Dave sits down with Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island, to share his approach to creating a brand in the cybersecurity space. Ari shares his journey from agency life to leading the brand narrative at Island, where he helped build the concept of the "enterprise browser."

Dave and Ari Cover:

The key differences between category creation and strategic positioning, and why it matters for B2B marketers
The steps to building a brand story that resonates with both your internal team and your target audience
How focusing on the last 20% of branding efforts can elevate your company above the competition

Timestamps

(00:00) - - Intro to Ari
(05:01) - - Rapidly Growing Enterprise Browser Company Secures $375M in Series D Funding
(09:10) - - SEO Strategy vs Branding
(14:37) - - How Brand is an Art and a Science
(19:52) - - Challenges in Cybersecurity Branding
(21:36) - - Early Stage Marketing
(31:12) - - Cognitive Behavioral Branding
(36:21) - - How Ari Manages Projects with the Brand Team
(38:31) - - Comfortable vs. Uncomfortable Approaches to Brand Strategy
(42:49) - - What Founders Really Want to Do
(47:55) - - Balancing the Day-to-Day with Visionary Goals

Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.com
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/
Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership

***

This episode of the Exit Five podcast is brought to you by our friends at Calendly. You’ve probably heard of Calendly. And you probably have used it to schedule meetings with people outside your company.

But did you know you can also use Calendly on your website to increase conversion and create a better hand off experience with sales?

Speed to lead is everything and that’s why B2B marketing teams today use Calendly to convert leads the moment they’re ready to talk to sales. Instead of doing the whole follow-up late dance, you can book meetings right within the forms on your website. And Calendly has the routing and integrations you need to make sure your prospects get booked with the right sales rep.

Smith.ai increased their website bookings by 26% using Calendly. And Katalon, the all-in-one test automation platform, was able to increase their conversion rate 3X using Calendly.

Join over 20 million users who count on Calendly to simplify meetings, save time and drive revenue revenue by removing the friction from your website. Visit calendly.com/exitfive to get started with a 14-day free trial.

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
Visit hatch.fm to learn more

#177: Brand | Startup Brand Building with Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island

The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)

#177: Brand | Startup Brand Building with Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island