B2B Marketing Starts with Building Trust – An Interview with MADTimes Korea.

AIM B2B CEO, Robert Heldt speaks to MADTimes Korea about the agency’s plans for the market

AIM B2B, a global B2B marketing firm, has opened a Korean office and is set to target the domestic market. Robert Heldt, CEO of AIM B2B, who’s based in Japan and has supported global companies’ entry into the Asian market, emphasized that successful B2B marketing begins with building customer trust, rather than with advertising or campaigns. He shared his views on the rationale behind establishing the Korean office, the reasons for focusing on the Korean market, changes in B2B marketing and PR in the AI era, and strategies for successfully entering overseas markets.

First, could you please introduce AIM B2B and your company’s core competitive strengths?

AIM B2B is a marketing and PR firm specializing in supporting global B2B companies in their expansion into overseas markets and growth. We have been supporting global technology and industrial goods companies in their expansion into Asian markets, and we recently established our Korea office in response to growing demand from existing clients for support in the Korean market.

We view marketing not merely as the execution of campaigns or the acquisition of leads, but as a process of communicating a company’s value to the market and building trust and relationships with customers.

To this end, we integrate PR, content marketing, digital marketing, and lead generation into a single, unified strategy, providing one-stop solutions tailored to our clients’ business challenges and growth objectives. Ultimately, AIM B2B’s core competitive advantage lies in helping companies establish meaningful influence in new markets and achieve sustainable growth.

What was the background behind establishing AIM B2B in Japan?

Japan is a global B2B market, but it remains a market with high barriers to entry for foreign companies.

Although I am originally from India, I have lived in Japan for 22 years and have closely observed the market entry efforts of various global companies. During that time, I encountered many companies that, despite possessing outstanding technology and products, failed to achieve the results they expected in the Japanese market. In most cases, the problem was not the product itself, but rather a lack of understanding of the local market and customers, or a failure to invest sufficient time and effort into building trust and establishing a foothold in the market.

To succeed in a new market, you must first understand how local customers search for information, what they trust, and the process they follow to make purchasing decisions. Ultimately, I believe that a successful market entry begins not with selling a product, but with understanding the market and its customers.

Based on this experience and conviction, I founded AIM B2B to serve as a strategic partner that helps companies establish themselves more effectively in new markets and achieve sustainable growth.

AIM B2B offers both PR and marketing services. Why is this approach important?

While many companies treat PR and marketing as separate functions, potential customers do not distinguish between news articles, search results, websites, seminars, and advertisements; they perceive all these touchpoints as a single brand experience.

We view PR as the process of conveying a company’s values and expertise to the market to build influence. Marketing plays the role of transforming that influence into relationships with customers and linking it to business results. That is why PR and marketing must be operated within a single, integrated strategy.

When a brand delivers consistent messages and experiences across all touchpoints, it gains customer trust, which leads to sustainable growth.

What is the first marketing challenge companies should consider when entering a new market?

Many companies start by focusing on advertising or campaigns. However, the starting point should not be the channel, but the potential customer. First, companies must understand how customers search for information, what they trust, and the process through which they make decisions. This is because the way information is consumed, the channels trusted, and the purchase journey differ across markets.

With this understanding, decisions regarding what content to create, which media and channels to utilize, and what messages will resonate with buyers will naturally follow.

Why are global B2B companies paying close attention to the Korean market recently?

A major strength of Korea is that it is a market that rapidly evaluates and adopts new technologies and solutions across various industries, including AI, semiconductors, batteries, manufacturing, and SaaS. 

Furthermore, as a world-leading export powerhouse, Korea’s importance within global supply chains continues to grow, establishing it as a strategic market that global B2B companies must target.Above all, customer case studies secured in Korea serve as powerful references that demonstrate a company’s competitiveness and expertise not only in Asia but also in the global market. 

That is why many global B2B companies view Korea not merely as a sales market but as a strategic hub for global growth. 

What are the differences between the digital marketing environments in South Korea and Japan?

While many people first point to differences in platforms, the biggest difference we observe on the ground is the way companies evaluate new businesses and technologies. Trust and relationships are extremely important in both South Korea and Japan. 

However, there are differences in the process of building those relationships and the speed of decision-making. Korean companies tend to review and assess the value that new technologies offer their businesses relatively quickly. 

In contrast, Japanese companies place slightly more importance on the process of building trust by consistently demonstrating expertise and showing their genuine commitment to the market. 

What is the most common marketing mistake foreign companies make when entering the Korean market? 

When entering a new market, many companies first consider which platforms to utilize. Companies interested in the Korean market are well aware of Naver’s importance, but one common misconception is that focusing solely on Naver is sufficient.

Of course, Naver is an important channel. However, depending on their industry and job role, Korean B2B buyers gather and verify information by navigating various channels including search engines like Google, as well as specialized media, global research materials, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Therefore, it is difficult to gain customer trust or influence purchasing decisions through exposure on a single platform alone.What matters is not a specific platform, but understanding how customers search for information and their purchasing journey. 

Since trusted information sources and decision-making processes vary depending on the industry and target audience, I believe that designing channels, content, and messaging in an integrated manner based on these characteristics is the key to a successful market entry.

What do you think is the biggest change in B2B marketing recently?

The biggest change is that B2B buyers have taken the lead in their purchasing journey. Customers now search, compare various solutions, and gather and verify information across multiple channels before even engaging directly with a company. While the advent of AI has made it possible to obtain necessary information much more quickly, determining which information is trustworthy and most valuable to them has become even more important.

Ultimately, rather than focusing on unilaterally promoting their products or services, companies must deeply understand how customers explore information, what they trust, and the process through which they make decisions. I believe that this understanding of the buyer’s journey will determine competitiveness in B2B marketing going forward.

How is AI transforming the B2B marketing and PR industries, and what will be the key competitive advantage in content marketing going forward? 

AI is significantly boosting productivity across various tasks, including content creation, data analysis, and market research. We’ve entered an era where anyone can create content in a short amount of time. However, as content creation becomes easier, the value of a company’s unique expertise, experience, and deep market insights is actually growing even more.

Going forward, the core competitive advantage in content marketing will not lie in how much content is produced, but in presenting a clear reason why people should listen to this company’s story. Only content that understands customers’ problems and provides trustworthy perspectives and practical insights can offer a differentiated competitive edge.

Furthermore, no matter how advanced AI becomes, B2B is ultimately a business built on trust between people. I believe the role of PR—which involves effective storytelling and building trust—will become even more important in the future, and AI will serve as a tool to help companies convey their expertise and value more effectively.

What role will the AIM B2B Korea office play going forward?

The AIM B2B Korea office aims to serve as a strategic partner connecting global companies entering the Korean market with Korean companies expanding into overseas markets. In particular, under the leadership of Kim Hee-sun, Head of Korea, who has supported major global B2B brands for over 20 years, the newly launched Korea office will help clients achieve meaningful results and sustainable growth in the Korean market.

Additionally, I serve as the Asia-Pacific Regional Representative for AMIN Worldwide, a coalition of advertising and marketing agencies. Through this role, I connect the expertise and networks across key Asian markets—including Korea and Japan—to help clients expand into the Asian market more efficiently with a single partner.AIM B2B integrates PR, content marketing, digital marketing, and lead generation into a single, unified growth strategy based on our proprietary AIM (Adapt, Implement, Maximize) framework. 

Moving forward, we aim to be a long-term partner that effectively communicates our clients’ value, builds trust and influence, and fosters sustainable business growth together, drawing on the experience and insights we have accumulated in each market.

This piece was first published in Korean on MADTimes.