Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared of Starting Over featuring Ian Martins of Bell Curve

Apr 6, 2022

Ian Martins is the Managing Partner at Bell Curve, a creative growth agency that works at the intersection of brand and performance. He is a veteran in the agency field who has worked with a number of huge brands such as Proctor and Gamble, Microsoft, Segment, and more. Aside from these prestige brands, he also is committed to helping growing startup brands that are yet to make their way into the industry.

From a rock star in the music industry to a rock star in marketing, Ian Martins has been a veteran in the industry for years with clients ranging from multinational brands to inspiring startups who are eager for growth.

In this episode, Ian emphasizes the importance of branding and why it should not be overlooked as more business owners tend to focus on garnering sales than the previous with it being in the forefront. He also shares why an agency owner should not be scared to start again and rebuild a new business model to steer away from past mistakes with the first.

This Cast Covers:

  • Are our dream jobs really what we want?  (4:29)
  • Advertising: The rock and roll of the business world (5:29)
  • Diving deep into Bell Curve’s three concentric circles of Bell Curve: increase lifetime value, acquire customers and build brand moat (7:21)
  • Why you shouldn’t overlook branding as one of the most important components of a business (9:22) 
  • The outcomes of a successful brand building  (10:39)
  • The difference between growth marketing vs any other type of marketing (13:20)
  • The one question you should ask yourself before starting your own agency (17:47)
  • Know your target audience through the guide questions of vertical and horizontal niching (23:17)
  • Don’t be afraid to start over. Ian shares how his second agency became a success after not repeating the lapses from his first (30:41)

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