MBE Group

McKinsey's 2025 research found that companies in the top quartile for brand investment grow revenues 2.5 times faster than those in the bottom quartile. In industries with long sales cycles, which include aerospace, defense, commercial transportation and mobility technology, that finding deserves serious attention.

The reason brand investment pays off across the entire funnel in these sectors is straightforward. A buyer who has been aware of your company, knows what your company stands for and formed a positive impression before they have a need is easier and less expensive to convert than one encountering you for the first time in a competitive bid. Brand investment isn't separate from pipeline generation. In long-cycle B2B categories, it's the foundation that makes pipeline generation more efficient.

Marcomm Lexicon: Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of digital ad inventory in real time. When a webpage loads, an auction happens in milliseconds and your ad is placed almost instantly. It now accounts for more than 90% of all digital display advertising in the U.S., making it the backbone of most banner, video and display ad campaigns you see across the web.

The risk is in where the ads actually end up running. Without active monitoring, programmatic campaigns can place ads next to content that has nothing to do with your brand — or actively contradicts it. An experienced agency manages this on your behalf, choosing the appropriate publisher sites, building exclusion lists, reviewing placement reports and using verification tools to make sure your advertising is reaching the right eyes.

Stat of the Month

The ROI for email marketing averages $42 for every $1 spent, according to the Digital Marketing Institute, making it the highest-return channel in the marketing mix by a significant margin.

That return is driven largely by the fact that email reaches an audience that has already expressed interest in hearing from you. If your email list is growing but your email program is not receiving the same strategic attention as your social media or paid campaigns, it’s time to adjust your focus.

Last week, Frank Buscemi attended the IPREX Global Communication EMEA Regional Conference in Warsaw, Poland, with affiliates from Europe, Asia, Australia and the U.S., to collaborate and discuss “The Trust Paradox” as AI takes on a larger role in marketing communications.

AI is impacting marketing faster than any tool introduced before it, and our agency – and our partners – are taking direct, deliberate action to integrate it effectively into our day-to-day activities.

Conference highlights included:

-Introductions to AI-enabled technology being developed by partners to streamline AEO/GEO activities in media relations from partners in Sweden (Spotlight) and Germany (TDUB Kommunikationsberatung).

-"Credibility by Design" with Lena Mitkowa — keeping graphic design at the top of its game in an era when AI tools fool the masses into believing they can skip the professionals.

-Krystian Cieślak’s presentation on “The Cost of Cheap Trust” for rethinking your agency’s business model from traditional to technological.

-Presenting, as members of the IPREX Global AI Task Force, the first round of results of the IPREX global AI assessment survey, along with Johan Wetterqvist and Karsten Hoppe.

-Meeting our new partners from Italy (AURAI | Consulting), Albania (Trium Communications), Montenegro (PR Consultancy Hub) and Chicago (Bear Icebox Communications).

-The city of Warsaw – a combination of history and resilience, and an infectious modern energy – served as an excellent backdrop.

These conferences enable a seamless connection with our worldwide partners, a highly collaborative learning environment, a wider cultural and market understanding, and expand the skills and tools we can integrate to support our clients.

A special thanks to Jakub Zajdel of More Communications (Warsaw) for his hospitality, along with Alexandra Mayhew and the IPREX Global Board for building an excellent program.

Last week, the MBE Group team headed to Louisville for the Auto Care Association Fall Leadership Days — and it did not disappoint.

From thought-provoking forums to high-energy meetings, we dove headfirst into the conversations shaping the future of the automotive aftermarket. Even better? We got to connect face-to-face with valued clients and some of the brightest minds in the industry.

With over 40 years deeply rooted in the aftermarket, moments like these remind us why we do what we do. We're not just observers — we're active participants in building what comes next.

The future of the aftermarket is being written right now, and we're proud to have a hand in it.

The global average e-commerce conversion rate is between 1.8% and 3%, but top performers are achieving 4.7% or higher, according to 2026 benchmarks compiled across multiple research platforms. The difference is often found in the details.

According to Baymard Institute, 67% of shoppers evaluate product images before reading a word of description, making photography one of the highest-leverage investments on any product page. Products with 11 to 30 reviews convert 68% higher than those with none, according to PowerReviews. And if your checkout requires account creation before purchase, Baymard identifies forced account creation as one of the top five reasons shoppers abandon their cart.

Trade publications are going through a significant period of ownership consolidation with larger companies acquiring smaller titles, which means fewer independent editorial voices and a shrinking pool of decision-makers. The B2B media market is projected to reach $47.8 billion by 2034, according to DataIntelo, but that growth is increasingly concentrated among a smaller number of players.

The practical implication is that the editors and journalists who cover your industry are harder to reach, and established relationships with journalists are more important than ever. Offering them access to your executives for comment on breaking industry news, original data and a genuine willingness to be useful pays off when you have important news to get out to your industry.

Have you heard of the term “dark social”? It was coined by Atlantic journalist Alexis Madrigal in 2012 after noticing that a significant portion of the publication's web traffic showed up as "direct" in analytics, meaning no referral source or trackable origin. More than a decade later, it accounts for as much as 84% of all online sharing activity, according to Statista, and 77.5% of B2B buyers share links via dark social channels, such as direct messages, WhatsApp and Slack, according to Cognism. This means your content is most likely doing more work than your data shows.

To gain more tracking control, create short, trackable URLs for high-value content so links retain attribution when shared privately. And add an open-ended question to your lead forms to find out how people heard about your company.

Rebranding is a significant investment in time, budget and energy. While much attention will obviously go to the creative work, an equal amount must be given to the new identity’s rollout plan for maximum impact and ROI. This month’s blog post covers what to think through before the design work starts and what a proper rollout plan actually includes. If your company is considering a rebrand or is in the middle of one, this is worth reading before you go any further.

Read the post: blog/why-a-rebrand-rollout-plan-is-as-important-as-the-new-identity/

Boat shows generate an estimated $450 million in annual sales across more than 150 events, according to AMW Group, and for many dealers they represent 35% to 40% of annual revenue. Unlike auto shows, attendees can purchase directly on the floor, which makes booth design, product presentation and staff readiness directly tied to sales results.

The challenge, as more than one marine executive has noted, is that costs are getting harder to justify without a strategy behind the investment. If your company plans to exhibit, set specific sales and lead goals before you arrive. Brief your team on how to qualify conversations quickly. Capture enough context with each contact, including what they were interested in and where they are in the buying process. And follow up within 48 hours.