Demand Geniuses: Revenue-Driven B2B Marketing

Tom Rudnai
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Demand-Geniuses is the podcast for revenue-focused B2B Marketers. We bring you the latest insights and expert tips, interviewing geniuses of the B2B Marketing world to bring you actionable advice that you can implement to accelerate growth and progress you career. The role of Marketing in B2B go-to-market strategy has changed drastically. It's more important to revenue generation than ever as buyer engagement becomes more digital. We equip you with the information you need to thrive in this new, revenue-critical role.

  1. Jul 16

    Jess Cook: Brand Beats Demand Gen

    Jess Cook is the VP of Marketing at Vector, the contact-level advertising platform that helps B2B teams reach the specific people inside their target accounts who are actually in market. She joins the show to trace her path from 15 years of B2C copywriting on brands like McDonald's, Pop Tarts, and Frosted Flakes into B2B marketing leadership. She makes the case for brand as the thing that actually drives demand, sharing how Vector ran its first year almost entirely on organic and inbound, why the team optimizes for likability and shareability, and how brand now shapes everything from wild CTV ads to how the company shows up in AI answers. Tune in to this episode as we explore:(00:53) Jess Cook's path from B2C copywriting to B2B marketing leadership(03:19) What to learn and unlearn stepping into a VP of Marketing role(06:52) Contact-level advertising explained: getting a level deeper than ABM(09:51) Re-education over category creation: optimizing for likability and shareability(15:19) Turning CEO one-on-ones into a podcast and sarcastic LinkedIn personas(22:06) Data-driven sameness, AI, and hiring people who want to stand out(31:26) The surround sound campaign and 40% lifts in traffic and pipeline(38:19) Why brand permeates every customer touchpoint(40:08) Showing up in AI answers with positive sentiment(43:43) Quickfire: AI tools, the video-production edge, and a community pick Links mentioned in this episode: Jess Cook on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesscook-contentmarketing/ Vector: https://www.vector.co/ This Meeting Could Have Been a Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2sB6JDR0wQOYT0XLEwaQrS Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy: https://www.amazon.com/Ogilvy-Advertising-David/dp/039472903X Dreamdata: https://dreamdata.io/ Exit Five: https://exitfive.com/

    Jess Cook: Brand Beats Demand Gen

  2. Jun 23 ·  Bonus

    Neil Patel: $20M Super Bowl Spend, Little Growth (Minisode)

    Neil Patel, Co-Founder at Neil Patel Digital explains why most marketers are spending time and money on the wrong things. From Super Bowl ads that move the needle for almost no one, to AI tools that look impressive but drive zero revenue, Neil cuts through the noise and gets to what actually grows a business. In this minisode, we explore: (00:00) The uncomfortable truth about AI adoption - everyone uses it, almost no one profits from it(01:15) Vanity traffic vs. revenue traffic: why 600K monthly visitors can be completely worthless(04:30) The content shift that took NP Digital from 5M to 36M+ in revenue (08:11) Super Bowl ads, Olympic spots, 20M+ in spend (10:19) What actually drives word of mouth Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/50KwaYQgQOEquNjXnKWGtS

    Neil Patel: $20M Super Bowl Spend, Little Growth (Minisode)

  3. Jun 16

    CMO Jillian Als: Rebranding in the age of AI

    Jillian Als is the CMO at Leadfeeder, the website visitor identification platform that recently consolidated its brand away from Dealfront. She joins the show to walk through what it actually takes to pull off a rebrand in a single quarter, why purpose work matters more than colours and fonts, and how she's rethinking paid search, AI's role in marketing, and what marketers should own in a world where every channel feels noisier. Along the way she shares hard-won lessons from a startup bankruptcy, why she banned AI from her team's early narrative work, and where she thinks human judgment still beats the machines. Tune in to this episode as we explore: (03:05) Inside a startup bankruptcy and the early warning signs Jillian missed(09:07) Why Leadfeeder dropped the Dealfront name and rebranded in a single quarter(14:39) Defining mission, purpose, and vision from the outside as a new CMO(18:31) Getting brand narrative to seep through the organisation(20:30) Why she banned AI from the early narrative work(23:10) The manual / AI-assist / fully agentic spectrum for marketing tasks(25:36) Advice for marketers feeling pressure from above to deliver AI's promises(26:57) Building the new website for LLMs and an MCP server in the works(32:03) Paid search scepticism and why "be everywhere" prevents compounding(39:10) Retention as a team sport and marketing's role beyond closed-won(40:39) Quickfire: AI for slides, problem-solving as a career skill, and a PR-shaped big bet Links: Jillian Als on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianals/ Leadfeeder: https://www.leadfeeder.com/Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/462487/unreasonable-hospitality-by-guidara-will/9781529146837

    CMO Jillian Als: Rebranding in the age of AI

  4. Jun 9

    Justyna Dzikowska: Building Brands in the AI Era

    Justyna Dzikowska is the Head of Marketing at Brand24, the social listening and media monitoring tool helping companies measure their online presence. She joins the show to share what 10+ years in SaaS marketing has taught her about building brand visibility in the AI era. From working in traditional PR to why most companies are measuring LLM visibility wrong, Justyna offers a practical view on content pruning, video in B2B, and why narrowing your strategy is harder than ever when every channel feels like a priority. Tune in to this episode as we explore: (02:10) Why traditional PR is suddenly relevant again for AI search visibility(04:59) The problem with measuring brand visibility through LLMs alone(08:50) The biggest misconception marketers have about analytics and data collection(11:25) Why studying competitors matters more than obsessing over your own brand(13:15) Why prioritisation, not ideas, is the real bottleneck in modern marketing(18:35) The rise of video content and humanised brand communication in B2B(23:27) Where AI-generated video belongs and where it absolutely doesn't(28:55) The "curse of the AEO case study": what happens when AI content backfires(30:43) How content pruning helped Brand24 after a Google update(33:45) Quickfire: ZenABM, the "Still No CMO" YouTube channel idea, and a LinkedIn recommendationLinks: Justyna Dzikowska on LinkedIn Brand24: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justyna-dzikowska-content-marketing-digital-pr/ Brand24: https://brand24.com/ Tom Rudnai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-rudnai-0539b6151/ ZenABM: https://zenabm.com/ Emilia Korczyńska on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliakorczynska/ Product Rantz: https://pages.userpilot.com/product-rantz/

    Justyna Dzikowska: Building Brands in the AI Era

  5. Jun 2

    Brand Marketing Expert: How to make B2B brands stand out

    Chelsea Castle is a content and brand marketing leader who most recently led content and brand at Close, the small business CRM. She joins the show to share what she's learned from building and inheriting content programs at startups including Chili Piper, Lavender, and Emma/Campaign Monitor, and why marketing is closer to renovating a house than following a playbook. Chelsea opens up on building memory structures through repetition, finding spiky points of view that compound over time, and why protecting human judgment matters more than ever in an AI-driven landscape. Tune in to this episode as we explore: (00:54) Chelsea's path from journalism and agency life into content marketing in tech(02:32) Balancing strategy and tactics: what working at Lavender taught her(06:57) The differences between reviving a brand, scaling one, and building from scratch(13:30) Why marketers should still absorb context the old-school way before reaching for AI(20:35) Brands as memory structures and why everything in content compounds(24:51) Red threads and brand associations at Chili Piper, Notion, Asana, and Vector(30:31) Getting company-wide buy-in for brand, and why it has to start at the top(35:38) What makes a spiky point of view different from a hot take or rage bait(42:42) Staying consistent with your message without sounding like a broken record(47:30) Quickfire: connecting MCP to a CRM for content IP, and a skydiving road showLinks: Chelsea Castle's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseacastle/ CloseLavenderChili PiperPeep Laja (Wynter)Jess Cook (Vector) LinkedInDave Gerhardt (Exit Five)Andy RaskinChris WalkerAdam Robinson (RB2B)

    Brand Marketing Expert: How to make B2B brands stand out

  6. May 26 ·  Bonus

    Minisode - Compliance Content & AI Search

    Sarah Cameron, Head of Content & PR at ComplyAdvantage, cuts through the AEO hype to share what's actually moving the needle - and what your exec team is probably already asking you about. From vendor comparison content to tracking AI citations, she brings the receipts on a strategy that's delivering higher demo conversion rates than organic search. Tune into this episode, as we explore: (00:03) AEO vs. SEO (03:04) The vendor comparison bet that paid off big (and why they almost didn't take it)(04:41) How to build your first prompt tracking list when you're starting from scratch(05:50) Why AI search converts better than organic - and what that tells you about buyer intent(07:02) Keeping your exec team and board informed on AI search without losing your mindListen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1mVJj6o7TokSHljPFlpZU0

    Minisode - Compliance Content & AI Search

  7. May 19

    Growth lessons from Darren Chait (beehiiv CMO /ex-Calendly)

    Darren Chait is the CMO at beehiiv and ex-Head of Growth at Calendly. He joins the show to share how an Australian corporate lawyer ended up co-founding Hugo, leading growth at Calendly, and now shaping the playbook at one of the fastest-growing creator platforms. Along the way, he explains why the best CMOs think like CFOs, how the role of a marketer has shifted in 2026, and what actually makes a newsletter worth subscribing to. Tune in to this episode as we explore: (00:34) The beehiiv philosophy: why creators should own their audience, not rent it(06:35) From corporate lawyer in Australia to co-founding Hugo and joining Calendly(08:26) What four years at Calendly taught Darren about growth at real volume(11:23) Why there's no traditional marketer archetype left in 2026(15:41) The best CMOs are actually CFOs: understanding every lever in your business(19:33) A three-step playbook for the first weeks in a new marketing leadership role(22:12) Calendly vs beehiiv: incremental experiments vs big swings(28:35) How AI changes the job of a marketer without replacing judgment(34:25) What makes a newsletter genuinely work: trust, consistency, and multi-channel reach(45:53) Newsletter vs email marketing: the two-way relationship that changes everything(49:28) Darren's dream campaign: dominating cities with out-of-home advertising(53:17) Final recommendation: Growth Daily by Marketing MaxLinks: Darren Chait's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenchait/ beehiiv: https://www.beehiiv.com/ Calendly: https://calendly.com/ Kyle Poyar: https://www.growthunhinged.com/ Growth Daily by Marketing Max: https://www.marketingmax.com/

    Growth lessons from Darren Chait (beehiiv CMO /ex-Calendly)

  8. May 12 ·  Bonus

    How to Use Humor in B2B Marketing (Without Being Cringe)

    Esther Dawson, Global Brand & Content Lead at Breadcrumb, tackles one of B2B marketing's trickiest challenges: how to build a genuinely funny brand without making everyone cringe. She gets into the culture, the craft, and the calculated risks behind making humour work in industries where no one expects it. Tune into this episode, as we explore: (00:24) Culture first: why humour has to exist inside the company before it ever hits the feed(02:31) The cringe problem and why you can't just hire someone and tell them to "be funny"(04:32) Gallows humour in cybersecurity and why the best campaigns meet your audience where they actually are(06:18) Where humour earns its place: brand awareness, pain points, and the printer you've formed an unhealthy relationship with(09:20) Scaling a humour-led brand: how to keep the confidence (and the buy-in) as the stakes get higher(11:36) Witty vs. jokester - the distinction that keeps your brand from becoming one person's version of funnyListen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1DpkFKoGo7i7Po30ux8WOZ

    How to Use Humor in B2B Marketing (Without Being Cringe)
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About

Demand-Geniuses is the podcast for revenue-focused B2B Marketers. We bring you the latest insights and expert tips, interviewing geniuses of the B2B Marketing world to bring you actionable advice that you can implement to accelerate growth and progress you career. The role of Marketing in B2B go-to-market strategy has changed drastically. It's more important to revenue generation than ever as buyer engagement becomes more digital. We equip you with the information you need to thrive in this new, revenue-critical role.

Information

  • Creator
    Tom Rudnai
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Tom Rudnai