Breaking Patterns and Owning the 95% (with Madhav Bhandari) | Ep. 24

Brand marketing isn’t just a channel—it’s the moat. In this conversation, Charlie Riley sits down with Madhav Bhandari, Head of Marketing at Storylane, to unpack how a fast-growing demo automation platform built more than half its pipeline from brand alone.

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Madhav shares how Storylane moved from 12 to 40 annual events, leaned into the “95-5 rule,” and made real-world activations a core strategy. From mobile billboard trucks outside Exit Five to QR-coded demos that travel home in your pocket, he reveals how to measure brand in direct and indirect ways—and why breaking patterns at smaller events pays off.

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You’ll hear exactly how brand drives Storylane’s influence in communities, ease of recruiting, inbound booth traffic, and even multithreaded enterprise deals where attribution is complex. If you’ve been questioning how to prove brand’s ROI, this episode delivers real examples, metrics, and ideas you can put into play.

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👤 Guest Bio

Madhav Bhandari is the Head of Marketing at Storylane, an AI-native demo automation platform in a rapidly expanding category. Focused on building influencer programs, scaling event presence from a dozen to 40+ conferences, and driving over half of the company’s revenue from brand, Madhav blends data-driven measurement with creative, pattern-breaking activations.

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📌 What We Cover

• The 95-5 rule and why Storylane targets the untouched 95% of the market
• Moving from 12 to 40+ annual events and the shift toward smaller, high-impact gatherings
• Out-of-home and event activations: from mobile billboard trucks to interactive QR code demos
• How to measure brand with demo form “How did you hear about us?” fields, brand search data, and sales call transcripts
• The compounding benefits of brand: easier recruiting, influencer partnerships, and inbound traffic
• Examples of unconventional event plays, including Exit Five’s mobile billboard and Freshworks’ “Fails Force” balloon at Dreamforce
• Why brand is the real moat in categories where 80% of features are the same
• Breaking patterns to capture 100% of an event audience without a traditional booth

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Storylane
• Exit Five
• Freshworks
• Dreamforce

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