Experts of Experience
This Marketing Exec Shut Down 90% of Their Content (& 5x’d Impact)
14 May 2025
What happens when a marketing leader decides to halt 90% of content output? For Ben Taylor, Director of Revenue Marketing and Customer Journeys at Cisco, it wasn’t a gamble—it was a strategy. In this refreshingly candid episode, Ben makes the case that content marketing is (and should be) dead and explains how empathy mapping, design thinking, and intentional "awkward silence" amongst his marketing & CX teams have become his new north star. We dive into how Ben transformed Cisco’s approach to customer experience by prioritizing deep understanding over high-volume output — and saw 5x pipeline growth as a result. From redefining how marketing supports sales to slowing down in order to speed up, this episode challenges everything you thought you knew about B2B engagement. If you’re tired of creating content for content’s sake, this one’s your permission slip to stop, rethink, and rebuild. Key Moments: 00:00 How Cisco's Ben Taylor Is Redefining Customer Experience03:17 Why Marketing Is Core to the Entire Customer Journey07:23 Content Marketing Is Dead: Here’s What Works Instead13:25 How Design Thinking Transformed Cisco’s Marketing29:36 Can AI Be Empathetic? The Real Challenge in CX Automation36:23 Using Empathy Mapping to Build Better B2B Campaigns38:19 Agile Marketing: Faster Cycles, Smarter Strategy45:34 Hiring for Fit: Why Empathy Matters More Than Pedigree52:15 The Emotional Core of Customer Experience Strategy01:01:56 Breaking Silos: Aligning Marketing, Sales & Success –Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org
Full Episode
Marketing is the most disconnected piece from the customer experience right now.
You have a pretty strong opinion about content marketing.
Content marketing is dead. Wow. It is a driver of a waste of time. Success with content marketing is a happy accident.
How did you bring that philosophy into Cisco?
80 to 90% of our production stopped when I took over the team. We were spending a bulk of our time in production before we're now spending it in trying to understand what our customers are thinking.
How do you get leadership buy-in on something like this? I don't know that all of them would be able to accept that less is more.
More volume doesn't equal more bookings, more pipeline.
If you're ready to talk a little bit about AI.
Is it a big topic these days or?
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