Brendon Forrest, a marketing consultant specializing in industrial companies, joins hosts Peyton Warren and Allen Fennewald to tackle the challenge of effective messaging in manufacturing. They explore why alignment issues often hinder messaging implementation. Brendon shares strategies for converting positioning into actionable sales tools, emphasizing the importance of internal marketing. The trio also discusses how to evaluate messaging effectiveness through analytics and the need for consistent communication to drive better leads and results.
00:00
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Positioning Fails When Built In A Vacuum
Positioning often fails because teams create it in silos without leadership and sales input.
Treat positioning as a strategic company initiative, not just a marketing task.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Talk To Sales First
Talk directly with sales to diagnose alignment problems and learn why messaging isn't working.
Use sales conversations to co-create solutions and close the gap faster.
insights INSIGHT
Positioning vs. Messaging Distinction
Positioning defines your market context but messaging translates that into a clear value proposition.
The real gap is often phrasing the customer-facing value, not knowing the market position.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Most manufacturers don’t have a positioning problem. They have an implementation problem.
In this episode of IMC Live, Gorilla 76’s Peyton Warren and Allen Fennewald sit down with Brendon Forrest to explore why messaging often falls flat inside manufacturing organizations — and how marketers can finally put their positioning to work.
You’ll learn how to spot alignment gaps, build a feedback loop with sales, and turn a dusty one-pager into messaging that actually drives better conversations, better leads and better results.
Whether you're updating your homepage, refining your sales deck or trying to get your internal team on the same page, this conversation is packed with practical steps you can use immediately.
We cover:
🔸 The alignment gaps that break messaging (and how to fix them)
🔸 How to turn positioning into sales-ready tools (homepage copy, decks, one-sliders)
🔸 Practical ways to test messaging: website behavior, analytics & sales calls
🔸 Why internal marketing matters just as much as external marketing
🔸 Real stories from in-house marketers making positioning stick inside their orgs
STAY CONNECTED
🎟 Industrial Marketing Summit — March 3–5, 2026 • Austin, Texas
https://industrialmarketingsummit.com/
💬 Join the Industrial Marketing Collective — a free community for marketers at manufacturing companies
https://www.industrialmarketingcollective.com/
🎧 Manufacturing Marketer Podcast
https://www.gorilla76.com/the-manufacturing-marketer/
🔗 Connect with Brendon Forrest on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendonforrest/
🦍 Subscribe to Gorilla 76 on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn-g5UzBxZ7_CAknk5HJC_g
NEXT IMC LIVE
🗓 December 4, 2025 — “How Gorilla 76 Uses and Thinks About Generative AI”
Register here: https://www.gorilla76.com/industrial-marketing-live
ABOUT IMC LIVE
IMC Live is the interactive webinar series from the Industrial Marketing Collective — created for marketers at manufacturing companies. Each session is designed to help you connect with peers, sharpen your skills, and drive measurable results in your work.
The Manufacturing Marketer 