For many B2B brands, creating insightful research and compelling content isn't the hard part. The real challenge is getting it in front of decision-makers who matter.
That was exactly the challenge facing Jumpmind. The company had invested heavily in producing original retail research and thought leadership, but its owned channels could only take that content so far. To increase awareness among retail decision-makers and practitioners, Jumpmind partnered with SmartBrief to extend its reach through one of retail's most trusted editorial environments: NRF SmartBrief..
Jumpmind had built a steady pipeline of original research and thought leadership rooted in real retailer insights. While the content consistently resonated with existing audiences, the marketing team needed a way to introduce it to new retail leaders outside of its owned channels.
As Heather Primavera, Director of Marketing at Jumpmind, explained, the challenge wasn't the quality of the content—it was getting that content in front of the right audience at scale. The goal wasn't simply to generate impressions, but to reach retail professionals already interested in the topics Jumpmind was addressing.
Rather than placing ads in broad B2B channels, Jumpmind partnered with SmartBrief to distribute its research within NRF SmartBrief, where retail executives actively consume industry news and insights.
The partnership offered several advantages:
For Jumpmind, the credibility of the NRF brand was particularly valuable.
"Retail is a relationship-driven industry, and the NRF brand carries weight with the exact buyers we are trying to reach."
That trust translated into stronger engagement. In fact, Jumpmind's European Connected Shopper Report became the top-performing campaign of its program, exceeding SmartBrief benchmarks and validating that its research resonated well beyond its existing audiency aligned with major industry events, helping build awareness before attendees stepped onto the show floor.
The campaign delivered more than awareness—it reached the people who influence buying decisions.
For the Jumpmind team, audience quality mattered as much as campaign metrics.
The seniority of engaged readers reinforced that SmartBrief wasn't simply delivering volume—it was delivering relevance. Readers encountered Jumpmind's research within a trusted editorial environment, making them more receptive than audiences exposed to interruptive advertising.
Read more about the SmartBrief and Jumpmind partnership here.
"The editorial context matters, too. Our content appeared alongside trusted industry news, which meant readers were already in a receptive, professional mindset rather than scrolling past an ad in a more interruptive environment."
"The clearest insight was around content type. Our original research outperformed our product-forward creative with this audience, which reinforced a broader hypothesis we had about how retail decision-makers want to be approached.
