Sarah Dufton, associate director at Koobr and Balls2 Marketing, explores how meaningful marketing is pulling teams together, changing sales behaviour and repositioning glazing as the upgrade it truly is.
If there’s one statement I’ve left firmly in 2025, it’s ‘race to the bottom’. It’s not helpful, and it doesn’t fit with my positive mental attitude. The glazing industry is well aware that years of price pressure has squeezed margins, diluted value and taken confidence out of the conversations that should feel assured. So, shall we talk about what we’re going to do about it?
When an industry reaches this point, the only credible direction is up. And despite my position as a marketing professional, I’ll be the first to say that shift will not come from louder marketing, or more activity for activity’s sake. It will come from meaning.
The kind of ‘light bulb’ level meaning that calls out the problem, stops negativity in its tracks, hangs its hat on a solution, sets tangible targets, pulls teams together and brings back the passion that moves businesses forward.
When marketing is meaningless
Marketing in glazing is sometimes boxed into a narrow role. Generate leads, keep the pipeline moving, show output… then step aside.
In isolation, that approach is understandable. The problem starts when someone questions what it actually means. Leads are passed over without context. Data is reviewed at surface level. Sales teams are left to work out which enquiries matter, which convert, and which quietly drain time and energy.
That leads to reports that look busy, but do not change behaviour. Sales teams carry conversations without the backing of clear insight and data-led direction. Over time, that disconnection erodes confidence, inside and outside the business, and it all starts to feel a little… meaningless.
Meaning that moves decisions forward
At Koobr, we see meaningful marketing change behaviour – quickly. When marketing becomes an ongoing working session with the wider team, it earns its place commercially. That means looking at leads properly, not just counting them. Sometimes one by one. Often it means sitting around a table and asking which ones turned into good and bad conversations, which ones converted, which ones wasted time, then collectively being honest about why.
It means using that information to make decisions straightaway. Bringing in a bolder message. Dropping channels that are not pulling their weight. Doubling down on the activity that is driving the enquiries we want more of. Not in six months’ time. Now.
And what happens when marketing becomes meaningful? Sales teams stop guessing and gain the confidence to stop blaming the market. Marketing stops hiding behind volume and starts taking responsibility for quality.
Leadership gets answers they can act on, not complex reports that sit in folders. Everyone is aligned around the same facts, not opinions, momentum builds, and – lo and behold – sales follow.
Marketing that shows up where it matters most
Confidence and culture both shift when teams can clearly see what is working, and why. That’s not unique to glazing by any means, but meaningful marketing is becoming business critical in our sector more than most. We need price to stop being the sticking point sales teams defend.
In businesses where Koobr is actively taking the conversation away from comparison and back towards outcomes, we’re seeing pride show up in practical ways – from how quotes are presented, to how firmly they are held.
Somewhere along the way, glazing has been talked down, even as performance has moved sharply in the opposite direction. Kitchens, bathrooms, extensions – all sold as lifestyle upgrades. Yet glazing – delivering tangible improvements in thermal performance, efficiency and security every day – has become a commodity. We’ve cheapened perception, not the product, and if there’s one thing marketing and communication can work on, it’s perception!
In a hugely transformational marketing landscape, the value of bringing more meaning to a business is something that just won’t change, which is why it’s the crux of everything we do at Koobr. We don’t need more marketing in glazing. We need the confidence to question what it means.
