You know that the video I shared earlier begged to be expanded into a television show. And that for the proper setting, the show itself would market products in a way that is illegal today; yes, the show would be sponsored by Marlboro.
Google Gemini.
So without further ado…
“Product Marketer For Hire,” Sunday at 9pm: “The Stranger”
The introduction to the television show “Product Marketer For Hire.”
(Sharp-eyed Inland Empire residents will notice that this depiction is entirely fictional, since the real “Main Street,” officially known as Euclid Avenue, is much wider and less dusty than the street depicted here. Allow me artistic license.)
As the Ontario townsfolk were gathered on the street in late afternoon, a mysterious stranger rode into town. He was a most unusual man. For one, he was smiling, unlike the other strangers that have come before him. For another, his brown/tan/black official western wear issue (Montgomery Ward catalog, pages 333-334) was rudely interrupted by a blue patch with a “B” on it. There was something else odd about him, but no one spoke of it.
The mysterious stranger rode up to the saloon, dismounted his horse, and walked in.
Scene 2: The Saloon, Ontario
The mysterious stranger slowly walked to the bar and took a seat as the bartender eyed him warily.
(Hey, Inland Empire residents, I got that one right.)
As he sipped his drink, the stranger couldn’t help but notice the older man in a gray jacket staring at him. As everyone in the saloon quietly watched, the older man slowly walked toward the stranger.
“Sir,” said the older man.
“Yes?” asked the stranger.
The older man gestured toward the stranger’s belt. “Those aren’t guns you have in those holsters.”
The stranger paused. “No, they’re not.”
“In fact,” the older man scoffed, “they look like pencils.”
The stranger nodded. “Yes they are.”
The older man’s face betrayed the slightest smirk. “Why” – he paused – “would a man carry PENCILS in his holster?”
As the older man and the others in the saloon broke out into grins, the stranger eyed them all with a serious expression. He paused before responding.
In a loud voice the stranger replied. “Business.”
Everyone looked puzzled at that unexpected response.
After a long pause, the older man turned back to the stranger. “Sir,” he asked, “exactly what kind of BUSINESS are you in?”
Bredemarket has consistently argued AGAINST “me too” product marketing, and FORdifferentiating your identity/biometric product from its competitors. But your differentiators must resonate with your prospects.
This post lists three false differentiators, and why you should avoid them.
False differentiator 1: we’re a great place to work
Does your company description place undue emphasis on the shiny happy people who work for you? Their competitive salaries? Their unlimited PTO? Their community days? Their “best place to work” awards?
Who cares?
While you would think happy employees are important to prospects, they really aren’t. Enron was a best company to work for, but definitely did not deliver for its customers. Other companies are slave drivers, but customers love their products.
Save the “best place to work” mumbo jumbo for your careers page, not your prospect-facing content.
False differentiator 2: we’re a unicorn
Other companies take a different tack. Some emphasize their financial might: they’re a unicorn, a Series C, a NASDAQ-listed firm. Others take the opposite tack, asserting they are small and scrappy. (Bredemarket is in the latter category.)
So what?
Your prospects don’t care how big you are. Size doesn’t matter to them. Your performance does.
Stick the “unicorn” talk in your investor pitch decks, not on stuff your prospects read.
False differentiator 3: we have great features
By now you’ve probably figured out that your customers care about your product, not your employee satisfaction or your valuation. So you start talking about your product and its impressive array of features. 1000 ppi fingerprint capture. Sub-second matching. Integration with over 100 third-party systems.
How so?
Prospects don’t care about your product and what it does. They care about what it does FOR THEM. Does it solve crimes and keep bad people off the streets? Does it ensure that bank account applicants really are who they say they are? Does it complete its checks quickly before e-commerce buyers abandon their shopping carts?
Talk benefits, not features. Save the feature lists for your sprints.
How do you isolate true differentiators?
Your prospects need to see why your product is great for them, and why competitor products are terrible for them. How your product achieves their objectives: get stuff done, make money.
So what are the differentiators and benefits of your product?
Bredemarket can help your identity/biometric firm with the strategy and tactics of marketing your product. My services and process help you position your product for your prospects.
Bredemarket: Services, Process, and Pricing.
Do you want to learn more? Go to https://bredemarket.com/mark/ and schedule a free meeting with me to learn how Bredemarket can benefit you, so you can fulfill the needs of your prospects.
Jan McInnis sells a service, comedy. And how do comedians market their services? By performing. The comedian performs at one venue, and someone from another venue sees them and books them.
Google Gemini.
McInnis was performing in Michigan when she was spotted by a big-time manager (“one of her clients is currently selling out Madison Square Garden”) who saw Jan’s five-minute set. Afterwards the manager approached Jan and said the magic words:
“You were great.”
Then the manager’s office called and requested a meeting, asking McInnis to bring writing samples. Now a meeting itself is no assurance of getting a job, but it’s a possible step toward getting one. So Jan prepared for that meeting, spending her Thanksgiving polishing up her writing samples.
Google Gemini.
But…
“The next day, her office called to postpone the meeting.”
Lather, rinse, repeat. The manager’s office would schedule a meeting, then postpone it. In the end, the manager never met with McInnis, who pivoted away from the comedy clubs and focused on corporate speaking engagements as “The Work Lady.”
And who knows? Maybe some huge tech company will ask her to headlines a gigantic corporate event at Madison Square Garden.
This afternoon I received an email from the very verbose ViVi Brown.
It began with the standard “I hope this email finds you well.” Then the pitch begins.
“I came across your profile on LinkedIn and noted your public contact information, which is why I am reaching out to you directly.”
I couldn’t find Brown’s own LinkedIn profile, by the way. The pitch continues.
“I am currently the Founder of a San Diego-based startup, primarily responsible for managing and assisting our team in establishing connections with industry leaders like yourself. Our company is backed by TPG Capital, with business sectors encompassing Artificial Intelligence, Energy Systems, Semiconductors, and Algorithmic Platforms.”
Now this sounds impressive. TPG backing, multiple high-tech business sectors. It’s a little odd that Brown didn’t mention her company name, but I knew I could deduce it from her corporate email address.
Um, 429? At least it’s not 420.
Unless someone is an independent consultant, there’s no need to use a Gmail address that doesn’t have your name and ends in a number. Especially if you are the Founder (and, as we will see, other things) of a TPG-backed multi-sector high tech firm.
Brown continued her pitch, which went on and on and on. Paragraph after paragraph of corporate-speak, such as a reference to “the intersection of Global Supply Chain and Systemic Accountability.” Because obviously my LinkedIn profile screams global supply chain.
Translating corporate-speak to English, apparently ViVi Contras Belleville Brown 429 wants to chat about a Global Strategic Operations Partner position. And to get to know me via a deeper conversation.
She then closes her email with a signature block listing her positions (but again not her company name).
Signature block?
So she is the Founder, the CEO, the Managing Partner, the Chief Revenue Officer…and the Project Lead? That’s more job titles than I have at Bredemarket—even when you include “Senior Nespresso Operator.”
I don’t know what 429’s scam is. Data harvesting? Identity theft? Financial fraud? For all I know it may be a romance scam. (Run by a 40 year old guy.)
I knew I was going to write about this scam email in the Bredemarket blog and on LinkedIn. Employment fraud is a hot topic on both platforms. But how should I respond to the scammer?
My usual “As an anti-fraud professional, I require that you please provide your corporate email address” would take too much time. So I aimed for surprising brevity:
Why do scammers target anti-fraud experts? Because sometimes we’re dumb too.
But in this case I didn’t fall for the two deepfake recruiters who emailed me yesterday.
However, I have some concerns about the REAL recruiters that the fraudsters were impersonating.
Deepfake recruiter 1, the Senior Vice President
The first fraudster emailed me early Tuesday morning California time:
Hi John,
I hope you’re doing well. My name is Ethan [REDACTED LAST NAME SPELLED WITH AN “E”], Senior Vice President at Aerotek, a national staffing and recruiting firm.
I’m reaching out regarding a confidential, retained search for a Senior Product Marketing Leader with a real, actively operating company in the identity verification and biometrics space. Your background in product marketing, go-to-market strategy, and competitive intelligence across identity technology firms stood out strongly during our shortlist review.
This role is ideal for leaders who drive product launches, shape competitive positioning, and accelerate growth in B2B/B2G SaaS environments.
If this aligns with what you’re exploring, I’d be happy to share the full role brief.
Best regard Ethan [REDACTED LAST NAME SPELLED WITH AN “A”]
When a Senior Vice President can’t spell his own last name consistently, that’s a warning flag.
When said Senior Vice President emails me from ethan.aerotek.desk2@gmail.com, that’s another.
Turns out Ethan is a U.S. based person employed by Aerotek, with the same picture used in the Gmail account (which I guess qualifies this as a “deepfake”), but he is a Recruiter, not a Senior Vice President.
So I messaged the real Ethan on LinkedIn early Tuesday morning, reproducing the email message above and prepending it with:
Ethan, I received this from a Gmail address
Replying to the fake recruiter
Then I responded to the email from the fake Ethan:
Ethan, I have contacted you via LinkedIn. Please provide your Aerotek email address. Your client will understand.
My final comment probably went over the fake Ethan’s head, but any identity verification company would clearly understand why a candidate would insist on an Aerotek address rather than a Gmail address. Except in certain circumstances that I’ll address later.
And of course Aerotek would be very concerned about fraudsters impersonating real Aerotek employees…or so you’d think.
Back to the fake, who responded a few minutes later. Oddly enough, even though Ethan is U.S.-based, this email indicated that my reply was received in a time zone eight hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone. Anyway, here’s the fake Ethan’s non-surprising response.
Thank you for reaching out. I’ve been experiencing some technical issues with LinkedIn this week, so I appreciate you continuing the conversation here.
This is the usual tactic employed by scammers. Stay off reputable platforms such as LinkedIn and move the conversation to another platform, in this case email. At least fake Ethan didn’t direct me to WhatsApp or Telegram.
As of Wednesday morning I left both conversations there. I didn’t reply to the fake Ethan’s latest email, and the real Ethan didn’t reply to my messsage.
And that’s a problem.
Concerns about the real recruiter
As I mentioned earlier, Aerotek obviously doesn’t want fraudsters impersonating their employees. And Aerotek employees certainly don’t want fraudsters impersonating them and lifting their facial images for fake Gmail accounts.
But the real Ethan apparently hasn’t checked his LinkedIn account in over 24 hours, and is completely unaware that a fraudster is impersonating him.
Causing damage to him and his employer.
If you’re a recruiter (or any professional) and you have a LinkedIn account, check it regularly. You don’t know what you’re missing.
But let’s move on to deepfake 2: technically not a deepfake since the fraudster only appropriated a name and not a likeness, but worrisome all the same.
Deepfake recruiter 2, the independent and invisible recruiter
The second fraudster emailed me late in the afternoon California time.
Hello John,
I hope you’re doing well.
I recently came across your background in B2B/B2G SaaS product marketing, particularly your work across identity, biometrics, and broader technology markets. Your experience driving product launches, developing go-to-market strategy, and building high-impact content and competitive intelligence frameworks really stood out.
I’m currently supporting a respected technology organization operating at the intersection of SaaS, cybersecurity, and identity, and your ability to bridge complex technical solutions with clear market positioning aligns closely with what they’re looking for.
Given your track record of both strategic thinking and execution (“ask, then act” definitely came through), I believe you could be a strong fit for this opportunity.
If you’re open to exploring, I’d be happy to share a brief overview of the role and why I feel it aligns well with your background.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Again this person emailed me from a Gmail address, consisting of the person’s name with an appended “8.”
Finding the real recruiter
So I checked out this person also, and discovered a few things.
This is also a real person, based in Europe. So she supposedly sent this email after midnight her time.
The real recruiter DOES have a Gmail address, but without the “8.” Why? Because the person is NOT employed by a huge recruiting firm such as Aerotek, but is a self-employed recruiting specialist. So it’s understandable that the real recruiter has a Gmail address. But as we will see, not advisable.
Her company name is her name with the word “Consulting” appended, according to her personal LinkedIn profile.
So I messaged the real recruiter with the message “Possible scam artist” and the email address (with the “8”) that sent the message.
Replying, and not replying, to the fake recruiter
About an hour later (now well after midnight European time), I received a second email from the fake recruiter that didn’t reference my reply to the first one.
Hello John,
I hope you’re doing well.
I recently came across your background in B2B/B2G SaaS product marketing, and your work across identity, biometrics, and go-to-market strategy really stood out—particularly your experience positioning complex technologies like IAM, biometrics, and AI-driven solutions.
Your track record in product launches, competitive intelligence, and building high-impact content at scale aligns closely with what we’re currently prioritizing.
I’m supporting a respected technology organization that is expanding its product marketing leadership team, and based on your experience, you could be a strong fit—especially given your depth across both public sector (B2G) and commercial (B2B) environments.
If you’re open to exploring, I’d be happy to share a brief overview of the role and why I believe it aligns well with your background.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
I didn’t bother to reply to the second email from the fake recruiter, or to notify the real recruiter of the second email.
Eventually I received a reply to my first email early Wednesday morning…oddly enough, indicating that the fake was in the Pacific Time Zone, not Europe. (Note to scammers: change your computer and software settings so that your time zone matches the time zone of the person you’re impersonating.)
Here’s how the reply began:
Thank you for your message here—and I did see your note on LinkedIn as well. Apologies for the slight delay in getting back to you, I was tied up attending to a few things earlier.
Yeah, sure you saw my LinkedIn InMail.
Anyway, forget about the scammer. Let’s look at the real recruiter.
Concerns about the real recruiter
As I mentioned, the real recruiter has a personal LinkedIn profile and a Gmail address.
And that’s it.
I couldn’t find a LinkedIn company page for her consulting company.
A couldn’t find a website for her consulting company.
In fact, the ONLY reference I found to her consulting company was her personal LinkedIn page.
And that’s a problem.
The fact that she has no LinkedIn posts and no LinkedIn recommendations is another.
Now I’ll grant that many consultants get their business from word-of-mouth. Bredemarket certainly does.
But the only publicly-known way to contact THIS consultant is via email or LinkedIn InMail.
And as of now she hasn’t checked her InMail in over 12 hours.
What if she were to lose access to her LinkedIn account?
If you’re an independent recruiting consultant, own your own website, and don’t depend upon someone else’s social platform.
That’s one reason why Bredemarket offers several ways to reach me, most importantly the contact mechanisms available on my own website, free of the control of Microsoft, Meta, or any other company that could yank my access at the drop of a hat.
But there are others.
Bredemarket’s active platforms as of March 29, 2026.
So if you have content or other needs…such as the need to create content to publicize your recruiting consultancy…why don’t you talk to me?
Back in 2024 I wrote about contraction in the identity/biometric industry.
In retrospect, that industry has been lucky.
At the time I wrote this (yes, this is a scheduled post), I knew of few if any identity/biometric companies that had “right sized” half its staff. 10% maybe, but not 50%.
The mood at the time was that the world was changing and generative AI bots and non-person entities could replace people.
Yes, I am familiar with the party line that AI wouldn’t replace anyone, but would empower everyone to do their jobs more effectively.
The layoff trackers told a different story.
As did the AI gurus who proclaimed that many jobs would soon be obsolete.
Strangely enough, “AI guru” was not one of the jobs that was going away. Which is odd. It seems to me that giving inspirational talks would be the perfect job for a non-person entity.
But many people agreed that entry-level jobs were ripe for rightsizing, meaning that those at the beginnings of their careers would have a much harder time finding work.
“Hardware giant IBM plans to triple entry-level hiring in the U.S. in 2026, according to reporting from Bloomberg. Nickle LaMoreaux, IBM’s chief human resource officer, announced the initiative….’And yes, it’s for all these jobs that we’re being told AI can do,’ LaMoreaux said.”
Because IBM has separated what AI can do from what it can’t do. IBM’s new positions are “less focused on areas AI can actually automate — like coding — and more focused on people-forward areas like engaging with customers.”
Guess what? Bots are not engaging. Well, maybe they’re more engaging than AI gurus…
Can you use people?
But I will go one step further and claim that human product marketers and content writers are more engaging than bot product marketers and content writers.
Believe me, I’ve tested this. Bredebot can fake 30 years of experience, but it’s not genuine.
If you want to engage with your prospects, don’t assign the job to a bot. That’s human work.
Bredemarket 