Rum Ekhtiar
Rum Ekhtiar, founder of Rum and Co, is focused on brand strategies that work, ideas that are creative, new businesses pitches that win, and teams who work toward a common goal. With over 20 years of experience, he's worked with companies like Novartis, Citi, MetLife, and others, helping them transform their business, their story, and their engagement model. In this blog, he'll advise marketers on ways to break through creative and strategic blocks, methods to navigate client relationships, and how to ultimately realize the full potential of their capabilities. Reach him at rum@rumandco.nyc and connect with him on LinkedIn.
3 Lessons My Move Taught Me About Marketing
Performance Marketing
This is the last article about my move, I promise! The interesting thing about a move is that it forces you to step outside your comfortable bubble of everyday life. [...]
Brand Experience and a Tale of Two Startups
Performance Marketing
As if there isn’t already enough happening in the world right now, I’ve been taking on one of the most stressful endeavors at regular times, amplified during COVID: a move! [...]
Brand Statements: What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say?
Performance Marketing
Right now even brands with messaging documents longer than most PhD dissertations are struggling to decide if and how to respond to current events. From COVID-19 to widespread protests tied [...]
The Art of the Virtual Pitch Part 4: Sealing the Deal With Post-Pitch Engagement
Performance Marketing
Pitches aren’t usually won or lost in the room, even though that feels like the main event. Here’s what I’ve learned about making the most of the time following your [...]
The Art of the Virtual Pitch, Part 3: 4 Steps for a Successful Client Presentation
Performance Marketing
If you studied up on Part 1 and Part 2 of my series on the virtual pitch, you’re ready to handle the actual client presentation. Here are the top four [...]
The Art of the Virtual Pitch, Part 2: Prepping the Creative Brief and Getting to Work
Performance Marketing
This is Part 2 of a 4-part series on The Art of the Virtual Pitch. Let’s cover what happens after you’ve accepted the RFP, and now need to develop your [...]
The Art of the Virtual Pitch, Part 1: Perfecting Pre-Pitch Engagement
Performance Marketing
Pitches aren’t always won in the room. That’s great news right now because it might be a while before we’re even in a room together again. Pitches are won by [...]
Guiding Clients Through COVID-19 Challenges
Performance Marketing
Times of drastically scaled back face-to-face client meetings are likely to pop up over the course of your career. Even if you’ve been lucky enough so to have no local [...]
3 Ways to Maintain Strong Client Relationships
Performance Marketing
After the initial investment that brings clients on board, you enter a blissful honeymoon phase where everyone’s happy. Resist the temptation to rest on your laurels! Before your clients’ eyes [...]
Dating Tips That’ll Help Marketers Get Their Client Relationships Unstuck
Performance Marketing
Committing to improvement is a good idea any time of year, but there’s something poetic about marketers revitalizing along with the calendar. So let’s talk about what we can learn [...]