by | Monday, October 12, 2026 · 7:00 am

Influencers are the New B2B Superpower

Would you trust a company because its advertising says it’s great or because someone you respect says it delivers? That question captures a major shift in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. When companies sell software, services, or complex solutions to other organizations, buyers rarely make decisions based on advertising alone. They seek expert opinions, peer reviews, customer experiences, and advice from people who understand their challenges.

That’s why B2B influencer marketing is becoming more important. Unlike celebrity endorsements, B2B influence often comes from industry experts, practitioners, creators, and customers whose knowledge gives their recommendations credibility. LinkedIn’s expanding creator tools reflect how marketers are making these partnerships easier to develop. But the goal isn’t simply to collect likes or rack up views. It’s to earn trust throughout the buying journey. Consider the difference between a company claiming its software saves time and an experienced user explaining how it solved a specific operational problem. The second message offers something advertising often struggles to deliver: credible evidence from someone with relevant experience. Customer advocacy takes this idea even further. Communities, independent reviews, and customer stories can help prospective buyers evaluate a solution before speaking with a salesperson. Meanwhile, trust depends on more than who delivers the message. Companies must also communicate consistently, use AI responsibly, protect customer data, and make their claims easy to verify.

An important takeaway is that visibility gets attention, but credibility helps turn attention into confidence. Influencer partnerships work best when brands collaborate authentically, share useful expertise, and build relationships over time. For future marketers, the challenge is not simply getting a brand noticed. It’s giving buyers good reasons to believe it. And in B2B marketing, trust isn’t just a brand attribute, it’s a competitive advantage.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. Why might a B2B buyer trust an industry practitioner more than a company’s own advertisement? Are there situations where the reverse might be true? Find examples of influence-centered campaigns on Influencer Marketing Hub.
  2. Would you choose an influencer with one million followers or an expert with 5,000 highly relevant followers to promote business software? What information would guide your decision?
  3. How much creative freedom should a company give an influencer? When might brand oversight strengthen trust, and when might it undermine authenticity?
  4. If a B2B influencer campaign generates few clicks but leads to several high-value customer relationships, should the campaign be considered successful? What metrics would you use?
  5. Design a B2B influencer campaign. In groups, students choose a brand from Brand Finance’s list of world’s most valuable brands or another source. Students select an influencer type, define the target buyer, develop a content idea, and identify two measures of success. Each group explains how its campaign builds trust rather than simply generating impressions.
  6. Investigate a real B2B brand online. Students select a B2B company and investigate its public marketing using LinkedIn and the company’s website. Then identify one expert or creator, one customer-proof source, and one signal of brand trust. Students then recommend one improvement and support it with links to their evidence.
  7. The credibility challenge. Give students three hypothetical messages about the same product: a company advertisement, an influencer endorsement, and a detailed customer review. Have them rank the messages by credibility, identify evidence that would strengthen each one, and discuss how undisclosed sponsorships or exaggerated claims could damage trust.

Sources

Bradley, Sydney (9 Oct 2026), Substack’s influencer marketing era has arrived, Business Insider; Herbison, Jenny (17 Feb 2026), Designing for trust: Four shifts reshaping B2B marketing in 2026, Forbes; Peters, Chris (5 Oct 2026), Time to move past the ‘WTF’ of B2B influencer marketing and embrace ROI of authority, The Drum; Tran, Karen, & Wright, Daryl (29 June 2026), B2B social media influencers have more influence than ever, Forrester,

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by | Monday, October 5, 2026 · 7:30 am

Dutch Bros Walk Up Win

What makes you choose one coffee shop over another? Is it the taste, the price, the convenience, or the feeling you get when you walk away with your drink? Dutch Bros Coffee is betting that the answer is all of the above and that understanding customers can fuel its next stage of growth. Known for colorful drinks, customizable flavors, and energetic baristas called “broistas,” Dutch Bros built its identity around drive-through convenience and personal connections. Now, the company is experimenting with walk-up-only locations, including one near the University of Southern California. The location reportedly became the chain’s highest-volume shop before another location surpassed it.

This move illustrates an important marketing principle: successful brands adapt how they deliver value to different consumers. Consider consumer behavior. A commuter in a car, a student walking between classes, and a friend meeting someone downtown may all want the same drink but they have different needs and purchasing situations. A walk-up window could make Dutch Bros more accessible to pedestrians without abandoning its recognizable brand experience. Consumer perception matters, too. The colorful drinks and friendly service help position Dutch Bros as more than a caffeine stop. Instead, the experience itself becomes part of the product. For customers who enjoy the brand’s personality, buying a drink can also reinforce a sense of belonging to a community.

Motivation offers another clue. Coffee can satisfy a functional need for energy while also delivering an affordable indulgence or a small daily reward. Understanding which motivation drives a purchase helps marketers develop more relevant messages and experiences. This lesson extends beyond coffee. A 2026 campaign for Honeysticks crayons found that customers in different countries purchased the same product for different reasons, demonstrating the value of tailoring marketing to audience motivations. As Dutch Bros expands, its challenge is balancing a consistent brand identity with locally relevant experiences. The takeaway for marketers is that growth comes not just from reaching more customers, but from understanding why they buy.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. How does Dutch Bros differentiate itself from competitors beyond the drinks it sells?
  2. How might a walk-up-only location change consumer behavior compared with a drive-through?
  3. Which aspects of Dutch Bros’ brand identity might influence consumer perception and loyalty?
  4. What different motivations might lead students to purchase the same Dutch Bros drink?
  5. How can a company adapt its marketing to different customer segments without weakening its overall brand identity?
  6. Design a Dutch Bros Customer Journey. In small groups, map the customer journey for three segments: a commuter, a university student on foot, and a customer ordering through a mobile app. Identify each segment’s needs, potential frustrations, and opportunities for improving the experience.
  7. Build a Motivation-Based Campaign. Check out the Dutch Bros drink menu and choose one drink. In small teams, create three short advertisements, each emphasizing a different motivation: convenience, personal enjoyment, or social connection. Present the advertisements and explain how each appeals to a different consumer mindset.
  8. Investigate a Local Market. Visit Dutch Bros’ official website and Google Maps to investigate its locations and customer-facing offerings in a city of your choice. Compare two locations or potential markets, then propose one marketing adaptation based on accessibility, customer needs, or purchasing occasions. Using the information you find, what evidence suggests that customer context could influence how Dutch Bros should market itself in your selected locations? Distinguish observable evidence from your own assumptions.

References

Broughton, Kristin. (2 Oct 2026), Fast-growing Dutch Bros Coffee, known for drive-throughs, wants to cater to walkers, The Wall Street Journal.

Lindenberg, Sylvio, (30 Sep 2026), Global growth starts with understanding why people buy—market by market, Ad Age.

Siew, Walden. (2 Oct 2026), Dutch Bros CFO on keeping a ‘scrappy’ mindset while building a national brand, The Wall Street Journal.

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by | Tuesday, September 29, 2026 · 7:25 am

Fair or Unfair? Amazon Secretly Bids on Itself

What happens when the company running an advertising auction also knows every bid and can influence the price? That question sits at the center of a major marketing ethics case involving Amazon. The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states allege that Amazon secretly raised minimum prices in its retail advertising auctions, causing more than one million advertisers to pay higher rates. According to the complaint, Amazon sometimes inserted its own “soft reserve” into auctions, increasing what winning advertisers paid. Amazon denies deceiving advertisers, arguing that its system reflects the value of each ad and that advertisers never pay more than they bid.

The dispute illustrates the ethics of exchange. A marketplace transaction should provide both parties with sufficient information to make a voluntary and informed decision. However, Amazon allegedly possessed information that advertisers did not: the competing bids, the auction rules, and the ability to alter prices. Is it a fair exchange when one participant controls both the marketplace and its mechanics?

The case also raises questions about corporate culture. The FTC alleges that Amazon executives tracked the additional revenue while limiting advertisers’ awareness of the practice. If accurate, this suggests that the ethical problem was not simply a questionable algorithm. It involved organizational incentives, internal language, and decisions about what customers deserved to know. Marketing writer Chad S. White asks a question that becomes increasingly important as AI and automation expand: Just because marketers can optimize a tactic, does that mean they should? Ethical decision-making cannot begin after regulators intervene. Companies need clear standards for fairness, disclosure, and customer impact before automated systems are deployed. For marketers, the lesson is simple: maximizing what customers will tolerate is not the same as creating a fair exchange. A platform may set the price, but trust determines its long-term value.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. What information should advertisers reasonably expect AmazonAds to disclose about how its advertising auctions operate?
  2. Does an exchange remain ethical if advertisers agree to a maximum bid but do not understand how the final price is determined?
  3. How might performance goals, revenue incentives, and internal language influence employees’ ethical decision-making?
  4. Is complying with the law sufficient for ethical marketing, or should companies adopt a higher standard? Explain.
  5. Online research. Compare the FTC’s description of its allegations with Amazon’s response. Where do the two accounts agree, and how do their definitions of fairness differ?
  6. Hold an ethics committee meeting. Assign students the roles of marketing executive, advertising customer, consumer advocate, data scientist, and compliance officer. Evaluate the “soft reserve” strategy and recommend whether to approve, modify, disclose, or reject it.
  7. Test your ethical boundaries. Complete or adapt the scenarios in CMSWire’s digital marketing ethics audit. Compare responses within small groups, identify areas of disagreement, and develop five ethical principles for marketing decisions.

Sources: Federal Trade Commission (31 August 2026), States sue Amazon over secret ad surcharge scheme, FTC; Michaels, Dave (31 August 2026) FTC Files Lawsuit Alleging Amazon Deceived Advertisers, The Wall Street Journal; White, Chad S. (4 March 2026) How ethical are your digital marketing tactics? CMS Newswire.

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