Scott Bass
Pennsylvania
Overview
I make marketing accountable for business outcomes. That is the common thread across my 20 years of senior marketing leadership. Today I work with B2B leadership teams as a fractional CMO, focused on three things: connecting marketing directly to business goals, closing the gap between marketing and sales, and sharpening how a company positions itself in the market. I have always been inside the business, not outside of it. That is the experience I bring to every engagement. Most recently I served as SVP of Marketing at Affiliated Distributors, a $100B independent distributor network, repo
About
I make marketing accountable for business outcomes. That is the common thread across my 20 years of senior marketing leadership. Today I work with B2B leadership teams as a fractional CMO, focused on three things: connecting marketing directly to business goals, closing the gap between marketing and sales, and sharpening how a company positions itself in the market. I have always been inside the business, not outside of it. That is the experience I bring to every engagement. Most recently I served as SVP of Marketing at Affiliated Distributors, a $100B independent distributor network, reporting directly to the CEO. I led a 30+ person marketing organization, modernized marketing operations and technology, introduced new lead generation programs, and served as a founding member of the company's AI governance committee. Before that I spent eight years leading global marketing at Edmund Optics, a global leader in optical components and imaging technology, reporting directly to the CEO. We repositioned the brand, drove digital transformation, and delivered significant incremental revenue by aligning marketing directly to revenue rather than activity. During that time I also served on the board of SPIE, the International Society for Optics and Photonics. I also spent eight years leading marketing at MRINetwork, at the time one of the largest executive search franchise networks in the world, and its parent company CDI. That one is personal. I grew up in a family MRINetwork franchise and watched firsthand how credibility, trust, and relationships build businesses. It shaped how I think about marketing at its core: not as a function that produces things, but as a driver of commercial outcomes. Across all of it, the pattern was the same. Marketing structured as a support function will always struggle to earn trust, influence strategy, or consistently drive growth. The companies that win treat it differently.