Trust & Influence in B2B

Think you control the buyer journey? Think again... | Why LLMs and influencers are in the driving seat, with John Rockhold of Spotlight

The winning vendor is usually already on the buyer's shortlist before a single sales conversation happens, and increasingly, it isn't a salesperson or a website that put them there. It's a large language model, quietly checking what real people are already saying about you. John Rockhold, VP of Market Engagement at Spotlight, joins Joel Harrison to unpack Influence Orchestration, Spotlight's new research into how buying preference now forms in AI answer engines, peer communities and analyst conversations, long before a deal ever reaches a pipeline. John's team interviewed 23 leaders who build and measure B2B influence, reviewed 27 published studies of buyer behaviour, and analysed millions of AI engine answers and citations across B2B technology categories. The conversation also draws on Spotlight Summit, the event John's team ran in Kansas City the week this episode was recorded, where Joel spoke alongside Bijou Barry, Megan Burns and other voices shaping this shift. What you'll learn Why buyer preference now largely forms out of sight, in AI prompt windows, peer conversations and communities, before a vendor even knows a deal exists What separates the vendors AI answer engines actually recommend from the ones they ignore Why earned trust compounds over time, while paid attention resets the moment you stop paying for it Who should really own influence inside a B2B company, and why almost nobody does today What to check in your own AI visibility on Monday morning, and what to do if you don't like what you find If you find this conversation valuable, please take a moment to subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating or review. It really helps other B2B marketers discover the show. Chapters 00:00 Introduction: the shortlist is already written 01:47 Welcome, John Rockhold 02:08 Inside Spotlight Summit 04:22 What Spotlight does, and where the report began 08:25 Why “Influence Orchestration” 11:22 The day one shortlist: 95% and what it means for the buyer journey 15:05 Robots, humans, and the return of intermediaries 16:55 The verification loop: how buyers check what the machine tells them 19:20 Earned versus owned: the quote, the sidebar, and the flip 22:13 Megan Burns and the internal trust problem 25:28 Why nobody owns influence, and why that has to change 26:42 The 50% ceiling: when owned content collapses your visibility 28:20 Three predictions for 2027 and 2028 33:48 What to check on Monday morning 35:15 Does compounding influence favour challengers or incumbents? 38:33 What John learned at Spotlight Summit Chapter times are taken from the pre-edit transcript. Re-time against the published cut once the final edit is locked. Follow John Rockhold LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrockhold/ Spotlight: https://spotlight-io.com/ More from Trust & Influence in B2B 🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community: https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬 What's the one place your buyers are checking that you haven't thought about yet? Let us know in the comments. 🔔 Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing: https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲 Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast: https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #B2BMarketing #TrustAndInfluence #InfluenceOrchestration #AIinMarketing #GEO #AEO #BuyerJourney #AnalystRelations #B2BPodcast #MarketingPodcast #JoelHarrison #Spotlight #JohnRockhold

Automating judgment, not just tasks | Michelle Huff on building AI trust the way you'd onboard a new hire

Every B2B vendor now has an AI story. Michelle Huff, Chief Marketing Officer at Alteryx, argues that's exactly the problem: when everyone makes the same promise, positioning around AI stops being a differentiator and becomes table stakes. Michelle brings more than 25 years leading marketing and go-to-market strategy at Oracle, Salesforce and UserTesting to the question of how a 25-year-old analytics brand earns its place in the AI era without sliding into hype. Joel and Michelle talk through how Alteryx replaces claims with proof – a 760,000-member user community, customer stories, and a framework (Visible, Understandable, Repeatable, Auditable) for what makes an automated decision trustworthy. Michelle also unpacks a strikingly simple way to think about handing judgment to AI: treat it like onboarding a new hire, earning autonomy step by step rather than switching it on and walking away. What you'll learn Why positioning around AI is now table stakes rather than a differentiator – and what to do about it How to move a brand beyond me-too claims to demonstrable, genuine value What proof of substance actually looks like to a buyer who's heard every AI promise before Why the real AI story is about automating judgment, not just tasks A practical framework for deciding what's ready to automate and what still needs a human in the loop Chapters 00:00 Introduction: why AI positioning is now table stakes 02:02 Meet Michelle Huff and Alteryx's 25-year evolution 04:54 25 years across tech shifts: the instinct that carries through 08:49 Beyond the AI me-too: proving value, not just claiming it 10:36 Community and advocacy at scale 12:21 Building movements, not monuments: the Salesforce influence 14:00 Where AI genuinely changes the product vs. just the language 15:50 Vision vs. reality: staying grounded while pointing ahead 16:19 Repositioning a legacy brand without over-claiming 20:15 The BIRA framework: visible, understandable, repeatable, auditable 23:50 Data vs. story: which one wins when they pull apart 26:45 Automating judgment: the new-hire analogy and the trust score 31:02 Task-owners vs. problem-owners: staying valuable as AI reshapes marketing 32:58 Advice for teams that don't trust their AI output yet 34:29 Closing thoughts Follow Michelle Huff LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellehuff/ Alteryx: https://www.alteryx.com/ Closing boilerplate If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership – whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬 Where's the line for you between AI that's a genuine step change and AI that's just new language on old capability? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔 Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲 Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/

Before 'sleeping giant' Iron Mountain got loud, it had to be believed | CMO Karen Feldman on earning that trust

Iron Mountain is nearly 75 years old, built on physical records storage, and structured as a real estate investment trust — known for most of its history for warehouses and shredding trucks, not brand campaigns. Then Karen Feldman arrived as the company's first-ever Chief Marketing Officer. Karen joins Joel Harrison to explain what it actually means to become a legacy business's first CMO when marketing already exists, just without a seat at the top table — and the trust-building playbook that got her there. We cover the brand health study that reshaped her budget priorities, the McLaren Racing partnership that mirrors Iron Mountain's own value proposition, how AI is reshaping B2B search behaviour, and her advice for any marketing leader walking into a legacy business. If you find this valuable, please subscribe and leave a rating or review — it really helps other B2B marketers find the show. Guest Karen Feldman, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Iron Mountain Karen Feldman is SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Iron Mountain, a role she took on in November 2024 as the company's first-ever CMO. She joined from IBM Consulting, where she spent over 25 years at IBM, including as CMO leading the business's repositioning following the Kyndryl spin-off. Karen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-feldman-217440/ Host Joel Harrison, founder of Joel Harrison B2B and host of Trust & Influence in B2B. Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ In this episode 00:00 Welcome, and introducing Karen Feldman 02:27 What Iron Mountain actually does today 04:48 Karen's path from IBM Consulting to Iron Mountain 11:06 The brand platform: protect what matters, unlock what's possible 14:43 Earning the leadership trust to build a real CMO mandate 19:09 The McLaren Racing partnership 21:59 Brand, demand, and speaking the business's language 28:28 AI and trust in the B2B mid-funnel 32:25 Advice for marketers walking into a legacy business 35:11 Two years in: what's been unlocked so far Follow Karen Feldman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-feldman-217440/ Iron Mountain: https://www.ironmountain.com/ Closing & Calls to Action 🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community: https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ What would you tell a marketing leader walking into a legacy B2B business for the first time? Let us know in the comments below. Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing: https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast: https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandStrategy, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #CMO, #MarketingLeadership, #BrandTrust, #LegacyBrands, #B2BGrowth, #TrustAndInfluenceInB2B, #IronMountain

Finally! A replacement for NPS... or is it? | How Tony Larks hacked Bain & Co's groundbreaking 'shortlist score'

NPS has survived more obituaries than almost any other metric in B2B marketing — and it's still standing. Bain & Co.'s newest research doesn't try to kill it off again; it argues the real predictor of B2B growth is something else entirely: whether a vendor makes a buyer's 'day one' shortlist, the mental list formed before anyone picks up the phone. Tony Larks, a B2B marketing leader with over 20 years of experience spanning sales, enterprise technology and zero-to-one startup builds, read that research and asked the obvious next question — could you estimate your shortlist position without ever surveying a buyer? ➡️ Tony walks Joel through the AI prompt he built to do exactly that — scoring companies against Bain’s five-part framework using nothing but public signals: analyst coverage from the likes of Gartner and Forrester, peer review sites such as G2, forums including Reddit, and even employee sentiment on Glassdoor. He shares the story of an NPS score skewed by SMB customers who’d rather pay a compliance fine than do the hard work of getting compliant, unpacks why ‘shortlist share’ risks becoming exactly the kind of vanity metric NPS became if marketers try to game it with PR spend, and explains why fixing the fundamentals — service, roadmap transparency, honest pricing — beats gaming any signal. He’s open-sourced the tool and is giving the prompt away free to anyone who wants it. If you’ve ever wondered whether your brand is even in the room before the RFP lands, this conversation will change how you think about being ‘in the market’ versus being in contention. What You'll Learn • What's actually wrong with NPS, the B2B trust metric — and why nobody's replaced it, until now • What the ‘day one list’ is, and why Bain says most lost deals were never winnable to begin with • How Tony built an AI model that estimates buyer confidence from public signals alone, and where the approach is strongest and weakest • What brands should actually do once they know where they sit on the shortlist Chapters 00:00 - Introduction: Why We're Finally Talking About NPS 01:35 - Meet Tony Larks: From Sales Floor to Startup Marketing Leadership 04:45 - From Sentiment Tracking to Bain's ‘Day One List’ 09:28 - What's Actually Wrong With NPS (And What Isn't) 12:14 - NPS's Cultural Blind Spot: Sevens, Nines and Detractors 15:07 - Inside Bain's Day One List: Why ‘Lost’ Deals Were Never Winnable 17:56 - Do You Need Bain's Budget? Mining Your Own CRM Data 21:02 - The Hidden Buyers Bain's Framework Surfaces 23:55 - Building an AI Proxy for Buyer Trust: How the Shortlist Matrix Works 26:26 - Estimation vs. Measurement: How Rigorous Is Good Enough? 28:07 - The Gaming Risk: Can Shortlist Share Be Bought? 31:26 - Could ‘Shortlist Share’ Become the Next Vanity Metric? 33:27 - What Marketers Should Actually Do With Their Score 35:02 - Explaining the Two-by-Two Grid 36:13 - NPS Isn't Dead, It's Just Incomplete 37:42 - Wrap-Up and How to Get the Tool About the guest Tony Larks is a B2B marketing leader with over 20 years of experience, starting his career in sales before moving into marketing roles spanning distribution, systems integrators and enterprise technology businesses. He has spent his most recent years leading zero-to-one marketing builds inside startups, and over the past year has been building a suite of AI agents to track brand and market sentiment — work that led him to develop the open-source ‘shortlist matrix’ featured in this episode. Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonylarks/ Blog featuring shortlist matrix prompt: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-measuring-market-share-start-shortlist-tony-larks-hazje/?trackingId=BHbT3G1Q76e9aaY0PZoOcg%3D%3D About the podcast This is a full episode of Trust & Influence in B2B, hosted by Joel Harrison, founder of Joel Harrison B2B. Joel on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ If this was useful, subscribe for more on trust, influence and the metrics that actually predict B2B growth — and tell me in the comments where you think you’d land on the day one shortlist.

• Chapters

Why influencer skills are becoming essential for B2B CMOs | With Archana Dhankar of Proofpoint

Most B2B marketing leaders aren't short on expertise — they're short on the confidence and the practised skill to be visible with it, whether that's in the room with their own board or out in public. Archana Dhankar, VP Marketing EMEA at Proofpoint, TEDx speaker and LinkedIn Top Voice, joins Joel Harrison to unpack what it actually takes to build that visibility, internally and externally, and turn it into real influence. ➡️ She breaks down the practical mechanics of building influence: a 2:1 ratio for balancing self-promotion against value-added content, a three-stage framework for knowing when visibility has become influence (likes, saves, and inbound interest), and why trust compounds differently on a public platform than it does inside your own organisation. She's also candid about the cost — the professional accountability, the late nights, the posts that flop despite your best instincts — and closes with practical advice for reluctant leaders and junior marketers on where to start. What you'll learn Why visibility and influence are not the same thing, and how to tell them apart The 2:1 ratio Archana uses to keep self-promotion from tipping into ego A three-stage framework for measuring whether your content is building real influence Why trust compounds differently on social platforms than it does in daily work The personal cost of building a public profile – and why consistency, not confidence, is the hard part How to start building influence if you're a reluctant leader, or a junior marketer just starting out Chapters 00:01 – Introduction and episode setup 02:08 – Archana's journey: two decades in B2B marketing, content roots back to 2008 04:20 – Visibility vs. influence: the core distinction 06:17 – What prompted Archana to go public, and the “side hustle” advantage 09:33 – Three phases of measuring when visibility becomes influence 12:51 – Self-promotion vs. ego, and the 2:1 content ratio 14:18 – Balancing personal brand with company brand 16:47 – Why trust is the foundation of influence 18:41 – Winning over skeptical stakeholders: SEMrush and Adobe as B2B influencer examples 20:28 – How being an influential leader has shaped Archana's career 23:29 – The personal cost: accountability and consistency 26:08 – Where to start if you want influence, not just visibility 30:19 – Advice for junior marketers 31:14 – The one mindset shift that matters most LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/archanadhankar/ 🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community: https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 📲 Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/

From the moshpit to the marketing plan | What a decade in the music business taught Jason Miller about attention in B2B

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Jason Miller, who leads content and marketing at V7 Labs and previously held senior content marketing roles at LinkedIn, Marketo and ActiveCampaign. Before B2B, Jason spent a decade in the music industry — touring with bands, working artist development, and photographing rock's biggest names — and he's never really left it behind. Together, they explore why the safe, by-the-numbers approach so many B2B marketers default to is quietly the riskiest choice of all, and what a career spent between the tour bus and the marketing plan has taught him about actually earning an audience's attention. ➡️ Jason holds nothing back. He explains why the music industry never called its fans “leads,” and how that community mindset shaped his approach at Marketo, where the entire strategy handed down from Marketo co-founder and CMO Jon Miller was simply “get people to like us.” He unpacks why viral, one-hit-wonder campaigns — from Old Spice to the Volvo truck ad — aren't repeatable playbooks for most brands, and why chasing them is a trap. He's candid about the tension between personality and brand safety inside a large corporate marketing team, drawing on his time working on Bing at Microsoft, and makes the case for consistency over virality — including a great story about Rick Rubin, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and creating for yourself rather than for an audience. He closes with a warning about AI and taste: why outsourcing judgment to an algorithm is the worst thing a marketer can do right now, and what will actually matter in B2B marketing going forward. What You'll Learn What the music industry got right: why bands never called their fans “leads,” and what that means for B2B community-building. The Marketo playbook: how “get people to like us” became a strategy, not just a slogan. The one-hit-wonder trap: why viral campaigns like Old Spice and the Volvo truck ad aren't repeatable playbooks for most brands. Personality vs. brand safety: what happens to a big idea inside a large corporate marketing team, and why smaller, faster teams can take more risks. Consistency beats virality: “posting the draft,” building in public, and what Rick Rubin's work with Red Hot Chili Peppers can teach content marketers. AI and the death of taste: why outsourcing taste to an AI agent is a mistake, and the skills marketers now need to stay relevant. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction: From the Mosh Pit to the Marketing Plan 02:21 - Jason Miller: From Music Industry to B2B, and Life at V7 Labs 05:13 - Startup Speed vs. Corporate Red Tape 07:07 - Life on the Road: Artist Development Lessons 09:33 - B2C Personality Meets B2B: The Marketo Playbook 12:58 - The One-Hit-Wonder Trap: Old Spice, Volvo and Repeatable Playbooks 15:13 - HubSpot, “It Slaps,” and the Line Between Cool and Try-Hard 17:55 - Second Skin: Music as a Sense of Purpose 20:55 - Personality Inside a Corporate Machine: The Microsoft/Bing Story 24:49 - Consistency Over Virality: Posting the Draft and Rick Rubin's “Create for Yourself” 29:18 - Likable, Relevant, Consistent: What Actually Works on LinkedIn 31:43 - Why the Clay and Eleven Labs Playbooks Aren't Repeatable 34:14 - AI, Taste and the Last Human Trait 38:37 - Closing Thoughts Note: chapter times are taken from the unedited transcript and are approximate — confirm against the final published cut before adding to the platform. Follow the Guest Follow Jason Miller https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsnmiller/ https://www.v7labs.com/ Closing & Calls to Action If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, funny in places, and packed with takeaways on how to build genuine personality into your content — whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—having something to say, or having the confidence to say it? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ Hashtags #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ContentMarketing, #BrandPersonality, #B2BContent, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BStrategy, #ContentStrategy, #Storytelling, #MusicIndustry, #B2BGrowth, #ThoughtLeadership, #MarketingTrends

Stop trying to please everyone! | Karl Van den Bergh of Illumio on why consistency, not consensus, is what earns trust in B2B

Most leadership advice pushes you toward a familiar template: decisive, diplomatic, endlessly composed. It's meant to build trust. Often it does the opposite – because trust depends on people actually knowing who you are, not the version of you assembled to fit expectations. In this episode of Trust & Influence in B2B, Joel Harrison is joined by Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Illumio, the breach containment company. Karl has spent more than 25 years leading go-to-market teams at global technology companies, including CMO roles at Gigamon and DataStax, and now writes regularly on authenticity and what it means to be human at work. Together they unpack why being yourself is a trust strategy rather than a soft skill, how to tell real authenticity apart from the performative kind, and why Karl believes AI raises the value of human, relational marketing rather than eroding it. In this episode: Why most leadership advice pushes conformity rather than authenticity, and what gets lost in the process The test that actually separates real authenticity from the performative kind Why brands that try to please everyone end up forgettable – and the campaign that proves the opposite How fear of conflict quietly kills team performance, and what fixed it on Karl's own team Why Karl believes AI raises the value of human, relational marketing rather than replacing it Chapters 00:00 Cold open 01:26 Karl's background – from physics to CMO 03:13 Why he started writing about being yourself at work 06:10 Why a distinctive point of view is a differentiator 08:37 Personal brand vs. company brand 10:55 What authenticity actually means 11:50 Spotting performative authenticity 13:47 How authenticity cascades through a team 17:27 Where leaders fall short on consistency 19:46 Does this get harder as the stakes rise? 21:56 The counterargument: "Don't Be Yourself" 24:30 AI and the flattening of content 27:52 One thing to start doing differently next week Karl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlvandenbergh/ Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/

Employee voices drown out brand voices in B2B – so how do you orchestrate them? Rida Oyebade of Workday on employee advocacy

Why is employee advocacy so often mistaken for a content strategy? Rida Oyebade, Senior Social Media Manager at Workday, explains why handing employees “ready-made content” isn’t enough — advocacy only works when it still sounds like the person sharing it, not the brand behind them. In this episode of Trust & Influence in B2B, host Joel Harrison talks to Rida Oyebade about employee advocacy — the discipline of turning colleagues into credible, willing voices for the brand. Rida traces her own path into advocacy, breaks down the different tiers of an advocacy programme, and is candid about what she’s learned building one from scratch at Workday: why participation has to stay genuinely optional, why no programme survives without real buy-in from leadership, and why the whole discipline is really about borrowed trust rather than borrowed content. In this episode Why brand-originated content is losing ground to individual voices in B2B Why handing employees ready-made content isn’t the same as earning their voice The three tiers of employee advocacy, and why each needs different handling Why employee advocacy means borrowing someone’s “personal real estate” — and why participation has to stay optional What actually makes advocacy programmes work, and why persuasion alone isn’t enough Whether employee advocacy is a specialism worth building a career around Guest Rida Oyebade is Senior Social Media Manager at Workday, where she leads employee advocacy — working with colleagues, or “influencers” as she prefers to call them, to carry the brand into places a corporate account can’t reach.

Growth, creativity and trust: the B2B story of Cannes Lions 2026

In this special edition of Trust & Influence in B2B, Joel Harrison is joined by Fiona McKenzie of Marketbridge to make sense of Cannes Lions 2026. Fresh from five days of multi-stream content, installations and fringe events, they let the dust settle and distil what actually matters for B2B marketers – viewed through a growth lens, not creativity for its own sake. They unpack why B2B is visibly on the rise at Cannes, the tension between creativity and commercial measurement, and the CFO buy-in conversation (brand as future cashflow). They dig into three important releases from the week: the FT's work on trust (including the finding that 82% trust a source more when it challenges than when it agrees), Bloomberg on reputation pulling weight across the full funnel, and Bain & Co.'s new model positioned as a rival to NPS, scoring a buyer's likelihood to choose you before any deal is on the table. The conversation moves through the B2B Lions winner – an obscure Swedish ball-bearing company using tidal energy in the Faroe Islands, and why a big idea told as a wider go-to-market story is a step in the right direction – the rise of creators and influence in B2B, Joel's framework of five "trust champions," and a notably optimistic read on AI: a technology that surfaces existing misalignment and removes grunt work rather than replacing human judgment. They close on what Cannes could do better for the B2B community. In this episode: What Cannes actually is, and why it's so hard to navigate. B2B moving up the agenda. The growth-versus-creativity lens. CFO buy-in and brand as future cashflow. Why CMOs are exhausted by the measurement debate. Three key releases: FT on trust, Bloomberg on reputation, Bain's NPS rival. The B2B Lions winner and what it signals. Creators, influence and Joel's five trust champions. A grounded, optimistic take on AI. What's missing, and what would take Cannes to the next level in 2027. Reports and resources mentioned (links below): FT – research on trust in B2B https://dimensionsofinfluence.ft.com/ Bloomberg – reputation across the funnel, B2B Summit presentation https://www.bloombergmedia.com/blog/corporate-rep-study-2025/ Bain & Co. – new buyer-choice model positioned against NPS https://www.bain.com/insights/raising-the-odds-on-a-deal-how-likelihood-to-buy-rewires-b2b-growth/ Chapters: (00:00) Welcome and why we waited for the dust to settle (01:13) What Cannes actually is, and how to navigate it (03:04) B2B on the rise at the festival (04:28) The growth lens: creativity anchored in commercial value (05:21) CFO buy-in and brand as future cashflow (07:54) Why CMOs are exhausted by measurement (10:23) Is B2B creativity judged by the wrong (B2C) playbook? (11:26) Three key releases: FT, Bloomberg and Bain (16:45) Talking the language of the boardroom (19:36) The B2B Lions winner: a Swedish ball-bearing story (24:29) Creators, influence and the five trust champions (30:11) AI: surfacing misalignment, not taking our jobs (35:17) What Cannes could do better (37:46) Wrap-up and how to share your own take Connect with Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Connect with Fiona on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-mckenzie-8a16921a/

The deal is won before you're in the room | Why the recommended choice now beats the visible one, with Lottie O'Donoghue from Velo

Most of the conversations that decide a B2B deal happen in a room you'll never be in. Buyers swap recommendations, compare notes and build their shortlists in spaces marketers can neither see nor measure – and by the time you're in contention, the decision is often half made. In this episode of Trust & Influence in B2B, Joel Harrison is joined by Lottie O'Donoghue, strategy director at Velo, a specialist B2B agency built on recommendation. Lottie has led marketing client-side in scale-up SaaS and run ABM at Accenture, and now shapes recommendation strategies for Velo's clients across technology, industrial and professional services. Together they unpack why becoming the recommended choice has shifted from a nice-to-have to a commercial imperative, the real difference between being known and being recommended, and the trust signals that quietly compound into advocacy. In this episode: Why the recommended choice now matters more than the visible one The trust signals that accumulate into recommendation, and the ones marketers most underestimate How to make the case for investing in influence that conventional attribution can't capture Where to start if you suspect you're not being talked about in the right rooms Velo's six Rs of Recommendation Marketing framework Download Velo's report here: https://www.velo-b2b.com/ebooks/?utm_source=Joel+Harrison&utm_campaign=Recommendation+Marketing This is a sponsored episode, produced in partnership with Velo.

Why lead gen is still B2B's trust free zone | How blind faith and 'tolerable mischief' underpins a global industry, with Robin Caller of Leadscale

Lead generation is the discipline B2B marketing relies on most and trusts least. In this episode of Trust & Influence in B2B, Robin Caller, founder and CEO of Leadscale, explains why, and what it would take to fix it. Most people in B2B know that a good share of the leads changing hands every day are of questionable quality. Few will say so on the record. Robin is an exception. He calls it "a tolerable level of mischief", a grey zone the whole industry has quietly learned to live with, and in conversation with host Joel Harrison he explains why it persists, why he refuses to call it fraud, and how transparency could begin to put it right. A note before you listen: Robin speaks freely, and not everyone in the industry will agree with all of it. That's rather the point. In this episode: – Why lead generation has been B2B's least-trusted discipline for 20 years – What "a tolerable level of mischief" really means, and why it isn't fraud – The "blind faith" model and the hierarchy of transparency – Why marketers tolerate poor-quality leads: the quota trap – How advertisers are part of the problem, not just the victims – The provenance questions every buyer should be asking their suppliers – Why "more leads will not be the answer" in the AI era Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Lead Generation Challenges 05:42 Transparency and Its Role in Trust 08:20 The Ambivalence of Stakeholders 11:26 Blind Faith in Lead Generation Practices 14:23 The Importance of Transparency in Data Collection 17:19 Navigating the Gray Areas of Lead Generation 18:22 Finding Fair Solutions for All Parties 21:37 Advertisers: Victims and Perpetrators 21:54 The Importance of Data Sharing 24:30 Data Decay and Its Impact on Performance 25:16 Trust and Transparency in Data Transactions 25:25 Generational Perspectives in Marketing 27:03 The MQL Mindset and Its Limitations 29:20 Dynamic Qualification of Leads 31:12 Managing Tolerances in Imperfect Systems 32:48 The Future of Lead Generation 36:23 Questions for Better Data Practices 39:56 The Ethical Implications of Data Sourcing 42:42 A Positive Outlook on Future Trends About the guest Robin Caller is the founder and CEO of Leadscale, a London-based lead generation and data quality business. He has spent more than two decades in lead and demand generation and is one of the industry's more outspoken voices on data quality, transparency and trust. Robin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robincaller/ About the podcast Trust & Influence in B2B is hosted by Joel Harrison, founder of Joel Harrison B2B. Each episode explores marketing strategy and practice with senior B2B practitioners, researchers and academics. Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Enjoyed this episode? Follow the show in your podcast app and leave a rating or review – it helps other B2B marketers find it.

Stop claiming you're the best! AI will mark you down for it | Tom Rudnai on winning influence in the age of Dark AI

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Tom Rudnai, Founder of Demand Genius and author of the Dark AI study — a research project that analyzed hundreds of AI prompt clusters across major B2B categories to map where brands are truly winning and losing influence. Tom's central finding is as counterintuitive as it is urgent: the more boldly a brand claims to be the best, the more likely AI is to quietly sideline it during the buyer conversations that shape outcomes. So where is influence actually earned in an AI-led world — and what should B2B marketers be doing differently? ➡️ Tom cuts through the noise with sharp, data-grounded thinking on why AI is not a search channel — and why treating it like one is one of the most costly mistakes in B2B marketing today. He introduces the "Dark AI" concept: the 84% of buyer conversations where no brand gets cited, yet where the problem framing, requirements, and shortlist criteria are already being quietly formed. He unpacks how AI enters exploratory mode at the top of the funnel — and why confident, directive brand language fails at the exact moment influence is most available. He also lays out the concept of information gain, arguing that original research, clear perspectives, and genuinely new knowledge are now the highest-value signals a brand can produce. From convergence patterns to what to actually measure, this conversation will challenge how you think about authority, content, and trust in modern B2B. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction: Why Bold Positioning Can Backfire in AI Search 02:08 - Tom's Background and the Story Behind Demand Genius 03:59 - How Buyers Use AI Differently from Traditional Search 06:16 - The Dark AI Study: What It Measured and What It Found 10:30 - AI Visibility vs. AI Influence: The Iceberg Explained 13:18 - Convergence: How AI Narrows Down to a Recommendation 18:38 - Information Gain: The New North Star for B2B Content 22:11 - Why Confident Category Claims Fail in AI-Led Journeys 25:28 - What B2B Marketers Should Actually Be Measuring 30:49 - Patterns Across Categories and AI Models 33:22 - The One Takeaway Every Marketer Should Remember Follow Tom Rudnai, linkedin.com/in/tomrudnai demandgenius.ai If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—insightful data or a compelling story? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #AISearch, #DarkAI, #AEO, #BuyerJourney, #InformationGain, #B2BGrowth, #AIMarketing, #DemandGeneration

Why Replacing Junior Marketers With AI Is a False Economy | Professor Laura Chamberlain on Next-Gen Talent

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Professor Laura Chamberlain, Professor of Marketing at the University of Warwick and Founder of Think Talk Thrive. They tackle one of the most pressing questions in the profession right now: Do we still need junior marketers—and if so, what do we owe them? As AI absorbs entry-level tasks and graduate vacancies continue to shrink, is marketing quietly destroying its own talent pipeline? ➡️ Laura draws on years of teaching across every level of the profession—from undergraduates to C-suite executives—to challenge the notion that AI can simply replace junior roles. She makes a compelling case that young professionals bring far more than cheap labour: native AI fluency, cultural proximity, fresh thinking, and an eagerness that senior hires can't replicate. She and Joel explore how the erosion of mentorship, rising imposter phenomenon among 18–25-year-olds, and the compression of entry-level roles are creating a long-horizon crisis no single company will feel—until it's far too late. If you're in any way responsible for building or leading a marketing team, this episode will challenge how you think about who you hire, how you develop them, and what the profession stands to lose if we keep pulling the ladder up behind us. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction: The Junior Marketer Crisis 02:06 - Laura's Background and Teaching Perspective 03:13 - Is Marketing a Career Young People Choose or Fall Into? 06:29 - What's Preoccupying Students Entering the Profession 09:48 - The Graduate Jobs Squeeze and AI's Role 11:37 - Debunking the "We Don't Need Juniors" Narrative 14:31 - What Young Professionals Uniquely Bring to Marketing Teams 17:20 - The Case for Mentorship and Why It's Breaking Down 23:42 - How Junior Marketers Learn Without Entry-Level Tasks 25:42 - Learning to Be Strategic: The New Junior Skillset 30:06 - Specialists vs. Generalists in Marketing Education 34:51 - Are Young People Better or Worse at Using AI? 39:33 - The Long-Term Cost of Abandoning Junior Talent 41:09 - What Needs to Change: Laura's Call to Action Follow Laura Chamberlain https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmchamberlain/ If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—investing in junior talent or letting AI fill the gap? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #JuniorMarketers, #MarketingTalent, #AIinMarketing, #MarketingEducation, #EarlyCareer, #FutureOfMarketing, #MarketingMentorship, #TalentPipeline

What Access Group Learned from a Year on the AI Bus | Kate Hassler's Inside Track on How a $9 Billion B2B Software Powerhouse Has Made AI Business as Usual

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Kate Hassler, Group Director of Brand and Comms at Access Group—a $9 billion global B2B software company serving 160,000 customers across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. While headlines scream of AI-driven redundancies at tech giants, Access Group took the opposite approach: hiring more people, running company-wide hackathons, and building a culture where AI is simply business as usual. So what does a genuinely human-led AI transformation actually look like from the inside? ➡️ Kate walks through every stage of Access Group's journey—from pockets of shadow AI usage and no formal governance, to enterprise Claude licenses with custom brand skills built in. She reveals the story behind the now-legendary "AI bus" metaphor that united 9,000 employees around a single, simple idea, and explains how structured playtime - not mandates - turned the biggest sceptics into the most vocal champions. She digs into why Access chose to protect junior talent rather than cut it, how one senior designer reinvented himself as an AI strategist, and why the "human at the start, human at the end" principle is what separates meaningful content from AI slop. Whether you're a marketing leader navigating an AI rollout or just trying to get your team over the line, Kate's blueprint is grounded, practical, and genuinely inspiring. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction: AI and the B2B Marketing Workplace 02:12 - Kate Hassler and Access Group Overview 04:03 - Company-Wide AI as a Strategic Priority 07:26 - The London Bus Metaphor: Origin and Impact 11:04 - Why the Metaphor Has Endured a Year On 12:32 - From Shadow AI to Structured Adoption 14:33 - Copilot, Claude, and the Licensing Journey 17:27 - Building Custom Claude Brand Skills 19:00 - Human at the Start, Human at the End 21:14 - Hackathons, Play, and AI Champions 25:37 - Job Security and Empathy-Led Leadership 28:07 - Splash Maker: A Creative Reinvents as Strategist 32:49 - Biggest Lessons from 12 Months of AI Transformation 36:37 - Junior Talent and the Future Pipeline Follow Kate Hassler https://linkedin.com/in/kate-hassler https://www.theaccessgroup.com If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—getting your team on board with AI, or putting the governance in place? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #AIAdoption, #AIInMarketing, #MarketingLeadership, #AITransformation, #FutureOfWork, #CreativeServices, #B2BTech

B2B Tech Marketing's Human-First Future in The Age of AI | Exclusive Insights from B2B Marketing Awards Data, Focusing on Four Key Trends, with Tejal Patel

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Tejal Patel, Independent Marketing Consultant and former marketing leader at Cisco, Microsoft, and Nokia. Together, they examine how B2B technology marketing is changing as AI reshapes content creation and digital channels become more saturated than ever. Using exclusive insights from B2B Marketing Awards data, they reveal four emerging trends that are helping leading brands stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace. ➡️ Tejal explains why marketers are moving beyond traditional buyer personas and investing more heavily in developers, practitioners, employees, and advocates who influence purchasing decisions from within. The conversation explores the growing importance of employee advocacy, experiential marketing, proof-of-concept campaigns, and highly targeted direct mail programs that cut through digital noise. They also discuss why trust, authenticity, and human experiences are becoming more valuable competitive advantages—and why many marketing measurement frameworks may be preventing organizations from fully embracing these strategies. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction and Why Tech Marketing Leads B2B Innovation 01:23 - Meet Tejal Patel and the Rise of Human-Centric Marketing 05:21 - The Shift Toward Internal Influencers and Practitioner Audiences 10:22 - Why Marketers Are Targeting Doers Instead of Decision-Makers 12:15 - The Measurement Challenge Behind Long-Term Marketing Success 14:02 - Employee Advocacy and Authentic Brand Influence 16:51 - Proof of Concept as a Marketing Campaign 18:01 - Why Demonstration Beats Persuasion 20:52 - Quality Over Quantity in Modern B2B Marketing 23:19 - The Growth of Experiential and Sensory Marketing 25:11 - What Gen Z Buyers Teach Us About Engagement 27:29 - Creating Experiences That Prove Value 31:13 - Building Impactful Experiences on Smaller Budgets 33:53 - The Return of Direct Mail in B2B 37:21 - Has Digital Marketing Lost Its Distinction? 39:59 - The One Thing Marketing Leaders Should Change Today 42:34 - Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks Follow Tejal Patel https://www.linkedin.com/in/tejal/ https://tejalpatel.co.uk/ If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It’s honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬 What do you think will matter more in the future of B2B marketing—AI-powered efficiency or human-centered experiences? 🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with the marketers, leaders, and innovators shaping the future of B2B. 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #TechMarketing, #ExperientialMarketing, #EmployeeAdvocacy, #ABM, #DemandGeneration, #MarketingInnovation, #MarketingLeadership, #CustomerExperience

Best in show B2B | Why The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is blooming for Addleshaw Goddard's full-funnel campaign, with Brian Macreadie

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Brian Macreadie, Head of Marketing at Addleshaw Goddard, one of the UK's most creatively ambitious international law firms. Brian reveals how his team did something no legal firm had ever done before—becoming the first-ever official legal partner of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show—and built a full-funnel campaign around it called Flourish in the City. Could flowers, billboards, and a garden at Chelsea really deliver 350% ROI and 40 new clients in under a year? ➡️ With over 30 years of B2B marketing experience across telecoms, media, and legal, Brian doesn't just talk about creativity—he proves it pays. He breaks down the strategic thinking behind Flourish in the City: why a noisy, content-saturated legal market demanded something radically different, and how a single emotionally resonant idea can anchor an entire integrated campaign. From 19 digital billboards at Bank and London Bridge, to handing flowers to city commuters, to hosting 400+ VIP clients across 57 intimate Chelsea events—this is full-funnel B2B marketing at its boldest. Brian also tackles the harder questions: how do you build internal buy-in for long-term, creative marketing investment? How do brand and ABM complement rather than compete? And what does it really take to build the kind of trust that turns one conversation into a 25-year client relationship? His two golden rules haven't changed in 30 years—and they're more relevant than ever. Chapters: 00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:30 Meet Brian McCredie 00:55 Inside the London Office 02:01 Flourish in the City 03:50 Episode Learning Goals 04:36 Brian Career Journey 05:40 Why Legal Needs Creativity 07:19 About Addleshaw Goddard 08:33 The Attention Problem 09:55 Trust and Top of Mind 11:58 Why Chelsea Flower Show 13:34 Authentic Brand Fit 16:28 Pilot Proof and Client Love 17:39 Behind the Scenes at Chelsea 19:17 Flourish in the City 21:05 Making the Long Term Case 23:22 Sponsorship as Full Funnel 25:06 VIP Events at Chelsea 27:54 Citywide Media Blitz 31:31 Measuring Impact and ROI 33:16 Building Creative Buy In 36:08 Results and Payback 37:18 Transferable Marketing Lessons 40:17 Final Takeaways and Close Follow Brian Macreadie, https://linkedin.com/in/bmacreadie?originalSubdomain=uk https://addleshawgoddard.com If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—insightful data or a compelling story? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #LegalMarketing, #B2BCreativity, #SponsorshipMarketing, #FullFunnelMarketing, #BrandBuilding, #B2BEvents, #IntegratedMarketing

Why Data is Still The Achilles Heel of B2B Marketing | Trust in Data Remains at Rock-Bottom for Enterprises — Maureen Blandford Explains What Marketers Can Do About It

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Maureen Blandford, Founder of Serendipitas and co-author of the Diginomica Enterprise Data Health Study. Together, they expose one of B2B marketing's most uncomfortable truths: that senior leaders across major enterprises don't actually trust their own data—even when they say they do. Could the data powering your most critical business decisions be far less reliable than anyone is willing to admit out loud? ➡️ Maureen draws on nearly twelve years as a B2B tech CMO and frank conversations with eighteen senior practitioners—CEOs, CDOs, and commercial leaders—to unpack the dangerous gap between stated and behavioral trust in enterprise data. She introduces the "verification tax," where organisations are burning 30 to 70% of professional time simply assembling and reconciling data rather than analysing it. They dig into why 94% of organisations still have siloed data despite years of integration projects, why legacy MarTech was never built for strategic business needs, and why vendor-funded research is feeding a narrative that doesn't match reality on the ground. On AI, the findings are stark: vendor surveys claim 93% of organisations plan to deploy autonomous AI agents within two years—yet only 3 of 18 interviewed organisations have anything resembling agentic AI in practice. Maureen also shares what genuine AI readiness requires and, crucially, three things any senior marketer can do this week—with no new budget and no board approval—to start making real, lasting progress. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction to the B2B Data Trust Crisis 02:28 - Why Data Became Maureen's Central Obsession 04:10 - What the Current Data Narrative Gets Wrong 05:37 - Stated Trust vs. Behavioural Trust: The Key Discovery 11:26 - The Verification Tax and Its Hidden Cost 14:12 - Why MarTech Was Never Built for Strategy 15:55 - 94% of Organisations Still Have Siloed Data 19:29 - Why Vendor Research Misleads Buyers 23:39 - The AI Readiness Gap: 93% vs. Reality 29:08 - The Three Types of AI Organisations (and the Most Dangerous One) 31:00 - Rays of Sunshine: What's Actually Working 34:41 - Three Things You Can Do Starting Monday Follow Maureen Blandford, https://linkedin.com/in/maureenblandford/ https://serendipitas.com If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think is the biggest barrier to data trust in B2B—the tools, the culture, or the narrative? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 👉Subscribe now and tap the bell icon to get notified whenever a new episode drops—from the show floor, the studio, or the front lines of B2B. --------------- 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ --------------- #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #DataTrust, #B2BData, #AIReadiness, #DataHealth, #EnterpriseData, #VerificationTax, #MarketingAnalytics

The Four Pillars of Success in The Agentic AI Era: Governance, Judgement, Taste and Orchestration | With Angela Tangas of Oliver

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Angela Tangas, CEO of Oliver, part of the Brandtech Group—the original pioneers of the in-house agency model. Together, they tackle one of the most urgent questions facing B2B marketing leaders right now: how do you move beyond AI experimentation and drive genuine, scalable transformation? And is the operating model you choose as important as the technology itself? ➡️ Angela draws on her experience working with eight of the world's ten largest advertisers across forty-eight countries to deliver a frank, practical, and genuinely eye-opening conversation. She explains why 2025 became the year of "pilot purgatory" for so many organisations—and what separates the brands that broke through from those that didn't. She unpacks the layered pressures on B2B marketing teams today, from longer deal cycles and more decision-makers to the commoditisation of AI-generated content, and makes the case for why volume without effectiveness is a dead end. Angela also tackles the environmental footprint of AI adoption—an issue she argues deserves far more attention—and sets out a clear, actionable framework for marketing leaders who want to build momentum this quarter. From governance and change management to agentic workflows and the future of the resource mix, this episode is packed with real-world insight. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction to AI-Led Marketing Transformation 02:09 - How Oliver and Brandtech Group Work 04:05 - What's Driving Urgency Behind AI Adoption in B2B 07:09 - The Capability Gap in B2B Marketing Teams 08:15 - Where Marketing Teams Are Focusing Their AI Efforts 10:37 - Efficiency vs. Effectiveness: Are Teams Getting It Right? 14:02 - The In-House Agency Model Explained 18:26 - How Oliver's Role Has Evolved with AI 20:24 - Managing the Resource Mix: Internal Teams, Agencies & AI 23:11 - The Environmental Cost of AI in Marketing 25:59 - What's Holding Organisations Back from Real Transformation 29:37 - What Marketing Operations Will Look Like in 2–3 Years 32:39 - Where Marketing Leaders Should Start This Quarter Follow Angela Tangas, linkedin.com/in/angelatangas oliver.agency If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—insightful data or a compelling story? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ | Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #AgenticAI, #AITransformation, #InHouseAgency, #MarketingOperations, #GenerativeAI, #AIinMarketing, #MarketingLeadership, #BrandtechGroup

Is PE killing the B2B ROI imperative? | Nick Eades on what PE-backed marketing teaches the rest of B2B

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Nick Eades, Chief Strategy Officer at Freemarket and one of B2B marketing's most experienced senior leaders, having served as CMO five times across PE-backed, publicly quoted, and VC-funded businesses at companies including IBM, Dell, BT, and Fujitsu. Together, they explore one of the most consequential shifts reshaping the marketing profession: the rise of private equity ownership in B2B — and what it demands of marketers operating inside it. Could the high-pressure, outcome-driven discipline of PE-backed marketing actually be making all of B2B better? ➡️ Nick holds nothing back. He dismantles the cult of MQLs — sharing real-world cases where marketing leaders were measuring leads that never converted to revenue — and argues that closed-won SQLs sourced by the GTM function is the only metric that truly counts. He introduces his operating mantra of "evidence builds confidence," explains why he talks about reputation and positioning rather than brand, and breaks down what a genuine GTM engine looks like in practice: daily standups, zero ego, AI-powered tech stacks, and full sales-marketing alignment. He also speaks candidly about the personal demands of PE culture and how to manage your own capacity without burning out. If you're a marketer whose organisation has been acquired, is at risk of acquisition, or simply wants to sharpen your commercial instincts, this conversation will challenge how you think about your role and what it's really there to deliver. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction: PE and B2B Marketing 02:09 - Nick Eades: Background and Career 03:13 - How PE Transformed the B2B Landscape 06:06 - Buy and Build: The SaaS Era and Cheap Capital 08:08 - What PE Owners Actually Expect 12:09 - Marketing Inside a PE-Backed Business 14:25 - Why MQLs Don't Matter (And What Does) 17:03 - Building a GTM Engine That Drives SQLs 18:15 - The CMO Role in PE: Myth vs. Reality 22:02 - Riding Two Horses: Brand vs. Demand in PE 25:14 - Evidence Builds Confidence: Metrics That Matter 28:16 - Personal Wellbeing and Capacity in PE 32:18 - GTM as a Silo Buster 36:11 - The Death of ROI as a Standalone Metric 36:53 - Future-Proofing Your Career for a PE World Follow Nick Eades https://linkedin.com/in/nickeades/ https://freemarket.com/ If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—proving marketing ROI or building a GTM engine that makes ROI irrelevant? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #PrivateEquity, #PEMarketing, #GoToMarket, #GTMStrategy, #RevenueMarketing, #SalesAndMarketing, #CMOLeadership, #B2BGrowth

Chaos is B2B's problem. Coherence is the answer | Why B2B marketers need to fix their operating model, with Alastair Hussain of TMP

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Alastair Hussain, Chief Strategy Officer at TMP (The Marketing Practice), a specialist B2B marketing agency. Together, they confront one of the most pressing realities in B2B marketing today: the chaos most marketers are experiencing isn't a streak of bad luck—it's the symptom of operating models that have fundamentally broken down. Is coherence the cure, and what does it actually take to build it from the inside out? ➡️ Alastair draws on TMP's Cost of Chaos Report—research spanning over a thousand B2B marketers and tech buyers—to map out the "chaos cascade": how macro forces like geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, and rapid technological change filter down into fragmented teams, stalled deals, and burned-out marketers. He argues that the instinct to move faster or pile on more technology doesn't fix chaos—it accelerates it. The real answer is coherence: aligning brand, messaging, product, and strategy so every part of the marketing function pulls in the same direction. Along the way, they explore why product has become marketing's most disconnected discipline, how cognitive fluency underpins buyer trust, and why CMOs need to take back control of the strategic conversation rather than waiting to be handed objectives. Whether you're leading a stretched team or questioning the value of your marketing function, this episode delivers both the diagnosis and a clear direction forward. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction: The Chaos Facing B2B Marketers 02:12 - What Is the Chaos Cascade? 05:30 - The Human and Commercial Cost of Chaos 09:00 - Why Faster and More Tech Makes Things Worse 13:15 - Defining Coherence: What It Actually Means 17:00 - The CMO as Chief Market Officer 19:45 - Why Product Is the Most Disconnected Area 22:20 - Making the Business Case for Coherence 24:00 - 97% of Buyers Notice Vendor Coherence 26:30 - Cognitive Fluency and Buyer Trust 30:00 - Buyer-Side Barriers: Decision Makers, Messaging, and Trust 33:45 - Realistic Expectations for CMOs Under Pressure 36:00 - Where Coherence Breaks Down in Practice 38:00 - Advice for Overwhelmed Marketing Leaders Follow Alastair Hussain, https://linkedin.com/in/alastairhussain/ https://tmpb2b.com If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader. 🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/ 💬What do you think comes first—fixing internal alignment or improving external messaging? Let us know in the comments below. 🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1 📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web: LinkedIn ▶ https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/ Podcast ▶ https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/ Instagram ▶ https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/ #JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #MarketingOperations, #CMOLeadership, #B2BGrowth, #CostOfChaos, #MarketingAlignment, #BuyerTrust, #B2BStrategy