How to Build a Brand in B2B with Ryan Narod (VP of Marketing at Rippling)
The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)
Leading marketing at scale: generalist GM approach
Ryan reflects on managing varied marketing teams and the generalist skills needed to lead diverse functions.
#330 | Dave is joined by Ryan Narod, VP of Marketing at Rippling, to break down how Rippling has built one of the stand outbrands in B2B right now. Ryan walks through real examples of campaigns they’ve run over the last year, from scrappy iPhone videos and webinar promos to high-production customer stories and their 2026 Super Bowl commercial. They talk about how Rippling shifted from being great at growth marketing to building a brand people actually recognize, how they inject more personality and “human” into everything they ship, and how they measure brand marketing without losing pipeline accountability.
To see Ryan's real campaign examples, head over to youtube.com/@heydavegerhardt.
Timestamps
- (00:00) - - Why Rippling is going all-in on brand
- (02:48) - - Ryan’s background and why he joined Rippling
- (04:11) - - What Rippling does and how they position the platform
- (08:11) - - What “brand marketing” means at Rippling
- (10:31) - - Building a story that makes HR the hero
- (19:44) - - Ryan shares Rippling marketing examples (ads, videos, webinars)
- (28:02) - - High-production customer storytelling (Berries)
- (33:24) - - The “HR Deserves Better” campaign
- (36:22) - - How Rippling measures brand and pipeline impact
- (43:59) - - The Super Bowl commercial and what it takes to pull it off
- (46:02) - - Final takeaways and wrap-up
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