Mhari Coxon

Strategic Marketing

Recent posts

About Mhari

  • Metamorphosis of Marketing

    Marketing used to be about awareness first, revenue second. Now it’s about revenue. You need to be across the full funnel and connected to the functions that own each next best action.


    The biggest shift I’ve seen as a marketing leader is how digital, data, and brand strategy sit at the core of commercial success. Covid 19 accelerated us, AI is enabling and we are moving forward with customer insight at full speed.


    When I first joined Philips back in 2011, marketing’s primary goal was to make people aware of a brand: ads, billboards, slogans. And I still love and admire a good piece of crafted and tested creative. Philips were pioneering in breaking the mould, using six sigma to push us to deliver the right message at the right time and be customer insight led.


    Today, my marketing practice is deeply entwined with growth levers—customer acquisition, retention, revenue models, lifetime value.
    Digital acceleration and big data have flipped the equation: rather than utilising marketing to “get people to know us,” it’s “use marketing insights to grow the business.” McKinsey saw the acceleration if full funnel when COVID sped our digital marketing capability through a decade of change in just 2 years.

    Meanwhile, brand strategy no longer sits in a silo of fluff or “nice-to-haves.” It’s recognised as an economic asset “brand strategy has shifted. Shifted to the domain of real market and tangible financial performance.” Our brand equity tracking as a marketing function is used across the business and is central to funding when scaling.  


    So what does this mean in practice?
    Data & analytics are no longer optional: you need unified platforms, real-time dashboards, integrations across sales/marketing/product. As an article by Ted Moser states: “The digital ripple effect … means marketing needs new and better customer evolution sensing systems.”


    Brand strategy must connect to business outcomes: It’s not just about identity or perception, but about shifting demand—creating more volume, commanding better price, improving margins. Win on quality, not price.


    Digital and agile marketing mean you can test, iterate, measure. The days of big campaigns with six-month lead times and vanity metrics are largely gone—leadership now demands tight alignment between marketing activities and commercial KPIs. Test, fail, learn, scale is the Mantra and failure needs to be there for innovation to happen.


    Cross-functional leadership is essential: marketing must collaborate with sales, product, finance and data teams. A leader must speak the language of brand, but also of ROI, customer lifetime value, and business model growth.


    My leadership philosophy is to question. I lead with the hypothesis: “What will drive growth?” “How might we? Then we build strategic marketing programs around that—channel mix, brand positioning, digital activation, measurement.


    I prioritise customer-centricity: leveraging data to segment, personalise, engage. In one sense, marketing is now about lifecycle orchestration rather than just campaign execution.


    I ensure brand strategy is embedded early—not tacked on. A strong brand can amplify performance marketing; performance tactics validly deployed strengthen the brand. The synergy matters.


    I drive accountability and transparency: we set up KPIs around revenue, cost of acquisition, retention, brand lift, not just impressions or clicks.


    I build and nurture teams with dual competence: creative and strategic, brand thinkers and data interpreters. Because today’s marketing leader must bridge these worlds.


    At JnJ, working in Nicorette RX and pharmacy channel, we shifted from a focus on top-of-funnel awareness campaigns to a model where marketing owned the full funnel: from lead to conversion to repeat purchase. We used data-driven insights to identify high-value customer segments, refined our brand messaging accordingly, tested activation across digital channels, and tracked revenue per customer cohort. Over 12 months we saw a around a 25 % growth per marketing invested dollar. We also won our tenders on quality and differentiation, not price.


    The role of marketing has morphed: we are growth drivers, not solely brand custodians.


    If you’re still operating with marketing as mostly awareness-first, consider this:
    Are you integrating brand and performance in your strategy?
    Is your data infrastructure enabling you to make timely decisions?
    Do your KPIs reflect business outcomes (revenue, margin, retention), not just vanity traffic or awareness?
    Are you developing your team’s mindset for this new era? Do you work agile?


    As research shows, marketing’s role is changing at its core: digitalisation, data-lead strategies, omni-channel customer journeys. They all demand a new level of commercial engagement. Of deep data driven insights. It’s where the good stuff happens. 


    In short: Marketing isn’t just a function of telling people you exist anymore. It’s about driving business results, anchored in insights, powered by technology, and accelerated by brand. The future of marketing, and the companies who win it, will be those where marketing strategy is fully integrated into commercial strategy.

    Happy to connect if you’d like to dive deeper into how I approached digital transformation over the last 10 years.

  • Why Building an In-House Marketing Team Isn’t Just Smart. It’s Strategic Brilliance

    In the age of rapid innovation and fickle consumer attention, the classic agency-outsourced model is being challenged -not by arrogance, but by the hard economics of agility, brand coherence and cost discipline.

    Savvy organisations are discovering that in-house marketing teams aren’t a fad – they’re a competitive advantage.

    Let’s break down why in-house marketing works – and why the most progressive brands aren’t just talking about it.

    1. Cost Savings That Extend Beyond the Balance Sheet

    At first blush, salaries and overheads might look higher than an agency retainer – but here’s the twist: external agency fees are often a hidden line item that grow as campaigns evolve and briefs expand.

    According to industry data, many brands are now expanding their in-house teams rather than outsourcing work, precisely because the internal cost per output is significantly lower over time. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/three-five-brands-in-house-expanded-teams-year/1845225

    Real outcomes from internal teams include:

    🏠Reduced dependency on external billings for ongoing content production.

    🏠Elimination of duplicated briefing time and re-work cycles.

    🏠Budget predictability unlike quarterly agency surcharges. Rather than paying premiums for every revision, an integrated internal team becomes part of the engine – not an on-call expense item.

    2. Deep Brand Heart Integration

    Culture Isn’t a Brief, It’s the Job

    The brands that captivate culture don’t do so from the outside in, they do it from the inside out. One illustrative example is Oatly.

    What began as a traditional Swedish oat-milk maker evolved into a global cultural brand by leaning into its own tribe – its Oat Punks – with marketing that feels authentic, provocative and born from within the organisation itself, not a detached agency. Oatly’s audacious branding – like packaging that amplifies its bold identity and playful community content – wouldn’t land with the same resonance if it were manufactured externally. In house creative unlocked all the potential https://youtu.be/DQ4WBfnLrCk?si=TG0TonSlv0BPafQL

    🔗 Learn more: Oatly marketing case study learnings https://newsletter.ftrs-studio.com/p/oatly-marketing-case-study-top-5-learnings

    This level of brand-heart integration comes not from one of clever creatives, but from people who live and breathe the brand every day.

    3. Creative Consistency That Never Sleeps

    Ever seen a campaign that starts strong and then fades into fragmentation?

    Agencies are creative but they often rotate talent, pitches, and priorities.

    A fully embedded team, on the other hand:

    🏠Maintains a single creative language across every touchpoint.

    🏠Ensures brand values aren’t diluted through reinterpretation.

    🏠Knows the playbook so instinctively that great work becomes the default rather than the exception.

    Take Specsavers, one of my favourite brands. I have nearly joined their in house team twice, timing was just off. It is still on my career wish list. Their in house agency style team are creators of the iconic “Should’ve gone to Specsavers” line, one of the longest-running, culturally ingrained campaigns in modern UK marketing history.

    That campaign’s longevity and consistency didn’t emerge from a revolving roster of external agencies – it was incubated and evolved within Specsavers’ own creative function for decades with a nested agency support.

    🔗 Read more: Specsavers on in-house life https://www.creativereview.co.uk/specsavers-and-the-in-house-life/

    4. Agility: Respond Faster Than the Market Changes

    Nothing kills momentum like waiting for a two-week turnaround.

    With in-house teams:

    🏠Reactive briefs become proactive opportunities.

    🏠Real-time cultural trends can be leveraged immediately.

    🏠Crisis communications are owned, not outsourced.

    Specsavers’ team, for example, talked about how proximity to the business means they react weekly to results not monthly or quarterly. That’s not semantics – that’s competitive agility.

    5. Leadership That Works With the Business – Not Beside It

    The most influential organisations are no longer just executing marketing campaigns – their marketing people are embedded in product, sales, strategy and innovation.

    In-house teams can:

    ▶️Advocate for brand decisions before they become tactical briefs.

    ▶️Understand product development timelines intimately.

    ▶️Influence pricing, positioning and experience – not just promotion.

    That’s not “marketing” — that’s strategic business leadership.

    My Experience: Moving from a sranding start to Resetting a Brand In 9 Weeks

    At Sureserve, I built an in-house marketing capability from scratch after joining in May 2024, launching a full rebrand and brand heart strategy in just 9 weeks in the September of the same year by combining a core internal team with nested external expertise.

    This wasn’t a cosmetic refresh – it was a systematic repositioning rooted in audience insight, internal alignment and creative discipline, delivered fast and with full organisational buy-in.

    Here’s what it demonstrated:

    ▶️Speed of action beats slow perfection.

    ▶️Clarity in purpose drives clarity in execution.

    ▶️Internal talent, with the right leadership, outperforms expectation.

    More details on this work and my approach can be found on my website:🔗 https://mharicoxonmarketing.com

    Key Takeaways for Marketers (and Business Leaders)

    📍 Build brand muscle in-house, not just briefs.

    📍 Create creative frameworks – not just campaigns.

    📍 Measure effectiveness and adjust fast. Real-time insights win.

    📍 Retain external specialists for augmentation not ownership.

    📍 Invest in people first. The tools and outputs follow.

    In-house embedded marketing isn’t just about cost, it’s about control, creative, coherence and is a proven competitive advantage.

  • B2B & B2B2C Marketing in 2026: Why the Brave Will Win (and the Busy Will Be Ignored)

    By Mhari Coxon & her Co-Creator 😉

    I’ve worked in marketing long enough to see entire “next big things” come and go.

    Digital transformation. Big data. Social media. AI.

    Each arrived with noise, hype, and a flurry of poorly thought-through pilot projects.

    What separates 2026 from every cycle before it is this:

    There is no margin left for performative marketing.

    By 2026, B2B and B2B2C marketing will either drive measurable commercial growth — or be quietly sidelined by finance, sales, and operations teams who are tired of activity without impact.

    This isn’t pessimism.

    It’s progress.

    Below are the five shifts I believe will define successful marketing leadership in 2026 – not from theory, but from what I’ve seen working inside complex, regulated, growth-driven organisations.

    1️⃣ AI Stops Being “Exciting” — and Starts Being Accountable

    In 2026, AI will no longer be a differentiator.

    It will be infrastructure.

    The novelty phase is already ending. The benefits becoming more apparent.

    Generating more volume of blogs, ads, and emails with AI won’t impress anyone when everyone can do it.

    The organisations pulling ahead are using AI in far more commercially mature ways:

    ❇️ Forecasting churn risk at account and segment level

    ❇️ Predicting demand before sales pipelines stall

    ❇️ Dynamically optimising pricing, channel mix, and messaging

    ❇️ Accelerating insight, not just output

    According to McKinsey, companies embedding AI into core commercial decision-making are significantly more likely to outperform peers on revenue growth and operating margins.

    The key distinction is intent:

    AI as a growth engine, not a content factory.

    2️⃣ Performance Marketing Grows Up (And Loses the Training Wheels)

    For years, we’ve mistaken measurement for meaning.

    Clicks, impressions, engagement rates. All useful, none sufficient.

    By 2026, senior leadership teams will expect marketing to answer harder questions:

    ❔️What moved revenue — and why?

    ❔️Which investments compounded over time?

    ❔️Where did brand accelerate performance, not sit beside it?

    This aligns with a broader shift I see repeatedly: marketing is no longer funded on creativity alone.

    It is funded on commercial credibility.

    High-performing marketing teams will:

    💪Link brand metrics to pipeline velocity and deal size

    💪Model long-term demand creation, not short-term conversion spikes

    💪Speak the language of finance with confidence, not defensiveness

    💪The marketer who can’t connect strategy to P&L in 2026 won’t be “unlucky”. They’ll be unprepared.

    3️⃣ Trust Becomes the Only Scalable Growth Lever

    Data will tighten.

    Regulation will expand.

    Attention will fragment further.

    Trust, by contrast, will compound.

    The evidence is clear. Research from Edelman consistently shows that trust is now a primary driver of purchase, advocacy, and long-term loyalty – especially in high-risk B2B and B2B2C categories such as healthcare, infrastructure, finance, and services.

    In practical terms, this means:

    💠Evidence beats adjectives

    💠Consistency beats campaign spikes

    💠Transparency beats polish

    Brands that hide behind generic messaging will struggle. Brands that show their workings – data, decisions, trade-offs – will earn confidence.

    In 2026, trust won’t be built by brand guidelines alone. It will be built by leaders who are visible, accountable, and credible.

    4️⃣ Thought Leadership Finally Earns the Name

    By 2026, thought leadership that simply rephrases consensus thinking will disappear into the algorithmic void.

    Real thought leadership will do three things well:

    1. Take a position

    2. Share lived experience

    3. Accept that not everyone will agree

    The strongest B2B brands I see emerging are not louder – they are clearer. They are willing to say:

    Here’s what worked.

    and importantly

    Here’s what failed.

    and

    Here’s what we changed as a result.

    This isn’t personal branding for its own sake. It’s a signal in a noisy market.

    The future belongs to organisations whose leaders understand that credibility scales faster than promotion.

    5️⃣ The Best B2B Marketing Feels Human (Because It Always Was)

    After years of funnels, automation, and dashboards, the biggest competitive advantage in 2026 will be understanding the human on the other side of the decision.

    B2B buying has never been purely rational.

    It’s shaped by:

    ⚖️Career risk

    ⚖️Reputation

    ⚖️ Fear of failure

    ⚖️ Desire for confidence and control

    The marketers who win will blend:

    Data with empathy 📶❤️

    Technology with judgement 👨‍💻🤔

    Personalisation with respect 🫆🙏

    This is where B2B2C organisations, in particular, can outperform by applying consumer-grade experience thinking to complex, high-value decisions.

    Human insight isn’t a “nice to have”. It’s the multiplier.

    The Leadership Shift That Matters Most

    By 2026, marketing leaders won’t be hired for how well they communicate ideas. They’ll be hired for how well they shape decisions, influence growth, and lead through ambiguity.

    The future CMO looks less like a campaign owner and more like a commercial strategist with a deep understanding of customers, systems, and scale.

    That’s not marketing losing influence.

    That’s marketing finally owning it.

    Final Thoughts

    2026 won’t reward the loudest brands.

    It will reward the clearest thinkers, the bravest leaders, and the teams willing to trade comfort for progress.

    Marketing doesn’t need more hype.

    It needs more conviction.And that’s a future worth building.

    If you’re building B2B or B2B2C strategy for 2026, ask yourself:

    👉 Are we optimising for relevance or just reach?

    👉 Are we leading the conversation or copying it?

    👉 And do we sound like humans who know what they’re doing?

    Let’s make 2026 the year marketing earns its seat and keeps it.

    Further Reading:

    McKinsey: AI-driven growth and commercial analytics

    Edelman Trust Barometer (latest edition)

    B2B buying behaviour and decision psychology research (various industry studies)

  • Discovery Shift in Our Digital World: Winning Growth in an AI‑Search and Zero‑Click World

    Why this is one of the most topical B2B and B2B2C marketing issues in the UK right now

    Search behaviour has fundamentally changed. UK B2B, including B2B2C, buyers are no longer relying solely on traditional search engines to research suppliers.

    Instead, they are using AI‑powered tools to summarise options, compare vendors and form shortlists faster than ever before.

    For marketers, this creates a structural shift: visibility is increasingly decoupled from website traffic.

    https://www.ofcom.org.uk/internet-based-services/technology/the-era-of-answer-engines-generative-ais-impact-on-search-experiences-and-online-safety?

    Brands can influence decisions without earning a click.

    In this environment, credibility, clarity and proof now do more of the conversion work than volume of content. What has changed in B2B and B2B2C discovery

    There are three changes matter most.

    1️⃣ AI is becoming a default research assistant.

    Buyers use it to frame problems, assess options and pressure‑test claims. If your brand is not clearly represented in these summaries, you are absent from the earliest stages of consideration.

    2️⃣ Zero‑click behaviour is accelerating – lurking is a key part of the journey

    Even when brands rank highly, buyers may never reach the website. This means marketers must optimise content to be understood, trusted and cited without direct interaction.

    3️⃣Our buying groups continue to widen.

    In B2B2C sectors such as healthcare, utilities and regulated services, discovery and decision‑making are split across commercial, technical, procurement and end‑user audiences.

    AI summaries compress this complexity unless marketers design content deliberately for it and for all customer personas.

    https://www.linkedin.com/posts/immediate-future_ai-search-has-jumped-the-queue-on-b2b-discovery-activity-7391384011111153665-e8J2?

    The senior marketer’s growth framework

    After more than 15 years leading growth across B2B, B2B2C and regulated markets, one pattern is consistent:

    Growth comes from making it easy to understand what you do, easy to trust your claims, and easy to justify your selection internally.

    AI‑led discovery does not replace strategy. It amplifies it.

    The strongest teams are combining clear positioning, structured proof and disciplined distribution to stay commercially visible.

    https://www.edelman.com/insights/battle-b2b-influence?

    Here is my practical 90‑day implementation plan

    Days 1–30: Map AI discovery questions

    Identify the real questions buying groups ask at problem, option and justification stages. Prioritise those that influence shortlisting, not just awareness.

    Days 31–60: Build proof‑led, citation‑ready assets

    Create clear comparison pages, quantified case studies, implementation explanations and procurement FAQs. Structure content so that claims are supported by evidence.

    Days 61–90: Strengthen authority and distribution

    Ensure your expertise appears in trusted third‑party environments: industry bodies, partners, events, LinkedIn thought leadership and credible publications.

    Three takeaways senior marketers can implement immediately

    ❇️ Optimise for being cited, not clicked

    Your content must stand alone. Clear structure, definitions and evidence matter more than volume.

    ❇️Turn thought leadership into proof leadership

    Opinion opens doors, but proof wins budget approval. Quantified outcomes and third‑party validation are now commercial assets.

    ❇️ Build visibility across the buying ecosystem

    Your brand must be easy to find wherever buyers validate decisions, not only on your own website.

    https://www.gartner.com/en/topics/generative-ai?

    Closing thought

    This shift is not a trend. It is a structural change in how B2B, and B2B2C demand is formed. The organisations that adapt now will protect pipeline quality, shorten sales cycles and strengthen trust at scale.

  • You might know me from marketing campaigns such as……..

    Personal brand. Elevator pitch. Strapline for you. For some it comes easy, for others it gives serious ick. How to showcase you in either a new role or a networking situation where opportunities can be missed by wall flowering. First impressions do matter.

    This blog will give you a go do list to strengthen how people perceive you as a leader.

    I am mentoring an amazingly talented marketeer who is about to enter their first director SLT role.

    For the business planning, we are flying. It is the usual, hit the ground running, look for quick wins, build the ladder to get to growth. We are building a framework to gather and analyse as this is a new role and new seat at the senior leaders table for the marketing function in this business.

    We are working on the 3 As:

    Absorb – land and learn as quick as you can. Learn the industry and market, but also the dynamics of your stakeholder group and the internal barriers or perceived barriers that need to be addressed. Gather every data set, no matter how it is captured, and see what you can get from a good AI big data mine.

    Analyse – gather all that data and start to do 3 things 1. Gap analysis, what else do you need to know that you currently don’t. 2. Quick win and burning issues detection. What is working that you can scale, where are the Quick fixes, what’s on fire. 3. Stakeholder mapping. Who is who, what are their pains and gains, what’s important to them that this new role will own.

    Act – get the quick wins in play and start the ball rolling on the big problems that will unlock opportunity. Start to prioritise and balance your time 80% working on strategy, 20% breaking down to tasks for execution. Set out your stall as a function and get them used to the key role marketing will play.

    Sounds simple right. So why does it not always work?

    We have a window of influence when we first come in to a business.

    Our share of voice is high until we become the norm. Setting out your stall for you and how your division connects with stakeholders is the difference between cycles of success and stratrgic growth, or ending up with marketing as the ‘we tried it’ catch all for everything people dont understand. If your in charge of things that are not marketing, running the secret santa or the tea towel ordering, you might have to rethink your personal brand as a marketer.

    Personal branding is as important as your skill set.

    Here are some home truths to ponder.

    If you dont tell them what your strengths are, there is a good chance they will underestimate your ability.

    Folks can’t measure what they dont have experience of. You will be the only senior marketer so you need to show them what that is and how you will work. Otherwise they will make it work for them.

    There is no one but you to make the decision. So decide.

    Showing indecisive behaviour will reduce your impact as a leader. Stepping up to be the SLT spike for marketing means you are the decision-making person and need to own that from day one.

    Language is important. Don’t apologise for taking up space.

    How we speak and write influences how we are seen. But our body language tells the truth. The further away from our brain, the less we control our body and its behaviour. Be consciously present.

    Take your space and own it. Posture and open body language shows confidence.

    Write and speak with definite, not indefinite. So no apologies for anything you say or write, no soft language like ‘I think we should…..’

    Share your values and use them to steer. Align them to those of the business.

    https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2024/aug/language-of-leadership

    The to do list to build a personal brand

    🫆What do you want to be known for. When you meet somone for the first time, or join a meeting, how will you introduce yourself. Define what that superpower is and tell everyone.

    What’s Your Superpower?https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-your-superpower-laura-burge?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via

    🫆Know your values. Share them. And live by them. This enables you to be authentic and help pepple understand how you will show up.

    https://reflection.ed.ac.uk/reflectors-toolkit/self-awareness/values

    🫆Summarise your CV in 20 seconds. Showcase your expertise in a top line way that shows why you are there at that table.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/averyblank/2017/04/18/6-easy-ways-to-shorten-your-resume-and-make-it-stand-out/

    🫆 Practice. Consistently show up as that person for 6 weeks to help it stick.

    🫆Broadcast. Take part. Write a blog, join a networking group. Sign up to present your work. Be visible.

    🫆Know where you want to end up. Next CEO? Consultant to SMEs? Board member and advisor?

    🫆Tell everyone where you want to go. It is these people who will help get you there.

    Personal branding is important at any stage of your career. Invest time in defining you.

  • Trust, AI, Localisation & Video The Four Pillars of regional B2B Marketing in 2026

    It’s that time of year where we reflect and predict. So here is my predictions for marketing in EMEA in 2026.

    EMEA in 2025 presented a complicated but rich marketing environment. 2026 will move fast and it is key to be ready and relevant.

    Between diverse languages, complex regulatory regimes, long procurement cycles, and increasingly sophisticated buyer expectations, B2B marketing in this region demands more than flashy, or flash in the pan, campaigns.

    The marketing leaders I predict win in 2026 are those who build around four interlocking pillars:

    🏛AI-driven personalisation

    🏛Trust through video/influence

    🏛Cultural and local nuance

    🏛Long-term relationships

    AI-Driven Personalisation: From Nice-to-Have to Table Stakes

    Generative AI, predictive analytics, and automation are now a baseline for competitiveness. According to a recent EU Business article on digital marketing trends, AI-powered personalisation and automation are among the top 2025/26 priorities for marketers.

    https://www.eubusinessnews.com/how-ai-driven-marketing-is-transforming-business-growth-in-europe/

    But AI isn’t a magic wand, it’s a tool that, when used correctly, can help you anticipate customer needs, tailor messages with precision, reduce friction in the buyer journey, and scale relevance across multiple markets.

    For EMEA wide B2B, where sales cycles are long and stakeholders many, that personalisation can make or break a deal.

    Video & Influencer/Creator Marketing: Trust Wins Where Noise Fails

    In a world saturated with content including a swell of AI-generated content, credibility and authenticity help a brand stand out. That’s why more B2B marketers in 2025 were leaning into video (short-form, storytelling, case studies) and working with niche or micro influencers and subject-matter experts to build trust. Video brings humanity. It gives voices to people behind complex solutions. And when those voices are credible experts rather than generic marketer views, they help cut through noise and build repeatable trust.

    https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/marketing-collective/2025-b2b-marketing-benchmar-the-video-influence-effect-starts-with-trust?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    For complicated B2B or B2B2C offers, especially in regulated or high-stakes industries like healthcare or technology, this trust becomes a competitive advantage. Influencers can speak in a way your brand can’t .

    Localisation & Cultural Nuance: EMEA Is Not One Market

    One of the biggest mistakes regional or global B2B marketers make is treating the territory as homogeneous. Markets differ in language, culture, regulation, buyer behaviour, and comfort with centralised vs local providers. Senior marketing leadership must recognise that what works in Germany may not work in Spain or the Nordics. And what lands in Nigeria might not work in Saudi. That means localised messaging, regulatory sensitivity, culturally-aware content, and a flexible marketing architecture that adapts to each region. In a world where trust and reputation matter more than ever, this kind of localisation becomes critical. That being said, the brand can have a global voice, but with local relevance.

    https://www.marketingweek.com/europe-homogenousb2b-buying-landscape/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    Trust & Long-Term Relationships Over Quick Gains

    Perhaps the most profound shift: marketers are increasingly seeing trust not as a “soft” metric but as a strategic KPI. According to the 2025 B2B Marketing Benchmark, 94% of marketers say trust is central to success, and many point to video + influencer-led strategies as critical tools for building it. In long-cycle B2B environments, especially in Europe, decisions are rarely made overnight.

    https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/marketing-collective/2025-b2b-marketing-benchmar-the-video-influence-effect-starts-with-trust?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    Building trust through consistent, human, expert-led content, transparent communication, and culturally-sensitive engagement lays the groundwork for sustainable relationships. For those leading marketing at senior level this is not optional. It’s a competitive advantage.

    What That Means for Senior Marketing Leaders

    Your strategic playbook should demonstrate fluency across these four pillars.

    That means:

    ✅ Building AI-driven personalisation and automation into your marketing stack

    ✅ Prioritising video & influencer/expert-led content for credibility and engagement

    ✅ Designing marketing strategies with regional nuance — not “one-size-fits-all” campaigns

    ✅ Measuring and communicating trust, credibility, and long-term relationship building not just clicks or impressions

    2026 will be here before you know it, so take the time to reflect on what is working, what 1 step you can take in each of these pillars, and set up to execute for success.

    Leaders who can articulate and deliver on that playbook will stand out. Because in 2026 it will be competence, nuance, and trust, not volume, that wins deals.