Marketing’s Image Problem | E103 with Margaux Grasso, Sarah Mardle

Why do smart companies still treat marketing like the “content machine” or sales’ on-call design team? In this episode, Ruta and Emma sit down with Margaux Grasso and Sarah Mardle to unpack marketing’s perception problem—and how to fix it with influence, data, and better internal storytelling. Expect practical playbooks for building credibility, aligning with sales, and pushing back on bad habits without starting a turf war. 

We get into:
 ✅ Why marketers accidentally fuel the “make it pretty” myth—and how to stop being the default Yes Team
 ✅ Building your internal brand: report like a strategist, not a task taker (show the link to business goals)
✅ Stakeholder personas: map power, pressures, and motivations so your message lands internally, not just with customers
✅ Alignment that sticks: shared goals, shared language, and moving from blame to ownership with sales
✅ Budget battles: make a business case, not an approval request—what to show the CFO and when
✅ Product-market fit reality checks: run shared experiments so “is it marketing or the product?” gets answered fast
✅ Career insurance: mentors, advocates, and relationship-building as a core marketing skill, not a nice-to-have 

Who’s on mic:
 • Margaux Grasso — Founder, Wripple. Helps marketing teams build internal credibility, align with sales, and set strategy. 

 • Sarah Mardle — Founder of Alma Business Consulting, Executive and business coach with a neuroscience PhD, supporting leaders and founders (especially in life sciences). 

Perfect for: marketers tired of being seen as order-takers, leaders who want real sales-marketing alignment, and anyone who needs a clean, confident way to ask for more budget—and get it. 

If you’re ready to swap “make it pretty” for “move the business,” this one’s for you. 

We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. 

If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.

Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.