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In this episode of Marketing From the Front Line, I’m joined by John Elbing, strategic storyteller and author of Storybuilding, to talk about why so many businesses struggle to connect with customers, even when their product or service is solid.
We get into what it really means to take the customer’s standpoint, why most websites fail at the first moment of recognition, and how businesses accidentally design marketing that works for themselves rather than the people they want to reach. John shares hard-won lessons from building brands across startups and global companies, including what didn’t work when he tried to scale his own visibility.
We also talk about consistency, credibility, books as marketing assets, where AI helps and where it actively gets in the way, and why differentiation matters more now than ever in a sea of sameness.
If your marketing feels “fine” but not effective, this episode will challenge how you think about brand, messaging and growth.
Moments from the conversation
Authenticity over polished ads
AI’s role in content creation
