B2B - Marketbridge

Marketbridge named #1 Brand Agency and #1 Demand Agency in the 2025 U.S. B2B Agency Benchmarking Report from B2BMarketing

Posted on May 28, 2025May 30, 2025 by Marketbridge

BETHESDA, MD – May 28, 2025 – Marketbridge, a leading integrated growth consulting and marketing firm, today announced it was named the #1 brand agency and #1 demand agency in the U.S. by B2B Marketing’s 2025 U.S. B2B Agency Benchmarking Report. In addition, Marketbridge was rated the #2 B2B agency in the U.S. and one of the fastest growing firms. This prestigious recognition reflects the exceptional work of Marketbridge’s agency team, whose brand-to-demand programs are powering growth for some of the world’s leading B2B brands.

The annual report, which this year analyzed and ranked 29 top B2B agencies to identify the strongest players in the U.S. market, evaluates agencies based on total Gross Income from U.S. clients, with eligibility requiring that more than 50% of revenue comes from B2B clients. Growth rate is also a significant factor in the rankings.

“Our ranking as one of the biggest, fastest-growing B2B agencies in the U.S. in less than a year after our official debut is a true honor,” said John Shomaker, CEO of Marketbridge. “Our rapid rise validates that the market is demanding a new type of marketing services partner—one that brings together a unified, expert team that can help go-to-market leaders bridge big-picture strategy with real-world marketing activation—a combination that drives outsized growth for clients.”

This impressive ranking builds on the 29 prestigious awards Marketbridge has already won this year including the ANA B2B Awards, Communicator Awards, Global ACE Awards and Elevation Awards on behalf of clients such as Epiroc (North America), National Geographic, BioCatch, Teledyne (FLIR) and Chevron Lubricants.

“These accolades highlight our agency team’s ability to deliver standout brand-to-demand experiences—and when paired with our consulting depth—helps our clients go from strategy to activation seamlessly,” said Ashley DePaolo, Managing Director, Agency Services, North America, for Marketbridge. “We are addressing a fundamental challenge facing ambitious organizations today—bridging the gap between strategy and execution. In this new era of B2B marketing, organizations require a unified growth ambition across their entirety, regardless of global footprint or channel complexity.”

Last year, Marketbridge launched a new marketing powerhouse that integrates six best-in-category firms: COMM, fama PR, Intelisent, MarketBridge, Quarry, and the newly acquired April Six. a global marketing agency specializing in technology and science with operations in the U.S. and U.K. Part consultancy, part agency, Marketbridge offers integrated, end-to-end growth services, including GTM strategy, marketing analytics and data, brand-to-demand marketing and public relations.

Marketbridge has distinguished itself in the crowded B2B marketing landscape combining deep business consulting expertise with creative agency capabilities to help clients drive predictable growth through aligned go-to-market strategies. This integrated approach ensures that an organization’s big-picture corporate vision drives a powerfully aligned go-to-market strategy, which is delivered through an aligned sales model, branding strategy, and in-market activation program.

The B2B Marketing US Agencies Benchmarking Report is widely regarded as the definitive guide for B2B marketers looking to understand the U.S. B2B agency landscape, analyzing dozens of agencies to determine the market leaders.

About Marketbridge 
Marketbridge is a leading integrated growth consulting and marketing services firm that accelerates performance from strategy through execution. With a team of 310 professionals across global locations including Boston, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, London, and Canada, Marketbridge partners with over 150 clients worldwide, including Amazon Web Services, AMD, Elevance, Flex and CERN.

Invest in your brand to drive demand

Posted on May 27, 2025May 23, 2025 by Meredith Fuller

Finding the right marketing investment mix—one that meets both short- and long-term goals—is a balancing act that’s not easy to get right.

One of the (many) dimensions to consider is the allocation of dollars towards brand building vs. demand marketing investments. On the one hand, brand investment focuses on building awareness and reputation, while demand investments generate leads and drive sales. 

In our work with B2B enterprises, we typically see marketing budgets heavily weighted to demand. This is not surprising given the omnipresent pressure from the C-suite and sales for qualified leads and pipeline generation. Couple this expectation with the reality that it can be difficult to measure the effect and ROI of brand-focused investments, and demand marketing will win the budget bounty every time.

Despite these realities, what our marketing clients keenly understand—and a concept other organizational stakeholders need to grasp—is the unassailable continuum of brand TO demand. It is not brand OR demand, nor brand AND demand: It is that brand-focused investments and activities lead directly to the returns of demand-focused efforts.

How can marketers help convince the powers that be of the value of brand investments? By helping B2B leadership and sales better understand how their buyers buy. Consider this…

6sense recently surveyed 2,509 B2B buyers to analyze how and when purchase decisions are made and found:

Buyers enter their purchase journey with a ‘day 1 shortlist.’ It turns out that this shortlist contains four out of the five vendors that will ultimately be evaluated.
95% of the time, buyers have prior experience with at least one of the vendors they’ll evaluate.
Being on the day 1 shortlist matters with buyers ultimately choosing one of the first four vendors from the day 1 shortlist 85% of the time. (Or as Kerry Cunningham from 6sense puts it, “The truth is, all is not lost if you’re not on the day one short list… but 85% of all is lost!”)
Buyers reach out late in their journeys. B2B buyers are nearly 70% through their purchasing process before connecting with sales.
Buyers choose a winner early. In 81% of cases, buyers have chosen a preferred vendor before talking to sellers.

In addition, LinkedIn B2B Institute’s highly referenced statistic—that only 5% of your target market will be in an active purchase stage (or ‘in-market’) at any one point in time—all builds the case for marketing and, in particular, brand-building to ensure you’re on buyers’ ‘day 1 shortlists.’

Each of these stats underscores the critical importance of establishing your brand with buyers BEFORE targeting them with any demand marketing. Further, this data supports the fact that brand marketing is the direct on-ramp to successful demand generation.

What’s the ideal brand-to-demand budget balance?

While what constitutes ‘ideal’ does vary based on your organization’s unique situation, new ANA research previewed at a recent B2B event in NYC revealed most B2B leaders (75%) feel the ‘ideal’ Brand:Demand spend is an equal split, 50:50. Despite that, only 1 in 4 (23%) of marketers balance their budget in that way, with most (45%) running budgets that skew mostly towards demand.

While B2B marketers may still be challenged to put 50% of their budgets towards brand activities, how can they ensure their brand budgets work as hard as possible for them? Here are a few tips:

Brand doesn’t have to equal broad: Think ICP, not TAM, and employ targeted media to minimize waste.
Focus on creating brand affinity, not just awareness: This means your brand must connect with the buyers’ hearts and minds, a connection that starts with meaningful buyer insight.
A head-snapping creative concept with a smaller media budget will deliver more brand ROI than a wah-wah concept with a larger media budget. (For tips on how to elevate your B2B creative, read this post by Executive Creative Director Michael Palmer.)
Establish and nurture relationships with industry influencers to amplify your reach to relevant audiences. (For more on why influencing the influencers is particularly important for Millennial & Gen Z B2B buyers, read this post by SVP, Brand Strategy, Frances Ranger.)
Punch above your weight by pursuing and promoting industry award wins and earned media coverage.

Bottom line: Brand investments really are demand investments. Don’t limit marketing’s success by underinvesting in the all-important front end of the brand-to-demand continuum.

B2Be less boring. How to bring the funny to B2B creative.

Posted on May 13, 2025May 14, 2025 by Michael Palmer

Just four years ago, in their 2021 report, “Cashing In On Creativity: How Better Ads Deliver Bigger Profits,” LinkedIn’s B2B Institute showed the connection between powerful, emotional B2B creative and long-term business growth. The report was a rallying cry for B2B marketers—and their agencies—to elevate their creative game and deliver more memorable, impactful ads.

Since then, we’ve witnessed a B2B creative awakening of sorts (or so it feels). Even the Cannes Lions Awards recently launched a new B2B Creative category. But how far have we really come? Are most B2B ads pushing the creative limits further? Or are the widely celebrated recent spots from the likes of Workday, Amazon and Salesforce just isolated examples of highly creative (and big budget) advertising in B2B?

Unfortunately, follow-up new research from LinkedIn suggests we might not be as far along as we’d hoped.

In their latest 2024 study, “The B2B Renaissance,” LinkedIn reported that the majority of business decision makers remain underwhelmed by the B2B ads they encounter.

Despite stating that more creative ads would drive their interest and action, 64% of respondents said they rarely saw B2B ads with emotional appeal or humor. Similarly, 60% said ads lacked characters they could connect with, and 59% said ads failed to offer a unique perspective. Yikes!

So, B2B buyers are unimpressed by your ads. The cure? Be less boring. Be more memorable.

Easier said than done, I know. In an effort to lift the burden, here’s how you might raise the bar in your B2B ads (without necessarily breaking the budget):

Humor is surprisingly powerful in B2B advertising—even though B2B is often seen as all serious suits and spreadsheets. Here’s why humor works so well in that space:

Cuts Through the Noise
B2B audiences are bombarded with dry, technical, jargon-filled content. A well-placed joke or clever twist stands out and grabs attention.
Humanizes the Brand
Businesses don’t buy things—people do. Humor shows there’s a real, relatable human behind the brand, which builds trust and emotional connection.
Boosts Memorability
Funny ads are easier to remember. If you make someone laugh, they’re more likely to recall your brand later when they actually need your product or service.
Encourages Sharing
Humorous content gets shared more—even in professional circles. This can amplify reach without extra budget.
Makes Complex Ideas Digestible
B2B products can be complex or dry. Humor can simplify and make boring stuff fun, helping audiences understand your value proposition more easily.
Differentiates in a Serious Market
When competitors are all saying the same things in the same tone, humor makes your brand distinct and more likable.

So, how might you add a touch of funny to your ads? Great question—here’s how you might pull it off:

Start With Empathy
Know your audience’s day-to-day struggles. Humor that taps into real pain points (“Ugh, another 43-tab spreadsheet.”) is gold. Think: “We know your procurement software feels like it was coded in 1996… because it was.”

Use Smart, Situational Humor
Avoid slapstick or over-the-top silliness. Instead, go for wit, irony or exaggeration based on real business life. Examples:
- The endless Zoom meetings
- Office buzzwords (“Let’s circle back.”)
- “Mission-critical” tasks that are actually just moving files

Play With Format
You don’t have to write just funny copy. Try:
- Funny charts with absurdly obvious insights
- Mock testimonials (“This changed my life—my inbox now has only 912 unread emails.”)
- Parody ads styled like something your audience already knows
- Video! Stats show video content helps drive better brand engagement.

Personify the Problem (or the Product)
Give your tech or service a voice. Or make a dramatic villain out of the problem you solve.
- “Meet Tom. Tom is the spreadsheet that’s been running your operations since 2010. Tom has feelings. Unfortunately, ‘efficiency’ isn’t one of them.”

Tone It Right
Balance is key. You can be playful without being unprofessional. Think of your brand voice like a smart, funny coworker—the one who makes meetings bearable but also knows their stuff.

Avoid
- Inside jokes that are too niche (unless you’re 100% sure your audience gets it)
- Humor that could offend or feel like a punch-down
- Overuse—it should support your message, not overshadow it

OK, you’ve got the big idea—but how do you pull it off in a time when budgets (and timelines) are shrinking? Well, we’ve leveraged AI in a few key ways to be our secret weapon for scaling big ideas without “Mad Men” budgets.

Everything from brainstorming and concept development to visual and video production and testing and optimization, AI has helped us scale effectively and efficiently.

But is that actually doable? Hell yeah! Check out our recent award-winning campaign for Chevron, where we brought humor and AI together and achieved some pretty amazing results.

Or there’s this campaign we created for BioCatch, which recently won a 2025 Communicator Award for AI Creative Integration—where we leveraged generative AI imagery and video to deliver outsized creative impact while keeping production nimble.

The line between B2B and B2C hasn’t just been blurred; it’s disappearing. By leveraging some of the tips above, you might just find your ads stand out from the crowd, help move the needle for your business and get some laughs along the way.

Inside BioCatch’s ABX strategy that targets the world’s largest banks

Posted on April 15, 2025May 2, 2025 by Marketbridge

Challenge: not enough data

BioCatch is a world-renowned leader in financial crime prevention powered by behavior biometric intelligence, which uses advanced analysis of a user’s physical and cognitive behavior to help banks protect consumers and their assets from fraud and cyberattacks.

BioCatch’s marketing team faced a familiar challenge: a lack of actionable data. This made it difficult to effectively connect with their ideal audience using personalized, relevant messaging.

“We didn’t want to be on an ad platform where we were wasting even a penny showing ads to people who didn’t care or were not within our ICP,” said Jonathan Daly, CMO of BioCatch.

Past campaigns leaned on more traditional marketing tactics, often generating leads that didn’t align with their ideal customer profile (ICP). Without a way to clearly understand buying signals and real-time intent, resources were being drained without measurable ROI.

Solution: implementing 6sense

To address this, we helped BioCatch implement 6sense and build out an ABX strategy to use this data.

Our team designed a series of one-to-few and one-to-many campaigns, integrated a multi-touch framework, and established a robust reporting framework for tracking full-funnel performance.

We began by refining their ICPs and deploying 6sense’s Predictive Analytics to continuously optimize messaging based on customer behaviors and buying signals. This AI-driven capability provided visibility into where accounts were in their journey, enabling BioCatch to prioritize high-potential prospects.

6sense’s Intent Scoring added another layer of precision, giving the team the data they needed to focus efforts on the accounts most likely to convert based on prior engagement trends.

Outcome: a wildly successful pilot campaign

We rolled out a pilot initiative with a bold target: engage 553 global banks that had shown little to no previous interest, and move at least 60 into the active sales pipeline—all through an Account-Based Experience (ABX) strategy.

Using 6sense, we developed over 200 unique audience segments and ran personalized one-to-one, one-to-few, and one-to-many campaigns.

Over the course of six months, we launched highly tailored landing pages, ran full-funnel, multi-channel campaigns across 6sense Display Ads, LinkedIn, and Google, and synced our messaging to match where each account was in the buying cycle.

In total, we created over 450 creative assets and built over 10 landing pages. And after six months, the results were:

5x increase in accounts in active pipeline stage
6% of the full target account list moved into the pipeline stage since March
63% increase in accounts in active engagement stage

This initiative marked a turning point for BioCatch’s marketing strategy—transforming their approach from broad and traditional to data-driven and precision-targeted. By leveraging the power of 6sense and a deeply segmented ABX framework, BioCatch was able to focus its efforts where it mattered most, align closely with buyer intent, and drive measurable pipeline impact at scale. The success of this pilot not only proved the value of intent data and predictive insights but also laid a strong foundation for future growth.

5 ways to adapt your strategy for Millennial & Gen Z B2B buyers

Posted on March 31, 2025March 28, 2025 by Frances Ranger

Almost three-quarters (71%!) of B2B buyers are Millennials or Gen Z (Forrester).

Seems like only yesterday that pundits were yakking about the rise of millennials and how it would affect business culture. Those Millennials are now well into their careers and rapidly entering middle age. (I’m sorry, Millennials, but it’s true. You can switch to wearing taller socks but time marches on regardless.)

People born in or near the 2000s are the new kids in town, and this Gen Z wave is changing the game for B2B marketers once again.

The buying group is even bigger than you think.

Forrester predicts, “As the Millennial and Generation Z buyer cohorts increasingly drive purchases, they will rely on external sources — including their value network — to help make their decisions.”

A few related stats to mull:

6sense reports that nearly three-quarters (72%) of buying teams now hire consultants or analysts to help with purchasing decisions.
Among younger buyers who responded to Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2024, 30% indicated that 10 or more people outside their organization are involved in purchase decisions.
Not surprisingly, word-of-mouth recommendations still carry the highest weight, with 73% of buyers ranking it as their most trusted source (Wynter).

So, what does that mean for B2B marketers?

Just as we’ve gotten our heads around using account-targeted campaign and media strategy to reach multiple members of the buying group, we must expand our understanding of the audience. We need to reach more broadly to influencers outside of the target organization –– without becoming scattershot.

And where do you start?

1. Continue to invest in your social presence

Social media has become a top source of information across B2B buyers regardless of age (PR News). As more and more “social media natives” get into decision-making roles, its influence will only grow. My LinkedIn scroll is already replete with memes and personal stories, and yours probably is too. The divide between personal and professional social media is getting thin (LinkedIn). You may want to consider expanding your brand’s presence on social channels that have traditionally been thought of as more personal if you have the resources, savvy and determination to support them.

Even if you’re not actively publishing widely, you should be listening widely. Keep digital ears open across social platforms, online communities and industry forums. Conversations are happening in these channels and consideration sets are being formed –– whether you’re part of them or not.

2. Influence the influencers

“Influencers” are not just for aspirational lifestyle brands. They’re part of the value network for B2B buyers too. Identify who has credibility and clout, engage them, and look for opportunities to partner with them.

More and more of our clients are getting serious about their influencer strategy, and it’s about time. Chevron Lubricants has been effectively working with influencers for years, most recently with Bryan Furnace, a heavy equipment operator, content creator and the host of Equipment World’s weekly video show, The Dirt. He’s got the expertise, experience and street cred (worksite cred?) to discuss oil technology claims and benefits with authority. (Chevron’s work in this area recently won them a 2025 B2BMX Killer Content Award for “Best Influencer Marketing”. You can see their award-winning video series with Bryan here.)

3. Authenticity still matters

Consider how you might enable and encourage customers to share honest reviews about your services or solutions. It may feel risky, but it’s a strategy that pays off in increased visibility and credibility.

Reviews help you get found. Great reviews are social proof that speaks for itself. Not-so-great reviews give you the opportunity to authentically engage and repair. How you show up in moments of challenge has enormous influence on the perception of your brand. The “Service Recovery Paradox” has been observed for decades – that is, brands that respond to challenges transparently, quickly and with meaningful action may be perceived more favorably than if no problem had occurred in the first place (Wikipedia).

4. Be sharable

While the idea of a B2B campaign going viral may sound unlikely – at least before Workday’s delightful “Rock Star” spots – it’s a worthwhile ambition. Especially when you use “viral” to mean “gets shared among target audiences.” Sure, you could take a cheeky, entertaining (and costly!) approach like Workday did, but there are other ways to create experiences that are worthy of being shared amongst value networks and by influencers.

What is your brand expert on? What do you care deeply about? What causes or ideas do you want to be associated with? Answer the same questions about your target audiences. Draw your Venn diagram and start in the areas of overlap as a jumping off point for ideation. Maybe there’s content you can create, a learning opportunity you could sponsor, or a contest or event or handy-dandy calculator or tool.

5. Learn about – and from – your audience

Look around your organization. I bet there are at least a few Gen Zs, and I know it’s bursting with Millennials. Tap into your own team for insight. How they make significant purchase decisions in their personal lives may reflect how they’d want to approach business buying. Extensive online research, reaching out to friend and family networks for opinions – almost certainly ducking the salesperson until they have already decided to buy. Ask: how can you reduce friction from your processes and get ahead of theirs?

In B2B marketing, strengthening your brand and accelerating demand go hand-in-hand. (Yikes. Do I leave the corny rhyme? Yes, I do.) They should be thought of as deeply interconnected marketing motions serving the same ultimate goals – build interest, build trust, build results.

There you go. One new generation, three major shifts in the landscape, and five things B2B marketers should be thinking about now.

How GenAI is changing B2B buying dynamics (and why GEO is now key)

Posted on January 27, 2025March 31, 2025 by William Crane

It’s well known that GenAI is transforming go-to-market strategies. “From content creation and product development to improving employee productivity, its use as a tool in sales and marketing to automate manual processes and personalize customer interactions is beginning to emerge.” (Forbes, 2024).

But AI isn’t just driving a seismic shift in how marketers and sellers get things done. It’s also fundamentally shifting how B2B buyers get answers to key buying questions, find and consider potential providers and conduct research on them faster.

Now, you might be thinking this adoption trend might just be for younger B2B decision makers (see trend #4). But you’d be wrong. Buyers’ shift to generative AI (GenAI) over standard web search engines is fast becoming universal across all B2B buyers. Get this: Since ChatGPT was first introduced just a few years ago, 89% of B2B buyers now use GenAI as one of the top sources of self-guided information in every phase of their buying process (source: Forrester, 2024 B2B Buyers Journey Survey).

The question is, do your marketing efforts reflect this shift? Do you know how tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini represent your brand in relevant results generated? Are you taking steps to ensure your brand is being found and is showing up in the right way?

What to do in 2025? Don’t get caught off guard—time to integrate Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) into your SEO strategy.

This change in buyer behavior is moving fast, so put simply, it’s (past) time to start getting more proactive when it comes to managing your brand for AI-generated search results. To do so, consider these five tips:

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) focuses on clear, direct answers within comprehensive and context-rich content to address user queries. Format your on-page content accordingly.
When stuck, just ask AI. Utilize LLMs to review and critique your on-page optimizations as well as test or simulate user query response.
While Search AI results can be tough to track, Google AI Overviews (via tools like SEMRush) can provide insight into how well other LLMs are indexing your work.
Ensure GEO and AI search strategies work in tandem with brand building campaigns, as GEO relies on strong, authoritative brands, backlinks, and user engagement, just as much as traditional SEO.
Review your existing organic strategy. Ask your agency, is GEO part of it and how are you optimizing towards it?

The rise of generative AI is transforming how businesses connect with and influence their audiences. As buyer behavior evolves, so must our strategies, ensuring we adapt to new technologies and meet buyers where they are. Success in this new landscape requires proactive engagement, thoughtful innovation, and a commitment to staying ahead of the curve.

Want to learn more from William Crane? Follow him on LinkedIn!

2025 B2B sales benchmarks

High-growth sales teams don’t just execute better—they think differently

What drives B2B SaaS sales teams to outpace their peers and achieve 20%+ YoY revenue growth? They’re not just working harder—they’re approaching sales with smarter strategies and tighter alignment. This first edition of our annual survey uncovers the mindset, tactics, and structures that set these high-growth leaders apart. Designed for sales leaders and CROs, it provides a clear roadmap to evaluate and activate growth opportunities with precision.

This report covers

Key differences between sales team archetypes: Steady Builders, Market Contenders, and Growth Leaders
Essential attributes of high-performing sales organizations
Building blocks to advance to the next level of growth
Five priority actions for sales leaders heading into 2025

Select insights

33% of high-growth companies set targets based on opportunity potential rather than existing revenue.
Growth leaders employ documented, long-term growth plans and segment-specific strategies while aligning closely with marketing teams
Leading sales teams operate with an average of three customer segments compared to two or fewer for lower performers.
Industry-specific targeting and account ownership strategies drive greater efficiency, with single account ownership boosting ACVs by 40% compared to hunter-farmer models.
Growth leaders align sales compensation with strategy, ensuring motivation and clarity of focus.

Whether you’re looking to optimize sales operations, align your team with strategic goals, or unlock the next level of performance, this report offers the clarity and direction needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive B2B SaaS landscape.

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