Trust & Influence in B2B
Trust & Influence in B2B
Podcast Description
Trust is the biggest challenge facing B2B marketers today. Buyers have always been cynical, hard to reach and even harder to convince, and increasingly expect to be self-directed in their research. In other words, they only want to engage with you on their terms. As if that wasn't bad enough, media and content channels are fragmented whilst AI is opening the floodgates to a tidalwave of content of questionable quality and veracity. It all adds up to a crisis of trust in B2B.
In this podcast, I'll be interviewing innovative and inspirational marketers in the front line of addressing this challenge, providing deep insights into the context of this challenge, exploring new insights about its implications and looking at real world solutions and success stories.
We'll focus in particular on the topics of thought leadership and influencer marketing, but inevitably brand, advocacy and demand generation, and much, much more.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores topics such as thought leadership, influencer marketing, and brand advocacy, with episodes discussing real-world campaigns like Capgemini's 'Building Trust in Data' and Circana's insights on turning data into strategic conversations, as well as the findings of Edelman's Trust Barometer report
I’m Joel Harrison, founder of B2B Marketing.net (formerly B2B Marketing magazine) Propolis and the B2B Marketing Awards. It’s been my mission for the past 21 years to recognise, celebrate and evangelise for the amazing profession that is B2B marketing, which has evolved beyond that recognition in that time.
In this podcast, I’ll be exploring what I believe is the biggest challenge facing B2B marketers today: Trust.
Buyers have always been cynical, hard to reach and even harder to convince, and increasingly expect to be self-directed in their research. In other words, they only want to engage with you on their terms. As if that wasn’t bad enough, media and content channels are fragmented whilst AI is opening the floodgates to a tidalwave of content of questionable quality and veracity. It all adds up to a crisis of trust in B2B.
In this podcast, I’ll be interviewing innovative and inspirational marketers in the front line of addressing this challenge, providing deep insights into the context of this challenge, exploring new insights about its implications and looking at real world solutions and success stories.
I’ll be exploring this topic from every relevant angle and perspective, but I’m going to focus particularly on thought leadership, influencer marketing and advocacy as they have particular relevance to this challenge.
In this episode of Trust and Influence in B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison sits down with Professor Laura Chamberlain, Professor of Marketing at the University of Warwick and Founder of Think Talk Thrive. They tackle one of the most pressing questions in the profession right now: Do we still need junior marketers—and if so, what do we owe them? As AI absorbs entry-level tasks and graduate vacancies continue to shrink, is marketing quietly destroying its own talent pipeline?
➡️ Laura draws on years of teaching across every level of the profession—from undergraduates to C-suite executives—to challenge the notion that AI can simply replace junior roles. She makes a compelling case that young professionals bring far more than cheap labour: native AI fluency, cultural proximity, fresh thinking, and an eagerness that senior hires can’t replicate. She and Joel explore how the erosion of mentorship, rising imposter phenomenon among 18–25-year-olds, and the compression of entry-level roles are creating a long-horizon crisis no single company will feel—until it’s far too late. If you’re in any way responsible for building or leading a marketing team, this episode will challenge how you think about who you hire, how you develop them, and what the profession stands to lose if we keep pulling the ladder up behind us.
Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: The Junior Marketer Crisis
02:06 – Laura’s Background and Teaching Perspective
03:13 – Is Marketing a Career Young People Choose or Fall Into?
06:29 – What’s Preoccupying Students Entering the Profession
09:48 – The Graduate Jobs Squeeze and AI’s Role
11:37 – Debunking the “We Don’t Need Juniors” Narrative
14:31 – What Young Professionals Uniquely Bring to Marketing Teams
17:20 – The Case for Mentorship and Why It’s Breaking Down
23:42 – How Junior Marketers Learn Without Entry-Level Tasks
25:42 – Learning to Be Strategic: The New Junior Skillset
30:06 – Specialists vs. Generalists in Marketing Education
34:51 – Are Young People Better or Worse at Using AI?
39:33 – The Long-Term Cost of Abandoning Junior Talent
41:09 – What Needs to Change: Laura’s Call to Action
Follow Laura Chamberlain
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmchamberlain/
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—investing in junior talent or letting AI fill the gap? Let us know in the comments below.
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📲Follow Joel Harrison and Trust & Influence in B2B across the web:
LinkedIn ▶https://linkedin.com/in/joelharrison/
Podcast ▶https://trust-influence-in-b2b.captivate.fm/
Instagram ▶https://instagram.com/joelharrisonb2b/
#JoelHarrisonB2B, #B2BMarketing, #ThoughtLeadership, #ContentStrategy, #MarketingTrends, #B2BContent, #BrandVsDemand, #Storytelling, #MarketingPodcast, #B2BInsights, #JoelHarrison, #B2BVideos, #B2BStrategy, #JuniorMarketers, #MarketingTalent, #AIinMarketing, #MarketingEducation, #EarlyCareer, #FutureOfMarketing, #MarketingMentorship, #TalentPipeline
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