How to Stand Out When Every Competitor Sounds the Same
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In a world where AI is generating more content than ever before, click-through rates are falling in double digits and every brand sounds increasingly the same. So what actually cuts through?
In this episode of Spotlight on B2B Marketing, host Karen Lloyd welcomes Chrissie Bardwell, Global Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Aveva, to explore why experiential marketing is having its moment and how B2B marketers can use real-world human experiences to win deals, build pipeline and genuinely differentiate.
With a background spanning omnichannel retail analysis at IDC and now industrial software marketing at Aveva, Chrissie brings a rare perspective on what B2B can learn from B2C, how to build a commercial business case for experiential activity and where AI truly earns its place in the modern marketing mix.
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KAREN & CHRISSIE
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why experiential marketing is rising as a direct response to AI content saturation
✔️ How post-COVID consumer behaviour has shifted the way B2B buyers expect to be engaged
✔️ What B2B marketers can learn from retail brands like Apple, Nike and Hermes
✔️ How Aveva built its Porsche Formula E partnership around shared values and customer experience
✔️ How to build a commercial business case for experiential marketing using pipeline data
✔️ The KPIs that actually matter when measuring experiential activity
✔️ Why human creativity and distinctive brand identity are becoming a competitive advantage in an AI-saturated world
EPISODE OUTLINE AND HIGHLIGHTS
[00:01:58] Why experiential marketing is having its moment
[00:02:46] The collision of COVID and AI content saturation
[00:04:47] What AI cannot replicate
[00:08:19] Experiential marketing in a B2B context
[00:10:16] The Aveva and Porsche Formula E partnership
[00:13:18] How to build a business case for experiential marketing
[00:16:13] The KPIs that prove commercial value
[00:18:38] What B2B can learn from retail
[00:24:11] Where AI is genuinely transformative
[00:26:31] Why human creativity is a competitive advantage
THE COMMERCIAL CASE FOR EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
One of the most practical parts of this conversation is Chrissie's framework for getting experiential marketing approved at senior level. Her core argument is that the moment you walk into a C-suite conversation asking for budget because you want to create an experience, you have already lost the room.
Instead, she advises marketers to anchor every proposal in commercial language. That means arriving with a defined segment of target accounts, the pipeline value they represent, and evidence that face-to-face engagement at a specific stage of the sales cycle improves deal velocity or deal size.
At Aveva, marketing and sales jointly own pipeline accountability, which Chrissie says makes these conversations both easier and more productive. The experience is built around the commercial requirement, not the other way around.
WHY DISTINCTIVE HUMAN CREATIVITY IS WINNING IN AN AI-SATURATED WORLD
Chrissie makes a compelling observation about what is actually happening in the creative industry as AI becomes more prevalent. While there were widespread fears that AI would devastate creative agencies by automating image creation and content production, demand for best-of-breed human creative work has in fact increased.
The reason, she argues, is AI sameness. Brands that have leaned heavily into AI-generated content are facing backlash from consumers who can recognise the aesthetic and feel something is missing. Luxury brands in particular, such as Hermes, are responding by actively commissioning artists and making their handcrafted, human origins a visible part of their brand identity.
The same principle applies to B2B. As digital touchpoints become increasingly automated, the experiences, conversations and creative work that are unmistakably human become more rare, more valuable and more memorable.
Key advice for marketing leaders
Start with the commercial outcome, not the experience idea
Walk into any budget conversation with pipeline data, not a concept. Define your target accounts, the pipeline value they represent, and how an in-person experience will improve deal velocity or deal size.
Build experiences around shared values, not just brand visibility
The most powerful experiential programmes are anchored in genuine alignment between your brand and what the experience represents. Shared values make the story credible and the memory stick.
Measure what actually matters after the event
Pipeline impact comes first. Then executive engagement depth, net new C-suite relationships added to CRM, organic social amplification, and brand sentiment. Hold experiential to the same standards as any other activation.
Let AI handle the infrastructure, keep humans in charge of meaning
Use AI for content at scale, segmentation, market research and performance benchmarking. Reserve human effort for the strategic, emotional and relationship-led moments that shape how someone feels about your brand.
Protect your creative distinctiveness as AI sameness grows
As AI-generated content floods every channel, handcrafted and genuinely original creative work is becoming rarer and more valuable. Brands that invest in distinctive creative identity will stand apart.
Key advice for business leaders
Treat experiential marketing as a commercial asset, not a cost
When built around the right accounts at the right stage of the pipeline, live experiences accelerate deals, deepen relationships and generate net new C-suite contacts. That is a commercial return, not a PR exercise.
Your buyers are drowning in digital noise before they ever speak to sales
Click-through rates are falling in double digits as AI inflates content volume. The brands that create real-world moments will be the ones that are remembered when it matters most.
Align marketing and sales around shared pipeline accountability
When marketing and sales jointly own pipeline, the business case for experiential investment becomes easier to make and easier to prove. Remove the structural separation that makes that conversation harder than it needs to be.
Ask whether your marketing is differentiating or just adding to the noise
More content is not the same as better marketing. The real question is whether your activity is creating pipeline, shortening sales cycles and building the kind of brand memory that wins deals in a crowded market.
Give experiential marketing the strategic resource it needs to work
Done well, this is not a modest add-on. It requires clear account targeting, senior stakeholder access, sales alignment and consistent follow-through. Budget and resource it accordingly.
TODAY’S GUEST
Chrissie Bardwell is Global Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Analytics at AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software driving digital transformation and sustainability. In her role she oversees global marketing strategy as part of the marketing leadership team, co-owns growth pipeline with sales, leads marketing performance and analytics, and manages the strategic brand partnership with Porsche Motorsport in Formula E.
With more than 25 years in enterprise software and SaaS organisations, Chrissie has built and led global marketing functions at Oracle, GfK and AVEVA, with a track record of connecting marketing investment directly to revenue outcomes.
Outside of AVEVA, Chrissie serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Parents 1st UK, a Kings Award winning charity supporting parents through pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
Connect with Chrissie on LinkedIn
OUR HOST
Karen Lloyd is a passionate marketing head-hunter and recruitment expert specialising in marketing and C-suite in B2B industries. With over 25 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Karen brings a unique depth of expertise that sets her apart from most recruiters.
Over her career, Karen has accumulated a wealth of experience that includes serving as a Board Director and being actively involved in growing a business for 13 years. Karen has been a part of five start-ups, giving her first-hand knowledge of the critical importance of hiring the right people.
Currently, Karen is the founder and Director of Armstrong Lloyd. She leads a very special team that partners with businesses and empowers them to build industry-leading marketing and sales teams for some of the most exciting B2B brands - from small, agile and disruptive start-ups to global giants providing a wealth of product and service offerings.
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