Inside the B2B jury room: What’s shaping the next era of business-to-business?

A common thread across the jury’s conversations was a renewed respect for emotional resonance in a category that has long defaulted to rational messaging. Many judges argued that B2B buyers, who are often younger and more connected than assumed, expect messages that feel human and creative. As Kandace J Baker, head of B2B at Initiative, put it: “We must craft stories that build trust, inspire and make people feel something.” That belief was echoed consistently by other jurors who see warmth, narrative and humanity returning to the center of B2B storytelling.

Several judges described emotional connection as a competitive advantage rather than a soft layer. For Fiona Couper, CMO and ESG lead at VCCP, “emotional engagement trumps all, whether in B2B or B2C.” She stressed that rational messaging only matters “in the final few meters,” not in the opening moments where brands must be remembered. Emma Robinson, head of B2B marketing at Canva, reinforced this idea through the lens of creativity, noting that “in a rational space, levity, emotional resonance and storytelling differentiate far more than functional claims.”

Judges also zeroed in on the need for sharper brand systems. Rachel Cullitan, VP of marketing at Walker Sands, pointed to the reality that “90% of B2B buyers choose a vendor they had in mind before researching their purchase,” making baseline brand awareness and consistency essential for performance. Many judges agreed that brand and demand work as one system, not competing forces. As Seray Korchagin, senior marketing communications manager and consultant at Optus Wholesale, said: “Brand campaigns help warm up potential customers, so when it’s time to convert, they’re already engaged and more likely to act.”

Creative rigor was another recurring theme. Brent Turner, EVP of strategy and solutions at Opus Agency, described the rise of “artificial fluency,” where AI makes everything feel fast and frictionless but not always interesting. He argued that brands should “create friction” and treat it as an intentional design choice because in a world of autocomplete, “visible effort carries more weight.” Doug Kamp, chief creative officer at Mower, offered a related caution, noting that without human craft, “we are beginning to see a lot of artificial AI-washed garbage being dumped into the media-verse,” which opens the door for brands that “zag toward authentic, more analog ideas.”

That push for intentionality extended to where and how brands show up. While several judges said LinkedIn remains the most dependable place to reach buyers, others pointed to formats that build deeper connection. Will Thompson, B2B marketing director at Multiverse, noted that small in-person events are having a “renaissance,” offering access to senior stakeholders who are otherwise hard to reach. Turner went further, describing offline experiences as the next center of gravity, citing a “mass digital detox” and the rising value of real presence.

Even as judges called for more analog moments, AI showed up in almost every conversation. Judges described its impact on segmentation, content personalization, lead qualification and campaign optimization. Baker emphasized that decision-makers now use AI tools as a research layer, forcing brands to create “AI-ready content that is clear, structured and discoverable.” Robinson framed AI as an assistant that helps scale campaigns “that feel both personal and relevant.”

Even the most technical perspectives contained a human throughline. Laura Mercurio, B2B strategy director and lead at LauraLME Digital Consulting, highlighted AI's role in unifying data and accelerating ABM but also emphasized that AI cannot replace the “strategic, relational and contextual expertise” needed to engage senior buyers. Silke Maria Robeller, global director of customer care at Rainforest Alliance, described AI as a way to make faster, better decisions while stressing that human-centered stories remain essential for emotional connection.

Across these viewpoints, the strongest B2B work stood out because it blended precision with meaning. Smart data use, clearer brand foundations, more distinctive creativity and emotional storytelling all combined to create work that felt confident and memorable instead of formulaic.

Where B2B still struggles and what the field must solve next

Judges described a landscape full of opportunity but not without structural challenges. Several pointed to fragmentation inside organizations as a major obstacle. Chris Blades, senior director of B2B marketing at Verizon, noted that many businesses still suffer from “a deep lack of alignment between marketing and sales teams” with mismatched narratives and inconsistent customer journeys. Korchagin added that tech stacks built over years often create data silos and make it “harder to get a clear view of the customer journey or performance.”

Mercurio described the even deeper challenge of unifying brand, activation, product and solution marketing across entire organizations. Without this integration, she argued, “even the strongest brand narratives struggle to transform intent into actionable revenue.” Robeller echoed that sentiment from a mission-driven perspective, pointing to internal complexity that leaves audiences unsure where to find what they need.

Measurement surfaced as another sticking point. Thompson pointed to the ambiguity around success metrics, saying that many teams still rely on “arbitrary measures of success” that do not reflect impact or revenue. His view was that B2B marketers must do the work internally to prove value in clearer, more unified ways.

Time and clarity kept surfacing, quieter themes but powerful ones. Kamp stressed that time is required for true insight, for crafting ideas with care and for building trust that lasts beyond a single conversion moment. Turner described a tension between scale and intimacy, arguing that the best work will “use AI to target, score and orchestrate” but also invest in the small rooms where relationships take root.

Several judges also highlighted the rising importance of skills that blend data with taste. Turner said that “tools raise the floor; taste raises the ceiling,” while Cullitan noted that AI will never replace good taste. Robinson described the next generation of B2B talent as T-shaped marketers who can combine creativity, data fluency, empathy and AI literacy. Kamp cut directly to the core with a call for emotional intelligence, especially in an environment where teams and customers are remote and overwhelmed.

The final challenge echoed across almost every judge: nonlinear buying journeys with more participants and more influence points than ever. Robinson pointed out that buyers are shaped less by ads and more by peers, creators and communities. This reality makes unified brand experience and narrative consistency not just ideal but non-negotiable.

Taken together, the judges’ feedback suggests a field that is outgrowing its old habits. The siloed thinking, the overwrought metrics and the functional selling that never quite connected are all losing ground to work that feels more deliberate and more human. AI will handle the mechanics, but the winners will be shaped by the teams that can hold clarity, creativity, emotional resonance and alignment in the same frame.