We recently came across some interesting research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute that got us thinking about how B2B brands approach their market presence. Their report ‘Easy to Find: Being Where B2B Buying Happens’ offers a fresh perspective that’s particularly relevant for B2B marketers trying to cut through the noise.
What struck us most wasn’t just the detail of their research, but how it validates what we’ve observed working with B2B brands over the past 30 years. Too often, we see clients making channel decisions based on where they think their customers are, rather than where they actually buy. The research provides the data to back up what many of us have suspected: presence strategy is often built on assumptions rather than evidence.
The reality of B2B brand growth
The reality contradicts common marketing wisdom: B2B brands don’t grow by getting existing customers to buy dramatically more. They grow by attracting more buyers who purchase slightly more often. It’s called the Double Jeopardy pattern, and it fundamentally changes how we should think about presence and prominence.
The Ehrenberg-Bass research identifies three critical dimensions that determine whether your brand gets found when buying decisions happen:
- Presence – being where buying actually happens
- Prominence – being easy to find when you’re there
- Portfolio – having the right mix of products or services
Presence: it’s about revenue, not assumptions
Here’s where many B2B brands get it wrong. They make channel decisions based on preference rather than data. The research suggests a simple but powerful approach: if 30% of your category’s revenue flows through websites, then 30% of your brand’s revenue should too.
We see this challenge constantly in our client work. Sales directors push for more trade shows because “that’s where we’ve always met customers”. Product managers favour specialist publications because they read them personally. Marketing gets pulled towards the latest digital trend because it feels innovative.
But when you step back and look at where revenue actually flows in their category, the picture is often very different. We’ve worked with manufacturing clients who were spending disproportionate amounts on traditional trade publications while underinvesting in digital channels where their customers were increasingly researching solutions.
The research validates what we’ve learned: start with the bigger channels that serve more customers and generate more revenue. Those niche channels? They’re for incremental sales, not your foundation. Marketing should lead channel decisions because we’re the ones with the full customer view across all touchpoints.
Prominence: beyond paid placement
Getting found isn’t just about paying for better placement (though that helps). The research distinguishes between rented prominence and owned prominence, and this distinction is crucial for long-term B2B success.
Rented prominence – like paid search positions or premium directory listings – gives you immediate visibility but disappears when you stop paying. We’ve seen clients become addicted to this approach, constantly upping their ad spend to maintain position whilst never building anything sustainable.
Owned prominence comes from distinctive brand assets that customers recognise across different environments. But here’s where many B2B brands fall short: they think a logo and corporate colours are enough. In our experience, the brands that consistently get found and remembered go much deeper.
Some brands in technical sectors have developed distinctive visual approaches – whether through illustration styles, data visualisation methods or other creative assets – that make their content instantly recognisable across different environments.
The goal isn’t just visual recognition – it’s building distinctive assets that work across digital and physical touchpoints. Think beyond logos to colour combinations, imagery styles, even the tone of voice in your technical documentation.
Portfolio: protect your core
Most successful brands have one core product or service that contributes roughly 50% of revenue. The research suggests protecting and investing in this core whilst ruthlessly removing underperforming offerings that drain resources.
This hits close to home for many of our clients. We regularly work with businesses that have accumulated dozens of products or services over the years, each requiring marketing support, sales training and operational overhead. The finance director knows which ones actually make money, but somehow the marketing budget gets spread across everything equally.
We’ve guided clients through the, sometimes painful process, of portfolio rationalisation. Often, businesses discover that products they consider important are actually underperforming when you look at the data objectively. Cutting these underperformers frees up budget to double down on what’s actually working.
It’s about covering major market segments whilst planning for future needs, but being honest about what’s worth your investment. Use both sales data and Category Entry Points (CEPs) to understand when and why customers enter your market, then align your portfolio accordingly.
The AI factor
Here’s something the original researchers flag that we think is particularly relevant: plan for AI’s impact on search behaviour and website traffic. As AI agents become more prevalent in B2B purchasing, the channels where buying happens will evolve.
From our perspective, this is already happening faster than many B2B brands realise. We’re seeing procurement teams use AI to shortlist suppliers before humans even get involved. Technical buyers are using AI tools to compare specifications and capabilities across dozens of potential providers.
This doesn’t mean traditional channels disappear overnight, but the weighting will shift. Brands that build strong physical availability now – distinctive assets, broad presence, focused portfolios – will be better positioned when AI changes how buyers discover and evaluate solutions. Those relying purely on traditional relationship-building may find themselves filtered out before the conversation even starts.
Why this matters now
Physical Availability works hand-in-hand with Mental Availability – you need both, not one or the other. But in our experience, too many B2B brands focus exclusively on building mental associations whilst neglecting the practical reality of where their customers actually shop.
We see this imbalance constantly. Brands with strong thought leadership and industry recognition that still struggle to convert because they’re simply not present when and where buying decisions happen. Conversely, we’ve worked with companies with excellent distribution but weak differentiation, competing purely on price because customers can’t distinguish them from alternatives.
The research offers a framework for auditing your current presence, identifying gaps and making data-driven decisions about where to invest next. More importantly, it provides the business case for balancing these investments properly.
What we find particularly valuable is how it challenges the B2B marketing industry’s obsession with the new and shiny. It’s not revolutionary thinking, but it is rigorous. And in a world where every B2B marketer is chasing the latest trend, sometimes the most valuable insights come from stepping back and asking fundamental questions about customer behaviour.
For us, this research reinforces something we’ve believed for three decades: the fundamentals matter more than the fads. Master presence, prominence and portfolio, and you’ll weather whatever changes come next.
