I recently had the opportunity to hear Leslie Zane, an award-winning Fortune 500 brand consultant, give a presentation. The event was a virtual conference hosted by the American Marketing Association on January 23, 2025. Her presentation, “The Future of Marketing,” shared several interesting insights based on her book, The Power of Insight. My key takeaway is that branding plays a much bigger role in the buyer’s journey than previously considered. A concept I’ll refer to as unconscious branding should be incorporated with greater focus as part of your overall marketing and analyst relations strategy.
Leslie’s theme was that many buyer decisions are based on subconscious rather than conscious thinking. This concept is enlightening and has major implications for marketing strategies. Marketers must rethink how they approach the buyer’s journey and decision-making process. Here are a few concepts that came to mind as I processed the findings of her presentation.
Buyer Intent
Buyer intent is a critical component of digital marketing strategies. Marketers allocate budgets based on an ideal customer profile’s search and online behavior. This process involves tracking website visits and assigning scores to measure a prospect’s likelihood of converting to a “Marketing Qualified Lead” or MQL. Consequently, this approach impacts how marketing resources and budgets are allocated.
However, if subconscious decision-making plays a more dominant role in purchases, this approach may not be as accurate as once believed. Leslie’s insights suggest that brand power could account for up to 95% of a purchase decision. This is a big deal! Further, this behavior isn’t necessarily revealed through buyer intent tracking. If a prospect already has a subconscious preference for a brand, their browsing behavior may not reflect future intent. Marketers should reconsider how they weigh intent signals in their customer acquisition strategies.
Content Marketing Programs
The choice of content for marketing programs is a strategic decision. Companies invest heavily in creating thought leadership materials, blog posts, videos, media outreach, contributed articles, and conference presentations. The goal is to educate the audience and position the author as a subject matter expert (SME).
Yet, if subconscious thinking plays a major role in final purchase decisions, thought leadership content may only be effective when paired with strong brand recognition. This could be seen as contradictory to a marketing or public relations awareness strategy. Traditional thought leadership messaging is neutral. It is usually focused on an idea versus promoting a brand. Leslie’s insights challenge this perspective. Perhaps unconscious branding should be more prominently integrated into content marketing strategies.
Analyst Relations
Industry ranking reports from Tier 1 analyst firms are highly valued. These reports provide great market intelligence, help to validate leading vendors, and influence buying decisions. Conventional wisdom suggests that being named a “leader” in these reports significantly boosts credibility and sales. Companies invest heavily in an analyst relations program to manage this process and secure a favorable position in these rankings.
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Leslie’s perspective and insight suggest a different interpretation of how these reports impact decision-making. Rather than driving a new purchase decision, analyst reports are more likely to play a bigger role in validating an existing, subconscious decision. A company’s exclusion from a report might cause hesitation or concern, but inclusion alone may not create new opportunities.
This aligns with my personal experience in marketing and analyst relations roles. Prospects often seek reports to justify decisions rather than make new ones. This could even shift the role of analyst relations from lead generation to risk mitigation. Companies should reassess how they leverage analyst rankings in their marketing strategies.
The Bigger Role of Unconscious Branding in Marketing
Leslie’s insights highlight an often-overlooked truth: unconscious branding plays a far bigger role in marketing strategy than many assume. Branding has always been considered important, particularly in consumer markets. However, its significance in business-to-business (B2B) marketing may be far greater than previously thought.
Most marketers would agree that branding matters, but few would attribute 95% of a B2B purchase decision to it! This challenges traditional marketing beliefs. If a company’s brand is deeply embedded in a prospect’s subconscious, other marketing efforts may be secondary. This means organizations should invest more in building strong, recognizable brands rather than relying solely on intent data or analyst endorsements.
Of course, every demand generation or digital marketing strategy that gets a brand’s name and message out there is also performing a branding role. Marketing is seldom black and white. The takeaway is to be sure your brand and logo are always prominently referenced in all marketing and awareness activities.
Leslie Zane’s presentation provided valuable insights into how buyers make decisions. Her research suggests that subconscious brand associations play a dominant role in purchase behavior. Marketers should reconsider their approach to buyer intent, content marketing, and analyst relations in light of these findings.
It appears that unconscious branding is more powerful than most marketers assume. While branding has always been valued in B2C marketing, its role in B2B decision-making is often underestimated. If subconscious brand associations influence up to 95% of the purchase process, companies must rethink their marketing strategies. A strong brand presence can drive sales more effectively than traditional lead-generation tactics. Marketers who embrace this reality will be better positioned to succeed in the evolving marketing landscape.
