LinkedIn has put hard numbers behind B2B creative. At Cannes Lions 2026, the B2B Institute’s Mimi Turner shared research that scored 700 award-nominated B2B campaigns against seven “buyability” signals. The finding was blunt: 52% of that work carried zero or one signal. Campaigns with three or more performed far better.
What the LinkedIn buyability research found
Buyability is the idea that B2B brands must become easier to buy, not only better known. Turner’s team worked with Warc to manually score 700 award-nominated campaigns. Each was judged against seven signals that help a buying group feel confident enough to commit.
The results were stark. 52% of the campaigns scored zero or one signal. The work that stacked three or more signals behaved differently. The research recorded a 91% lift in mid-funnel brand health for the high scorers. It also recorded a 63% rise in ROI and a 110% lift in incremental revenue.
Turner groups the seven signals into three themes she calls the three Rs: recommendations, relationships, and relatability. Recommendations covers validation from customers, peers and experts, and from influencers. Relationships covers proof that a brand works the way you do and will stay for the long term. Relatability covers proof that a company is built for organizations like yours.
One example came from ServiceNow. The brand built a cast of office characters, with Idris Elba as the CEO, and ran them across the funnel. Turner reported a thirteenfold rise in unprompted awareness.
Who presented the buyability data at Cannes Lions
The research was presented by Mimi Turner, who leads market development at LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, on the Rotonde stage at Cannes Lions 2026. The scoring was carried out by Warc. The B2B trade publication The Drum reported the session on June 25, 2026. Turner shared the stage with Jim Lesser, chief brand officer at ServiceNow, who walked through the brand’s character campaign.
Why B2B creative effectiveness is under pressure now
The research lands at a moment when B2B marketers must prove that brand work pays. Finance leaders want revenue, not clicks. Turner’s team tested this with synthetic CFOs and found that finance leaders rank brand measures like share of voice near the bottom of their list.
The timing fits a wider shift at Cannes. The festival expanded its Creative B2B program and added a CMO Forum this year, a sign that B2B creativity is being taken more seriously. Brand value is climbing the agenda too, as the ANA’s Masters of B2B event showed when it anchored its 2026 program to a $4 trillion brand ranking.
There is a second force at work. Turner notes that large language models now shape consideration. An AI engine building a recommendation looks for the same thing a cautious buyer looks for: authoritative voices that broadly agree. Creative built to win buying-group consensus tends to score with the models too.
Talking Shift: why established B2B brands already hold the seven signals
At Start Some Shift, the buyability research reads as good news for established B2B brands. You do not have to invent the seven signals. They are recommendations, relationships, and proof that you fit a buyer’s world. If you have real customers and a real track record, you already own them.
The problem is where that proof sits. Most brands bury it on a case study page, then lead their ads with product specs. The research points the other way. Put the customer voice, the named experts, and the category fit into the creative itself, up front.
Start Some Shift puts it this way: the brands that win a buying group are the ones that show their proof first, ahead of any feature list. You do not need a bigger budget to do this. You need to use what you already have, out loud, where buyers see it.
What B2B marketers should do about the seven signals
Turner’s framework gives teams something to brief against. Here is how established B2B brands can act on it.
- Audit current campaigns against the three Rs: recommendations, relationships, and relatability.
- Build customer proof into the creative itself, beyond the case study page.
- Feature named peers and experts your buyers already trust.
- Show that you serve their exact category, in their language and context.
- Brief for emotion and memory first, then layer the rational proof on top.
- Measure brand work against revenue and pipeline, so finance stays bought in.
- Reuse the same signals across the funnel, from awareness to demand, as ServiceNow did.
What to watch next for B2B buyability
Expect buyability to move from theory to scorecard. Turner has framed it as a measurement, so agencies and clients will start grading creative before it ships. Watch for buyability scores to show up in briefs, pitch decks, and effectiveness awards over the next year.
