The B2B Playbook

#222: How This Startup Beat Big Brands - B2B2C Marketing Strategy - Alex Bedwani from PetsOnMe

The B2B Playbook

Show Notes

If you're competing against companies with massive marketing budgets, paid ads alone won’t win. In this episode of The B2B Playbook, we sit down with Alex Bedwani, founder of PetsOnMe, to unpack how he built growth using a B2B2C marketing strategy instead of competing head-to-head in B2C channels. In industries like insurance, the biggest brands dominate paid channels. They can outspend you on ads, outbid you on keywords, and convert better because people already trust them. So Alex took a different path.

Instead of competing directly, he built partnerships with associations and corporations to distribute pet insurance to their employees and members.

We break down exactly how the B2B2C strategy works, how to land partnerships, and how to activate them so they actually generate revenue.

Tune in and learn: + Why competing head-on in B2C markets is often a losing game + How to use partnerships as a distribution channel + The activation tactics that turn partnerships into real revenue

If you're a founder or marketer trying to grow in a competitive category, this episode will change how you think about distribution.

----------------------------------------------------- 🔗 Links + CTAs ----------------------------------------------------- 🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

----------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE to our channel: / @theb2bplaybook SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/ -----------------------------------------------------

00:00 Why Small Brands Lose in Paid Acquisition 00:35 Competing Against Big Insurance Brands 02:00 Why Alex Started PetsOnMe 03:30 The Hidden Monopoly in Pet Insurance 05:30 Why B2C Marketing Was Impossible to Win 07:00 The Real Cost Advantage Big Brands Have 09:00 The Pivot: Discovering the B2B2C Marketing Strategy 10:00 What B2B2C Looks Like in Practice 12:50 Turning Pet Insurance Into an Employee Benefit 15:00 Finding the Right Corporate Partners 17:00 Why Signing the Partnership Is Only 10% of the Work 19:00 The Key to Getting HR Managers Interested 20:50 The Fitness First Example of B2B2C Growth 22:00 How to Stay Top of Mind With Corporate Partners 24:00 The 3-Way Win That Makes B2B2C Work 26:00 The Due Diligence Corporates Will Do On You 28:00 Activating Members After the Partnership Is Signed 29:00 Creative Activation: The Cutest Dog Competition 31:00 Why Data Is Harder in B2B2C Partnerships 33:00 Using Events and Talks to Drive Signups 35:00 Why Face-to-Face Still Converts Best 36:30 Personalised Marketing That Converts 39:00 Managing 70+ Partnerships Without Chaos 40:00 When to Kill a Partnership Quickly 42:00 The Most Important Rule in B2B2C Partnerships -----------------------------------------------------

👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the: 🔹 strategy 🔹 templates 🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E222 - The B2B Playbook #b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #b2b2c #partnerships

More from The B2B Playbook

Oct 18, 2026

In this video, I chat with Kevin about LinkedIn ads frequency caps, and why the native member level caps won't stop a handful of big companies from eating your whole budget.

Oct 11, 2026

In this video, I chat with Kevin about why your weekly sales and marketing sync isn't enough on its own, and how to turn it into a real feedback loop.

Oct 4, 2026

In this video, I break down why lead scoring falls short in B2B and what to do instead. We get into cataloging the market, buying committees, ICP fit and timing, and how to use scoring as an overlay.

Sep 28, 2026

In this video, I sit down with David Fastuca, the founder who built Locomotive, sold it to Travelport, bought it back, then sold it again to Webjet.

Sep 20, 2026

In this video, I sit down with Jared Robin, the founder of revgenius, to unpack how he built a 100,000-plus member community by staying obsessively close to his market and betting on relationships over platforms.

See all episodes →