Nearly two-thirds of B2B businesses say buyers are tightening budgets
Almost two-thirds (65%) of B2B businesses believe their buyers are tightening their budgets, with 60% of marketers indicating their budgets and ROI are being monitored more closely than before.
The demographics of B2B buyers are also changing, according to research from Sopro, given 70% B2B buyers are now either Millennials or Gen Z, up from 64% last year.
Younger generations of B2B buyers are more likely to embrace a collaborative attitude to buying decisions, with 57% of these younger buyers consulting peers before purchasing, compared to just 49% of Boomers.
Similarly, leaders under 40s consult nearly twice as many decision makers, involving 6.8 stakeholders on average, versus those over 40 who involve an average of 3.5.
Source: Sopro
Half of marketers plan to boost AI investment by up to 50%
Just over half (52%) of marketers believe AI will “flourish” over the next year, while 50% believe the technology is already demonstrating ROI.
According to No Brainer’s 2025 Marketing Trends Report, 53% of marketers say they are worried AI could replace traditional creative roles, while 56% plan to increase AI spending by up to 50% in the next 12 months.
Similarly, 53% fear AI tools will replace more traditional creative roles in marketing, while 52% say they are “overwhelmed” by the speed of change in digital marketing.
When looking at ecommerce-specific roles, results are similar, with the vast majority (73%) planning to boost spend on AI, but 52% are concerned it will replace more traditional creative roles.
Source: No Brainer
Almost half of data is inaccurate or incomplete, CMOs say
Nearly half (45%) of the data marketers use to make business decisions is incomplete, inaccurate or out of date, according to research by Adverity.
The study of CMOs across the UK, US, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, finds 43% believe less than half the data they have can be trusted.
Nearly a third (30%) say improving data quality will boost marketing performance. This is followed by improving workflows (22%) and increasing data democratisation (21%).
Data completeness, ensuring all data is collected and available, is identified as the area where most progress needs to be made, according to 31% of CMOs. Data consistency (26%) and data uniqueness (16%) are also singled out as areas where improvement is needed.
Source: Adverity
Currys has highest share of brand search in consumer tech
Currys accounted for 24.78% of brand search within consumer electronics-focused companies during the second quarter of 2025, according to MediaVision’s latest Consumer Electronics report.
CEX follows with 10.35%, then EE (4.83%) and Apple (4.68%).
Oura Ring has seen the biggest surge in search demand, up 77.3%, with its ‘Give Us the Finger’ campaign and bold messaging identified as key drivers. Dyson is up 30.4%, driven in part by the Airwrap, and Currys saw 4.1% growth.
For brands that span more than just consumer electronics, Amazon leads the way with 33.18% of search. Ranked second is Argos at 14.46%, while Tesco follows with 10.13%.
Source: MediaVision
Football dominates most improved sports ranking
Of the top-ranked sports leagues and tournaments globally, the FIFA World Cup has seen the biggest boost to brand health over the past year, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex, with its score up 4.2 points to 20.3.
UEFA’s Champions League and European Championship follow, both recording a 3.7 point rise, to give them a score of 18.4 and 15.2, respectively.
Italy’s La Liga (up 3.4 to 9.6) and the Premier League (up 3.2 to 18.6) are the next two most improved sports leagues.
Formula One is the only non-football related sport to see a significant rise in brand health. Its score increased by 2 points to 14.2, making it the seventh fastest growing sport tournament.
When looking at the data split by gender, football dominates for men, with WWE (up 2.9) and Formula One (2.8) the only other sports ranked. For women, the FIFA World Cup is the most improved tournament (up 3.3), but second is the Summer Paralympic Games (2.8), with the Olympics (1.7) and Tour de France (1.4) also seeing a boost.
Source: YouGov
