The rocket fuel for B2B campaign success isn’t what you think it is…
As part of The Drum’s B2B Focus, we report from the recent B2B Worldfest, where Lesniak Swann founder Alex Swann made a conclusive case for why nurturing your culture should be your agency’s number one priority.
‘The day-to-day stuff that builds trust – that’s the rocket fuel you’re looking for’ / Adobe Stock
When Alex Swann from Lesniak Swann took the stage at The Drum’s B2B Worldfest, no one was quite prepared for the ride they were about to go on. Swann’s lively, sometimes chaotic, but always insightful talk on agency-client relationships didn’t just challenge assumptions – it poked fun at them, flipped them on their heads and sent them spinning back to the drawing board.
“The thing about agencies,” Swann began, “is that we’re all selling the same thing – case studies and a unique process. Every agency has them, even if they opened their doors this morning. Some agencies could sell you a five-stage process that supposedly no one else has. But guess what? It’s all been done before.”
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Swann wasn’t here to sugarcoat the realities of agency life. In his signature deadpan humor, he pointed out that the real differentiator in B2B success isn’t flashy campaigns or even that elusive “unique process.” Instead, he argued, it’s relationships. The kind of honest, collaborative, human relationships that take time to build – and can’t be faked.
To hammer his point home, he turned to an old but effective framework: the Five Whys. “This guy before Simon Sinek – he’s the original genius,” Swann joked. “He figured out that if you ask ‘why’ five times, you get to the root of the problem. Why is the agency effective? Because the team collaborates. Why does the team collaborate? Because there’s a good culture. Why is there a good culture? Because the leadership prioritizes it. Why does the leadership prioritize it? Because someone once showed them a PowerPoint about engagement driving profits.”
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Cue laughter from the audience. But Swann was only half-joking. He rattled off stats with the ease of someone who’s spent more than a few late nights buried in research: over an 11-year period, companies with strong cultures saw a 7-56% increase in profits. “So, yeah,” he said, smirking, “your agency’s vibe really does attract its tribe.”
Swann wasn’t done dismantling surface-level pitches. He called out agencies that boast about staff retention but never explain why people stay or those that highlight pro bono work without encouraging their team to actually care about it. “It’s not just about what you do – it’s about how and why you do it,” he said.
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To help clients separate the real deal from the pretenders, he proposed four key questions:
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Long-term retention: What’s the average tenure of your staff and what are you doing to keep them happy?
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Training and development: What kind of ongoing learning opportunities do you provide and how do you make sure they’re relevant?
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Values in action: How do you ensure your team lives and breathes the agency’s values?
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Community involvement: What initiatives do you support and how do you inspire employees to get involved in causes they care about?
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“This is where the magic happens,” he said, leaning into the mic. “Not in a case study, not in a pitch deck, but in the day-to-day stuff that builds trust. That’s the rocket fuel you’re looking for.”
And just when you thought Swann was done, he dropped a final nugget of wisdom: “At the end of the day, agencies will always talk about awards and campaigns. But you know what? Clients don’t just want to hear about the what – they need to understand the why. That’s how you go from being just another agency to becoming an indispensable partner.”
Memorable, relatable and refreshingly honest, Alex Swann’s session wasn’t just a talk – it was a wake-up call. And as the crowd filed out, there was one phrase buzzing in the air: “Your vibe really does attract your tribe.”