041 Eric Fulwiler
Chief Marketing Officer, 11:FS
Eric Fulwiler is Co-Founder and CEO of We Are Rival. I first got to know him as CMO at 11:FS where he hosted the excellent Fintech Marketing Podcast. As well as running Rival and consulting for global fintechs (and others), he’s kept up the podcasting with Scratch, interviewing CMOs at challenger brands from Yonder to Investec.
“Marketing is EVERYTHING that connects the value of the product to the unmet needs that exist in the market.”
The interview
What’s your coffee ritual?
I used to drink a lot of coffee… I made the switch to decaf recently to help with stress and while I hate it (lol), it’s really helped!
What was your first marketing job?
I ended up in marketing by accident. I went to music school (thought I wanted to be a jazz musician!) and then worked for the Clinton Foundation HIV / AIDS Initiative in Latin America (thought I wanted to be a politician!). I randomly ended up at Forbes as a Social Media Intern, and now, somehow, 15 years later I guess I’m in marketing, ha. But I always say - I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up ;).
Which newsletter, podcast, or book do you recommend most?
I read a lot. My ‘desert island’ books are: Good to Great, Built to Last, Principles, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, American Icon, and Competing Against Luck. For podcasts, I’m really into Founders right now. Going deep through that back catalogue. And if you’ll allow self-noms… honestly, the best part of my job is hosting Scratch CMO Interviews. I feel like I’ve gotten a Masters in marketing that money can’t buy from the 150+ CMOs I’ve interviewed over the last 5 years.
What’s an underrated growth channel in fintech?
Experiential. But thoughtful, creative, differentiated activations. As tech / AI makes it easier to produce (usually crappy) digital content / experiences, quality analog experiences will become so much more valuable and effective.
What keeps you up at night?
Talent and revenue, in that order. Also, whether I’m being the best husband / father I can be ;).
What are the most useful measurement tools you use in your work?
My Finance Director :).
What’s one fintech brand (other than your own) that’s getting marketing right?
Funny you should ask, cause we just released this Rival 50 thing ;). No, but seriously - it’s amazing how well fintech did in our research on the challenger brands with the most momentum right now. Very over-represented as a category, which is a tribute to the folks likely reading this post who are doing some amazing work in the category! I will say though…most of the brands are B2C and I believe there’s a huge opportunity for B2B fintech to take and apply some of the learnings from the research (or just the playbook of challenger brands in general).
Why is marketing so hard?
Because most people (including many marketers) misunderstand the fundamental role of marketing. Marketing is not advertising. Marketing is not messaging, story telling, or even revenue generation. Marketing is EVERYTHING that connects the value of the product to the unmet needs that exist in the market. The definition and role of marketing needs to be broadened in most organizations.
Whose answers to the above questions would you most like to read?
Any of the CMOs on our Rival 50 list. The quality and quantity of great work coming from those teams / brands is truly amazing.