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Like the classic holiday song, we're counting through twelve memorable moments—but instead of partridge and pear trees, we're delivering insights that actually matter to energy and industrial marketers.

Season 1 of The HEX-Files, HexaGroup's energy marketing podcast, brought together some of the sharpest minds in B2B marketing, sales, and digital transformation. Each conversation peeled back a layer of what really works when you're marketing complex solutions to sophisticated buyers in long sales cycles.

Here are the twelve standout moments that defined our first season:

Episode 1: Killing Marketing's Immortal Bad Habits with Peter Shwetz

Like Rasputin refusing to die, bad marketing practices keep coming back, no matter how much data proves they don't work. Peter Shwetz, a seasoned marketing and technology leader, helped us identify the zombie tactics draining budgets across energy marketing.

One of his key insights? "Don't spend a marketing dollar you can't tie to ROI." Too many companies treat legacy tactics as sacred simply because "we've always done it this way." Peter pushed us to ask harder questions: Did this attract the right audience? Did it create qualified opportunities? Did it move deals forward?

Episode 2: Building Trust, Not Brain Rot with Guillaume Jouvencel

Guillaume Jouvencel, Co-Founder at GHA Marketing, made a case that hit home: "Businesses need to do engaging content and not just produce for the sake of content."

In an era of endless scroll and short attention spans, B2B brands can't win with volume alone. Guillaume showed how podcasts become relationship engines, giving you 30 to 60 minutes in a prospect's ears while building familiarity and authority. Even better, one episode becomes more than a dozen pieces of content when repurposed strategically across channels.

His advice for standing out? Start niche. Own it. Then expand. Most podcasts chase broad topics, but the real advantage belongs to companies that become the obvious authority in a specific corner of their industry.

Episode 3: The Real Work Behind Account-Based Marketing with Prajwal Gadtaula

Prajwal Gadtaula, Founder and Managing Partner of Business Brains, cut through the ABM hype with a simple truth: "ABM has always been a way of doing things."

The episode revealed ABM's biggest pitfall: thinking tools will do the work. Intent signals mean nothing without human interpretation. Real ABM requires deep account research, understanding your target audience’s priorities, and shaping messages around each stakeholder's definition of value.

Prajwal's guidance for small teams was particularly valuable: You don't need a massive staff to run a strong ABM program. You need focus, the right partners, and clear success metrics that everyone understands from day one.

Episode 4: When Rebrands Actually Work with Peter Lyall

Peter Lyall, the Director of Ascent Advisory Services, Doctoral Student, Henley Business School, University of Reading and Former Group Director Strategy at Fifth Ring, brought decades of energy branding experience to a question many companies get wrong: “When should you rebrand?”

His answer was clear: Rebrands should follow real business change. Think, new markets, a major M&A, leadership shifts, or strategic repositioning. If the only driver is aesthetic boredom, you're not ready.

Episode 5: AI, Bots, and Real Pipeline Growth with Nick Caruso

Nick Caruso, Chief Revenue Officer at KnowledgeNet.ai, brought nearly 30 years of technology experience to a conversation about what's actually working today. His opening warning was direct: "One of the biggest risks is not doing anything."

Nick explained how bot traffic is reshaping analytics. Large language models (LLMs) now read your content like humans, but no human ever sees your forms. That breaks old assumptions about sessions and page views. The fix? Track actions that matter: form fills, meeting requests, trial starts.

Episode 6: AI That Actually Helps Global B2B Teams with Marco Luciano

Marco Luciano, Head of AI Studio at BBN, showed how AI moves from buzzword to business tool. His observation was sharp: "People build tiny workflows, but there's very little professional use."

Most teams use AI for quick tasks—faster emails, cleaner slides—but miss the bigger opportunity. Marco demonstrated how AI search and vision tools transform field operations. A technician uploads a photo of a faded nameplate, and the system identifies the machine, pulls documentation, and delivers maintenance steps instantly.

Episode 7: Breaking Silos to Build One Growth Engine with Michel Privé

Michel Privé, Outsourced VP of Sales at Sales Xceleration®, used a powerful metaphor: "Revenue generation has a four-cylinder engine with brand, lead generation, sales, and customer service."

Most companies run these as separate empires with misaligned KPIs and compensation. Marketing chases volume. Sales protects margin. Service focuses only on speed. The result? Junk leads, slow pipelines, and broken customer journeys.

Michel's fix starts with data: pulling three to five years of customer history to run an 80/20 analysis. The hard truth often shows that 25% of your customer base costs you money. That insight lets you raise prices, change terms, or let some accounts go—and then redirect that effort to your best clients and look-alike prospects.

Episode 8: Moving Beyond Unicorn Hype with Jenny Salinas

Jenny Salinas, Chief Marketing Officer at FutureScaleX, brought a reality check to energy innovation. She defined unsustainable growth simply: "It's when an idea sounds compelling in theory, but it breaks down in practice."

In energy and industrial markets, shiny ideas often crash when they hit policy, cost structures, or real-world adoption barriers. Sustainable growth requires three tests: commercial viability, scalability, and policy awareness.

Episode 9: The Fractional CMO and Agency Model with Frederik Klaarenbeek

Frederik Klaarenbeek, Founder and CMO of Klaarenbeek Advisory, explained why more B2B companies pair a fractional CMO with a specialist agency. The model is simple: "The combination of a fractional CMO that comes in for typically 6 to 12 months" with an agency that brings deep execution skill.

The fractional CMO owns strategy, sets objectives and key results, and aligns the full commercial engine. The agency brings channel expertise, creative skill, and speed. Together, they compress learning time and behave like a full growth unit from day one.

Frederik's definition of marketing's role was refreshingly direct: "For me, the role of marketing is very simple. Make sales successful." Marketing should generate 25 to 50% of B2B revenue when the engine matures. That means moving from tasks to outcomes.

Episode 10: Sales Messaging That Actually Works with Michael Halper

Michael Halper, Founder and CEO of Sales Scripter, revealed why most sales messaging fails: "95% or more of salespeople use a product-focused sales message."

Product-focused messaging sounds like this: "Here's who we are, here's what we sell, do you need it?" It's easy, it’s safe—and it pushes prospects away. Prospect-focused messaging flips the script, highlighting problems buyers already feel and using questions to explore where change matters.

Mike's political campaign analogy landed perfectly. Candidates don't recite their résumé for an hour. They talk about the lives, worries, and hopes of voters. Sales teams should do the same: Build everything from one clear message about what you'll improve and what you'll decrease for customers.

Episode 11: Digital Execution as the Missing Link with Nomah Zia

Nomah Zia, Fractional Digital Experience and Technology Consultant at Technology Advisor, tackled a common frustration: great strategies that never turn into results.

Her core message? Digital strategy is more than tools and tech. Real transformation requires clear goals, fast action, and team alignment. She broke down what a good customer experience actually feels like: smooth and human, not clunky and robotic.

Episode 12: Product Data as Revenue Engine with Usman Khalid

Usman Khalid, Founder and CEO of Centric, closed the season with a truth many companies ignore: "If a company has more than 10 SKUs, it needs a PIM."

Product Information Management (PIM) and Master Data Management (MDM) are revenue engines. When product data lives in scattered systems, teams waste hours fixing mistakes, customers return items because specs don't match, and marketplace listings constantly need repair.

What's next?

Season 1 of The HEX-Files proved that building systems that actually work is paramount. Across the board, these 12 conversations gave us a roadmap for sustainable growth in complex B2B markets.

The silver lining? Real results come from focus, alignment, and the courage to change what isn't moving the needle.

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