• Here’s a harsh truth: Most B2B marketing teams are chasing deals they’ve already lost because, for decades, B2B marketing has operated with a fragmented approach - brand and demand teams often functioning independently, with separate budgets, campaigns, and metrics. • While this separation may have seemed practical (e.g., each team could focus on specific objectives), new research reveals that it’s now a major obstacle to growth. • AtForrester’s upcoming B2B Summit North Americain Phoenix, taking place April 26-29, we’ll unveil groundbreaking insights that highlight why current approaches drive diminishing returns and how uniting brand and demand marketing is essential for addressing today’s increasingly empowered B2B buyers. • Confronting Decisive B2B Buyers In Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2025, we found that 68% of B2B buyers already have a front-runner vendor in mind at the very start of their purchasing process - and 80% of the time, that front-runner wins. • This is a gut punch for marketing teams who’ve striven to influence in-market buyers, because it starkly reveals that most buying decisions are made long before engagement in a formal purchase process. • It also signals a seismic shift in buyer autonomy, accelerated by digital self-education and AI technologies.

Article Summaries:

  • Forrester’s upcoming B2B Summit (April 26‑29, Phoenix) will highlight new research showing that 68 % of B2B buyers already have a front‑runner vendor at the start of their purchase journey, and that vendor wins 80 % of the time. The study argues that fragmented brand and demand marketing teams-each with separate budgets and metrics-are chasing deals that are already lost, stifling growth. Forrester recommends a “preference marketing” model that unites brand and demand efforts to build early buyer affinity, align shared metrics such as share of preference, and target preference‑intent signals. The summit will detail how integrated campaigns can position a company as the preferred partner before purchase intent materializes.

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