Sector Insight
04 / 09
Our point of view
04 / 04
Clients increasingly need to justify marketing investment internally. Agencies that connect brand, creative and campaign activity to pipeline, behaviour change and business outcomes will be better positioned to protect value.
B2B buyers often review content, expertise and previous work before contacting an agency. Marketing systems must identify interest, support longer consideration cycles and create relevant reasons to start a conversation.
AI is accelerating research, content creation and production. Successful agencies will use it to improve efficiency while clearly demonstrating the value of original insight, human judgement and strategic creativity.
When campaign, contact, sales and project information sit across different systems, agencies struggle to understand what creates profitable work. Connected reporting allows investment and effort to follow the strongest opportunities.
The Numbers
02 / 02
£145.8bn
The UK creative industries grew by 4.6% in 2024, compared with 1% growth across the wider economy. The opportunity is significant, but so is competition for attention, trust and budget.
Source · Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2024 provisional estimates.
23.8%
Almost a quarter of UK companies increased marketing budgets in Q2 2026. However, weaker business confidence means agencies must provide stronger evidence that investment is creating measurable commercial progress.
Source · IPA Bellwether Report, Q2 2026.
Selected case studies
Challenge
Marketing operations were fragmented across disconnected tools, hindering efficiency and visibility. The client needed to unify marketing activities within HubSpot, aligning with the existing sales team's platform usage. Inconsistent reporting and data capture also made campaign tracking difficult.
What we delivered
We implemented HubSpot as a central marketing hub, integrated with the existing sales portal. This included foundation setup, social media and analytics integrations, and branded templates. We also provided hands-on training and prepared HubSpot for upcoming campaign launches.
Outcome
The client achieved a more efficient, unified marketing setup, aligning with sales and supporting campaign delivery. They now experience time savings, improved visibility, and increased confidence in using the platform. This provides a solid foundation for future campaigns and data refinement.
Challenge
Cicero's sales and marketing activities were fragmented across multiple tools and manual processes, particularly for event-led business development. This limited pipeline visibility, consistent logging of engagement, and structured automation for follow-up. They needed a centralised CRM reflecting their relationship-driven approach to winning work.
What we delivered
Forbidden implemented a tailored HubSpot CRM with customised pipelines for deals and renewals, alongside automated workflows for event management. This included segmentation, lead scoring, and consistent sales follow-up sequences. Comprehensive onboarding and adoption support ensured the system's successful integration.
Outcome
Cicero now operates from a centralised CRM, providing clear pipeline visibility and structured management of sales and marketing activities. This has led to consistent pipeline management, improved accountability, and event-driven engagement directly informing lead prioritisation. The system is embedded in leadership reporting, providing a scalable foundation for future growth.
