By pbump@hubspot.com (Pamela Bump)

Over the last five years, the business world has undergone a more dramatic transformation than it did in the entire decade before. Just as companies were adapting to permanent shifts in workplace dynamics, consumer behavior, and global economics — all sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic — generative AI emerged. This delivered a shock to business comparable to the internet revolution of the 1990s.

Companies that once led the digital transformation now face an unexpected reality: their hard-won advantages are evaporating as competitors leverage AI to match the capabilities of much larger, better-funded teams.

The playing field hasn‘t just leveled. It’s been completely redrawn.

Through months of market research focused on customer needs, HubSpot uncovered how growth-driving teams are responding to this new environment. They’re abandoning linear playbooks in favor of go-to-market strategies that operate in an infinite Loop — a continuously adapting cycle of learning, experimenting, optimizing, and scaling.

A 2025 study of 1,800 brand professionals (including marketers, advertisers, content strategists, brand specialists, and GTM decision-makers) identified key tactics that brands are using to get ahead in the eye of dramatic tech transformation. These insights form what HubSpot calls The Loop Marketing Landscape.

3 Takeaways from HubSpot’s Loop Marketing Landscape Report

1. Brands must document clear brand positioning.

This may sound pretty obvious, but it’s far from a given. While every marketing textbook harps on the importance of documenting a unique value proposition (UVP), HubSpot found that only half (51%) of global marketers actually have one.

The remaining 49% revealed the following:

• 39% say, “We have a general idea, but it’s not formally documented.”
• 8% say, “We have multiple competing value propositions depending on who you ask.”
• 3% say their brand completely lacks brand positioning (documented or undocumented).

Why It Matters

When you compare overall goal attainment (in the past year) across respondents, 52% of marketers on goal-exceeding teams had a clearly defined and documented UVP. Only 36% of teams who just hit their targets (without regularly exceeding) did. And just 24% of respondents who regularly missed their goals did.

The connection is clear: If your own teams can’t articulate what makes you valuable, your customers won’t get it either. Misalignment across marketing, sales, product, and leadership can quickly lead to inconsistent messaging in the market.

How to Build a Brand Identity That Grows With You

Every brand identity should amplify how your business uniquely solves for the customer (and outshines the competition). Respondents with clearly documented brand positioning leaned into the following best practices when developing and refining their own:

• Competitive research: If you have a limited customer base or don’t yet have access to the customer data you need, start with competitor research (like 25% of global marketers HubSpot surveyed) to learn what and what not to do from high- and low-performing brands in your space.
• Customer data analysis: 48% of US respondents (and 97% of non-US respondents) leverage accessible customer data to build …read more

  Source:: HubSpot Blog