The Environmental Impact of Sending Email 🤯

My mind was blown this week on the unintended environmental impact of one of the most innocuous activities - sending email (I know!).


📨 It’s estimated 4 million emails are sent every second (thats 347 billion a day). And each one of these not only needs processing power and storage to send, but also to retain. Remember the Cloud is someone else’s computer!

According to Mailjet a spam email generates approximately 0.3g of CO2, while a typical personal email produces 4g of CO2 - more than ten times the impact. Even more striking is the carbon footprint of emails with photo attachments, which can generate up to 50g of CO2 per message.

Obviously, these numbers fall short of power-hungry AI queries* (up to 150-200g of CO2) but highlight how both traditional and emerging digital technologies contribute to our carbon footprint in ways that might not be immediately obvious. 🤯

What can we do about it?

🌳 As an industry: Support initiatives such as "smart expiration" protocols. Under this system, emails would be automatically categorised based on their content and assigned appropriate retention periods. For instance, meeting invitations could expire shortly after the event date, promotional emails could be automatically deleted after 30 days, and important documents could be flagged for longer retention.

🌳🌳 As marketers: Do a better job of thinking hard about sending that next “mass” email, not only from good marketing practice but also from a sustainability perspective. Good targeting and consideration of the ICP will reduce the volume. Don’t spam the base!

🌳🌳🌳 As individuals: Take practical steps to reduce our email-related carbon emissions: limiting unnecessary emails, being mindful of large attachments, regularly clearing out old messages, and unsubscribing from unwanted mailing lists.

*🌳🌳🌳🌳 Bonus Tip! Stop using GenAI to ask what time is it, the capital of France or what's 37*5. It's all relative I know, but using good old Google is much better for the planet!

While each email's impact may seem small, the cumulative effect of billions of emails sent daily makes this something at least thinking about. And how small, collective changes can make big impacts.
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LettsSafari is another way to take small steps to address climate change. For the price of a monthly cup of coffee, subscribe to LettsSafari and help restore nature's biodiversity, support endangered species and sequester more carbon.

🌱 For every 10 new subscribers we plant a tree a year.
🦔 For every 100, we release an endangered animal.
🌳 And for every 10,000 we create a new rewilding safari park a year!

Make A Difference: Together We Can Rewild To Tackle Climate Change.

👉 Subscribe today

AI and Art: Like Oil & Water❓

It’s tough being an artist. A world notoriously difficult to get into and now being disrupted by AI bypassing human creativity. 😠

While DALL-E and Midjourney may grab the headlines, they're just one small part of how AI is transforming the art world. AI can also handle the business side of art, letting creators focus on what they do best – creating. And empowering artists to build a sustainable career. 💪

That's why I’m proud to work with the team at LettsArt to disrupt the business of art - providing FREE no-code Art Intelligence software for artists to have a better way to manage, share and sell their art. These tools aren't replacing artistic creativity – they're amplifying it by handling the admin and business tasks that many artists find challenging or time-consuming. 🙌

✅ Make More Money. Traditional galleries often take a significant cut from art sales, and don’t offer royalties on future resales. With LettsArt artists cut out the middleman (it’s DTC but Direct To Collector), take a bigger cut of every new sale and even receive royalties from resales of NFT artworks, maximising their potential earnings.

✅ Maintain Control. LettsArt uses AI and Blockchain to make it easy for artists to control the distribution and authenticity of their works.

✅ Spend More Time Creating. From sales and marketing to IT and finance, LettsArt uses AI to provide a whole range of assistants, leaving artists to focus on creating.

✨ Over 800 artists are now running their own gallery using LettsArt (some shared here). Their range of creativity and entrepreneurship is incredible - all using AI to boost their careers.

The reality is that AI and art aren't oil and water at all. They're more like paint and canvas. And the future of art isn't about AI versus human creativity – it's about how they can complement each other.

So, if you know any artists needing a leg up on their journey, have them check out LettsArt. It's completely 🆓. Share this link to sign up: https://www.lettsart.com/start/

🖼️ 🖼️ 🖼️ : Just some of the art from a selection of artists using LettsArt.

2024 : The Year the Future Arrived? 🛸

Back in the depths of time, OK in 2014, B2B Marketing celebrated its 10 year anniversary. As part of the birthday celebrations, I was asked to provide my thoughts on what B2B marketing would look like in 10 years. A bit of fun, but always dangerous to do predictions easily within one’s own lifetime, let alone career. Reminds me of Gerry Andersen’s 70s TV series Space 1999 forecasting a future just 20 years away. Bold!

Well, as we've just exited 2024 I can now do a quick hope vs reality check. And looking at my contribution I’d put my predictions down as a solid “B” grade. Firstly, here's what I said

"My dream is that B2B marketing will be a discipline people aspire to build a career in, rather than fall into. And that Cannes Lions will recognize B2B marketing excellence more than B2C.

My hope is that B2B marketers will base more and more decisions on fact not gut-feel, fuelled by greater insights and automation tools to scale out their marketing efforts. We’ll be fully in the land of real time, hyper-personalized marketing based on individual customer behavior. Campaigns and content will be tested on the fly to drive dynamic content at the point of interaction. 80% of marketing budgets will be spent on digital, not events. And marketing will be seen as driving the business not supporting it."

So how did I do?

➖ Aspirational career? Not so sure, but definitely less stigma in 2024 vs 2014.

✅ Cannes Lions Champions? Not much has changed, but Marketing Week not only nominated their Marketer of The Year to a B2B marketer, but also their Campaign of the Year was B2B. I’ll take the win!

✅ Fact, not gut-based decisions? Yes! Some may say we’ve now gone too far 🙄

❌ Hyper-personalised marketing? I think not. Privacy concerns knocked the wind out of knowing everyone’s inside leg measurements and our track record in martech implementation hasn’t exactly been commendable (just wait until we have a crack at AI).

❌ 80% of spend on digital? Well maybe during the pandemic, but my view is we’ve snapped back to the comfort zone of events-is-the-answer, now what’s the question?

➖ Marketing as driver not passenger? Jury’s out. We’re certainly attuned to the conversation of being “commercial" marketers but as an industry progress has been mixed.

So on balance, we’ve made some progress in 10 years but still a lot to do. Its definitely better to be a B2B marketer in 2024 than 2014, and the industry continues to innovate. So I’m going with that solid “B” grade. What do you think?


🌱 Building a silent rewilding revolution with LettsSafari 🌍

It’s been great being Co-Chair for LettsSafari and spreading the word about rewilding. We’ve been working hard in restoring biodiversity, tackling climate change and inspiring communities globally.

We’re just getting started, but here are four personal highlights from an impactful year:

1️⃣ Rewilding Expansion: We’ve now planted 2,000+ trees and support 150+ endangered animal species. We’ve seen our first Nightingale and, at the same time, healthy increases in our birds of prey. Plus we’ve successful protected black fallow deer across our parks. 🌳🦌

2️⃣ Community Education: Our “Create Your Very Own Safari Garden” series empowered individuals to transform gardens into urban wildlife havens, promoting biodiversity from backyards to city streets. 🐝🌸

3️⃣ Global Advocacy: Celebrating World Rewilding Day, we spotlighted projects like Derby’s Allestree Park and the Tower of London moat transformation, inspiring wider urban rewilding. 🏞️🏰

4️⃣ Art Meets Sustainability: In celebration of Earth Day 2024, we emphasised the significance of combating plastic pollution and embracing nature restoration by creatively showcasing sculptures made from recycled plastic bottles in our Capability Brown gardens 🎨♻️

Looking ahead to 2025, we aim to expand our reach - spreading the LettsSafari approach to more communities, gardens, and even countries! 🌍✨

👉 Join the revolution! We need your support to help in our expansion (it’s just £4.50 a month!): Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eda6y7gz

#Rewilding #Biodiversity #NatureRestoration #LettsSafari #Sustainability
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LettsSafari is all about collective impact through low-cost subscriptions. For every 10 subscribers we plant a 5 year old, naturally grown tree annually, every hundred subscribers support the introduction of new wild animals each year and every 10,000 subscribers we add a whole new safari park a year.

Let’s continue rewilding together—one garden, one park, one animal at a time. Join us in creating a more biodiverse and sustainable future! 💪🌿

✨ Reflecting on 2024... my 20th 🤯 year on LinkedIn! 🎉

The year didn’t start easy— being part of an industry-busting acquisition, reduction in force and a broken ankle were certainly challenging! But 2024 also brought incredible moments: celebrating an 18th, a 21st, and an 80th birthday, successful A-Levels and sending Son 2 off to University 👨‍🎓. Plus completing Phase 1 of our Puglia renovation 🏗️ .

On balance, it’s been a year of celebration 🥂 Thanks to all the smart, interesting folk I’ve had the privilege to meet, work with, and learn from this year—both old and new connections. You’ve inspired me, challenged me, and helped make 2024 one to remember. Special thanks to:

💡 Alexa Schirtzinger, Alison Masters, Andrey Khusid, Carol Carpenter, Doug Kessler, Ed Hoppitt, Gavin Bradbury, Giles Fraser, John Horsley, Jon Buss, Joshua Leatherman, Justin Cooke, Laura Heisman, Lucy Timms, Martin Loat OBE, Philip Letts, Paul Mackender, Richard Peers, Richard Perry, Roger Warner, Sandy Purewal, Scott Harris, Scott Stockwell, and Tricia Miller.

💼 And of course, my former VMware teammates: Anna Lawler, Barry Cowan, Caroline Clifton, Danilo Lissoni, Isabelle Mehdi Bouriaud, Katie Dobiecki, Kerry Graham, Lothar Haenle, Martin Schuhte, Maud Allioux, Michelle Vaughan and Sarah Semple. You're all rockstars 🌟

Lastly, a big shoutout to the AI assistants who’ve supported me - all talented, promising individuals 😉.

As I look ahead to 2025, I’m focused on:

1️⃣ Continuing my weight loss journey. 29 lbs / 13 kgs down in 2H 2024 🏋️‍♀️)
2️⃣ Learning Ableton for music production 🎶
3️⃣ Doing more of what I enjoy ❤️
4️⃣ Making a difference 🌍

So here’s to 2025 and all the (AI-powered) opportunities ahead! 🚀

#2024Reflection #GoalsFor2025 #AI #B2Bmarketing

It’s Not 2008 Anymore ‼️

In 2008 I was CMO of a 120-person SaaS scale-up, looking for a low-cost, high impact way to create more opportunities for my business. Through a friend I reached out to a little-known company called Marketo, and joined the Beta program for their yet-to-be-released lead management software. It blew my mind and totally changed how we could build our business.

But that was 2008 and B2B marketing has changed dramatically since then 📈.

That's because the way audiences seek solutions to their problems today is a world apart from 2008. Then it was all about websites, events, analysts and SDR outreach.

Fast-forward to today, and those traditional methods have lost their credibility 🚫.

Why?
• Company websites = email mining machines 📥
• Events = more about sales pitches than value 💰
• Analysts = often viewed as pay-to-play 💸
• SDR & automated emails = ignored inbox clutter 🗑️

Meanwhile, the way people connect, share, and learn has completely evolved. The power of communities has EXPLODED 🌍 :

• Social media has become a valid place of B2B connection 🤝
• Facebook Groups and Reddit spark global conversations 💬
• YouTube comments are a goldmine of insights 🕵️‍♂️
• WhatsApp and messaging apps allow instant collaboration 📲
• Review sites like G2 and TrustRadius offer transparent peer feedback ⭐
• Good word of mouth about product experience has more reach than great marketing 💡

Here’s the reality: If you ask buyers where they turn for solutions, they’ll tell you—they ask their peers 👥.

Buyers crave credibility and authenticity ✨, and those come from trusted connections, not corporate lead gen 🏢.

So, as we head into 2025 we all need to harness people, technology and AI to :

✅ Tap into real conversations in communities
✅ Build trust, not just leads
✅ Pivot to Product Led Growth over Sales Led Growth

So stop marketing like its 2008. Embrace the change! Your audience already has 🚀.
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📸 : From the Marketo, Inc. Flickr site. Meeting some of the Marketo team for the first time in San Francisco in 2009 (I know, it looks like the 1980s!). Jon Miller, Laura Mishima, Maria Pergolino and, in loving memory, Amy Guarino.

Is LinkedIn losing its way?

🚨Urgent : send help immediately! Kyle Lacy is trapped in the LinkedIn algorithm!

I don’t know Kyle, but LI really really REALLY wants us to be friends 🤣. He gets suggested 3 times within the first 10 posts in my feed.

Nothing against Kyle, and I’m sure he has interesting things to share. But 30% of my content? I’m going to say - I think not 😀

Just another example of the craziness going on with the LI algo right now. Jeremy just did a great post on the randomness of post reach and engagement. And how LI in the need for engagement is sliding towards more entertainment and less education. Check it out 💡

Is LI losing its way? Is it getting better or worse?

I’m rooting for you LI! But please please please free Kyle!

Anyway, Kyle - HMU! 🤙

Making your marketing more "Bobular" - the 2024 Redux 👱‍♂️

10ish years ago, I wrote an article about how brands needed to make their marketing more personalised to the consumer. I framed it in the context of my (amazing) experience at my local wine store, and more specifically with Bob, the manager of the shop.

You see, Bob knew me. He knew what I liked, what I didn’t like, what I’ve tried before. What I’ve bought recently. That I like to cook and entertain. The list went on...

I wouldn’t think of buying my wine anywhere else.

In fact I enjoyed buying from Bob. I loved the experience that much.

The bad news: most of B2B marketing back then was far from Bob. In fact it was decidedly un-Bobular.

If Bob was a marketer instead of the world’s best wine salesman, I’d walk in and instead of saying “Hey John, how’d you get on with that Riesling?” he’d say, “Hello potential customer. This is a wine shop. We have red wine and white wine and sparkling wine. Some of it is from France.’

Fast forward 10 years and is marketing any better or worse? Despite all our investment in technology (data warehouses, Business Intelligence, marketing automation, programmatic ads, CDPs) I'd argue we're no further forward.

Which is why I'm sceptical about AI in the hands of marketing unless we listen to the customer, understand their intent and generate a personalised experience.

Maybe AI will be thing to help us become Bob-like on a massive scale - being that personal, informed brand that doesn’t treat every customer like a new person who just walked in off the street. And treating each one like the valued individual that they are.

I'm hopeful the time is now.

So maybe, we can all finally go forth and become Bob.

#marketing #AI #b2bmarketing

(Big thanks to Doug Kessler for helping me craft the original story.)

Contemporary Issues in Marketing in 2024

Honoured to be invited back to guest lecture to 3rd Year Business Management Students at St Mary’s University, Twickenham on "Contemporary Issues in Marketing".

Always a topic that causes some reflection - many “issues” haven’t changed for, coughs, decades (understanding the customer, building a point of differentiation, being smart on channels, sales/marketing alignment, etc. etc.). But thinking on "contemporary" issues I picked these five:

💥 Consumer Choice - the war for attention / how the customer controls the purchase journey / lack of brand loyalty.
💥 Channel complexity - so many choices, so little budget / using creativity to cut through the digital noise / the yearly rise of new social channels.
💥 Sustainability - driven by millennials, consumers demanding greater brand transparency on DEI & sustainability.
💥 Skills - marketers needing to be much more multi-faceted across business, creative, data & program management / tools change, skills don’t.
💥 AI - of course! No tech is ever a silver bullet and our track record of implementing tech in marketing is, quite frankly, poor. But those who embrace AI will win over those that don't.

There are many more I could've added…

Lots of great questions from the students too on (unsurprisingly) AI, innovation and ethics in marketing.

Great to see such an engaged group. Thanks again Lucy Timms for the invite!

#marketing #learning #marketingstrategy