By: Cath Brands, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Flintfox Intelligent Pricing & Rebates

Marketing 101

My marketing journey kicked off in the dynamic world of B2C, where I was classically trained with major FMCG giants like Coca-Cola, Lion Nathan, and Jim Beam. It was an exhilarating ride, diving into every facet of marketing—from the thrill of creative campaign development to the high stakes of large-scale media buying. I was excited about managing big production budgets, negotiating celebrity endorsements, and steering through the vital NPD cycle that drives FMCG success.

It didn’t take long for me to catch the marketing bug—a passion that has stayed with me for over 20 years. My B2C experience was an incredible learning ground, offering a rich understanding of the full marketing mix, a gift that continues to inspire and guide me today. Those early days in B2C shaped my marketing instincts and laid a rock-solid foundation for everything that followed.

Stepping into the B2B World

My leap into B2B started at Amazon and later Microsoft, each presenting unique challenges. Despite its massive consumer footprint, when I joined Amazon 11 years ago, it was still very much a technology-first company, which meant it wasn’t exactly renowned for great, accessible marketing. Meanwhile, at Microsoft, the challenge was more of a transformative task—moving from a product-centric marketing approach to one that showcased the profound impact great technology can have on people and organisations.

While the glitz and glamour of B2C marketing, like celebrity endorsements, didn’t directly carry over, the core mission remained: making the brands relevant. I focused on understanding our audience’s key concerns, framing the brand as the solution in a way that was clear, accessible, and engaging. This approach continues to drive every marketing decision I make.

The Secret Sauce: Storytelling

One of the biggest lessons I have learned from B2C to B2B marketing is the power of storytelling. In B2C, I learned how to create narratives that truly resonate with an audience—tuning into how people perceive a brand, how it makes them feel, and how they connect with it.

When I transitioned to B2B, I noticed a common pitfall: many believed that B2B marketing needed to be overly technical and packed with product details and jargon. However, focusing too much on the technical aspects risks losing sight of what makes marketing compelling in the first place: the story. My early days as an Assistant Brand Manager for Wine, Champagne, and Cognac were a masterclass in storytelling. Standing in grocery aisles offering samples of Brown Brothers, I learned to adapt my pitch to the audience, creating a personal journey for each person I encountered.

Fast-forward to today and those same storytelling skills are just as essential in the tech industry, from the board room to the trade show floor. The secret sauce remains the same: understand your audience, read the room and craft a benefit-driven narrative that resonates.

Looking Ahead

At its core, marketing will always be about authentic storytelling. While AI is revolutionising the industry, it can’t replicate the genuine connection that great storytelling creates—someone still needs to feed “the bot” with a brilliant idea. Just like the unexpected yet wildly successful collaboration between Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg at the Paris Olympics, the magic happens when you blend creativity with the right platform to capture the audience’s imagination.

Today, my team and I are leveraging AI to produce video content with impressive speed and quality at a fraction of the cost. This efficiency allows us to reallocate those production funds into more demand-generating activities, such as events and digital media.

I love this profession because it’s constantly evolving with new marketing tools and platforms. The challenge of staying ahead of the curve and keeping up with the “cool kids” means that every day in marketing is an opportunity to learn something new.