Marketing Vanguard: "Marketing as a Profit Center" featuring Llibert Argerich (Thumbtack CMO)

Date: November 25, 2025
Host: Jenny Rooney (Adweek)
Guest: Llibert Argerich (CMO, Thumbtack)

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Llibert Argerich, CMO of Thumbtack, and his pioneering view that marketing should be seen as a profit center, not a cost center. The discussion traces Llibert’s international career, his penchant for building marketing functions from scratch, his data-driven philosophy, and Thumbtack’s customer/market approach. The episode offers insights into balancing brand and performance marketing, leveraging AI for product/marketing synergy, and the realities of marketing leadership in resource-constrained, high-growth environments.

Guest Introduction & Career Journey

[01:17–05:54]

• Background:

  • Origin: Spain, studied economics in southern France, early interest in the intersection of data and psychology in marketing.
  • Early Entry: Began career in Barcelona, then moved to London to learn English and landed a marketing assistant role at Expedia.

• Career Progression:

  • Specialized for years in digital marketing at Expedia and eBay, working on everything from SEM and affiliates to integrated brand campaigns.
  • Transitioned from specialist to organizational leader, taking his first head-of-marketing role at Udemy, growing the company significantly.
  • Joined Thumbtack two years ago after connecting with its founder over the company’s mission and growth challenge.

Notable Quote:
"I love the data side of economics, but I also love the psychological element of understanding the motivations and drives of customers. The combination of the two felt like perfect for who I am as an individual." — Llibert Argerich [02:25]

The Evolution of Digital Marketing

[05:54–06:54]

• Reflections on working at Expedia and eBay during the foundational days of digital and performance marketing.
• First major project: Implementing DoubleClick tracking links across all digital channels for deduplication in 2006, considered groundbreaking at the time.

Notable Quote:
"That was groundbreaking in 2006. Back then, today is like, nobody even thinks about that. But back then it was a big deal." — Llibert Argerich [06:40]

The Builder’s Mindset: Startups & Scarcity as a Catalyst

[07:32–09:07]

• Motivation to leave global brands for startups: Desire to build across disciplines, thrive in resource-constrained environments, and establish scalable systems.
• Embraces the challenge that scarcity brings, believing it drives focus on essentials and prioritization.

Notable Quote:
"I'm an entrepreneur who never built his own company, but really loves and thrives starting things from scratch and building and designing and seeing the evolution." — Llibert Argerich [07:44]

Thumbtack: Mission & Market Differentiation

[10:10–14:32]

• Thumbtack’s Purpose:

  • Founded to solve consumer pain around finding reliable home services professionals in a highly fragmented, local market.
  • Aim to eliminate uncertainty for homeowners and drive real, revenue-generating opportunities for service pros.

• Business Model Distinction:

  • Not just lead generation; Thumbtack seeks to match customers and pros deeply for actual jobs, not just passing contacts.
  • Focused on being a true partner for both sides of the marketplace.

Notable Quote:
"Our promise to our pros is like not leads, jobs. This is what we are emphasizing and we really want to, to help the pro growth because that's what long term scalability is all about." — Llibert Argerich [13:50]

Marketing as a Profit Center

[14:40–17:45]

• Thumbtack is now a mature, profitable company, but pre-IPO and still highly resource-conscious.

• Llibert’s philosophy: Marketing should only receive as much budget as it delivers in contribution to the bottom line. Brand and performance must tie directly to P&L impact.

• Partnership with finance: Close relationship with CFO built on shared commitment to resource efficiency and measurable impact.

Notable Quote:
“My whole philosophy is marketing is not a cost center. Marketing is a profit center...You should get as much budget as it adds to the bottom line and contribution. That's it.” — Llibert Argerich [00:34; 14:40]

Balanced Media Mix & Local Strategy

[17:45–22:09]

• Past risks of brand-first campaigns with unproven ROI can erode internal trust—he reverses the model by earning budget increases through transparent, measurable results.
• Thumbtack’s current strategy:
  • Focus on hyper-local campaigns where it matters most to buyers and pros.
  • Systematically test local media buys and branded initiatives, expanding only when incremental revenue is proven.
  • Financial discipline means skipping splashy, high-risk bets like Super Bowl ads for now, in favor of sustainable, scalable efforts.

Notable Quote:
"I'd rather have a marketing practice that is engendered on trust, on connection to the bottom line of the company...earning the right to go further up the funnel and take bigger bets." — Llibert Argerich [17:54]

Product and Marketing: AI as the Differentiator

[22:35–25:36]

• Thumbtack differentiates by deeply matching homeowners and pros—not being a directory but a matchmaking platform.
• AI is revolutionizing this process, shifting from structured data matching to nuanced, data-driven pairing.
• Product and marketing are inseparable; experience drives brand equity more than advertising alone.

Notable Quotes:
"With AI, you don't need structured data. AI interprets troves and troves of data and allows us to do better matching between pros and homeowners." — Llibert Argerich [23:30]
"The biggest driver for brand equity and consideration and awareness is strong product market fit. The better experience you deliver to your customers, the more they will remember you." — Llibert Argerich [24:09]

Leadership Style & CMO Realities

[25:36–28:33]

• Leadership Philosophy:

  • Emphasizes servant leadership, enabling and empowering his teams and cross-functional collaborations.
  • Sees his primary role as removing barriers and setting vision rather than being hands-on with campaigns.

• CMO Motivations:

  • Building great, cross-functional teams
  • Driving company-wide growth and ROI
  • Innovating at the intersection of marketing and AI

• CMO Challenges:

  • Fear of not moving quickly enough (FOMO on innovation)
  • Resource limitations
  • Ongoing quest to deeply understand and serve the customer

Closing: CMO Recommendations & Final Thoughts

[28:46–30:17]

• Llibert recommends Nick Brandenburger, CMO of Mammut, for the podcast (“the absolute opposite of me as a CMO… brand first”), highlighting the value of diverse CMO perspectives.
• Jenny invites both to the Marketing Vanguard Summit for a joint session.
• Episode ends with warm acknowledgements and an invitation to continue the conversation.

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• "Marketing is not a cost center. Marketing is a profit center."
  [00:34 | 14:40] — Llibert Argerich

• "The better experience you deliver to your customers, the more they will remember you."
  [24:09] — Llibert Argerich

• "I'm an entrepreneur who never built his own company, but really loves and thrives starting things from scratch."
  [07:44] — Llibert Argerich

• "Our promise to our pros is like not leads, jobs."
  [13:50] — Llibert Argerich

• "With AI, you don't need structured data."
  [23:30] — Llibert Argerich

Key Segment Timestamps

• Llibert’s Career Background: [02:16–05:54]
• Thumbtack’s Purpose & Model: [10:10–14:32]
• Marketing as Profit Center: [14:40–17:45]
• Local Marketing Strategy: [17:45–22:09]
• Product/AI & Marketing Connection: [22:35–25:36]
• Leadership & CMO Realities: [25:36–28:33]
• Who’s Next Recommendations: [28:46–29:55]