When the old playbooks stop working, product marketers find new paths to relevance

Product marketers are feeling lost. Whether they're seasoned pros or newcomers to the field, everything they once knew about what works in marketing has been upended. The old playbooks are no longer reliable, leaving the industry to rebuild from scratch. Despite the difficulties, having a blank slate is opening fresh opportunities for product marketers to understand customers and rethink how products truly fit into their lives.

Darren Fanton is CEO and Co-founder of Bentlight and ScreenSpace, a creative platform for interactive storytelling. In a recent conversation, he told us why he believes the key to breaking free from this rut lies in product marketers embracing storytelling and humanizing their approach.

Focus on buyers, not playbooks: "There've been a lot of WTF moments this year, haven't there? The playbooks aren’t working anymore," Fanton says. "Everyone’s realizing that what worked in the past isn't working today, and whatever works today won’t work tomorrow. The truth is, playbooks are static. Once you lock into a framework, it becomes frozen in time. It may evolve, but it’s not inherently adaptable to the changing needs of buyers. The one thing that really matters is the buyer, the market."

Understanding motivations: Fanton emphasizes the need to strip away traditional frameworks and dive into the core of what truly drives buyers—their emotions and their problems. "What keeps people up at night? What is it that makes them feel the need for a solution? That’s where product marketers need to focus," he explains. "It's not just about selling a product. It’s about understanding the human experience and connecting with that."

Hollywood focus: Coming from Hollywood, Fanton initially believed that product marketers had a strong grasp of their customers' stories and problems. "I thought marketers knew their customers—these were the heroes of the story—and telling that story would be easy," he recalls. "But I was completely wrong. They know they need storytelling, but they don’t know how to tell stories."

With ScreenSpace, users have access to experts in narrative design, content creation, and visual storytelling. Speaking to how ScreenSpace guides GTM experts to tell stories, Fanton explains, "There's a lot of coaching that needs to happen to help people understand how to strip away the noise and get to that simple, emotional moment."

Emotions sell: In today's saturated market, where countless products offer similar features and identical ROI, it's this emotional connection that can make a brand stand out. "The thing that’s going to make you stand out is the moment when a buyer can get immersed in your world, believe in what you’re offering, and visualize where you can take them. That's when they’ll put their trust in you," Fanton says.

Recalibrating the sales process: But the challenge is not just about understanding the need for storytelling—it's about developing the right mindset. "If you give an engineer a paintbrush, they won't know what to do with it," Fanton says. "They can appreciate art, but without the mindset or training, they can't create something similar. Product marketers need that same recalibration—to embrace a new way of selling and showcasing their products."

Human connection: As AI continues to change the GTM process, buyers are becoming more attuned to the need for human connection and relatability. "When you have a sea of identical products with slightly different names and features, what’s going to stand out is the expertise, the thought leadership, and the human connection," Fanton explains. "Customers want someone who understands their problem better than they do, and who shares their values and beliefs. That's the person they'll continue buying from."