Brian Stoller, CMO at VentureBeat and former IBM marketing leader, joins B2B Marketing Pint to talk about what it really takes to earn the CMO seat.

Spoiler: it is not just brand brilliance.

Brian shares why soft skills, sales alignment, team trust, clear goals, and knowing your own gaps matter more than pretending to be great at everything. From managing big demand teams and international experience to navigating AI, publisher challenges, and the myth that every CMO must be a brand architect, this episode cuts through the usual career advice with practical lessons for ambitious B2B marketers.

Also included: hockey trauma, a bucket of Heineken, and one very honest answer about the future of marketing.

Want to be CMO? Start with Soft Skills

SEO teams know the “crocodile” all too well: impressions rise, clicks fall, and the graph starts to look like the profile of a very hungry reptile.

But for B2B executives who do not live in Google Search Console every day, the pattern can be confusing, alarming, and easy to misread.

In this episode of B2B Marketing Pint, Brian and Brendan welcome Adrianna Shukla, a demand gen leader with deep experience scaling marketing engines, to explain what the SEO crocodile really means, why it matters, and what marketing leaders should do about it.

The conversation moves past panic and into practical action: how AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and other answer engines are changing buyer behaviour; why page views alone no longer tell the full story; and how to focus SEO reporting on pipeline, engaged visits, branded search, and conversion quality.

Adrianna also tackles one of marketing’s most stubborn myths: that better SEO always means creating more content. Her advice is sharper: fix what you already have, structure it clearly, answer real buyer questions, and make it easier for both humans and AI systems to understand.

Grab a pint and learn how to wrestle the SEO crocodile without losing sight of what matters most: qualified buyers, better intent signals, and revenue impact.

🐊 Wrestling the SEO Crocodile

Field marketing is not just events, booths, and branded pens.

In this episode of B2B Marketing Pint, Chelsea Ogilvie joins Brian and Brendan to explain how field marketing becomes a real pipeline accelerator. She digs into the human side of B2B buying, why sales alignment is non-negotiable, how digital signals help teams find the right moment, and what it takes to build a field marketing function from scratch.

Chelsea also shares smart ways to stretch budget, turn existing spend into better experiences, and move beyond order-taking from sales. Because in long B2B buying cycles, people still buy from people.

Grab a pint and hear how field marketing can build pipeline, not just programs.

Swag? Field Marketing Builds Pipeline!

In this episode, Brendan and Brian sit down with Cassie Aite (Hoppier, PostBeam AI) to unpack the real driver behind content success: the 90/10 rule.

After years of trial, error, and wasted spend, Cassie shares why 90% of content performance comes from planning—not execution—and how most B2B teams get this completely backwards. From early SEO missteps to building a blog that peaked at roughly 80,000 monthly visitors, he breaks down what actually works today—and what doesn’t anymore.

The conversation goes deep on the shift from traffic to revenue-focused content, why AI and Google are changing the game, and how fewer, higher-quality pieces now outperform volume plays. You’ll also hear why LinkedIn, YouTube, and owned content are non-negotiable—and how to find your “content-market fit” through disciplined testing.

If you’re still chasing impressions, this episode will reset your thinking. If you want content that drives pipeline, this is your playbook.

Key topics:

 * The 90/10 rule of content planning vs execution
 * Why traffic is down but lead quality is up
 * Content strategy in an AI-first search world
 * Finding your content-market fit through repetition
 * The myth of needing a large audience to win

The 90/10 Rule The Drives Content Results

In this episode of B2B Marketing Pint, Brendan & Brian sit down with Jim Shields—award-winning filmmaker, storyteller, and the creative force behind The Inside Man and Restricted Intelligence—to unpack what B2B marketers can learn from entertainment.

Jim has spent decades proving a simple point: people don’t stop being human at work. And yet, most B2B marketing still plays it safe, leading with information instead of connection.

This conversation digs into why that approach fails—and what to do instead.

You’ll hear how storytelling, humour, and character-driven content can cut through crowded markets, create emotional connection, and ultimately drive better marketing outcomes. Jim also shares how to sell bold creative ideas internally, avoid “watered-down” content, and build campaigns that audiences actually want to watch.

If your marketing feels like it’s blending in instead of standing out, this episode will challenge how you think about content—and what it takes to make people care.

Humour in B2B Marketing?

Crack open one of the biggest misconceptions in AI-driven marketing: more output does not mean more revenue.

Brendan and Brian sit down with Karla Congson, CEO & CTO of Agentive, to cut through the hype and get real about how AI is actually impacting B2B marketing performance today.

They dig into what real ROI from AI looks like, how to measure it in terms your CFO will care about, and why time savings is only half the story. From pipeline velocity to reducing costly mistakes, this conversation reframes AI as a strategic lever—not just a production tool.

Karla also tackles a few uncomfortable truths:

 * Why “AI will replace marketers” is a dangerous myth
 * How poor governance creates risk, not speed
 * And why over-reliance on AI can quietly erode critical thinking across your team

If you’re a marketing leader trying to scale results without scaling spend, this episode gives you a playbook: use AI to raise your floor, not lower your ceiling.

Because in B2B marketing, volume is easy. Revenue is harder—and that’s where the real work begins.

The AI Lie: Volume Isn't Revenue

What really drives B2B buying decisions? In this episode of B2B Marketing Pint, Brendan Ziolo and Brian O’Grady sit down with behavioral scientist Pauline Kabitsis to unpack how behavioral science can help marketers build better campaigns, landing pages, onboarding flows, and product experiences.

Pauline explains why context matters more than generic best practices, why too much information often hurts performance, and how the best marketers stay focused on one key behavior at a time. The conversation also explores where AI is helping marketers, where it is creating more clutter, and why a little friction can sometimes increase perceived value instead of killing conversion.

If you market to humans making high-stakes business decisions, this episode is a useful reminder: B2B buyers are still people. Their choices are shaped by attention, risk, trust, effort, and emotion, just like any other buyer.

Expect practical examples, smart debate, and a myth-busting finish that challenges the idea that B2B marketing plays by a completely different set of rules.

How Do B2B Buyers Behave? Behavioral Science for Marketers

Direct mail isn't dead. It's back and it's smarter.

In the Season 2 premiere of B2B Marketing Pint, we’re joined by Kris Rudeegraap, Co-Founder and CEO of Sendoso, to break down why gifting and direct mail are showing up again in serious B2B demand gen programs — and why it’s not your grandparents’ mail campaign.

We cover what’s driving the comeback (rising ad costs, crowded inboxes, shrinking email response rates), the best-performing use cases (SDR meeting-booking, ABM buying committees, demo show-rate boosts, customer expansion), and the biggest ways teams screw it up (hello, spray-and-pray).

Kris also shares how AI is changing the game with better targeting, address data, personalization, and the move toward always-on, automated sending—more like an ad platform, but physical.  If you want pipeline without just throwing more money at clicks, this one’s for you.

Deliver Boxes. Deliver Pipeline: How Gifting Drives B2B Revenue

🎙️Is email dead? Not even close. In this final pour of Season 1, Brian and Brendan sit down with Pierce Ujjainwala, co-founder of Knak, to unravel the persistent myths and modern complexities of email marketing in 2025.

Pierce breaks down why emails aren’t the problem—it's the bloated systems and legacy workflows slowing marketers down. From HTML headaches and rendering nightmares to the overengineering trap enterprises fall into, we dig into why even today, marketers still struggle to send a decent email. And yeah—we talk AI, creative copy, and why good subject lines are worth their weight in gold.

The conversation flows naturally in part because it's hosted in Knak's own speakeasy, with its own beer, and in part because Pierce, Brendan and Brian like to have a good time. If you’ve ever had to fight a template to get a campaign out the door, this one’s for you.

Your Emails Don’t Suck—Your System Does

Crack open a Guinness with Peter Meyers, founder of Portage Sales, to discuss go-to-market strategy that actually delivers. From the importance of sales and marketing alignment to practical AI adoption tips, Peter shares what separates top-performing sales leaders from the rest. We also cover how to escape planning theatre, avoid random acts of marketing, and why building momentum matters more than perfection. And yes—we talk beer, leadership, and the myth that marketing is optional. Spoiler: it’s not.

Whether you're refreshing your GTM playbook or looking to bridge the sales-marketing gap, this pint is packed with actionable insights and a...Molson Canadian???

It’s called Go-to-Market for a Reason: Let’s Get Out of the Office

𝐓𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧 & 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧
𝘉2𝘉 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘵 is the compact podcast for B2B technology marketers looking to sharpen their competitive edge.

Hosted by marketing veterans 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐎'𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐲 and 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐙𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨—with decades of experience across scale-ups and Fortune 50s—the show delivers practical takeaways that cut through the smoke and mirrors.

🎙 Join Brian & Brendan and their lineup of accomplished B2B guests as they explore what’s working, what’s not, and why. Expect sharp conversations on topics like branding, content, and demand gen—infused with smart remarks and better insights.

🧠 Whether you're prepping for your next big meeting or just thirsty for fresh thinking, grab a quick pint of B2B marketing insight.

👉 www.b2bmarketingpint.com [https://www.b2bmarketingpint.com/]
🔗 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/b2bmarketingpint]
👍 Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/61574799997007]
📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/b2bmarketingpint/]
▶️ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@b2bmarketingpint]

B2B Marketing Pint

Real talk on B2B tech marketing over a pint. Brendan & Brian cut through the noise on what’s working. 👉 bit.ly/b2bmp

Brendan Ziolo

Shows