Why are B2B Brands betting big on sport?

If you watch enough sport (especially Formula 1) or cable TV, you’ll see an extraordinary number of B2B tech businesses advertising or sponsoring.

So why are B2B brands increasingly investing in major sports partnerships?

That was the topic of a fascinating conversation at The Drum's B2B World Fest, featuring Sarah Dawson (Wasserman), Priyanka Mehra (TCS) and Karen Feldman (Iron Mountain).

A recurring theme was that B2B brands don’t actually sell to “businesses” - they sell to humans. (Another case for humanising, Paul Cash!)

Sport isn’t just something we watch. It’s something we feel. And when a brand can plug into that emotion - authentically, consistently and with purpose - something powerful happens.

Priyanka from TCS described a challenge familiar to most complex enterprise brands: technology can sound, well… complex. Heavy. Abstract. Hard to feel.

So TCS turned to a platform built entirely on human emotion: the marathon.

TCS now partners with 14 global marathons, reinforcing at each that training and race day aren’t fleeting events, they’re year-long personal journeys full of discipline, resilience and shared pride.

Everyone knows someone who has run a marathon. Everybody knows what that story means. That’s the connection.

And TCS are not just sponsoring marathons - they’re using them as live innovation environments.

Take their Digital Twin project, created with elite runner Des Linden. TCS built a digital model of her heart, allowing her to analyse performance, adjust for changing race conditions and optimise in real time. A world-class example of taking enterprise innovation and making it both tangible and inspiring! And they’re scaling it. From one athlete → to many → to everyday runners → to other industries entirely.

And Iron Mountain, a 75-year-old business known for information storage, is using its new partnership with McLaren F1 to shift perception.

They’re not just powering storage. They’re powering history, access and storytelling using AI-driven content discovery to unlock decades of unseen racing archives.

It’s heritage meets data innovation, and it is deeply emotive.

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄?

Three signals came through loud and clear:

🎯 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: Sport creates memory, belonging and identity.

🎯 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 & 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Formula 1, marathons and sports leagues provide year-round engagement moments, not just events.

🎯 𝗔 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Sport becomes a proving ground for technology, data and new experiences.

I guess my takeaway is that the brands winning in sports aren’t chasing visibility. They’re building meaning.

Sport isn’t a channel. It’s a human translation layer.

And for B2B brands trying to stand out in a world of feature lists and complexity? That translation layer might just be the advantage.

Breaking out of the algo bubbles

𝗠𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

On YouTube, I'm drowning in videos of bedroom producers in provincial UK towns recreating early 80s synth classics. 50 followers. 4 likes. While the world watches MrBeast and Chicken Shop Dates I'm watching Jeff from Chelmsford break down Visage’s "Fade to Grey" on his Korg keyboard.

On LinkedIn, it's the ageism posts. Dozens of them. Talented people over 50 sharing their 200th rejection. My feed has become a support group for Gen X marketers wondering where all the opportunities went.

But here's what I've realised: the algorithm isn't the problem. Yes, ageism is definitely in the air right now. But I also get that some companies are trying to shake up the old guard of “pale, male and stale” leadership. Maybe its time to flip the script. As I’ve had reinforced by the very excellent Troy Thompson on his “Outward Performance” course on Pavilion, its all about changing your mindset, not just focusing on behaviours.

Don’t let your career fade to grey (see what I did there?). Target organisations that actually need what we bring:

• **𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻**: Companies with strong mid-level talent but no one who's navigated multiple market cycles.

• **𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀**: Startups that need someone who won't panic when plan A fails. Because we've been through plans B through Z.

• **𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀**: Teams that value building capability, not just hitting quarters.

I've seen this pattern in my fractional work. The companies that hire experience aren't looking backward - they're looking for balance. Mixed teams where wisdom complements energy. Where battle scars prevent repeated mistakes.

Stop applying where youth is the unspoken requirement. Find the organisations mature enough to value maturity.

Your sweet spot exists. It's just not where everyone else is looking.

Now if you'll excuse me, Jeff just uploaded his version of "Cars" by Gary Numan. 🎹

Transferable skills may still matter

In full-time corporate land, industry segment is increasingly everything. Try moving from niche A to niche B? Forget it.

"We need someone with 10+ years in network security for mobile devices, focused on individual users (not enterprise), in a PLG motion (not sales-led), with experience in France and Sweden - but not Germany - in a company with exactly $17m in ARR with plans to go to $22m, NOT $25m."

Sound familiar? The old concept of “transferable skills” seems to have died a death in the past few years. Hirers are myopically looking for the perceived unicorn, nervously reluctant to hire marketers without the perfect credentials.

But fractional work? It's really interesting. Completely different mindset.

People actually value experience over exact industry fit. They want strategic thinking and execution understanding, not just sector knowledge.

Over the past couple of years I've worked across art tech, nature restoration, health, fintech, engineering and public relations. From bootstrapped to Series C to $100m PE-backed. In both B2B and B2C. Opportunities never thought possible in the full time world. Yes, each one is different, but yet they’re all powered by the same fundamental need:

• Clear customer story

• Focused strategy

• Measurable outcomes

• AI as the multiplier

Turns out "transferable skills" are still in demand. And in an AI-powered world, adaptability might just be the ultimate skill.

The fundamentals of good marketing don't change when you cross industry lines. Understanding customers, building trust, creating value - that works everywhere.

The tactics may shift. The strategy fundamentals stay the same.

Fractional work has reminded me that good marketers aren't industry-specific. We're problem-solvers who happen to work in different sectors.

Your spreadsheet isn’t your strategy.

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆.

Forget the offsite workshops and persona guesswork.

Grab 20-30 sales conversations from your CRM or transcription tool. Feed them into ChatGPT with a prompt that extracts distinct buyer cohorts, their specific pain points, competitive concerns and exact language they use.

Every time I do this, the same pattern emerges. On the surface, everyone has identical challenges. Dig deeper? Completely different stories emerge.

Same industry. Different worlds.

For each cohort, you can build:
✅ Personas based on real jobs, pains and goals
✅ Messaging that speaks their language (not marketing speak)
✅ Google Ads targeting keywords from actual conversations
✅ Content that answers their real questions

Then attach these insights back into your project or custom GPT. Future prompts become automatically smarter.

The result? Marketing that feels like mind-reading because it's built on what customers actually said, not what we think they meant.

Works every time.

Stop guessing. Start listening. Segmentation isn't a spreadsheet exercise. It's a conversation analysis.

Network, network, network

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀.

Yes, whether fractional, part-time or full-time, the senior marketing job market is challenging. But the game hasn't changed - it's just become more visible.

While everyone's focused on applying to hundreds of roles and getting ghosted by AI, the real opportunities are happening where they always have. In conversations.

Just like the practice of marketing has changed, so has recruitment. But instead of being AI-led, it’s more than ever people-led.

My last 8 roles came from:

• A chance meeting at an industry event with another speaker

• An opportunity shared in a (paid) networking group

• An ex-colleague from 30 years ago who'd been reading my latest LinkedIn posts

• A referral from an agency founder I've stayed in touch with for 20+ years

• An internal referral from a peer at a previous employer

• A conversation at an industry dinner

• Someone I chatted with on a social event

• An exec who remembered me from an interview process (I didn't even get the job!) and liked my approach

• A peer I first met when I ran a small CMO networking group, 20 years ago

Zero came from job boards. All came from relationships.

While you're applying to job #247, someone's getting hired through a WhatsApp message.

But this is actually brilliant news. Because while everyone else is playing the numbers game, you can focus on what actually works:

✅ Show up consistently (industry events, dinners, networking groups)

✅ Stay visible (LinkedIn posts, sharing insights, helping others)

✅ Keep in touch (that colleague from 2004 might be your next boss)

✅ Be memorable (not just for your CV, but for how you think)

The market is tough, but relationships are timeless.

Your next role isn't in a job board. It's in your network.

Start nurturing it today.

Can EMEA marketers really be considered regional CMOs?

The question came up in a recent conversation. Fair point.

Working in UK B2B tech usually means you're the EMEA arm of a US-HQ'd company. I’ve been blessed with International and Global roles, but if you’re an EMEA marketer can you really call yourself CMO?

I think of it like cooking with three scenarios:

• 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘂. Pick what you want from pre-made options.

• 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲. Follow it exactly. No substitutions.

• 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. Make something amazing.

At Microsoft 20 years ago? Pure menu. Literal ring-binder of approved campaigns.

But regional marketing has evolved. US companies realised there's value in having experienced people who understand 40+ countries. Cultural nuances. Economic realities. Political landscapes.

Today's EMEA marketing leaders:

• Operate at the highest level with senior GTM leadership teams with decades of experience (and Ferrari collections to prove it)

• Make strategic decisions based on deep customer understanding

• Build market-specific activations from scratch that drive awareness

• Know how to run multi-national launches & campaigns across borders (and, no, EMEA is not a single country)

• Design pricing, promotions and partnerships that actually work locally

That's CMO work.

Of course, marketing is a broad church - every CMO position can mean something different: from full product & revenue responsibility through to brand & corporate marketing only.

The title matters less than the scope. Geography doesn't diminish responsibility. If you're setting strategy, not just executing it - if you're using ingredients, not given a menu - you're doing CMO-level work.

Own your experience. Call it what it is.

Communicating Your Marketing Impact

As marketing leaders, transparency isn’t optional - it’s essential. Regular reporting is how we build trust, keep momentum and prove value. Over the years, I’ve learned a few things that make all the difference:

1. Get ahead of the ask. Don’t wait until someone chases you for an update — especially if things aren’t going to plan. Proactively share progress at a consistent cadence (weekly, monthly, quarterly).

2. Lead with KPIs, not activity. At Adobe I learned this early: optics matter. If you want to be seen as a revenue marketer, start with the numbers. Activities are the “how,” but KPIs are the “impact.”

3. Put the “TA-DA!” first. Too many reports bury the results at the end of a long story. Flip it. Open with the key outcomes. Then show the context. It’s like a sales pitch: tell them what you’ll show, show it, then remind them what they saw.

4. Always start with an exec summary. At Microsoft, Adobe, VMware every 20-page QBR lived or died on its front page. Assume most leaders won’t read past the summary, so make it count.

And don’t just wait for big reviews. A short, weekly update makes a huge difference. I’ve used everything from quick “selfie'“ video snippets to a one-pager in email, Slack, or WhatsApp.

Here’s a framework I’ve found works:

𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆

• 🎯 2–3 board-level targets + MTD progress

• 🎯 Key highlights for the week

• 💡Think about what the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) cares about

𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

• 🎯 2–3 next-level down targets + MTD progress

• 💡 Think engaged web traffic and branded search.

𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

• 🎯 6–10 targets along the buyers journey + MTD progress

• 💡 Think pipeline and closed revenue rather than MQLs and downloads.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀

• 🎯 Activity updates across awareness, acquisition, conversion, retention

• 💡 This is where you can celebrate well attended events and campaigns going live.

It’s not rocket science, but it works. And it will hopefully make your job a lot easier.

The Seven Marketing Pitfalls To Be Wary of With Investors

When investors look at your business, they don’t just scan the numbers, they scrutinise your marketing. Why? Because marketing is where customer insight, storytelling and revenue growth collide.

A strong marketing strategy builds confidence. A weak one raises red flags that can sink your chances. Here are seven marketing pitfalls investors notice instantly - and how to avoid them.

1. POOR Market Understanding

If your marketing can’t clearly define the customer, investors assume you’re winging it. “We target everyone” isn’t a strategy.
✅ Fix it: Nail your ICP. Show you understand your buyers’ pain points, motivations and buying journey.

2. Unrealistic Growth Targets

Forecasts built on hope rather than evidence scream inexperience. Saying you’ll “10x pipeline in a quarter” without backing is a credibility killer.
✅ Fix it: Ground your projections in historical data, benchmarks and realistic conversion rates.

3. Weak Storytelling

If you can’t explain your value in simple, compelling terms, investors will worry customers won’t get it either. Jargon-heavy decks and feature-first messaging are big red flags.
✅ Fix it: Lead with the problem you solve. Make your brand story human, clear and memorable.

4. No Clear Go-To-Market Model

Saying you’ll just “do social media” or “go viral” isn’t a plan. Investors want to see the mechanics of demand creation and conversion.
✅ Fix it: Map out your funnel. Show how marketing drives leads, opportunities and revenue.

5. Overhyping Channels

Obsessing over TikTok, ABM tools or AI without linking back to outcomes makes marketing look like a shiny-object chase.
✅ Fix it: Connect every activity to pipeline, revenue and brand impact. Tools are tactics, not strategy.

6. Lack of Proof of Traction

No case studies, no testimonials, no signs of demand? Investors see that as empty marketing.
✅ Fix it: Showcase momentum - even small wins like beta waitlists, customer quotes or pilot results prove your engine works.

7. RanDOM Marketing Spend ASks

“We just need more marketing budget” without specifics is a giant red flag. Investors want to know where money goes and what it returns.
✅ Fix it: Be explicit. Detail how spend turns into leads, customers, and revenue. No amount of budget will fix a poor strategy.

Wrapping Up

Investors know great marketing isn’t about pretty slides or big promises - it’s about clarity, traction and execution. If your marketing story is vague, overhyped or disconnected from business outcomes, the red flags go up instantly.

Get specific, stay customer-focused and show how marketing fuels growth - and you’ll replace those red flags with investor green lights.

Everyone Thinks Everyone Else Is Doing AI Better. They’re Not.

Just wrapped up a few AI workshops. Not another set of "10 prompts to revolutionise your marketing" sessions. I shared my own experiences and learnings.

Every single team I talk to thinks they are behind. Its FOMO on an Artificial Industrial scale.

MDs worry their competitors have cracked the code. Content teams assume everyone else is pumping out AI-powered brilliance. Creatives fear they were the only ones struggling.

Truth is, we're all making it up as we go.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. The AI tools I demoed last month? Already outdated. What was the best in June isn’t the best in September. Win the race by being curious. And at a pace never seen before.

𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗣𝗧 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁. I see teams trying to master ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot simultaneously. It's like learning four languages at once. Pick one. Get good. You don’t have the time to train all of them. They're all converging anyway.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸. I've sat through several "AI mastery" courses. They're all cobbled together from what practitioners discovered last week. Don’t worry if you’re learning from blogs, posts, newsletters or Reddit. That’s how the best are doing it.

The teams that win aren't the ones with the perfect AI strategy. They're the ones willing to experiment, fail and share what they learned over coffee.

That's the secret. Not theory. Application.

Stop waiting for the definitive guide. Start experimenting. Share what breaks. Learn from each other.

Because while you're worrying everyone else has it figured out, they're worrying about you.

Who owns product pricing?

Had an interesting discussion with a SaaS CEO on who should own pricing. He leaned toward the product organisation with the belief pricing is a feature.

I argued that pricing isn’t a feature. It’s your strategy made visible.

I've watched pricing bounce between departments like a hot potato for 20+ years. Product says it's about features. We, Marketing, claim it's about positioning. Finance insists it's about margins. We're all wrong. And yet we're all right.

At Adobe, pricing lived with Product. Made sense - they understood the value stack. But they missed market dynamics.

At VMware, Finance owned it. Great for protecting margins. Terrible for competitive agility.

At a scale-up, Marketing ran pricing. We could move fast, test boldly. But sometimes forgot the unit economics.

That’s why in each company we learned: the best pricing doesn't live in any one department. It lives at the intersection. Pricing is a three-legged stool:

• Product knows what it costs to build and deliver

• Marketing understands what customers will pay

• Finance ensures you don't go broke being clever

Kill any leg, the whole thing collapses.

The companies that win? They create pricing councils. Cross-functional teams that meet weekly. Equal voices. Shared accountability. Because here's the thing: Your pricing IS your strategy. It signals who you serve, what you value, where you're headed.

Slack didn't win on features. They won on pricing that made sense - pay for active users only. That wasn't a Product decision or a Finance mandate. That was strategic thinking.

So stop asking where pricing should sit. Start asking who's at the pricing table. Of course, the challenge for marketing right now is it’s not even being considered for a seat (a topic for another day!)

And no, pricing isn't a feature. It's the most honest expression of your company's confidence in its own value. Get it wrong, and no amount of great marketing or product innovation will save you.