2026: The year of the B2B Rebrand?

Everyone knows it, but no one wants to be the one to say it - B2B marketing is trapped in an unhealthy cycle, and if we’re not careful, it could take us all down with it. 

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Okay, maybe that’s a tad dramatic. But I bet it got your attention. Why? Because it tugged on your emotions, perhaps even made you feel a whisper of fear. And that’s exactly what’s missing from B2B marketing. When was the last time you consumed a piece of B2B marketing content that made you feel anything other than bored as you read through product features for the millionth time? 

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At the end of last year, Babel held our ‘B2B Brave Gallery’ event, part exhibition and part discussion panel to explore just this. Our expert, senior marketers shared their insights on the importance of making braver B2B marketing choices. The discussion that followed was full of valuable information and eye-opening ideas, so much so that it felt, quite frankly, mean to hog all of that knowledge to ourselves. So I’m kicking off the new year with some exclusive insight into that discussion - particularly how B2B marketing slipped into this holding pattern, and why we need to take a leaf out of the B2C book. 

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And stayed tuned until the end for an exclusive invite to our new Brave Collective, aimed at turning this conversation into action for 2026. 

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How did we get here?

When you rewind and examine how we got here, it’s an easy trap to fall into. As our experts explained on the night, we’ve become stuck in a cycle of short-term tactics as marketing teams race to deliver marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) to match the insatiable demand of sales teams. So, the focus all goes on the short-term, leaving brand-building activities to shrivel up and die, ultimately making your brand indistinguishable from its competitors, who are - spoiler alert -  all stuck in the same trap. 

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In the short term, it seems like a good idea. Sales teams are happy, and marketing teams can relieve some of the pressure being put on them. But, the result is bland and uninspiring marketing that fades into irrelevance pretty quickly.

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Believe it or not, following the route of entry to this dilemma will show us the exit. The key to it all…? Emotion. 

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Safe marketing practices might be dull, but they’re also comforting. Familiarity is alluring: risk, less so. With livelihoods, reputations and ambition in the balance, it’s no wonder that many instinctively opt for the well-trodden path. 

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But as one of our panellists, Sarah Roberts, Global CMO at Boldyn Networks put it: 

“Business marketing is human marketing. Forget that, and everything falls apart.”

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Those same emotions that might be holding you back from braver campaigns, are also precisely what you need to leverage to create marketing that truly cuts through the noise and elevates your brand.

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Swapping formulas for feelings 

Choosing to find the white space, instead of following the well-thumbed B2B playbook, will stand brands in better stead for memorability and long-term pipeline growth. One of our panellists, Integrated Marketing and Brand Leader Maria Colorge-Webb shared a great example of this. During her time at a major consumer brand, they threw out the playbook, instead searching for a ‘gap in the market’. They found a moment in the buying process where none of their competitors were operating and grabbed it with a big, bold sponsoring move. The result? A surge in brand awareness, and mega growth in market share. 

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Balancing the books

And don’t worry, there are plenty of numbers to back this up for those of you already wondering how you would even begin to justify a brave move to your key stakeholders or executive board. The real cherry on top is that bolder campaigns are actually more effective and ultimately cheaper than safe marketing. In fact, renowned marketing pros Adam Morgan and Peter Field’s ‘The Cost of Dull’ research found that producing a dull campaign in the UK cost brands roughly £10 million more in media spend to have the same commercial impact as an interesting campaign. 

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So, how do you save that £10 million by avoiding being dull? Well, as Lee Climpson, Production Director at Transmission and a member of our panel recommended, we can use the widely recognised ‘3Fs’ as a guide for those brave brand building marketing campaigns. To be effective these campaigns can’t just be some crazy, out there idea - they need to be strategic and achieve the following: 

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• Fame: They need to ensure your brand comes readily to mind. 
• Feeling: Emotion should be used strategically to help buyers make quick decisions. 
• Fluency: They need to build recognisability through the use of distinctive brand assets.  

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Think inspirational briefs that centre around what the audiences should think, feel, and most importantly, do following the campaign. But still, include data points to ensure the campaign is built on strong foundations, and to act as guardrails to keep those creative ideas based in reality. 

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We get it - it might all feel a bit too B2C for some. But at the end of the day, whether you’re in B2B marketing or B2C, your buyer is still a human. So it’s all ultimately ‘people marketing’- B2H (Business-to-Human)if you will. And what moves people? Emotion and good reputations, not product features and technical specs - no matter how good they might be. 

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A New Years’ Resolution? 

Yes, yes, I know everyone’s tired of resolutions. But don’t worry, I’m not asking you to give up chocolate or sign up for a marathon. Just set yourself one goal - to be a little braver in your marketing in 2026. Approach it not as a roll of the dice or a gamble but rather as a strategy. 

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If 2025 left you feeling like you were trying to cut through a ‘sea of sameness’ with messaging that wasn’t quite sharp enough, then it could be time to create your own ‘brave playbook’ rather than sticking with the ‘safe crowd’. 

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Stay tuned for more insights from the event - particularly on what tactics might be holding you back from brave campaigns, how to secure internal buy-in, and how to establish a new metrics framework to match your brave new approach. 

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In the meantime, get in touch to find out how we can help ‘back your brave’ in 2026. And, if you’re feeling excited by the conversation started so far at the Brave B2B Gallery, why not become a part of it as it continues? Applications are now open to join Babel’s Brave Collective - a group of like-minded marketers and comms professionals ready to embrace change and back brave in 2026. 

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