In continuing my blog series from Marketing Velocity 2014, I am spending the next few months talking individually about the five superheroes we introduced in Chicago this year:

• Wonder Vision-The power to see what no one yet can see
• Alchemist-The power to blend art with science in a way no one can ignore
• Super Voice-The power to reach millions at the same time
• Data Man-The power to turn piles of data into competitive insights and deliver real marketing value
• Mega Mentor-The power to get the most from others

Next up,The Alchemist!

Marketing super powers like those possessed by The Alchemist are required to keep up in our industry. With the ability to "blend art and science" you can define your strategy and objectives by aligning organizational goals and positioning your brand to aid in new customer acquisition, gain new market share and tie in directly with the revenue generation marketing goals I defined in my previous blog series.

The core of revenue-generation marketing and what makes it work is the partnership between sales and marketing. Who better to mix the two than the Alchemist?

Being able to blend the art of relevant storytelling with the science of planning, precise delivery and measurement makes The Alchemist capable of dramatically improving revenue generation marketing by giving you a closed loop that drives sales qualified leads and also measures how those leads perform. The Alchemist then takes those metrics and makes the next marketing mix even more effective.

With business to business (B2B) buying behavior changing as it has, roughly 70 percent of the B2B buying process happens before your sales team even contacts the customer. With decisions being made before you formally contact the customer, your brand needs a life of its own, and that is what the Alchemist provides.

We have some highly skilled marketing Alchemists here at Cisco, and they certainly help us find the right mix to benefit partners and customers. To give you a tangible asset based on what the Alchemist brings t o the table, why don't you join us for an upcoming webcast on revenue marketing?Accelerating Revenue Marketing: Steps to Successis a live webcast we're holding on September 23.

Most companies are somewhere between the lead generation and demand creation stage of their revenue marketing journey. Come out of ourAccelerating Revenue Marketingsession with fresh clarity and a focused list of the most important next steps to realize repeatable, predictable, and scalable revenue marketing success.

The session will last for about one hour and will include time for questions. I know that some of you are already great Alchemists, but you have to continually develop that skill, and sessions like this one help you do just that. The Alchemist ability helps you across all marketing aspects, including:

• New customer acquisition
• Increasing market share
• Sales qualified lead generation
• Meeting revenue goals

Please join us in September, and as always, let me know your thoughts in the comments section or via twitter @sherriliebo. I'm always happy to hear your thoughts on how we're doing at Cisco and how it's working for you.