In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict speaks to Craig Welsh, Head of Research Marketing at Elsevier, about why most B2B teams are still stuck using AI as a content tool, and what they’re missing. Craig argues that the bigger opportunity lies in data, analytics and lead scoring, where AI can solve real marketing problems and help marketers become more strategic.

Craig discusses where generative AI is falling short and how agentic AI could fundamentally change how brands engage. With trust, storytelling and human insight still at the core, this is a frank look at how AI can reshape marketing. Craig outlines what this means for the marketer’s role, the risks of getting it wrong and why human storytelling, trust and brand consistency are more important than ever.

Highlights:

02:05 – Why marketers are misusing generative AI

04:19 – Where the real value lies: analytics, not just content

07:03 – Defining the destination before picking the tool

11:18 – Bringing marketing, tech and finance together

17:32 – Why storytelling is still in short supply

21:32 – What agentic AI means for personalisation in B2B

26:15 – The human handover: why trust still matters

🎙️ Tune in to hear why AI isn’t replacing marketers, it’s forcing them to get clearer on where they add value.

Subscribe now and never miss an episode that challenges the status quo of B2B marketing. Listen to more episodes at www.alan-agency.com/podcast

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict asks a leading insurance CMO what it takes to build a meaningful brand in a category known for conservatism. In this episode, Georgina Peters Venzano, CMO at Beazley, joins us to challenge the long-held assumption that B2B must be strictly rational. She shares how authenticity, emotional resonance and brand consistency are key to modern B2B success, and why the industry needs to embrace more human storytelling.

From running a brand audit during lockdown to building a differentiated identity in a conservative category, Georgina gives a behind-the-scenes look at Beazley’s brand evolution.

Highlights:

01:30 – Why emotion still matters in B2B

04:35 – What authenticity really means

07:50 – Rebranding Beazley during lockdown

13:15 – Understanding your audience as people, not just buyers

16:30 – Segmentation and finding your tribe

20:20 – Maintaining brand consistency across the funnel

22:25 – Is there still space for rational, serious brands?

🎙️ Tune in to discover why humour isn’t off-limits in B2B, and how it can build stronger, more human brands.

Subscribe now and never miss an episode that challenges the status quo of B2B marketing. Listen to more episodes at www.alan-agency.com/podcast

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict speaks with Martin Dyhouse, Head of Sponsorship at Intuit, to challenge the notion that B2B sponsorship is little more than overpriced hospitality. Martin shares his framework for building effective sponsorship strategies—from audience and brand alignment to commercial value and long-term integration.

Drawing on his experience leading Intuit QuickBooks’ partnership with West Ham United, he explains why the best sponsorships are measured by more than just impressions—and how businesses can use them to drive brand salience, customer growth, and even sales cycle efficiency.

🎙️ Tune in to discover why the best B2B sponsorships start with strategy, not tickets.

Subscribe now and never miss an episode that challenges the status quo of B2B marketing. Listen to more episodes at www.alan-agency.com/podcast

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict speaks with Nick Rose, Head of Brand Marketing and Digital Communications at Linklaters, to unpack the complex (and often misunderstood) relationship between personal and corporate branding in professional services. From law firm conservatism to the growing influence of digital-native employees, Nick shares how modern firms must align internal values, embrace personal brands, and evolve their corporate brand strategies, or risk becoming irrelevant.

🎙️ Tune in to discover why balancing brand identity isn’t just a marketing challenge, it’s a strategic imperative.

Subscribe now and never miss an episode that challenges the status quo of B2B marketing. Listen to more episodes at www.alan-agency.com/podcast

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict is joined by Joel Harrison, Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of B2BMarketing.net, the leading community for B2B marketers, to explore the shift from lead generation to growth marketing, drawing insights from B2B Ignite, their flagship event.

He challenges the ambiguity of "growth marketing" and introduces the concept of the "commercial marketer" as a more holistic approach to B2B marketing success. Tune in to hear Joel's perspective on how marketers can elevate their role within organisations by mastering five key dimensions: financial acumen, reporting effectiveness, market insights, cross-functional collaboration and agile decision-making.

Joel Harrison is a veteran in the B2B marketing space, overseeing B2BMarketing.net's range of resources, events, and communities designed to empower marketers. His insights stem from years of experience and interactions with leading marketers across the industry.

You can find Joel on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/joelharrison

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict is joined by Kayleeann Maritz to define marketing's role in shaping commercial strategy.

Kayleeann makes the compelling case for over investment in tier two accounts and provides multiple practical tips for how marketers can transform lead generation. Tune in to learn how a diversified approach built on robust segmentation and targeting is the bedrock of successful B2B marketing.

Kayleeann is experienced global marketer with expertise in brand building and growth.

You can find Kayleeann on Linkedin.

Ready to provoke change? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict is joined by Katrina Nichols to interrogate Linkedin as a platform.

Katrina eviscerates much of the received wisdom about what works on Linkedin and advocates for a rebalance from influencers to evangelists. Tune in to hear a progressive perspective on how marketers can get value through novel, persona-led approaches to social platforms.

Katrina is an experienced marketing, public relations, and brand director, across a varied range of B2B products and services, with a digital, data-driven focus.. An expert in brand storytelling, she specialises in creating deep relationships and affinity between audiences and products and services.

You can find Katrina on Linkedin.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict is joined by Efi Naskou to discuss how misconceptions about D&I are holding B2B brands back.

Efi challenges the sentiment behind the finding that B2B leaders don't think D&I is an important part of brand's narrative, making the case for a more nuanced and progressive approach. Listen to find out how B2B marketers have both a responsibility and opportunity to drive the D&I agenda within their brand communications.

Efi specialises in developing and implementing commercial strategies for businesses that view marketing as a strategic lever. She is a firm believer that smart marketing investment gives companies a clear edge, helps them grow faster, and secures their market position.

You can find Efi on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict is joined by Kate Cox to discuss how B2B sales models need to be reimagined as the purchase decision evolves.

Kate provides a detailed analysis of the changing buying dynamics and convincingly makes the case for marketing to have jurisdiction over critical early sales activities. Listen to find out how B2B marketers can fine-tune their tech stack and take a progressive approach to business development.

Kate is a proven CMO with experience driving strong growth for recurring revenue businesses in the B2B, B2B2C and B2C sectors especially companies with high value expectations requiring rapid growth. Worked in 3 businesses under private equity ownership across multiple marketing disciplines with a particular expertise in developing the right marketing mix and investment levels across brand and digital performance channels to increase business value within a specific timeframe such as driving to an exit date. Part of the senior leadership leading the HEG exit to GoDaddy; the second largest UK tech exit in 2016. HEG was Europe's largest privately owned domain registration and web hosting business with strong presence in the UK and Germany focusing on Start-ups, SMBs, web designers and developers.

You can find Kate on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict sits down with Haralds Gabrans Zukovs to discuss how complex B2B products require sophisticated strategies and solutions.

B2B products and services are oftentimes much more complex than many of our B2C counterparts. And even within B2B, some offerings are particularly complicated. This distinction puts the pressure on B2B marketers to effectively reach their target audience. Their main goal becomes making it easy to understand who their business is and what they offer. Often this may include building out an entirely new marketing function, category creation, or even more involved activities. So where should a B2B marketer start?

Haralds Gabrans Zukovs is Head of Growth at Mindgard, and he has quickly climbed the ranks into senior marketing leadership. His expertise is in creating high-impact digital marketing strategies for global markets and driving business growth through demand generation. Prior to joining Mindgard, Haralds has also served as Head of Marketing at credolab, Head of Marketing at the Hyve Group plc, Head of marketing for Nordigen, and other marketing roles at SAF Tehnika JSC, AranetloT, and more.

You can find Haralds Gabrans Zukovs on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict is joined by Will Sturgeon to discuss how marketing needs to adapt to make better use of specialists.

In a B2B marketing team, it’s crucial to have a well-rounded group that can tackle a variety of challenges that may come. Each individual needs to bring a unique skill set in order to make this happen. Many may say that specialising too much may not prepare the next generation of marketing leaders. Many more might suggest that specialising becomes less important with the growth of generative AI. But how can a range of specialists create an effective team? What are best practices when utilising such a group of individuals on a marketing team?

Will Sturgeon is the Head of Content and Thought Leadership and PwC UK. While Will has held this role for five years, he has a 20+ year career as an effective marketing leader. At PwC, Will is instrumental in shaping overall marketing strategy and leading a 100+ team. Prior to joining PwC UK, he has served as Executive Director for Golin, Director of Strategy and Planning at Harvard Public Relations, Director, Head of Media Strategy at Lewis PR, and more.

You can find Will Sturgeon on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this first episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth in 2024, Benedict speaks to Chris Wade about how maturing B2B organisations need to adapt.

As a company grows and establishes itself firmly in the market, it can be easy for it to fall into an all too comfortable pattern. Once business settles into a groove, it can become hard to make changes that ultimately are better for progress. Companies become risk averse and hesitant to adapt when ultimately, a business needs to do all that they can to help their customers. But knowing how to refocus a business’s direction takes careful consideration. Being adaptable doesn’t always mean starting from scratch. So what does a mature business need to do to stay relevant?

Chris Wade is the Chief Marketing and Product Officer at Gamma Communications, and he has held that role since late 2020. As an established senior marketer, Chris has used his proven creative and innovative skills to find new strategic opportunities and drive businesses forward. Prior to joining Gamma, Chris has previously served as Chief Product and Marketing Officer for Aptitude Software and several positions at Sage including VP of Product,  Director of Strategic Operations, and more. Chris has also previously been Board Member for Dynamo North East, and he currently serves as Trustee at Valour MAT.

You can find Chris Wade on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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Benedict Buckland of alan. agency moderates PANEL: Marketing + Sales A Winning Combination? Thank you to everyone who attended the session!

Benedict was joined by our lovely panel:

- Tom Boston, Brand Awareness Manager at Salesloft

- Julia Pikes, Senior Marketing Director, EMEA at Hubspot

- Thomas Van der Staaij, Senior Marketing Manager at AWS

- Freya Ward, Global Sales Director at Headley Media

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at https://www.alan-agency.com/.

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We brought the podcast to you LIVE from the B2B Marketing Expo at the ExCeL London! Thank you to everyone who attended the session!

Benedict is joined by our distinguished panel:

- Áine Bryn, Partner & CMO at Marsh McLennan UK

- Craig Welch, SVP, Head of Research Marketing at Elsevier

- Gonzalo Garcia Villanueva, Global CMO at NielsenIQ

You can find our panelists, Áine, Craig, and Gonzalo on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at https://www.alan-agency.com/.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict sits down with Paul Afshar to discuss the practicalities of using AI in B2B marketing.

AI has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds in the B2B marketing space. Even on this podcast, there has been much discussion about how AI has the potential to completely reinvent the industry. However, there’s only so much hypothesising one can do before taking action and start implementing. But does the theoretical discussion thus far actually contribute to how we should utilise AI? What are the considerations that still need to be addressed?

Paul Afshar is a seasoned senior marketer with experience in both B2B and B2C. With 10 years in B2B specifically, he has led world-class campaigns with the most sophisticated martech stacks. Prior to joining Unlimit, Paul has held several senior roles including Acting CMO of OSOME, Marketing Director of Dext, and more. He has also previously been a Board Member for Circl and a Partner for FleishmanHillard Fishburn. 

You can find Paul Afshar on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict speaks to Matthew Harper about redefining the role of the CMO.

Not only is the role of the CMO not understood by the rest of the business, the CMOs themselves sometimes hardly know how to be effective leaders for their company. This has led to the CMO having the shortest tenure of any role in the C-suite. But it doesn’t have to be like this. What it means to be an effective CMO has changed, and it’s within reach of CMOs to excel at their role, but this does require reevaluating what are the priorities and what relationships with the rest of the business need to look like.

Matthew Harper is a dynamic, results-driven senior marketing professional with 20 years of experience across the international technology industry. Primarily, Matt has worked in enterprise SaaS, developer tools, AI platforms, and more. Matt is CMO of LinearB, and his previous experience includes VP of Marketing at Mattermost, VP of Marketing at Nylas, VP of Marketing at Moogsoft, and more.

You can find Matthew Harper on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict speaks to Duarte Garrido about the importance of attribution in proving ROI.

There’s no denying that the topic of attribution has been simmering at the top B2B marketers’ minds. There are conflicting views among marketers about what attribution should look like, but with the current state of B2B, it seems like the push to prove ROI is becoming increasingly important. So what kind of attribution model is going to work best for the business’s needs? And how does marketing need to align with other departments to effectively tie activities back to revenue?

Duarte Garrido is the VP of Growth Marketing at real-time payment network business Volt, and he has been in B2B growth marketing for 10+ years. As a marketer, Duarte focuses on social and omnichannel strategy and digital transformation across many sectors internationally. His previous experience includes Global Head of Social and Omnichannel at Standard Chartered Bank, Group Head of Social Media at Coca-Cola HBC, and additional roles at Philip Morris International, Sky, and more. In addition to his role at Volt, he also serves as a Corporate Advisor for Handprint.

You can find Duarte Garrido on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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In this episode of B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth, Benedict sits down with Simeon Lando to discuss the unique challenges of emerging into new foreign markets.

If your business is fortunate enough to expand internationally, there are a handful of new considerations for marketers to take on. It is not just as simple as dropping an existing proposition into a new market, and that (lack of) strategy, if implemented, often goes awry. Marketers need to adapt their messaging and approach when entering new markets around the world, but what other considerations need to be thought about? How can marketing take ownership of this element of a business’s growth?

Simeon Lando is the CMO at FORM3, and throughout his career, he has built and implemented strategies that deliver results both in the UK and internationally. Before joining FORM3 in 2021, Simeon has previously served as Senior Director, Marketing at Finastra, Marketing Director at Refinitiv, and Head of Digital Engagement, Global Business Solutions at Barclaycard. He has also worked at Stylesight, PayPal, Dun & Bradstreet, and more.

You can find Simeon Lando on Linkedin.

You can watch full video versions of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Ready to provoke the truth? Get in touch at alan-agency.com.

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