The Marketing Vunerabilities in Tech and IP-Led Companies
BethanVincent
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39 slides
Jul 12, 2024
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About This Presentation
We talked to 117 senior business leaders in organisations where technology or proprietary IP is a key source of competitive advantage, the types of business we support with our consultancy services on a day-to-day basis. We assessed current confidence levels, marketing approaches and capabilities to...
Slide Content
Marketing
Vulnerabilities in
Tech and IP-led
Companies
July, 2024
Vulnerabilities in
Tech and IP-led
Companies
July, 2024
So what do we mean by ‘marketing done well’?
Good marketing is more than tactical
questions like “what channels should we be
using?” or “how much money should I be spending
on search campaigns?” Marketing is a holistic
discipline, helping organisations overcome some
of their biggest challenges: How do we build
products and services customers want to buy?
What markets should we expand into next? Who
are our best target customers and how do they
buy our products and services? How do we create
stand out? Fundamental questions that need to be
answered and refreshed over the years to make
sure your marketing is set-up for success.
We see these challenges everyday in the
conversations we have with clients across sectors,
in B2B and B2C businesses. We work with them to
unpick their challenges, setting out a clearer path
forward and providing the building blocks to help
them consistently execute and grow.
The motivation behind this research was the desire
to investigate whether marketing is generally ‘done
well’ in the types of businesses we work with,
and assess the impact that has on performance
and business confidence. And, given the world
of economic uncertainty we live in, whether
businesses are taking a long-term view when it
comes to marketing investment.
Leveraging the research, we want to give
businesses insight into the marketing foundations
that can build real confidence in delivering growth,
and an understanding of what matters when setting
yourself up for long term success.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIESFOREWORD
Foreword
by Bethan Vincent
Open Velocity was founded on the belief
that marketing done well is a source
of long-term and sustainable business
growth for any organisation, an investment
in building a business, rather than a
cost that gets cut when the going gets
tough. Too often we have seen marketing
misunderstood, played as a tactical tool,
without the right building blocks in place
to generate confidence in marketing as a
driving force of the business.
2
Good marketing is more than tactical
questions like “what channels should we be
using?” or “how much money should I be spending
on search campaigns?” Marketing is a holistic
discipline, helping organisations overcome some
of their biggest challenges: How do we build
products and services customers want to buy?
What markets should we expand into next? Who
are our best target customers and how do they
buy our products and services? How do we create
stand out? Fundamental questions that need to be
answered and refreshed over the years to make
sure your marketing is set-up for success.
We see these challenges everyday in the
conversations we have with clients across sectors,
in B2B and B2C businesses. We work with them to
unpick their challenges, setting out a clearer path
forward and providing the building blocks to help
them consistently execute and grow.
The motivation behind this research was the desire
to investigate whether marketing is generally ‘done
well’ in the types of businesses we work with,
and assess the impact that has on performance
and business confidence. And, given the world
of economic uncertainty we live in, whether
businesses are taking a long-term view when it
comes to marketing investment.
Leveraging the research, we want to give
businesses insight into the marketing foundations
that can build real confidence in delivering growth,
and an understanding of what matters when setting
yourself up for long term success.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIESFOREWORD
Foreword
by Bethan Vincent
Open Velocity was founded on the belief
that marketing done well is a source
of long-term and sustainable business
growth for any organisation, an investment
in building a business, rather than a
cost that gets cut when the going gets
tough. Too often we have seen marketing
misunderstood, played as a tactical tool,
without the right building blocks in place
to generate confidence in marketing as a
driving force of the business.
2
Executive
summary
Our key findings, at a glance.
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
summary
Our key findings, at a glance.
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4
We talked to 117 senior business leaders in organisations where technology or
proprietary IP is a key source of competitive advantage, the types of business we
support with our consultancy services on a day-to-day basis. We assessed current
confidence levels, marketing approaches and capabilities to understand whether
marketing good practice is helping drive business success.
1. The confidence gap
Despite a very difficult economic landscape
for UK businesses in the last 5 years,
our respondents expressed high levels of
confidence that they’d hit their goals in the
next 12 months, and in the next 3-5 years.
2. Scaling isn’t easy
Our survey respondents expressed a surprising
amount of confidence that they’d hit their revenue
targets, but we saw notably less confidence when
businesses had entered the ‘scale-up’ phase.
3. Practicing what we preach?
One third of organisations represented in this
survey had a senior marketer or CMO leading
their marketing, but we found that they weren’t
necessarily following marketing best practices.
4. Boom-2-Bust?
Following a period of higher growth for B2B
organisations, our survey found that it’s actually
B2C businesses that are feeling the most optimistic
about the short and medium term.
89% of respondents
were confident of
hitting their 12 month
growth goals.
Just 12% of respondents
were extremely confident
of hitting 12 month
growth goals.
69% of organisations
led by senior marketers
prioritise direct results
and immediate returns
from marketing
investments.
39% of B2B
organisations are
very confident for
3-5 years, versus
48% of B2C businesses.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Executive summary
4
We talked to 117 senior business leaders in organisations where technology or
proprietary IP is a key source of competitive advantage, the types of business we
support with our consultancy services on a day-to-day basis. We assessed current
confidence levels, marketing approaches and capabilities to understand whether
marketing good practice is helping drive business success.
1. The confidence gap
Despite a very difficult economic landscape
for UK businesses in the last 5 years,
our respondents expressed high levels of
confidence that they’d hit their goals in the
next 12 months, and in the next 3-5 years.
2. Scaling isn’t easy
Our survey respondents expressed a surprising
amount of confidence that they’d hit their revenue
targets, but we saw notably less confidence when
businesses had entered the ‘scale-up’ phase.
3. Practicing what we preach?
One third of organisations represented in this
survey had a senior marketer or CMO leading
their marketing, but we found that they weren’t
necessarily following marketing best practices.
4. Boom-2-Bust?
Following a period of higher growth for B2B
organisations, our survey found that it’s actually
B2C businesses that are feeling the most optimistic
about the short and medium term.
89% of respondents
were confident of
hitting their 12 month
growth goals.
Just 12% of respondents
were extremely confident
of hitting 12 month
growth goals.
69% of organisations
led by senior marketers
prioritise direct results
and immediate returns
from marketing
investments.
39% of B2B
organisations are
very confident for
3-5 years, versus
48% of B2C businesses.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Executive summary
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5
Executive summary
Organisations were surprisingly bullish
about their future growth, with high levels
of business confidence, both in the short and
medium term. But market data shows poor
growth levels in the wider economy and business
failures 30% higher than pre-pandemic rates,
so what drives this overconfidence?
Marketing expertise drives business confidence,
showing a 24% uplift in high levels of confidence
over the next 3-5yrs compared to organisations
who don’t have marketing experts to hand
(59% very confident versus 35%)
Business size impacts confidence with mid-size
scale-up businesses taking a dip in confidence
compared to their smaller start-up or
high-growth businesses, shining a light on
scaling as a particularly tricky business phase.
Our research shows that scaling isn’t easy.
A number of factors impact confidence,
including slowing growth, erosion of USPs,
or increasing costs highlighting reduced
efficiencies. These organisations often have
less senior marketing expertise at the helm;
marketing approaches can become disjointed
and short-term, and there’s an over focus on
marketing performance and measurability.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
5
Executive summary
Organisations were surprisingly bullish
about their future growth, with high levels
of business confidence, both in the short and
medium term. But market data shows poor
growth levels in the wider economy and business
failures 30% higher than pre-pandemic rates,
so what drives this overconfidence?
Marketing expertise drives business confidence,
showing a 24% uplift in high levels of confidence
over the next 3-5yrs compared to organisations
who don’t have marketing experts to hand
(59% very confident versus 35%)
Business size impacts confidence with mid-size
scale-up businesses taking a dip in confidence
compared to their smaller start-up or
high-growth businesses, shining a light on
scaling as a particularly tricky business phase.
Our research shows that scaling isn’t easy.
A number of factors impact confidence,
including slowing growth, erosion of USPs,
or increasing costs highlighting reduced
efficiencies. These organisations often have
less senior marketing expertise at the helm;
marketing approaches can become disjointed
and short-term, and there’s an over focus on
marketing performance and measurability.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
6
Executive summary
Where there was senior marketing expertise in
the organisation, there was more clarity on USPs
and having defined target audiences. However,
these businesses are most likely to push their
proposition to market quickly without target
audience validation (a best practice which leads
to longer-term sales growth). They are also least
likely to be taking a longer-term view of marketing
performance, potentially with marketing under
pressure to demonstrate short-term ROI.
Senior marketing expertise is not leading to
increased focus on long-term growth evidenced
by their marketing investment mindset—
Founders/CEOs are taking a longer-term view
of marketing spend with c.40% of the budget
going into longer term activity, dropping to
c.30% when a senior marketer is in the
driving seat.
B2B businesses are lagging behind their B2C
counterparts. They are less likely to invest in in-
house marketing expertise, are less likely to validate
their proposition before launch and have much less
focus on brand identity and messaging. Showing
lower medium term confidence, they’re more likely
to be reducing marketing spend (and less likely to
be increasing it), with more focus on wanting to
see an immediate return on marketing investment.
With longer sales cycles in the B2B space, taking
this approach is counterintuitive.
B2B businesses aren’t presenting themselves in
the best possible light—only 35% have thought
about their brand identity and messaging versus
62% in B2C businesses
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
6
Executive summary
Where there was senior marketing expertise in
the organisation, there was more clarity on USPs
and having defined target audiences. However,
these businesses are most likely to push their
proposition to market quickly without target
audience validation (a best practice which leads
to longer-term sales growth). They are also least
likely to be taking a longer-term view of marketing
performance, potentially with marketing under
pressure to demonstrate short-term ROI.
Senior marketing expertise is not leading to
increased focus on long-term growth evidenced
by their marketing investment mindset—
Founders/CEOs are taking a longer-term view
of marketing spend with c.40% of the budget
going into longer term activity, dropping to
c.30% when a senior marketer is in the
driving seat.
B2B businesses are lagging behind their B2C
counterparts. They are less likely to invest in in-
house marketing expertise, are less likely to validate
their proposition before launch and have much less
focus on brand identity and messaging. Showing
lower medium term confidence, they’re more likely
to be reducing marketing spend (and less likely to
be increasing it), with more focus on wanting to
see an immediate return on marketing investment.
With longer sales cycles in the B2B space, taking
this approach is counterintuitive.
B2B businesses aren’t presenting themselves in
the best possible light—only 35% have thought
about their brand identity and messaging versus
62% in B2C businesses
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
7
On the face of it our respondents were highly
confident about growth, but when you scratch the
surface weak points emerge as you dig into the
data and uncover vulnerabilities.
Having senior marketing expertise in an
organisation can be an overall confidence boost,
but it doesn’t always mean coherent marketing
strategy and best practice are being applied.
Many respondents lacked a real understanding
of customers and target audiences—a marketing
fundamental that feeds the success of building a
strong and sustainable marketing growth plan.
Scale-ups and B2B businesses have specific
challenges that also bring opportunities for
stronger growth. There’s a danger for both in
pulling back on marketing spend when the results
aren’t seen short-term. We saw lots of evidence
that business and marketing leaders are prioritising
short term wins—but is that an approach that leads
to long term growth? At Open Velocity, we don’t
think so.
For scale-ups, those early days of success can
lull you into a false sense of optimism as your
proposition gains traction, but in many respects
you’re picking off the low-hanging fruit and the
pain starts to be felt as you need to maintain
momentum. It is difficult to ‘cross the chasm’ as
start-ups look to become larger businesses, with
costs increasing and initial growth slowing. Just
40% of businesses survive their fifth year.
Getting the right expertise, pulling the right levers
and understanding the critical metrics are the
core building blocks of a strong and sustainable
marketing strategy.
1. Customer and target audience understanding
2. Proposition fit with audience
3. Knowing which levers to pull and when
4. Measuring the right KPIs
5. Timing—how to evolve and
scale your business over time
Our view
Optimism is an essential ingredient for any company,
but high confidence needs to translate into on-the-ground
focus on the right activities and actions to feed success.
Marketing done well
ensures your activity is
underpinned by a well
constructed strategy:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
On the face of it our respondents were highly
confident about growth, but when you scratch the
surface weak points emerge as you dig into the
data and uncover vulnerabilities.
Having senior marketing expertise in an
organisation can be an overall confidence boost,
but it doesn’t always mean coherent marketing
strategy and best practice are being applied.
Many respondents lacked a real understanding
of customers and target audiences—a marketing
fundamental that feeds the success of building a
strong and sustainable marketing growth plan.
Scale-ups and B2B businesses have specific
challenges that also bring opportunities for
stronger growth. There’s a danger for both in
pulling back on marketing spend when the results
aren’t seen short-term. We saw lots of evidence
that business and marketing leaders are prioritising
short term wins—but is that an approach that leads
to long term growth? At Open Velocity, we don’t
think so.
For scale-ups, those early days of success can
lull you into a false sense of optimism as your
proposition gains traction, but in many respects
you’re picking off the low-hanging fruit and the
pain starts to be felt as you need to maintain
momentum. It is difficult to ‘cross the chasm’ as
start-ups look to become larger businesses, with
costs increasing and initial growth slowing. Just
40% of businesses survive their fifth year.
Getting the right expertise, pulling the right levers
and understanding the critical metrics are the
core building blocks of a strong and sustainable
marketing strategy.
1. Customer and target audience understanding
2. Proposition fit with audience
3. Knowing which levers to pull and when
4. Measuring the right KPIs
5. Timing—how to evolve and
scale your business over time
Our view
Optimism is an essential ingredient for any company,
but high confidence needs to translate into on-the-ground
focus on the right activities and actions to feed success.
Marketing done well
ensures your activity is
underpinned by a well
constructed strategy:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Panel
insights
Our survey uncovered four key
themes impacting marketing
decisions in 2024.
8
PANEL INSIGHTS MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
insights
Our survey uncovered four key
themes impacting marketing
decisions in 2024.
8
PANEL INSIGHTS MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
9
THE CONFIDENCE GAP
The
confidence gap
We’re tentatively emerging from
a chaotic economic landscape,
but organisations are feeling
bullish about the future.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
THE CONFIDENCE GAP
The
confidence gap
We’re tentatively emerging from
a chaotic economic landscape,
but organisations are feeling
bullish about the future.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
THE CONFIDENCE GAP
10
Not since the Second World War has there been a more chaotic period for the
global economy. From the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020, the start of the
Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, and high inflation across the world leading to the
Cost of Living crisis in the last 18 months, growth over the last 5 years in the UK
has, unsurprisingly, been poor. The UK economy also fell into recession towards
the end of 2023.
Business confidence
doesn’t match
projected growth
We’re tentatively emerging from a chaotic
economic landscape, but organisations are
feeling bullish about the future.
UK economic growth in 2023
GDP growth 2019-2024 (%)
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
10
Not since the Second World War has there been a more chaotic period for the
global economy. From the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020, the start of the
Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, and high inflation across the world leading to the
Cost of Living crisis in the last 18 months, growth over the last 5 years in the UK
has, unsurprisingly, been poor. The UK economy also fell into recession towards
the end of 2023.
Business confidence
doesn’t match
projected growth
We’re tentatively emerging from a chaotic
economic landscape, but organisations are
feeling bullish about the future.
UK economic growth in 2023
GDP growth 2019-2024 (%)
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
THE CONFIDENCE GAP
11
The forecast for the short term isn’t particularly positive either.The IMF
estimates that UK GDP will grow by just 0.8% in 2024, and by 1.5% in 2025.
Research also predicts that 7,000 businesses per quarter will fail throughout
2024 as a result of the continuing impact of the Cost of Living crisis—50%
more than pre-pandemic rates. However, despite the gloomy outlook, the
confidence our respondents had that they’d hit their 12 month and 3-5 year
goals was extremely high.
Business confidence
doesn’t match
projected growth
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
38Extremely confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
Extremely confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
51
11
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
43
46
11
0
How confident are you that you can meet your
growth targets over the next 3–5 years? (%)
How confident are you that you’re going to
hit your growth goals in the year ahead? (%)
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
11
The forecast for the short term isn’t particularly positive either.The IMF
estimates that UK GDP will grow by just 0.8% in 2024, and by 1.5% in 2025.
Research also predicts that 7,000 businesses per quarter will fail throughout
2024 as a result of the continuing impact of the Cost of Living crisis—50%
more than pre-pandemic rates. However, despite the gloomy outlook, the
confidence our respondents had that they’d hit their 12 month and 3-5 year
goals was extremely high.
Business confidence
doesn’t match
projected growth
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
38Extremely confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
Extremely confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
51
11
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
43
46
11
0
How confident are you that you can meet your
growth targets over the next 3–5 years? (%)
How confident are you that you’re going to
hit your growth goals in the year ahead? (%)
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
12
Q1 RESEARCH REPORTTHE CONFIDENCE GAP
Business confidence
doesn’t match
projected growth
In the responses to these questions
we saw a clear link between
confidence for the short term and
confidence for the medium term.
The more optimistic marketing and
business leaders were for the year
ahead, the more optimistic they felt
about the 3-5 year picture.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Q1 RESEARCH REPORTTHE CONFIDENCE GAP
Business confidence
doesn’t match
projected growth
In the responses to these questions
we saw a clear link between
confidence for the short term and
confidence for the medium term.
The more optimistic marketing and
business leaders were for the year
ahead, the more optimistic they felt
about the 3-5 year picture.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Q1 RESEARCH REPORTTHE CONFIDENCE GAP
What’s
fuelling
this
confidence?
Survey respondents
weren’t asked to
justify their levels of
confidence, but there
were commonalities
between the most
confident and least
confident groups.
The most bullish of our respondents skewed towards:
By contrast, our most hesitant respondents tended to be…
Male Larger High Growth Businesses Marketing led by senior marketer/CMO
Had to refine proposition post-launch
Scale-up Businesses
Marketing led
by non-CEO exec team member
92%
very or extremely confident
vs 85% for females.
94%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
95%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
38%
somewhat confident
vs 11% average
12%
extremely confident
vs 38% average
50%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
92%
very or extremely confident
vs 87% for females.
90%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
92%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
25%
somewhat confident
vs 11% average
20%
extremely confident
vs 42% average
63%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
Next 12 months
Next 12 months
3-5 years
3-5 years
13
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
What’s
fuelling
this
confidence?
Survey respondents
weren’t asked to
justify their levels of
confidence, but there
were commonalities
between the most
confident and least
confident groups.
The most bullish of our respondents skewed towards:
By contrast, our most hesitant respondents tended to be…
Male Larger High Growth Businesses Marketing led by senior marketer/CMO
Had to refine proposition post-launch
Scale-up Businesses
Marketing led
by non-CEO exec team member
92%
very or extremely confident
vs 85% for females.
94%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
95%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
38%
somewhat confident
vs 11% average
12%
extremely confident
vs 38% average
50%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
92%
very or extremely confident
vs 87% for females.
90%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
92%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
25%
somewhat confident
vs 11% average
20%
extremely confident
vs 42% average
63%
very or extremely confident
vs 89% average
Next 12 months
Next 12 months
3-5 years
3-5 years
13
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
THE CONFIDENCE GAP
14
The most bullish respondents reported having a great idea and
launching it as soon as they could. Conversely, the companies
that had had to refine their offering based on customer
feedback and insight post-launch were the least confident.
We had a great idea and launched it as soon as we could
We had a great idea that we developed further based on our own views and understanding of the market
We had an idea and then developed it further with research / target customer input before we launched
We brought our proposition to market and then refined it post launch based on customer feedback and insight
What’s fuelling
this confidence?
There was also strong correlation
between confidence and the
approach the business took to
launching the product or service.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
23
23
63
61
14
16
0
68
74
32
26
0
0
0
0
38
57
52
33
10
10
0
0
25
25
38
50
38
25
0
0
0
How confident are you that you can meet your
growth targets over the next 3–5 years?
How confident are you that you’re going to
hit your growth goals in the year ahead?
Extremely confident
Extremely confident
Very confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
Not confident
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
14
The most bullish respondents reported having a great idea and
launching it as soon as they could. Conversely, the companies
that had had to refine their offering based on customer
feedback and insight post-launch were the least confident.
We had a great idea and launched it as soon as we could
We had a great idea that we developed further based on our own views and understanding of the market
We had an idea and then developed it further with research / target customer input before we launched
We brought our proposition to market and then refined it post launch based on customer feedback and insight
What’s fuelling
this confidence?
There was also strong correlation
between confidence and the
approach the business took to
launching the product or service.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
23
23
63
61
14
16
0
68
74
32
26
0
0
0
0
38
57
52
33
10
10
0
0
25
25
38
50
38
25
0
0
0
How confident are you that you can meet your
growth targets over the next 3–5 years?
How confident are you that you’re going to
hit your growth goals in the year ahead?
Extremely confident
Extremely confident
Very confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
Not confident
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
15
The Confidence of these organisations increases
for the medium term, and note the big jump in
‘Very confident’ responses from the companies
that developed their proposition with research
and target audience input pre-launch. This more
cautious approach to proposition development
appears to lead to more sustainable,
long term confidence. Indeed, research from
Microsoft found that businesses who examine
their customer behavior and use it to leverage
consumer insights outperform their competitors
by 85% in sales growth.
1. Is your confidence validated by external
factors and what your data is telling you?
2. Do you believe your current marketing
activities will deliver for you over the
long-term?
3. Would your business performance be
more sustainable if you better understood
your customers?
What’s fuelling
this confidence?
Although refining your proposition based on
customer feedback is undoubtedly a sound approach,
recognising your proposition needs more work
understandingly undermines short term confidence.
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
THE CONFIDENCE GAP MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
The Confidence of these organisations increases
for the medium term, and note the big jump in
‘Very confident’ responses from the companies
that developed their proposition with research
and target audience input pre-launch. This more
cautious approach to proposition development
appears to lead to more sustainable,
long term confidence. Indeed, research from
Microsoft found that businesses who examine
their customer behavior and use it to leverage
consumer insights outperform their competitors
by 85% in sales growth.
1. Is your confidence validated by external
factors and what your data is telling you?
2. Do you believe your current marketing
activities will deliver for you over the
long-term?
3. Would your business performance be
more sustainable if you better understood
your customers?
What’s fuelling
this confidence?
Although refining your proposition based on
customer feedback is undoubtedly a sound approach,
recognising your proposition needs more work
understandingly undermines short term confidence.
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
THE CONFIDENCE GAP MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Scaling
isn’t easy
We saw high levels of confidence
across the board, but one group
that was noticeably less confident
about their short-medium term
growth were scale-ups.
16
SCALING ISN’T EASY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
isn’t easy
We saw high levels of confidence
across the board, but one group
that was noticeably less confident
about their short-medium term
growth were scale-ups.
16
SCALING ISN’T EASY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
17
In the context of this survey, we defined a
scale-up as a company that has a mid-range number
of employees (46-100), and revenue that skews
lower to mid range. This wobble in confidence
could be linked to the growing pains of businesses
that are looking to ‘cross the chasm’, moving from
start-up to larger businesses. Could scale-ups be
getting nervous as they see their costs increase,
the initial growth slowing down and erosion of
their USP? When you consider that just 40% of
businesses survive their fifth year, compared
to 93% making it through their first year, this
hesitancy is understandable.
‘Growing pains’
stifling confidence
We saw high levels of confidence across the board,
but one group that was noticeably less confident about
their short-medium term growth were scale-ups.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Start-ups Scale-ups High-growth Average
Start-ups Scale-ups High-growth Average
SCALING ISN’T EASY
Somewhat confident
Confident Very confident
How confident are you that you’re going to
hit your growth goals in the year ahead?
How confident are you that you can meet your
growth targets over the next 3–5 years?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
In the context of this survey, we defined a
scale-up as a company that has a mid-range number
of employees (46-100), and revenue that skews
lower to mid range. This wobble in confidence
could be linked to the growing pains of businesses
that are looking to ‘cross the chasm’, moving from
start-up to larger businesses. Could scale-ups be
getting nervous as they see their costs increase,
the initial growth slowing down and erosion of
their USP? When you consider that just 40% of
businesses survive their fifth year, compared
to 93% making it through their first year, this
hesitancy is understandable.
‘Growing pains’
stifling confidence
We saw high levels of confidence across the board,
but one group that was noticeably less confident about
their short-medium term growth were scale-ups.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Start-ups Scale-ups High-growth Average
Start-ups Scale-ups High-growth Average
SCALING ISN’T EASY
Somewhat confident
Confident Very confident
How confident are you that you’re going to
hit your growth goals in the year ahead?
How confident are you that you can meet your
growth targets over the next 3–5 years?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
18
More likely to be in the slower-growing
B2C space
The consumer market has been growing at a slower
rate than the B2B market post-pandemic, and B2C
businesses are more likely to be in the scale-up
phase (25% vs 19% for B2B).
A USP problem?
Scale-ups were much less confident in the
uniqueness of their product or service proposition.
Over half (52%) reported being ‘different to the
competition’ but that they ‘didn’t offer anything
truly unique’, versus the 38% survey average.
A further 12% reported that they struggle to stand
out in a crowded market place.
A disjointed marketing strategy?
Almost half (48%) of scale-ups are splitting
responsibility for marketing between the
marketing team and the founder or CEO,
versus just 29% for the survey average.
Is this shared approach leading to a disjointed
strategy, where the aims of marketing might
not match those of the founder?
Scale-up’s Marketing Catch 22
Scale-ups were much more likely to
prioritise marketing spend where they
can see direct results and clearly measure
ROI (48% versus 37% survey average),
but they were the least likely to increase
their marketing budget (40% versus 53%).
This becomes a Catch 22 when trying to
grow the business, not only making it harder
but also impacting confidence.
1. Are you confident that your USP is well
defined and clearly articulated?
2. Are you spending more money on marketing
but sales are plateauing?
3. Do you have a clear set of marketing
performance indicators, aligned to
business goals?
Scaling isn’t easy
What else does our survey tell us about scale-ups that
might suggest reasons behind this reduced confidence?
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
SCALING ISN’T EASY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
More likely to be in the slower-growing
B2C space
The consumer market has been growing at a slower
rate than the B2B market post-pandemic, and B2C
businesses are more likely to be in the scale-up
phase (25% vs 19% for B2B).
A USP problem?
Scale-ups were much less confident in the
uniqueness of their product or service proposition.
Over half (52%) reported being ‘different to the
competition’ but that they ‘didn’t offer anything
truly unique’, versus the 38% survey average.
A further 12% reported that they struggle to stand
out in a crowded market place.
A disjointed marketing strategy?
Almost half (48%) of scale-ups are splitting
responsibility for marketing between the
marketing team and the founder or CEO,
versus just 29% for the survey average.
Is this shared approach leading to a disjointed
strategy, where the aims of marketing might
not match those of the founder?
Scale-up’s Marketing Catch 22
Scale-ups were much more likely to
prioritise marketing spend where they
can see direct results and clearly measure
ROI (48% versus 37% survey average),
but they were the least likely to increase
their marketing budget (40% versus 53%).
This becomes a Catch 22 when trying to
grow the business, not only making it harder
but also impacting confidence.
1. Are you confident that your USP is well
defined and clearly articulated?
2. Are you spending more money on marketing
but sales are plateauing?
3. Do you have a clear set of marketing
performance indicators, aligned to
business goals?
Scaling isn’t easy
What else does our survey tell us about scale-ups that
might suggest reasons behind this reduced confidence?
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
SCALING ISN’T EASY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
19
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH? MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Are marketers
practising what
they preach?
We found that the respondent
organisations with in-house
marketing expertise weren’t
necessarily following marketing
best practices.
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH? MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Are marketers
practising what
they preach?
We found that the respondent
organisations with in-house
marketing expertise weren’t
necessarily following marketing
best practices.
20
However, despite the in-house marketing
expertise, these companies aren’t necessarily
following best practices.
Prioritising direct results
Businesses with an in-house senior marketer
or CMO are most likely to want to see a direct
ROI from marketing activity. This group was also
the least likely to feel comfortable spending in
less tangible ways, even if they could see overall
revenue performance improving. They could be
feeling the pressure to deliver results, but are
marketers making a rod for their own back?
This approach is contrary to what we know works.
Research from 2022 found long term brand building
led to greater profitability and greater resilience
in dealing with market shocks, with the strongest
brand builders delivering 30% higher returns.
Further, research by McKinsey found that
investment in brand and IP results in growing
revenue seven times faster than companies that
don’t—across all sectors.
Interestingly in our survey where marketing
responsibility was split between marketing and the
CEO/founder, companies were happier to spend
in less tangible ways. And where marketing was a
direct responsibility of the CEO/founder or another
member of the Executive Team, they were the most
likely to invest in marketing without an in-year
return, if it supported longer-term growth
(not the marketers).
Practising what we preach?
One third of the organisations we surveyed had a
senior marketer or CMO leading their marketing efforts,
while just under one third (29%) shared responsibility
between marketing and the founder or CEO.
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Short-term focus
Long-term focus
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
A senior
marketer or
CMO
Founder or
CEO
Shared
between
marketing and
the Founder/
CEO
Someone on
the executive
team who isn’t
the Founder /
CEO
How who’s leading marketing shapes
marketing investment focus (%)
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
However, despite the in-house marketing
expertise, these companies aren’t necessarily
following best practices.
Prioritising direct results
Businesses with an in-house senior marketer
or CMO are most likely to want to see a direct
ROI from marketing activity. This group was also
the least likely to feel comfortable spending in
less tangible ways, even if they could see overall
revenue performance improving. They could be
feeling the pressure to deliver results, but are
marketers making a rod for their own back?
This approach is contrary to what we know works.
Research from 2022 found long term brand building
led to greater profitability and greater resilience
in dealing with market shocks, with the strongest
brand builders delivering 30% higher returns.
Further, research by McKinsey found that
investment in brand and IP results in growing
revenue seven times faster than companies that
don’t—across all sectors.
Interestingly in our survey where marketing
responsibility was split between marketing and the
CEO/founder, companies were happier to spend
in less tangible ways. And where marketing was a
direct responsibility of the CEO/founder or another
member of the Executive Team, they were the most
likely to invest in marketing without an in-year
return, if it supported longer-term growth
(not the marketers).
Practising what we preach?
One third of the organisations we surveyed had a
senior marketer or CMO leading their marketing efforts,
while just under one third (29%) shared responsibility
between marketing and the founder or CEO.
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Short-term focus
Long-term focus
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
A senior
marketer or
CMO
Founder or
CEO
Shared
between
marketing and
the Founder/
CEO
Someone on
the executive
team who isn’t
the Founder /
CEO
How who’s leading marketing shapes
marketing investment focus (%)
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
21
They were however the most bullish about getting a great idea to market
quickly and the least likely to have developed the idea with target customer
input before launch, a point raised earlier regarding best practice for long-term
sales growth.
Despite their short-term focus on results and
direct returns, our ‘marketing expert-led’
companies were more likely to have a clear
Unique Selling Point (59% vs 55% average)
and be very confident they have a well
defined target market (51% v 38% average).
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Businesses with in-house marketing expertise
Businesses without in-house expertise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Not Confident Somewhat
Confident
Confident Very Confident
We have a
unique selling
point and clear
competitive
advantage
We’re different
to our
competitors
but don’t offer
anything truly
unique
We struggle
to stand out
in a crowded
marketplace
We worry
our product/
service looks
like
everyone else’s
How confident are you that you know who you’re
selling to and have a clearly defined target audience?
Which best describes your current
product service proposition?
Practising what we preach?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
They were however the most bullish about getting a great idea to market
quickly and the least likely to have developed the idea with target customer
input before launch, a point raised earlier regarding best practice for long-term
sales growth.
Despite their short-term focus on results and
direct returns, our ‘marketing expert-led’
companies were more likely to have a clear
Unique Selling Point (59% vs 55% average)
and be very confident they have a well
defined target market (51% v 38% average).
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Businesses with in-house marketing expertise
Businesses without in-house expertise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Not Confident Somewhat
Confident
Confident Very Confident
We have a
unique selling
point and clear
competitive
advantage
We’re different
to our
competitors
but don’t offer
anything truly
unique
We struggle
to stand out
in a crowded
marketplace
We worry
our product/
service looks
like
everyone else’s
How confident are you that you know who you’re
selling to and have a clearly defined target audience?
Which best describes your current
product service proposition?
Practising what we preach?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
22
Does this contradiction point to an overly bullish
internal perspective being applied to their own
company, with senior marketers struggling to see
the deficiencies or competitive risks for their
own proposition?
The companies researched for this report all stated
that technology or proprietary IP were key to their
competitive advantage; having a laser-sharp focus
on the external market and how this can impact
your USP is vital in today’s competitive landscape.
This is reinforced by insight from The British
Business Bank, which states that safeguarding their
IP is one of the most important things an SME
can do to protect their business and grow versus
the competition.
Although our respondents had much confidence in
their USPs, more generally 68% of CMOs think rivalry
is becoming more intense and 59% expect to see more
competitor innovation throughout 2024
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Practising what we preach?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Does this contradiction point to an overly bullish
internal perspective being applied to their own
company, with senior marketers struggling to see
the deficiencies or competitive risks for their
own proposition?
The companies researched for this report all stated
that technology or proprietary IP were key to their
competitive advantage; having a laser-sharp focus
on the external market and how this can impact
your USP is vital in today’s competitive landscape.
This is reinforced by insight from The British
Business Bank, which states that safeguarding their
IP is one of the most important things an SME
can do to protect their business and grow versus
the competition.
Although our respondents had much confidence in
their USPs, more generally 68% of CMOs think rivalry
is becoming more intense and 59% expect to see more
competitor innovation throughout 2024
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Practising what we preach?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Q1 RESEARCH REPORT
23
Although both groups were less likely to report
that their brand identity didn’t match the business
they are, they were more likely to report having not
revisited their branding since launch. Organisations
with a Senior Marketer or CMO in place were
also just as llikely to report not giving this a lot of
thought compared to the industry average.
Less than half of our respondents—including
when an organisation’s marketing is led by a
senior marketer—have ‘consciously developed
[their] brand identity and messaging as the
business has evolved’, with a third stating they’ve
either not given it a lot of thought, or that it’s
currently inaccurate.
The strong levels of confidence in their product
and proposition, even when they’re not putting the
time into working on their brand identity, makes
sense when you consider where their priorities
lie—direct results and immediate return, rather
than less tangible ways like brand building.
What else is impacting brand identity?
There were other notable factors correlating
with this question. Males were significantly more
likely to report not giving this a lot of though, while
females were more likely to consciously develop
brand identity and messaging.
What’s more, smaller businesses (under 25
employees) were much less likely to have
consciously developed their brand identity
and messaging—18% versus 47%. This is
unsurprising if, as we’d expect, the majority
of newer organisations are within this cohort.
We also saw a disconnect between companies with
in-house marketing expertise and the state of their
current brand identity and messaging.
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Practising what we preach?
1. Is your marketing bringing the right target
customers through your doors?
2. Are you overly-focused on short-term return
on marketing investment?
3. Does your proposition align with what
your customers want?
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
Businesses with in-house marketing expertise
Businesses without in-house expertise
0
10
20
30
40
50
We’ve not
given this a lot
of thought
I don’t think
how we look
and what we
say matches
back to the
business we
are
We developed
our brand logo
and design
at the outset
and we’ve not
revisited it
We’ve
consciously
developed our
brand identity
and messaging
as the business
has evolved
How would you describe your current
brand identity and messaging (%)
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
23
Although both groups were less likely to report
that their brand identity didn’t match the business
they are, they were more likely to report having not
revisited their branding since launch. Organisations
with a Senior Marketer or CMO in place were
also just as llikely to report not giving this a lot of
thought compared to the industry average.
Less than half of our respondents—including
when an organisation’s marketing is led by a
senior marketer—have ‘consciously developed
[their] brand identity and messaging as the
business has evolved’, with a third stating they’ve
either not given it a lot of thought, or that it’s
currently inaccurate.
The strong levels of confidence in their product
and proposition, even when they’re not putting the
time into working on their brand identity, makes
sense when you consider where their priorities
lie—direct results and immediate return, rather
than less tangible ways like brand building.
What else is impacting brand identity?
There were other notable factors correlating
with this question. Males were significantly more
likely to report not giving this a lot of though, while
females were more likely to consciously develop
brand identity and messaging.
What’s more, smaller businesses (under 25
employees) were much less likely to have
consciously developed their brand identity
and messaging—18% versus 47%. This is
unsurprising if, as we’d expect, the majority
of newer organisations are within this cohort.
We also saw a disconnect between companies with
in-house marketing expertise and the state of their
current brand identity and messaging.
ARE MARKETERS PRACTISING WHAT THEY PREACH?
Practising what we preach?
1. Is your marketing bringing the right target
customers through your doors?
2. Are you overly-focused on short-term return
on marketing investment?
3. Does your proposition align with what
your customers want?
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
Businesses with in-house marketing expertise
Businesses without in-house expertise
0
10
20
30
40
50
We’ve not
given this a lot
of thought
I don’t think
how we look
and what we
say matches
back to the
business we
are
We developed
our brand logo
and design
at the outset
and we’ve not
revisited it
We’ve
consciously
developed our
brand identity
and messaging
as the business
has evolved
How would you describe your current
brand identity and messaging (%)
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
From
Boom-2-Bust?
B2B organisations are much
less confident about the
medium term outlook than
their B2C counterparts.
24
FROM BOOM-2-BUST? MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Boom-2-Bust?
B2B organisations are much
less confident about the
medium term outlook than
their B2C counterparts.
24
FROM BOOM-2-BUST? MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
25
Although the proportion of respondents selecting
‘Confident’ or ‘Very Confident’ was very close,
48% of B2C organisations selected ‘Very Confident’
versus just 39% for B2B organisations. What’s
more, B2B organisations are also less likely to be
increasing their marketing budgets year-on-year.
We saw high confidence
across the board,
but B2B organisations
were notably less confident
about the medium term
outlook than their B2C
counterparts.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
B2B B2C
B2B B2C
How do you expect to manage your marketing
budget over the next 12 to 18 months? (%)
Confidence in hitting growth targets
over the next 3–5yrs (%)
From
Boom-2-Bust?
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
Very confident Confident Somewhat confident
Increase marketing budget
Don’t set a fixed budget
Keep marketing budget the same
Set marketing budget based on short-term performance
Reduce marketing budget
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Although the proportion of respondents selecting
‘Confident’ or ‘Very Confident’ was very close,
48% of B2C organisations selected ‘Very Confident’
versus just 39% for B2B organisations. What’s
more, B2B organisations are also less likely to be
increasing their marketing budgets year-on-year.
We saw high confidence
across the board,
but B2B organisations
were notably less confident
about the medium term
outlook than their B2C
counterparts.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
B2B B2C
B2B B2C
How do you expect to manage your marketing
budget over the next 12 to 18 months? (%)
Confidence in hitting growth targets
over the next 3–5yrs (%)
From
Boom-2-Bust?
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
Very confident Confident Somewhat confident
Increase marketing budget
Don’t set a fixed budget
Keep marketing budget the same
Set marketing budget based on short-term performance
Reduce marketing budget
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
26
Indeed, research from 2024 found that B2B startups are less likely to invest in
strategic marketing and yet have the most to benefit from it, especially regarding
early growth and valuation.
This reduced confidence appears to impact
how these businesses approach their marketing
efforts, with B2B organisations being more likely
to focus on direct results, and wanting to see an
immediate return on marketing investment.
How businesses view
marketing investment (%)
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
From Boom-2-Bust?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Short-term focus
Long-term focus
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
A senior
marketer or
CMO
Founder or
CEO
Shared
between
marketing and
the Founder/
CEO
Someone
else at on the
executive team
who isn’t the
Founder/CEO
Indeed, research from 2024 found that B2B startups are less likely to invest in
strategic marketing and yet have the most to benefit from it, especially regarding
early growth and valuation.
This reduced confidence appears to impact
how these businesses approach their marketing
efforts, with B2B organisations being more likely
to focus on direct results, and wanting to see an
immediate return on marketing investment.
How businesses view
marketing investment (%)
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
From Boom-2-Bust?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Short-term focus
Long-term focus
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
A senior
marketer or
CMO
Founder or
CEO
Shared
between
marketing and
the Founder/
CEO
Someone
else at on the
executive team
who isn’t the
Founder/CEO
27
1. B2B undervaluing brand building
Almost two-thirds (62%) of B2C respondents
reporting ‘developing our brand identity and
messaging as the business has evolved’,
but just one-third (35%) of B2B organisations
have done so. However, with typically longer sales
cycles in the B2B space, is this short term focus
now impacting sales and medium term confidence?
2. Less in-house marketing expertise
One third of B2B respondents had the
CEO/founder running their marketing efforts,
versus just one fifth of B2C respondents.
B2B organisations were also more likely to
not have marketing responsibilities
‘clearly defined’.
We were able to identify some trends
when looking at the difference between
B2C and B2B organisations that could
be impacting confidence.
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
From Boom-2-Bust?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
B2B B2C
B2B B2C
Who has responsibility for your
company’s activities and budget? (%)
Which of the following applies to
your current brand identity and messaging? (%)
We’ve consciously developed our brand identity and messaging as the business has evolved
We developed our brand logo and design at the outset and we’ve not revisited it
I don’t think how we look and what we say matches back to the business we are
We’ve not given this a lot of thought
Someone else at on the executive team who isn’t the Founder/CEONot clearly defined
A senior marketer or CMO Founder or CEO Shared between marketing and the Founder/CEO
1. B2B undervaluing brand building
Almost two-thirds (62%) of B2C respondents
reporting ‘developing our brand identity and
messaging as the business has evolved’,
but just one-third (35%) of B2B organisations
have done so. However, with typically longer sales
cycles in the B2B space, is this short term focus
now impacting sales and medium term confidence?
2. Less in-house marketing expertise
One third of B2B respondents had the
CEO/founder running their marketing efforts,
versus just one fifth of B2C respondents.
B2B organisations were also more likely to
not have marketing responsibilities
‘clearly defined’.
We were able to identify some trends
when looking at the difference between
B2C and B2B organisations that could
be impacting confidence.
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
From Boom-2-Bust?
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
B2B B2C
B2B B2C
Who has responsibility for your
company’s activities and budget? (%)
Which of the following applies to
your current brand identity and messaging? (%)
We’ve consciously developed our brand identity and messaging as the business has evolved
We developed our brand logo and design at the outset and we’ve not revisited it
I don’t think how we look and what we say matches back to the business we are
We’ve not given this a lot of thought
Someone else at on the executive team who isn’t the Founder/CEONot clearly defined
A senior marketer or CMO Founder or CEO Shared between marketing and the Founder/CEO
28
3. Too quick to market?
B2B organisations were more likely to have
had a great idea and launched it as soon as possible
(29% versus 23%). Is that initial bullishness being
eroded post-launch?
4. B2B respondents skewed towards
tech or IT sector
These sectors change quickly and enjoyed
rapid growth during the pandemic, but the
future landscape is less certain.
We were able to identify some trends
when looking at the difference between
B2C and B2B organisations that could
be impacting confidence.
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
0
10
20
30
40
50
Which best describes how you brought your
product/proposition to market? (%)
We had a great idea and launched it as soon as we could
We brought our proposition to market and then refined it post launch based on customer feedback and insight
We had a great idea that we developed further based on our own views and understanding of the market
We had an idea and then developed it further with research / target customer input before we launched
B2B B2C
1. Are your marketing ROI expectations aligned
with the sales cycle of your business?
2. Does your external brand and messaging
align with how you see your business?
3. Do you understand your customers and have
confidence you’re meeting their needs?
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
From Boom-2-Bust?
3. Too quick to market?
B2B organisations were more likely to have
had a great idea and launched it as soon as possible
(29% versus 23%). Is that initial bullishness being
eroded post-launch?
4. B2B respondents skewed towards
tech or IT sector
These sectors change quickly and enjoyed
rapid growth during the pandemic, but the
future landscape is less certain.
We were able to identify some trends
when looking at the difference between
B2C and B2B organisations that could
be impacting confidence.
FROM BOOM-2-BUST?
0
10
20
30
40
50
Which best describes how you brought your
product/proposition to market? (%)
We had a great idea and launched it as soon as we could
We brought our proposition to market and then refined it post launch based on customer feedback and insight
We had a great idea that we developed further based on our own views and understanding of the market
We had an idea and then developed it further with research / target customer input before we launched
B2B B2C
1. Are your marketing ROI expectations aligned
with the sales cycle of your business?
2. Does your external brand and messaging
align with how you see your business?
3. Do you understand your customers and have
confidence you’re meeting their needs?
Why this matters
3 questions you need to be
asking yourself to challenge
internal perceptions
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
From Boom-2-Bust?
29
This is despite 95% of respondents reporting being
confident (or very confident) thhat they know who they’re
selling to and have a clearly defined target audience. This
shows a very real gap between how well organisations say
they’re set-up for success and where in reality they feel
most vulnerable.
For the most part our respondents had not validated their
propositions with their audience, with these responses
highlighting a distinct lack of knowledge about how they’re
meeting customer needs and positioning themselves to
gain traction.
The marketing
weak point
When we asked our respondents what
the number one thing was that they’d
like more clarity on, a plurality of
responses pointed towards wanting
a better understanding of their
customers or target audience.
THE MARKETING WEAK POINT
“We want more clarity around
exactly what resonates with our
customers and how to highlight
our unique selling points.”
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
This is despite 95% of respondents reporting being
confident (or very confident) thhat they know who they’re
selling to and have a clearly defined target audience. This
shows a very real gap between how well organisations say
they’re set-up for success and where in reality they feel
most vulnerable.
For the most part our respondents had not validated their
propositions with their audience, with these responses
highlighting a distinct lack of knowledge about how they’re
meeting customer needs and positioning themselves to
gain traction.
The marketing
weak point
When we asked our respondents what
the number one thing was that they’d
like more clarity on, a plurality of
responses pointed towards wanting
a better understanding of their
customers or target audience.
THE MARKETING WEAK POINT
“We want more clarity around
exactly what resonates with our
customers and how to highlight
our unique selling points.”
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Why
this matters
What are the implications for
organisations looking to grow
in 2024 and beyond?
30
WHY THIS MATTERS? MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
this matters
What are the implications for
organisations looking to grow
in 2024 and beyond?
30
WHY THIS MATTERS? MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
WHY THIS MATTERS?
31
The big
take-outs
Organisation confidence can be fuelled by internal
factors - having marketing expertise within the
business, internal belief in your go to market
proposition (whether tested with consumers or
not), or seeing short-term growth success. But we
know in practice businesses fail and struggle to
scale, so making sure you’re playing to a long-term
growth agenda is vital.
For scale-ups a key challenge is having the
experience in the business to understand that
reduced marketing ROI is usually a factor of over
concentration in specific marketing channels
where the cost of incremental sales increases.
It’s a catch-22 - it’s difficult to justify marketing
investment, focus turns to marketing performance
and demonstrating a ROI and this leads to more
short-term tactics to boost sales. At this stage, the
right strategy is investing in longer term awareness
and reputation building, but it’s a step you need
to take with confidence, with a clear and robust
marketing strategy in place.
Marketing expertise isn’t always playing out into
marketing best practice within organisations with
senior marketers at the helm. ‘Great ideas’ aren’t
being validated with target audience input and
marketing investment focus is overly short-term
focused. It’s likely senior marketers are feeling
the pressure of getting propositions to market
quickly and needing to show results. Growth
works in the short-term, but longer-term sales can
be compromised, making it tougher to maintain
momentum. Building the right marketing strategy,
with strong proposition fit, pays off over the
long-term.
In B2B businesses, marketing in many ways feels
undervalued as a discipline that supports growth
and commercial success - a missed opportunity.
With longer sales cycles and a sharper focus on
the long-term viability of the business, there
needs to be a switch in mindsets from marketing
being a short-term activity to feed the immediate
sales funnel, to a brand investment that is
building a credible reputation and shaping
sustainable propositions.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
31
The big
take-outs
Organisation confidence can be fuelled by internal
factors - having marketing expertise within the
business, internal belief in your go to market
proposition (whether tested with consumers or
not), or seeing short-term growth success. But we
know in practice businesses fail and struggle to
scale, so making sure you’re playing to a long-term
growth agenda is vital.
For scale-ups a key challenge is having the
experience in the business to understand that
reduced marketing ROI is usually a factor of over
concentration in specific marketing channels
where the cost of incremental sales increases.
It’s a catch-22 - it’s difficult to justify marketing
investment, focus turns to marketing performance
and demonstrating a ROI and this leads to more
short-term tactics to boost sales. At this stage, the
right strategy is investing in longer term awareness
and reputation building, but it’s a step you need
to take with confidence, with a clear and robust
marketing strategy in place.
Marketing expertise isn’t always playing out into
marketing best practice within organisations with
senior marketers at the helm. ‘Great ideas’ aren’t
being validated with target audience input and
marketing investment focus is overly short-term
focused. It’s likely senior marketers are feeling
the pressure of getting propositions to market
quickly and needing to show results. Growth
works in the short-term, but longer-term sales can
be compromised, making it tougher to maintain
momentum. Building the right marketing strategy,
with strong proposition fit, pays off over the
long-term.
In B2B businesses, marketing in many ways feels
undervalued as a discipline that supports growth
and commercial success - a missed opportunity.
With longer sales cycles and a sharper focus on
the long-term viability of the business, there
needs to be a switch in mindsets from marketing
being a short-term activity to feed the immediate
sales funnel, to a brand investment that is
building a credible reputation and shaping
sustainable propositions.
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Positioning & Messaging
Less than half (47%) of our panel respondents had
consciously developed their brand identity and
messaging as their business had evolved.
Marketing Growth Plans
What we saw in the survey results suggested a
lack of holistic marketing planning and investment
in long-term growth; with two thirds of our
respondents focused on short-term budget pay-
back and 40% of respondents expecting marketing
investment to either stay the same or reduce.
Go-to-Market Strategy
Getting target audience proposition validation was
the exception, rather than the norm. Over one
quarter of respondents (27%) had had a great idea
and launched it as soon as they could, while almost
half simply developed their idea based on their own
views and understanding of the market.
Product/Service Fit
Almost half of respondents didn’t believe
they had a unique selling point or clear
competitive advantage.
When we’re working with our clients to develop
world-class marketing strategies, we focus
on four core building blocks: Positioning &
Messaging, Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing
Growth Plans and Product/Service Fit.
WHY THIS MATTERS?
32
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Less than half (47%) of our panel respondents had
consciously developed their brand identity and
messaging as their business had evolved.
Marketing Growth Plans
What we saw in the survey results suggested a
lack of holistic marketing planning and investment
in long-term growth; with two thirds of our
respondents focused on short-term budget pay-
back and 40% of respondents expecting marketing
investment to either stay the same or reduce.
Go-to-Market Strategy
Getting target audience proposition validation was
the exception, rather than the norm. Over one
quarter of respondents (27%) had had a great idea
and launched it as soon as they could, while almost
half simply developed their idea based on their own
views and understanding of the market.
Product/Service Fit
Almost half of respondents didn’t believe
they had a unique selling point or clear
competitive advantage.
When we’re working with our clients to develop
world-class marketing strategies, we focus
on four core building blocks: Positioning &
Messaging, Go-to-Market Strategy, Marketing
Growth Plans and Product/Service Fit.
WHY THIS MATTERS?
32
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Positioning & Messaging
Research from 2022 which found long term brand
building led to greater profitability and greater
resilience in dealing with market shocks, with the
strongest brand builders delivering 30% higher
returns in 2021.
Marketing Growth Plans
Research in 2021 published to the Journal of Open
Innovation found that there’s a direct link between
marketing investment and business valuation.
Go-to-Market Strategy
Research from Microsoft found that businesses
who examine their customer behavior and use it to
leverage consumer insights outperform their peers
by 85% in sales growth.
Product/Service Fit
Research in 2017 found that businesses often
misunderstand their customer motivations and/
or levels of satisfaction in their goods or services,
underlining a key misunderstanding of the
customer themselves.
Yet having these building blocks in
place can make such a big difference
to an organisation’s growth.
WHY THIS MATTERS?
33
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Research from 2022 which found long term brand
building led to greater profitability and greater
resilience in dealing with market shocks, with the
strongest brand builders delivering 30% higher
returns in 2021.
Marketing Growth Plans
Research in 2021 published to the Journal of Open
Innovation found that there’s a direct link between
marketing investment and business valuation.
Go-to-Market Strategy
Research from Microsoft found that businesses
who examine their customer behavior and use it to
leverage consumer insights outperform their peers
by 85% in sales growth.
Product/Service Fit
Research in 2017 found that businesses often
misunderstand their customer motivations and/
or levels of satisfaction in their goods or services,
underlining a key misunderstanding of the
customer themselves.
Yet having these building blocks in
place can make such a big difference
to an organisation’s growth.
WHY THIS MATTERS?
33
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
WHY THIS MATTERS?
34
Too quick to market
B2B brands were more likely to launch their idea
as quickly as possible (29% versus 25%). They
were also less likely to develop their idea based on
research and customer input (17% versus 19%).
Lack in-house expertise
Fewer B2B organisations had a senior marketer or
CMO responsible for their marketing efforts (31%
versus 37%), and significantly more likely to place
responsibility with the founder or CEO (34% versus
21%).
Undervalue their brand identity and messaging
Just over one third of B2B organisations had
consciously developed their brand identity and
messaging (versus 62% of B2C brands), while they
were also more likely to report ‘not giving this a lot
of thought’—15% versus 10%.
One of the key findings from this report
is that there’s a significant missed
opportunity for B2B organisations.
The missed
opportunity for B2B
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
34
Too quick to market
B2B brands were more likely to launch their idea
as quickly as possible (29% versus 25%). They
were also less likely to develop their idea based on
research and customer input (17% versus 19%).
Lack in-house expertise
Fewer B2B organisations had a senior marketer or
CMO responsible for their marketing efforts (31%
versus 37%), and significantly more likely to place
responsibility with the founder or CEO (34% versus
21%).
Undervalue their brand identity and messaging
Just over one third of B2B organisations had
consciously developed their brand identity and
messaging (versus 62% of B2C brands), while they
were also more likely to report ‘not giving this a lot
of thought’—15% versus 10%.
One of the key findings from this report
is that there’s a significant missed
opportunity for B2B organisations.
The missed
opportunity for B2B
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
35
We’re ex-CMOs and Marketing Directors from
diverse sectors, with varied career paths, focusing
our collective knowledge and perspectives on your
marketing and sales challenges.
Long-term success
We help businesses find profitable and sustainable
routes to market, making sure the right marketing
building blocks are in place to set you up for long-
term success.
Strategic insight to grow your business
We work with Founders, CEOs, Executive Teams
and Investment Firms, from early-stage startups
to high-growth businesses, giving you the insight
you need to formulate marketing strategies that
drive results.
We work with businesses where our skills fit
and we know we can deliver, where you need:
- A clear path to scale and grow
- Solutions to the market challenges
hampering your growth
- High-level expertise and a track record
of delivering effective growth strategies
- Fractional or interim senior marketing
expertise to drive business success
How we do it
We work directly with the senior team, or alongside
your marketing team, to understand your challenges
and align your marketing activities with your business
strategy and goals. We workshop challenges and
gather insights into your organisation, uncovering
facts, analysing data and generating competitor and
customer insights that help you understand your
market fit and target audience.
We help you position what you do in a
differentiated and distinctive way, clarifying
positioning and messaging that resonates,
building marketing growth plans that tap into
target audience behaviours and preferences.
We’ll support your execution, working with
internal teams, freelancers and agencies to
make sure delivery aligns with strategy, setting
out performance metrics and ensuring delivery
stays on track.
If your marketing activity is already up and
running, we can use our expertise to audit what
you’re doing, outputting a comprehensive action
plan and recommendations to strengthen your
marketing plans.
About Open Velocity
and how we help
We’re a team of marketing professionals passionate
about helping you solve your marketing problems.
WHY THIS MATTERS?
“Open Velocity provided vital marketing support at
a pivotal time in YorkTest’s ongoing journey to build
on out UK market presence and expand into the US.
Their support has contributed to a record year for
our company in 2022 and helped us lay solid foun-
dations for future growth.”
Richard Dawson, CEO
“It is a pleasure to work alongside Open Velocity,
the strategic insight and direction they provided
gave us clarity and helped prioritise our plans for
the upcoming 12-18 months.”
Craig Heenighan, Managing Director
“Working with Open Velocity has been extremely
valuable for 34SP. They helped us understand what
makes us special in a crowded market and how to
message what we do to customers. Their work has
made a big difference, giving us solid foundations
to build on.”
Stuart Melling, Co-Founder & Business
Development Director
“The OpenVelocity competency audit is excellent.
It quickly identified the areas where our marketing
thinking was either incomplete or inconsistent, and
through this highlighted a set of prioritised actions
to help address the associated issues. I would hap-
pily recommend it to any company wanting to im-
prove their marketing strategy and delivery.”
Bob Bevan, Chief Operating Officer
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
We’re ex-CMOs and Marketing Directors from
diverse sectors, with varied career paths, focusing
our collective knowledge and perspectives on your
marketing and sales challenges.
Long-term success
We help businesses find profitable and sustainable
routes to market, making sure the right marketing
building blocks are in place to set you up for long-
term success.
Strategic insight to grow your business
We work with Founders, CEOs, Executive Teams
and Investment Firms, from early-stage startups
to high-growth businesses, giving you the insight
you need to formulate marketing strategies that
drive results.
We work with businesses where our skills fit
and we know we can deliver, where you need:
- A clear path to scale and grow
- Solutions to the market challenges
hampering your growth
- High-level expertise and a track record
of delivering effective growth strategies
- Fractional or interim senior marketing
expertise to drive business success
How we do it
We work directly with the senior team, or alongside
your marketing team, to understand your challenges
and align your marketing activities with your business
strategy and goals. We workshop challenges and
gather insights into your organisation, uncovering
facts, analysing data and generating competitor and
customer insights that help you understand your
market fit and target audience.
We help you position what you do in a
differentiated and distinctive way, clarifying
positioning and messaging that resonates,
building marketing growth plans that tap into
target audience behaviours and preferences.
We’ll support your execution, working with
internal teams, freelancers and agencies to
make sure delivery aligns with strategy, setting
out performance metrics and ensuring delivery
stays on track.
If your marketing activity is already up and
running, we can use our expertise to audit what
you’re doing, outputting a comprehensive action
plan and recommendations to strengthen your
marketing plans.
About Open Velocity
and how we help
We’re a team of marketing professionals passionate
about helping you solve your marketing problems.
WHY THIS MATTERS?
“Open Velocity provided vital marketing support at
a pivotal time in YorkTest’s ongoing journey to build
on out UK market presence and expand into the US.
Their support has contributed to a record year for
our company in 2022 and helped us lay solid foun-
dations for future growth.”
Richard Dawson, CEO
“It is a pleasure to work alongside Open Velocity,
the strategic insight and direction they provided
gave us clarity and helped prioritise our plans for
the upcoming 12-18 months.”
Craig Heenighan, Managing Director
“Working with Open Velocity has been extremely
valuable for 34SP. They helped us understand what
makes us special in a crowded market and how to
message what we do to customers. Their work has
made a big difference, giving us solid foundations
to build on.”
Stuart Melling, Co-Founder & Business
Development Director
“The OpenVelocity competency audit is excellent.
It quickly identified the areas where our marketing
thinking was either incomplete or inconsistent, and
through this highlighted a set of prioritised actions
to help address the associated issues. I would hap-
pily recommend it to any company wanting to im-
prove their marketing strategy and delivery.”
Bob Bevan, Chief Operating Officer
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Who we are
Bethan Vincent
Managing Partner
An experienced B2B marketing leader and entrepreneur who
has been driving accelerated revenue growth as a Marketing
Director and Consultant for over a decade. A regular speaker
at international conferences and is podcast host of The Brave.
Sector expertise: SaaS, Technology Services, Digital
Agencies, Ecommerce
Jon Paget
Senior Partner
In a career spanning close to 20 years, Jon has managed
global marketing teams, delivered sustainable growth for
large organisations and start-ups, and has established himself
as a highly respected university lecturer.
Sector expertise: Technology Services, Health Tech,
Social Tech, Travel
Lisa Wood
Senior Partner
30+ years of B2C and B2B marketing experience, the last
decade in executive level roles. With a background in private
equity, large corporates as well as start-ups, Lisa has a proven
track record of building brands from the ground up.
Sector expertise: Fintech, Banking, Travel,
Legal Services
36
ABOUT OPEN VELOCITY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Bethan Vincent
Managing Partner
An experienced B2B marketing leader and entrepreneur who
has been driving accelerated revenue growth as a Marketing
Director and Consultant for over a decade. A regular speaker
at international conferences and is podcast host of The Brave.
Sector expertise: SaaS, Technology Services, Digital
Agencies, Ecommerce
Jon Paget
Senior Partner
In a career spanning close to 20 years, Jon has managed
global marketing teams, delivered sustainable growth for
large organisations and start-ups, and has established himself
as a highly respected university lecturer.
Sector expertise: Technology Services, Health Tech,
Social Tech, Travel
Lisa Wood
Senior Partner
30+ years of B2C and B2B marketing experience, the last
decade in executive level roles. With a background in private
equity, large corporates as well as start-ups, Lisa has a proven
track record of building brands from the ground up.
Sector expertise: Fintech, Banking, Travel,
Legal Services
36
ABOUT OPEN VELOCITY MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Approach
Who we surveyed for this report
37
APPROACH MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
Who we surveyed for this report
37
APPROACH MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
38
APPROACH
We talked to organisations where tech or
proprietary IP is seen as the key source of their
competitive advantage, which are the types of
companies we support with our consultancy
work on a day-to-day basis. The range of our
panel respondents can be seen below.
We worked with B2B and B2C market
research specialists Savanta to question
a panel of over 100 senior business leaders
about their current confidence levels,
marketing approaches and capabilities.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
CEOs/Founders 15%
Director/Exec Director 20%
Managing Directors 27%
Managing Directors 7%
Senior Leadership 30%
£1-5m
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
39%
£5-10m 28%
£10-15m 18%
£15m+ 15%
B2C 44% B2B 56%
High growth 61%
Scale-up 21%
Start-up 18%
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
APPROACH
We talked to organisations where tech or
proprietary IP is seen as the key source of their
competitive advantage, which are the types of
companies we support with our consultancy
work on a day-to-day basis. The range of our
panel respondents can be seen below.
We worked with B2B and B2C market
research specialists Savanta to question
a panel of over 100 senior business leaders
about their current confidence levels,
marketing approaches and capabilities.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
CEOs/Founders 15%
Director/Exec Director 20%
Managing Directors 27%
Managing Directors 7%
Senior Leadership 30%
£1-5m
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
39%
£5-10m 28%
£10-15m 18%
£15m+ 15%
B2C 44% B2B 56%
High growth 61%
Scale-up 21%
Start-up 18%
MARKETING VULNERABILITIES IN TECH AND IP-LED COMPANIES
openvelocity.com
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