The distance between the two

For most of the last 17 years I have worked in B2B marketing. One thing got in the way more often than I would like. It was rarely the strategy. It was rarely the effort. It was the distance between the two.

Good plans lose their shape. Not on the page, where they look sharp, but the moment they meet the reality of channels, teams and partners. A handover here, a compromise there, a brief reinterpreted by someone who never heard the original thinking. Step by step, the work drifts from what it set out to do, until what ships barely resembles what was agreed.

I do not think anyone has that fully solved. I am not going to pretend we have either.

What I do believe is simpler. It gets better when the people who shape the thinking stay close to the work, instead of handing it down a line. The strategist still in the room when the campaign is built. The senior head still there when the trade-offs get made. Not a plan thrown over a wall to whoever happens to be free.

Today we launch Spanb2b to have a proper go at closing that gap. One senior team, working across strategy, demand, ABM, brand, sales and measurement, connected in one place rather than split across several. The same people from the thinking to the doing. That is the whole idea. It is most of why we exist.

Why we have not called ourselves AI-native

You will also notice that neither I nor Spanb2b have described ourselves as AI-native, AI-first or AI-powered. That is deliberate.

We use AI. Extensively. And I think every marketer should.

But I am also conscious that while AI is helping close some gaps in B2B, it may be widening others. More content does not automatically mean more differentiation. More activity does not automatically mean better outcomes. More data does not automatically mean better decisions.

Technology will continue to change. Experience, judgement and knowing what to prioritise will not. Probably more than ever.

For me, the opportunity is not replacing marketing thinking with AI. It is combining new technology with the experience to know what matters, what does not and where to focus.

I am not going to oversell it. There is more to come over the coming weeks. Plenty still to build. But for now it feels very good to make it official. I am really proud of what we are building.

If the distance between your strategy and your results sounds familiar, that is exactly the conversation we want to have. More on how we work, plus the longer story of how Spanb2b started.

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Spanb2b?

Spanb2b was founded in 2026 by Claire Dalton and Adam Greener, senior B2B marketers. It is a senior-led B2B marketing agency.

Why did you launch Spanb2b?

To close the distance between strategy and execution in B2B marketing. The problem is rarely the strategy or the effort. It is what happens between them, when good plans lose their shape across channels, teams and handovers. Spanb2b keeps the senior people who shape the thinking on the work.

What does Spanb2b do?

Spanb2b is a senior-led B2B marketing agency. One senior team runs strategy, demand, ABM, brand, sales and measurement as one connected system rather than split across several, so the work stays true to the thinking from start to finish.

Is Spanb2b an AI agency?

No. Spanb2b uses AI extensively and believes every marketer should. We have deliberately not described ourselves as AI-native, AI-first or AI-powered. AI is closing some gaps in B2B marketing and widening others. More content, activity and data do not automatically mean more differentiation, better outcomes or better decisions. The value is combining the technology with the experience to know what matters, what does not and where to focus.