Episode 010 · B2B Marketing · Brand · Strategy Strategic B2B Marketing
B2B marketing isn't just the team that makes things pretty. It's a strategic partner for product, sales and brand trust.
Show notes
David Göz sits down with Manuela Kohlhas to challenge outdated beliefs in B2B marketing — and unpack what still works in 2025.
The conversation moves from empathy and clarity to product-sales alignment, brand trust and the emotional blind spot that still shows up in supposedly rational B2B buying.
For startup founders and marketers tired of tactical churn, this episode reframes marketing as a value-driving, idea-led discipline.
"Value is when customers see themselves in your story and believe that you're having them get where they want to go."
"Marketing is lipstick. It's really a strategy and you have to start with that strategy and you have to start with a customer."
"Businesses don't buy, but people do. Humanizing a brand means removing jargon, but showing real people and creating also emotional connections."
"Every business has also some weaknesses and that makes us real and that makes it authentic."
The Playbook
The reusable principles from this conversation.
The Playbook
1. B2B buyers are people, not job titles
A CTO evaluating software is still a person. They get excited. They feel uncertain. They want to look smart to their colleagues. Manuela saw this play out in brand data at PTC: over 13 years, revenue doubled from $1B to $2B. Brand value grew 11x — from $2B to $22B. The gap between those two curves is what you get when you stop writing for the job title and start writing for the person doing it.
Why it's overlooked: B2B teams point to the rational, formal procurement process as proof that emotion does not matter. The data disagrees. Emotion drives B2B decisions as much as consumer ones. The procurement process is the last step, not the whole journey.
The Playbook
2. Customer research before brainstorming, always
Before any ideation session: interview customers. Understand the challenges, the decision-making process, the language they use, the fears they have. Let real findings guide the strategy. Opinions formed in a conference room without customer data are guesses dressed up as strategy.
Why it's overlooked: Brainstorming produces output immediately. Research produces output eventually. In organisations under pressure to show progress, the immediate output always wins. The cost shows up later when the strategy misses.
The Playbook
3. Your best asset is probably an unscripted customer video
The highest-performing asset Manuela produced across 15 years was a live, unscripted customer interview. No polish, no production budget, no message control. It outperformed every other asset in the campaign because buyers at the same stage could see themselves in the story. The messiness is what made it credible.
Why it's overlooked: Brands spend heavily on polished production and controlled messaging. An unscripted customer video feels like a loss of control. It is actually a gain in credibility.
The Playbook
4. Brand trust is a sales mechanism, not a soft metric
When people trust a brand, sales cycles shorten. Win rates improve. The second and third layers of a buying committee — people your sales team has never met — get influenced before your first call. Brand built before the deal starts is how you win deals that never become deals when trust is absent.
Why it's overlooked: Brand trust effects are invisible in any single quarter. They show up in churn rates, win rates, and cycle length over three to five years. That lag makes them easy to deprioritise and hard to budget for.
The Guest
Manuela Kohlhas
Director of Product Marketing · PTC
Manuela brings more than 15 years of B2B and tech marketing experience, including five startup exits, and focuses on turning complexity into clear, human value.
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