Stein IAS and its client Lexmark have claimed the gold prize for ‘Business-to-Business’ for the second year running at the illustrious WARC Awards for Effectiveness, in association with LIONS. The award was announced at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The WARC Awards for Effectiveness in B2B are the first to be built and benchmarked on the consistent, global language of the Effectiveness Code and judged using the B2B Effectiveness Ladder.

Together, Lexmark and Stein IAS have totally transformed the brand’s enterprise marketing, implementing a digitally driven Growth Engine and launching a provocative brand narrative, which has helped to redefine the marketing and sales relationship, ignite extraordinary pipeline expansion, and set the stage for Lexmark’s broader evolution into the IoT space.

Jeremy Cochran, President, Americas, at Stein IAS, commented: “At a time when enterprise digital transformation is in hyperdrive, print technology and services may not seem a strategic priority. Still, at a market size of $145 billion globally, print remains integral to business. But driving growth in this lower-growth space, buffeted as it has been by the pandemic, is a real challenge. Growth cannot be achieved with a business-as-usual or marketing-as-usual mindset. Yet, significant growth is exactly what Lexmark did achieve through the wholesale transformation of its marketing in 2021 and continuing this year.”

In a matter of months, marketing pivoted from sales enabler to multi-billion-dollar opportunity driver. It transformed a traditionally sales-led brand by implementing a digitally driven Growth Engine delivering the provocative strategic brand narrative that companies’ digital transformations fail without print transformation. In the process, Lexmark redefined and more closely intertwines the marketing and sales relationship, accelerating revenue growth in its category.

“The net effect: Lexmark has climbed the B2B Effectiveness Ladder with WARC-worthy speed and impact. And it has turned marketing into what it needs to be – a strategic asset driving the Lexmark business forward into the future,” added Sven Dellagnolo, Senior Director, Global Revenue Marketing at Lexmark.

This article first appeared on The Drum here. For more information about the WARC Awards for Effectiveness, visit: https://www.warc.com/awards/effectiveness