Every year, when we host the awards, we are given a snapshot of where the industry is heading. And this analysis draws from a deep dive into all shortlisted entries from the 2025 B2B Marketing Awards. Evaluated by more than 100 independent, client-side judges through a rigorous two-stage process, the analysis goes beyond just the winners to reflect the full breadth of high-performing work—offering a clearer picture of what’s driving success in B2B marketing today and how teams can evolve their strategies accordingly. Read on to find out one trend that didn’t come as a surprise: AI.
AI is no longer an experimental add-on in B2B marketing—it is becoming the operating system that underpins how modern teams function. This trend is based on analysis of shortlisted entries from the 2025 B2B Marketing Awards, reviewed by over 100 independent client-side judges through a rigorous two-stage process. The findings show that leading organizations are embedding AI across the entire marketing lifecycle—from insight generation and content creation to campaign execution and optimization.
This shift is being driven by increasing pressure to deliver measurable commercial outcomes while improving efficiency, forcing teams to rethink how work gets done at a foundational level.
“It’s time for AI-X” for KPMG, by We Are Tilt
Gold: Best Digital Experience Initiative and Best Use of AI
In this campaign, AI was used to create personalized client videos focused on helping business leaders unlock the value of AI. In doing so, KPMG’s reputation for innovation, creativity and customer experience was strengthened, generating a return on investment of 3,200%. Working with We Are Tilt, KPMG developed a creative AI stack capable of managing every step in the video production process from script writing to post-production. This stack was used create personalized videos for the Heads of Customer Experience or Chief Marketing Officers at 32 priority target clients, leveraging their annual ranking of UK brands to shape the content. The campaign was a huge success, with the 32 videos watched by the recipients more than 600 times. Meetings were booked with 23 targets, and more than £3.3 million in new work was won on the back of those meetings.
“Accelerate Impact” for Westcoast, by Revere
Silver: Best Use of AI
Westcoast is a leading UK technology distributor. In order to stay ahead of industry expectations, vendor demands and internal stakeholders, they brought Revere on board to lead a strategic AI transformation and elevate marketing performance.
The creativity strategy was built on three pillars: automation for efficiency; optimization for effectiveness; and enhancement for innovation. Revere developed tailored AI solutions that transformed operations, improved performance and unlocked a world of creative potential. The agency delivered bespoke prompt-engineering workshops, saving 30 hours per week by streamlining manual tasks and building AI literacy. AI-powered content creation tools improved brief quality, reduced copy production time by 50% and cut copywriting turnaround by 93%. Revere introduced AI-proofing models to protect SEO performance and implemented AI-driven A/B testing which refined activation with measurable impact. Custom models now support everything from interpreting briefs; fact-checking content and guiding vendor strategies using predictive analytics. Creatively, stock image usage was cut by 50% and bespoke image output was increased by 22% through AI-enhanced processes.
“Bringing More to the Table” for NTT DATA and AWS, by Nyala Marketing
Silver: Best Use of Live Events (Digital, Physical or Hybrid), Gold: Best Use of Creative, Bronze: Best Use of AI
When every B2B brand was talking about the potential of AI to transform customer experience, this campaign cut through the noise by actually showing it. Nyala Marketing took the idea of hosting a dinner where AI, in partnership with a leading sensory chef, designed custom dinners and drinks for each diner based on everything from their physiology to their food memories. The objective was to create short-term sales growth and improve brand health.
NTT DATA (in partnership with AWS) needed to get leading company C-suite execs to explore the potential of AI for customer experience. Nyala needed to position the brands as leading pragmatic innovators in the space, build relationships and uncover business opportunities. They met the brief by creating a brand experience campaign based around a completely unique AI-powered fine dining experience. This was done by weaving the power of AI throughout, including through the ‘AI-bot chef’s assistant’ which gathered insight on the guests, to the menu curation, to AI-powered planning for new kitchen processes, to the projection-mapped table that was a moving work of art. It was a true success with 100% attendance and $7 million in immediate deals, with more still coming in, and transformed C-suite perceptions.
Looking to enter our awards? Entries for the B2B Marketing Awards 2026 are now open; bringing together the campaigns, teams, and individuals setting the pace for our industry. Save £110 per entry by entering before 8 May. https://events.b2bmarketing.net/b2bawards/Home
