PR spending rises, Google News sees 20% drop & B2B Brand Health Index

Published 20/10/2023 / FRESH INK

What are the top B2B cyber, fintech, renewable energy and logistics brands? 🧐 

Fresh Ink spotlights Transmission’s APEX Index of B2B Brand Health. It reveals what customers and prospects think of B2B brands, providing insight on how brand are currently performing against the brand strategy.  

Find out about this and more, on the latest trending stories for CMOs, CEOs and CROs: 

💸 PR spending rises at strongest pace in five years  

🏆 B2B Brand Health Index puts CrowdStrike on top for cyber 

📉 Google News sees 20% drop in visits 

📱 BBC Cuts Back on Newsnight, in Favour of Digital 

👎 Marketing Funnel Not Fit for Purpose 

👪 Shift to Marketing-Owned Customer Relationships 

PR spending rises at strongest pace in five years  

Efforts to protect brands and capitalise on competitor hesitancy supported marketing budget expansions, although total marketing spend slowed in Q3, according to the Bellwether Report that’s published by S&P Global on behalf of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. Budget growth was seen in event spending (a net balance of +5.9%), direct marketing (net balance of +4.3%), and public relations (+4.0). In fact, PR spending rose at the strongest pace in five years. 

IPA Bellwether – Marketing Budget Growth  

B2B Brand Health Index puts CrowdStrike on top for cyber  

Brand building makes up just 5-20% of overall marketing budgets in B2B. But, during tough economic climates and uncertainty, brand building and maintaining customer relationships could be the most valuable weapon. By analysing brand health, B2B organisations can gain a better understanding of awareness, perception, and experience. Find out the top brands for cyber, fintech, renewable energy and logistics in the latest B2B Brand Health Index. 

Transmission – B2B Brand Health: The APEX Index 2023  

Google News sees 20% drop in visits 

None of the ten biggest news websites in the world increased their traffic year-on-year in September. Among the top ten, Google News saw the biggest slump in visits (down 20% compared to last September) followed by another news aggregator, Microsoft’s MSN (down 15%) and the Guardian (down 14%). The BBC retained its spot as the biggest news-brand in the world with a combined one billion visits to the bbc.com and bbc.co.uk domains, although this does include visitors to its entertainment and other content.  

Press Gazette – Top 50 biggest news websites in the world: September slump for ten biggest names  

BBC Cuts Back on Newsnight, in Favour of Digital 

The BBC has plans to cut costs, but also to invest in digital and streaming platforms. While flagship shows such as Newsnight are being cut back, it plans to reinvest more of its news budget in its increasingly popular digital and streaming services. As the BBC shifts more broadly to a digital-first strategy, it is also moving more of its news teams and programmes out of London to cities such as Manchester to reduce costs. Will other broadcasters follow suit?   

Financial Times – BBC set to reveal cost-cutting plans as part of news services overhaul  

Marketing Funnel Not Fit for Purpose  

B2B buying journeys are relatively complicated, often involving several people and are built over an extended period. And, now marketers are calling for a funnel refresh – highlighting the lack of customer centricity. Instead, the focus must shift to advocacy, loyalty and maintaining customer relationships throughout the buying process. 

Marketing Week – “It’s not customer-centric”: B2B brands on why an alternative to the funnel is needed  

Shift to Marketing-Owned Customer Relationships 

62% of marketing leaders are reporting a shift from a sales-owned to a marketing-owned customer relationship, the B2B CMO role is at a corporate crossroads, according to a survey of 188 Fortune 500 senior marketing leaders. The EM B2B group explored the complexity of the CMO role, with key responsibilities spread across analytics and performance measurement (57%), content development (45%) and lead generation (40%). 

EssenceMedia – How Digital Transformation has Elevated Marketing to a C-Suite Growth Driver  

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