IBM and Salesforce Voted Most Respected B2B Brands by Marketing Leaders

LONDON, January 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Circle Research survey reveals B2B leaders' views on marketing in a B2B environment and priorities for the year ahead

A new survey by Circle Research has revealed that marketing leaders in the UK consider IBM and Salesforce to be the most respected B2B brands in the UK.

The report, developed in association with B2B Marketing, analysed the responses of 100 B2B marketing leaders, all individuals on or reporting directly into their organisation's senior leadership team.  Collectively they controlled B2B marketing budgets of £188 million. Key findings of the report include:

• The most respected B2B brands
• The biggest challenges faced in managing a B2B brand
• The current size of B2B marketing budgets
• The attributes of a successful marketing leader
• Current gaps in marketing team skills

It reveals that:

• One in ten name Salesforce as the single B2B brand they most admire. The same proportion name IBM
• 62% spend 3% or less of annual turnover on marketing. 75% say this budget is less than needed
• 42% measure ROI from their marketing activity rarely if at all
• 79% of report that their marketing team has skills gaps - data analytics, customer insight, digital marketing and marketing technology top the list
• 68% say staff too busy to take time out for training and only 26% have structured development plan for all of team

Andrew Dalglish, Director for Circle Research, comments: "The B2B Leaders Report 2013 not only reveals that IBM and Salesforce appear to be head and shoulders above the competition in terms of B2B reputation, but also that marketing leaders are all facing changes to their budgets, particularly in relation to turnover allocated to marketing activities.

"Saleforce's Head of UK Marketing and VP EMEA concur with the report and have revealed that for them reputation is all about brand perception and leading from the front. These guiding principles have clearly placed Salesforce on a pedestal in the eyes of its peers, as the report reveals."

Excerpts from Circle Research's interview with Salesforce on B2B brand building can be found here: http://www.circle-research.com/2014/b2b-brands-respect/.  Analysis of the four attributes of a successful B2B marketing leader can be found here: http://www.circle-research.com/2013/getting-top-marketing-tree/.  

Please visit http://www.b2bmarketing.net/resources/b2b-leaders-report-2013 to download the full B2B Leaders Report 2013 or contact Circle Research via http://www.circle-research.com for more information.

Notes to editors

About Circle Research

Circle Research is a B2B market research company which aims to help B2B organisations understand the opinions of their stakeholders, whether they are customers, prospects, employees, or even opinion formers like the media.

Formed in 2006, we combine both qualitative (focus groups, workshops or in depth one-to-one interviews) and quantitative (online survey or CATI telephone interviews) research techniques with statistical analysis in order to deliver an even deeper insight into your business issues. We have done this in more than 100 countries, all to the exacting ISO20252 standard.

The Circle Research team is based in London, UK.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Dalglish, Director for Circle Research on [email protected] or +44(0)20-7960-3802

SOURCE Circle Research