In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Carla Johnson, a globally recognized marketing and innovation strategist, speaker, and author of Rethink Innovation. Carla has helped some of the world's top B2B brands—from Emerson and Dell to Intel—reimagine how they inspire creativity, tell authentic stories, and earn lasting trust. What does it really take to build trust in an era where buyers believe peers and employees more than brand advertising, and how can B2B organizations unlock creativity when risk aversion still dominates?

➡️ Carla doesn't hold back. He reveals why trust is the hidden currency that powers innovation, why consistency matters more than perfection, and how storytelling transforms credibility into real influence. They explore how brand values must translate into employee freedom, why thought leadership requires taking the heat along with the glory, and what AI means for the future of authentic marketing. From the importance of making people uncomfortable with your ideas to how a 125-year-old industrial company used Barbie as inspiration for a values campaign, this conversation challenges conventional B2B wisdom at every turn. Carla also shares practical frameworks from his work, including why 90% of innovation happens outside traditional innovation teams and how B2B marketers can use AI to think with them, not for them.

00:00 Introduction to Trust and Influence in B2B

00:27 Meet Cara Johnson: Marketing and Innovation Strategist

01:03 The Role of Trust in B2B Marketing

02:28 Consistency and Creativity in Building Trust

05:40 Thought Leadership and Trustworthiness

10:31 Employee Advocacy and Authenticity

17:21 Storytelling as a Currency of Trust

20:22 AI's Impact on B2B Marketing and Trust

29:15 Innovation and Trust in Risk-Averse Environments

35:33 Future of Trust in B2B: Key Takeaways

Follow Carla Johnson

https://linkedin.com/in/carlajohnson

https://www.carlajohnson.co

If you care about making B2B marketing more meaningful, useful, and memorable, this conversation is for you. It's honest, reflective, and packed with takeaways that can help elevate your approach to thought leadership—whether you're a content creator, strategist, or brand leader.

🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/

💬 What do you think comes first—building trust internally with employees, or externally with customers? Let us know in the comments below.

🔔 Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing.

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📲 Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web:

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In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Felicia Asiedu, European Marketing Director at Cvent, a global leader in event technology. Together, they explore a critical shift happening in B2B marketing right now: the move from treating events as one-off tactical activities to embracing them as a strategic growth driver. With digital content overload reaching peak levels and buyers craving more tangible, trust-building interactions, could events be the missing piece in your go-to-market strategy?

➡️ Felicia brings a refreshingly honest perspective shaped by seven years at Cvent and a front-row seat to how the best B2B organizations are rethinking their event programs. She unpacks the concept of Event-Led Growth (ELG)—a framework that connects every event, from flagship conferences to intimate dinners, back to measurable business outcomes. You'll hear why 79% of companies using an ELG approach hit their revenue goals every quarter, how events can accelerate sales cycles by 20-30 days, and why face-to-face interactions remain irreplaceable for building the trust needed to close complex B2B deals. Felicia also shares practical advice on aligning sales and marketing around events, the role of technology in scaling event programs, and why smaller businesses might actually have an advantage when it comes to strategic event planning.

00:00 Welcome to the Trust and Influence in B2B Podcast

00:29 The Rise of B2B Marketing Events

01:09 Introducing Felicia Du and Event-Led Growth

03:45 The Importance of Strategic Event Planning

05:46 Aligning Events with Business Goals

10:34 Building Trust Through Face-to-Face Interactions

15:04 Measuring Event Success and Strategic Alignment

18:05 Maximizing Event Impact Beyond the Day

18:53 The Importance of Post-Event Follow-Up

20:03 Aligning Pre-Event and During-Event Strategies

24:23 Leveraging Technology for Event Success

27:41 Event-Led Growth for Mid-Market and Smaller Organizations

30:54 Integrating Digital Events into Your Strategy

33:00 Steps to Evolve Your Event Strategy

35:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Follow Felicia Asiedu,

https://linkedin.com/in/feliciaasiedu /

https://cvent.com

🌐Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡️ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/

💬What do you think comes first—strategic event planning or the right technology to execute it? Let us know in the comments below.

🔔Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing. https://youtube.com/@JoelHarrison-B2B?sub_confirmation=1

➡️Expect regular videos filmed on the move—from major events like Ignite, to behind-the-scenes interviews, to deeper dives into topics that matter most to today's marketers. We'll explore what it means to be a commercial marketer, how to build trust and credibility in technical sectors, and how thought leadership can evolve beyond buzzwords into something truly impactful. You'll hear from voices at the cutting edge of B2B, including marketers from global brands, fast-growing startups, and everything in between. This isn't theory for theory's sake. It's about helping you become more effective, influential, and commercially grounded—so you can thrive in a fast-moving, high-expectation...

In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Teresa Allan, Managing Partner at Magnus Consulting, to explore a striking disconnect in B2B leadership: only 9% of commercial leaders feel highly confident about hitting their 2026 growth targets, yet over half of their organizations are aggressively pursuing growth. Teresa shares insights from Magnus Consulting's new GTM Confidence Index report, revealing that this confidence gap isn't just an internal problem—it's a trust issue that buyers can sense. Leaders who are confident in their current quarter's pipeline are nine times more likely to feel confident about the year ahead, and those with integrated tech stacks are five times more confident than those with fragmented systems.

➡ Throughout the conversation, Joel and Teresa unpack the five systemic gaps holding organizations back—from sales and marketing silos (where misalignment drops confidence to zero) to the mid-market "messy middle" where complexity outpaces resources. Teresa offers a practical 90-day roadmap for closing the confidence gap: survey your team's actual confidence levels, identify where the real struggles are, and rally everyone around clear priorities within your current reality. Most importantly, she argues that confidence should be tracked as a formal metric at board level—not as a soft measure, but as a predictor of growth, alignment, and buyer trust. If you're responsible for driving B2B growth in an environment of flat budgets and rising expectations, this conversation is essential listening.

📑 Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction: The GTM Confidence Crisis

03:45 - Why Only 9% of Leaders Are Confident in 2026 Targets

11:20 - Pipeline Confidence: The 9x Multiplier Effect

18:35 - The Budget Reality: Doing More with Less

26:10 - AI Adoption vs. AI Integration: The Maturity Problem

33:50 - MarTech Fragmentation and the Data Hygiene Challenge

42:15 - The Mid-Market Squeeze: Stuck in the Messy Middle

50:30 - 90-Day Action Plan: Closing Your Confidence Gap

Download the report

https://magnusconsulting.co.uk/the-gtm-confidence-index-2026-closing-the-growth-gap/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=Joel-Harrison&utm_campaign=GTM_Confidence_Index&utm_content=B2B-Catalyst

Follow Teresa Allan

Linkedin https://linkedin.com/in/teresaallanmagnus/?originalSubdomain=uk

https://magnusconsulting.co.uk/

If you care about building confidence in your commercial teams and bridging the trust gap with buyers, this conversation is for you. It's packed with research-backed insights and practical steps you can take in the next 90 days.

🌐 Visit Joel Harrison's website to explore exclusive reports, upcoming events, and join the B2B marketing community ➡ https://www.joelharrisonb2b.com/

💬 What's the biggest confidence gap in your organization right now—pipeline visibility, budget alignment, or team integration? Let us know in the comments below.

🔔 Subscribe to the channel for weekly insights, interviews, and on-the-ground perspectives from the world of B2B marketing....