The Marketing Front Lines

Front Lines Media

Learn directly from B2B marketers on the front lines. Brought to you by:  www.FrontLines.io/podcast — Podcast-as-a-Service for B2B tech brands. Launch your show in 45 days.

  1. Building Trust in Markets Where Competitors Destroy It (Why Ethical AI Matters)

    2H AGO

    Building Trust in Markets Where Competitors Destroy It (Why Ethical AI Matters)

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Zach O'Neal, Global Head of Marketing at Flawless AI. After five years leading product marketing at Disney+ (including launches of IMAX Enhanced, Apple Vision Pro experiences, and the Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle), Zach joined Flawless AI—a post-production AI company revolutionizing film and TV through ethical, assistive artificial intelligence. Flawless provides tools for visual ADR, performance transfer, and localization that eliminate reshoots while preserving artistic intent. Unlike generative AI that scrapes unlicensed content, Flawless trains models exclusively on proprietary, licensed data and works directly with SAG-AFTRA and the Motion Picture Editors Guild to ensure ethical compliance. Their approach exemplifies how B2B tech companies can differentiate through values-driven positioning in controversial technology categories. Topics Discussed Building marketing strategy for ethical AI in a skeptical, artist-driven industry Differentiating through compliance and guild partnerships in competitive AI markets Creating educational content that builds category understanding before product consideration Launching theatrical firsts (first visually dubbed film in US theaters through AMC partnership) Structuring cross-functional marketing across product, growth, brand, and partner teams Grassroots event strategy (VUB Clubs in LA, UK, expanding to Vancouver, NYC, Dallas, Austin) Leveraging customer testimonials and case studies as primary trust-building mechanisms Transitioning from enterprise product marketing (Disney+) to startup marketing leadership Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers Lead with Values When Technology Is Controversial: Flawless's entire marketing narrative centers on "artists first" and ethical AI—not product features. In markets where your technology faces existential skepticism, leading with moral positioning and industry protection creates differentiation competitors can't match. Zach emphasizes that testimonials from guilds and filmmakers carry infinitely more weight than company claims. Build the Category Before Building Demand: Flawless invests heavily in educating the industry on assistive versus generative AI, licensed versus unlicensed training data, and ethical compliance frameworks. Rather than pushing immediate conversion, they ensure prospects understand evaluation criteria—knowing that informed buyers who prioritize ethics will choose them. This "teach them how to buy" approach builds long-term market position. Create Physical Touchpoints for Complex Technical Products: VUB Clubs provide hands-on training where post-production professionals can test tools, ask detailed questions, and access free trials. For technical B2B products requiring behavior change, physical spaces for education and experimentation drive adoption more effectively than digital campaigns alone. Use Partnerships as Third-Party Validation Engines: Integration partnerships with AWS and Avid Media Composer, plus working relationships with SAG-AFTRA and the Motion Picture Editors Guild, provide external credibility that overcomes inherent skepticism. Flawless ensures partners have comprehensive positioning and messaging so "everybody talking about Flawless is singing the same song." Transform Founder Origin Stories into Market Positioning: Flawless's founder Scott created the company as a filmmaker to eliminate creative compromises—a narrative Zach uses to prove the technology serves artists rather than replaces them. Founder-market fit stories humanize controversial technologies and demonstrate authentic industry alignment. Address Competitive Misbehavior Directly: Rather than ignoring competitors who market AI as human replacement, Zach explicitly distinguishes "AI done right versus AI done wrong." In markets where bad actors damage category perception, directly educating buyers on evaluation criteria (training data sources, consent flows, artist compensation) positions your company as the ethical alternative. Structure Omnichannel Consistency Through Unified Narrative: From SDR scripts to product marketing materials to event collateral to social content to video campaigns (like "Flawless Voices"), every touchpoint reinforces the same core message: ethical compliance, consent-first, artist forward. This narrative discipline ensures consistent brand perception across all customer journey stages. Leverage Previous Industry Experience as Trust Signal: Zach's five years at Disney+ provides instant credibility when marketing to entertainment industry professionals. His transition story—from leading product marketing at the world's premier streaming service to championing ethical AI in entertainment—validates that Flawless represents a trustworthy path forward for the industry.     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    22 min
  2. How to Lead an Internal AI Workshop w/ Kirti Dewan, Chief Marketing Officer of Fiddler AI

    23H AGO

    How to Lead an Internal AI Workshop w/ Kirti Dewan, Chief Marketing Officer of Fiddler AI

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Kirti Dewan, Chief Marketing Officer of Fiddler AI, an enterprise AI observability platform. Kirti navigates one of the most challenging marketing environments in B2B tech history—where buying committees have exploded in size, new AI personas emerge constantly, and competitive dynamics shift every 15 minutes. From implementing quarterly AI workshops that unite marketing and sales teams to experimenting with cutting-edge martech tools, Kirti reveals how lean teams can stay agile in hyper-competitive markets. Her approach emphasizes relentless iteration, strategic experimentation, and maintaining team energy through constant feedback loops—principles that mirror the AI lifecycles her company helps enterprises manage. Topics Discussed: Navigating the most competitive B2B tech market in history as an early-stage AI company Managing expanded buying committees and longer deal cycles in enterprise sales Building a culture of continuous experimentation and A/B testing across marketing and sales Implementing quarterly AI workshops to solve team pain points and automate workflows Evaluating and adopting emerging martech tools (Descript, Restream, N8N, Airtable, Clay) Operating in constant sales enablement mode as market dynamics shift rapidly Adapting marketing strategies for buyers overwhelmed by solution proliferation Preparing the next generation of marketers for an AI-native workplace Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers: Institute Quarterly Cross-Functional AI Workshops: Fiddler runs workshops every three months with 8-9 participants from marketing and sales. Before each session, team members document pain points, tedious work, and broken processes. The workshop then becomes a collaborative problem-solving session where teams brainstorm tools, workflows, and automation strategies. This structured-yet-fluid format has uncovered solutions like Airtable's template library and sparked ideas for custom MCP servers and N8N workflows. Embrace Perpetual Sales Enablement as the New Normal: The days of completing a deck, training the team, and moving on are over. Modern B2B marketers must accept operating in a "constant state of sales enablement" where materials require continuous revision as competitive landscapes shift every 15-30 minutes. This requires different energy and mindset—viewing iteration and refinement not as disruption but as standard operating procedure, mirroring the feedback loops in AI systems. Experiment Relentlessly with Emerging Tools: In crowded markets, competitive advantage comes from testing new martech and sales tech solutions before they become saturated. Kirti's team actively experiments with tools like Descript for content creation, Restream for automated webinar snippets, Infinigrow for marketing analytics and forecasting, and Clay for enrichment. The philosophy: try quickly, measure results, and either scale or kill experiments without fear of failure. Maintain Market Awareness Through Team-Wide Reading Culture: When competing in rapidly evolving categories, teams cannot afford knowledge gaps. Kirti emphasizes that her team must "have the wherewithal to stay abreast of the market"—constantly reading about ecosystem developments, competitive movements, and adjacent technologies. This collective market intelligence enables faster strategic pivots and more informed experimentation. Design Workshops for Fluidity Over Structure: While Kirti values structure in most contexts, she deliberately keeps AI workshops loosely structured to encourage creativity, vulnerability, and cross-functional problem-solving. Team members are exploring unfamiliar tools and putting themselves in learning mode, so maintaining a comfortable, natural environment yields better outcomes than rigid agendas. She intervenes only when conversations drift into budget concerns or headcount discussions, refocusing on solving immediate problems. Recruit for Adjacent Skills, Not Just Domain Experience: As marketing playbooks get rewritten, traditional hiring criteria may limit innovation. Kirti questions whether demand gen hires must have prior demand gen experience or if someone with financial modeling expertise might pioneer new approaches to growth and AI-powered marketing operations. This opens opportunities to bring fresh perspectives from adjacent disciplines into marketing organizations. Understand That Fundamental Marketing Principles Persist: Despite technological disruption, core tenets remain constant: understand your market to do marketing effectively, know your ICP deeply, and determine what to say, how to say it, and where to meet buyers. The difference lies in execution—programs, tactics, and campaigns must continuously evolve as buyer behaviors and consumption patterns shift with AI adoption.     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    24 min
  3. Why Supply Chain Marketing Isn't About Products Anymore

    1D AGO

    Why Supply Chain Marketing Isn't About Products Anymore

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Bianca Buckridee, VP of Product Marketing at Infios. Bianca shares her unconventional path from banking operations to product marketing leadership, culminating in her current mission to transform how supply chain technology companies tell their stories. After launching Chase Bank's social media customer service category and leading generative AI go-to-market at AWS, she returned to supply chain tech driven by a passion for the human stories behind logistics operations. Her approach challenges the traditional feature-focused marketing playbook, instead positioning AI-powered supply chain solutions around what matters most: giving people their time back to live fuller lives outside of work. Topics Discussed The evolution of product marketing organizational structure and discipline Why product marketing belongs under product, not CMO organizations Marketing supply chain technology in an industry traditionally built on relationships Reframing AI adoption hesitation as human-centered concern, not technophobia Building narratives that extend beyond product features to life impact The maturation of product marketing frameworks and educational resources Hiring philosophy for early-stage marketing teams Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers Position Product Marketing as Strategic Intelligence Hub, Not Campaign Execution: Bianca argues that product marketing maturity is revealed by org chart placement. At Infios, product marketing sits under product strategy and marketing, with seats at the table for product vision, AI strategy, and roadmap decisions. The function aggregates insights from customer success, professional services, analyst relations, and brand teams, then distills these into strategic direction for product managers. This elevation from "another arm of marketing" to strategic nucleus happens when executives recognize product marketing's unique cross-functional intelligence gathering role. Reframe Technology Adoption Barriers as Human Stories Worth Telling: When Bianca investigated why supply chain operators hesitated to adopt AI, she discovered the real concern wasn't technological—it was fear of human displacement. This insight became a positioning opportunity: AI augmentation that handles mundane work while preserving human strategic decision-making and control. Rather than dismissing adoption hesitation as "laggard" behavior, Bianca transformed it into a narrative about transparency, explainability, and keeping humans in the loop. The lesson: dig beneath surface-level objections to find the human story that resonates. Extend Value Propositions Beyond Professional Outcomes to Personal Life Impact: Bianca's marketing approach for Infios extends the value narrative past traditional efficiency metrics. Yes, the product improves warehouse operations—but the real story is what that efficiency gives back to operators: attending their kids' games, picking up hiking routines, spending evenings with family instead of stuck on mundane tasks. This human-centered positioning recognizes that "who we are at work is only one part" of people's lives. For B2B marketers in technical categories, this creates differentiation through emotional resonance while maintaining tactical credibility. Match Marketing Hires to Specific Growth Stage and Awareness Level: Bianca receives constant recruiter outreach for roles that combine VP of marketing, product marketing, growth marketing, demand generation, and brand—all in one person. Her advice to founders: "There is not a single person alive that can do all of those roles." Early-stage companies need generalist marketers who balance strategic marketing, solutions marketing, and brand awareness. Product marketing becomes essential once you have product suites on quarterly release cycles. The key is diagnosing where you are on the awareness curve and which marketing function moves you to the next scale level. Hire for Creative Passion Over Specific Skill Sets: Bianca's hiring philosophy prioritizes passion for creation—whether content, visual ideation, or storytelling—over checking skill boxes. "I can teach a skill set," she explains. This approach recognizes that product marketing frameworks are now highly disciplined and teachable through resources like Product Marketing Alliance and Product Marketing Bootcamp. The unteachable elements are creative drive, storytelling instinct, and genuine passion for the subject matter. For supply chain marketing specifically, she looks for people who can find compelling human narratives in operational technology. Leverage Product Marketing Discipline Evolution for Organizational Maturity: The product marketing function has evolved from "loosey goosey" in 2015 to highly structured methodologies today. Bianca references the standard progression: building positioning, developing messaging, conducting competitive intelligence, then creating bill of materials to enable sellers at the right maturity pace. Organizations can accelerate product marketing impact by adopting these established frameworks rather than reinventing approaches. The maturation of the discipline also strengthens the case for elevating product marketing to strategic functions rather than relegating it to campaign execution.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    17 min
  4. Navigating GEO: Earned Media & SEO Tactics That Actually Work

    1D AGO

    Navigating GEO: Earned Media & SEO Tactics That Actually Work

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Nicholas Lembo, VP of Marketing at Coast, a modern finance solution revolutionizing expense management for trades businesses. Coast is disrupting the legacy fuel card industry by providing fleet managers with unprecedented control and visibility across fuel and non-fuel expenses. From landscapers to HVAC companies, Coast serves businesses with 5 to 500+ vehicles that need better solutions than outdated competitors offer. Nicholas shares tactical insights on navigating the AI-driven search landscape, building scalable marketing systems during hypergrowth, and using AI to solve sales enablement challenges without adding headcount. Topics Discussed: Transitioning from paid social dominance to a diversified channel mix Navigating GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AI Overviews impact on search Building marketing systems and processes for Series B hypergrowth Using AI workflows to create temporary solutions that extend hiring timelines Leveraging call recording analysis for automated sales enablement content Moving upmarket while maintaining product-led expansion strategies Balancing community forum presence with earned media for AI visibility Understanding multi-touch attribution through customer journey mapping Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers: Prioritize Message Clarity Over Channel Sophistication: Nicholas' philosophy centers on cutting through B2B noise with crystal-clear messaging about value, audience fit, and differentiation. In an era of AI-generated outbound and inbox overload, the fundamental discipline of articulating "what we do, who it's for, and why it matters" becomes your most defensible competitive advantage. This communications-first approach trumps channel optimization every time. Treat Your First 90 Days Like Sales Onboarding: Rather than taking a channel-by-channel audit approach when joining a new company, Nicholas recommends immersing yourself in sales calls and customer conversations. His goal: become the best salesperson on the team. This ground-up understanding of how customers move through the sales cycle provides the context needed to build effective attribution models and identify high-leverage customer journey moments. Build AI-Powered Stopgaps to Buy Time for Strategic Hires: Coast uses AI to analyze sales and onboarding call recordings, identifying common themes and automatically generating enablement content tailored to specific customer profiles and journey stages. This approach doesn't eliminate the need for dedicated enablement hires—it creates sophisticated temporary solutions that prevent bottlenecks during rapid scaling, allowing you to wait for the right person rather than rushing into the wrong hire. Map Attribution by Customer Journey Segments, Not Just Channels: Nicholas discovered that trade show attendees are highly likely to attend future events with specific content flavors. This insight came from stitching together high-leverage journey moments rather than viewing channels in isolation. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and trace their actual path—the patterns you discover will reveal attribution insights that channel-level reporting obscures. Invest in GEO Through SEO Fundamentals Plus Earned Media: Coast's approach to generative engine optimization focuses on three areas: community forum engagement (like everyone else), expanded PR and earned media efforts (a longer-term play), and strengthened SEO fundamentals that create spillover benefits for AI Overview visibility. The key is running multiple tests while tracking which efforts correlate with GEO results, acknowledging that algorithm changes make this a moving target. Design Your Expansion Strategy Around Natural Product Wedges: Coast started with fuel cards—a well-known category ripe for disruption—then expanded to non-fuel expenses when customers organically requested the capability. This product-led expansion from a narrow wedge into adjacent use cases (Home Depot runs, vehicle maintenance) provides a clear marketing narrative and natural cross-sell motion that serves the same ICP with increasing wallet share. Scale Teams Around Functional Gaps, Not Headcount Targets: With 12 people today and plans for 3-4 additions through 2026, Nicholas focuses hiring on specific functional expertise gaps rather than arbitrary growth targets. His current priority: lifecycle marketing capabilities supported by automated tooling. This disciplined approach to team building ensures each hire solves a specific scaling bottleneck tied to strategic priorities like core ICP retention and cross-product adoption.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    17 min
  5. Why This Healthcare Marketer Is Abandoning Trade Show Booths w Elizabeth Wiet

    1D AGO

    Why This Healthcare Marketer Is Abandoning Trade Show Booths w Elizabeth Wiet

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Elizabeth Wiet, Senior Vice President of Marketing at VieCure. VieCure is an oncology care innovation company building the digital ecosystem that connects cancer care providers with life science organizations, enabling fully personalized treatment delivery. As cancer therapies rapidly evolve with innovations like mRNA vaccines and AI-powered clinical decision support, VieCure is positioning itself as the critical infrastructure layer that helps physicians access evidence-based medicine at the point of care. Elizabeth shares how she's building marketing from scratch at VieCure, moving away from traditional healthcare marketing tactics toward thought leadership-driven strategies that reach a highly concentrated audience of 20,000-100,000 oncology professionals in the U.S. Topics Discussed: Building marketing infrastructure from scratch in healthcare technology Predictive market analysis and anticipating future healthcare needs Leveraging thought leadership over traditional event marketing Marketing commoditized products through operational improvements Running micro-tests to validate channel effectiveness Shifting from transactional booth presence to strategic event placement Cross-industry learning to break through healthcare marketing biases Measuring ROI on thought leadership through engagement and sales correlation Lessons For B2B Healthcare Marketers: Adopt a "Predictive Simplicity" Marketing Philosophy: Elizabeth's framework combines two critical elements: prediction (understanding where the market is headed in 5-10 years) and simplicity (cutting through healthcare jargon). This means talking to researchers and life science companies about emerging treatments, studying AI adoption patterns in other regulated industries like finance, and translating complex medical innovations into clear value propositions. Healthcare marketers often get trapped in their bubble—the antidote is systematic external exploration. Break Healthcare Marketing Bias Through Cross-Industry Learning: Healthcare marketers naturally default to industry-specific tactics, but breakthrough results come from importing strategies from unrelated sectors. Elizabeth found early success bringing digital marketing campaigns to chronic kidney disease when competitors relied solely on sales reps and brochures. The key is hypothesis-driven testing: don't spend millions on unproven tactics, but create space to experiment with approaches that work in finance, consumer marketing, or other regulated industries. Treat Operational Issues as Marketing Opportunities: When Elizabeth inherited a commoditized chronic kidney disease product, the breakthrough came from solving an operational problem that affected patient perception. By identifying how inconsistent product delivery was impacting brand perception, she drove cross-functional change that saved the company millions while improving patient satisfaction. In commoditized markets, differentiation often lies in execution excellence rather than product features. Prioritize Micro-Tests Over Channel Commitment: Elizabeth's paid LinkedIn campaign for meeting conversions failed despite clear goals and previous success with the platform. Rather than doubling down, she advocates for micro-tests that provide data-backed go/no-go decisions. With a tiny addressable market (20K-100K professionals), channel effectiveness can shift quickly. Test small, measure engagement rates rigorously, and iterate on messaging, content type, or channels before scaling spend. Reimagine Healthcare Events as Strategic Campaigns: Traditional trade show booths—where you "stand and wait for people to come to you"—are dying, especially for startups competing against established players with massive booth presence. Elizabeth's alternative: treat events as integrated campaigns with specific audience targets, pre-event outreach, thought leadership programming, and branded experiences. At one previous company, this campaign-based approach generated inbound physician inquiries via organic LinkedIn over an eight-month nurture period, directly attributable to the event strategy. Measure Thought Leadership Through Sales Correlation: Proving thought leadership ROI requires tracking engagement rates and connecting content to sales activities. Elizabeth documents when sales reps share thought leadership content multiple times in deals, when medical education conferences facilitate customer-to-prospect conversations, and when content directly influences physician decision-making. In healthcare's tight-knit communities, peer validation is the highest-value marketing—the goal is creating scenarios where you're not in the room but providers advocate for you anyway. Ground Healthcare Marketing in Clinical Reality: The fastest way to build effective healthcare marketing is spending time in clinics and hospitals observing physician and nurse workflows. Elizabeth's new product marketer is attending customer visits and thought leadership events within weeks of starting. This isn't just about understanding pain points—it's about witnessing the operational constraints, time pressures, and decision-making contexts that determine whether innovations get adopted. Marketing knowledge without clinical context produces campaigns that miss the mark. Shift Event Spend Toward Thought Leadership Placement: While scientific forums remain critical for establishing guidelines and evidence-based medicine, the traditional booth model is losing effectiveness as education shifts to AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude. Elizabeth advocates reallocating event budgets toward speaking opportunities, panel placements, and strategic presence that positions executives as thought leaders rather than vendor representatives. This approach works especially well in awareness-building phases when establishing category positioning.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    23 min
  6. Why SDR Teams Should Report to Marketing, Not Sales

    OCT 27

    Why SDR Teams Should Report to Marketing, Not Sales

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Alice Wyatt, a Fractional CMO who recently made the leap from full-time leadership roles at companies like Adyen and Kodat to fractional consulting. Alice shares the real challenges of transitioning to fractional work—from positioning and pricing to managing ego when the recruiter calls stop coming. She discusses her current stealth-mode project building an AI-native go-to-market engine for the call center industry, and explains why she believes SDR teams should report to marketing rather than sales. Through her experience managing cross-functional revenue pods and breaking down organizational silos, Alice provides a candid look at how sophisticated marketing leaders can drive alignment between marketing and sales teams. Topics Discussed: Making the transition from full-time CMO to fractional consultant Building relationships with VCs and exec search firms as a fractional CMO Managing SDR teams under marketing leadership Creating cross-functional revenue pods to eliminate team silos Building an AI-native marketing stack from the ground up Positioning and pricing strategies for fractional work Navigating the cultural shift from London to New York to Austin Lessons for B2B Marketers: Build Your Fractional Foundation Before You Need It: Alice spent significant time doing pro bono work for VC portfolio companies before going fractional, creating a network of relationships that became her pipeline. She maintains three critical groups: past connections (with a policy of always saying yes to help requests), VCs (staying top of mind through referrals and advisory work), and exec search firms (acting as an advisor on job descriptions and hiring processes). This ecosystem approach created a "chock full pipeline" within weeks of going fractional. Position Through Specificity, Not Breadth: Despite receiving conflicting advice about keeping her value proposition broad, Alice ultimately created a single Notion page that clearly articulated specific pain points she could solve and how she solves them. Her principle: if you can't explain what you offer in one page, you can't explain it to anyone. She's now comfortable telling prospects exactly what she can't do, which keeps client relationships clean and prevents scope creep. Eliminate Team Silos Through Shared Incentives: At Kodat, Alice created cross-functional pods consisting of an AE, BDR, and marketer—all focused on the same set of target accounts with the same goal. Instead of meetings focused on activity metrics ("how many calls did you make?"), these pods collaborated on account strategy ("where are we at in cracking these five accounts?"). This structure eliminated finger-pointing and created genuine teamwork because everyone won and lost together. SDR Teams Belong in Marketing, Not Sales: Alice argues that the traditional justification for SDRs reporting to sales—creating a talent pipeline to AE roles—is "absurd" in enterprise B2B where that career path is unlikely. SDRs are more mentally aligned with marketing operations, and sitting in marketing helps them understand how to leverage marketing resources. The best SDRs, in her experience, don't end up in sales anyway—they use it as incredible training for various career paths. Align with Your Commercial Leader or Don't Take the Job: The number one factor for success when managing SDRs as a marketing leader is true alignment with your commercial/sales counterpart. Alice recommends not taking on this responsibility unless you can see real potential for cooperation and can create shared incentives together. Without this alignment, the structure will fail regardless of how well you execute tactically. AI Tools Aren't as Ready as the Hype Suggests: Despite building what she describes as an "AI-native go-to-market engine" in her stealth startup, Alice admits the reality doesn't match the vision yet. Many companies claiming to be "AI-first" are actually just using Clay for emails and ChatGPT Pro licenses—"stuck together or bitty." Even sophisticated tools like Clay require significant technical knowledge to implement properly. Most marketers are still in the "productivity tools" phase rather than the "full-scale transformation" phase that the industry narrative suggests. Make Decisions Based on Energy, Not Just Skills: When considering fractional work (or any career move), Alice recommends identifying what gives you energy rather than just what you're good at. For her, it's organizing teams and solving brand-new problems across different disciplines—an approach rooted in her cell biology background where figuring out metabolic pathways was genuinely fun. Being clear about energy sources and drains helps you position yourself to take on only the work that's sustainable long-term.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    18 min
  7. Why This VP of Marketing Abandoned Paid Media Completely

    OCT 17

    Why This VP of Marketing Abandoned Paid Media Completely

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Rebecca McNeil, VP of Marketing at SureCost, a smarter procurement and inventory solution for pharmacies. Rebecca shares how her team built a unified marketing operation where BDRs report directly to marketing, creating seamless alignment from top-of-funnel campaigns through demo booking. In an industry where traditional digital channels underperform, she's carved out success through association partnerships, trade shows, and a "value-first storytelling" approach that turns complex category creation into compelling narratives. Topics Discussed: Building integrated marketing and BDR teams under one revenue-focused organization Creating "value-first storytelling" frameworks for category creation Abandoning paid media strategies for industry-specific association partnerships and trade shows Implementing AI-driven ABM platforms with personalized tokens at scale Scaling content creation while maintaining authentic voice through systematic AI adoption Training teams to validate and guide AI outputs rather than blindly accepting them Analyzing BDR call transcripts for pattern recognition and messaging optimization Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers: Unify Marketing and BDRs Under One Team: SureCost's 10-person marketing org includes six BDRs reporting through a BDR manager to the VP of Marketing. This eliminates red tape and ensures campaign messaging flows seamlessly from top-of-funnel content through BDR conversations. When prospects engage with a campaign, they hear the same story on follow-up calls—creating a consistent narrative that drives conversions. The key is working out operational SLAs upfront and fostering true collaboration with sales leadership through roundtable meetings and buddy systems. Build Multi-Channel Campaigns Around "Choose Your Own Adventure" Frameworks: Rather than linear campaign flows, create branching conversation frameworks where every potential prospect question has a prepared response rooted in value proposition and customer stories. This approach transforms BDRs into storytellers who can adapt messaging based on how prospects engage, while maintaining consistency across all touchpoints. It takes time to build—SureCost invested four and a half years—but the result is campaign integration where content, operations, and conversations all reinforce the same narrative. Go Where Your Customers Actually Are, Not Where Marketing is Exciting: SureCost abandoned paid media strategies that worked at previous companies because pharmacy audiences don't engage through typical B2B digital channels. Instead, they focus on industry-specific associations and media companies that pharmacists trust, publishing content through these channels and sponsoring their conferences. While creating "the best LinkedIn campaign ever" might be more exciting, driving actual leads means meeting customers in their preferred channels—even if those channels feel less cutting-edge. Establish AI Foundations Before Scaling With AI Tools: SureCost's team built deep value proposition expertise and messaging frameworks before integrating ChatGPT and AI-driven ABM platforms. This means every marketer—from BDR managers to operations specialists—can write quality marketing emails manually, giving them the critical judgment to validate AI outputs. They know when AI is sourcing the right information, when to push back, and how to guide tools toward better results. This human foundation allows them to scale content confidently, turning webinar transcripts into blog posts while maintaining quality. Use AI for Hyper-Personalization That Humans Can't Scale: SureCost implemented an AI-driven ABM platform that uses personalized tokens based on detailed personas. While their team created the personas, messaging, and segmentation strategy, the AI generates thousands of campaign variations that would be impossible to create manually. The key is providing the strategic direction—knowing exactly which segments to target and what messaging resonates—while letting AI handle the execution complexity of creating 45,000 different email versions. Analyze Conversation Transcripts for Pattern Recognition: Beyond using AI for content creation, leverage it to analyze transcribed BDR calls and demo recordings. Look for patterns in what's working with prospects, where challenges consistently emerge, and what language resonates. This transforms qualitative conversations into quantifiable insights that inform campaign strategy, BDR training, and messaging refinement. The analysis scales your ability to learn from every customer interaction rather than relying on anecdotal feedback. Stay Close to the Customer as You Move Into Leadership: Rebecca's top advice for VPs taking on BDR responsibility: participate in customer advisory board meetings, talk to product teams, sit in on demos, listen to BDR calls, and hear customer feedback firsthand. Don't rely solely on secondhand information or get too focused on operations and campaign creation. Your unique marketing perspective on direct customer interactions will surface insights that BDRs might miss—insights that enable the entire team and feed back into top-of-funnel campaigns.     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    22 min
  8. How to Win with Rapid Response: GitGuardian's Media Playbook

    OCT 17

    How to Win with Rapid Response: GitGuardian's Media Playbook

    In this episode of The Marketing Front Lines, we speak with Carole Winqwist, CMO of GitGuardian, a cybersecurity company specializing in secret detection and code vulnerabilities. Carole shares how her team approaches rapid response marketing during major security breaches, the evolution from traditional SEO to answer engine optimization (AEO), and how AI is fundamentally reshaping marketing team structures and capabilities. From navigating Reddit's strict moderation policies to leveraging AI for accelerated content production, Carole provides tactical insights on staying ahead in B2B cybersecurity marketing while building agile, technically-savvy teams. Topics Discussed: Rapid response marketing vs. newsjacking in cybersecurity Transitioning from SEO to answer engine optimization (AEO) Building technically-savvy marketing teams with engineering backgrounds Navigating Reddit as a content distribution channel for B2B companies AI's impact on marketing team structure and content production velocity Enabling team innovation through experimentation and early adoption Structuring content strategy for LLM indexing and discovery Lessons For B2B Tech Marketers: Execute Rapid Response, Not Newsjacking: GitGuardian only responds to security breaches within their core expertise (secret detection and code vulnerabilities). Rather than simply commenting, they conduct original research, analyze breach data, and provide best practices based on actual findings. This positions them as experts rather than opportunists and resonates with sophisticated security audiences who can spot ambulance chasing. Invest in Deep, Data-Rich Content for AEO Success: The shift from SEO to answer engine optimization rewards marketers who were already creating substantive content. Long-form articles with original research, data, and proof points perform well with LLMs because they demonstrate legitimate expertise. This "back to basics" approach means writing for intelligent systems rather than gaming algorithms with keyword repetition and link schemes. Build Marketing Teams with Technical DNA: GitGuardian includes team members with engineering and technical backgrounds who can quickly evaluate new tools and tactics with a testing mindset. This technical savvy enables the team to stay ahead of emerging trends and implement solutions faster than teams relying solely on traditional marketing profiles. Navigate Reddit Through Value, Not Promotion: Reddit's moderators are highly sensitive to commercial content, but original research and genuine insights can break through. The key is ensuring content provides real value independent of company affiliation. GitGuardian struggles with this balance—their vulnerability research is valuable but gets flagged because it lives on a company blog. The solution is focusing on substantive, non-promotional contributions. Structure AI Adoption Around Velocity Gains, Not Headcount Reduction: GitGuardian didn't eliminate positions due to AI but rather increased output with the same or smaller teams. Their content strategist can now handle work that previously required multiple technical writers. One product marketing manager now serves a sales team double the size. AI acts as an accelerator for existing talent rather than a replacement. Create "Divide and Conquer" Specialization Across Emerging Channels: Rather than having everyone monitor everything, GitGuardian assigns team members to focus on specific emerging areas—one person owns AEO, others focus on intent data, AI tools, etc. This distributed expertise allows the team to stay current without overwhelming individuals, while creating internal specialists who can share learnings. Enable Horizontal Skill Development Through AI Tools: AI is allowing marketers to become more transversal, handling end-to-end campaigns rather than narrow specializations. Someone without deep technical expertise can now produce technically accurate content by using AI as an assistant, making it easier to hire strong marketers into technical industries and reducing the barrier to entry for working in specialized B2B verticals. Reward Experimentation Through Internal and External Visibility: GitGuardian's philosophy is to let team members test new approaches unless completely off-strategy. When experiments succeed, team members gain visibility internally and speaking opportunities at conferences. This recognition system encourages innovation and helps team members build personal brands while advancing company marketing. Use AI for Rapid Onboarding and Intern Productivity: New team members and interns become productive much faster when fed solid source content to work with through AI. What used to require slow learning curves now enables near-immediate contribution, making it feasible to bring in junior talent and get value quickly while they develop deeper expertise.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

    23 min
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Learn directly from B2B marketers on the front lines. Brought to you by:  www.FrontLines.io/podcast — Podcast-as-a-Service for B2B tech brands. Launch your show in 45 days.

Information

  • Creator
    Front Lines Media
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    107
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Marketing Front Lines