Value Before Demand: Building Brand Preference in B2B - with Audrey Digonnat

Most B2B marketing is built to capture demand. But what if your buyers won't be ready for seven years? Audrey Digonnat, CMO at Asys and former Google product marketing leader, joins Michael Jäger to break down why brand preference isn't a vanity metric: it's tomorrow's pipeline. With experience scaling product marketing at fintech unicorn Agicap and launching Google Pixel in France, Audrey brings a rare combination of product depth, enterprise GTM instinct, and an honest relationship with what doesn't work. In this episode: ✌️ Win #1 — Brand preference as a pipeline strategy: how Audrey builds relevance and trust with buyers years before they're ready to buy — using niche expert partnerships, a €500 WhatsApp community post that generated two leads, and a talk show format that turns Asys into a trusted media brand. ✌️ Win #2 — Customer success under marketing: why Audrey moved her CS team inside the marketing organisation — unlocking nearly €100K in ARR, turning passive customers into active promoters, and making word of mouth a channel you can actually influence. 🌱 Fail — Paid ads that captured but didn't create: why a significant investment in paid advertising delivered brand search results but failed to generate new demand — and the deliberate decision to pause, re-skill, and come back later. If you lead marketing or GTM in B2B — especially in enterprise or long-cycle environments — this episode reframes where your pipeline actually comes from and how far in advance you need to start building it. Connect with Audrey: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-digonnat/ 🔗 Asys: https://www.asys.fr/ 🎙️ Beyond Revenue is hosted by Michael Jäger, Managing Partner at Cremanski & Company. New episodes every Friday. ⏱️ Episode timestamps 00:00 — Intro & Audrey's background 01:03 — From Google Pixel to B2B SaaS: Audrey's career path 03:52 — Biggest challenge right now: pipeline predictability and agentic AI 05:43 — The B2B marketing trend Audrey doesn't follow 06:17 — The Google principle that still guides her today: know the user, know the magic 07:59 — Win #1: Brand preference as a pipeline strategy 09:44 — Niche expert partnerships and the €500 WhatsApp post 11:41 — Leveraging company DNA to win a seven-figure deal 15:25 — How brand preference lowers your cost of acquisition over time 16:47 — Win #2: Customer success inside the marketing organisation 18:57 — Nearly €100K ARR unlocked — without pushing for it 20:45 — Why closing the deal is not the finish line 21:45 — The fail: paid ads that captured but didn't create demand 22:07 — Knowing when to pause and reshape the budget 23:06 — Key takeaways 24:03 — Where to find Audrey