31: Turning a marketing idea into a product: Insights from Sift's former Chief Marketing Officer Armen Najarian

What if your next marketing idea could become your company's most valuable product? Armen Najarian, former CMO at Sift, discusses the challenges of marketing in the digital fraud prevention industry, the power of incentives, and how a marketing solution became an impactful product innovation. Armen shares how creative referral programs like "Super Sifters" and a strong focus on third-party reviews have elevated Sift's market position and built lasting customer trust. He also explains how the company's Fraud Industry Benchmarking Resource (FIBR) tool began as a marketing initiative that faced internal pushback over essentially making company data open source. Despite the risks, the idea evolved into a real-time, peer comparison product feature—and ultimately became Sift's top demand generator. Armen's experience highlights the value of bold experimentation and cross-functional, innovative thinking in driving marketing-led growth. In this episode, you'll learn: The incentive strategies that move the needle for Sift How a bold marketing idea can turn into a standout product feature The benefits of finding a personal connection to your work Key highlights: [00:00] Introduction [01:05] Escaping to eastern Maine [03:15] Armen's path to Sift [05:20] The scope of Sift [06:20] From brand management to product marketing [07:55] 10 years in cybersecurity [10:10] Incentive strategies and bobble heads [13:45] How marketing can become a product [15:10] FIBR product demonstration [18:25] An experience that defines you: Entrepreneurship [22:40] Advice to your younger self: Don't sweat the small stuff [24:00] A topic marketers need to learn more about: Experimenting with AI [25:25] Trends and subcultures to watch: Philosophy [26:00] Largest opportunity to marketers today: AI Resources mentioned: Sift FIBR G2 Follow the podcast: Listen on Apple Podcasts   Listen on Amazon Music  Listen on Audible  Listen on iHeart Radio Listen on Spotify   Connect with Armen Najarian and Sift: Armen Najarian on LinkedIn Sift on LinkedIn Sift on YouTube Connect with Alan Hart and Deloitte Digital:    Alan Hart on X Alan Hart on LinkedIn  Deloitte Digital on LinkedIn  Deloitte Digital on Instagram  Deloitte Digital on YouTube  Deloitte Digital on Threads