MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2023

The ROI of Resonance Originality and Impact Turning Every Marketing Touch Into a Remarkable Moment with David Fortino

Marketing needs to stand out to be remembered.

Yet too often in B2B, we play it safe—and our marketing gets lost in a sea of sameness, warns David Fortino, Senior VP of Audience and Product at NetLine.

David shares how his company’s creative marketing ideas were in danger after a corporate buy-out, and how he was able to create a stronger brand because of it.

Watch David’s clip from B2B Forum 2024 now, or read the transcript below!

And don’t forget to bring humanity into your own marketing—a common theme at B2B Forum 2024. Next November, join your fellow B2B marketers at the conference once called, “the place to be if you want a million things to test.”  Tickets are available now and prices are as low as they’ll ever be.

Transcript:

How do you go about finding your own voice?

This [astronaut] is something I’m assuming most of you’re thinking about, which is like, “okay, yeah, Dave, you found space. You created this astronaut. You’ve got a 350 pound version of her now that you’re lugging around the country, and the crate gets delivered, and it’s destroyed each time…”

So the answers are quite simple, right?

It’s really about being “something” at “someone,” and a brand that people remember.

How people remember things is tricky though, right?

You don’t want to be remembered just for the astronaut. That was clear in our minds.

The astronaut was our playful entrance of creating an impression that we are a brand willing to take risks. We are a brand willing to go in a different direction, in a way that stands out. Hopefully as playful too. We definitely want to project playfulness as a brand in our space…

Because no one else does!

And so when I look at that… again I’m saying, “the bar is low.”

The bar is hella low, right?

Most companies in the [B2B marketing] space don’t do anything creative!

It’s insane.

Our platform hosted 50,000 assets over the past year from B2B marketers around the world.

I would say less than a percent—less than half a percent—are truly unique assets that really stand on their own.

And if I was able to meet the marketer behind them, I would give them a hug and be like, “yeah, that’s really compelling work. Nicely done.”

Embrace your quirks!

If you haven’t already noticed, I would say, “quirky” is probably the kind way to describe me. Bit of a hybrid nerd-geek, a quirky creature, and over time I just figured, what the hell. I am who I am. Let’s lean into this.

I’ve really also surrounded myself with people who are very comfortable in embracing their own quirks. And they’re different from mine, and that’s great.

The idea is to allow that to bleed through. 

And so, again, part of that is allowing that to bleed through so that you can feel our quirks.

The idea isn’t to just be a corporate brand that’s boring and bland.

And doubling down on what makes you, you.

This part specifically, I think came back to some decisions I had to make personally, which was: 

Do I want to put my position—and my brand and possibly my career—on the line by doing something that no one else is comfortable with?

As you might recall, I said we were this little company. We were sold to a massive organization. That massive organization’s marketing outputs generally act as if they’re a massive organization. 

It’s very corporate. It’s quite boring. It’s full of stock photography and businessmen, hand shaking, things like that.

That was not what we wanted to be.

I was in a meeting with the CEO and he asked me, “how is it going?”

And I was like, “I get the sense I’m just going from meeting to meeting to meeting, pissing everybody off.”

And he’s like—looks at me straight in the face—”keep doing it.”

And so that affirmed really that, yes, I’m making people uncomfortable.

But it’s the right decision.

So you’ve got to have that personal kind of dialogue with yourself to figure out:

Are you willing to do that?

Is there some kind of special sauce inside your company that’s made your executive team uncomfortable sharing?

Force your way through that door to actually start sharing that, and then inject some playfulness into it.

I’ve shared my story today.

So the goal here is, I ideally have provided a one-time snapshot into how one company went on this path of creating resonance and originality and impact around our marketing efforts.

And my ask is that you do the same, right?

This is a roadmap.

It’s not the only roadmap.

And so the goal for me is that, a year from now, some of you come back, allow us to understand what you’ve done, how you’ve engaged with your market, and how you became bold.

Published Jan 20, 2025


MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2024 was our favorite yet. There was a buzz in the air that’s hard to explain. It’s like we all needed to be in those rooms together more than ever to combat the chaotic state of the world around us and how challenging B2B marketing has been since the last few years.

If you missed it, you can’t go back to get that feeling. But there is still a chance to catch the keynotes and all other recorded sessions to get the amazing insights our speakers shared. Attendees who were there and our PRO members get access to all recordings! So if you’re PRO, simply log in and get to watching. Or, upgrade to a PRO membership today for access. Recordings are available through March 31, 2025.

And don’t miss out on MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2025. Registration is now open at our lowest rate!


 

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