Key Points
- A significant majority of respondents said artificial intelligence is not being evaluated rigorously, with 77 percent citing weak scrutiny and more than 60 percent unable to distinguish meaningful AI capabilities from hype.
- Measurement and operational fragmentation remain major challenges, with 63 percent unable to measure cross-channel performance effectively and no respondents reporting access to a fully unified reporting system.
- Marketers are managing increasing complexity, as 76 percent use six or more media platforms and 59 percent still rely on manual data aggregation for reporting.
A new study from business-to-business (B2B) marketing agency Ledger Bennett and advertising technology company StackAdapt found widespread dissatisfaction with the way marketers evaluate agencies and technology vendors, with many respondents saying current request-for-proposal processes are failing to keep pace with artificial intelligence and modern media buying.
The report, conducted with research firm NewtonX, surveyed 426 marketers across the United States, United Kingdom and Asia-Pacific markets including Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
Among the findings, 77 percent of respondents said AI-related questions are not being scrutinized rigorously enough during vendor evaluations, despite artificial intelligence ranking among the most important considerations when selecting marketing partners.
More than 60 percent of marketers said their current request for proposal (RFPs) processes are unable to distinguish meaningful AI capabilities from marketing hype. At the same time, only 23 percent said they evaluate AI offerings against clearly defined criteria.
The report points to broader concerns about media measurement and operational complexity: While most marketers said they establish clear key performance indicators, 63 percent reported they cannot effectively measure campaign performance across channels. Additionally, 76 percent said they manage six or more media platforms, while 59 percent continue to manually combine reporting data most or all of the time.
Not a single respondent reported having access to a fully unified reporting system.
The study also found that strategic misalignment remains a significant issue. Half of respondents said they had experienced negative business outcomes when execution took priority over strategy, including lower returns on investment and missed product launches.
Researchers identified challenges in tracking the customer journey: According to the report, more than 60 percent of buyer activity remains largely invisible to marketers, making it difficult to measure the effectiveness of upper-funnel tactics such as video advertising and brand-building campaigns. As a result, those activities are often undervalued because they are harder to attribute directly to sales or conversions.
When asked what would improve the RFP process, 41 percent of respondents said structured frameworks focused on defining business outcomes would be most beneficial. Another 40 percent said clearer examples of successful briefs would improve vendor selection and planning.
“There will be widespread awareness that RFPs need to be modernized but this research really paints a stark picture,” said Ledger Bennett CEO Andrea Sexton in a statement on Monday. “B2B marketers need fully integrated partners that see strategy, creative and media as one. They need transparency when it comes to AI’s true benefits. And they need to simplify and unify measurement.”
Giuseppe La Rocca, the Vice President of Enterprise at StackAdapt, said the findings suggest many organizations remain focused on metrics that are easy to track rather than indicators that demonstrate actual business value.
“The industry has increasingly conflated what’s measurable with what’s meaningful,” La Rocca said. “Marketers aren’t confident in the value of AI capabilities, their ability to measure cross-channel performance in a streamlined way, or feel assured that strategy is prioritized over getting the work done.”
