Podcast Summary: Beyond Clicks—Building B2B Brands with Offline Ads (Amrita Gurney, Exit Five CMO Podcast)
Host: Dave Gerhardt
Guest: Amrita Gurney (Fractional Marketing Leader, former Head of Marketing at Float)
Date: October 2, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode, Dave Gerhardt sits down with Amrita Gurney to explore the resurgence of offline, out-of-home (OOH) advertising in B2B marketing. Amrita shares her experience leading impactful brand campaigns (billboards, TV, print, transit ads) at Float, a Canadian fintech. The conversation dives into why OOH works for B2B, how to build a creative strategy, measuring brand awareness, budget considerations, and actionable advice for marketers interested in experimenting with non-digital channels.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Amrita’s Background & Context
- Amrita’s path: Founding marketing leader at multiple Canadian startups, recently shifted to fractional CMO roles.
- Float’s competitive context:
- Canadian fintech, competing against “five big banks… been around for about 100 years.” (04:34)
- Needed to appear credible and trustworthy fast (especially with other B2B fintechs like Ramp and Brex as references).
Why Offline/Out-of-Home for B2B?
- Brand Trust Through Physical Presence:
- “We felt that using out-of-home was a way to look bigger than we were… and be in an environment where few B2B companies were.” (C, 04:34)
- Billboards and print were seen as a “debut”—a bold announcement to the B2B market.
- Differentiation:
- Key point: Going where competitors aren’t, “making a bold statement” with channels usually seen as ‘B2C’ only.
- Culture of “taking big bold bets” embraced by Float’s founders. (C, 08:35)
Campaign Strategy & Creative Approach
- Integrated Campaign:
- Billboards, full-page newspaper ads, airport/bus/transit ads, digital.
- “Billboards were just one part of an integrated strategy… We also took out a full-page ad in print news… and then we had a ton of digital to capture the demand we were creating.” (C, 07:25)
- Creative Differentiation:
- Stood out with bright, non-traditional banking colors (“very vibrant turquoise”) and emotional/human photography.
- “We worked with a portrait photographer… The receipt loser, the big spender, the corporate card sharer, the bottlenecker…” (C, 08:35)
- Focused on emotional resonance vs. just logical product benefits.
- “Billboards were the story, but the creative was really what got this campaign to take off. To this day, it definitely put Float on the map.” (C, 12:03)
Notable Quote: On Creative
"[W]hat you put on [a billboard] is also such an important part of it. I see a lot of B2B brands… but the creative is so boring, it’s not really going to draw a lot of attention and recall, in my opinion.”
— Amrita Gurney (08:35)
Testing & Measurement
- Testing Process for OOH:
- No formal pre-testing in early campaigns beyond informal customer feedback on concepts.
- “We didn’t test it. We just went out and put this everywhere… that was our big, bold bet.” (C, 14:13)
- Understanding ‘Recall’:
- Recall crucial for brand—can people remember your brand unaided/aided after exposure?
- “Recall is just, are you remembered and are you remembered for the thing you want to be remembered for?” (C, 16:08)
- How to Measure Results:
- Early on: Looked for lift in website visits, demo requests, opportunities, performance campaign success.
- “When we were running those campaigns… all of our performance metrics… everything was lifted… as high as 30-50%.” (C, 20:03)
- Over time: Added brand recall surveys, found they were “making traction at the same level as brands… much more established.”
- TV specific: Measured website activity within 15 minutes of a spot; saw strong, immediate impact. (C, 33:55)
- Budget Allocation:
- Initial OOH campaign was “less than 5%” of annual marketing budget.
- Advised treating OOH as one part of a mix, experimenting in one or two markets to measure lift vs. control.
- In the US: “You could actually do a test at a reasonable cost, meaning less than $100k…”
Notable Quote: On Measurement
“It’s not like zero [data]. You can measure some things and we could measure that lift…”
— Amrita Gurney (C, 30:27)
Media Planning & Execution
- Targeting Strategy:
- Used Float’s customer office addresses (“master mapped... across the country”) to identify high-density areas. Focused on 3 major cities (Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver). (C, 26:19)
- “Better to go all in in a region versus trickling a little bit throughout…”
- Physical visits to billboard locations to assess site prominence and value.
- For bus ads: Bought exterior placements for drivers stuck behind buses—often the finance leaders they wanted to reach!
Duration & Cadence
- Cadence: Not always-on. Out-of-home campaigns ran “typically twice a year… spring and fall”—paired with continuous digital brand ads. (C, 35:00)
Lessons & Advice for Marketers
- Lead with Strategy:
- “Don’t start with the channel. That’s advice I give no matter what the channel is… Start with the strategy, then choose the channels.” (C, 36:20)
- Audience and Company Stage Matter:
- OOH makes more sense when targeting a wide-enough audience (not just a few enterprise logos).
- If going after a handful of major accounts, can execute hyper-targeted OOH (e.g., billboards outside key offices).
- A minimum scale needed: “If you’re spending $5,000 on paid marketing, then of course [OOH] is not a good fit. It needs to be at the right stage for your company.” (C, 38:41)
- Embrace Differentiation:
- “Going in places where others are not” can yield surprising, lasting results.
Notable Quote: On Experimentation
“These offline channels are… kind of the forgotten art of marketing that B2B brands need to be embracing.”
— Amrita Gurney (C, 22:09)
Memorable Moments & Quotes
- On Trust and Brand Perception:
- “Who do you see on billboards? Typically companies who are like doing well or have lots of money… It makes it feel like, ‘Oh this is a big company that I can trust.’”
— Dave Gerhardt (07:25)
- “Who do you see on billboards? Typically companies who are like doing well or have lots of money… It makes it feel like, ‘Oh this is a big company that I can trust.’”
- On Creative Risks:
- “It was risky in that we were also going out with creative that was not very safe…”
— Amrita Gurney (08:35)
- “It was risky in that we were also going out with creative that was not very safe…”
- On Measuring TV Ads:
- “We were able to measure the impact within the 15 minute window after a spot had aired.”
— Amrita Gurney (33:55)
- “We were able to measure the impact within the 15 minute window after a spot had aired.”
Key Timestamps
- Amrita’s background & Float context: [02:37–04:34]
- Why OOH, campaign setup, and creative approach: [04:34–13:05]
- Measuring effectiveness & ‘recall’: [16:08–22:09]
- Budgeting and testing strategy: [26:19–33:38]
- TV spot measurement: [33:55]
- Advice for marketers and lessons learned: [36:20–38:41]
Final Thoughts
Amrita gives real, tactical insight into why and how B2B firms can leverage traditional channels—especially during scale-up phases, or when trust and awareness are critical. The episode debunks the myth that OOH is only for B2C, while providing measured guidance on risk, creative differentiation, measurement, and budget. Both host and guest are candid, lively, and occasionally witty, making this a relatable deep-dive for any B2B marketer curious about building brand beyond clicks.
Connect with Amrita on LinkedIn or through the Exit Five community for follow-up questions.