A B2B Marketing Masterclass with Jon-Erik Valetti, Head of Marketing at CARFAX

Summary

Episode Summary: A B2B Marketing Masterclass with Jon-Erik Valetti, Head of Marketing at CARFAX

Release Date: November 26, 2024

In this insightful episode of The Marketing Architects, host Alaina Jasper and co-host Angela Voss engage in a comprehensive discussion with John Eric Valetti, the Head of Marketing at CARFAX. With over 17 years at CARFAX, John Eric brings a wealth of experience in B2B marketing, revenue growth, and strategic alignment between marketing and sales teams. This episode delves deep into effective B2B marketing strategies, the importance of aligning marketing with sales, and the challenges of operating within a large consumer brand.

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Guest Introduction: John Eric Valetti

Timestamp: [00:34]

John Eric Valetti serves as the Head of Marketing at CARFAX, leading the marketing efforts for the Banking and Insurance Group (BIG), the division responsible for CARFAX’s largest revenue growth. Recognized in Marketo's annual Fearless 50, John Eric is renowned for his expertise in bold marketing transformations and directly linking marketing initiatives to revenue growth.

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Longevity at CARFAX: Opportunity and Team

Timestamp: [01:46]

John Eric discusses his remarkable 17-year tenure at CARFAX, challenging the notion that Millennials are inherently job-hoppers. He attributes his long stay to two primary factors:

1. Opportunity for Growth: Starting as one of the early employees in the Banking Insurance Group, John Eric seized the chance to build a robust marketing plan from the ground up, fostering innovation and scaling a startup within a larger brand.

2. Exceptional Team Dynamics: The consistent intelligence and teamwork of his colleagues, many of whom have been with the company for over a decade, have created a cohesive environment focused on shared goals and mutual success.

Notable Quote:

"I think there's probably two reasons why I've stayed at Carfax that long. The first is really the opportunity... Second, I think it's really the people that I work with, they're intelligent, they're team players."
— John Eric Valetti [01:46]

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Aligning Marketing and Sales: Strategies to Minimize Friction

Timestamp: [05:14]

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the alignment between marketing and sales teams within CARFAX. John Eric outlines actionable strategies to foster collaboration and reduce friction:

1. Shared Goals: Establishing common objectives, such as marketing-influenced revenue and new contracts, ensures both teams are working towards the same targets.

2. Inclusive Persona Development: Involving sales in creating marketing personas and messaging strategies leverages their direct interactions with prospects, ensuring relevance and accuracy.

3. Regular Communication: Biweekly meetings between marketing, sales, and product teams facilitate ongoing education, feedback, and adjustment of strategies based on real-time insights.

4. Clear Role Definitions: Utilizing a flywheel approach (Attract, Engage, Delight) with clearly defined team responsibilities at each stage reinforces accountability and synergy.

Notable Quote:

"When you have shared goals like that, it kind of demonstrates that both teams are working towards the same thing."
— John Eric Valetti [05:14]

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The Flywheel Marketing Approach: Attract, Engage, Delight

Timestamp: [08:35]

John Eric introduces CARFAX’s flywheel model, which centers on the customer and outlines how marketing and sales collaborate at each stage:

• Attract: Marketing focuses on building awareness through metrics like new names generated and website visitors.

• Engage: Both marketing and sales work together to convert leads, measured by marketing qualified leads and revenue influenced by marketing initiatives.

• Delight: Ensuring customer satisfaction and retention through collaborative efforts with account management and customer service teams.

This structured approach ensures that each team knows their role in driving the business forward.

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Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: From Cost Center to Revenue Center

Timestamp: [11:12]

A key theme is the measurement of marketing effectiveness versus efficiency. John Eric emphasizes:

• Effectiveness: Achieving desired outcomes such as marketing-influenced revenue, increased brand awareness, and customer retention.

• Efficiency: Achieving these outcomes with minimal waste and optimal resource utilization.

At CARFAX, marketing is treated as a revenue center. A comprehensive dashboard tracks metrics like marketing-influenced revenue, campaign performance, and customer engagement, ensuring full transparency and accountability across the division.

Notable Quote:

"I really believe that marketing should be viewed as a revenue center."
— John Eric Valetti [11:52]

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Navigating B2B Marketing Within a Consumer Brand

Timestamp: [13:17]

Operating within a well-known consumer brand like CARFAX presents unique challenges and opportunities:

• Advantages: Strong brand awareness and high trust levels facilitate easier market penetration and credibility.

• Challenges: Overcoming the consumer-centric perception of the brand to establish a distinct B2B identity.

John Eric addresses these by:

1. Brand Segmentation: Creating sub-brands like Carfax for Claims, Carfax for Insurers, and Carfax for Lenders to target specific B2B audiences.

2. Thought Leadership: Positioning these sub-brands as industry experts to garner respect and recognition within their respective markets, transforming initial confusion into opportunities for engagement.

Notable Quote:

"We [position] as thought leaders and is no longer what is Carfax doing here? It's, hey, can you come to my conference and speak about the role that you're playing in helping insurers make better decisions."
— John Eric Valetti [15:03]

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Contrarian Marketing Opinion: Rethinking Gated Content

Timestamp: [19:36]

John Eric shares his contrarian stance against the common marketing practice of gating content. He argues that in the B2B landscape, especially with millennials making up a significant portion of buying teams, gating content can be counterproductive. Instead, he advocates for providing valuable, unguarded content that establishes trust and positions the brand as a strategic partner.

Notable Quote:

"I think the tactic of gating content should be rarely, if ever used."
— John Eric Valetti [19:42]

He emphasizes the importance of helping over selling, suggesting that valuable, accessible content can organically attract and engage potential clients more effectively than gated content requiring immediate contact.

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Successes and Failures: Learning from Experience

Timestamp: [23:11]

John Eric reflects on pivotal marketing decisions at CARFAX:

• Success: Developing the branded house strategy and positioning each sub-brand as a thought leader significantly boosted earned media opportunities and industry recognition.

• Failure: Attempting to implement fax-based marketing strategies within the B2B vertical mirrored past consumer successes but ultimately failed due to differing audience preferences. This experience reinforced the importance of context-specific strategies and the value of failing fast to avoid resource wastage.

Notable Quote:

"One of the best decisions I made was building out that branded house and positioning each of those brands as thought leaders."
— John Eric Valetti [23:11]

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Mascot Fun: Building Brand Affinity

Timestamp: [27:01]

The episode concludes with a light-hearted discussion about favorite mascots. John Eric highlights the Hokie Bird from Virginia Tech as his favorite, sharing an amusing anecdote about how CARFAX leverages the Car Fox mascot to engage B2B audiences through tangible giveaways like plush dolls, which effectively increase booth traffic and brand interaction at conferences.

Notable Quote:

"The Car Fox... people love them at conferences. We saw a huge amount of traffic to the booth because of that."
— John Eric Valetti [27:01]

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Closing Thoughts

John Eric Valetti’s insights offer a masterclass in B2B marketing within a large consumer brand. His emphasis on aligning marketing with sales, treating marketing as a revenue center, and challenging conventional practices like gated content provide valuable lessons for marketers aiming to drive effectiveness and foster meaningful business growth.

Final Quote:

"We just... have a clear understanding of what's working well and what's not working well."
— John Eric Valetti [08:35]

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This episode serves as a treasure trove for marketers seeking to enhance their strategies, align cross-functional teams, and navigate the complexities of branding within diverse market segments.

Transcript

[Alaina Jasper]

Hello, this is Alaina and you're about to listen to an episode of a new series we're calling the Effectiveness Workshop. After recording over a hundred episodes of this show exploring marketing effectiveness, we realized we wanted more direct insights from CMOs who are applying these principles in their daily work. So we're introducing a new format where we chat with some incredibly smart marketers and jump right into practical takeaways to help you advance your career and your brand. I hope that you like it. Enjoy the show. Marketing Effectiveness.

[John Eric Valetti]

What's your marketing philosophy? What does marketing affect effectiveness mean to you?

[Alaina Jasper]

Welcome to the Effectiveness Workshop. Marketing Architects. Hello and welcome to the Marketing Architects, a research first podcast dedicated to answering your toughest marketing questions. I'm Alena Jasper. I run the marketing team here at Marketing Architects. And I'm joined by my co host, Angela Voss, the CEO of Marketing Architects. And we're joined by a guest today, John Eric Valetti. John Eric is the head of marketing at Carfax. He's worked at the brand for over 17 years and leads the marketing efforts for the division responsible for their largest revenue growth, the Banking and insurance Group. He earned a spot in Marketo's annual Fearless 50 class, recognizing the top marketing thought leaders worldwide. He's an expert in bold marketing transformations and connecting marketing to revenue growth. And we're excited to learn from him today. Welcome, John Eric.

[John Eric Valetti]

Thank you. I'm happy to be here and really excited to talk a little bit about B2B marketing.

[Angela Voss]

Absolutely. I don't often come across someone that's been with the same brand for 17 years. I think you and I both started at our current companies in what, 2007? Somewhere around there. 17 years is a long time to be at one brand, especially for someone, I think in the marketing function. And so much has changed. I'm curious what's kept you at Carfax for so long?

[John Eric Valetti]

Yes, that's a great question. And I was thinking about it the other day. Millennials, we typically don't stay at one company for that long. Some people have said that Millennials are the job hopping generation. And so I looked it up the other day and on average, a Millennial will stay with an employer for two years and nine months. So as I approach 18 years, I think there's probably two reasons why I've stayed at Carfax that long. The first is really the opportunity. So when I started within the Banking Insurance Group, I think I was employee number 11 or so. And the marketing they were doing was very, very limited. They did sell direct marketing via direct mail pieces and they did some conferences. So I saw a really great opportunity to kind of develop out a robust marketing plan and team and help scale this new startup within a larger brand. Almost 18 years later, you think things might have changed a little bit. But what keeps me there now, still almost 18 years later, is that opportunity still really exists. Our team continues to innovate and bring new solutions to the marketplace, helping insurance carriers, auto lenders, and other industry businesses make better decisions. Second, I think it's really the people that I work with, they're intelligent, they're team players. Everyone I work with on my management team has been there for over a decade. So we really have a clear understanding of not only where we've been, but where we want to go and how our individual roles really can work together to achieve success.

[Alaina Jasper]

That's amazing. Yeah. I can't believe two years, that's a short time.

[John Eric Valetti]

I tell my friends and they're like, I can't believe you've been there that long. And I did the math the other day. I think it's 43% of my life has been at Carfax. And when you look at it from that perspective, it's kind of eye opening.

[Alaina Jasper]

Well, that's a testament to the company and must be a great brand to keep you around for that long. And I'm excited to get more into that with you today. So let's get into things. We're back with our thoughts on some recent marketing news. We always try to root our opinions in data, research and what drives business results. And this interview with John Eric is part of our Effectiveness Workshop. It's a series where we talk to marketing leaders who are leading the way for effectiveness in the US and and I usually kick off our interviews with a piece of research or an article. And for this one, I found one for Marketing Week. It's titled Over a third of B2B marketers, often in Conflict with Sales. And it's written by Hannah Rash Bass. It summarizes findings for Marketing Week's 2024 State of B2B Marketing Survey. And according to the research, 34% of B2B marketers frequently experience tension with their sales team. The main reasons for this conflict include sales not understanding marketing's priorities and the perception that marketing exists solely to serve sales. 40% of marketers report that sales sees marketing's role as purely lead gen. 60% of marketers identify the head of sales as their most important internal relationship. But only 33% feel that sales fully understands what marketing does. But on the positive side of things, 74% of marketers report having a close working relationship with sales, and that rises to 83% for senior marketers. So, John, Eric, I wanted to open with that article because I was digging into carfax's bank and insurance group, or big division, which love that acronym. And what stood out right away was your B2B Focus and the fact that you are running marketing for a big revenue generating division within the larger Carfax brand. So I'm assuming that you work closely with sales and that you also have high expectations for how marketing influences revenue. So I want to start with this question. What does the relationship look like between marketing and sales at Carfax? And how do you manage any potential friction between your two teams?

[John Eric Valetti]

Yeah, great question. And when I started at Carfax, you know, many years ago, marketing and sales were really siloed. And even though I was very young in my career, I knew the importance of kind of generating alignment between those two teams. And so one of the first things I really focused on was creating that strong alignment between marketing, sales and even product. And as you mentioned, of course the teams aren't always going to agree, right? There's going to be friction. But there are a few things that we really focus on to try to limit that friction. So first, one of the things that we do that I think really helps is we identify and set shared goals. So for example, the sales team, right, they obviously have annual revenue goals and metrics that they're trying to hit. Well, my team has an annual marketing influenced revenue goal. Sales has goals around number of new contracts, number of upsell contracts. My team has goals around the number of marketing influenced new contracts and the number of marketing influenced new upsell contracts. And then even marketing influenced revenue, right? When you have shared goals like that, it kind of demonstrates that both teams are working towards the same thing. Second, you know, when we build out our marketing Personas and our messaging strategy, we include sales in that conversation. And I think that's very important. They're the ones who are speaking directly with the, with our prospects and our customers so they have the best understanding of their pain and passion points. Third, communication is really key. And we set biweekly marketing, sales and product meetings. So all three teams, we get together and we educate one another. This is a really a great way for us to have a better understanding of what's working well and what's not working well. So for example, we're doing an upsell campaign right now and we want to get some qualitative feedback on how that campaign is performing. Also, we want to know, have there been any changes within a particular vertical, like for the sales team in the auto finance vertical? Are banks and credit unions sharing with them any changes within the marketplace? Perhaps now they're seeing an increase in auto loan default. Well, if that's the case, then maybe marketing, we should change our message to really focus on how we can help them combat that challenge. And finally, some people might not necessarily agree with me on this, but I think it's wise to really have a clear understanding of the role each team plays. So my marketing plan is based on a flywheel approach. So at the center of the flywheel are your customers, and then the outermost ring of that flywheel, you're looking to attract first, then engage and then delight. The idea being, if you attract customers, engage with them, delight them. Those delighted customers will help you attract more customers and the flywheel will accelerate. Right. So in between the outermost ring and that center ring, I list the teams that are primarily responsible for each part of that flywheel and the metrics associated with those stages. So when you think of attracting new folks, right, who's predominantly responsible for building that awareness and attracting folks? Well, that's marketing. Right? But then when you think of engaging customers, that's really marketing and sales working together. And. And then when you think about delighting those customers, well, that's marketing working together with your account sales management team or your account management team and your customer service team. So it really has clearly defined set of, hey, here's the players that are gonna help us achieve these goals. And I found that really following those steps has helped us maintain strong alignment between marketing and our sales teams.

[Alaina Jasper]

I love how you broke that down, and especially the first point about shared goals. And it seems so simple, but I can see how it could be challenging in some organizations if you've always been siloed. It probably wasn't totally easy to bring everybody together, but having people on the same team definitely helps. So you talked a little bit there about your flywheel approach, how you approach marketing, but I wanted to ask you more about that because we've talked to actually by now, ang a lot of different B2B CMOs as part of this series. And it's become clear that the job of a B2B CMO, it can vary a lot depending on your brand. So I'm curious, what's the job of your marketing team at Carfax? Any tangible metrics or KPIs you're accountable for if you could talk through any of that. That'd be great.

[John Eric Valetti]

To answer this question, I'd like to give a little bit of background around how the Banking Insurance Group is kind of structured. So think of the Banking Insurance Group, or big, right? We call it BIG internally as a microcosm of carfax, we have separate products and separate teams. And I've always viewed it when I started there many years ago as a startup and our VC or our backer was Carfax property. Well, we have three core verticals that we work with. So there's insurance underwriting, obviously, auto lenders are the financial services vertical, and then insurance claims. And I have a marketing leader that's dedicated to serving each of those verticals and they're responsible for obviously attracting, engaging, and delaying our customers. So each leader is responsible for specific metrics at each stage of that flywheel, and they're really designed to help us achieve the overarching goal that is set around increasing revenue, acquiring new customers, and of course, expanding adoption of new products or new initiatives. So, for example, when speaking specifically around tangible metrics, if you look under like the attract stage of the Flywheel game plan, there are metrics around marketing, generated new names, cost per marketing generated new name, number of unique visitors to our websites, whether that's carfax for insurers, Carfax for lenders, carfax for claims, and of course, product awareness. In the engage section, we're really looking at the number of marketing qualified leads, marketing influence, new contracts or marketing influence, upsell contracts, specific dollar amounts around, marketing influence, new contract revenue or an upsell contract revenue, and even the number of virtual event attendees. And then in delight, we're looking at our customer satisfaction scores. Did our MPS number go higher than a certain percentage? Did the MPS increase? What are our retention percentages looking like? Are we retaining our customers? Are we having a leaky bucket? And of course the number of testimonials that we receive, just to name a few. So there's a couple of metrics that we really look at and that the team is responsible for across that entire flywheel.

[Angela Voss]

John Eric I love that startup with backer as Carfax proper. That really puts you into the mindset of what you're trying to do and the importance of being able to drive results as that startup. Love the flywheel. Attract, engaged, delight. One of the things that we were excited about when we learned about your background was your interest in connecting marketing to business results and that impact. But it's not so easy to do. I think everyone's trying to do that. And it looks so different across different brands. B2B. B2C. You've talked a lot just recently about what you measure, but how does your team measure and prove that impact of marketing efforts down to business? Bottom line?

[John Eric Valetti]

Absolutely. So historically, a lot of people view marketing as a cost center. I always hear people say, look at all the money marketing spending on ads or look at the money they're spending on research, et cetera. And I really believe that marketing should be viewed as a revenue center. To that end, we have a dashboard that we create. It's available for the entire division. So this dashboard shows the direct impact that marketing is making specifically as it relates to those metrics that we just kind of discussed, such as marketing influence revenue. Additionally, we share how each campaign performs, not only during the campaign, but then of course, after the campaign ends. So for example, we're running a upsell nurture campaign that I mentioned earlier in our bi weekly meeting with the sales team. We share the total number of marketing qualified leads, the number of marketing influenced revenue opportunity associated with those leads, and then the total marketing influenced recognized revenue, obviously from those leads that have closed or become closed 1. Finally, these numbers are also shared with the entire team once the campaign is concluded in our internal monthly newsletter that we call the Big Month Ahead. So there really is a focus on full transparency into the impact marketing is making within the division. And anyone within the company, inside big or outside of big, can go onto what we call Foxnet, which is our intranet, and see our dashboard and see how marketing is performing against the metric we've set and the impact that we're making to the company.

[Alaina Jasper]

I bet your CEO loves that. We were talking about like marketing transparency on the show the other week, and that sounds like a great tool for everybody. One thing I wanted to ask you about is how this big division works within Carfax, because I'm guessing people listening are familiar with Carfax. I am. We see them on TV all the time. They've got that Fox mascot. What is it like running B2B marketing for a division of Carfax when there's such a big, large consumer advertiser? What does that relationship look like? Because personally, I'm just gonna be honest. When I was looking into your side of the business, I was like, okay, you know, it's the B2B side. Like, the fox is pretty cool. But then as I dug into it, I was like, oh, this is super interesting. I really think it is. Like, maybe I'm just a B2B marketing nerd. So I'm curious, how does that kind of relationship work within the brand?

[John Eric Valetti]

Yeah, you know, there are pros and cons, right? There are some challenges, some advantages. I think the biggest advantage of running a B2B marketing organization within a larger consumer brand is the fact that there's very strong brand awareness. And specifically within carfax, there's a very high level of trust within the brand. The challenge is the majority of people will kind of view your company through that consumer lens. So when people think of Carfax, they, you know, they think of, I'm going to run a Carfax vehicle history report before I buy this car on Craigslist or wherever. Right. They also think of it as, when I go to the dealer, I'm going to ask the dealer to show me the Carfax. Right? That was a huge ad campaign we did. So this means that when we would go to insurance conferences or auto finance conferences or other B2B conferences, people would be a little confused as to why carfax is there. Especially early on, we would have folks come up to our booth and say, well, wait a second. What is Carfax doing here?

[Alaina Jasper]

Do you know where you are exactly?

[John Eric Valetti]

Are you guys at the right conference? This is for actuaries and insurance actuaries or insurance claims professionals or auto lenders. I don't understand why carfax is here. So I knew that when I was building out my marketing strategy and my marketing vision for the banking insurance group that I really need to establish a branded house. And I did that by creating the Carfax for claims brand, Carfax for insurers brand, and Carfax for a lenders brand. But then I needed to really position each of those brands as thought leaders within their respective markets. So now we routinely get asked to speak at industry events or we see a very strong attendance in our virtual events and webinars that we host. And we're viewed as experts on the role data is playing to help these businesses make better decisions across their entire business. So by positioning us as thought leaders and is no longer what is Carfax doing here? It's, hey, can you come to my conference and speak about the role that you're playing in helping insurers make better decisions within their business process or lenders make better decisions across their line, across the entire auto loan life cycle. So in terms of the relationship between the two teams, I think we have a really good working relationship. You know, we routinely bounce ideas off each other and support one another. So I Haven't really seen any sort of hiccup, if you will. Being part of a larger consumer brand and working with our consumer marketing team.

[Alaina Jasper]

From a B2B perspective, I love how you've leaned in. Instead of completely detaching yourself, you could have made just a whole new brand, whole new company. But I like that idea of the branded house and working within the brand awareness that you already had and like becoming more of a thought leader. That's really smart. And speaking of brand awareness, that's sort of a hot topic right now in B2B marketing. Like the thought of doing more brand campaigns and investing more in the long as well as the short. And it sounds like you're a bit of a case study for that. So one thing that I wanted to ask you about is marketing effectiveness, because short and long, that's kind of a principle of the marketing effectiveness kind of movement, you could say. So we've been asking heads of marketing and CMOs that come on this podcast, what does marketing effectiveness mean to you? And do you agree with some different thought leaders that there's a gap here in the United States?

[John Eric Valetti]

Yeah, it's an interesting topic. And when I think of marketing effectiveness, obviously the first thing that really comes to mind is the impact that marketing makes. So, for example, is your demand generation strategy producing marketing influence revenue, or are your campaigns driving a noticeable increase in brand awareness that you just mentioned? And one of the things that some marketers would say is they might say, oh, well, customer acquisition cost really equates to effective marketing if you have a low customer acquisition cost within your effective marketer. But I don't think that's necessarily accurate. You know, it's probably a really good idea to kind of define the difference between effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness is really producing that desired outcome that marketing influence revenue we discussed before, or retention numbers or the awareness. Right, the brand awareness. That's really how you can measure your effectiveness. While efficiency is more so achieving those desired outcomes with the least amount of effort or waste. So to me, a low customer acquisition cost, well, that demonstrates efficiency, but not necessarily effectiveness. And I do think there is a little bit of a gap here in the United States. I hear a lot of marketers talking or touting high email open rates or email click rates, and they view that as a sign that their marketing is effective. Sometimes they tout the number of impressions that they're seeing generated by a campaign. And to me, those are vanity metrics. Right. Bots can create those numbers for you. We really need to go a layer deeper. I think to really understand the effectiveness of marketing. So I'm not sure that within the United States sometimes we go down to a deep enough level to really understand how effective our marketing is.

[Angela Voss]

Totally agree, John. Eric, we believe deeply that a key piece to driving success for our brand is to uncover insights or positions that would be considered not the norm. Really contrarian points of view. I think effectiveness versus efficiency, hopefully it becomes more the view. Agree with you. There were a culture that is obsessed with data and last click has put a lot of data in front of marketers that maybe has been harmful, you know. And I feel the pendulum swinging back a bit to how do we be effective versus just be efficient. And so we challenge ourselves to be contrarians at marketing architects. What would you say is your most contrarian marketing opinion?

[John Eric Valetti]

I think it's time for a contrarian corner.

[Angela Voss]

The lines are drawn.

[John Eric Valetti]

Who's right? Yeah. So this is gonna sound a little funny, but I think the tactic of gating content should be rarely, if ever used.

[Angela Voss]

Oh, all right.

[John Eric Valetti]

It's an interesting thought, right? It's an interesting thought. But around a decade ago, Forrester, they coined the term. You're probably familiar with the age of the consumer, right? To really describe how increased access to information has really kind of shift the balance from seller to buyer, right? These new B2B buyers, they want to be anonymous, right? They don't want the folks to know who they are. They are emotional, right? Typically historically you just thought of the consumer as an emotional. But no, these new B2B buyers, they're emotional, right? Because the decisions they make could shape their company or their career and they want to have unfiltered access to information that they can digest across multiple channels on their own terms. This preference for self guided research is really especially strong amongst millennials, right? I myself have one and I do all my research before I go to like buy something, I do all that self guided research. I don't need to talk to a salesperson ahead of time. But I think this is important to note here because millennials now make up 75% of business buying teams. So these are who we're selling to as B2B buyers, these folks who really have a preference for self guided research. So as a B2B marketer, we really need to focus on helping and not selling. And we can do that by positioning our brands as strategic partners and showcasing our industry expertise. So these buyers, they want to hear from industry thought leaders. As I mentioned before, that's kind of why I positioned carfax Banking Insurance Group and the three brands in our branded house. That way, they want to hear from these industry thought leaders. And if you're able to position your brand as a thought leader, but then you get your content, I think you're really doing yourself a strong disservice.

[Alaina Jasper]

Our head of content is going to love this interview because we, we actually share that contrary belief.

[John Eric Valetti]

So I'm glad because sometimes, I mean, there's a lot of, like, back and forth within the marketplace. Some people are like, if this content is very valuable, you should get it because you're going to miss out on leads. And then there's other side of the house, which I fall in that. Well, yeah, but the content's not valuable, especially when 75% of your business stop buying teams are millennials. Why are you going to gate that content? I mean, myself, I've done it, I'll admit I've put in fake email addresses to get the content because I want to see it, but I don't want to talk to anybody. I don't want to talk to anybody until I raise my hand. You know, the gate should be that contact us form at the end of the day. So you digest that content and then you raise your hand and say, hey, I'd like to get a little bit more information and talk to a salesperson.

[Angela Voss]

I think when you're in that mindset and you step into that position and embrace it, you start to see things like, if we're just valuable to them repeatedly, they will come back. That's what we're trying to do. So love that. As good stewards of our brands, we, of course are always wanting our decisions to pay off and put our business in a better position than it was previously. But I also feel we don't get to big ideas without taking risks and, and sometimes those don't pay off. Maybe it's gated content or non gated content. I don't know. Maybe that's not big enough. Even a decision that results in a learning, but it didn't play out the way you wanted it to, should be celebrated. And we try on the show to blend research with practicality for our listeners to help inform moves that might drive success. I'm curious, as you think about your past, what is one of those decisions that you made as a marketer that really did pay off? Just a great move for the business and also would love to hear a bit of a failure as well as something that you learned from.

[John Eric Valetti]

I'm going to kind of highlight some of the stuff I discussed a little Bit earlier, but I think one of the best decisions I made as a marketer within the banking insurance group is really positioning carfax for claims, Carfax for insurers, and Carfax for lenders as those industry thought leaders. This has really is resulted in earned media opportunities for the brand, has helped our buyers connect with experts and develop a deeper understanding of the impact that various data points can make within their business. So when I think about the best decision I made as a marketer, it was building out that branded house, and it was positioning that branded house, each of those brands as thought leaders within the industry. A mistake. This is kind of funny. I mean, you think of carfax, you obviously think of fax machines, right? Because that's how everything started. Well, back in the day, actually, fax was a marketing channel that we used at carfax. Our dealer business unit used the fax machine to send out information on Carfax and they saw phenomenal results. We would send out faxes to the dealerships, and most of time people would sign a contract and send back a fax with a signed contract. And I thought to myself, that probably wouldn't work within my verticals, but let me test it. So I tested it within our verticals and it was a huge failure. It did not work within our teams, but I had to try it because the dealer business unit saw such great success. They were just speaking about it like it was the best thing since sliced bread. I was like, I got to try this. Obviously we don't do the fax stuff anymore within the business, but many years ago, it was very successful within the dealer business unit. And again, when I tried it, I got angry. Grams of, you're wasting our paper. Why are you faxing us this stuff? Like, they would fax us back with something written with the original thing we faxed them that says, do not send me a fax. And it didn't work out within our core markets. So that was something I always believe. Fail, fail fast. We failed fast on that one. And I would never go back to facts as a channel.

[Angela Voss]

We've had some of those examples, right, Elena, where if you're not making someone angry, you're probably doing it wrong.

[Alaina Jasper]

Yeah, sometimes it leans into too much. We've definitely had campaigns like that where I'm like, okay, we probably shouldn't have sent that, but we gotta try new things.

[John Eric Valetti]

So, yeah, one of the things I appreciate that you all did is there's a lot of noise within the email channel. And I'm a big Subscriber to the idea of merging your online and offline marketing tactics. And one of the things you guys did. I know you sent me emails about coming on this show, which I get hundreds of emails every day. And most of them are from vendors. Right. And I just put them to the side. Right. Focus on the ones that are most important to the business. But then you kind of went from the online channel offline. And it wasn't until I got that direct mail piece of the office. That's where you really cut through the noise. And we do that a lot within Carfax, within the banking insurance group. We merge our online efforts and our offline efforts. So those that are most engaged with us in the online channel from a behavioral standpoint, but not necessarily have moved further along in their buyer's journey. Maybe they moved a little bit, but not to where we want them to be. We cut through the noise by going offline with the direct mail campaign. Again, it's very targeted because you don't want to spend a lot. Direct mail is expensive, but we've seen great results. And I appreciate the way you all did that. Cause that's really how you cut through the noise and kind of grab my attention about this.

[Alaina Jasper]

Yeah, it works well for us. Cause like you said, it's expensive. But we have a very small list of marketers that we want on the show that we want to talk to. So it does. Like, it takes longer. It's more of an investment. But hey, it pans out because it probably wouldn't have gotten you on the show now without a direct mail piece kind of combined with the online. Well, John, Eric, this has been wonderful. It's like B2B marketing therapy for me, listening to you talk. So I've really, I've really enjoyed it. And I hope this last question doesn't annoy you because I know you're probably always kind of distinguishing yourself from like the car fax, like consumer brand. But I do love the Fox. I love the mascot. So I wanted to end with a mascot themed question. What is your favorite mascot? And we'll make it easy. You can't choose the Carfax Fox. That one's off the table.

[John Eric Valetti]

Yeah, well, it's funny because you're right. The Carfox originally started as a tool for the consumer side of the brand. But B2B, they've actually really developed a liking to the Carfox as well. We give out these little Carflox plush dolls and people love them at conferences. We actually did a test campaign where we targeted specific folks at this conference, and we sent them a message saying, hey, we reserved a Carfox doll for you. Come pick it up. Between this time at the booth and we saw a huge amount of traffic to the booth because of that. And then they came and they learned more about why we're there, what we're talking about, the solutions that we offer, and the kind of impetus was they love the Car Fox. So since it can't be the Car Fox as my favorite mascot, I'm going to have to go with the Hokie Bird. I went to Virginia Tech, so the Hokie bird holds a special place in my heart. And it's. People always ask, what is a hokie? And the answer always is, well, if you went to Virginia Tech, you say, I'm a hokie. So I don't know. Some people call it a turkey, but the Hokey Bird is definitely my favorite mascot.

[Alaina Jasper]

Oh, yeah. Everybody should look up this bird. It's a weird looking bird. The first Google result is what's a Hokey?

[John Eric Valetti]

Yep, that. Because it is. It's a unique thing.

[Alaina Jasper]

Yeah. All right, well, I'm. I'm so happy to hear that you use the Car Fox. And I would like to put my name in for one of those Car Fox dolls.

[John Eric Valetti]

Yes. We'll connect up this show. I can. I can send you both a little Car Fox.

[Alaina Jasper]

I would honestly really like one.

[John Eric Valetti]

No problem. Make it happen.

[Alaina Jasper]

All right, Ange, what about you?

[Angela Voss]

I went with a bit of a brand character. I guess it's a mascot, but I went with the Energizer Bunny. Do you guys know the backstory to the Energizer Bunny?

[John Eric Valetti]

I don't think so.

[Angela Voss]

Was originally created as a parody to a Duracell commercial. So Duracell ran this spot with all of these little pink bunny toys playing drums, and it showed that the bunny that was powered by Duracell was the one that lasted the longest, was playing the drums. They all stopped. Right. Slowed down and stopped. To which Energizer responded with their pink Energizer Bunny commercial, informing consumers that the Energizer battery was never invited to that playoff. And it just stuck.

[Alaina Jasper]

Oh, wow. I didn't know that. That's fun. So mine is also a college mascot. My husband went to Syracuse, and I remember one point, we were dating. I was like, what's the Syracuse mascot? He's like, oh, it's an orange. Like, oh, it can't be. It literally is. Their mascot is Otto the Orange. He's in the mascot hall of Fame. And it's truly like, they're. The orange. It is just. They went really literal. They're like, it's just an orange. It's what he is. So he's pretty cute, though.

[John Eric Valetti]

So.

[Alaina Jasper]

Yeah, Otto, the orange is my.

[John Eric Valetti]

It's interesting because you think of oranges as a quote brand. You think of Florida. Right? Florida oranges. Right. You don't really think of Syracuse, but not at all.

[Angela Voss]

Maybe that's why it works. Yeah.

[John Eric Valetti]

Yeah.

[Angela Voss]

Great.

[Alaina Jasper]

Well, John, Eric, thank you again for joining us. Anything else you want to close us out with?

[John Eric Valetti]

No, I don't think so. I just. Thank you very much for the time today. It was really. I enjoyed our conversation, and I think there was a really good discussion.

[Alaina Jasper]

Thank you so much. That's it for this episode of the Marketing Architects. We'd like to thank Taylor De Los Reyes for producing the show. You can connect with us on LinkedIn and if you like the podcast, please leave us a review. Now go forth and build great marketing.

[John Eric Valetti]

This dashboard shows the direct impact that marketing is making by specific. By. Sorry, we can edit that out.

[Angela Voss]

And as leaders were. Sorry, let me start over. See, we do make mistakes.

[John Eric Valetti]

No, you're good. You're good.

[Alaina Jasper]

Marketing architects.