Mean people suck in marketing and what to do about it with Michael Brenner

Why does so much marketing stink? Michael Brenner has a direct answer: “Most of the marketing that we do that stinks and doesn’t work is because some executive with a big ego asked us to do it.” That line gets to the heart of this conversation. Bad marketing usually starts inside the company. It starts when teams make decisions around internal pressure, executive preference, sales requests, product priorities, or ego instead of asking what actually helps the customer. In this episode of The B2B Roundtable Podcast, I talk with Michael Brenner, former CEO of Marketing Insider Group and author of Mean People Suck, about why empathy matters in marketing, leadership, and business. Michael argues that empathy is not soft. It is one of the most practical ways to improve marketing, build stronger cultures, help employees feel more engaged, and create better customer experiences. We get into why marketers feel frustrated, why many companies still create marketing customers do not care about, how to put the customer back at the center of the business, and why the simple question “What’s in it for the customer?” can change the work. If your team is tired of creating marketing that checks internal boxes but fails to help buyers, this conversation is worth your time. Episode page: https://www.markempa.com/mean-people-... Subscribe to The B2B Roundtable Podcast: https://www.markempa.com/b2bpodcast/ About Michael Brenner Michael Brenner is the former CEO of Marketing Insider Group. After a 25-year career inside corporate marketing departments, Michael built his work around content marketing, employee activation, thought leadership, and helping companies create marketing that serves customers. He is the author of Mean People Suck and The Content Formula. Connect with Michael: https://meanpeoplesuck.com/   / brennermichael   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Michael Brenner 01:20 Why Michael wrote Mean People Suck 03:35 Why so many marketers feel miserable 05:15 Why empathy matters in marketing 09:20 Why customers do not care about brands 13:30 Why the buying journey does not start with your product 16:00 Putting the customer at the center 23:00 Asking “what’s in it for the customer?” A few things worth taking away Most bad marketing is created to satisfy internal requests, not customer needs. Marketers struggle to care for customers when they do not feel cared for inside their own companies. Empathy is tied to employee engagement, customer loyalty, retention, and business performance. Customers do not care about your brand as much as your company thinks they do. The buying journey usually starts with the customer’s question, not your product name. Marketing should help customers solve problems, not just promote the company. A better org chart would put the customer at the center, with every department asking how to serve them. The best marketing and selling feels like helping because it is helping. The question “What’s in it for the customer?” can stop a lot of wasted marketing activity. The three pushback questions are simple: Who is this for? Why is it important? How are we going to measure the impact? A few lines that stuck with me “Most of the marketing that we do that stinks, that doesn’t work, is because some executive with a big ego asked us to do it.” — Michael Brenner “The companies that have effective marketing are those that are empathetic.” — Michael Brenner “We just aren’t that important. We’re not as interesting or important as we think we are.” — Michael Brenner “The buying journey doesn’t start with a search for our product.” — Michael Brenner “We wouldn’t do half of what we do if we asked what’s in it for the customer.” — Michael Brenner Resources mentioned Mean People Suck by Michael Brenner: https://meanpeoplesuck.com/ The Content Formula by Michael Brenner: https://thecontentformula.com/ Marketing Insider Group: https://marketinginsidergroup.com/ 2019 Marketer Happiness Report from MarketingProfs: https://www.marketingprofs.com/conten... The Service Profit Chain from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2008/07/putting-the-s... Mean People Suck Companion Guide PDF: https://www.markempa.com/wp-content/u... ...