Trust & Influence in B2B · 2026-07-14 · 39 min
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.
From the moshpit to the marketing plan | What a decade in the music business taught Jason Miller about attention in B2B81 / 100
Stop claiming you're the best! AI will mark you down for it | Tom Rudnai on winning influence in the age of Dark AI86 / 100
Stop trying to please everyone! | Karl Van den Bergh of Illumio on why consistency, not consensus, is what earns trust in B2B
Employee voices drown out brand voices in B2B - so how do you orchestrate them? Rida Oyebade of Workday on employee advocacy
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