What Your CEO Really Thinks About Marketing

One CMO answers three questions about marketing. Then Adam reads out what her CEO wrote.

You report on marketing every month. You think you know what your CEO makes of it. Would you bet your next budget conversation on that?

Jillian Als is CMO at Leadfeeder, a year into the role after a career in B2B scale-ups across PLG, sales-led and partner-led motions. She joined to find three brands, three websites and two narratives, and led a full rebrand back to Leadfeeder in three months.

This first episode puts CMO and CEO alignment to the test. Jillian answers on camera without seeing what her CEO, Kevin, wrote. The reveal shows two leaders who agree on almost everything, and why that agreement started before she took the job.

You'll hear how a B2B rebrand plays out when sales still has quotas on the old product, why brand building in B2B matters more as AI makes products look alike, and where AI in marketing should stop. It's for marketing leaders and founders at SaaS companies, especially anyone weighing a CMO role or a rebrand.

Key Takeaways

• Inheriting three brands and two narratives made Jillian's job easier. A messy starting point gave her licence to be ruthless about what marketing stops doing.
• The hardest part of the rebrand was the old product. Sales knew how to sell it, churn was opening a gap, and a new brand can't grow as fast as an old one drops.
• One interview question tells a marketing leader what a company is really like: "What are the reasons I shouldn't take this job?"
• Jillian and Kevin drew the same line on AI, independently. Hers comes from version 23 of a strategic narrative post and the external writers she let go.

Chapter Markers

00:00 What Your CEO Really Thinks About Marketing

00:35 Meet Jillian Als, CMO at Leadfeeder

01:26 How the reveal works

02:55 Has marketing become more important?

04:07 Saying no after an identity crisis

05:00 The reveal: Kevin's first answer

06:48 Retiring a brand sales still sells

08:13 Marketing's most important job right now

09:36 Kevin on a human brand in the AI era

10:56 Good CEO and CMO relationships, and tougher ones

12:13 Why Jillian joined Leadfeeder

14:00 Ask why you shouldn't take the job

16:00 How much marketing will AI do?

19:23 When writing is too perfect to be you

20:17 Kevin on AI and the company's voice

21:48 Bonus: why customers choose Leadfeeder

23:13 Still in the honeymoon phase

Useful Links & Resources

Jillian Als on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianals

Leadfeeder: https://www.leadfeeder.com

Fibbler, paid ads attribution for B2B marketers: https://fibbler.co

Connect With the Show

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-your-ceo-really-thinks-about-marketing/id6823635122

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oazmUcdfuNxKPONWYduSF

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_E5yQgKovrWdco6apvyznQ

Adam Holmgren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-holmgren/

Fibbler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fibbler

If your CEO answered the same three questions, where would you disagree? Tell us in the comments. And if you've ever asked "why shouldn't I take this job?" in an interview, we'd like to hear what came back.

Wondering what your own CEO thinks? Send them this episode. If you run marketing and think you know exactly what your CEO would say, message Adam on LinkedIn and come on the show to prove it.

This podcast is produced by B2B Better (https://www.b2b-better.com)

#WhatYourCEOReallyThinks #B2BMarketing #CMO #BrandBuilding #AIinMarketing

When I was the marketer, I was sure I knew what my CEO thought of my work. I never actually asked.

So now we're asking. Every episode, I sit down with one B2B marketing leader.

Before we record, their CEO answers three questions in writing, and my guest never sees the answers. On the show, my guest answers the same three.

Has marketing become more or less important over the last year? What's its most important job? And in twelve months, how much of marketing will AI be doing, and what should it never touch?

After each answer, I read out what their CEO wrote. Sometimes they line up. Sometimes they really don't.

New episodes every two weeks. I'm Adam Holmgren, co-founder and CEO of Fibbler.

Produced by B2B Better