Core expertise
Marketing capability is the combination of knowledge, skills, processes, experience and tools a commercial team needs to deliver its strategy. Market Edge assesses that capability against benchmarks from category-leading B2B companies, then builds what is missing, from targeted programs to a company-branded marketing academy that runs for years.
A new strategy, owner or market asks for skills the commercial team doesn't yet have.
Signs, causes and fixes →Market development managers with technical backgrounds need a common commercial language.
Signs, causes and fixes →Generic courses that don't connect to business results or the team's real markets.
Signs, causes and fixes →Each business unit plans and sells differently, so good practice never travels.
Signs, causes and fixes →Paraphrased and anonymized from recent conversations with marketing and commercial leaders.
“We have commercial excellence initiatives for sales, product and service. There's nothing for marketing yet.”
“The tools exist, but newer team members use them unevenly, so plans look different in every business unit.”
“We'd like to assess marketing capability across the organization first, and then build an academy.”
Four steps, each supported by a proven Market Edge framework.
Capability Assessments test marketing, finance and sales knowledge against company and best-in-class benchmarks.
Headcount and role benchmarks show whether marketing is resourced for the strategy.
Applied programs on the team's own businesses, often branded as the client's own marketing academy and rolled out by region.
Reassess at intervals and tie progress to business objectives and ROI.
Our point of view
Capability programs last when they are applied to participants’ own businesses, use one common language, and have leaders visibly behind them. A company academy built step by step (assessment, a pilot cohort, then roll-out by region) outlasts any one-off training. We work as a capability partner, not just a tool provider: the frameworks, the facilitation and the coaching come together.
Typical phases. Every engagement is scoped with you, and many clients start with one phase.
| Phase | Typical timing | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Assess | 4–8 weeks | Marketing capability assessment and short interviews with leaders and practitioners. |
| Design | 4–6 weeks | A curriculum built on your markets and products, reviewed with your team before launch. |
| Pilot cohort | One quarter | Pre-work, in-person or online sessions, coaching on real plans and an executive debrief. |
| Roll out | By region or business unit | Further cohorts, in local languages where needed, often branded as your own marketing academy. |
| Sustain | Ongoing | Tool licenses, a marketing handbook, refresher sessions and reassessment to show progress. |
Human in the loop
Capability in 2026 includes knowing how to work with AI. Tools can deliver content; changing how a team thinks and decides takes coached practice on real problems.
How we use AI responsibly →Chemicals & Materials · Coatings
Recent work · 2026
After a general product management course felt too basic for its industrial teams, a coatings business asked for a program built around its own markets.
Read the case →Packaging · 6B USD, 30 countries
[Result]
A packaging leader with 6B USD sales and 23,000 employees moved from selling products to selling solutions, and needed to transform commercial capability worldwide.
Read the case →Agriculture · 15 countries
[Result]
A global agribusiness needed to know whether marketing in 15 Latin American countries could deliver very different go-to-market strategies.
Read the case →“Collaborating with Market Edge accelerated our ability to connect our worldwide community of Marketers and shaped how we launch new products to drive growth for the organization.”
Academy program
Learn and apply the Market Edge Strategic Marketing Process to your business, and leave with a draft Strategic Marketing Plan for your target market.
$2,850 per person · Next: [Dates] Nov 2026
See dates →Academy program
Two days applying Value Creation, Value Maps, Price Change Analysis and Transactional Pricing to an agreed pricing challenge in your business.
$1,950 per person · Next: [Dates] Nov 2026
See dates →Academy program
Apply the KAM process to your own accounts with coaching from senior consultants, and leave with a forward road map for each target account.
$1,500 per person · Next: [Dates] Nov 2026
See dates →Tool
An example of the individual and company output, benchmarked against best in class.
Explore →Tool
Key insights from the benchmark study on marketing roles and resourcing.
Explore →Point of view
AI and commercial teams · October 2026
AI has been adopted only when the decisions that matter change, not when usage rates go up.
Read →Capability · October 2026
Budgets for next year usually expect both top- and bottom-line growth, but few companies check whether marketing has the capability to deliver them.
Read →An integrated capability that consistently delivers targeted customer experiences and superior business performance through strategy, people, processes, tools and data. It is the foundation of the commercial operating model, not a standalone training program.
Individuals take an assessment at a skilled-practitioner level of difficulty, and we review processes and plans with leaders. Results compare each person with the company average and industry best in class, and prioritized gaps lead to a development road map.
Yes. Many clients run a branded academy with us, starting with an assessment and a pilot cohort, then rolling out by region or business unit with content built on their own markets.
Applied, team-based programs such as Market Edge Challenges℠, where participants learn concepts and apply them to a real project in their own business, with coaching and faculty from leading business schools.
Using AI to gather and analyze market data, writing good prompts, and above all knowing what good looks like, so they can check, challenge and improve AI output before it informs a decision.
"We've been sales and rebate led for years."
Your strategy now depends on selling on value, but the sales force, pricing and segmentation were built for volume.
How we help →"I've just taken over marketing, and we don't have standard tools."
A new marketing leader in a lean organization needs a team, a process and early results, fast.
How we help →"We're a new company with a parent company's marketing habits."
A new owner or independent company means new growth targets with marketing infrastructure that was left behind.
How we help →"Leadership wants to know if marketing is the right size, and what it delivers."
Executives are questioning marketing headcount and impact, and you need evidence.
How we help →"Our market development managers are all engineers."
Brilliant technical people now own markets and customers, without a shared commercial toolkit.
How we help →"We're reorganizing our route to market to grow margin, not volume."
New customer tiers, channels or owners mean the sales force has to change who it calls on and what it sells.
How we help →Book a 20–30 minute sounding board conversation with a senior consultant who has sat in your seat. No cost, no commitment.