Brewing Success with Stuart Giddings: Reinventing the Agency Model

Today on The Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Stuart Giddings, marketing veteran and CEO of Beettoo, the B2B specialist agency focused on driving better value for B2B marketers through a more expert, agile and accountable agency model. With over 30 years of experience with global agencies such as Dentsu and Gyro, Stuart founded Beettoo in 2021 to deliver impact differently. 

Early in their conversation, Stuart shares his passion for B2B, while others might call it “the boring end of marketing,” Stuart thrives in the complexity that often comes with the territory. This excitement is what led to his own evolution of the agency model and creation of Beettoo, which balances content and data alongside brand and demand to add real value to their clients. This model combines employed resources, curated freelance talent, and specialist partners to offer more agile and effective solutions for modern marketing challenges. 

Matt and Stuart also dive into the new partnership between Pipeline 360 and The Expert Network (TEN), which now enables a fully managed, turnkey Demand-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution that addresses end-to-end demand generation needs, from strategy and execution to performance measurement. 

Don’t forget to listen out for “What’s On Tap,” where you’ll hear about Stuart’s love for cars – and specifically which custom build he is designing for his granddaughters.

With over 35 years of international marketing experience, Stuart Giddings has held leadership roles across publishing and advertising agencies worldwide. He has led five international agencies, including two based in the U.S. 

In 2010, Stuart joined Aegis Media (later Dentsu), where he spearheaded the development of the group’s global full-service B2B offering under Carat Enterprise. He also led multiple global agency acquisitions, integrating them to create the world’s largest and most awarded B2B agency network, which he led for five years. Stuart was also a member of Dentsu’s global leadership team and a former UK executive board member. 

Stuart’s client portfolio spans global brands to start-ups, with campaigns executed across more than 40 countries. 

In 2021 he founded the Beettoo Group.

[00:00:00] Matt Hummel: Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Pipeline Brew, the podcast that meets at the intersection of people and pipeline. We’re bringing you fun yet insightful conversations where you’ll not only hear from marketing experts, but also get to know them as well.

[00:00:22] Matt Hummel: Hey everyone. Today I’m super excited to be joined by Stuart Giddings. Stuart has had an illustrious 30 year career building, acquiring and leading global full service B2B agencies. His track record includes leading roles at AIS Media Now Densu. And serving as global president of the B2B Agency Network at Gyro.

[00:00:41] Matt Hummel: He has since founded Beettoo Trailblazing Specialist Agency where he also serves as CEO. Stuart, welcome to the show. How are you today? Hi Matt. Thanks for having me. I’m great. Really excited to be on Stuart. As you know, we like to start off each episode with a little icebreaker to get the ball rolling.

[00:00:57] Matt Hummel: So, although I could make an assumption because clearly [00:01:00] you’re British, I’m still gonna ask the question, what is your go-to beverage when you need a little pick me up. 

[00:01:05] Stuart Giddings: It’s not tea, it’s coffee from my time living in California. So a very strong double macchiato to start my day every day. 

[00:01:13] Matt Hummel: Oh, I appreciate that.

[00:01:14] Matt Hummel: A strong macchiato. That sounds delicious. And it is funny because you know, what I’ve discovered is in London, what you refer to as coffee is typically an espresso drink. And when we describe coffee here in the States, it’s more traditionally just coffee. Yeah. And you know, I’ve spent enough time now in London.

[00:01:34] Matt Hummel: I just don’t love regular coffee anymore. So I think you’re onto something with that Devil macchiato. I cannot start the day without it. Now are you, do you have a nice ES expression machine at home or do you pick one up on your way into the office? I do, 

[00:01:46] Stuart Giddings: yeah. I’ve got a little machine at home and we’ve got one in the office.

[00:01:49] Stuart Giddings: Uh, and I’ve found a great little shop just around the corner from our office. 

[00:01:52] Matt Hummel: I’ve been looking for show sponsors. So in the spirit of that, do you have any, uh, any recommendations for a home brewing machine? 

[00:01:58] Stuart Giddings: Uh, I don’t, [00:02:00] well, the, the, the Gaia one, but it’s so complicated. You’ve gotta become a proper daris.

[00:02:05] Matt Hummel: No, just a little espresso. ’cause the joke. Alright, well, right on. Well, Stuart, again, great to have you on the show. And before we talk about what you’re up today, I’d love for you to tell the audience a little bit more about yourself, your passions and your background. 

[00:02:17] Stuart Giddings: Yeah, so my background is, as you said, at the start, 30 plus years in B2B, uh, and initially on the publishing side, working in the economist Precious Magazines division.

[00:02:27] Stuart Giddings: And then. Came over to agencies in the nineties and have been, uh, involved in, uh, everything from small startups to very large networks as you referenced. I, I was a densu prior to starting Beettoo. So I, I think I’m a, a bit of a strange fish in that I, I absolutely love B2B. It is my passion. It’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years.

[00:02:47] Stuart Giddings: And I think there’s, you know, people that often look at B2B as being the more boring end of of marketing, and I totally disagree. I think it’s fascinating. I think it’s more of a challenge and, uh, yeah, that’s, so, that’s so my background has always been in it. And it’s always been international pretty much [00:03:00] from the get go.

[00:03:00] Stuart Giddings: So as I mentioned before, I’ve lived and worked in the States in California with Gyro especially. I traveled all over. We had offices all over the world. So yeah, it’s given me a really good international perspective and I think that brings a lot to my thinking and my approach to marketing. I love that 

[00:03:15] Matt Hummel: and great call out too on the B2B side.

[00:03:16] Matt Hummel: I do think, you know, B2C is sort of the sexier, if you will, you know, industry to work in. But I agree there’s something to B2B. It’s a small world and I think we’re starting to see a little bit more of the C side, you know, the consumer side break into the B2B world and, and also to your point, it’s arguably a lot more complex.

[00:03:34] Matt Hummel: I mean, the transactions are certainly. You know, a lot more scrutinised. No one gets fired if they buy a Coke and they would’ve preferred a Pepsi, for example. 

[00:03:41] Stuart Giddings: Absolutely. And we did a lot of research for that where in, in some of my previous roles. Around that emotional connection to brands, you know, B2B is, is usually a bigger decision.

[00:03:49] Stuart Giddings: And to your point, the seeing the consumer influence coming into B2B, you know, people expect that same experience in their work life as they get, you know, at home. So yeah, seeing some significant changes. [00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] Matt Hummel: So, Stuart, great background. I’d love to hear more about, you know, any aha moments or lessons learned along the way that kind of help shape what you’re doing today with Beettoo.

[00:04:09] Stuart Giddings: Sure. I think there were kind of two aha moments for me. I think my experience, as I’ve mentioned, is, is pretty broad and it’s been everything from very small agencies, medium sized right up to, you know, I’ll give you the biggest B2B network at the time globally. Mm-hmm. Um, so it’s given me a really broad picture of how agencies work and how they ally serve clients.

[00:04:28] Stuart Giddings: And I think the two aha moments for me, one was I think a, a gradual decline in the value that agencies add. For clients. I think to some extent the whole agency model has become a bit commoditised. And I think it’s, it’s turned in some cases into a bit of a, an admin resource and a, and kind of a booking shop.

[00:04:46] Stuart Giddings: And you know, for me, an agency is about adding real value is being a really strong addition to a marketing team working with partners, both client side and in the media partners and content partners they engage with. So. I think the first one was, I think [00:05:00] there’s a better, uh, model here that can bring value back as the focus for agencies.

[00:05:04] Stuart Giddings: And I think the second one was really around content. I’ve worked, again in my last role at Densu as a full service agency and I’ve worked in media only agencies, and I think the thing that’s surprised me in the last few years is the relative lack of focus on content. I think there’s been so much talk around data.

[00:05:22] Stuart Giddings: There’s so much you can do with data. It’s incredible. You know what we can do. From whether it’s intent data, how we use first party data more effectively, you know, the way we can target audiences now is more complex than what it delivers is greater than ever before. But without good content, I kind of believe that’s for nothing.

[00:05:38] Stuart Giddings: If you’re getting in front of the absolutely the right people at absolute the right time, and what you’re serving them up is not engaging or useful or relevant, you’re missing something. And I think from an agency perspective, I, I didn’t see that as a focus so. The aha moments really were, how can we build more value into the agency model and how can we really rebalance that combination of [00:06:00] data 

[00:06:00] Matt Hummel: and content?

[00:06:01] Matt Hummel: I love that. And I think, you know, that’s a nice segue into the next question I wanted to ask you, which is, what is Beettoo? How is it different? It’s clearly the lessons you’ve learned along the way that helped shape what is now Beettoo, but what, what now is Beettoo? 

[00:06:14] Stuart Giddings: Fundamentally, I was looking at how complexity increased in marketing.

[00:06:18] Stuart Giddings: It, it is now hugely complex. Yeah. I’m old enough to remember when it was, you know, basically just print and it was, you know, far, far simpler days. Um, but yeah, the complexity in modern marketing and, and B2B arguably more complex than B2C even requires such a breadth and depth of expertise and capability.

[00:06:35] Stuart Giddings: I personally don’t believe that’s possible to deliver in the traditional agency model. So I kind of sat about thinking, okay, how can I create an agency model that can cope with that complexity and deliver a consistent level of service? And my answer to that is a hybrid model. So Beettoo is um, a B2B specialist agency.

[00:06:54] Stuart Giddings: International with a clear focus on media and content. So we don’t get involved in full creative. [00:07:00] We’ve got great creative partners that we can utilise to support on that, but we focus on that interaction of content and media brand to demand. Um, but we do it via a combination of fully employed resources within Beettoo.

[00:07:12] Stuart Giddings: Freelance, very carefully curated and quality control, freelance resource, especially in content creation and then specialist partners, uh, so in, in areas like search, for example. And I believe that that combination allows us to stand up much better resource more quickly with the required capacity to fit a client’s need rather than what I believe in the old bottle, which is trying to shoehorn whatever resources available.

[00:07:37] Stuart Giddings: To fit the need. And I think that’s a, a little compromise. So that’s the sort of idea behind Beettoo. And I’m happy to say, you know, several years in it’s working. We’re delivering great performance for clients and it’s a model that seems to be 

[00:07:50] Matt Hummel: paying off Well, I love that and it makes a ton of sense. I’ve had a lot of agency owner friends over the years who have said one of their biggest challenges has been really just how do you scale an [00:08:00] agency given the volatility of.

[00:08:01] Matt Hummel: Whether it’s the marketers or just clients in general. And so trying to build a team when work may not be there, it’s really difficult. 

[00:08:08] Stuart Giddings: And, and also how do you make it agile enough to cope with, yeah, the ups and downs in budget, for example, that’s got much more volatile in, in my experience over the last few years.

[00:08:15] Stuart Giddings: So if budget suddenly ceases or it suddenly grows, you know, to have a, a model where you can dial up and dial down resource. To react and to, you know, to cope with those changes, I think is the future. And I think that flexibility and agility is absolutely vital. And I think that’s almost where a Beettoo model can challenge those with, uh, you know, larger, more fixed resource.

[00:08:35] Stuart Giddings: That makes 

[00:08:35] Matt Hummel: sense. And so this hand curated marketplace that you referenced, that is what you guys call the expert network, correct? It is, 

[00:08:42] Stuart Giddings: yes. Yeah. So, uh, so we’re a group of companies, so Beettoo is our, our main B2B specialist agency. We also have Beettoo Investor, which is our financial services agency. And then we have 10 the expert network, and that is where we house all of our sort of very carefully curated and quality controlled freelance resources.

[00:08:59] Matt Hummel: [00:09:00] Yeah. So tell me a little bit more about tin. You mentioned you guys are handpicking vetting, quality assurance on your resources. What does, what does that marketplace of freelance talent look like? 

[00:09:09] Stuart Giddings: So what we try to avoid, I mean as I’m sure you know, there are a number of models where, you know, a client can go and find freelance resource, be it a, a content creator, a writer, designer, whatever, whatever’s required.

[00:09:20] Stuart Giddings: But in my experience, it’s rare that a client just wants a writer, for example. It’s gotta work in harmony. Whatever content they’re producing, it’s gotta work in harmony with the rest of the campaign, with the media activation, for example. And I think if you are a client going directly to try and find freelance resource.

[00:09:36] Stuart Giddings: That’s challenging and making that all work together and, you know, how do you know that a certain resource is gonna work with your strategist, for example? So we felt there was a need for that more curated and vetted freelance model. So what we do, we have a, a network resource. I. Any content creator can apply to join the network.

[00:09:55] Stuart Giddings: They then go on as a candidate and then their work is fully vetted by our content [00:10:00] consultants. So we have Robert Reagan in the states. We have Riyad Emerin, uh, based out of out of Europe. These are guys with tremendous experience who will look at the work. They will, they will read the samples if necessary.

[00:10:10] Stuart Giddings: They may well, you know, interview the candidate before they’re accepted onto the network. And that allows us to manage the balance of resource. But it also ensures that everybody that is on the network has been fully vetted. It also means that we can then con. Sort of control how that, uh, resource is, is deployed for clients.

[00:10:27] Stuart Giddings: So, mm-hmm. You know, once we’ve got a client brief, it’s Rob and Rian’s job to actually look at that and say, okay, the perfect fit for this, the right, right is this person, not this person. And actually they’ll go perfectly with this strategist. We can put them forward as a team because I know they’ve worked together.

[00:10:41] Stuart Giddings: I know they both understand that subject matter, for example. So that’s the idea, is that it helps us stand up teams that fit better immediately and that we can be completely confident with regard. Equality. And I think the final thing I would say is we also have a level of editorial resource there. So when a content creator writes, for example, a white paper, [00:11:00] it’s not then just said straight to the client as it would be from a freelancer, it goes through a layer of editing.

[00:11:05] Stuart Giddings: So it’s overseen it’s quality check before it goes, it is presented to client. That’s the model. 

[00:11:10] Matt Hummel: Oh, brilliant. Well, as someone who has hired freelance talent before from, you know, one of the sites that you referenced, it’s really challenging and I think to do what you guys are able to do and what you just outlined, it would require me to go out and find three to four different resources.

[00:11:25] Matt Hummel: Someone who knew strategy, someone who was specialised in an industry who could actually do the writing, and then if you needed to do any editorial or you know, quality assurance and. But then I still have four disparate resources, so I love what you’ve created. I love the process by which you’re then bringing them in and then understanding whether it’s Rob or Riyadh, depending on where the job’s taking place, they can really almost hand pick then that right team for that right job.

[00:11:49] Matt Hummel: So I. That’s awesome. 

[00:11:51] Stuart Giddings: And it’s also delivered Soonly through the partnership, through Pipeline, for example. So there’s no barrier, there’s no need for clients to take us on as a supplier. We can do [00:12:00] that through pipeline. So again, it makes it even easier. It’s all kind of delivered through one partner. 

[00:12:04] Matt Hummel: Yeah.

[00:12:04] Matt Hummel: So what Stuart’s referencing here, I’m actually in Scottsdale, Arizona this week. At B2BMX, and we’re launching our new partnership with Beettoo and with the expert network around what we’re calling performance driven demands, which a lot more to come out on, but we’re, we’re super excited and I get excited, Stuart, every time I talk to you about your model, because as a longtime marketer, this is awesome.

[00:12:24] Matt Hummel: And as somebody who, you know with your background building and running so many successful agencies. I just have a ton of trust, obviously in, in what you guys are doing and, and what you’ll continue to do for our now join clients. So it’s awesome. 

[00:12:37] Stuart Giddings: Yeah. And, and the same for, you know, from our side, uh, you know, working with Pipeline, um, you know, it’s, it’s a tremendous partnership and we’re really looking forward to 

[00:12:43] Matt Hummel: Likewise.

[00:12:44] Matt Hummel: Well, I want to, I wanna pivot the conversation quickly. So as you and I both know, there is still a lot of noise out in the market around brand and demand, but I think from what I’m seeing and hearing still, there’s really not a lot of answers on. What should be the priority, or how do you balance the [00:13:00] two?

[00:13:00] Matt Hummel: You know? How do you see the current state of marketing as it relates to this in. How do you think marketers, what would be your advice to marketers between the sort of the perceived dichotomy between brand and demand? 

[00:13:11] Stuart Giddings: I think it, you know, it’s been talked about for years as you’ve referenced, and I think everyone kind of understands that it, it’s the ideal, right?

[00:13:17] Stuart Giddings: If you can really blend brand and demand effectively, you’re gonna drive better conversion, you’re gonna drive long term engagement or valuable engagement. I think everyone broadly accepts that. Actually making it happen, I think is, is much more challenging and. Again, back to my earlier point, I think there’s so much focus on, on data and, and yet it’s hugely important that I think there’s a tendency to believe that if you just look at the data, if you take intent, for example, intents telling us this, we should target that.

[00:13:45] Stuart Giddings: You know, that individual, that client, whatever it might be, that DMU, because that’s the intent signal. That’s of course useful information, but that client might not be in market at that moment. So, you know, depending on what, what research you believe, it’s anywhere between, you know, 65 and 80%. [00:14:00] Of your target market are not gonna be in market at a given point.

[00:14:04] Stuart Giddings: They may be three weeks later, a month later, two months later. And so if you just go the pure demand data route without considering brand, then you are not building the foundation of that future business from clients that are about to come on, on stream. And that will be in market in, in the near future or even the longest, uh, medium future.

[00:14:22] Stuart Giddings: So that’s the role that brand plays, we think, initially. But then of course, the other thing is. Even if a client is in market, you’ve targeted them brilliantly. You’ve then gotta convert them. And let’s take security for example. If it’s not a brand that is trusted in security, no matter how brilliantly you target them, no matter how good your content is, if it’s not a trusted brand, you’re to your earlier point B2B.

[00:14:44] Stuart Giddings: These are big decisions. You’re gonna have a harder time converting them. Then if you, if they’ve got confidence and trust in your brand. So the two go hand in hand. And I think that in a sort of broad way, that’s the content and data discussion. I think you what we can do with content, obviously aligned with [00:15:00] creative and, and creative messaging and brand messaging.

[00:15:02] Stuart Giddings: That’s what really connects the two. And that I think is what drives that ultimate conversion engagement. So yeah, so as you can probably tell, you’re a big believer in brand to demand and I think brand is sometimes. Ignored, but maybe because it’s harder to measure and you can’t immediately say, I’ve spent X and you know, it did.

[00:15:19] Stuart Giddings: Y you can with demand that’s very measurable, very quickly, and in the absence of a rather expensive, you know, pre and post awareness piece of research, it’s div more difficult to measure. So. That’s probably part of the reluctance, but it’s well proven that it drives more engagement and better conversion.

[00:15:35] Stuart Giddings: So yeah, we are big advocates of it and I think those that don’t do it are missing a trick. 

[00:15:39] Matt Hummel: Well, I love that. And it sounds like on the B2B side anyways, it brand, it really just comes down to being trusted. And I think for the organizations that are not in market yet, if you’re ignoring them, you’re not establishing that trust.

[00:15:51] Matt Hummel: And when they are in market. You’re not gonna have a seat at the table or even an opportunity. 

[00:15:55] Stuart Giddings: Yeah, and I think also beyond trust, it’s, it’s, for example, it could be [00:16:00] that you are establishing your brand as a really innovative challenger brand. You know, I think, I think historically there was, you know, unless you’re a very big brand and it’s kind of the safe buy, you know, you’re not gonna win.

[00:16:09] Stuart Giddings: But I think there’s loads of evidence now to say people almost want to, you know, go with a challenger if it’s, if it’s a smart challenge providing they’ve got confidence. Okay, you’re a challenger brand. And you’re innovative, but you know, I’m not risking my job. I can still trust you as a brand. You’re gonna be around in two years time, but you’re gonna bring some great thinking, a different approach.

[00:16:27] Stuart Giddings: That’s a smart buy potentially. So I think I. To your point, trust is absolutely at the heart of it, it’s a safe buy if you like, but at the same time, this is a really innovative brand or this is a smart brand doing good stuff or you know, an ethical brand and yeah, a brand I wanna be associated with. So there’s a number of traits that you can get a, you wanna get across as part as your, of your brand mess messaging.

[00:16:46] Stuart Giddings: But yeah, I think in B2B Trust is, is right out there. Absolutely. Well, 

[00:16:50] Matt Hummel: I love, I love how you mentioned sort of the Challenger brand because you do see a lot of that in B2B, especially today, you’ve got these. Mega brands and, and, and not to pick on anyone, but I think of a [00:17:00] brand like ZoomInfo or classic cases IBM and the, the saying was always, no one ever got fired for hiring IBM, but then you often hear no one ever got promoted for hiring IBM again.

[00:17:10] Matt Hummel: I’ve used that, not picking on IBM, but, and it’s true. 

[00:17:13] Stuart Giddings: And again, if, if that might be the safe bet and people will, some people will buy on that, on that basis. But yeah, I think, you know, savvy buyers and, and you know, B2B has some very savvy buyers. They’re gonna want more than that. They’re gonna say, okay, is this a really intelligent buyer?

[00:17:26] Stuart Giddings: Is this actually gonna save me money? Make me more efficient, whatever it might be. So I think that’s where challenger brands have got a really strong case, but they’ve gotta convey that and that that won’t come without the brand element being connected to DeMar. It’s, it’s vital. A hundred percent. And, and I think the other, just the final thing I would say on it, we did a lot of research in my previous roles that showed that that connection to, to brand in B2B and it’s stronger than even, than in B2C.

[00:17:51] Stuart Giddings: To your earlier point, people are bending their careers on this relationship. Yeah. So it’s a big decision and uh, so once you’ve established that brand with an [00:18:00] audience, it can pay dividends for a long time to 

[00:18:01] Matt Hummel: come. Perfect. Well, great thoughts. Well. You mentioned as one of your big aha moments in terms of how you structured Beettoo, it was really around content.

[00:18:10] Matt Hummel: So I want to just pivot the conversation around, you know, your view of content. And we’ve talked a lot about how the B2B buying experiences, it’s largely data driven, but that’s not necessarily right. ’cause that can lead to sort of cold, you know, stale, very logical, focused, and driven content. What’s your take, and again, I’ll, I’ll kinda ask this the same way, what’s your advice to marketers who are thinking about.

[00:18:32] Matt Hummel: You know, building out their content strategies to support, whether it’s not a shift away from data, but more leaning into whether it’s an emotional appeal or, or yeah. How would you advise your customers to think about content? 

[00:18:44] Stuart Giddings: That’s a really good question. I, I think first and foremost, you know, use the data, um, way you can personalise, you know, so taking the great data signals that you’ve got and.

[00:18:54] Stuart Giddings: Segmenting your audience and tailoring the content. You know, to the earlier point about [00:19:00] expectations around B2B audiences, there is an expectation that I want, a similar experience that I get in my consumer life, you know, in the consumer life online, you know, whatever brand I’m buying from. Will understand me, will know what I like, will suggest things that I, that, that they know I might be interested in.

[00:19:14] Stuart Giddings: It’s no different in B2B, you know, if, if I’m an IT director, you know, the large span I’ve gotta, there’s certain things I’m gonna want to know and I’m, I’m gonna need from what content you’re serving me. So I think understanding your or audience and not wasting their time, you know, don’t put things in front of me that are not gonna be useful to me, that are not relevant, that are not timely, you know, of course it, it’s gonna have an element of promotion.

[00:19:36] Stuart Giddings: I think sometimes the balance is the wrong way around. It’s overly promotional with a very small amount of actual, you know, gold in there if you like. So I think that personalisation and giving potential clients content that is really useful. It’s in a format they can digest or it’s multiple formats, so they’ve got choice, but it’s what they need and understanding 

[00:19:57] Matt Hummel: them.

[00:19:57] Matt Hummel: I think that’s, that’s fundamental. I love that. It’s [00:20:00] one of the challenges we hear a lot about in market is. Hey, we get that. We realise personalisation is important. There’s so many people in a buying group. How do you guys approach that? Because 

[00:20:10] Stuart Giddings: it’s a lot to keep up with and it’s a good question and I think there’s a danger that you can over segment and over personalise.

[00:20:16] Stuart Giddings: So if you might say, okay, for tech buyer X, the DMU might be, you know, 12 people of very, from, from a senior finance person down to a junior researcher. You know, if you start trying to personalise content for every single possible influencer or buyer in that group, it’s gonna be a mess. And you are going to you again, to the earlier point, you’re going to struggle, I think, to keep a clear brand message if you’re doing that.

[00:20:39] Stuart Giddings: So I think there’s an element of personalisation, which is vital and in incredibly powerful. But you, you can break them into groups perhaps. Maybe you can look at, okay, in that DMU. Who are the people in that DMU that are gonna be early stage research who are gonna be looking at, you know, the candidate set who are gonna be doing the early part of that research?

[00:20:56] Stuart Giddings: Okay. They’re gonna get this type of content. Perhaps they’re gonna get these [00:21:00] content themes to, to establish trust and place you as a smart challenger brand, for example. Then, you know, you might say, okay, the more senior part of the DMU. They’re actually gonna make the buying decision. You might need more information around, you know, the commercials and how viable it is in the long term, you know, viability of a project, then that’s another thing you can have for content.

[00:21:19] Stuart Giddings: So you can still personalise it. But I think, you know, you can do that without over personalising it. So you can cover. Sections of the DMU perhaps rather than Absolute, yeah. Every single individual, which I think can do more harm than good if you’re not careful. 

[00:21:31] Matt Hummel: I think that’s really smart, because yeah, it can be overwhelming to think, gosh, I’ve got to create 12 different messages and to make sure that I’m segmenting correctly, and Yeah.

[00:21:39] Matt Hummel: Yeah. It’s almost like you’ve got. And a really simple way you could think about, it’s just you’ve got your researchers, you’ve got your users, and then perhaps you’ve got your folks who maybe, uh, sit in it or Yeah, privacy and really just wanna make sure, hey, is this compliant? Is this gonna put my company at risk?

[00:21:53] Matt Hummel: Is this a legit company? So on and so forth. 

[00:21:55] Stuart Giddings: Exactly. And it’s, and again, it’s no longer a linear funnel, you know, it’s a very non-linear [00:22:00] experience now. So again, if you’re just trying to curate it and say, I’m gonna have this here for this group, then I’m gonna have this at the next stage. Good luck with that.

[00:22:06] Stuart Giddings: You’ve got to be able to manage the demand, and it’s more of a pull model these days, I think. And again, that can also help if, if you, if you analyze it properly and you, you know, and you are, you’ve got company level analytics in there, then you can see what’s resonating. Okay. For this group, I’m seeing that this theme is really, I.

[00:22:23] Stuart Giddings: The time on site, you know, the people that are downloading that content is huge. That’s giving me a signal that they need more of that type of content, for example. So I think it evolves over time as you start seeing how your audiences interact with it and engage with it. You, you some, some of it might fall flat.

[00:22:38] Stuart Giddings: Okay. Less of that. More of this. I. It could be a formatting issue, for example. So yeah, I think you can learn a lot 

[00:22:42] Matt Hummel: as you go. That is super helpful. I think our audience will get a ton outta that. Well, Stuart, I want to transition to the, the other part of our conversation where, you know, I call the segment what’s on tap.

[00:22:52] Matt Hummel: So what’s on tap for Stuart? And at the top of the show we talked about what your favourite pick me up beverages. It was a double macchiato delicious [00:23:00] choice. And I wanna flip that question around and you know, understand what’s your favourite drink when you need to unwind. And before you answer, I have to tell the audience a funny story of when I think it was, no, it wasn’t the first time I met you in person, but it was the first time that I met you outside the office and we went, you were kind and met us at a pub and it was dry January for you.

[00:23:19] Matt Hummel: And so you, you graciously sat while my good friend Tom click and I had a, I believe it was a neck oil. Yeah, and you had some, some sparkling water or something. So 

[00:23:28] Stuart Giddings: it’s no fun for a Brit to be in a really good pub in London and have a odor and lime. Um, but li like most Brits, you know, a good pint of, uh, IPA is is right up there.

[00:23:37] Stuart Giddings: But I am actually trying to appreciate single malt. I struggled with it, but I’m persevering ’cause I, everyone tells me, you know, once you, once you get the appreciation of a single malt, it’s a, it’s a lovely little big, so Right. Yeah. But no pint. Same as most Brits, I guess. 

[00:23:50] Matt Hummel: Yeah. Good stuff. Well, Stuart, I heard you have a bit of a carb session, so what can you tell us about that?

[00:23:56] Stuart Giddings: Yeah, uh, it is my weakness. Yes, uh, um, I, you know, [00:24:00] long history of spending too much money on cars, but, um, but my, I now have a, an old vintage 1970 VD dub fast back that I’m renovating, uh, with my granddaughters. And we have the choice of going original or custom. Of course, they chose custom, so in the next month or so, it’s going off to be sprayed lime green.

[00:24:16] Stuart Giddings: So, um, that’s my, that’s my current car project. 

[00:24:19] Matt Hummel: That is awesome. And how old are your granddaughters that you’re working on this with? 

[00:24:22] Stuart Giddings: They, they range from, uh, nearly 12 down to, uh, two. So, oh my 

[00:24:28] Matt Hummel: goodness. All girls. Um, yeah, so I’ve got, I’ve got a netball team. It’s great. Well, that sounds like a blast. So lime green.

[00:24:33] Matt Hummel: So when you say customers original, is that really just the color of the car you’re referring to? Oh no, it’s 

[00:24:38] Stuart Giddings: lowered crazy wheels. It’s gonna have, or, you know, aim stereo in it. They, they want it fully customized, so, um. It’ll be embarrassing for me to drive, but they love it. 

[00:24:49] Matt Hummel: Well, I can’t wait to see this on LinkedIn and, and who gets the car when it’s all done?

[00:24:53] Matt Hummel: Uh, 

[00:24:53] Stuart Giddings: that’s already a bone of contention. Yeah. So, uh, they all, they all have a shared ownership at the moment, but yeah, I’ll lead them 

[00:24:59] Matt Hummel: to fight that one. [00:25:00] Ah, that’s awesome. Well, Stuart, I’m not super early in my parenting journey, but it sounds like with grandkids, you’re, you’re a little further along than I am, so any good advice you wanna pass along to me or any of the other parents out there who are still navigating the at-home kid Parenting life.

[00:25:15] Stuart Giddings: Yeah, I would say, um, and he’s difficult in busy lives, but just time, time spent with him. Just, you know, phone down. I just recently taught my, one of my younger granddaughters to play backgammon and she loves it and we play regularly. So yeah, just time spent with ’em, whether drawing, reading, you know, listening to music.

[00:25:31] Stuart Giddings: I’ve got my other, one of my other granddaughters in interested in vinyl now, so she borrows my, she borrowed my Beatles Rubber Soul album recently and absolutely love. She’s nine, so. That’s 

[00:25:39] Matt Hummel: awesome. 

[00:25:39] Stuart Giddings: Yeah, that’d be my advice where you can 

[00:25:41] Matt Hummel: just make sure she doesn’t scratch it. Right. Well, Stuart, this has been an awesome conversation.

[00:25:47] Matt Hummel: I, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking time. I know it’s late your day. I’m confident that our listeners are gonna get a ton outta this. So thank you again for joining the show. 

[00:25:55] Stuart Giddings: Really enjoyed it. Thanks, Matt. Thanks for having me. 

[00:25:57] Matt Hummel: Cheers.[00:26:00] 

[00:26:02] Matt Hummel: Thanks again to Stuart for joining us on today’s episode of The Pipeline Brew. I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts and make sure you subscribe to the show so you’ll never miss an episode. Once again, I’m Matt Hummel and I’ll see you next time.