More than half of the UK’s mid-market B2B service businesses are failing to convert marketing investment into commercial growth because they lack brand identity, according to new research from Manchester-based digital transformation agency, Greater Else.
The agency’s Shortlisted Pulse 2026 report analysed 200 UK businesses across 10 service sectors.
According to the study, 84% of those firms sit in what Greater Else calls the ‘Mid-Market Plateau’ where they’re recognised but not trusted as default, while 56% occupy the “Recognition Trap” – where companies are recognised but struggle to make buyers’ shortlists.
Only one of the 200 businesses analysed achieved the highest level of ‘category leadership’ while just 32 were deemed to have attained ‘trusted expertise’ status.
The report argues that many organisations focus on short-term brand changes, but don’t create the systems needed to keep their brand strong over time.
Chris Bennett, head of strategy at Greater Else and author of the report, said the findings explain why many mid-market marketing programmes fail to deliver long-term returns.
“Businesses often emerge from a rebrand looking better, but nothing material changes commercially,” he said. “The leads don’t increase, the phone doesn’t ring any more often and campaigns struggle to gain traction because the brand work stops at the deliverable.”
The research identifies several recurring weaknesses, including a lack of distinctiveness, inconsistent visibility and a shortage of original market perspectives that help firms stand
apart from competitors.
For business leaders, this matters because buyers usually choose brands they already know and trust. Companies that don’t build their reputation over time may have to rely more on sales outreach and competing on price.
Greater Else argues that brand authority should be viewed as a strategic commercial asset rather than a marketing exercise. The firms that consistently invest in building recognition, visibility and credibility, it says, are more likely to secure shortlist positions, improve conversion rates and create compounding growth.
Greater Else rebranded from Fablr earlier this year to better reflect its focus on helping ambitious mid-market B2B service businesses build long-term brand authority.
The consultancy says the benchmark now provides clients with a more objective framework for assessing brand performance against commercial outcomes, reinforcing its belief that brand should be measured with the same rigour as other areas of business performance.
Philip Bennison, co-founder of Greater Else, said: “Developing Shortlisted and transitioning to Greater Else has allowed us to be much clearer about the work we’ve been doing for nearly a decade.
“Across our teams in Manchester and Leeds we’ve consistently seen that businesses don’t struggle because they’re bad at what they do. They struggle because buyers can’t clearly articulate why they’re different.”
