Modaal Mobile AI Build club: #Marketing a B2C brand on a small budget — with Alison Feldmann
AI has leveled the playing field on tools: anyone can build the same functionality, ship just as fast, and generate content in seconds. So what actually separates you from the next brand doing the same thing?
This talk is a practical breakdown of how small B2C teams build trust and attention that leads to real users and growth, without a huge budget. You'll leave with a framework for standing out, plus real examples of what's working right now.
What we'll cover:
Taste is the new moat. When everyone has access to the same tools and the same playbook, your point of view is the thing nobody else can copy. How to decide who you're for (and who you're not), and how that shows up in your visual identity, tone, and the small details people notice before they trust you.
Community as an early growth lever. What community-building actually looks like with 50 users and no team, from the very first users who become advocates.
Partnerships and PR as a lever, not a luxury. How to borrow trust from people who already have an audience — collaborations, newsletter mentions, podcast appearances — and what earned press actually looks like for a company nobody's heard of yet.
Creator marketing 101. How to work with creators when you can't pay upfront: seeding product, writing a usable brief, and knowing if a partnership is actually working.
Alison's credentials: She's built startups and big brands alike — from being employee #10 at Etsy, where she helped grow the brand to 35 million users through content, community, partnerships, and PR with little to no paid marketing, to leading global brand and integrated marketing at companies like Booking.com and Zalando.
Who this is for: Marketers and founders at early-stage B2C companies who want to grow trust and attention into real users and growth.
Alison Feldmann is a global marketing executive and advisor with a passion for culture- and community-led brands. She spent a decade on Etsy's founding team as its first marketer (employee #10!), scaling the brand to 35 million users, before leading global brand and integrated marketing at Eventbrite, Zalando, and Booking.com. Today she advises startups and growth brands on how to earn a place in people's lives.
The red thread: integrated storytelling that breaks through, expressed through campaigns, partnerships, brand, content, creator, and community strategies that move people to act. Alison is also the co-founder of Friend of a Friend, a curated community for senior women in marketing and creative in Europe. She is currently based in Amsterdam.
Hosted by Elena Avramenko, co-founder of Modaal.
Modaal is the native mobile builder (iOS/Android) for solopreneurs who are serious about what they ship. Build a real Swift and Kotlin app with real architecture. Nothing gets thrown away. No rebuilds when you grow. Flat monthly price — plug in the AI agent you already use.
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