46% of B2B companies now run hybrid models — but how should UK retail brands think about the split? A practical framework for marketing directors managing both B2B and consumer pressure.
The Commercial Intelligence Maturity Model: Where Does Your Brand Sit?
Assess your B2B marketing function across 5 maturity levels — from reactive to intelligence-led. Use our 20-question diagnostic to find your level and close the gap.
AI-First vs AI-Augmented Marketing: What B2B Leaders Need to Know in 2026
Dean McCoubreyCo-Founder and Chief AI Strategy Officer of Humaine The AI Marketing Shift Something shifted in 2025. Marketing leaders stopped asking whether their agencies use AI and started asking a different question: Why does everyone’s AI work look the same? The answer…
The 2026 B2B Buying Shift-Why AI Will Be in 90% of Your Deals. Whether You Like It or Not.
Grant Hillary Summary Analysts project that by 2028, up to 90% of B2B buying decisions will be AI-mediated, with an estimated $15 trillion in global spend flowing through autonomous agent systems. The research phase, vendor shortlisting, and evaluation now happen inside…
The Six Labs Model: When to Deploy Each Marketing Capability
Dean McCoubrey The Six Labs Model is a commercial intelligence framework that explains when and why to deploy different marketing capabilities across strategy, brand, content, production, search, and technology to improve decision quality and revenue outcomes in B2B organisations. The Six…
The Complete Guide to Commercial Intelligence for B2B Brands
By Dean McCoubrey What Commercial Intelligence Actually Means What is commercial intelligence in marketing? Commercial intelligence is an operating system that turns market signals, buyer behaviour, and go-to-market performance data into decision-grade guidance for commercial leaders. Its purpose is to give leadership…
Gen AI needs a Carney Moment in 2026
By Dean McCoubrey Summary: Gen AI and the future. AI dominance mirrors Big Tech’s rise through utility, not force. Yet regulatory frameworks lag behind capability, creating an ethics vacuum. Unlike social media, Gen AI participates in cognition itself, automating decision-making in…
Davos Insights: Why AI Will Break Most Brand Strategies Before 2030
Mike Butler Summary AI is dismantling traditional brand strategies by reshaping how value is perceived and discovered. Five critical threats emerge by 2030: commoditised differentiation, trust as currency, skill misalignment, data ethics, and invisible brands inside machines. Winning brands will build…
3 Key Takeaways From NRF 2026 for Retail Marketing Leaders
By Mike Butler NRF 2026, The event of the year I spent the last few days in New York during NRF 2026, one of the biggest retail events of the year. This conference was grounded in truth rather than shaped by futuristic…
Best AI-First Marketing Agencies in the UK for 2026
By Dean McCoubrey AI has become core infrastructure for modern marketing. By 2026, the UK’s leading agencies are less defined by channels, headcount, or awards, and more by how effectively they combine AI, human judgement, and commercial outcomes within a single…
