Podcast Summary: The Exit Five CMO Podcast

Episode: How to Use Cognitive Behavioral Branding to Create New Categories with Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island
Date: September 22, 2025
Host: Dave Gerhardt
Guest: Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dave Gerhardt dives deep with Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island, exploring how cognitive behavioral principles can fuel new category creation in B2B enterprise software. The discussion spans the art and science of branding, lessons from Ari’s agency background, the process of building Island’s category-defining narrative, and tactical advice for marketers tasked with crafting brands from scratch. This is a masterclass in brand strategy, category creation, and the real “soul” of branding.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction to Island and Ari’s Background

• Ari's Journey to Island:
  • Previously with Atreo, a branding agency in Tel Aviv, specializing in naming, messaging, and positioning for tech companies.
  • Recounts being asked to name a new, revolutionary company by Island’s founders (Mike Fey and Dan Amiga).
  • Describes selecting the name "Island" to evoke freedom and an unencumbered workspace, in stark contrast to the locked-down, frustrating experience of traditional enterprise security software.
• Island’s Profile:
  • Series D startup, $375M funding, $3B valuation; investors include Sequoia, Insight, Cotu, Cisco, Georgian.
  • Creator of the “enterprise browser” — a category-defining product designed to change how companies secure and manage digital work.

“If you could build a brand from scratch that was going to be instantly important, this would be it.” — Ari (01:49)

2. Category Creation vs. Strategic Positioning

• True Category Creation:
  • Not about rewording or differentiating existing products, but about building something fundamentally new.
  • Ari draws a sharp distinction:

    “You're either a category because what you built is a new thing, or you're trying to be a category because you need a way to separate yourself from the competition... that's just more strategic positioning and not category creation.” — Ari (07:56)

• SEO & Language Tensions:
  • Building a category often means inventing language and fighting against the grain of existing SEO/search demand.
  • Example: Drift and “conversational marketing”—balancing ownership of a new term with the SEO benefit of existing keywords.
• Strategic Positioning:
  • Dave and Ari discuss being “number one” in a well-defined space ("ruler" positioning) vs. creating a need for something entirely new.
  • The necessity of convincing prospects not just that your solution is best, but that the category itself is necessary.

3. Brand-Building Philosophy: Art Meets Science

• Frameworks vs. Intuition:
  • Ari shares how frameworks (like archetypes and input interviews) help, but ultimate creative intuition is essential.
  • There is no formula for a brand story that’s truly unprecedented.
  • Key litmus test:

    “Can other people say this? Can the brand next to me come up with the very same argument? I can't do it.” — Ari (16:12)

• Founder DNA and Differentiators:
  • The strongest differentiators come from the founders’ vision and the company’s DNA, not from marketing spin.
  • Example: Island’s existence is rooted in the unique shift to web-based work.

4. The Story as the Foundation

• Narrative Comes First:
  • Ari starts with a written narrative — which becomes the blueprint for everything (homepage, sales deck, product copy).
  • The first job: define and communicate “why this company exists,” not just what the product does.
  • Importance of deciding what not to say as much as what to say.
  • Echoes Dave’s experience at Drift: narrative precedes all deliverables.

“The story is the strategy. How do you not start with the words you choose to tell the story?” — Ari (27:00)

5. Deliverables and the Head of Brand Role

• Early Deliverables:
  • Crafting and socializing the core narrative with the executive team.
  • Building the website and launch video to express the new category.
  • Developing the sales deck rooted in the central story.
• Head of Brand vs. Head of Marketing:
  • At Island, brand took priority over short-term lead gen because the enterprise sales motion relied on trust, education, and big vision.
  • Not every startup needs a Head of Brand from day one; unique to Island’s ambitions and the demands of category creation.
• Evaluating Brand Success:
  • Internal alignment around the story and identity (“do we feel proud of this?”).
  • Over time, external validation: growing adoption of new language, inbound mentions, and search for category terms.

6. Cognitive Behavioral Branding: The Psychology of Brand

• Applying CBT to Branding (32:40):
  • Ari introduces his “Cognitive Behavioral Branding” framework, modeled on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:
    • Triangle: Actions ↔ Feelings ↔ Beliefs
    • Marketers can’t force actions (buy, click, adopt) without first changing feelings; can’t authentically change feelings without changing underlying beliefs.
    • The goal of category creation and brand is to reshape beliefs about what’s necessary or possible.
  • Key brand test: Are we fundamentally changing what people believe, or just what they do at surface level?

“If I'm able to change my belief... then I will feel differently and then I'll behave differently... Imagine how you could apply that framework to branding.” — Ari (31:05)

7. Defining Brand: Visual Identity, Soul, & Reputation

• Brand Design and Strategy:
  • Brand as a combination of design, messaging, and experience — all in service of a “soul” or essence that’s often intangible but unmistakable.
  • Visual identity (e.g., Island’s green) is tightly coupled to the narrative (“natural workspace”).
  • Alignment across every touchpoint, from the homepage to merch to trade show giveaways.
• Defining Brand:
  • Ari prefers “brand strategy”: the deliberate set of choices, actions, and communications that express a company’s essence.
  • Brand is also reputation, but intentionally cultivated.
  • The “soul” concept:

    “Reputation is kind of the outcome. Your soul is just who they are... It's even harder to define, which is why it's uncomfortable to talk about that in a business context.” — Ari (37:51)

8. The 20/80 Rule of Brand Execution (38:28)

• Most Companies Do “Good Enough” Branding (the 80%):
  • Everyone has a logo, colors, some positioning — often surface-level.
• Breakout Brands Obsess Over the 20%:
  • Going deep: green headphones, every event detail, meticulously consistent experience.
  • It’s these details that make a brand memorable and distinctive.
  • Apple as an example: even how the box opens is a conscious brand choice.

“It's the last 20% that defines whether you have a brand or not... Did you build this identity into the very fabric of everything you do?” — Ari (39:10)

9. Category Creation and Enterprise Focus

• Why Use “Enterprise” in Naming:
  • Not for sexiness, but to signal seriousness, organizational breadth, and target customer size.
  • Moving away from “secure browser” to “enterprise browser” telegraphed a bigger, more strategic product.
  • Avoiding words like “corporate” which lacked the aspirational heft.
  • Decision driven by honest signals from buyers and the need for precision in market perception.

“Enterprise was essentially saying, your whole thing. The whole organization is going to benefit from this.” — Ari (44:10)

10. Selling and Messaging for Different Personas

• From Security to IT and Beyond:
  • The product began focused on CISOs, but soon required buy-in from CIOs and other execs due to scope.
  • Messaging evolved to address both the high-level visionaries and the “boots-on-the-ground” operators.
  • Decision: lead with the vision, then layer in day-to-day tangible benefits for adoption.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On True Category Creation:
  “You're either a category because what you built is a new thing, or you're trying to be a category because you need a way to separate yourself from the competition... that's just more strategic positioning and not category creation.”
  — Ari, 07:56

• On Narrative as the Starting Point:
  “The story is the strategy. How do you not start with the words you choose to tell the story?”
  — Ari, 27:00

• On Brand Differentiation:
  “Can other people say this? Can the brand next to me come up with the very same argument? I can't do it. I have to be honest there.”
  — Ari, 16:12

• On Cognitive Behavioral Branding:
  “If I'm able to change my belief... then I will feel differently and then I'll behave differently... Imagine how you could apply that framework to branding.”
  — Ari, 31:05

• On Going Beyond Surface-Level Branding:
  “It's the last 20% that defines whether you have a brand or not... Did you build this identity into the very fabric of everything you do?”
  — Ari, 39:10

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:49 | Ari’s intro: Naming Island, backstory, and brand philosophy | | 04:33 | Island’s stage, scale, and Series D context | | 07:35 | Realities of category creation vs. positioning | | 11:33 | Ari’s path to branding, agency lessons | | 15:21 | Brand as art vs. science, frameworks vs. intuition | | 18:45 | Defining narrative and product-market context (browser analogy) | | 21:54 | What does a head of brand actually do? | | 24:20 | The importance of storytelling, scripting brand narrative | | 27:00 | Deliverables: website, launch video, sales deck | | 30:49 | Cognitive Behavioral Branding explained | | 34:58 | Brand design team and visual identity | | 37:08 | Defining brand: reputation, soul, “brand strategy” | | 38:28 | The 20/80 rule of branding, going beyond the basics | | 43:22 | Why use “enterprise” in category naming | | 45:15 | Expanding target persona: CIO, CISO, and impact on messaging | | 47:45 | Summing up: key lessons and psychological meaning of color green |

Final Thoughts

Ari Yablok walks through the complexities — and joys — of inventing a new category, laying down a template for B2B marketers seeking more than incremental gains. The conversation is a rare mix of agency rigor, founder vision, and psychological insight, wrapped in pragmatic advice for anyone—and any company—aiming to be memorable, not just known.

Connect with Ari on LinkedIn and keep an eye out for his forthcoming podcast, “Believe in Brand.”

This summary captures the core discussions and insights from the episode, skipping over ad reads, intros, and outros, while preserving the energy and expertise of Dave and Ari.