, on where do you see the industry continuing to move, where we’re going to big wreck out your crystal ball and give us you know, let’s look around the corner a bit. Where is the industry headed?

[00:28:11] So this is where we’re going. You’re going to want to when I mentioned, you know, legacy marketing before, it was typically, you know, you would say, you know, we’re the IBMs of the world. We’re that, you know, we’re the legacy brand. And people are going to buy because of our our brand mean sustainability. And, you know, we’re strong and we’re the best. Right. Well, people aren’t buying that way anymore. And, you know, typically you might have a, you know, back in the day, you’d have your sale. You have your your directories or, you know, your yellow pages. Right. People now the way that they buy is, you know, they’re 80 percent down the road by the time they pick up the phone and they actually want to talk to a salesperson. So what are they doing in that interim time period? They’re self educating themselves. And where are they doing that? They’re doing that online. That’s right. So the opportunity and the trend is to be able to create that experience that you normally would have, as I don’t know you from Adam. And we’re going to sit down and have a discussion and we’re going to build a relationship, which, by the way.

[00:29:08] Yes. Relationships are still very important. That’s a big thing. People say, oh, no, no. But it’s how do we create that? How do we disseminate that information to somebody? And the ability to educate them. You have to do it in the way that they want to be educated. Right. So, you know, like podcasts, for example, is great. And we were talking about this forum, the show is that, you know, the s this is while this is being streamed live and probably not that many people are listening. Right. But, you know, we live in Atlanta and we’re known for our amazing traffic that we have here. And and people have the average the average commute is. Forty five minutes. Are they doing they’re consuming content. Right. On demand. Or maybe they’re at the airport or so it’s getting your message, taking your message, the same message that you had there before. But maybe chunking it up and getting it into different mediums that that dance, the opportunity, that’s where, you know, companies need to position themselves to really win. Right.

[00:30:09] So let’s talk. It’s something you’ve been working on a slew of campaigns. Every time we re reconnect, get a different story of a campaign you’re wrapping up. And it is it’s fascinating because there is a story for each one of those. So based on what you can share, what are some of the campaigns you’ve really enjoyed working on this year?

[00:30:31] What can you share this? Well, we’ve got we’ve got a lot. I don’t know how much I can share this. Whether they get one in particular or recent years, whatever, whatever you can share that with. There’s one. Yeah, there’s one in particular. There’s actually it was a Logistics company and they they had basically a new business model. There were three Patel and brokerage and they had a new business model. They wanted to convey and they were having a really hard time getting that across. They were doing these whiteboard animated explainer videos and I think they did three or four of them. And like this is just not working. And so we kind of help them to listen. Figure out what they were doing and get a good understanding of who the audience was and how they were going to present that material. We said, OK, you need to do let’s do something completely. Let’s do something like, well, I feel you guys game to do something like way out there. And they said, yeah, we are. OK, cool. Let’s do something out there. Because our goal is to a even though this is a B2B purchase, we need we want to have somebody to have an emotional response to, you know, so and let’s entertain somebody. So even though that it’s B-to-B, you know, there’s a misnomer that people think, oh, it has to be dry.

[00:31:44] It can’t be boiled down today to corporate that. Exactly. That’s like dead wrong. People want to be entertained. And we’re talking about Netflix. And so, you know, like. That’s, you know, like people want to be in it. So it’s incumbent upon us to be able to provide that like that entertainment. Right. But also bring in that educate. We call it bacon wrapping. You know, how do you get how do you give a dog a pill? You wrap bacon around it. So and so we did that and made this outlandish story of of these guys. Their model was around transparency. And so we literally had our guy in a transparent suit wearing nothing but the underwear. All right. Of the client. I’ve had, you know, the name of the client on the butt. And we understood who our audience was. And it literally created this out there video of this guy explaining the transparency model. And it was funny and humorous and, you know, wasn’t for everybody, but the results were phenomenal. We’re able to take this thing, walk in and give presentations in. People in two minutes said, I get it, I get it. Wow. That was funny. And then the biggest thing is whether they loved it or hated.

[00:32:52] And they remembered, you know, and that’s best got to be for an expert that is used to determining, you know, and understanding the message and figuring out what how to craft to get it out in an effective way to the marketplace to get that kind of response. I bet that was incredibly rewarding for you and your team.

[00:33:12] Oh, super rewarding. Plus, you know, again, being the analytical and the accounting side as well. I mean, we put an art there an hour away assigned to it. And they were able to close five million in business in two weeks. Wow. So it works. And we’ve got the analytics and the data to show it. And that’s the opportunity to educate and be entertaining.

[00:33:33] Yes. Educate and entertain. You know, the Jenny. All right. Let’s let’s kind of move further. More broadly out. And, you know, we were talking before we went live here, Danny, that even though, you know, we’re in the divisibility space, the visual media space, the the message amplification or whatever you call it. Right. You know, we rub elbows with a lot of other things are taking place out there across and in Supply chain. Right. Manufacturing, procurement, Logistics, reverse Logistics, you name it. What is you look at the industry more broadly, what are a couple of trends or developments or general directions that stand out more to you, like outside of sales and marketing?

[00:34:18] Yeah. Yeah. More broadly. Gosh, well, there’s a lot I mean, I think the whole. I actually just came back from a conference last week and it was largely around, you know, your growth revenue and and really this this alignment of sales and marketing and services. And particularly this nexus that we have of technology. I mean, obviously, that that’s a huge thing. I mean, you go to a pro mat or a Mode X, which I know you guys will be atmo next. We were both of these. And just to see the innovation that’s happening in the industry, particularly as we again, we have that technology nexus is amazing. Yes. And it it is it is awesome. I think the goal is that customers at the end of the day want their things better, faster, cheaper. They want him shipped or fulfilled or manufactured or, you know, put whatever verb you want in. And if you can’t do it, why not lozer mine. Exactly.

[00:35:11] So I want to get your take on something else, because as you were describing the evolution of digital marketing in general. Right. A lot of what I heard you could swap out marketing and put in talent. Totally right. Because as we have sat down with leaders across this space, a lot of more are looking for talent and. Right. Talent and top talent. You know, you don’t get any of those things the same old tired ways for a lot of the same reasons you’re describing, right? Yeah. But yet there’s still companies that cling to that traditional 1982 approach of finding and hiring and onboarding talent. What are you seeing? The same things. What? What? Any observations on the talent market?

[00:35:53] Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, that obviously is no surprise, everybody. That is definitely you know, it’s a huge challenge for a lot of people is really attracting a younger workforce because typically the there is an idea that, oh, well, this is it’s dirty, it’s old, stodgy, it’s what’s whatever. Companies maybe I should tell you with a story, we have a little bit of a different space, but a structural engineering company come in and their Web site looked I mean, it was like from 2000 or before and it did not represent. You have mail. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Even that would have been a little advanced. But, you know, these guys have done some amazing work. It’s incredibly had their hands on everything. And they just you know, it’s like it’s kind of like driving around to a when you’re in college, right. You’re driving around. You want to go to a party where it’s happening. And then you look out the window and and you see like two people. You I don’t know about that part. And then you keep going at. Then there is the house and they’ve got all kinds of things going on. I’ll leave it to your imagination with what those things dollhouse, but you got things going on.

[00:37:00] You’re like, I want to go there. That is cool. That’s you know, that that is. That’s the opportunity. You have to make sure you have to show that. Now, I’m saying lie. Right. But, you know, there’s that buzz. Create that buzz. There’s amazing things that are going on. Kimberly Clark actually had a really great story presentation that their V.P. of H.R. talked about, that this exact challenge they had trying to recruit people to their their headquarters, which was somewhere up in the Midwest. I think in Wisconsin. And, you know, it wasn’t a up and coming place, wasn’t a big market, a big city with all kinds of things. And I you know, if I remember correctly, they did it by doing a lot of video content and making it exciting and showing, you know, how come work with us and you’ll be part of something bigger. Yes. You’re gonna help to solve challenges and really just, I think, put purpose show that people can have a, you know, a stake to really make make change. And that there is real innovation going on.

[00:38:01] Yeah. Doing it differently than what? What. You know, some of these companies have been doing it and and not that they haven’t had success doing it the same way for years. But it seems like we’re moving into an era where, you know, maybe not all the ground rules are changing and not all of them or death are necessarily being tested and reinvented. But, boy, a lot of more. Right.

[00:38:23] Yeah, especially to the point you’re making around marketing and certainly this latter aspect, the conversation around talent. Okay. So I know you’ve got you’ve got a big 20/20 planned. You’ve had a big twenty nineteen. Wow. I’ve had a good fortune. Sit down and compare notes and of course seen a lot of your work. Again I’m not sure where I think that manufacturing video can still be found. Both of them for the last couple summits can be found on the Georgia manufacturing alliance YouTube page at a minimum. Yes. If not on their web site probably as well. That would invite our listeners to check it out, because if you love the manufacturing community like we both do, you know, you just mentioned a second ago about how so many people have it at old preconcieved and now inaccurate notions around what takes place across. And then supply chain or in the manufacturing sector or in the transportation specht sector. All that’s not necessarily the case anymore. And I think the work, the obscene yal produce captures that in a way that more people need to see. So check that out at the Georgia manufacturing alliance YouTube page. We’ll try to link it in the show notes. I’ll see if we can do that. Awesome. All right. So how can folks Danny, you just mentioned events and the artist Lu events. How can folks learn more about Optimum Productions and Industrial Sage so well.

[00:39:46] We have a Web site, so that’s good. I’d start there so often. Productions dot com and and I know Industrial sage dot com is another one. And Industrial says we’ve have just a tremendous amount of resources. Like I mentioned, we have you 100. We talked to a hundred fifty manufacturers with with the last year’s insight’s report. We have this year’s coming up, all kinds of content, digital marketing planners, educational content on what to look for in 2020, interviews with thought leaders and different manufacturing companies. So I would point you there. And obviously, social media we’re on, you know, LinkedIn is probably the most active.

[00:40:22] All right. So I’m going to add a curveball question, and we don’t practice that. But I think this would be a very easy win for you. So think of, you know, we have a variety of very diverse listening base. Right, from from business leaders to, you know, folks still going through undergrad, whether and regardless of majors, they’re trying to get a sense of the end to end supply chain learn more and all points in between. Right. If you were speaking to folks that are owned, you own the management or leadership teams of organizations in the industry, and you had to give them one thing for 2020 from a sales, marketing visibility standpoint that they to think about doing different. One thing, what would that be?

[00:41:10] Great question. The one thing that I would do is I would say take the amount of content that you’re producing it and quadruple it. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[00:41:20] That’s easy enough. Because content and the stories within it are engaging people unlike ever before. Right. Good stuff. Well, Danny, it’s a pleasure to have you in. We’ve been talking about this forever. I love what you’re doing. I love kind of the how approachable and how you’re making some complex, for lack of a better phrase, message building and all the things that go into that. You make it sound so much easier, and that’s when you know, folks are good at it. So it’s super easy to the heat, right. Well, well, does lot from that. So thanks for carving out Tom as big yard. Come here. The Supply Chain Now Radio. We’ll have you back as we you know. Gosh. Hard to believe, but we jump into 20/20 and and kind of see how the chips fall. Look forward to having you back on the ship. Thanks for having me. Denny Gonzalez, founder of Optimum Productions and hosts of Industrial Sage. And you can check out more data surveys, the content, all the wealth of services and his expertise at their Web site, which is for Optimum Productions. Optimum Productions. Dot dot com. Perfect. It’s easy. I love that. A, we try to keep it easy. All right. So to our listeners, hope you’ve enjoyed this this conversation as much as I have. We want to invite you, if you heard anything here on our own, any of our other podcasts that you can’t quite find via Google or all the usual suspects hit up our CMO at Amanda at Supply Chain Now Radio ICOM.

[00:42:49] And we’ll try to serve as a resource for you to make that connection. But as Danny mentioned, we there are a slew of events coming up that we’re going to be at from the CSC SCMP Atlanta roundtable on January 15th in Atlanta. Open to the public. We’ve gotten fast track, which is an organization I’m sure you’ve you’ve been around, rubbed elbows with Danny. They’re gonna come and talk about some of the regulations that are taking place that have taken place in the transportation industry and what it means for your business. You can sign up at Atlanta, CSC, M-P, dot org. We’re gonna be out in Vegas February 4th through the 6th as part of the reverse Logistics Association Conference and Expo. Great organization. We talk a lot with with touch will reverse Logistics today, but not much Danny. But you know, the e-commerce and then that whole evolution that you were speaking to earlier. Companies are looking for best practices when it comes to returns and reverse Logistics and sustainability. This is a great resource base here in Atlanta, but a global organization R L A dot org. Course Moto X goche. Moto X is going to be back here in Atlanta the week of March 9th, about 35000 of our friends and neighbors. And it’s free to attend Moto X show. Dot com great networking market intel gathering, you name it. And they are hosting Danning the 2020 Atlanta Supply chain Awards on March 10th at Madox.

[00:44:10] We have got Christian Fisher Presense CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and QAM Cooper, the executive director of the Atlanta Committee for Progress, serving as our m.c great one two punch. Check out the Atlanta Supply chain Awards WSJ.com, which took a page from your book, Keeping It Simple, right? The nominations, registration’s sponsorships, all open nominations. We’ve got 14 or 15 different categories or something for you from startup Supply chain Startup of the Year to innovation excellence to manufacturing procurement, you name it. Atlanta Supply chain Awards WSJ.com. OK. Want to thank Danny Gonzalez again. Really good stuff. We’re going to have you back on it. We can’t talk enough about these topics and it keeps so many business leaders up at night. Now, how to expand again. We’re talking about how to expand that brand, grow your market position, strengthen the message you’re sharing to the market. Right. And engage the folks that that could be your customers. Right. Exactly. So learn more about Danny at Optimum Productions. Com. Be sure to check out other all of our upcoming events, replays, our interviews, other resources at Supply Chain Now Radio dot com. Find us will podcast soundcloud. All the leading sites where podcast can be found. Be sure to subscribe. You don’t miss anything on behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain Now Radio. This is Scott Luton wishing you a wonderful week ahead and we will see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks everybody.