The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)

How to Stop The Busywork in B2B Marketing (with Dmitry Shamis)

22 snips

Apr 17, 2025

Dmitry Shamis, former Head of Brand at HubSpot and founder of Oh Snap, shares his expertise in B2B marketing. He discusses the true essence of brand identity and how many teams become overwhelmed by busywork rather than focusing on impactful marketing. Dmitry emphasizes the importance of having a unique point of view and aligning marketing with product strategies for genuine differentiation. The conversation also explores how AI can streamline processes and enhance creativity, while reminding marketers of the value of human ingenuity.

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INSIGHT

Brand Is Everything

Brand means everything and must be infused throughout your business processes.
It's not just logos and colors but also your unique story and point of view.

ADVICE

Piss People Off To Find POV

Push founders to reveal the frustration or pain that inspired their business.
Use that core reason to create a differentiated and emotional point of view.

ANECDOTE

Design Inspiration Becomes Copycat Cycle

Dmitry and a competitor company repeatedly copied each other's website designs unknowingly.
This cycle illustrates how marketing teams often end up blending into sameness.

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#238: Brand | In this episode, Dave sits down with Dmitry Shamis, former Head of Brand at HubSpot and now founder of Oh Snap, to talk about what brand really means in B2B and why so many teams are stuck doing busy work instead of meaningful marketing. After leading a team of 150+ creatives and scaling HubSpot’s brand across multiple products, Dmitry shares lessons on building brands that actually stand out.

Dave and Dmitry cover:

How to stand out in a crowded market
How to develop and refine your point of view
Why marketers get lost in busy work and how to stop it
What to look for when hiring great designers
The role of AI in B2B marketing today (and what it won’t replace)

Timestamps

(00:00) - – Intro to Dmitry
(05:34) - – What brand actually means in B2B
(07:54) - – Why your POV is the foundation of your brand
(10:04) - – How to uncover a real, differentiated POV
(14:03) - – How to stand out in a crowded, same-sounding market
(16:38) - – Why differentiation requires alignment between product and marketing
(19:28) - – Building trust with product teams
(20:17) - – Busy work in marketing: how to spot it and stop it
(22:59) - – Why marketers burn out and how poor prioritization is killing teams
(28:15) - – Making the case for brand work when it’s hard to measure
(29:50) - – The “fishing” analogy: performance vs brand marketing
(34:21) - – The real opportunity with AI in B2B marketing
(38:20) - – How AI can eliminate bottlenecks and speed up creative execution
(39:50) - – Why Dmitry’s starting a creative agency (Oh Snap) and how it’s different
(42:58) - – How to hire great designers: what to look for beyond the portfolio

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