Hey, I'm Mark!
I’d describe myself as a “make things happen” marketer. By providing strategic guidance and a hands-on approach to tactical execution, I make marketing happen quickly so you’re longer sitting on the sidelines.
Here's My Story...
As a fractional CMO and strategic advisor, I work with B2B and SaaS companies that have great products but struggling to drive leads, sales, and brand awareness.
I work well with $1 million to $10 million companies that are doing little or marketing and not driving ROI. They need someone who can guide them forward with a plan of attack and tactical best practices.
I’m also a “marketing expert” with the Innovation Factory accelerator and an advisor for Next Canada.
Before launching Marketing Spark, I co-founded a wildly unsuccessful startup, Blanketware. While it was a great idea, our timing was off. But it was a great learning experience.
I also worked as a marketing leader for three VC-backed startups: b5Media, Daisy Intelligence and Horizn.
I started my career as an ink-stained technology newspaper journalist, working for the Globe & Mail, National Post, and Bloomberg News.
I’m a proud Canadian (Toronto). My passions are family, playing hockey (ice, not field!), tennis and travelling.
At the core, I’ve been telling stories for more than 25 years. I believe in the power of storytelling to make connections and build relationships.
A key part of storytelling is understanding your audience’s needs and interests so you can engage, entertain, educate and enlighten them.
The mix of storytelling and being customer-centric is a powerful way to do marketing that makes an impact
I’ve Already Helped 100+ Founders and CEOs Reinvent Their Marketing
“Mark is a devoted Swiss Army knife in B2B marketing and branding. Any company seeking CMO-level guidance for their marketing department without hiring a full-time CMO would benefit greatly from Mark’s hands-on expertise.”
CEO, Wingmate
“Mark is a thought leader, and one of the utmost experts on the startup ecosystem in Canada. I’ve seen his advisement, consultation, and mentorship bring young companies phenomenal success. I have benefited greatly from his consultation and direct advisement on my marketing efforts.”
Principal, RockCorry Venture Partners
“Mark played a pivotal role as the fractional CMO for Weaver & Loom, developed our brand positioning and lead our go-to-market strategy and execution. Using his strategic insight and hands-on approach, Mark built a marketing engine that attracted and engaged the right prospects. .”
CEO, Weaver & Loom
“As we put our heads down to create products for the life sciences industry, it becomes a challenge to understand what your product means to your users. Mark detached us from talking about shiny new features to the problems we solve. It made our pitch and approach to our clients resonate”
CTO, Papercurve
“As Qii looked to accelerate its growth, I hired to Mark to provide us with strategic marketing guidance. He played a key role in updating our story and messaging, as well as a refresh of our Website. His willingness to roll up his sleeves was impressive and appreciated.
CEO, Qii.AI
“Before we began working with Mark, we were struggling with our positioning and the development of our marketing assets. Mark’s leadership helped us pull together as a team to create positioning that was different, develop new assets, and a marketing plan to get more clients.”
Founder, Think Redefined Inc