With a career that spans agencies, global corporations, and now a transformative leadership role at Badger Meter, Bill Blank brings a blend of strategic vision and practical marketing insight across industries as diverse as healthcare, industrials, consumer brands, and utilities.
Known for embracing change, Bill has led the charge in evolving legacy organizations through initiatives like BlueEdge. From guiding young marketers to leading enterprise-wide transformation, Bill consistently returns to his foundational marketing truths: understand what truly drives customer behavior, lead with curiosity, and be bold enough to recommend, not just react.
He will also lead an upcoming talk at AMA Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 23, on the topic of leading a brand transformation.
You’ve had a diverse marketing career spanning agencies, global corporations, and now leading brand transformation at Badger Meter. Looking back, what pivotal career moment or decision most shaped your path?
Embracing the unplanned changes, even when difficult, with trust and understanding that what comes next will be better than what came before. Do this enough times and it will prove itself out.
You’ve worked across healthcare, industrials, consumer brands and utilities. What marketing fundamentals hold true across these industries and where do you see key differences?
The fundamentals of customer behavior and seeking to understand what realistically motivates a customer to take action (or avoid you) has been foundational across all industries. Additionally, seeking to understand the “why” operating below the surface and actively sharing our understanding of “why” through our teams will grow buy-in, participation and success.
For marketers early in their careers, what’s one lesson you wish you had learned sooner?
Great question. You will meet hundreds of personality types in co-workers, clients, partners, etc. Many will be easy. Many will be hard. All will teach you something and add to your ability to manage and build relationships.
What advice do you have for professionals trying to break into leadership roles or transition from tactical execution to strategic direction?
Think like a consultant. Think like a recommender. Analyze the data available. Read the situation. Come to the table with what you believe should happen and why it is important. Be confident to take a risk and learn from whatever happens.
How do you stay sharp and inspired in a field that’s constantly evolving? Are there people, books or habits that shape your approach?
Always possible to be better at this bit and this question is inspiring me to think. Foundationally, I embrace the power and excitement of networking. Have conversations. Ask questions. Be curious. Appreciate how fascinating the professional lives of others can be.
The “BlueEdge” initiative has become a rallying point for innovation at Badger Meter. Can you give us a behind-the-scenes look at how the idea came to life?
Sure can. Tune in at AMA Milwaukee :)
Transforming a 120-year-old industrial legacy into a future-focused brand is no small feat. Where did you start and what was the biggest challenge?
We started by admitting and mandating that a collection of separate product lines and acquired companies located globally MUST behave as one company. While that takes time to actually deliver, establishing the vision and roadmap ahead of time was critical. We have fortunately had very strong adoption and the challenges have been limited, but considering BlueEdge is a unifying idea and not something you can hold in your hand, helping to get an industrial manufacturer who invents and builds stuff to grasp something intangible has been a rewarding challenge.
Your AMA Milwaukee talk teases how brand became the lever that aligned tech, culture and customer story. What was one specific example of that alignment in action?
Think of this from a new product development perspective. For our core customer and our core product lines - three distinct products must work together to deliver a desired result. The idea of BlueEdge as a unifying brand idea over all product categories has accelerated the idea of connectivity, shared roadmap development and customer usefulness delivered by benefits and features.
How did you gain internal buy-in for a brand evolution at an engineering-driven company and how did you keep momentum throughout the process?
That’s a long one with a simple and critical start - our leadership had this vision before we started, and they were critically supportive along the way.
If someone can only walk away from your AMA talk with one insight, what do you hope it is?
Let your brand stretch and let it roam, see where it might grow, see where it might involve itself in new places and take new steps every day.
What’s one project you haven’t tackled yet that you’re excited to pursue in the future?
Just on the doorstep of product branding and product packaging and improving the branded assets our customer receives from Badger Meter. BlueEdge has been the permission slip to insert our branding minds into a world of product manufacturing.
Learn more from Bill Blink at AMA Milwaukee: Reserve your seat
