Podcast Summary

The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®

Episode #817: Canva's Emma Robinson on the Power of Visual Communication in B2B Marketing
Date: February 23, 2026
Guest: Emma Robinson, Head of B2B Marketing at Canva
Host: Greg Kihlström

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the critical – yet often underestimated – role of visual communication and design-led thinking in B2B marketing. Host Greg Kihlström interviews Emma Robinson of Canva, exploring recent research from Canva's visual communications report, the neuroscience behind memorable design, and how creative platforms and AI are enabling teams to scale impactful design, maintain brand consistency, and measure creative ROI in real time.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Emma Robinson's Role at Canva & the Company Mission

[01:58]

• Emma leads B2B marketing at Canva, supporting businesses from SMBs to Fortune 500s, higher education, and public sector clients.
• Canva's mission has evolved from "empowering the world to design" to "empowering organizations to design," emphasizing enterprise-scale needs like distributed teams and long buying cycles.
• Emma: "Complexity doesn't really reduce the need for creativity. I actually think it raises the bar for it... my role is really about proving that creativity isn't the opposite of performance, but it is one of the strongest drivers of it." [02:51]

The Neuroscience and Business Case for Design-Led Strategy

[04:04]

• Canva’s visual communications report draws on neuroscience to show visuals are processed faster and remembered longer.
• Emma: "Visual content triggers memory encoding 74% faster than dull alternatives." [04:34]
• Design-led companies see a 66% increase in communication efficiency versus 52% for text-focused companies.
• However, only 22% of companies see themselves as design-led, revealing a significant gap.

The Value of Creativity in B2B, Not Just B2C

[05:45]

• Creativity is often thought of as a B2C strength, but Emma argues it's a driver for B2B as well—helping brands stand out amidst data-heavy, sales-driven environments.
• She encourages thinking of brand as "research and development," an investment that sustains demand and amplifies channel performance.
• Emma: "Creativity is really the engine and then data is almost like the steering wheel. One without the other goes out of nowhere or crashes." [06:40]
• Companies like Disney and Pinterest inspire Canva's approach to B2B creativity.

The Platform Approach: Enabling Speed & Brand Consistency

[10:00]

• Enterprises need to enable both speedy and creative asset creation, even with thousands of employees.
• Emma advocates for using design systems as “guardrails, not handcuffs,” democratizing content creation while ensuring brand cohesion.
• Templates, brand assets, and workflows embedded directly in Canva's platform simplify decentralized content creation.
• Emma: “The shift from centralized control to centralized enablement is where creativity is democratized and then the brand still stays incredibly cohesive.” [11:50]
• Tool fragmentation is a challenge; on average, teams juggle 8.7 tools weekly, increasing inefficiency and brand risk.

Measuring Creative Impact: Real-Time Data in Creative Workflows

[15:06]

• Integration of performance analytics with creative tools collapses the traditional "launch, wait, analyze" cycle.
• Emma: “The old world...you create your campaigns or your assets, you launch, you wait and see what happens... the new world... you can create and see performance and then iterate on those insights almost instantaneously.” [15:46]
• Canva's "CANVA Grow" lets users create, publish, and review results in-platform, facilitating faster learning and action.
• Emma: “In the past, I've seen creative teams measure performance when they're looking in the rearview mirror, whereas when performance actually lives inside the creative tool, then you truly are looking through the windshield.” [17:43]

AI's Evolving Role: From Generic Assistant to Brand-Aware Coach

[18:24]

• Canva Grow includes "brand aware AI" that learns brand rules and creative patterns, providing smarter recommendations based on engagement data.
• Emma: "Generic AI is a bit like having an intern with no context. Brand aware AI is more like a coach who knows your playbook and constantly learns from it." [18:24]
• The goal: AI should not just speed up production but meaningfully improve creative outcomes.

The Changing Shape of Marketing Teams

[20:34]

• As content creation and analytics converge, teams need T-shaped talent: creative, data-fluent, and AI-literate.
• Emma: "The most valuable marketers I think in the future are going to be more T shaped... blending this really great balance of creativity and data fluency and AI literacy." [20:39]
• Human stories and cultural relevance will become more important than ever in an AI-heavy landscape.

Opportunities and Risks for B2B Brands

[22:14]

• Brands that rely on slow, text-based, rigid marketing risk irrelevance, especially as Gen Z becomes the dominant workforce.
• Emma: "Brands that enable visual, on-brand creation will earn that relevance, trust, [and] attention in crowded markets. Do the right thing by the Gen Z community... and just watch what happens." [22:55]

Notable Quotes

• Emma Robinson:
  • “Complexity doesn't really reduce the need for creativity. I actually think it raises the bar for it.” [02:51]
  • "Visual content triggers memory encoding 74% faster than dull alternatives." [04:34]
  • "Creativity is really the engine and then data is almost like the steering wheel. One without the other goes out of nowhere or crashes." [06:40]
  • “Templates at Canva are set up as the guardrails, not handcuffs.” [11:00]
  • "When performance actually lives inside the creative tool, then you truly are looking through the windshield." [17:43]
  • "Generic AI is a bit like having an intern with no context. Brand aware AI is more like a coach who knows your playbook..." [18:24]
  • "The most valuable marketers... are going to be more T shaped... blending this really great balance of creativity and data fluency and AI literacy." [20:39]
  • "Brands that enable visual, on-brand creation will earn that relevance, trust, [and] attention in crowded markets." [22:55]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• 01:58 – Emma introduces herself and Canva’s evolving B2B mission.
• 04:04 – The neuroscience behind why visuals matter in B2B, insights from the visual communications report.
• 06:39 – Balancing creativity and data in B2B marketing.
• 10:00 – The platform approach: brand consistency vs. democratization.
• 15:06 – Integrating content creation and performance analytics for rapid iteration.
• 18:24 – Canva’s brand aware AI and AI’s transformative potential.
• 20:34 – Skills and structure of future marketing teams.
• 22:14 – Opportunities and risks for brands that ignore visual transformation.
• 23:35 – Emma’s vision for the next year: creativity as a measurable driver of ROI.
• 24:49 – Emma’s approach to staying agile: staying close to both the product and the customer.

Memorable Moments

• Emma’s “car” analogy for creativity (engine) and data (steering wheel) [06:40] offers a vivid, memorable mental model.
• Her candid insights on managing brand governance without stifling creativity (“guardrails, not handcuffs”) [11:00] addresses a core enterprise pain point.
• The forecast for marketing teams shifting towards “T-shaped,” multi-skilled professionals [20:39] is both practical and forward-thinking.
• Encouragement to lean into visual communication to engage Gen Z and future talent [22:55].

Closing Thoughts

The episode makes a compelling case that visual communication and creativity—underpinned by measurable outcomes and agile platforms—are no longer "nice to have" but central to effective B2B marketing. Emma Robinson’s evidence-backed advocacy provides both strategic inspiration and practical advice for enterprise marketers looking to future-proof their brand.