Building authority in manufacturing with original research

The need

Build credible authority in a priority industry

The company had relevant expertise in digital experience, customer engagement and commerce, but needed a stronger way to demonstrate that expertise to manufacturing audiences.

Broad arguments about digital transformation were not enough. It needed independent evidence around the changes manufacturers were actually dealing with, while keeping the research close enough to its own expertise to create relevant conversations with prospects.

The starting point

Relevant capabilities, but not yet a distinctive manufacturing point of view

Manufacturers were changing how they reached customers, sold products and developed services around them.

Those changes created questions that sat directly alongside the client's expertise. How would more digital and direct customer relationships affect the experience manufacturers needed to provide? What customer insight would they need? Were their data and technology foundations ready for it? And where should they invest next?

The opportunity was to turn those connected questions into an evidence-based view of the sector rather than simply publish another broad report on digital transformation.

What we did

Built the research around the commercial changes transforming manufacturer-customer relationships

We surveyed 467 manufacturing executives in the UK and Germany who made or influenced decisions around digital experience, customer experience or digital marketing.

The research explored the shift toward digital customer engagement, direct selling and new services alongside customer insight, data quality, technology integration, investment, organizational barriers and skills.

Rather than treating those as separate topics, we connected them into a single story.

Manufacturers were moving closer to customers through digital channels and new business models, but making that transition depended on understanding those customers and delivering more relevant experiences. The data showed gaps in customer insight and confidence in data, limited integration across technology stacks and a continuing need for investment in both platforms and skills.

We also compared respondents who said their organizations had outperformed their peers over the previous 18 months with those who said their organizations had kept pace or underperformed. This gave the findings a peer-comparison dimension without treating self-reported performance as an objective measure. For example, ecommerce for consumers was more common among the self-described higher-performing group, at 32% compared with 13% of the mainstream group.

The report then connected the independent evidence to practical examples and recommendations in areas such as digital experience, commerce, personalization, customer data and technology strategy. This allowed the client's expertise to sit naturally alongside the research without turning the study into a product pitch.

What they got

A flagship benchmark that became a foundation for content and commercial conversations

The research became a flagship manufacturing report built around a clear market narrative, supporting evidence and practical recommendations.

The benchmark was extended into further market-facing content and formats, including articles, webinars and other supporting assets, while sales teams had material they could use in conversations with manufacturing prospects.

The breadth of the research also meant one study could support several related stories, from digital selling and changing customer relationships to data, technology integration, personalization and skills.

Why it mattered

The company could demonstrate manufacturing expertise through evidence rather than assertion

Marketing teams had a credible manufacturing story grounded in the experience of hundreds of industry executives. Commercial teams had sector-specific findings and proof points they could bring into prospect conversations and proposals.

Because the work was built around issues closely related to the company's expertise, it attracted attention at launch and created an evidence base that could continue supporting content and sales activity after the flagship report had been published.