By Will Corry, Publisher, The Marketing Blog
Published: 21 July 2026
British business leaders appear to have reached a curious verdict on marketing: it matters, but it does not produce growth.
Three-quarters of the 150 UK B2B CEOs and senior leaders surveyed by Propolis do not believe marketing drives business growth. Yet respondents still recognised that it plays an important role inside their organisations.
This contradiction sits at the centre of The CEO Blind Spot, a new report examining how business leaders judge marketing’s commercial contribution.
Its findings suggest that marketing has an image problem in the boardroom. It may create demand, build brands and bring potential customers into the sales pipeline. However, sales receives much of the credit when those customers eventually buy.
Most CEOs Still See Marketing as a Support Function
The most revealing figure may not be the headline result.
Propolis found that 84% of respondents viewed marketing as a support function, rather than a commercial growth driver.
More than three-quarters also believed sales contributed more to growth. Meanwhile, 67% considered marketing less accountable for business results than sales.
| What UK B2B leaders said | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Marketing does not drive business growth | 75% |
| Marketing is a support function | 84% |
| Sales is a bigger growth driver | 77% |
| Marketing is less accountable than sales | 67% |
| AI and innovation spending is holding marketers back | 35% |
There is an obvious reason why sales receives more recognition.
Sales activity takes place near the point where a company records revenue. A salesperson holds the meeting, negotiates the price and secures the contract. The connection between that work and the resulting income is easy to see.
Marketing’s contribution often begins much earlier.
A buyer might first encounter a company through an article, search result, industry report, event or advertising campaign. Several months may pass before that buyer contacts the sales team.
When the contract is signed, the business can see who closed it. It may have a much poorer record of who created the demand.
The Sale Is the Finish, Not the Beginning
B2B purchases rarely result from one conversation.
Buyers research suppliers, compare their options and discuss purchases with colleagues. They may consume several pieces of content before speaking to anyone from the company.
Marketing can influence every stage of that journey. However, its influence becomes difficult to isolate when a sales cycle lasts six or 12 months.
Many reporting systems make the problem worse. They give credit to the final recorded interaction, even when earlier marketing activity introduced the customer.
This is the “blind spot” described by Propolis: businesses recognise growth when revenue appears while overlooking the work that made the sale possible.
Richard O’Connor, CEO of Propolis, said the survey showed that leaders did not fully value marketing as a commercial function.
“Too many CEOs say they value B2B marketing, but our research suggests they still don’t value it as a commercial growth function,” he said.
“If you believe marketing matters but doesn’t drive growth, it’s difficult to argue you’re recognising its full contribution to the business.”
Is the Boardroom Wrong—or Is Marketing Failing to Make Its Case?
The report will frustrate marketers, but blaming CEOs alone would miss part of the story.
Marketing departments have often reported figures that mean little outside marketing. Impressions, engagement, website visits and email open rates may show campaign activity. They do not automatically prove business value.
A chief executive wants to know whether marketing has produced qualified opportunities, shortened the sales cycle or reduced the cost of winning customers.
If the marketing director cannot answer those questions, the board may reasonably treat the department as a service provider.
Marketing also weakens its position when it focuses on output rather than results. Publishing 20 articles or running five events does not prove that either activity affected buyer behaviour.
However, boards must accept that not every commercial contribution can be traced neatly to a single campaign.
Brand awareness affects which suppliers enter a buyer’s shortlist. Trust affects whether a prospect responds to a salesperson. Neither influence always appears in a standard attribution report.
The answer is not to give marketing credit for every sale. It is to stop pretending that revenue begins with the final sales call.
AI Spending Puts Marketing Budgets at Risk
The debate is becoming more urgent as companies increase spending on artificial intelligence.
According to the survey, 35% of business leaders believed marketers were being held back at board level because investment was moving towards AI and innovation.
AI projects can offer executives a simple financial case. They promise lower costs, quicker processes or fewer working hours spent on repetitive tasks.
Marketing investment often comes with a longer and less certain payback period. That makes it vulnerable when companies want immediate savings.
O’Connor warned that marketing could become an easy target for budget reductions.
“The challenge is that much of marketing’s commercial contribution happens long before revenue appears on a dashboard, making it far less visible than that of functions operating closer to the point of sale,” he said.
There is a danger here for businesses. Cutting marketing can improve this quarter’s cost figures while weakening next year’s sales pipeline.
The effect may not appear immediately. That delay can make the original decision look successful—until fewer buyers begin entering the market.
What Marketing Should Report to the Board
Marketing leaders will not change boardroom perceptions by asking for more recognition. They need evidence connected to the company’s financial goals.
Useful measures include:
- Marketing-sourced sales opportunities
- Marketing-influenced pipeline
- Revenue from target accounts
- Cost per qualified opportunity
- Customer acquisition cost
- Sales-cycle length
- Customer retention
- Revenue from existing customers
- Brand awareness among priority buyers
These measures still have limits. A buyer might encounter several marketing channels before making contact, while sales and marketing may both influence the final decision.
Even so, reporting commercial outcomes is more persuasive than presenting a list of campaign activities.
Marketing leaders should also agree measurement rules with sales and finance. If departments use different definitions of a qualified lead, pipeline or influenced revenue, disputes are inevitable.
Marketing Must Earn Its Place in Growth Discussions
The Propolis research does not prove that marketing drives growth. Nor does it prove that CEOs are wrong.
It shows that many senior business leaders remain unconvinced.
That is a serious issue for a profession seeking more boardroom influence. A department regarded as support will usually receive instructions after the company has made its big decisions. A recognised commercial function helps make those decisions.
Marketing should influence which customers a company pursues, how it enters new markets and why buyers should choose it. If its role begins and ends with producing campaigns, the support-function label becomes harder to challenge.
However, business leaders must also examine how they assign credit.
Sales converts demand, but it does not always create it. Innovation may improve the product, but buyers still need a reason to notice and trust the company selling it.
Marketing’s problem is not that its contribution never exists. It is that the contribution often happens before the board starts counting.
About the Research
The CEO Blind Spot was published by Propolis on 21 July 2026. The research surveyed 150 UK CEOs and senior business leaders working at B2B organisations.
The published information supplied for this article does not state the survey dates, participating industries, company sizes or breakdown between CEOs and other senior leaders.
For that reason, the findings should be presented as the views of the survey respondents—not as proof that 75% of all UK CEOs hold the same opinion.
About the Author
Will Corry is the publisher of The Marketing Blog. He has more than 30 years of publishing experience and has managed over 40 trade publications. He writes about advertising, marketing strategy and the people behind memorable campaigns.