What is partner marketing and why is it underrecognised?

Partner marketing is the function responsible for building relationships with commercial partners, enabling them to communicate a brand's value proposition to their own audiences, and creating go-to-market programmes that serve both the brand and the partner's commercial interests. It is underrecognised because it sits between sales and pure marketing, drawing on skills from both but sometimes not clearly claimed by either. The value it creates, third-party credibility for the brand through partner voices, is one of the most commercially valuable forms of brand advocacy.

Why is letting partners speak about your brand more valuable than brand-controlled messaging?

Audiences are sceptical of brand-controlled communication because it is inherently self-serving. When a partner who has an independent reputation and relationship with their own audience says that a product or service creates genuine value for them, the credibility of that endorsement exceeds anything the brand can say about itself. The trust that the partner has built with their audience transfers to the brand.

What cultural intelligence is required to build global partner ecosystems?

Different cultures approach business relationships differently. Korean business culture, for example, values receiving documentation and presentations in advance as a trust-building signal. US business culture values friendship and genuine personal connection. European business culture has its own norms. Understanding these differences reduces friction in partnership building and accelerates the development of the mutual trust on which effective partnerships depend.

Let the Partner Speak

Yondjé Choi Cornez, Head of Partner Marketing for Google Pixel B2B and founder of OMA, a direct-to-consumer Korean food brand, on why partner marketing is the most underrecognised function in B2B, why letting partners tell your brand story is more credible than brand-controlled communication, and what her French-Korean background and 15 years at Google taught her about building trust across cultures.

Listen to the episode

Apple Podcasts Spotify

December 2025 Season 3, Episode 71 28 minutes

"Partner marketing sits between sales and pure marketing. We build relationships with partners and let them have a voice about our brand."

The Conversation

Why partner marketing is the most underrecognised B2B function and why letting partners tell your story is more powerful than brand-controlled messaging

Yondjé Choi Cornez is French-Korean and started her career in a French telco before joining Google in Dublin where it is headquartered for Europe. She has been at Google for almost 15 years, moving from Google Ads sales for the French market to managing the Samsung account in the US for eight years to her current role leading partner marketing for Google Pixel on the B2B side. Outside of Google she is also the founder of OMA, a direct-to-consumer Korean food brand.

In this conversation she explains why partner marketing is not widely understood as a distinct function but is uniquely valuable because it creates third-party credibility for your brand, how she approaches partner go-to-market across a large and diverse ecosystem, and what her French-Korean background teaches about the cultural nuances that determine whether a business relationship will succeed.

Key Takeaways

Partner marketing sits between sales and pure marketing. It builds relationships with partners and lets them have a voice about your brand. That third-party credibility is uniquely valuable.

Let the partner talk about you. That is more valuable than talking about yourself. Trust built with someone else's audience transfers to your brand.

My French-Korean background taught me that cultural nuance is not optional in global partnership building. Get the basics right: how people work, what they value in a relationship.

AI is not a nice to have. It is a must. Even as marketers we feel the pressure to use it to be more efficient. Younger talent expects the best AI tools.

OMA: a Korean food brand I founded alongside the Google career. Because my dad said get a corporate job first. He was right.

In this episode

01Why partner marketing sits between sales and marketing and why that makes it powerful

02Letting partners speak for your brand: third-party credibility versus brand-controlled messaging

03Building global partner ecosystems with cultural intelligence

04The marketing-sales handoff: a clearly defined playbook for lead generation and nurturing

05AI in partner marketing: the pressure every marketer feels to be more efficient

01 Tell us about your career journey.

"I am French-Korean. I started in a French telco, joined Google in Dublin for European HQ doing Google Ads sales for the French market, moved to the US to manage the Samsung account for eight years. Now I do partnership and marketing for Google Pixel on the B2B side. Also outside of Google I founded OMA, a direct-to-consumer Korean food brand. My dad said join corporate first. He was right."

A career shaped by cultural navigation and deep partner relationship building.

02 What is partner marketing and why does it matter?

"Partner marketing sits between sales and pure marketing. We build relationships with partners and let them have a voice about our brand and product. It is really valuable, whether you are in CPG or tech B2B SaaS. Let the partner talk about you. That is more valuable than talking about yourself."

The core value proposition of partner marketing.

03 What cultural intelligence does global partner work require?

"Korean culture appreciates that you send documentation and presentations ahead of time to build trust. In the US, building trust and truly being friends with your partner is something that really matters. Europe has its own norms. Understanding those from the beginning will help not only building trust but time and efficiency when you work together."

Practical cultural intelligence from 15 years of cross-cultural partnership work.

04 How do you approach marketing-sales alignment?

"You need a clearly defined playbook. Is it an event defined by the marketing team? From the lead gen from an event, we have a welcome flow. Then the second touch is where the sales team comes in. Once we have provided the thank you and onboarding, the sales team takes over and starts building the relationship with the customer."

A concrete sequence rather than a general principle.

05 How is AI changing partner marketing?

"AI is not a nice to have. It is a must. Even ourselves as marketers, we feel overwhelmed. We have so much pressure to use it to be more efficient, to get faster campaigns done and execution. Younger talent who you want to hire wants the best AI tools. As a company it is important to be equipped to attract the best talent."

AI as both a personal productivity requirement and a talent attraction signal.

28 Minutes

S3 E71 Season & episode

15yr Yondjé Choi Cornez at Google across French market, Samsung, and Google Pixel

8yr Managing the Samsung partnership for Google before moving to Pixel partner marketing

"AI is not a nice to have. It is a must. Even ourselves as marketers, we feel the pressure to use it to be more efficient."

Hear Yondjé on

The Business of Marketing

Season 3 Episode 71 28 min

Apple Podcasts→ Spotify→ Yondjé Choi Cornez GUEST PROFILE→ Yondjé on LinkedIn→

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Full Transcript SEO & AI indexed

Season 3 E71 · Yondjé Choi Cornez, Head of Partner Marketing Pixel B2B, Google

Lightly edited for readability.

Host Tell us about your role.

Choi Cornez Head of Partner Marketing for Google Pixel B2B. I am French-Korean, started in France, joined Google in Dublin, moved to US managing Samsung account for eight years, now Pixel partner marketing. Also founder of OMA, a Korean food brand. Partner marketing sits between sales and pure marketing. We build relationships with partners and let them have a voice about our brand.

Host Why is letting partners speak for you so powerful?

Choi Cornez When a partner who has an independent reputation tells their audience that your product creates genuine value, the credibility of that endorsement exceeds anything you can say about yourself. That is why partner marketing is uniquely valuable. Let the partner talk about you. That is more valuable than talking about yourself.

Let the Partner Speak

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