LinkedIn unveils ‘Buyability’ framework to redefine B2B marketing creativity
LinkedIn, in partnership with LIONS Advisory and WARC, unveiled new research on Thursday (June 25, 2026) at Cannes Lions that reframes the role of creativity in B2B marketing. Presented by Mimi Turner, Head of Marketplace Innovation at LinkedIn, and Jim Lesser, Chief Brand Officer at ServiceNow, on the Rotonde Stage, the research introduces “Buyability” – a seven-signal framework designed to help marketers turn creative attention into buyer confidence and business growth.
The analysis of 700 best-in-class B2B campaigns reveals that creative campaigns that score highly on the Buyability framework of recommendations, relatable buying situations, and relationships significantly outperform those that don’t. The research reframes the role of creativity in driving business outcomes and builds on LinkedIn’s body of work on Buyability — the confidence that gets a B2B brand chosen by the buying group and makes that decision defensible in a boardroom. Built around seven creative signals across Recommendations, Relationships and Relatability, the Buyability framework shows how trusted voices, peer validation and relatable customer situations can help move B2B brands from attention to shortlist.
Delivering the keynote, “Cracking B2B Creativity: The Buyability Levers That Power Successful Campaigns,” LinkedIn’s Mimi Turner said: “Buyability gives us a seven signal framework that marketers can use to strategically enhance campaign outcomes because it is built on the insights that help buying groups feel confident to buy. Ultimately, Buyability reframes the job of creativity in B2B in a way that B2B marketers can actually execute on, Buying group decision-making is defensive and risk-averse. The real job of B2B creativity is to create more trust signals that buying groups rely on.”
Imaad Ahmed, Principal Strategist at LIONS Advisory and WARC, said: “B2B buying is complex. Decision-making tends to happen at a group level, sales cycles are often lengthy and the motivations – and even identities – of those influencing the final decision can be widespread and variably opaque. To become more buyable and win more business, B2B brands must build collective confidence across the entire buyer group. That is Buyability.”
Ahmed added, “Our analysis found that High Buyability campaigns were more likely to report brand health and revenue uplifts than Low Buyability campaigns. Yet, despite the evidence of effectiveness, B2B marketers apply Buyability signalling with alarmingly low frequency. With the right mindset shift, the Buyability opportunity is vast.”
The session brought the research to life through ServiceNow’s multi-yearPut AI to Work for Peoplecampaign, anchored by actorIdris Elbaand an ensemble cast of characters embodying the full buying group (IT, HR, Customer Service, Finance and Security). This strategy put the Buyability framework into action.
Rather than selling rational products to a single champion, ServiceNow reaches across the entire decision-making group with emotion, consistency, and distinctiveness that builds memory and recall for future purchasing. And by showing how much they understood these individuals – their challenges and ambitions – the campaign proved it has helped companies like theirs navigate those dynamics successfully. In short, the campaign doesn’t just sell AI capability; it sells the ability to defend the decision when it matters most – inside the room where the full buying group has to agree.
ServiceNow’s Jim Lesser said: “B2B creativity has a credibility problem. We’ve heard it forever: ‘Creative is nice, but does it drive growth?’ Buyability helps address that, and we’ve seen it work in our own creative at ServiceNow. When creative is relatable, grounded in customer proof, and reflects how customers actually buy, it helps create a system that turns attention into confidence and confidence into growth.”
Campaigns with stronger Buyability signals were 63% more likely to report increased ROI
The analysis found that campaigns with strong Buyability signals significantly outperform campaigns with fewer signals across both brand and commercial metrics.
Campaigns with stronger Buyability signals were:
- 24% more likely to report improvements in brand awareness
- 91% more likely to report improvements in mid-funnel brand metrics, including consideration, preference and purchase intent
- 63% more likely to report increased ROI
- 2.1x as likely to report increased incremental revenue to the business
The analysis also found that these signals remain underused, suggesting that many B2B campaigns may be winning attention without providing enough proof, trust, or reliability to act.
Of the 700 campaigns analysed, only 158 – fewer than one in four – used three or more Buyability signals. The remaining 542 used zero to two. Yet those that do are significantly more likely to improve brand metrics, ROI and incremental value.
The research reframes the role of creativity in B2B. As buying decisions become more complex, brands that systematically embed Recommendations, Relationships and Relatability into their creative platforms will be better positioned to convert attention into buyer confidence, confidence into consensus, and consensus into growth.
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marketing27-Jun-2026LinkedInLIONS AdvisoryWARCCannes Lions 2026
