Buena Vista Social Club: B2B Marketing Lessons on the Importance of Live Experiences with Chief Marketing Officer at Blackbird.AI, Dan Lowden

Some performances fade. Others stay with you for decades.

Buena Vista Social Club is one of them. It isn’t just a musical—it’s a masterclass in resonance, memory, and experience.

In this episode, we’re pulling B2B marketing lessons from that spirit of storytelling with the help of Dan Lowden, Chief Marketing Officer at Blackbird.AI.

Together, we explore why content should come first, how honesty builds brand resilience, and what it takes to create live experiences your audience will talk about for years.

About our guest, Dan Lowden

Dan is the CMO at Blackbird.AI and leads the company’s strategic marketing efforts, including demand generation and brand leadership. He has over 20 years of strategic experience at the executive level. He has served as CMO at cybersecurity firm HUMAN Security (acquired by Goldman Sachs), named one of the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2023. Lowden also served as the CMO at Digital Shadows (acquired by Reliaquest) and, before that, CMO at Invincea (acquired by Sophos) and VP of Marketing at vArmour (acquired by Night Dragon). He has held marketing leadership positions at Wayport (acquired by AT&T), IBM ThinkPad (acquired by Lenovo), NEC Technologies, and Sharp Electronics. Lowden holds an MBA in International Business from Rutgers Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science from Rider University.

What B2B Companies Can Learn From Buena Vista Social Club:

• Content is the foundation—not an afterthought. Even in cybersecurity, content is king. Dan says, “My first hire was a content person. You can have the best ABM strategy or tools, but if you don’t have really valuable content, you’re not going to get anywhere.” His advice? Lead with education, not asks. Thoughtful reports, relevant use cases, and engaging narratives will earn your audience’s attention—and their trust.
• Honesty builds brand resilience. When it comes to trust, marketing can’t cut corners. Especially in high-stakes industries like cybersecurity. Dan says, “There’s been a lot of overstatement of things by marketers and salespeople. That’s when marketing takes a ding.” Instead, he urges CMOs to stay grounded: deliver real value, communicate with clarity, and show your audience you’re in it for the long haul.
• Live experiences create a lasting impact. If you want your brand to be unforgettable, you need to create moments that move people. “People still come up to us today and say that band and that experience 10-plus years ago—they remember. There’s not been anything like that,” Dan says, reflecting on a live concert his team produced. Whether it’s a concert, a rooftop dinner, or a one-of-a-kind conference, remarkable experiences turn into word-of-mouth—and brand love that lingers.

Quotes

*“To me, in marketing—B2B or B2C—it’s about creating a relationship, trust, even friendship, a community with your audience.”

*"If you treat your customers well, if you serve them well, if you’re honest with them… then you have a chance of being very successful as a company.”

*“Music is really, really important, really powerful… as a marketer, especially in cybersecurity where there’s 5,000 cybersecurity companies, you have to do something different. You have to stand out.”

Time Stamps

[00:55] Meet Dan Lowden, CMO at Blackbird.AI

[03:42] The Magic of Live Theater

[06:21] The Role of a CMO in Cybersecurity

[10:23] Understanding Narrative Attacks

[14:29] The Evolution of Narrative Intelligence

[22:36] The Story Behind Buena Vista Social Club

[28:31] The Power of Live Music in Marketing

[30:33] Creating Remarkable Experiences

[39:21] The Importance of Content in Marketing

[45:05] Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Links