About this episode

Joel Harrison and Fiona McKenzie discuss the implications of Cannes Lions 2026 for B2B marketers, focusing on trust, creativity, and commercial measurement.

In this special edition of Trust & Influence in B2B, Joel Harrison is joined by Fiona McKenzie of Marketbridge to make sense of Cannes Lions 2026. Fresh from five days of multi-stream content, installations and fringe events, they let the dust settle and distil what actually matters for B2B marketers – viewed through a growth lens, not creativity for its own sake. They unpack why B2B is visibly on the rise at Cannes, the tension between creativity and commercial measurement, and the CFO buy-in conversation (brand as future cashflow). They dig into three important releases from the week: the FT's work on trust (including the finding that 82% trust a source more when it challenges than when it agrees), Bloomberg on reputation pulling weight across the full funnel, and Bain & Co.'s new model positioned as a rival to NPS, scoring a buyer's likelihood to choose you before any deal is on the table. The conversation moves through the B2B Lions winner – an obscure Swedish ball-bearing company using tidal energy in the Faroe Islands, and why a big idea told as a wider go-to-market story is a step in the right direction – the rise of creators and influence in B2B, Joel's framework…

People in this episode

Host: Joel Harrison

Guest: Fiona McKenzie

Topics covered

• B2B marketing
• Cannes Lions
• trust
• creativity
• commercial measurement
• AI in marketing

Keywords

• Cannes Lions
• B2B marketing
• trust
• creativity
• AI
• commercial measurement
• growth
• influence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Marketbridge, FT, Bloomberg, Bain & Co.

Books & works: B2B Lions

Places: Faroe Islands

More episodes of Trust & Influence in B2B

• Before 'sleeping giant' Iron Mountain got loud, it had to be believed | CMO Karen Feldman on earning that trust · September 8, 2026 · 40 min
• Finally! A replacement for NPS... or is it? | How Tony Larks hacked Bain & Co's groundbreaking 'shortlist score' · September 1, 2026 · 39 min
• Why influencer skills are becoming essential for B2B CMOs | With Archana Dhankar of Proofpoint · August 11, 2026 · 33 min
• From the moshpit to the marketing plan | What a decade in the music business taught Jason Miller about attention in B2B · August 5, 2026 · 37 min
• Stop trying to please everyone! | Karl Van den Bergh of Illumio on why consistency, not consensus, is what earns trust in B2B · July 25, 2026 · 31 min
• Employee voices drown out brand voices in B2B – so how do you orchestrate them? Rida Oyebade of Workday on employee advocacy · July 23, 2026 · 32 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Trust & Influence in B2B podcast page.