Read on for the full transcript:
David Fabbri (0:00)
So, you know, how is it that B2B brands can stand out, and in the case of like Miller, you know, have real passionate customers who bleed blue basically, right?
Jake Weiss (0:09)
Yeah. Yeah. Big time. I mean, there's people with, you know, Miller logos tattooed on their arms and things like that. So there's a lot of passion about the brands for sure.
Intro music plays
David Fabbri (0:24)
All right, so here we are for the latest episode of LoSasso Integrated Marketing Podcast. Today our special guest is Jake Weiss, who is a senior brand and creative services manager at Miller. Is that a fair title for you these days?
Jake Weiss (0:39)
Yeah. I actually just kind of got pivoted over to be brought in to lead and set up our integrated agency.
Jake Weiss (0:49)
So, acting more as like an integrated creative studio rather than just, like, a creative services team. So, you know, came in as the brand manager and creative services manager, as you mentioned. But built out the brand strategy and mapped everything out and, you know, now we're kind of investing in this integrated creative studio; you know, it requires, as you know, quite a bit of work to get there.
Jake Weiss (1:13)
And so that's what I'm focused on right now.
David Fabbri (1:16)
Yeah. I mean, I really wanted to talk to you because of your brand.
Jake Weiss (1:20)
Yeah.
David Fabbri (1:21)
You know, background certainly at Miller, but even before that. Maybe you wanna give us a quick rundown of your history in the brand world. Yeah.
Jake Weiss (1:29)
Yeah. Absolutely. So my path is not necessarily a straight one.
Jake Weiss (1:33)
I actually grew up in Wisconsin, Fond du Lac, and, you know, after high school wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go, but, you know, family were artists and writers and things like that. And, you know, joined the, joined the Marine Corps, went off to serve in the, in the military for a little over four years and got out and then, you know, not the natural progression, but went to art school.
Jake Weiss (1:59)
So I went to Milwaukee Institute of Art Design in Milwaukee. And then, you know, after that, worked in several agencies in Milwaukee and ended up in Appleton because my wife's job got transferred up here. But I reached a certain point where I enjoyed, you know, the work, but I wanted to have a little more input and a bigger role to play on the strategy side of things, and brand has always been fascinating to me.
Jake Weiss (2:25)
I'll talk about brand for, for hours, but it's the embodiment of a business's soul, really. So, you know, wild kind of ride to get here, but, what I love about the, the two worlds of the creative side and the brand side is it's the, the, the brand as a, as a persona and, and, you know, a, a strategy to follow, but then there's the creative side, where it's sort of the, the persona applied and employed with its identity itself, so it's, full circle.
Jake Weiss (2:58)
But, yeah, moved, moved up to the Appleton area. Worked in a couple agencies up here and then eventually found myself in-house at Aaron's company, where I was a number of roles. But, throughout that time, you know- same thing that I'm doing here: built an integrated creative studio, but also established a really strong brand strategy for that company as well.
Jake Weiss (3:21)
And similar to ITW Welding, you know, it's Ariens company as a, a kinda, overarching kind of hierarchy, and then there's, you know, family of brands underneath that. So I was able to touch the brand strategies and identities of, you know, Ariens, you know, Gravely, some of the UK brands, like Countax and Westwood as well.
Jake Weiss (3:42)
And built an in-house studio there, and was there for about just about nine years. And then came over to ITW Welding, where I'm doing the same thing here in-
David Fabbri (3:54)
Now, on the Ariens side, was that more consumer-facing, or was that k- kind of a B2B play as well?
Jake Weiss (4:00)
It was both. So it's, it's a, it's a complex monster when you start talking about the outdoor power equipment market because you have your, you know, B2B, your B2C, your B2B2C.
Jake Weiss (4:11)
I mean, you got the full, the full scope. And so, you're in the retail environments, you're in the, you know, direct sales environments, and then you have your dealer-based. And so, yeah, there's a lot of different channels to play in there, and it's a little complex, especially when you introduce the seasonality of it.
Jake Weiss (4:32)
Um-
David Fabbri (4:33)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm ...
Jake Weiss (4:34)
There's, you know, snow and the lawn season, which, you know, are always variable. They're different across the continental United States. It's a lot of chasing weather patterns and making sure that you are, you know, where you need to be when that audience is working. So a
David Fabbri (4:52)
lot of complexity there, you know, on that side.
David Fabbri (4:55)
A lot of complexity at ITW Welding and Miller- yeah... in terms of selling into, having a lot, a number of divisions and selling into a lot of different markets. Yeah. I think one of the things we wanted to really talk about today was how do leading B2B brands like Miller really earn trust and inspire belief in the market, right?
David Fabbri (5:13)
Yeah. So there's a ton of brands out there. There's a lot of products and, and a whole lot of information nowadays online. Yeah. So, you know, how is it that B2B brands can stand out, and in the case of like Miller, you know, have real passionate customers who bleed blue basically, right?
Jake Weiss (5:29)
Yeah. Yeah, big time. I mean, there's people with, you know, Miller logos tattooed on their arms and things like that.
Jake Weiss (5:35)
So there's a lot of passion about the brands for sure.
David Fabbri (5:38)
So I think one of the, one of the things that's really, you know, ultimately important because there's a lot of people out there talking, there's a lot of competing brands out there, is, is building trust, right? Yep. With more access to information than ever, what are the things that you're seeing B2B brands do that really help to build that trust with an audience that makes that connection?
Jake Weiss (6:00)
Yeah, I mean, I think this is a great question because it comes back to authenticity, right? And, am- amongst a number of other things, right? Like, you, you have to adapt and evolve with the, the, the, the technology that emerges. You know, you think about generative engine optimization and things like that, which are all relevant, but, you know, it's all, it's all a touch point.
Jake Weiss (6:23)
And so, you know, there's a lot of choices out there. There's a lot of noise. You know, there's forums, there's reviews, there's AI, and I think there comes to, to a certain point where it's analysis paralysis for the customer to be sifting through all that information. And so I think it's a, a number of things, you know.
Jake Weiss (6:41)
I think that's where brand plays best is, you know, having an authentic, genuine voice that actually understands the daily life of their audience, that is actually involved in their, workflows and, you know, actively, you know, having and engaging in conversations around, you know, where, where their challenges are, what, where the opportunities are where we can improve, and that's, you know, one of the main things that, that go into, the, our process here is that customer-backed innovation.
David Fabbri (7:12)
Mm-hmm.
Jake Weiss (7:13)
And so we're always listening. Miller needs to be the brand that's in the trenches working shoulder to shoulder with our customers, you know, until the job is done right. And so I think that's, um- something that is a, a big differentiator for us when it comes to, you know, making those decisions a little easier.
David Fabbri (7:31)
David Fabbri: So that, that customer-backed innovation is a great, you know, concept in terms of like, okay, we're not gonna build a technology and then push it at you and tell you, "Hey, this is what is out here, and you should be using it." Saying, "Okay, what is that market looking for and needing," right?
Jake Weiss (7:45)
Right.
David Fabbri (7:45)
And I know that definitely informs sort of the product side and the technical aspects.
Jake Weiss (7:50)
Mm-hmm.
David Fabbri (7:51)
How, how do you feel like that also informs the brand personality and your understanding of the sort of emotional piece of what it means to be in the market and have certain challenges and, and needs?
Jake Weiss (8:04)
Yeah. Well, I think it's, you know, you mentioned it earlier; we serve a lot of different segments of the market, a lot of different niches.
Jake Weiss (8:12)
And it's never the same kind of scenario. There's a lot of different factors when it comes into, you know, the, the purchase cycle. And so, you know, there's the fabricators and the small shops to the automation engineers and the integrators, procurement ops people. And so it's, you know, it's really understanding what the, the...
Jake Weiss (8:39)
a day in the life is for them, right? Really flexing that empathetic muscle and then understanding how we need to show up and, and being genuine behind it, not just for the sake of, you know, saying what we think they want to hear. It's just gotta really mirror what Miller stands for. And so that feeds into everything from, you know, our, our tone of voice to, you know, certain channels that we might even show up on.
Jake Weiss (9:07)
I mean- mm-hmm... there's a lot of different factors to that. But, you know, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so, you know, we look at it all holistically.
David Fabbri (9:18)
In terms of understanding that welder, I know one of the things that you guys have done a good job with the Miller branding and the evolution of it is that you really focus on the welder in a way that a lot of other B2B manufacturers sometimes get a little too focused on their products, which, you know, is a baseline.
David Fabbri (9:35)
You gotta have great products. Yeah. You gotta be solving problems. But that sort of a connection, with the welder, can you talk a little bit more about the approach that, that you guys are using?
Jake Weiss (9:48)
When it comes to, and just s- to clarify, you're, you're asking, you know, how the brand kind of plays into the, the personal side of the, of the welder's life?
David Fabbri (9:59)
Yeah, and really showing that connection. I think there's a, there's a piece of it where when a B2B audience feels like a brand really sees them and gets them-
Jake Weiss (10:09)
Okay ...
David Fabbri (10:09)
It really builds a different sort of credibility and connection than, you know, giving them what they need in terms of a product, but not necessarily them feeling like, "Okay, these guys, they're with me," right?
Jake Weiss (10:22)
Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's, it, it comes back, I always say it, you know, like a dog can smell a dog, right? You know, you know when somebody is being authentic and genuine in the conversation that they're having with you and when they're just giving you kind of the information that you wanna, wanna hear.
Jake Weiss (10:42)
Where we try to be very unique and, and different in that aspect is to, embrace, you know, the, the lifestyle of, of a, a, any one of our, you know, customer profiles, right? So it could be, you know, we know that a, a, a welder in a, in a fabrication shop is one way. We know that, you know, somebody who's sitting there, trying to think through automation, engineering, and putting, you know, these systems into these complex scenarios is in another place.
Jake Weiss (11:16)
So we really wanna understand what their challenges are, you know, what the opportunities are for us, and really be able to speak that language, authentically. And so we, we, we've done a lot of work to try and understand those customers really well. You know, some of these areas we're still learning because they're so new, especially when it comes to automation.
Jake Weiss (11:40)
But you know, we always flex that empathetic muscle, and we try to really inject the passion that we have for not just the product, but for the industry and, and, you know, the work that, that these individuals are doing on a regular basis. Because it's not just the product, right? Like, at the end of the day, you have to look at- the impact that this stuff has, and so when you take a step back, and you look at, you know, a s- like a SpaceX shuttle going up into space and, you know, you know that one of our products has had a part in that, that's pretty impressive.
Jake Weiss (12:14)
And so, you know, there are a lot of factors that go into that, and it's not just one person; it's a group of people. And so Miller acts as, you know, the expert who can not only be on the shop floor, but also in the, in the boardroom speaking to, you know, executives and things like that.
Jake Weiss (12:33)
It's sort of the, the everyman, a, a social chameleon of sorts.
David Fabbri (12:37)
Mm-hmm. I think there's something cool about, you know, it is a little different if you're talking about, you know, somebody building out an automated welding system, right? Yeah. In a tier one manufacturer, right? Right. At the same time, there's a, there's a sort of just a badass sort of passion in welders and welding, right?
David Fabbri (12:57)
Because it's about putting stuff together and building and creating things, right? And kind of like- yeah... being a problem solver. Right. And th- and it's kind of that emotion and passion for going up against challenges in a lot of ways, right? Yeah. A lot of times you see welders in, in pretty stressful situations.
David Fabbri (13:16)
They're hanging off the side of a building. Whatever it is, you know, lots of different situations where they have just have to get in, figure out how to get it done, and they want to have tools that really are there and going to work the way they expect them to work- right... you know, and not let them down.
David Fabbri (13:30)
Yeah. So that's kind of a, a key piece of it too, I think, is saying, "Hey, we understand that this isn't, you know, easy work," right? Right. And that you're passionate about it, and we're going to be there in a way. We're going to show up for you the way you show up for the work.
Jake Weiss (13:46)
Right. Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's important.
Jake Weiss (13:49)
I think it comes back to, you know, it's, it's a, it's a competitive market and, you know, welders, you know, as business owners, they can go to any, any brand, but I think they come back to Miller because at, to your point, right, like at the end of the day, their name is on, on the line, and they need to make sure that they can trust the brands that will actually not just, get them the product, but will deliver even if things go sideways, right?
David Fabbri (14:18)
Sure.
Jake Weiss (14:18)
Long after the purchase has been made. So it's, um- you know, there's that post-purchase experience that is really important in all this.
David Fabbri (14:28)
And talk to me a little bit about sort of that post-purchase meal or experience. You're talking just about the product usage, or you're talking about even the support and things that, that go into the follow-up?
Jake Weiss (14:38)
Yeah, I mean, like our product is, is well-respected and it's reputable, but you know what, what you can never plan for is the stuff that, that goes sideways, and it's inevitable. It doesn't matter who you are, what brand. I've seen it happen, you know, across the board where something will go sideways.
Jake Weiss (14:54)
But it's your response to that that really makes a difference, and it actually, I would say in many ways seals that loyalty to a brand in the way that you respond to a, a, a problem or a challenge than, than the, than, than just, you know, always kind of, you know, putting out a new product or, you know, the latest shiny thing.
Jake Weiss (15:17)
And that's where, you know, I go back to, you know, CBI and customer-backed innovation. It's an, it's such a critical component. It's all stuff that, you know, I've been with the company for a year and a half now, but you see how wildly relevant it is, and you can see why, you know, we are so successful in what we do because of that listening aspect.
Jake Weiss (15:38)
And so it goes into the, the product development side of things, but that's full circle, and it's a full cycle of, you know, doing, listening, improving, and the cycle kind of continues. But, you know, we have great customer service. We're, you know, we're all based here in Appleton at our headquarters and, you know, there's folks picking up the phone and, you know, they're, they're doing the hard work of, you know, finding those solutions for any range of problems.
Jake Weiss (16:07)
So our customer service is above and beyond for sure.
David Fabbri (16:13)
Just interestingly, just from my perspective as somebody who's kind of on the outside and starting to work with you guys in the last year or so, is, there's a piece of your products and the way you sort of bring it to the channel and inform them that sort of really helps enable them, I think in a way too.
David Fabbri (16:30)
But back to sort of like understanding the audience, I know, you know, one of the challenges across all kinds of different manufacturing sectors is also just sort of having the skilled labor- mm-hmm... you know, to do, to do work. And on the welding side, that's, you know, that can be simplified operations in terms of how the products are set up, right?
David Fabbri (16:51)
But that's also, like, understanding when, you know, manufacturers are gonna need to have products that less experienced welders, for instance, can work with. So I know that- yeah... there's just a whole sort of e- ecosystem of challenges that you really have to be dialed into and be able to address.
David Fabbri (17:11)
Which, on the surface, you know, you want welders to know that you get it and the- right... what the welding challenges are, but there are so many different, to your point before, so many different roles and buyers and- Yeah ... and it's really needing to understand kind of that whole environment, right?
Jake Weiss (17:26)
Yeah, absolutely.
Jake Weiss (17:28)
Absolutely. Yeah. No, there's a lot of different products that kind of, you know, the Millermatic is like a, you know, set-and-go kind of thing that's, you know, built into, you know, their, our, our infrastructure of our product offerings. But there's, you know, the, it spans the range. I, I sit in on some of these meetings even, you know, when we talk about, you know, some of the, the software side of the business when it comes to, you know, the, specifically on the automation side where, you know, they're thinking about even just the, you know, the user experience and the u- user interface, and it's, there's so many different aspects of that that so much thought goes into that you, you didn't even realize until you had a chance to actually absorb it a little bit.
David Fabbri (18:14)
There's a lot of, you know, educational content that, that's in the market these days that is really important, right? As opposed to in the old days, right? Mm-hmm. It was all, "Here's my product sheet, here's my specs." It's very much about, "Hey, here's an application for this," or, "Here's how you do this thing."
David Fabbri (18:31)
How important do you think that kind of informative content is in terms of supporting this sort of brand identity?
Jake Weiss (18:40)
Well, I think it's, I think it's important because it, it, you know, gives you permission to enter the conversation. But it's really what you do with it, you know, from there that determines whether you're trusted or not.
Jake Weiss (18:54)
And, you know, you can be the s- smartest person in the room and still be completely unhelpful. So, you know, it just... I think what expertise does is it gives you that license to speak. And again, y- you know, there's, there's a lot of other factors that go into it, but it, it helps, you know, start the conversation for sure.
David Fabbri (19:17)
Sure. And I think there's a, there's a, a, a giving aspect to that that says, you know, "I'm not just sitting here trying to get your purchase." It's like, "I'm trying to be, you know, an important player in this community," right?
Jake Weiss (19:30)
Right.
David Fabbri (19:30)
And that's helping people understand how this is applied and why it's a good solution.
David Fabbri (19:37)
You know, that said, I think there's also a ton of that content where sometimes people can almost push that too far and, and lose some of the, what do you call it? Brand, old-fashioned brand magic. So- yeah... I think the sort of educational piece of it is totally critical, but then there's still that element of like, how do you show the market that you get it, you get them, and, and just make them feel good about the brand, you know?
Jake Weiss (20:06)
Yeah. I mean, it's, you sometimes you just wanna walk away just amped up about it, you know? I can think of any number of things that I've purchased where I'm like, you know, I'm either hunting for an answer or getting further frustrated, or you're looking for an answer, you get it, you get it solved, and then you just get back into loving the brand again.
David Fabbri (20:26)
Yeah. Yeah. You know, you know, and oftentimes in that kind of a situation, when you go ahead and finally pull the trigger, and it's something that you feel good about, it's a real good feeling, right? Yeah. To be like, "Okay, I, I've, you know, I'm putting my, you know, sort of dollars behind this thing I know is a fantastic product."
David Fabbri (20:45)
And that's great.
Jake Weiss (20:46)
Yeah. Yeah. I think there's something to be said about, to your point earlier, you know, there can be an inundation of, of too much of that, right? Like, where you drown out your own content with information that isn't either completely relevant or e- easy to find, or you're not getting to your answer quickly enough.
Jake Weiss (21:12)
I mean, I think that's where some of the things, as we look forward, you know, with some of the AI and, you know, generative, you know, engine optimization is going to come into play, and that'll make things easier. But it's a balance, a balancing act of how much is too much and when is there not enough.
David Fabbri (21:29)
Yeah. So Miller is, is obviously a marketing, a market leader. Um- Mm-hmm ... i- in terms of the benefits of that from, from your perspective, like what advantages do you see being a market leader, and where does that sometimes put you at a disadvantage maybe?
Jake Weiss (21:46)
Yeah. I mean, there's always, you know, brand equity behind that, right?
Jake Weiss (21:49)
Like you, if you're top of mind, that's awesome. You can't ask for a better position than that. it gives us, you know, a ton of liberty to, you know, delve into, you know, the, the, the product and, and, you know, having those conversations with customers, and, and actually, you know, being a strong competitive force within the market.
Jake Weiss (22:10)
But that also can, you know, catch you up a little bit. I think there's always a risk of resting too much on your laurels. You know, it's kind of like a, a, a, you know, a race in cross country where y- leading the pack isn't always the best, right? Because you, you want a line of sight to how you get in front.
Jake Weiss (22:33)
And so I think that competition is very healthy for us, and being a leader in this market is always going to be, you know, present for us. W- I have no questions about that. But it, it, it takes a lot of time and thought and, you know, mind share within the organization to ensure that we're all, you know, being honest about it and saying, "You know, are we, showing up the way that we really need to show up right now?
Jake Weiss (23:04)
are, are we, are we doing the right things? Or are we taking for granted that we are a leader in the market and we're not, you know, dropping our rope a little bit?"
David Fabbri (23:16)
Looking, you know, looking ahead, knowing you've got a strong brand position now, but, you know, sort of ideally, if you could see, you know, a year or two into the future, what would be the sort of ideal way you'd like people to describe the Miller brand?
Jake Weiss (23:32)
I would hope that they're looking at the Miller brand and saying, like, they're truly a partner. They're not just out there selling us, you know, product and, you know, having that kind of simple transaction. They're, you know, we're, we're there, like I said, in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the job's done right and that they can rest confidently that, that they can put their name and their reputation on, on the product that we put out there and the, and the brand name that we hold.
David Fabbri (24:04)
Pretty cool stuff. I will tell you that, again, as a partner who's, you know, started working with you guys in the last year or so- yeah... you can really see the sort of passion internally for the brand. Yeah. Things you bring to market in a way that's super exciting to work with. So definitely looking forward to lots of good stuff in the future together.
David Fabbri (24:29)
Yeah. And super appreciate you taking a little time with us today- yeah... and talking about it. Any, anything else you'd like to wrap up with?
Jake Weiss (24:39)
No. I mean, I think, I will go back to it's not a simple thing to translate a brand into an authentic, genuine output, right? And, and that empathy is the hardest tool to acquire in your tool set.
Jake Weiss (25:00)
And, you know, just the ability to, to capture that and translate it into the work that needs to live out in the world is a challenge, but you guys have done a really good job of that. You know, I think there's some, some exciting new things coming out that will exhibit that, but, yeah, it's, it's not an easy thing.
Jake Weiss (25:23)
And so when people can pull it off and, you know, agencies can pull that off, it's a, it's a real treat, so.
David Fabbri (25:29)
I certainly appreciate that. I, I would reiterate too, it's, it's a lot easier when the raw materials you're working with feel, you know, very genuine and authentic. Yeah. And that's been one of the real fun things so far is that everyone
David Fabbri (25:43)
really loves working at Miller and, and is really passionate about it and about, you know, putting out great products. So super fun.
Jake Weiss (25:50)
Yeah. Outstanding.
