COLIBRIX ONE CMO Alexandra Westfal on building a brand that builds trust and growth

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®

Episode: COLIBRIX ONE CMO Alexandra Westfal on Building a Brand that Builds Trust and Growth
Date: August 1, 2026
Host: Greg Kihlström
Guest: Alexandra Westphal, CMO, COLIBRIX ONE

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the unique branding challenges facing fintech companies, specifically focusing on how to establish trust, differentiation, and long-term growth in a crowded, highly regulated market. Alexandra Westphal, Chief Marketing Officer of COLIBRIX ONE, shares her experiences leading a significant rebrand, balancing innovation with stability, and measuring the true impact of marketing efforts in a B2B fintech environment.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Need for Rebranding in Fintech

[03:24]

• Strategic Growth & Identity:
  • Alexandra discusses how COLIBRIX ONE outgrew its previous identity alongside the company’s ambitions and expansion (from 45 to over 200 employees).
  • The rebranding was not just cosmetic, but reflected a business shift from being merely a payment provider to acting as a unified intelligence layer for modern business.
  • Quote: "We outgrew our previous identity almost simultaneously with the growth of our ambitions...Our strategic driver was clarity. One platform, one experience, one source of truth." — Alexandra Westphal [03:24]

2. Balancing Innovation and Trust in Fintech Brand Identity

[05:38]

• COLIBRIX ONE positions safety, stability, and compliance as baseline requirements, not just checkboxes.
• Innovation is presented as an outcome of trust and operational robustness, rather than risk-taking.
• Quote: "We don't say trust us because we're innovative, we say we're innovating because you can trust us. That inversion matters enormously." — Alexandra Westphal [05:38]

3. Go-to-Market: Channels and Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

[06:57]

• The company operates using an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy:
  • Prioritizing deep research into individual accounts over broad audience targeting.
  • Proactive solutions are tailored for each account, strengthening personal relationships.
• Industry events like Money 20/20 and MBE Sigma are vital for building critical networks and brand warmth.
• Quote: "Traditional marketing thinks in big audiences, and ABM thinks in accounts...Each of our clients is special and we honor them accordingly." — Alexandra Westphal [07:03]

4. Partnerships and Integrated Campaigns

[10:22]

• Effective partnerships go beyond marketing campaigns: value must be tangible in the product itself.
• COLIBRIX ONE aims for its technology partnerships to deliver measurable impact (e.g., higher approval rates, faster payouts), with marketing amplifying those stories.
• Quote: "The campaign doesn't create the story...the product does. Our job in marketing is to make sure that story gets told loudly, consistently." — Alexandra Westphal [10:58]

5. Measuring Effective Branding in B2B

[12:26]

• Alexandra emphasizes practical metrics over vanity KPIs. Key focus areas:
  • Inbound Quality: Leads should arrive knowing the brand’s offering.
  • Sales Cycle Length: A strong brand results in shorter sales cycles as relationships and understanding are already in place.
  • Second Conversation Rates: High rate indicates genuine interest and fit, not just curiosity.
• Quote: "If a prospect arrives and I still have to explain our core products...so the brand probably isn’t working hard enough upstream." — Alexandra Westphal [12:26]
• Quote: "When the sales cycle shortens without the product changing, that means the brand is working." — Alexandra Westphal [13:25]

6. Real-Time Feedback Loops & Synchronizing with Customer Experience

[14:36]

• The fintech industry’s expectations for transparency and speed are ever increasing.
• COLIBRIX ONE established consistent internal feedback loops via close collaboration between marketing, sales, and key account managers.
• Direct customer and partner feedback takes precedence over assumptions, guiding messaging and improvement.
• Quote: "It took us some time to get this right...building a consistent internal communication loop with our sales team and key account managers has been a game changer." — Alexandra Westphal [14:36]

7. Navigating Noise in the Fintech Space (Signal vs. Noise)

[16:14]

• One key challenge is breaking through the crowded, repetitive messaging landscape in fintech.
• Decision-makers develop filters for the “noise”; effective brands cut through with signals that specifically resonate with customer pain points.
• Quote: "Imagine every morning, the head of payments of a large e-commerce company opens LinkedIn and sees like 50 posts from payment companies...they all say roughly the same thing...that's the noise. The signal is just one post that makes him stop scrolling and think, okay, wait, that's actually my problem." — Alexandra Westphal [16:14]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the fundamental motivation for rebranding:
  "We outgrew our previous identity almost simultaneously with the growth of our ambitions." — Alexandra Westphal [03:24]
• On trust and innovation:
  "We’re innovating because you can trust us. That inversion matters enormously." — Alexandra Westphal [05:38]
• On ABM and client relations:
  "ABM or market of one means you treat a single enterprise account as if they are their own individual market segment... you show up with solutions before they even notice you." — Alexandra Westphal [07:03]
• On partnership programs:
  "The partnerships and integrations that work for us are the ones where the values emptied in the product...the campaign doesn't create the story, the product does." — Alexandra Westphal [10:58]
• On what metrics matter:
  "If a prospect arrives and I still have to explain our core products and value proposition, so the brand probably isn’t working hard enough upstream." — Alexandra Westphal [12:26]
• On customer feedback loops:
  "Building a consistent internal communication loop with our sales team and key account managers has been a game changer." — Alexandra Westphal [14:36]
• On breaking through the noise:
  "The signal is just one post that makes him stop scrolling and think, okay, wait, that's actually my problem." — Alexandra Westphal [16:14]

---

Forward-Looking Insights and Closing Thoughts

• Biggest Challenge Ahead?
  [16:14] Cutting through the noise with precise, relevant messaging that resonates as a “signal” rather than “noise” as audience sophistication rises.

• Hopes for the Next Year:
  [18:03] Alexandra aspires for COLIBRIX ONE to become the default choice in regulated verticals based on earned reputation and peer recommendations rather than advertising spend.

  • "In B2B payments, earned reputation travels faster than any campaign. I think I'm building for that moment." — Alexandra Westphal [18:03]

• On Staying Agile:
  [18:49] Alexandra advocates for protecting deliberate “thinking time” instead of drowning in information, calling discipline and focused reflection vital for agility.

  • "I would say my personal recommendation: stop trying to stay agile by consuming more information. Instead, protect your thinking time...if you can be disciplined, this is the best. What keeps you focused and agile." — Alexandra Westphal [18:49]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:25 — Alexandra’s background and origin at COLIBRIX ONE
• 03:24 — Rationale behind the rebranding and strategic direction
• 05:38 — Balancing innovation and trust in fintech branding
• 06:57 — ABM and go-to-market strategies
• 10:22 — Designing partnerships and integrated campaigns
• 12:26 — Measuring brand effectiveness: KPIs and what matters
• 14:36 — Feedback loops and aligning promise with experience
• 16:14 — Overcoming challenges: noise versus signal in fintech marketing
• 18:03 — Aspirations for the next year and reputation-building
• 18:49 — Staying agile as a marketing leader

---

Tone and Style

The discussion was candid, practical, and grounded in Alexandra’s real-world experience. Alexandra’s responses were direct, emphasizing substance over hype, and the overall atmosphere was insightful with a focus on actionable strategies rather than buzzwords.

---

This episode is a valuable listen for B2B marketers, fintech leaders, and anyone interested in the nuanced art of building lasting brand trust in technical, highly regulated industries.

Transcript

[Alexandra Westphal]

Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for hr, finance and it. With AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right, it's a new workday.

[Grainger Announcer]

When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Hi, I'm Greg Hillstrom, your host of the Agile Brand, and here's a question for you. When digital payments can feel like a commoditized utility, how do you build a brand that's seen not just as a processor, but as a strategic partner? Agility requires more than just speed. It demands the ability to innovate with complex regulatory frameworks while simultaneously building and maintaining unwavering customer trust. Today we're going to talk about the unique challenge of building a resonant brand in the highly competitive and technical world of fintech. We're going to explore how to translate complex capabilities into a compelling narrative that builds trust and drives growth. Welcome to season eight of the Agile Brand Podcast. This season we're going all in on Expert Mode, MarTech, AI and Customer Experience, talking with the people and platforms behind the brands you know and love. Again, I'm your host Greg Kilstrom and I help Fortune 1000 companies make sense of martech, AI and marketing ops. Hit, subscribe or follow to make sure you always get the latest episodes and leave us a rating so others can find us as well. And make sure you check out our sponsor, TechSystems, an industry leader in full stack technology services, talent services and real world adoption. For more information, go to techsystems.com now let's dive in to help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Alexandra Westphal, Chief Marketing Officer at Colabrix one. Alexandra, welcome to the show.

[Alexandra Westphal]

Hello Greg and everyone. Thank you very much for inviting me.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, looking forward to talking about this topic with you. Before we dive in though, why don't you give a little background on yourself and your role at Colorbricks1.

[Alexandra Westphal]

So I actually came into this role from a completely different industry. It was almost five years ago, four to five, and we stepped into a lean startup, 45 people. Now we are more than 200 and yeah, my first challenge was a massive upgrade to match our big ambitious plans.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, nice, nice. Well, yeah, we're going to, we're going to talk about a few topics today, but I want to start with what I touched on in the intro and just that that idea of differentiation and driving a brand strategy that really sets a company apart. And you know, as you mentioned, you know, Colaborix one recently underwent a significant rebrand in admittedly crowded space, you know, in the fintech space. So what was the core strategic driver behind this? What narrative are you aiming to establish in the market?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Well, I believe we outgrew our previous identity almost simultaneously with the growth of our ambitions. And our rebranding was something we had planned from the very beginning. Like as I told before, my first challenge was to step out from the previous name into Calibrix. And now last year we made up a Colybricks one, which is the name of the holding with a few companies made up for the products, for the separate products before. So from the beginning we executed that. We need something more fresh and more giant, I would say. And actually it reflects our shift from being perceived as a payment provider or electronic money institution to becoming a unified intelligence layer for modern business. Like a comprehensive platform that brings everything together. That's why we're Colibrix 1. And in terms of narrative, our strategic driver was clarity. One platform, like one experience, one source of truth.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, yeah, Nice, nice. Yeah. And definitely, you know, from being seen as more of a commodity to being seen, as to your point, a more comprehensive platform and something that enables more comprehensive capabilities certainly takes a lot of, a lot of strategic thought and you know, so as a, as a CMO in fintech, you also have to balance the message of you're an innovative company and doing a lot of cutting edge things, but you also have that or your customers have that foundational need for trust and for security because of, you know, the payments and the fintech capabilities. How do you strategically embed both of these concepts into a brand's core identity?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Well, everything we do, like the license we communicate, the compliance tools we build, the BCI certification we lead with. That's not defensive messaging. That's the foundation that gives us permission to claim that we are safe and stable and we move at the speed of our clients business with the safeguards of, call it Walt, which may sound a bit old fashioned, but it's about convincing that our innovation isn't about taking risks with the client's money, it's about removing the risks, inheriting legacy systems and we don't say trust us because we're innovative, we say we're innovating because you can trust us. That's inversion matters enormously.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, yeah, I like that. Let's talk a little bit about the, the go to market plan then. You know, so having the brand strategy in place and you know, beyond the maybe the standard digital marketing playbook, what channels or activation strategies have proven most effective for engaging those, you know, senior decision makers at e commerce and fintech companies.

[Alexandra Westphal]

Have you heard about abm?

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, yeah, like honestly, account based marketing?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Yeah, actually we started our business with it. Traditional marketing thinks usually in audiences, in big audiences and ABM thinks in accounts. So this ABM or market of one means you treat a single enterprise account, say large a gaming operator or high volume e commerce platform as if they are their own individual market segment. You research them, you understand their pain, you speak their language, you show up with solutions before they even notice you. And our products, of course they are for everyone. That's true. But there should be a match if in common vision and ambitions. And each of our clients is special and we honor them accordingly. Also what works is proximity. Like industry conferences e.g. money 2020, MBE Sigma. They aren't just brand moments, they're intelligent operations. Networking becomes easier, warmer with each conference. I mean relationships is that matter outside business, inside the business, I mean everywhere. And everything starts with a person. So you start if you like a person, I mean you are really sure and I mean you're interested to work with him.

[Greg Hillstrom]

If your team wants a website that looks and feels handcrafted but is still fast to ship, Framer is built for that. You design on a visual canvas with responsive layouts, hosting and a CMS built in. So the work is production ready. From day one, agents work alongside you to draft pages and polish sections. Then you review and publish what goes live. Framer is the pro AI website builder for creators, teams and businesses that want a professional site and care enough to get every detail right. Framer is an enterprise level solution powered by agents that provides premium hosting, enterprise grade security and 99.99% uptime SLAs that give the world's leading brands like Perplexity and Miro the confidence they need to build their websites in Framer. Learn how you can get more out of your site from a Framer specialist or get started building for free [e-mail] Agile for 30% off a Framer Pro annual plan. That's framer.com Agile for 30 percent off framer.com Agile rules and restrictions may apply.

[Grainger Announcer]

When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Greg Hillstrom]

And speaking of relationships, the partnerships component is also very important here in building some of those customer relationships as well. From a marketing perspective, how do you move beyond, you know, every software company, every technology company has partnerships and some of them, you know, some of their programs more effective than others. How do you create, you know, just going beyond the basics and creating a genuinely integrated campaign that provides real value to your partners as well as your end customers?

[Alexandra Westphal]

The partnerships and integrations that work for us are the ones where the values emptied in the product. And when a partner platform, for example, connects to our acquiring infrastructure or virtual cards issuance and their client sees better approval rates or a faster payout cycle, that is the real partnership. I mean the campaign doesn't create the story. I mean it does but for a short time, but the product, I think that is what truly matters. And our job in marketing is just to make sure that story gets told loudly, consistently. And it will, as I also mentioned before, match the precise person who are interested in that.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about measurement then. And so you know, you're in the B2B space and generally speaking, traditional top of the line metrics can be, you know, everybody needs lots of, lots of leads the top of funnel. But sometimes that can be misleading as far as, you know, getting all the way through the funnel. So what are the key performance indicators that you try to focus on to measure Things like brand health, trust, influence on the sales cycle, things like that?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Yeah, KPI metrics are so tempting. It's the most common thing I hear from the other marketers in the industry. But the metrics I actually care about are much more practical. And first, maybe I would like to mention is inbound quality. Are the leads coming to us already understanding what we do? For example, if a prospect arrives and I still have to explain our core products and value proposition, so the brand probably isn't working hard enough upstream. Second sales cycle length. So this one is maybe underrated if our brand is doing its job. If a decision maker has Already seen our contact, heard our name and the event for example, read some something useful published. The sales conversation starts warmer and moves faster and it's a very nice hook and it's easy to find some common topics. Yeah, when the sales cycle shorten without the product changing, that means that brand is working. And third thing is that the second conversation rates like how often does the initial meeting lead to a deeper technical discussion, for example, that tells me we are attracting serious buyers, not just like curious ones.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Right, right. And so from the, from the customer and you know, certainly in B2C as well. But in B2B customer expectations around speed and transparency are constantly rising. I think some of this comes from B2B is looking more like B2C in some ways over the last few years. How do you create feedback loops to measure how what you're promising as a brand aligns with actual customer experience? And how does that data that you get inform your marketing strategy?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Yeah, customers expectations in payments becoming extremely high from year to year. And honestly they should be like that. People expect things to be fast, transparent or to simply work in our unpredictable world when they don't, I mean when payments don't work, trust disappears really quickly and or promising is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility in fintech industry. So the most reliable data we have is the feedback we receive from our customers and partners on daily basis. It took us some time to get this right and actually I would say that building a consistent internal communication loop with our sales team and key account managers has been a game changer and it's what allows us to stay synchronized with the clients, what they are actually experiencing, not just what we assume they are.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, yeah, makes sense. And so looking at, looking ahead then what do you see as certainly there's a lot of potential challenges but you know, what do you see as one of the bigger challenges for a company in B2B fintech? You know, anything from regulatory to technological disruption, something else entirely. You know, what, what are you, what are you seeing on your horizon and how are you performing preparing for it.

[Alexandra Westphal]

The unexpected is always the biggest challenge when something appears you haven't been prepared to. But recently I've read a lot about it's called signal versus noise that the fintech space and I mean in general our world is becoming so crowded with messaging that decision makers for example have developed incredibly sophisticated filters. And for example, imagine every morning like head of payments of large e commerce company opens LinkedIn and he sees like 50 posts from payment companies, right? They all say roughly the Same thing like global payments, fast, secure, trusting, etc. And after seeing this for two years straight, he just stops reading. His brain has learned to skip it automatically. So that's the noise.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah.

[Alexandra Westphal]

And the signal is just one post that makes him stop scrolling, for example, and think, okay, wait, that's actually my problem. And I can see that there is an opportunity to, to get it done. So I think that's the thing where lies in reducing cognitive load. So this is one of our challenges, I would say.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah, yeah, makes sense. Well, Alexandra, thanks so much for joining today. Got a couple last questions as we wrap up here. The first one, if we were having this interview one year from today, what is one thing that we would definitely be talking about?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Oh well, ambitions. Ambitions. We're Talking about how Calyprix1 became the name that high growth brands and regulated verticals default to. Not because we spend the most on advertising, but because, let's say a few of our most respected clients and partners in the space recommended us publicly and repeatedly in B2B payments. Earned reputation travels faster than any campaign. I think I'm building for that moment.

[Grainger Announcer]

Yeah.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Love it. And last question for you. What do you do to stay agile in your role and how do you find a way to do it consistently?

[Alexandra Westphal]

Oh, wow. I would say that my personal recommendation to stop. To stop trying to stay agile by consuming more information everyone is in this industry is drawing. And what I do instead is protecting my thinking time. So I'm still staying hungry and foolish and open to the world, but to the moments outside the job, like breathing in, breathing out. I mean, it can be simple and hard at the same time, but if you can be disciplined, this is the best. What keeps you focused and agile.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Yeah.

[Grainger Announcer]

Yeah.

[Greg Hillstrom]

Love it. Well, again I'd like to thank Alexandra Westphal, Chief Marketing Officer at Colabrix one, for joining the show. You can learn more about Alexandra and Colabrics1 by following the links in the show notes. This episode is brought to you by Tech Systems. They're leaders in full stack, tech services, talent solutions and helping companies put it all in action. You can learn [e-mail] that's teksystems.com and thanks again for listening to the Agile brand podcast. If you like the episode hit subscribe and drop a rating so others can find the show too. And if you're interested in consulting, advisory work, or if you need a speaker for your next event, feel free to reach out. Just visit GregKillstrom.com that's G R E G K I H L S t r o m.com the Agile brand is produced by Missing Link, a Latina owned, strategy driven, creatively fueled production co op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. Until next time, stay curious and stay agile.

[Alexandra Westphal]

Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR finance and IT with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new work day when you're

[Grainger Announcer]

a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant. You keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdown. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.