B2B Marketing:
The Provocative Truth

alan. MD Benedict Buckland speaks to CMOs and marketing leaders to uncover the most uncomfortable truths in the world of B2B brand. Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Technology

Brand Campaigns

Organisational Alignment

Episode 83

Why fear-led cybersecurity marketing stops working with Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Market Officer at Illumio

Karl Van den Bergh
Chief Market Officer
Illumio
Listen now
Why fear-led cybersecurity marketing stops working with Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Market Officer at Illumio

About the podcast

Hosted by Benedict Buckland, Managing Director of alan., B2B Marketing: The Provocative Truth brings together CMOs and senior marketing leaders from some of the world's most recognised B2B brands across financial services, professional services and technology — including HSBC, Linklaters, Palo Alto Networks, Oliver Wyman, Beazley, Intuit, Elsevier, and Workday — to surface the most uncomfortable truths in B2B brand and marketing.

In these episodes, we explore brand strategy, organisational alignment, thought leadership and what it really takes to drive change from the marketing function in a complex B2B organisation.

Every provocative truth so far

All episodes
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Why fear-led cybersecurity marketing stops working with Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Market Officer at Illumio

Technology

Brand Campaigns

Organisational Alignment

Episode 83

Why fear-led cybersecurity marketing stops working with Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Market Officer at Illumio

Karl Van den Bergh, Chief Market Officer at Illumio, argues that fear-led cybersecurity marketing wears out its welcome, and that brands win by pairing hard truths with agency and distinctive humour.
Karl Van den Bergh
Illumio
Break the rulebook: how marketing helped Legora become the fastest to $100m ARR and flipped the script on set with Jude Law

Brand Strategy

Technology

Organisational Alignment

Episode 82

Break the rulebook: how marketing helped Legora become the fastest to $100m ARR and flipped the script on set with Jude Law

Stuart unpacks Legora's hiring philosophy of "high agency, low ego," and what incumbent marketing teams need to unlearn to compete with AI-native challengers.
Stuart Shingler
Legora
What AI misses about customer insight with Frances Fenemore, Vice President of Global Demand and AI Transformation at Delinea

Brand Campaigns

Brand

Technology

Episode 81

What AI misses about customer insight with Frances Fenemore, Vice President of Global Demand and AI Transformation at Delinea

AI can analyse customer data, but understanding why customers behave the way they do still requires human insight. Frances Fenemore explores where AI helps, and where it falls short.
Frances Fenemore
Delinea
Why reputation alone is no longer enough in legal marketing

Professional Services

Brand

Episode 79

Why reputation alone is no longer enough in legal marketing

The traditional partner-led model is evolving. Clients increasingly expect joined-up expertise, deeper insight and a clearer strategy for how firms support their business.
Tricia Weener
Linklaters
What it takes to align brand, people and strategy in professional services with Paola Garbini, European Head of Marketing at Oliver Wyman
Episode 78

What it takes to align brand, people and strategy in professional services with Paola Garbini, European Head of Marketing at Oliver Wyman

In B2B organisations, "one brand voice" often sounds straightforward. In practice, it is far more complex - especially in firms where reputation is carried by people, expertise and relationships.
Navigating B2B brand
architecture: house of
brands vs. branded house with Ifeoma Jibunoh, Group CMO of Cassava Technologies
Episode 76

Navigating B2B brand
architecture: house of
brands vs. branded house with Ifeoma Jibunoh, Group CMO of Cassava Technologies

Brand architecture is often treated as a structural or design choice. In reality, it is a leadership decision with emotional, political and commercial consequences.
How brand drives growth in reputation-led legal markets with Lee Grunnell, CMO at Womble Bond Dickinson [Special Edition: Law Firms]
Episode 77

How brand drives growth in reputation-led legal markets with Lee Grunnell, CMO at Womble Bond Dickinson [Special Edition: Law Firms]

Welcome to the first episode of Special Edition: Law Firms podcast, where we speak with CMOs and senior marketers at leading firms about how brand actually drives growth in legal services.
ABM, alignment and the myth of personalisation (at scale) with Lauren Daly and Andrew Shepherd, Palo Alto Networks
Episode 75

ABM, alignment and the myth of personalisation (at scale) with Lauren Daly and Andrew Shepherd, Palo Alto Networks

ABM is often positioned as a shortcut to relevance. This conversation explains why it only works when organisations are honest about trade-offs, ownership and what alignment actually means.
RESEARCH REPORT

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