Question 1

Is B2B marketing in crisis, or is something else going wrong?

Accepted Answer

Shane Redding argues marketing is not in the doldrums; organisations are struggling to adapt to large societal, cultural and business shifts while keeping old ways of working. Chris Wilson of Earnest says many foundations are missing, with a lack of strategy caused largely by marketers not being given time to think. Both agree the core strategy models still have value, but how strategy is communicated to stakeholders needs to change.

Question 2

What qualities make a great B2B marketer?

Accepted Answer

Georgie Gilmore starts with three Cs: commercial, understanding how the business makes money; creative, rather than leaving creativity to agencies; and collaborative, working with other functions without caring about job titles. During the conversation she and Dom add curious, capable and courageous. She stresses going out into the market, studying win-loss reports and asking why customers buy.

Question 3

Why is marketing undervalued in many businesses?

Accepted Answer

Adrian Coxon, CMO at Exante, points to pay as the clearest sign: marketers and copywriters are paid less than peers in roles of similar complexity, and copywriter salaries have barely moved in 26 years. He argues marketing talked itself into promising precise ROI measurement it cannot deliver, so it is now judged on short-term outputs. Few CEOs or board members come from marketing, so leaders often lack an understanding of its long-term value.

Question 4

Why is 'data driven' the wrong approach for marketing strategy?

Accepted Answer

Paul Worthington says being purely data driven means using backward-looking information to make forward-looking decisions. He prefers being 'hypothesis driven and data informed': form a hypothesis, use data to support or reject it, and move on. He warns that platform dashboards grade their own homework, and that measurement exists to keep score, not to become the game itself.

Question 5

Why does it matter that marketers can't agree on what marketing is?

Accepted Answer

When Dom Hawes asked marketers on LinkedIn to define marketing, every answer was different, and none were wrong. He argues that if marketers cannot agree, it is no surprise colleagues see marketing as the 'colouring-in department' or a lead factory. Because the word means different things to different people, a marketer talking about long-term value and a CFO thinking about leads can have crossed wires.

Question 6

What is marketing operations and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

Sandra Vollrath, a B2B marketing operations specialist and former Bentley Systems marketer, says marketing operations is more than technology: it covers the processes and workflows behind the tech, the data, and having people with the right skills. Adding more tools without this creates expensive, unmanageable tech stacks and unhappy teams. She argues the 14,000 martech tools figure is a red herring, since buyers come to market with a specific problem they feel.

Question 7

What did running a yoga studio teach a B2B marketer?

Accepted Answer

Sandra opened her yoga studio in January 2020, just before the pandemic. She first promoted it based on what yoga meant to her, then learned to ask customers what they wanted and to reuse their own words in her marketing. She owns all four Ps, held her pricing through the pandemic rather than underselling, and says branding and a studio management system acting as a CRM were her first two priorities.

Question 8

What languages do marketers need to speak to influence the C-suite?

Accepted Answer

Paul says only two languages are spoken at the top of a company: finance and business strategy. Marketers should frame their work in terms of business strategy and use finance to show proof of results, which earns permission to do more. He also argues CFOs should learn marketing, since brand can represent a large share of a company's intangible value.

Question 9

What is Dom Hawes's definition of marketing?

Accepted Answer

Dom defines marketing as the process of taking a business, product or service to market: the right product to the right market at the right price, made easy for the right customers to buy again and again. Its purpose, borrowing Geraldine Tenton's phrase, is to create a happy customer. The process starts with market orientation and research, then segmentation, targeting and positioning, then the four Ps, with promotion last.

Question 10

How should organisations be structured to market effectively in future?

Accepted Answer

Shane advocates replacing departmental silos with cross-functional squads that include pricing, product, marketing and sales people, using flexible resource like Scott Stockwell's 'airline model'. Chris warns that retrofitting this onto legacy organisations can create chaos and may need different people. A practical starting point is a ring-fenced growth or incubation team with clear objectives that is allowed to experiment.

Question 11

What are 'Must Win Battles' and how do they break down silos?

Accepted Answer

At Cisco, Georgie saw the company define a handful of Must Win Battles, such as security and wireless, cascaded from the top so every person's objectives and even purchase order codes were aligned to them. This meant marketing, sales and other functions worked towards the same goals rather than handing work over between silos. She suggests CMOs propose Must Win Battles to their CEO and use them to lead strategy.

Question 12

How can marketing regain influence in the boardroom?

Accepted Answer

Adrian believes marketing should own the end-to-end customer experience, from awareness through purchase, retention and exit interviews. He interviews clients himself and feeds findings to IT, product, compliance and legal, which builds allies across the business. Being the function that best understands the customer lifecycle gives marketing a route into strategic leadership.

Question 13

Should the marketing department be renamed?

Accepted Answer

Dom notes that product, price and place are often now owned by other teams, leaving many marketing departments with only promotion, and argues that is acceptable if the work gets done. He suggests being honest about remits, for example calling a team 'marketing communications' if that is its job, and reserving 'marketing' for the full process. He also argues ROI claims that marketing is a profit centre are misleading, because they compare this period's spend with sales that may have taken over a year.

Question 14

Why does a strong brand make marketing performance easier?

Accepted Answer

Adrian found that at Saxo Bank, a well-known brand boosted by its Tour de France sponsorship, cost per lead, conversion and retention were far easier to achieve. Companies without such brands often ask marketers to replicate the lead numbers without investing in the brand, which takes two to three years to pay back. He compares CMOs to football managers who are changed too often, and notes a Gartner finding that 61% of marketing leaders say short-term demands impede long-term planning.

Question 15

What are the basics every marketing team should revisit?

Accepted Answer

Sandra's core lessons are to know your customer inside out and know your products inside out; being close to the product makes marketing feel more authentic and less 'salesy'. Dom compares this to the All Blacks, whose reputation rests on doing the basics well, and suggests teams ask every quarter how well they really know their customers and products.

Question 16

Why should B2B companies focus on delighting existing customers?

Accepted Answer

Georgie says many companies sign a contract and ignore the customer until renewal, and that satisfaction is only hygiene. At Vodafone, a marketing team went on site to help a large bank's staff through the switch to Vodafone for several weeks. She also recommends a customer reference programme that matches prospects with existing customers during the buying process, which she was able to link to extra revenue.

Question 17

Should marketing be closer to strategy than to sales?

Accepted Answer

Paul argues much of what B2B marketing teams now do, such as lead generation, ABM and presentation building, is technology-enabled sales and should move to a properly resourced sales team. He often sees large sales teams paired with tiny, under-funded marketing teams expected to generate quality leads across every segment. Following Roger Martin, he suggests combining marketing with strategy, freeing marketers to build the brand.

Question 18

How can marketers protect long-term brand investment from stop-start budgets?

Accepted Answer

Chris suggests changing the language used with stakeholders, for example talking about reputation rather than brand, and setting the expectation that this year's work pays off next year or the year after. Shane points to JCB as a company that kept investing through tough times. Dom adds that if budgets are uncertain it is better to scale back ambition than to stop, because brand returns compound over time.

Marketing's role and credibility in the business

14 episodes on marketing's role and credibility in the business

Questions about marketing's role and credibility in the business