About
Marketer, Strategist and technologist defined by passion, excellence and…
Articles by Gerardo A
Activity
9K followers
-
Gerardo A Dada shared thisWhat would your CEO say if asked what value did marketing create last year? A coffee grower gets a few dollars for a pound of coffee. At Starbucks, that same pound is worth well over $100. Same beans. Same "commodity". Very different perceived value. Peter Drucker said a business has only two functions that produce results: marketing and innovation. Everything else is a cost. Yet in many companies, marketing is seen as exactly that: a cost. The team that makes slides, runs events, and is first in line when budgets get cut. The difference is not budget or talent. It's what marketing spends its time on. Most teams put nearly all their effort into generating demand, amplifying value that was never clearly defined, building systems that chase attribution, paying to nudge customers with offers. The value is created earlier: in strategy, differentiation, and positioning. AI makes this more urgent. AI can now produce campaigns and content faster and cheaper than any team. The activity side of marketing is becoming a commodity. The thinking side is not. Read the full post: https://lnkd.in/g84rSS95
-
Gerardo A Dada shared thisMotorola interviewed 200,000 people in 54 cities before launching Iridium, a network of satellites that would let you call from anywhere on Earth. It became one of the most famous failures in business history. Two decades later, Starlink proved the idea of a global satellite network was right. Iridium's research didn't fail because it lacked data. It failed because the data couldn't tell Motorola what really mattered: whether people would pay that price, at that time, for that experience. Now imagine Motorola had AI. They would have gotten an answer in seconds: well written, confident, backed by data. And probably just as wrong. I first wrote The Mirage of Data in 2014, when Big Data was the buzzword to talk about the seven hazards of relying on data alone. This year I rewrote it, because AI makes every one of those seven hazards harder to see. A spreadsheet at least forces you to do the analysis yourself. AI hands you the conclusion, and it's easy to mistake fluency for truth. It knows the past, not what's about to change. It knows what customers said, not what they felt. And it tends to agree with whoever is asking. The goal is not to stop using AI. I use it every day, and it makes me better at my job. The goal is to be aware of the limitations of the data AI uses as the foundation for its insights. An answer is only as good as the data behind it, no matter how confident it sounds. The updated post: https://lnkd.in/gM7yB8-v
-
Gerardo A Dada reposted thisGerardo A Dada reposted thisAI can accelerate execution, but only leadership can define direction. Marketing strategist Gerardo A Dada shares why, in the race to automate and cut costs, a strategic approach is more important than ever. https://lnkd.in/gF6FD8ky
-
Gerardo A Dada reposted thisGerardo A Dada reposted thisEvery business aims to deliver a better customer experience (at least they say they do). But what if it is the wrong strategy? https://lnkd.in/gq-VeFxq
-
Gerardo A Dada shared thisYour marketing and sales teams aren't misaligned. Your system is. Different scoreboards, different clocks, different definitions of a "good lead." No happy hour fixes that. Six structural fixes for building one revenue engine>Marketing and Sales Alignment: Six Structural Fixes for One Revenue EngineMarketing and Sales Alignment: Six Structural Fixes for One Revenue Engine
-
Gerardo A Dada shared thisMost companies think positioning is what you say about yourself. It's not. It's what your customers already believe about you. Positioning lives in the customer´s mind, whether you shaped that belief on purpose or let the market decide for you. I recently joined Louise Liu on the This Is Product Marketing Podcast to talk about strategy, differentiation, and how companies actually build a position that lasts, not just a slogan that sounds good in a deck. We talked about how to shift positioning from tactical messaging exercise to a business strategy conversation. A few takeaways: - Positioning isn't about how you describe your product; it’s about how your choices differentiate you where - Treating positioning as a task for messaging leaves companies vulnerable to being outmaneuvered by competitors who anchor themselves more effectively. - Aligning strategy, differentiation, and deep market understanding creates a defensible moat. - Product Marketers are sitting on the most strategic seat in the building. Not because of the content they produce, but because they bring "customer oxygen" into rooms where strategy discussions happen. Full episode linked in the comments If you are a product marketer, founder, or marketing leader looking to move beyond the noise and build a real strategic advantage, give this one a listen. and let me know what resonates. #ProductMarketing #Positioning #MarketingStrategy #Differentiation #GTM #B2BMarketing
-
Gerardo A Dada reposted thisGerardo A Dada reposted thisAuthor Gerardo A Dada is forthright and hard-hitting in this article and book. A good read and reality check for the market, customer and business sonar-sensing CMO: "For years, CMOs have complained about not having a seat at the executive table. The issue is not whether marketing deserves a seat. The issue is whether the CMO brings a skillset the rest of the executive team cannot replicate: a deep understanding of the market, a real understanding of company strategy, the ability to contribute to the decisions that build competitive advantage, and the ability to position and message to the market effectively." https://lnkd.in/g9-TDJP9
-
Gerardo A Dada shared thisToday, I became a published author. OutPosition is officially out. I wrote this book because, after 30 years in marketing and strategy, I kept seeing the same problem: companies treat strategy, differentiation and positioning as separate exercises. They aren’t. They are one system. When they work together, companies create real competitive advantage. When they don’t, even great marketing struggles to make a difference. OutPosition is my attempt to put those lessons into one practical framework from the perspective of what I’ve seen work and fail (sometimes spectacularly) across companies and markets. A lot of people helped shape the thinking in this book, challenged my ideas, and encouraged me to finish it. I’m grateful to all of them. And today, after a very long journey, it’s finally out in the world. OutPosition. OutCompete. Win with Strategy.
-
Gerardo A Dada shared thisSouthwest made a critical mistake with bag fees. It's not a story of a raise in fees, but one about throwing away your differentiation for short term profits. This will be a case study to learn from many years from now. I started writing the piece a few months ago as I was surprised about their moves, so I studied their investor presentations. My hope is you will find it interesting and informative. #strategy #investors #luv #customerexperienceThe Real Cost of Southwest’s Bag Fees Isn’t $45. It’s Fifty Years of DifferentiationThe Real Cost of Southwest’s Bag Fees Isn’t $45. It’s Fifty Years of Differentiation
Gerardo A Dada replied to a comment
4d
Chanel Chambers true. But I also think it is up for marketers to step up beyond MQLs to become more strategic. Recently I experienced a marketing team congratulating themselves on achieving their MQL number, even as sales missed theirs. If we want the board to mesure us by business value, we need to embrace the concept and hold ourselves accountable.
Gerardo A Dada replied to a comment
2w
Paul Swider this was 16 years ago (Mythbusters rocket car)
Yes, I am a skeptic. But also been at the leading edge of innovation more than once.
It is a gimmick when it has no practical value, no proof of concept of a future car technology, and no useful use case. Maybe I am wrong.
-
Gerardo A Dada liked thisGerardo A Dada liked this📊 SaaSpocalypse, almost eight months on 11 of the 20 are now up for the year. 9 still aren't. ⠀ In March I listed 20 software names that had fallen between 15% and 53% since New Year, from Datadog to Atlassian, and shared four reflections. Here's how they held up, using closing prices to 28 October. ⠀ "Not all ARR is equal." This held up best. Eight of the 11 now up for 2026 sell infrastructure, data, security or developer tools: CrowdStrike is up 128%, Datadog 105%, Snowflake 55%. Seven of the 9 still down sell applications largely priced per seat: HubSpot is down 38%, monday.com 34%, Adobe 29%, Salesforce 9%. ⠀ "Efficiency is the new growth." Half right. The market paid for growth again. The 11 risers grew revenue by a median 34% in their latest quarter, against 20% for the 9 still down. ⠀ "AI tailwinds will not save weak fundamentals." Too neat. Figma grew revenue 48% last quarter and is still down 38% this year. Atlassian, the worst on my list in March, is now up 36% after cloud revenue grew 31%. ⠀ "Sales execution will separate winners from the walking dead." The separation is real. The walking dead aren't: 17 of the 20 are higher than when I posted. ⠀ What's changed is how quickly AI shows up in revenue. Where it drives usage, it appears in the next quarter's numbers. In seat-based software, AI products have to add more revenue than fewer seats take away, and that gets proved account by account, not on an earnings call. ⠀ That's where Concentrix B2B Sales at Concentrix comes in, as a strategic revenue partner that builds experienced, in-language sales teams to grow revenue across the accounts a core team can't cover. For one client, a 20-person team delivered a 13x return on the client's investment. ⠀ Which of the 20 do you think finishes 2026 strongest? 💬 ⠀ If your AI products need to show up in revenue, account by account, send me a message here on LinkedIn. ⠀ Tap the 🔔 on my profile so you never miss a post. ⠀ 👉 Explore Concentrix B2B Sales: https://lnkd.in/ewj3SGvh ⠀ #SaaS #AI #Software #B2BSales #GoToMarket ⠀
-
Gerardo A Dada reacted on thisLoyalty over Competence This is what you get. Fast forward 20 years? See the Russian military performance on the battlefield. #Competence #Loyalty #Ineptitude #Incompetent
-
Gerardo A Dada liked thisGerardo A Dada liked thisBIG announcement - on the heels of my 15-year work anniversary, I am leaving SolarWinds! It was an epic ride and I'd do it all over again, any day. There are a select few leaders I had the incredible fortune of working for, who I hold on a pedestal (you know who you are), and colleagues and team members who are my work soulmates (you also know who you are!) I get to take that with me wherever I go - I met and worked with the best people. I feel incredibly lucky for both a great career, and an enviable network. I'm currently enjoying time as #1 mom (it's really the school lunch visits that tip the scales) and have officially come out of culinary retirement. If I can be of help to anyone with resumes, introductions, or charitable work, please reach out... now is a good time as I've got the free time for it.
Experience & Education
Volunteer Experience
-
National VP
Comisión Nacional de Empresarios Jóvenes COPARMEX
Economic Empowerment
President of the local chapter and VP of the national chapter, promoting entrepreneurship and working with the government to foster an entrepreneur-friendly economic environment
-
VP Philantropy
Exatec Group
- Present 7 years 3 months
Coordinating philantropic activities for the Tec de Monterrey (ITESM) alumni group in Austin
Languages
-
French
Limited working proficiency
-
Spanish
Native or bilingual proficiency
Recommendations received
55 people have recommended Gerardo A
Join now to viewOther similar profiles
Explore more posts
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content