Editor’s Note: CMO Coffee Talk is an open space for more than 1,300 CMOs to come together weekly with their peers and discuss timely, crowd-sourced topics. Matt Heinz of Heinz Marketing co-hosts these dynamic, illuminating conversations with 6sense CMO Latané Conant.
Twice a year in the CMO Coffee Talk community, we do Swipe File Friday. We have a #swipe-file Slack channel that’s regularly populated with great and proven work, and these bi-annual sessions are a chance to bring those shares to life.
Last week’s shares included a problem solving framework, Lifetime Value and Customer Acquisition Cost calculation recommendations, private equity board slides, performance review samples, Product-Led Growth “snack” innovations and much more.
One of my favorites this session came from a member who shared her marketing team’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion guidelines.
A Reminder to Be Mindful, Humble, and Open
The DEI guide’s introduction is worth sharing in its entirety:
The marketing team has drafted a set of guidelines to help us be mindful and intentional of diversity and inclusion as we do our work. We have a unique responsibility in that we create content that represents our company and our team, writing the words and choosing the pictures to tell our story. We recognize that it’s important to be intentional and clear about diversity and inclusion in our work.
This document is not finished. It is a start. Our team is learning and growing, we are becoming more comfortable discussing diversity and the impact of our choices. We recognize that we each come with our own implicit, unintentional bias, and it’s often an easy shortcut to do things the way they’ve been done before. We have decided to bring intention into our work, engage in dialog, and, starting where we are, get better over time. We welcome your input.
Common Phrases That Can Undermine DEI Efforts
Out of all the guide’s insights (available in its entirety in the CMO Slack if you’re a member), the list of common terms and phrases with complicated and often racist histories was particularly enlightening to me. On the list of phrases/words to avoid include:
- Jip / Gyp / Gypped / Jipped
- Off the reservation
- Sold down the river
- Peanut gallery
- Spirit animal
- Uppity
- Grandfathered in
- Moron
- Paddy wagon
- Bugger
Some of these you might already avoid, and I bet there are others that surprised you. Here’s more on several of their histories.
Coming Up on CMO Coffee Talk…
In our next CMO Coffee Talk meetup, we’re inviting former analysts to share insights on how analyst firms think and operate. What specifically gets an analyst’s attention? How are new categories created and how/when do Waves/Quadrants/etc. get created and updated? You don’t want to miss this one!
Join Our Thriving Community!
If you’re a B2B CMO or head of marketing and want access to a community of your peers (1,300 strong and growing) as well as many specific ABM-related resources, benchmark reports, tactical examples and more, we welcome you! Apply for membership here.
