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Hello and welcome to the 196th edition of Fresh Salmon.

If you're new here, welcome aboard! 🧡
And if you’d like to catch up on past issues, click here.

Meet our primary partner for today’s edition: Roku. Check them out 👇

Find customers on Roku this holiday season

Now through the end of the year is prime streaming time on Roku, with viewers spending 3.5 hours each day streaming content and shopping online. Roku Ads Manager simplifies campaign setup, lets you segment audiences, and provides real-time reporting. And, you can test creative variants and run shoppable ads to drive purchases directly on-screen.

Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

Use code GET5K now

Your Marketing Is Too Small. Build an Ecosystem, Not a Campaign.

Marketing Is No Longer About You. It’s About the Ecosystem You Build.

Today I want to talk about something that has become painfully obvious in 2025, but very few companies are willing to accept:

If you keep marketing in a “me-me-me” way, buyers will tune you out faster than ever.

Let’s get into it.

The Buyer Is Smarter Than Ever And They See Through You

Here’s the shift most companies still haven’t caught:

Buyers today are:

• more educated

• more skeptical

• more independent

• more community-influenced

• more research-driven

• and significantly more empowered

By the time a prospect talks to you:

• they’ve watched your videos

• listened to your podcast

• compared you to competitors

• asked their network

• and read 10+ reviews

You’re not the source of truth anymore.
You’re one node in the network of influence.

This is exactly why ego-driven marketing fails.

Nobody cares how great you say you are.
Nobody cares about your awards.
Nobody cares about your “top 10 reasons we’re the best.”

Buyers don’t want to hear you talk about yourself.
They want to see how you elevate the entire category.

Meet our primary partner for today’s edition: Roku. Check them out 👇

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Peak streaming time continues after Black Friday on Roku, with the weekend after Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to Christmas seeing record hours of viewing. Roku Ads Manager makes it simple to launch last-minute campaigns targeting viewers who are ready to shop during the holidays. Use first-party audience insights, segment by demographics, and advertise next to the premium ad-supported content your customers are streaming this holiday season.

Read the guide to get your CTV campaign live in time for the holiday rush.

Learn more.

The Ecosystem Approach: The New Operating System for Modern Marketing

The companies winning today share one thing:

Instead of just promoting their product, they:

• educate the entire industry

• uplift creators and customers

• highlight partners

• collaborate with competitors

• build communities

• create learning environments

• distribute insights, not ads

• and become the gravitational center of their niche

This is the ecosystem approach, and it has three core principles:

1. Expand the Pie, Don’t Fight for It

Legacy marketing says:

Modern marketing says:

Only one of those builds long-term power.

When you invest in the ecosystem:

• you grow your category

• more people enter the market

• demand increases

• awareness compounds

• and you become the default name people trust

Your competitors accidentally become your amplifiers.

2. Become the Infrastructure, Not the Loudest Voice

The most powerful companies today aren’t the ones shouting.

They’re the ones quietly powering:

• the conversations

• the education

• the thought leadership

• the community spaces

• the events

• the playbooks

• the frameworks

• the connections

If your category needs something and you build it —
you don’t need to “win.”
The market will choose you.

Because ecosystems reward contribution, not noise.

Meet our secondary partner for today’s edition: Synthflow. Check them out 👇

A Framework for Smarter Voice AI Decisions

Deploying Voice AI doesn’t have to rely on guesswork.

This guide introduces the BELL Framework — a structured approach used by enterprises to reduce risk, validate logic, optimize latency, and ensure reliable performance across every call flow.

Learn how a lifecycle approach helps teams deploy faster, improve accuracy, and maintain predictable operations at scale.

Read the Full Guide

3. Your Marketing Should Give More Value Than Your Product

This sounds extreme, but it’s true:

Podcasts.
Education.
Toolkits.
Frameworks.
Events.
Communities.
Industry analysis.

When your marketing outperforms other people’s paid offerings, you create demand without selling.

That is what ecosystem leaders do.

Who Wins in the Ecosystem Model?

Everyone — Including You.**

An ecosystem approach is not charity.
It’s strategy.

Here’s what it unlocks:

Customers win

because they get clarity, education, support, and connection.

Partners win

because collaboration becomes mutually beneficial.

Industry voices win

because they get a platform and amplification.

Category win

because the collective tide rises.

And you win most

because you become the center of the universe.

Buyers trust ecosystem builders more than product pushers.

Because ecosystem builders aren’t trying to sell you something.

They’re trying to help you navigate the world.

The Real Competitive Advantage: Being Known as “The One Who Gives the Most”

Here’s what most founders don’t understand:

Trust is built through generosity,
not promotion.

And in crowded markets,
generosity scales faster than performance marketing.

When you build:

• the go-to podcast

• the go-to newsletter

• the go-to resource hub

• the go-to community

• the go-to playbook

• the go-to frameworks

• the go-to events

…you become the default choice.

Because the ecosystem you built becomes your moat.

Not your product.

Not your price.

Not your pitch.

Your ecosystem.

The Key Takeaways:

1. Stop promoting. Start cultivating.

Talk less about your product. Talk more about the world around it.

2. Become the platform, not the participant.

Create the spaces your category needs.

3. Give away more value than your competitors charge for.

Trust is the new currency.

4. Make collaboration your distribution strategy.

Build with people, not at people.

5. Your marketing should expand the category — not just your pipeline.

Demand creation > demand capture.

That’s it for this week! If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend.

See you next time!

Do what is good for your soul ❤️

All the best,

Vivek

PS. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways in which I can help you and your business:

#1: B2B Marketing Consulting and Go-To-Market Advisory for your business.

#2: 1-on-1 Personal Coaching and Mentoring on anything related to Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategies for you.

#3: Promoting you or your brand via this newsletter.

For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.